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The Ola Pro trial, which begins on Thursday in Sydney, introduced a fleet of specially fitted-out cars that provide hygiene and safety standards, apart from a premium in-car experience. The company said it was available for people seeking extra assurance, such as those working with at-risk community members.
Managing Director of Ola Australia Simon Smith said,
“Ola Pro is designed to help people looking for some extra peace of mind with a transport option to get them from A to B as safely as possible.”
According to the firm, the new service features vehicles fitted with a transparent plastic barrier separating the driver and rider. The vehicles are sanitised after every trip by drivers and professionally sanitised every week, it added.
Under the new service, Ola drivers have been provided gloves, masks and cleaning equipment, as well as hand sanitiser to protect their own safety. They will also be regularly temperature checked, the company said in a statement, to ensure the highest levels of hygiene and service to the rider. Drivers are also undergoing hygiene training to build their skills and ensure they follow best practice, the firm added.
“Not only do we want to protect our customers, we want to protect our drivers,” Simon said. “Our drivers have been struggling like many other small business people during this crisis, and Ola Pro gives them the opportunity to continue to work, while providing a vital community service.”
Ola Pro is now available in Sydney at Ola’s standard rideshare rates with a nominal sanitisation fee of $4.50 to cover the additional cleaning costs involved.


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Florida to join New York in lawsuit against major LCD makers for price fixing
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said on Tuesday he is suing the world's biggest makers of liquid crystal display screens for engaging in a "conspiracy at the highest level" to fix prices. McCollum's announcement came days after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a similar lawsuit on Friday, alleging a decade of price fixing by major Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese LCD makers and by their U.S. units. In a statement, McCollum, who like Cuomo in running for governor, said records subpoenaed by his office indicated the defendants organized the conspiracy "at the highest level of their organizations in various secret meetings and telephone conversations over a period of years." Among the defendants are well-known international LCD makers such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, AU Optronics Corp, Hitachi Ltd, LG Display Co, Sharp Corp and Toshiba Corp, the Florida attorney general's office said. It noted that some of the defendants and their employees had already been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice and had paid over $890 million in criminal fines. Source - Reuters
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In keeping with reviews, the Hong Kong Financial Authority (HKMA), the regulatory frame overseeing banking actions within the area, has allegedly been encouraging main banks akin to HSBC and Same old Chartered to determine relationships with cryptocurrency exchanges.
This push to include the crypto sector comes regardless of the heightened regulatory scrutiny confronted by way of the trade on a world scale. This initiative objectives to put Hong Kong as a distinguished world hub for the cryptocurrency trade.
On the other hand, the field nonetheless grapples with demanding situations bobbing up from vital collapses that experience happened up to now. A record dated June 15 published that 3 assets with wisdom of the subject disclosed that the Hong Kong Financial Authority (HKMA) raised queries throughout a Would possibly assembly with UK-based corporations and the Financial institution of China.
The HKMA sought explanations from those establishments relating to their unwillingness to onboard cryptocurrency exchanges as purchasers. This means the HKMA’s energetic hobby in encouraging banks to have interaction with the virtual asset trade and doubtlessly highlights its dedication to furthering the improvement of the cryptocurrency sector in Hong Kong.
Only some weeks prior, the Hong Kong Financial Authority (HKMA) issued a round to banking establishments, emphasizing the significance of staying abreast of rising marketplace traits and urging them to undertake a extra proactive stance in exploring new sectors, together with the cryptocurrency marketplace.
Hong Kong Shows A Rising Acceptance Of Crypto Corporations
With formidable aspirations to determine itself as a distinguished crypto hub in Asia, Hong Kong has not too long ago unveiled a regulatory framework that legalizes the purchasing, promoting, and buying and selling of cryptocurrencies for all its electorate, set to take impact in June.
Hong Kong’s innovative strategy to virtual asset regulations has instilled self assurance within the home marketplace, prompting a number of companies to use for licenses. Amongst them is Huobi HK, the Hong Kong associate of the worldwide buying and selling platform Huobi, which has not too long ago introduced the release of spot and controlled services and products catering to industrial and retail purchasers within the area.
Within the wake of complaints filed by way of the U.S. Securities and Change Fee (SEC) towards exchanges Binance and Coinbase, Hong Kong is proactively positioning itself as a spot attracting entities impacted by way of those felony movements.
Hong Kong Legislative Council member Johnny Ng not too long ago visited Twitter to make stronger Coinbase, the embattled cryptocurrency company. In a display of harmony, Ng invited Coinbase, urging the corporate to imagine organising its operations in Hong Kong, the place the regulatory surroundings is appeared to be extra favorable in opposition to cryptocurrency companies.
This month, Hong Kong has not too long ago presented a complete set of rules adapted for the virtual asset sector, marking an important milestone. Those rules create a framework that permits locally-licensed crypto corporations to start up their operations.
The important thing spotlight of this construction is that certified firms at the moment are authorised to supply services and products to retail buyers, enabling them to have interaction in cryptocurrency buying and selling.


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Samsung has set the date to bring its next iteration of the successful Galaxy S smartphones into the light: March 14, according to invites sent to press Monday. Few concrete rumors have surfaced about the phone, though possible spec bumps include a quad-core processor, higher resolution screen, and an improved camera.
Samsung’s Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III were hits both critically and in sales. Twenty million Galaxy S III units sold between its May 2012 launch and the end of September, making it one of the most successful Android phones on the market and in the league of Apple’s iPhone in terms of singular smartphone-make sales. (Apple's number even includes multiple generations of the iPhone, not just the latest.)
The next Galaxy S phone’s quad-core chip may be based on ARM Cortex A15 architecture in the form of an Exynos 5450 chipset. The camera may leap to 13 megapixels, and Samsung would be remiss to let competitors like HTC and its new HTC One outstrip the Galaxy S IV with their 1080p screens. Hopefully we’ll see the same with Samsung’s new phone.
The announcement will take place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The event begins at 6pm EST and Ars reporters will be on the ground ready and waiting to bring you the full spectrum of details on the Galaxy S IV.
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The subsidiaries of the company have performed well with Quess growing almost 83 percent.
Thomas Cook reported a mixed quarter with EBITDA flat at Rs 47 crore but margin falling 90 bps at 5.4 percent versus 6.3 percent from a year ago period. The company expects EBITDA margins to exceed 6 percent in CY15. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, MD Madhavan Menon said domestic travel will continue to grow. “It grew by 63 percent last year. We expect it to grow may be by 50-60 percent,” he added.
Menon believes the subsidiaries have performed well with Quess growing almost 83 percent.
Below is verbatim transcript of the interview:
Q: The topline & earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) growth Q1 CY15 looks substantial on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis; this is also because of the acquisitions you have made and they have turned around. Sterling has reported a profit as well. How and from where has growth come this quarter?
A: If we look at the last quarter consolidated, our revenues have grown by 83 percent and EBITDA has grown by 62 percent. Now, there are certain features in this.
The revenue has grown by 24 percent, whereas Ikya has grown by about 83 percent and Sterling has obviously registered a small profit, but that is one year ahead of what we had anticipated and this has been driven by cost optimisation and variety of other measures that Sterling has undertaken. I might also add this is for the first time in 18 years that Sterling has actually booked a profit on its bottom-line.
Q: How many acquisitions has Ikya made and how have they performed?
A: They have made four acquisitions during the year and these have started contributing, two of them have started contributing and the other two are just about breaking even and they should start contributing from the first quarter of the current financial year.
Q: You said there has been some cost optimisation, but it does not reflect in margin growth, EBITDA margins have come off 90 basis points y-o-y; any reason? What is the guidance for margins in FY16?
A: If you look at the EBITDA margins, firstly, three companies deal with, their accounting is slightly different.
Secondly, in the case of Ikya, which is now known as Quess, Quess Corp has actually added companies that it acquired during the year, a couple of which needed to be turned around and so, all of them are not contributing to the bottom-line as yet. But my expectation is that during the current year, the EBITDA margin will go back up to six, in fact we are projecting internally that it will exceed six for the full year.
Q: A three-part question then, you will offer packaged tours online, how does that differentiate from the other online travel companies and where is the value add in that?
Second, how do you plan to compete with new age services like Airbnb and many such apps which essentially operate in similar business like Sterling?
And finally, with the competition pulling its socks, how do you see Sterling sustaining the growth and this performance?
A: As far as packaged holidays are concerned, the major differentiator between the companies like Thomas Cook and the online travel agencies is the fact that we do long-haul holidays, whereas most of their focus is either on components or short-haul packaged holidays.
My expectation is that we do as conventional travel agencies dominate that space. Having said that, we recognise that short-haul holidays, individual customised holidays are extremely important and if you look at our website, thomascook.in, you will see that we are increasingly selling products and these are the products that are driving the e-commerce initiative at Thomas Cook. So, that is point number one.
As far as point number two goes, regarding the arrival of Airbnb and the others in India, the reality is that India is a growing market. And if you look at our growth in the individual travel space, we are currently growing at 51 percent in the current year based on forward bookings.
I have no doubt that there is adequate space for all of us to participate. But maybe in 2016 you will see some amount of consolidation in this space with some of these players partnering with the conventional players as well as online travel agencies to sell holidays.
Third point on Sterling, what has driven the profitability and how will it sustain, there are two parts to this, firstly, their ability on cost-rationalisation to invest money and upgrade the resorts. Secondly, they have added 400 rooms to their inventory during the calendar year ended 2014. And in 2015 you can expect further addition of rooms. Earlier I said that by 2017 they will actually double the inventory of rooms and we are well on our way to achieving that.
Q: Domestic discretionary spending has been quite muted, corporate earnings are also not so good; how do you see domestic demand and corporate demand as a whole shaping up in FY16?
A: We started the year assuming that it would be a good year in the domestic business, there was a lot of demand. Suddenly Nepal, in the form of a natural calamity happened. What this has driven us all to do is to start looking at the rest of India. Geographically, India is a large country.
We have defocused away from the North for the moment till it recovers. And you will appreciate over the last four years, if you look at Northern India and Nepal, we have had four disasters in the last three years.
We are looking at hill stations in the South and this is where the presence of Sterling makes a lot of importance for us. We are going to drive a lot more traffic through Sterling especially in Central India and Southern India and Eastern India.
Domestic travel will continue to grow. It grew last year by 63 percent for us. We expect it to grow maybe in the 50-60 percent, obviously the base is bigger. So, our expectation is that domestic will grow.
As far as Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) is concerned, we started 2015 extremely well. We are seeing corporates, many of whom did not do anything in 2015 are now back in the market.
Now, I cannot honestly correlate economic sentiment with this, but we are seeing a lot of queries coming in and currently the funnel going into the third quarter and the second, third and fourth quarters look very strong.
Exclusive offer: Use code "BUDGET2020" and get Moneycontrol Pro's Subscription for as little as Rs 333/- for the first year.


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When the coronavirus pandemic was spreading across the U.S. last summer, sparking lockdowns across the country, Dan Fogerty thought his business had just been upended.
As a seller of refurbished hot tubs, the longtime Bend resident saw economic stagnation ahead, which could only mean slumping hot tub sales. His concerns were compounded by a recent move to a larger workspace, which meant higher costs to shoulder during a downturn.
Fogerty, owner of Handy Dan’s Re-Spa, need not have worried. Like many winners that emerged during the pandemic — RV rentals, bike sellers, hardware suppliers — hot tub sales have been brisk. All those remote workers need a place to unwind, and amid the quarantines and social distancing measure, crowded tubs at athletic clubs have lost their appeal.
“I sold out everything, I didn’t have any spas for a while, it was unbelievable,” said Fogerty, 60. “Everyone was saying ‘we are stuck at home, we are doing our projects at home, we can’t go to the health club anymore, so we are getting a spa.’ There was a lot of that and there still is.”
Fogerty said hot tubs sales are up 30% to 40% over last year. He said some customers buy them for therapeutic reasons, others just enjoy the hot water as a way to relax.
“I wasn’t a spa guy, it seemed like something that would require a lot of maintenance and work,” said Ron Alvarez, a Bend resident and hot tub convert. “But I gotta tell you on a cold winter night when the snow is coming down and I am sitting outside in the 104-degree temperature in the spa with a glass of wine, there is no better place.”
Re-Spa specializes in refurbishing and selling used hot tubs. Keeping them out of the landfill is a priority for Fogerty, and a selling point that he prides his business on. Most of his tubs range in cost from $2,800 to $8,000. That’s a significant difference when compared to newer tubs, that average around $10,000.
Some are vintage tubs, others are high end. Occasionally there are newer models with the bells and whistles — mini waterfalls, touchscreen controls, Bluetooth, stereos and LED lights to name a few.
“The hot tub has become like a giant speaker in your backyard,” said Fogerty.
Looking back, Fogerty is still surprised that a health quarantine drove his business higher. The $1,200 stimulus checks set out during the lockdown did help a little, he said.
Alvarez, who co-hosts a morning talk show on local radio, said he is also aware of people in Bend who bought a tub during the pandemic.
“Because of the lockdown, they got a spa as something to make their life a little bit more comfortable and pleasurable, since they’re at home a lot more often,” said Alvarez.
But another factor driving sales is the surging number of out-of-state migrants moving to Bend from the Bay Area, Seattle and other West Coast cities. Californians in particular have been good customers.
“Californians are used to having in-ground pools with a spa, so when they come here one of the first things they want is a spa,” said Fogerty, who himself migrated to Central Oregon from San Diego 30 years ago.
Tobin Dresser, a sales associate at Oregon Hot Tub in Bend, agreed that a lot of the new business comes from the explosion of new homes in Central Oregon. Sales are up 50% this year at his store.
“We’ve been riding the (real estate) wave,” he said.
While 2020 has proven unexpectedly good for business, it wasn’t without its challenges. There were factory closures and supply chain disruptions that stalled hot tub production, plus the uncertainty over the economy.
While many of the factories have reopened, Dresser said demand still outpaces supply. The current wait time for a new spa is six to nine months. People who ordered a hot tub in May are receiving their purchases this month.
“Demand has not backed off,” said Dresser. “The wait time has turned some people off, but everyone is in the same boat.”
For Fogerty, most worrisome was a move in the of the pandemic to a larger industrial space after his previous location was sold and he was forced to vacate.
“When all this stuff hit I thought, Oh man, what have I done! No one is going to buy a spa if they don’t know if they will have a job,” said Fogerty. “Turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong.”


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HASC chair tells online retail giant to "get house in order" over bomb ingredients
Senior MPs want to close a legal loophole to stop online companies selling potential bomb ingredients to would-be terrorists.
Senior MPs want to close a legal loophole to stop online companies selling potential bomb ingredients to would-be terrorists. Commons Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) chair Yvette Cooper has called on Amazon to “get its house in order” as the mother of Manchester bomb victim Olivia Campbell-Hardy accused the firm of lacking morals. Ms Cooper said Amazon needed to recognise that it has a “social responsibility”, adding that the idea it “could be making it easier for people to put together dangerous explosives is very shocking”. Charlotte Campbell, 36, who lost 15-year-old Olivia in the Manchester blast, said: I think on¬line marketplaces like Amazon and eBay have a moral responsibility to prevent bomb ingredients getting into the wrong hands. An investigation by Channel 4 has reportedly found that the online retailers algorithm may actually be encouraging online extremism. Some Amazon customers buying innocuous products like cooking ingredients received frequently bought together prompts for items like ball bearings, which could be combined with the cooking products and used as shrapnel for an explosive device. Other suggested items included thermite, a pyrotechnic combination of metal powder and metal oxide. The UK has no laws at the moment to prevent companies marketing sales of such products but the Government has issued guidance to business owners on buying and selling explosives and restricted chemicals, however, these limitations do not yet apply to online stores. In a statement, Amazon said it was reviewing its website to ensure that all products are presented in an appropriate manner. We will work closely with the police and law enforcement agencies should circumstances arise where we can assist investigations, the statement continued. Criticism of online stores comes just days after a crude explosive, wrapped in a plastic bag concealed in a bucket, exploded at Londons Parsons Green Tube station. It was the fifth major terror attack in England this year. Meanwhile, the teenager accused of carrying out the Parsons Green bombing bought some of his deadly ingredients on Amazon, a court heard. Ahmed Hassan, 18, is accused of attempting to kill Londoners on a packed District Line Tube train with a home-made bomb contained in a bucket hidden inside a Lidl carrier bag. He allegedly bought parts to make the improvised explosive device (IED) online and left the carriage of the District Line train at Putney Bridge, before the device partially detonated at the next station on September 15. Witnesses told how a fireball erupted inside the carriage, leaving 30 people injured, including one woman with serious burns. Mr Hassan, of Cavendish Road, Sunbury-on-Thames in Surrey, was arrested at the port of Dover at 7.50am on September 16 by counter-terrorism officers, causing Europe`s busiest ferry hub to be evacuated. The teenager, whose parents are understood to have been killed in Iraq, was in the foster care of Penelope and Ronald Jones, aged 71 and 88 respectively, who previously received MBEs from the Queen for services to children and families. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday (September 22) to face charges of attempted murder and using the chemical compound TATP to cause an explosion that was likely to endanger life. He spoke only to give his name, date of birth and address, and was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on October 13. Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Cressida Dick told LBC on Friday it was a very, very dangerous bomb. It partially detonated. It had a large quantity of explosive and it was packed with shrapnel. It could have been so much worse.


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LONDON traders yesterday set aside concerns over the Scottish referendum result and reacted positively to European Central Bank moves to strengthen Eurozone lenders.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up 38.39 points, or 0.57 per cent, at 6,819.29 points.
Low-cost airline EasyJet’s shares rose 0.45 per cent to 1,344p after it announced that it would increase its dividend when it presents annual results in November.
Shares in fashion chain French Connection plummeted 13.75 per cent to 60.38p, despite a further narrowing in losses in the retailer’s half-year results.
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 were TUI Travel up 4.66 per cent at 384p, Barratt Developments up 3.01 per cent at 403.80p and Travis Perkins up 2.54 per cent at 1,697p.
The biggest fallers were Randgold Resources down 2.55 per cent at 4,430p, Tullow Oil down 2.35 per cent at 665.50p, Fresnillo down 1.94 per cent at 782.50p and SABMiller down 1.12 per cent at 3,537p.


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Meghalaya bans fish import for 15 days after tests reveal formalin content
The state government’s notification stated that distribution, storage and sale of fresh fish treated with formalin or other unpermitted preservatives render the articles “unsafe”.Updated: Jul 23, 2018 22:49 IST
Hindustan Times, Shillong
The Meghalaya government on Monday imposed a 15-day ban on the import and sale of fish from outside the state after laboratory tests detected traces of formalin in some imported fish and warned of heavy fines and imprisonment if the order is flouted.
Recently Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Goa and Kerala had banned imports of fish from other states after traces of formalin were found in imported fish.
“…the storage, distribution or sale of fresh fish or crustaceans brought from outside the state is hereby prohibited for a period of 15 days in the interest of public health or till corrective measures are taken with effect from the date of issue of this notification,” read a notification signed by PW Ingty, state additional chief secretary who is also the commissioner of food safety.
“Non-compliance of this notification will attract imprisonment up to seven years and fine up to Rs 10 lakhs as provided under Section 59 (iv) of the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006.”
It said that out of 19 samples, two tested positive for formalin as per the analysis report of the Food Analyst to the Government dated July 20. Formalin is a carcinogenic chemical normally used to preserve cadavers. Formalin is not included in the government’s list of permitted preservatives for food.
The notification also stated that distribution, storage and sale of fresh fish treated with formalin or other unpermitted preservatives render the articles “unsafe” under Section 3(1)(zz)(v) of the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006.
The decision also came following reports that samples taken from fish markets in Ri Bhoi District revealed formalin content. The onsite test was conducted by a team of experts led by officials from the food and safety and fisheries department at Nongpoh, the district headquarters of Ri Bhoi.
Sources said test reports confirmed formalin content in fish sold in Nongpoh market. One of sample of fish tested positive for the carcinogenic substance.
Recently, health minister AL Hek had said that the state government would not ban such import since samples sent to the State Public Health Laboratory, Assam, Guwahati, had tested negative for formalin.
First Published: Jul 23, 2018 21:35 IST


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YWCA holiday event brings holiday cheer to many
SALT LAKE CITY — YWCA Utah’s aonnual “Candy Cane Lane” is under way. The special holiday gifting event runs from Dec. 14-18 from 2-6 p.m. The pop-up store, located downtown at 322 East 300 South, benefits families living on campus at the domestic violence crisis center and transitional housing.
One dozen local businesses have joined donors with new, in-kind donations totaling nearly $100,000. Funds raised will provide the more than 250 women and children living at the YWCA Utah with some winter essentials. Besides coats, gloves, hats, socks and underwear, holiday gifts like family game night baskets, new toys and even treats for pets will be given out.
Additional details include a $50 gift certificate for each family, one large toy and two small toys for every child and stockings filled with “goodies for all.” A Sub-for-Santa approach is being utilized with families writing out wish lists for shoppers to fill from donated items.
Approximately 5,000 items will be staged at the pop-up store. For those unable to make it in person, Facebook and Instagram options are also available at YWCA Utah.
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The latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that UK retail sales are growing at the highest level since May 2004 – predominantly driven by online sales.
Retail sales volumes have grown robustly in April, according to the ONS. Compared to the same month a year ago, the quantity of goods bought in the retail industry was 6.9% higher in volume terms, the fastest year-on-year growth since May 2004.
In April, three out of the four main retail sectors (food stores, non-food stores and non-store retailing) saw a year-on-year increase in quantity bought. The fourth sector, petrol stations, saw a fall of 0.7%.
The best performer was non-store retailing, primarily internet sales, where sales volumes grew by 25.1% over the past 12 months. The second fastest growing was department stores, where quantity bought increased by 9.2% compared to the same month a year ago.
Commenting on the figures, John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, said: "These are the fastest volume growth rates seen since 2004 and suggest that the wider consumer recovery remains on track. These positive trends reflect a recent return to positive real income growth as well as rising confidence on the back of increased housing wealth."
He added: "Internet sales were running at a rate of over £700 million a week during April and now account for around 11% of all sales. The consumer is going digital across an increasingly broad area of their spending, so retailers that fail to put in place an effective business strategy for the digital age will continue to suffer."
David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: "This is good news, and supports our belief that the UK economy saw continued growth in the second quarter of this year. However, the UK recovery still needs to become more balanced. Although consumer spending should remain an important part of overall growth, exports and investment should make a greater contribution or there is a chance the recovery could stall."
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Globally, no country regards its premium OTT video market as mature, with even advanced ones seeing themselves as moving from a fast growing to plateauing stage.
Reviewing the findings of a White Paper for Nagra Kudelski produced by MTM, Jon Watts, co-founder and director MTM, said that nascent OTT markets such as Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa and Turkey had few if any OTT services available, being hampered by such factors as poor broadband availability.
Accelerating OTT markets, on the other hand, included Australia, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, Russia and the UAE. Along with advanced OTT markets such as France, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, the UK and US, they currently fell into the ‘fast growing’ category and would within three years start to plateau. None, however, were expected to reach the consolidation stage.
The average number of OTT launches expected per territory over the next three years was five in both nascent and accelerating OTT markets, while in advanced ones it was three. At the same time, growth in industry investment expected over the next three years was 75%, 70% and 60% respectively.
With new premium OTT launches over the next three years, respondents felt that 25% would be provided on a standalone basis from pay-TV basis. Linear pay-TV services delivered to hybrid platforms would account for 23% and ones from broadcasters 19%. However, the most (28%) would be standalone without pay-TV backing.
Significantly, the availability of rights to a greater range of content was seen as the most important key enabler of growth in the supply of premium OTT services in advanced markets. However, greater confidence in anti-piracy technology was one of the main factors in such regions as CEE.
Looking at key enablers, the paper noted that growth was impeded by demand-side barriers such as lack of consumer willingness to pay for OTT content in some markets. These included Brazil, Italy, Germany, France and Russia.
It also said that 67% of respondents see partnering with third party premium OTT providers as an important opportunity of their business.
The research for the White Paper, entitled Profiting from the OTT explosion: opportunities for pay-TV providers, took the form of an online survey of 90 senior industry participants from 31 countries in Europe, North America, North and South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It also involved in-depth interviews with a cross-section of industry participants.


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The Fiji Rugby Union is still hopeful of attracting a major sponsor in time for the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in less than five weeks.
The Union is also waiting on one final payment from the 1-point-7 million US dollars promised by the interim government at the start of the year.
The bulk of that amount was finally released last month but just under 230 thousand dollars remains outstanding.
The FRU's Acting Chief Executive, Pio Bosco Tikoisuva, says the government funds are being used to pay for the players' allowances and accommodation but more money is still needed.
"We're still talking with them on the actual release of the balance. We're hopeful we'll be getting it soon. We've still got the outfits and also some of the other areas in which the other sponsors have come in like water and drinks and all those other things. Also that we are trying to get extra technical people that we have to get in in some specific areas."
Pio Bosco Tikoisuva says the FRU also remains hopeful that army lock Leone Nakarawa will be allowed to be travel to New Zealand as part of the country's world cup squad.


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Recent PRESS RELEASES
Former Salesforce Product Executive Amruta Moktali Joins Skyflow as Chief Product Officer
Developer-focused Product Management Leader Who Launched Salesforce Einstein Platform and Microsoft Search Engine Joins Skyflow to Shape Data Privacy Architecture
Today, Skyflow announced Amruta Moktali, an experienced product leader with successful stints at Cleo, Salesforce, Topsy Labs, and Microsoft, has joined Skyflow as Chief Product Officer. Moktali will lead all product and design of Skyflow’s data privacy vault for enterprise, fintech and healthcare companies.
Moktali’s appointment is in response to the company’s rapid growth in demand since emerging from stealth last summer and raising Series A funding in December. She joins an experienced executive team that includes founder and CEO Anshu Sharma, a former executive at Salesforce and Oracle, co-founder at ClearedIn and Suki, and investor at many companies including Workato; and recent hire CMO Paul Kopacki, former Heroku CMO.
Skyflow’s approach to PII, payments, and healthcare data radically simplifies how companies manage, access, and govern their sensitive data. The zero-trust data vault with an elegant API allows developers to focus on rapidly building applications and workflows, while Skyflow takes care of data security, privacy, and compliance with data regulations. Skyflow data privacy vaults support most industry use cases out of the box. Each vault is fully compliant with standards like PCI, PHI and HIPAA. Skyflow helps developers ship products in weeks rather than months or years.
Prior to Skyflow, Moktali held executive product leader roles at a number of software companies including CPO at Cleo, the family benefits platform; vice president of product management for Salesforce’s Einstein AI analytics platform; and Topsy Labs, a company that pioneered search and analytics on social data. She also served as senior product manager at Microsoft, where she led a key part of the Bing search engine team.
“Ensuring data privacy is a real pain point when building products,” said Amruta Moktali. “Security and compliance requirements can bring everything to a grinding halt and delay delivery for months, if not years. Skyflow’s data privacy vault solves the privacy problem at the core, so that developers can bring innovative products to market faster.”
“Data functionality and security go together. Yet, developers rarely have had the tools to get security right,” said Anshu Sharma, CEO and co-founder of Skyflow. “Amruta’s extensive knowledge of modern software development will help us continue to seamlessly integrate privacy in product development and drive new efficiencies in data security policy and governance to benefit enterprise, fintech and healthcare customers.”
For additional information, see Amruta’s perspective on the Skyflow blog.
View source version on Business Wire.


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Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Nkechi Blessing and VeryDarkMan fight dirty on Instagram after advertising a skincare product, Dorinda.
According to information, VeryDarkMan, called out Nkechi Blessing Sunday for promote another skincare brand, Dorinda, while having filter in the video.
According to VeryDarkMan, he said that Dorinda doesn’t have NAFDAC number, nor is it registered by NAFDAC.
His statement immediately made Nkechi Blessing on her ringlight and phone to beef with VeryDarkMan.
In another news, The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed Igbinoba Jennifer’s office, Jenny’s Glow in Abuja.
In a video that surfaced online, officials of the agency were allegedly sealing the office because her range of skincare products are allegedly not registered with the Agency.
It was alleged that she was using a fake NAFDAC registration number to sell her products.
“They found out she generated the NAFDAC number she’s been using and she isn’t approved by the,” he said.
This development is coming a few weeks after the beauty entrepreneur had an altercation with one of her clients, who called her out on social media for allegedly selling fake products that damaged her skin.
A lady, Amaka Duru, also known as Amaka Gurl, took to TikTok to call Igbinoba out. She made a video and accused the entrepreneur of selling fake products.
Amaka was allegedly whisked away by policemen from her parent’s house because she called the entrepreneur out.
Igbinoba was later called out by Amaka’s sister for allegedly arresting her sister. She laid curses on the entrepreneur and warned her that nothing must happen to her sister.
Nigerians have taken to social media to react to a video of a man identified as Verydarkman1 on TikTok who claimed the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), a federal agency under the Federal Ministry of Health, has sealed a cosmetics business, Jennys Glow, in Abuja. According to the man, the cosmetics business was sealed after it was discovered that the NAFDAC number being used was not approved by the agency.


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Columbia Records and HBO announced Tuesday that a Game of Thrones soundtrack is on the way. In celebration of the highly-anticipated final season of the epic series, the album named For The Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones) is set for worldwide release on April 26.
This is first time HBO has partnered up with a major label to curate a soundtrack specifically for the series, which will feature brand new songs from artists like Travis Scott, SZA, The Weeknd, Ellie Goulding, Mumford & Sons, and The Lumineers, among many more.
Check out the complete list below:
Chloe X Halle
Mumford & Sons
Rosalía feat. A.CHAL
Ty Dolla $ign
Game of Thrones returns April 14 at 9 p.m. HBO.


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iRevo Launches Gold Scheme For Partners
—CT News Bureau
Mumbai, 2 Sept: iRevo Multimedia, founded in Silicon Valley and now firmly focused on the India market, announced “iRevo Gold Magic” scheme for its channel partners. This follows the announcement of Redington India as a National Distributor and availability of iRevo Smart devices range, namely Smart TV and Smart PC in India.
Rajan Sharma, Vice President of Sales at iRevo, said, “We believe that Channel Partners will play a very important role in our Go-To-Market strategy and will be our long term associates in distributing and promoting iRevo Smart devices to consumers. In today’s time the margins in traditional & legacy products have become wafer-thin or almost non-existent. iRevo is bringing in a unique opportunity to our partners to remain engaged with consumers via new generation of products & solutions targeting IT segment, Consumer Electronics, ISPs & Telecom operators. The scheme has been launched to appreciate the efforts and to reward our partners. Under this performance based scheme, iRevo partners can earn up 80 grams of Gold”.
Speaking further Sharma said, “Our partnership with Redington speeds up our access to markets all across the country. We are getting excellent response from the consumers. To keep the scheme simple, recognition incentive is applicable on all models of iRevo Smart TVs & Smart PCs”.
The scheme is available on qualified purchases from Redington for the period starting 1st August, 2015 to 31st October, 2015. iRevo now has direct presence at Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur , Punjab, Himachal , J & K, Delhi NCR, West Bengal & North East, Andhra Pradesh, Talengana, Kerala, Karnataka & Tamil Nadu.


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Apple has announced a dedicated fund to help supplier employees enhance skill sets. The Cupertino-based tech giant’s $ 50 million supplier employee development fund will allow Apple to offer educational tools with supplier partner companies, with programming initially available in China, the US, India, and Vietnam.
Thousands of employees will benefit from the program in India. Apple will offer them leadership training for local supervisors, automation training to gain technical expertise for not just existing technology but also future manufacturing requirements. The training will take place around the year and enable employees to add certified skills to their CVs and help advance their roles in the company’s higher rungs.
“These new initiatives build on Apple’s long-standing commitment to invest in the people in its supply chain and drive manufacturing best practices around the world,” Apple said in a blog post.
Also Read | This new token-powered social media network wants to end the skepticism around cryptocurrency in India | EXCLUSIVE
“To date, Apple’s supplier employee educational programming has reached more than 5 million people.”
By 2023, Apple aims to provide leadership training to 100,000 supplier employees apart from technical certifications on coding, robotics, and advanced manufacturing fundamentals, such as green manufacturing.
“As part of its Supplier Code of Conduct, Apple requires all suppliers to provide their employees with training on their workplace rights. To date, over 23 million people across Apple’s global supply chain have received critical worker rights training, ”Apple said.
As part of the $ 50 million commitment, Apple is also working alongside supply chain partners to amplify worker voice, including support for worker rights programs under the International Labor Organization for employees in the electronics sector. It is also lending support to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to expand rights training and scale its labor recruitment tools.
Also Read | Facebook Messenger gets ‘Shortcuts’ to allow users to send silent messages with commands
“We put people first in everything we do, and we’re proud to announce a new commitment to accelerate our progress and provide even more opportunities for people across our supply chain,” Sarah Chandler, Apple’s Senior Director of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation , said in the blog.
“Together with rights advocates and education leaders, we are continuing to drive new innovation to support people and the planet.”


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Rhetoric south of the border about tariffs on Mexican imports continues apace.
Current plans call for a five-per-cent tariff to be slapped on all goods entering America from Mexico, including cars and trucks.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Furthermore, top brass say they want to increase the levy by a further five per cent each month, topping out at 25 per cent in October.
What does this have to do with us in Canada? Plenty, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
They represent Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru and Mitsu, plus the luxury brands of those automakers. And they warn that small cars like the Fit and Yaris could be affected by the tariffs.
According to a spokesperson for the association, in a conversation with Automotive News Canada , tariffs can impact Mexican-made cars heading to Canada a couple of different ways. In one case, vehicles could be shipped to Japanese subsidiaries in the U.S. and then re-sold to Japanese automakers in Canada. Otherwise, they’d be shipped through America into our country directly.
Either way they get here, one thing’s easy to understand: the tariff cost will almost surely be passed on to consumers. While it’s likely the tariff will be applied to some other calculated number rather than the final MSRP, it could still make for an unpleasant price hike. Adding 25 per cent to the sticker of a base Honda Fit, for example, would add about $4,000 to its $15,590 asking price.
A good many light trucks are also assembled in Mexico, vehicles which bear a much higher cost than the Fit. Tacking a 25 per cent surcharge onto a $50,000 pickup jacks the sticker to $62,500. Again, we know these tariffs, should they come into effect, will likely not go right on top of the MSRP.
Still, these examples make the stark point that many vehicles could become a heckuva lot more expensive – and that car buying activity will probably stall – until cooler heads prevail.


text: what is a non profit business For a long time, the wine produced by this figure was mainly sold in the domestic market. But in recent years, the downturn in Brazil's domestic market has led to a shift in the direction of hong winemakers abroad. China, a big consumer of red wine, is a natural focus. Although Brazilian wines have a short time to enter China, the country's total exports to China reached nearly 200,000 bottles last year alone. China has become the second biggest export destination for Brazilian wines. Diego beto, he said, "we expect the amount of wine exports to China this year will be around 34% year-on-year growth, you can see in the Chinese market at least six wines from our brand. Miolo, for example, has opened seven stores in China. Our development in China is the fastest, and not only is the market open, but the consumption view of wine is rapidly emerging." The fund's managing director Christine Lagarde said Christine Lagarde, in June 2016, voted to leave the European Union has an impact, the British economic growth this year and in other parts of the world economic growth. Above all, they can avoid meddling in parliamentary politics, as the ECB did when Italy's silvio berlusconi government collapsed in 2011. Then they can lower their heads and hope for the best. Subconsciously creating space to create diversity and inclusiveness - we have just entered the era of blockchain and are still working on this technology. The creators in this field are younger and mostly white men. This is not conducive to creating an attractive environment for more diverse people, and diversity is needed to develop powerful global products. Giant in the core technology to set up in zhejiang Quzhou City, mainly through the investment or acquisition electronic chemical materials realize the endogenous development of industry and through the integration of domestic and foreign excellent electronic materials enterprises implement denotation expansion. In the establishment of giant core technology help the company to seize electronic chemical material industry development opportunities and gather the development resources, accelerate the process of product localization and industry overtaking corners, and achieve the transformation and upgrading of the enterprise and the sustainable development, realize sustainable return on investment.


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Remember gDocsBar (download), that handy Firefox extension we checked out a few months back? It got a pretty neat update today that lets you do things that might not have been originally intended for Google's Documents and Spreadsheets service. The first is called Webclips, which is a fancy way of saying automatic copy and paste. If you find a big chunk of content you like, you can simple copy it, then drag it into the toolbar. gDocsBar will create a new document out of whatever you've highlighted, and preserve, as much as possible, the formatting and links.
The … Read more
We asked Chris Heatherly, vice president of technology and innovation, Disney Consumer Products, The Walt Disney Co., to answer a set of questions--and he took the time to dive a little deeper.
How do you define "innovation"? My favorite quote about innovation is one where Steve Jobs was asked how they systematize innovation at Apple and he said "We don't. We hire good people." I think a lot of talk about innovation amounts to a lot of dancing about architecture. People get caught up in trying to have an innovative "process" instead of … Read more
Attention, employers: buying larger computer monitors for your workers might help them get more work done.
That's according to a study done by researchers at the University of Utah. They tested how long it took people to edit documents and copy spreadsheet information over an 8-hour period, meant to represent a typical work day. Three different setups were used: a computer with an 18-inch monitor, one with a 24-inch monitor, and one with two 20-inch monitors. (Note: The study was commissioned by NEC, which produces monitors, but the lead researcher said it didn't matter what type of monitor … Read more
Regular readers of this blog know that I don't believe that Google Apps is a viable alternative to Microsoft's Office.
While Microsoft is not releasing a completely online version of its Office on Tuesday, it is releasing Office Live Workspace, an online-collaboration tool for Office that works in cooperation with the desktop application suite.
Workspace enables users to view documents online, even if their computer doesn't have Office installed. However, if they want to make edits, they have to download it and make changes in the appropriate Office application.
For users who have Office installed on their … Read more
That's a relief. It turns out that fellow Craver Josh Lowensohn really did have a legitimate reason for all those sudden gestures at his desk.
As it turns out, it was all born from an enthusiasm for virtual-reality gear made by 3Dconnexion that's apparently well founded: A higher-end version of the mouse he wrote about last May has been awarded this year's iF Product Design Award at the CeBit trade show in Hanover, Germany, "in recognition for its ergonomic and innovative design." The manufacturer, which is a subsidiary of Logitech, says the "SpaceExplorer" … Read more
Oh, the humanity!
Fuel cell maker Angstrom Power and cell phone maker Motorola have teamed up to create a prototype mobile phone that runs on a hydrogen fuel cell. Hydrogen is produced--by cracking water molecules--with a desktop fueling station and then inserted into a metal hydride storage container on the phone, says Aron Levitz, manager of business development for Angstrom. When the hydrogen molecules pass through a membrane in the fuel cell, electrons are stripped away and get diverted to run the phone.
The two companies are trotting the phone to various trade shows. Start-up Angstrom has received investments from … Read more
Microsoft has renamed its enterprise health care business to something with a whole lot fewer Scrabble points.
The software maker said the Azyxxi product line, which Microsoft acquired in July 2006, will now be known as Amalga.
"One of the health care enterprise's biggest issues is that providers and executives can't access patient information when, where and how they need it," Microsoft health unit general manager Steve Shihadeh said in a statement. "Microsoft's Amalga products offer proven solutions that bring together information from across the health care enterprise into one, easily accessible view. In … Read more
We're kicking the series off with Manoj Kothari, founder and managing director of Onio Design, one of the leading design and innovation consultancies in India. A graduate of IIT Bombay and the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, Manoj orchestrates trend research, strategic consulting, and design management practice at Onio. Manoj … Read more
Jan Chipchase, a researcher for Nokia, observes how small things are likely to spread more rapidly than big ones, resembling ideas rather than things:
"Today we're comfortable with the rapid dissemination of information and ideas from one side of the globe to the other. What's in Tokyo today can be in Tehran tomorrow and vice versa. When physical things reach a certain size -- being pocketable seems about right, their ability to be picked up and moved around increases considerably. All things being equal small objects much like ideas, travel further, travel faster. They are put into … Read more


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Alcohol to Go, Wine in Grocery Stores: NY’s Newest Alcohol Rules
Recent changes in New York's alcohol laws have some drinkers scratching their heads and wondering what's legal and what isn't.
During the Pandemic alcohol rules went out the window in New York State. those who think back to 2020 probably remember picking up margaritas at their favorite restaurant and getting home delivery of their favorite local beer. The need to keep people happy during one of the darkest times in their lives meant that the alcohol had to keep flowing.
In New York, then-governor Cuomo relaxed many alcohol rules making it easier for residents to drown their sorrows while hunkering down in their homes. As the pandemic began to become less scary, residents got used to some of these alcohol policies and urged the state to keep them going, even after the pandemic was over.
Alcohol To Go
To the dismay of many drinkers, the emergency regulation that made it legal to order alcohol to go lapsed in June of 2021. Last year, Governor Hochul added a provision to the 2023 budget that brought the popular service back, making it once again legal for restaurants to offer to-go drinks as long as customers also ordered a "substantial" food item.
The law is set to expire, however, in 2025 unless lawmakers renew it.
Wine in Grocery Stores
Don't you think it's kind of strange that you can buy bottles of beer in a New York grocery store, but not wine? Governor Hochul seems to think so and has indicated that she intended to change regulations to make it easier to purchase wine.
Many were expected to see a new law allowing grocery store wine sales in New York's 2024 budget, but that hasn't happened. Liquor store owners, who are still upset about restaurants being allowed to sell mixed drinks to go, have been vehemently opposed to giving up exclusive rights to selling wine as well. It appears those complaints have caused Hochul to delay proposing any legislation about wine, although she says she's still dedicated to overhauling many of New York's outdated alcohol regulations.


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MasterCard International today announced strong performance results for the first three months of 2004, demonstrating continued growth across almost all regions and in key measures of success in the payments industry. Reflecting improving global economic activity, total purchases on MasterCard credit and debit cards rose 13.6% in the first quarter, with each region reporting double-digit growth.
"The year is getting off to a strong start for both MasterCard and our customers," said Robert W. Selander, MasterCard President and CEO. "We have seen an increase in worldwide purchase growth in every region, reflecting the improving global economy. Compared to the same period in 2003, all regions of MasterCard experienced double-digit growth in purchases, including Asia/Pacific, which is turning around after a challenging year in 2003."
Performance highlights for the first three months of 2004, in addition to purchase volume, include:
-- Cardholders across the globe used MasterCard-branded cards (excluding Maestro(R) and Cirrus(R)) for over 3.7 billion transactions, generating gross dollar volume (GDV) of $331.9 billion, an increase of 8.4% over the same period in 2003. GDV includes both purchase and cash volume;
-- MasterCard's almost 25,000 customer financial institutions around the world had issued more than 627.5 million MasterCard-branded cards, a 6.6% increase over first quarter 2003.
MasterCard's strong growth in the first three months of 2004 was fueled by growth in both credit and debit programs. GDV for worldwide credit and charge programs grew 8.9% to $270.1 billion, and GDV for offline debit programs rose 6.7% to $61.7 billion over the same period in 2003. Gross transactions for credit and offline debit programs increased by 10% in 2004 compared to the first quarter in 2003.


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The 15th Finance Commission will hold a meeting with its economic advisory panel on Friday to discuss issues of GDP growth, GST compensation and fiscal consolidation.
Chairman N.K. Singh and the members of 15th Finance Commission will hold a day-long meeting with the Economic Advisory Council of the Commission on Friday, an official statement said.
The topic of the meeting is ‘Final discussion on GDP growth, tax buoyancy of the Centre and the States, GST compensation , revenue deficit grant and fiscal consolidation’, it added.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of India’s GDP growth contacting 23.9% in April-June quarter. In the corresponding quarter of last financial year, the Indian economy had grown at a rate of 5%.
Besides, fiscal deficit has already crossed budget estimates at the end of July.
The Centre’s fiscal deficit during April-July stood at ₹8.21 lakh crore or 103% of 2020-21 budget estimates of ₹7.96 lakh crore.
The issue of GST compensation payable to states would also be discussed in the meeting.
The Centre has given two options to the states -- to borrow either from a special window facilitated by the RBI or from market -- to meet the ₹2.35 lakh crore GST shortfall, and has also proposed extending the compensation cess levied on luxury, demerit and sin goods beyond 2022.
The compensation due to the states in April-July period stood at ₹1.50 lakh crore.


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Over the course of 2015, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo and McLaren have all set or are anticipating new sales records.
In conjunction with the Dubai Shopping Festival, the developer is promising free models of the BMW 730i, BMW X6 and Lamborghini Huracan…
German automaker BMW will share its automotive vision of the future at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, and the inside of the new i8 Spyder.
Behold the shortlist of nominees for European Car of the year 2016, released ahead of the awards ceremony on February 29 at the 2016 Geneva Motorshow.
After the news of Porsche’s all-electric planned offering, the Internet is abuzz with news of more design-forward green vehicles, this time from BMW.
BMW has announced that it will present its “BMW 7 Series Lounge” at the 2015 Frieze Art Fair.
A new 355bhp version of BMW’s smallest crossover coupe is about to hit the road and it’s gunning for the Porsche Macan.
German car maker BMW will be showcasing its BMW Concept M4 GTS to the world for the first time at the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach.
Viewers of a June 10 public livestream will see the German manufacturer unveil its new flagship vehicle, the BMW 7 Series.
A wild BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage tribute to the wonder 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’ will be revealed at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este later this month.
BMW says the refreshed 3-Series brings a sharper design, more advanced technology and cutting-edge engines.
A woman stunned staff at a car showroom in China by making a payment for a new BMW 730Li using 100,000 yuan in one-yuan banknotes.
The BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sportscar has been named as the UK Car of the Year for 2015.
German automakers BMW and Mercedes said Friday they attained record sales in 2014, their fourth in a row, driven by rising demand in all regions.
With BMW’s Remote Valet Parking Assistant may you never have to set foot in a parking garage again: The car should find a place to park on its own!
The replacement for the popular BMW 1 Series Convertible has been revealed and it’s called the 2 Series Convertible.
BMW has announced plans to offer an i8 Concours d’Elegance Edition at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
To celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2016, BMW could launch a new and improved edition of its i8 hybrid coupe.
BMW has announced the launch of its front-wheel-drive people mover, BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, in September.
BMW said Wednesday it will increase the number of models it builds in China from three to six in the coming years to meet growing demand.


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Despite the recent economic slowdown across Asia the potential for future growth in consumer spending offers opportunity when it comes to commercial real estate, especially for sectors such as industrial and retail.
The rise of the consumer class in Asia has come in part thanks to rapid growth rates in gross domestic product (GDP). China is expecting 7.8 percent growth this year and next, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. Excluding Japan, Asia is projected for 6.3 percent this year and 6.6 percent in 2014.
On the one hand, those are numbers that have fallen short of expectations. All eyes are on China, which is undergoing an industrial restructuring. The country is closing over-producing factories to stamp out price wars. There are also worries of a real estate bubble. To stimulate its economy, the country has also built cities that remain virtually vacant.
Yet longer term, the strong consumer-spending growth in Asia is good news for suppliers of industrial and retail space to meet the rapidly growing middle classes, especially in first- and second-tier cities where macroeconomic forces translate to building opportunities. “Those fast-growing GDPs are creating an enormous demand for lots of new and better supply,” says Robert Taubman, chief executive officer of retail REIT Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO).
Volatility on the Upswing
All the growth has meant robust returns over time. Measured in U.S. dollars, Asian REITs delivered a total annualized return of 23 percent for the 12 months ended June 30, according to a basket of developed countries in Asia under the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Real Estate Index. That compares with roughly 14 percent for all REITs worldwide and 8 percent for North American REITs.
Buyer beware, of course, since in the short term Asian markets can be volatile. Commercial real estate total returns for China for the first six months of the year were negative 10 percent, according to the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT indices. Singapore lost 10 percent, and India dropped a whopping 34 percent. But the upswings have more than made up for steps back. For the 12 months ended June 30, China was up 17 percent, Indonesia was up 46 percent, Japan was up 42 percent and Thailand was up 51 percent, according to FTSE EPRA/NAREIT data.
Compared with other ways to invest, Asian REITs are gaining traction. Initial public offerings and other equity capital raisings are on the drawing board.
“The performance of REITs relative to other asset classes in Asia, on a risk and risk-adjusted return basis, has been consistently superior for some years now, and especially since the financial crisis,” says Peter Mitchell, chief executive officer of APREA. “Their attractiveness, evidenced by the number of IPOs and planned offerings, looks set to continue.”
Commercial real estate in Asia has also delivered over the long term. Since the inception of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Asia Pacific Index, the annualized return mid-year for Asian REITs was 7.8 percent, versus 5.5 percent for the MSCI Asia Pacific Index.
The long-term picture tends to excite the real estate world, despite short-term hiccups. While annualized growth rates for Asian economies have been recently disappointing to some observers—due to an economic slowdown in the region—the rates aren’t bad relative to industrialized markets, notes Megan Walters, head of research for the Asia Pacific capital markets with Jones Lang LaSalle in Singapore. She compares the GDPs of Asia with the meager projections for Europe this year.
“We can look at this and say GDP was a bit disappointing in the first quarter this year across Asia,” Walters says. “But in the longer term, these are still very good growth rates.”
Industrial Class-A in Short Supply
Industrial properties have been one key beneficiary of increasing consumer demand in Asia, especially in China. What makes China so compelling for commercial real estate developers is not just its growth rate, but how it’s in the early stage of transition from an export economy to a consumer one. That means there will be a great need for investment in retail and industrial supply in the coming years.
China’s middle class, whose size now rivals the entire population of the United States, is projected 10 years from now to be in the range of 700 million to 800 million people. The country had retail sales growth of more that 14 percent in 2012 and is predicted to almost match that figure this year, according to research by Singapore-based industrial developer Global Logistic Properties Ltd. (SGX: MCO.SI). Moreover, more than 10 million people migrate to urban areas annually, according to Global Logistic (GLP). About 50 percent of the population was living in urban areas by 2011; that figure is expected to reach 70 percent by 2013.
“There is so much opportunity,” says Jeffrey Schwartz, chairman of the executive committee and co-founder of Global Logistic. “We just need to make sure we focus and execute.”
Seems like that strategy is working for GLP. It has become a major logistics player in China, with 61 million square feet of space as of March 31. The nearest competitor, China-based Blogis, had 9.7 million square feet. GLP had development starts representing about 29 million square feet for the fiscal year ended March 31, up 62 percent from the previous year. Yet, GLP’s estimated demand for space was about 75 million square feet as of mid-year. “We can only build as fast as the scale of our organization,” Schwartz says.
With GDP growth at 7.5 percent and retail sales growth around 14 percent, the country will inevitably shift towards greater consumption. Domestic consumption is about 30 percent of GDP, compared with 70 percent in the United States, Schwartz notes. So, even assuming China wouldn’t quite equal America’s consumption rate, there’s plenty of room for growth.
“There’s a long way from 30 to 60 percent—while the economy is continuing to grow,” Schwartz says. “They are shifting more towards a domestic-consumption oriented economy.”
Different Dynamics in Japan
In logistics, Japan offers a much different market than China. The country is, however, undergoing an economic renaissance under the government of Shinzo Abe, the prime minister who was elected last year. The Abe government has engaged in more monetary, fiscal and economic strategies to encourage private investment, including quantitative easing policies and devaluation of the yen—making exports cheaper for foreigners. The government’s policies, which were put into place after a new cabinet was formed last December, have been dubbed “Abenomics.”
“There are still questions marks as to whether Abenomics will work,” says Luke Sullivan, a portfolio manager for Cohen & Steers in Hong Kong. “But early stages suggest they are having a positive impact on the economy.”
More time is needed, according to Ichiro Makijima, executive managing director of the Association for Real Estate Securitization (ARES). He says that within a few years, the total market capitalization of J-REITs could reach $100 billion, up from roughly $63 billion today. There were six IPOs worth $4.9 billion and 23 public offerings worth $5 billion in Japan from October 2012 to July of this year, he notes. “Abenomics has brought about upgrades in stock prices, but it will take some more time until the policy is reflected in the real economy and property prices,” Makijima says.
Listed Japanese real estate companies had gained 42 percent for the 12 months ended June 30, according to data from the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Real Estate Index.
Given the run-up in the Nikkei stocks of late, logistics companies have tapped the equity markets. Investors are hungry for a piece of industrial space. GLP J-REIT, set up by Global Logistic Properties, raised $1.3 billion in Tokyo last December. Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD) raised $1 billion in February, forming Nippon Prologis REIT Inc. (TSE: 3283) for logistics facilities. The J-REIT purchased 12 properties from the Prologis platform to start out.
“We see a big opportunity,” says Gary Anderson, chief executive officer of Europe and Asia for Prologis. “We like the diversity of the investor set, we like our competitive position and we think we have a really good, simple story to tell, that is, owning class-A logistics real estate long-term.”
Japan is also undergoing structural demand changes for commercial real estate. In the industrial sector, there is a big need for Class-A logistics space, which tends to be distribution centers with a horizontal footprint—one or two stories— to maximize efficiency. These facilities also have enormous floor areas, high ceilings, high load tolerances, wide column spacing and elevated berths. Multiple-story structures have wide spiral ramps for trucks. Japan, which has a large stock of older warehouses of three to five stories with only freight elevators, has a shortage of space that conforms to the growing needs of Internet retailing. Giants such as Amazon and Japan’s top online retailer Rakuten demand space that will allow for same-day delivery in major cities: distribution near population centers with efficient layouts.
It is this need for reconfiguring logistics space for e-commerce that is driving returns for industrial space, Anderson says. For its part, Prologis had 55 high-quality properties in Japan at the end of 2012. Japan also represented 25 percent of its projected development of $2.5 billion, according to a mid-year presentation from the firm.
The new paradigm is speed and efficiency for tenants.
“The only way they compete is to be close to the consumer and be in an efficient facility,” Anderson says. “We have a long runway in Japan, and it is accelerating today.”
Inquiries for distribution space at Global Logistics, for example, have increased 50 percent in terms of square footage since Abe’s election last December. Before the election, inquiries for space represented about 600,000 square feet per week, according to Schwartz. Since then they’ve averaged 920,000 square feet per week. Properties in development are leasing up fast due to placement in low-vacancy areas for Class-A space: A third phase of a property in the Tokyo area was 65-percent preleased in May right before its completion.
“We are really seeing an increase in demand in the regional centers in addition to continued strong demand in Tokyo and Osaka,” Schwartz says.
Retail Offers REITs Opportunity
With retail, consumer demand in Asia presents similar opportunity. Taubman likens the market in China to the market for malls in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.
“There is a moment in time that I would call a generational opportunity, that there is a cycle of an entirely new distribution system for goods and services being built,” Taubman says. “The window is open today and will close over time.”
Taubman Centers executives came to the conclusion about a decade ago that there would be fewer opportunities in the United States for new supply. The company had the balance sheet to consider incremental growth above what it would find at home. Now, Taubman Centers is currently building a 975,000-square-foot mall due to open in 2015 in Xi’an, a tier-two city with 8 million residents in western China, and a 1.5 million-square foot mall in Zhengzou, an economic hub in the central part of the country that is scheduled to open the same year. Both properties are joint ventures with Beijing Wangfujing Department Store, a major retailer that has a controlling interest.
In South Korea, Taubman Centers is developing Hanam Union Square, a shopping mall anchored by Shinsegue Department Store, in the city of Hanam. The city is part of the metropolitan area of Seoul and taps into its population of 24 million.
“We settled on Asia about eight years ago as the place we would see if we could make a go of it, and all the fruits of that work over long periods of time are now starting to evidence themselves,” Taubman says.
Meanwhile, Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) has exported its popular Premium Outlet concept overseas, because the tenants make up well-known brands that are appealing to middle-class Asian consumers. Simon now has 11 Premium Outlets in Asia, with eight in Japan, two in South Korea and one in Malaysia. It opened Shisui Premium Outlets in Chiba, Japan—a 230,000 square foot property—in April and Busan Premium Outlets in Busan, Korea—a 340,000 square foot site—in September.
What makes Simon’s model work overseas is, in part, its existing relationships that it can leverage with global retailers, says Stephen Sterrett, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer. More than half the stores are global brands found in other Simon outlet malls. “Having the tenants be comfortable that we can take them to various and sundry parts around the globe and have them be successful is very important,” he says.
Yet, key to success is finding local partners. Simon has joint ventures with various stakeholders. In Japan it collaborates with developer Mitsubishi Estate Co. In South Korea, Simon works with Shinsegae International Co., an apparel, cosmetic and retail company. It has partnered in Malaysia with the Genting Group, a holding company for companies in hospitality, leisure and agriculture.
“You have to have local market expertise,” Sterrett says. “When we go outside the U.S., one of the first things we look for is a very strong partner with knowledge of the local markets.”
“There are certainly people that have tried it the other way, the ‘go-it-alone strategy,’” he adds. “I think that is very hard. You have to have local market expertise.”
For U.S. REITs, resources and prudence help, too. Choose countries and continents wisely, executives say. Taubman Centers, which had a market capitalization in July of roughly $5 billion, has concentrated on Asia for its overseas exposure.
“It’s hard for a company our size to be in multiple international markets,” Taubman says. “We chose where we felt our skill would be most valued and that the long-term demographics and economics would create ongoing sustained growth for many, many years.”
With more consumers joining the middle classes in Asia and strong GDP growth rates in the years to come, the long-term focus overseas for Taubman and other players in the retail and industrial sectors has a good chance to pay off.


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The Toyota Land Cruiser Prado facelift has been launched in India starting at Rs.92.60 lakhs.
The car was showcased at this year’s Auto Expo and is the third edition of the car since it was launched back in 2009. The updates features in the car include a new hood, projector headlight and LED taillights, new fenders, grille and revised front and rear bumpers.
On the inside, the car gets a new dashboard, instruments and also gets a new 8.0-inch infotainment screen with panoramic view monitor, heated and ventilated front seats. No changes have been made as far as engine and transmission of the car is concerned.


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Willfreight Express Cargo Services was once again nominated by Kenya Airways as one of the best Cargo Agent in the Kenya, 2018.
The impeccable event was held at the KQ Headquarters on 18th Oct 2018 in a corporate event that was graced by the elite personalities in the Aviation industry; representing various companies all of which key players at the helm of the Aerospace Logistics Industry.
Willfreight Express Cargo Services was represented by the Exports Team and the Managing Director, all of whom utterly prepared to expressly epitomize the quality services the company offers to its customers.
There were different categories for the awards among them being; Live shipments cargo award, General cargo, Express cargo, Perishable cargo, Pharmaceutical cargo, Dangerous Goods name them.
Willfreight Express Cargo Services was among the top three performers that managed to scoop prized awards in the General and Pharmaceutical categories for its exclusive performance.
We derive our drive from the satisfaction of our highly esteemed stakeholders and would therefore like to appreciate KQ for the earnest recognition, warm reception and the opportunity to shine with the top notch cargo agents. Willfreight looks forward to an even more cordial relationship with Kenya Airways.
Below are some of our photos during the event;


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Signs of high street recovery fail to dash City rate-cut hopes
Friday 08 March 1996
and DIANE COYLE
There were new signs of a recovery on the high street yesterday, even as the City waited for the Chancellor to cut the cost of borrowing for the third time in four months in order to stimulate the economy.
New figures from the Confederation of British Industry and the John Lewis Partnership confirmed a pick-up in retail spending. But the CBI said signs of weakness in manufacturing justified an interest rate cut. A quarter- point reduction in base rates is widely expected this morning after yesterday's meeting between the Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke and Eddie George, the Governor of the Bank of England.
The CBI's survey of the distributive trades showed that the volume of retail sales rose for the fifth-month running in February. The momentum of spending had extended beyond Christmas and the January sales.
John Lewis recorded record profits of pounds 150m in the year to January 1996 with both department stores and the Waitrose supermarkets turning in impressive performances. This was not only 28 per cent higher than the pervious year's figure of pounds 117m but also higher than the previous record of pounds 131m achieved in the boom year of 1988/89. Sales were 9 per cent higher at pounds 2.8bn. The partnership's 35,000 staff will share pounds 57m of the profits. This means a 15 per cent bonus which is equivalent to eight weeks salary each. Though well short of the 24 per cent bonus received during the late 1980s retail boom it is double the level of three year's ago.
Stuart Hampson, chairman of John Lewis, said there were signs of recovery in the high street and the housing market, with sales of furnishings and television and audio equipment up strongly. "Something is happening," he said. "There may not be a feel-good factor but there is a `feel-not- so-bad' factor."
Comment, page 19
- 1 Rarest Beanie Baby bought for just £10 at car boot sale could be sold for £62,500 on eBay
- 2 Katie Hopkins and The Sun editor David Dinsmore reported to police for incitement to racial hatred following migrant boat column
- 3 Parma, Missouri: 80 per cent of town's police quit after first black mayor is elected
- 4 Australian student Tommy Connolly, 23, adopts his pregnant, homeless 17-year-old cousin to give her a chance at 'a better life'
- 5 Google search history can now be downloaded in its entirety, mass embarrassment expected
Rarest Beanie Baby bought for just £10 at car boot sale could be sold for £62,500 on eBay
Katie Hopkins and The Sun editor David Dinsmore reported to police for incitement to racial hatred following migrant boat column
'Jihadi John': Isis executioner Mohammed Emwazi wanted to wage jihad in Somalia until his friends were betrayed and killed by al-Shabaab
Parma, Missouri: 80 per cent of town's police quit after first black mayor is elected
Australian student Tommy Connolly, 23, adopts his pregnant, homeless 17-year-old cousin to give her a chance at 'a better life'
If I’m being racially abused I don’t need a stranger with a saviour complex to rescue me
The only black face in the Ukip manifesto is on the page about overseas aid
Ukip is the only main political party to not address LGBT rights in its manifesto
Food banks: One million Britons will soon be using them, according to Trussell Trust
Religion isn't growing, it is becoming vigorous in its demise, says philosopher AC Grayling
Katie Hopkins on LBC: Listen to caller taking The Sun columnist to task over migrant comments
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Category: World / November 28, 2012 7:28 PM EST
The smell of mulled wine known as Gluehwein and grilled sausages filled the air in Dresden's Altmarkt square on Wednesday night (November 28) as Germany's oldest Christmas market opened for the 578th time.
Thousands of people packed the center of this eastern German city to visit what locals call the "Striezelmarkt."
Bakers carried a 2012 millimeter long Striezel Christmas cake through the crowd, slices of which were then handed out for free.
Ingredients for this traditional Dresden cake include flour, sugar, butter, Jamaican rum and, most importantly, raisins.
"It's delicious, just great," said Christmas market visitor Rica Roessler who was there with her child.
With the arrival of the cold weather, Christmas markets are a familiar picture all over Germany, with vendors selling everything from handicraft to grilled sausages and mulled wine.
According to the city of Dresden, visitors this year will find 233 stalls, all arranged around a 105-year-old local Christmas tree and a wooden pyramid made in the eastern German Erzgebirge region.
Dresden's Striezelmarkt will close at 2 p.m. on December 24, just hours before Germans traditionally celebrate Christmas in the evening.
Organizers say they again expect "at least 2 million" visitors over the three-week period.


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Yahoo Groups to shut down on December 15: Reports
Verizon, which bought Yahoo in 2017, has cited "a steady decline in usage over the last several years" as the reason
Verizon has reportedly announced that it will shut down Yahoo Groups on December 15, 2020. On the day, groups.yahoo.com website will go offline, say media reports.
Verizon, which bought Yahoo in 2017, is reported to have announced the decision in message sent to Yahoo Groups users. A message has also been posted on the Yahoo Groups website.
Yahoo Groups was launched 19 years ago in 2001.
Verizon has cited "a steady decline in usage over the last several years" as the reason behind the move.For more updates, be socially connected with us on
WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & Youtube


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The country's health officials suggested the new outbreak may be linked to these frozen goods because one of the infected patients works at a store that orders such items from overseas, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Chinese officials reported similar news this week: Traces of the virus were found on frozen shrimp and chicken-wing packages imported from Ecuador and Brazil, respectively.
The municipal health commission in Shenzhen, where officials detected the contaminated chicken-wing packages, warned residents to be "cautious in buying imported frozen meat products and aquatic products in recent days," according to NBC News.
But experts maintain that the chance of catching COVID-19 from frozen food is slim.
"It is possible, but the virus is not very stable outside the human body," Caitlin Howell, a chemical and biomedical engineer at the University of Maine, told Business Insider.
She added, "freezing or refrigerating the virus can help to extend the period of time that it stays infectious, which is why we think that outbreaks at meatpacking plants were occurring so frequently, but transmission via surfaces still appears to be rare – even when those surfaces are frozen or refrigerated."
So far, the Shenzhen health commission reported that no one who's come in contact with the frozen food products tested positive for COVID-19.
You probably don't have to worry about touching frozen food
Chinese health officials have detected coronavirus on frozen packaging before. Frozen seafood packages transported by a foreign ship to Yantai had traces of virus, too, NBC News reported. (The origin of those packages is unknown.) They also found coronavirus on imported frozen foods in Dalian, Xiamen, and Pingxiang last month.
But those findings are not cause for concern, according to Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organisation's Health Emergencies Program.
"There is no evidence that food or the food chain is participating in transmission of this virus, and people should feel comfortable and feel safe," Ryan said in a press briefing on Thursday, adding, "people should not fear food, or food packaging or processing, and the delivery of food."
China has tested a few hundred thousand packaging samples and less than 10 came back positive, the WHO reported.
That's because the virus – if it winds up on such packages at all – is unlikely to survive for the time it takes to ship goods from one place to another, according to Rachel Graham, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina.
"Even frozen, on a surface like that, you'll see the virus desiccate and dry out, which renders it completely non-infectious," Graham told Business Insider, adding that the "freeze-thaw process" could kill it as well.
What's more, she said, it's likely that Chinese officials detected viral RNA on the packages, which doesn't pose a big threat.
"While RNA is virologically infectious, practically it is not," she said.
The coronavirus can persist on surfaces, but it's unlikely to make you sick
A person can get the coronavirus if they touch a surface or object that has viral particles on it then touch their mouth, nose, or eyes. The lifespan of the virus on objects depends on the type of material: One study found that it took three hours for the virus to leave tissue and printing paper, while other research suggests viral particles can live up to a day on cardboard and up to three days on plastic and stainless steel.
But the coronavirus typically spreads via airborne droplets (and likely aerosols as well), rather than shared surfaces.
"Throughout the entire pandemic so far, there has continued to be shipping of products all over the world. If transmission via surfaces – whether frozen or refrigerated or not – were a major driver of infection, we would be seeing many case reports on it," Howell said, adding, "the fact that we're not suggests that it is not a major route of infection."
Indeed, the CDC says the virus "does not spread easily" from contaminated surfaces, though the agency continues to recommend that people "routinely clean and disinfect" high-touch surfaces just in case.
Precautions to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission on surfaces
Howell and Graham both recommend that shippers and shoppers stay vigilant and diligent during the pandemic.
"The best thing that can be done by the manufacturers, shippers, and others in the supply chain is to have a strong, enforced policy of wearing masks, washing hands, and staying home when sick," Howell said.
For individual shoppers, she added, "the best thing for consumers to do is simply to avoid touching their face until they have had a chance to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer."
Your chance of touching a virus-infected surface in a public store is far, far higher than encountering the virus on frozen food, according to Graham.
"It's not something you should be concerned about, but you should continue to be aware of what you touch and then bring to your face. That's going to protect you the most," she said.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen contributed reporting to this story.
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
More from Business Insider:


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Do you constantly checking your phone for new emails, even before and after work? Even from bed? You’re not alone.
According to a survey of 1,000 working Americans by Good Technology, a firm which helps companies manage mobile devices, more than 6% of people check their phones for email for the first time before 5:00 a.m. (orange chart), and nearly 19% check them for the last time after 11:00 p.m. (blue chart.)
Looks like we’re all a little bit like Business Insider editor Joe Weisenthal, who’s always trying to stay ahead of the 24-hour news cycle.


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Binance has taken on another African country with the largest cryptocurrency trading volume in Africa after Nigeria.
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Just few weeks, after launching Binance P2P platform with the Nigeria Naira listing as the first African fiat currency on the Binance peer-to-peer exchage platform.
The world’s best trading house continues it’s ride into Africa with the addition of South African Rand markets on Binance.
Binance announced today that it’s opening trading pairs for BTC/ZAR, ETH/ZAR, BNB/ZAR, BUSD/ZAR and USDT/ZAR at exactly 2020/03/27 4:00 AM (UTC). That it few mins from the time of writing.
South Africans can now trade the South African Rand on Binance allowing them to buy and sell ZAR against world’s top cryptocurrencies conveniently.


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With the recent surge in prices and the introduction of new cryptocurrencies, it’s no surprise that many investors are looking for the best cryptocurrency investments for 2023. Cryptocurrency is an evolving market that continues to attract investors and launches people into great wealth. However, many investors have driven the wrong way while making decisions on the right cryptocurrency to invest in.
Sports news, like crypto news, provides accurate news like lines, odds, and Premier League predictions. It helps them to earn money while doing their favorite sport.
At the end of the article, you will discover the best cryptocurrencies for investment. You will also understand the technology, market capitalization, and other terms you need to understand in making decisions.
Table of Contents
Best Cryptocurrencies for Investment in 2023
Out of over 22,700 crypto projects worldwide, there are a few reliable ones that are ideal for investment. Some of these cryptocurrencies include;
The discovery of cryptocurrency started with the creation of Bitcoin by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. Since then, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been household names in the finance world. Although Bitcoin is almost two decades in age, it continues to be one of the best cryptocurrencies inspiring the creation of others at the moment.
Its decentralized ledger system (blockchain) anchors its creation, distribution, trade, and storage, unlike fiat money. Currently, Bitcoin’s market capitalization is about $451.36 billion. Analysts and experts have predicted that Bitcoin is expected to move up 300% at the end of 2023, making it capture its late 2021 highs.
In addition, Bitcoin is also expected to reach and break above $1Million at the turn of the decade. This means experts expect Bitcoin to experience a 5000% growth at the end of the decade.
With a market cap of over $200 billion, Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency and blockchain platform. It has birthed several smart contracts and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) over the past few years. Ethereum experienced a 14,754% growth from April 2016 to February 2023. According to experts, its unmatched resilience will make it peak in 2023, which is something to look out for.
Binance Coin (BNB) does not work like other cryptocurrencies. It started as a form of cryptocurrency used on Binance to make transactions. As a result of its expansion, it now facilitates trades on and off the crypto space and can even be exchanged from or into other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
From its launch date in 2017 till late February 2023, BNB has experienced a 303,157% growth. Currently, BNB is still on the bullish run and is yet to back out of it.
Tether (USDT) is a stablecoin, which means that it is designed to maintain a stable value relative to a particular asset or currency. In the case of USDT, the value is pegged to the US dollar, with 1 USDT being equal to 1 USD. USDT allows users to hold a stable value cryptocurrency without being subject to the volatility of other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Tether has a market capitalization of $70.9 Billion.
U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC)
Just like Tether, the value of 1 USD is equal to 1 USDC. However, USDC is powered by Ethereum but can be used to perform transactions globally.
XRP is a decentralized digital currency and a cryptocurrency created by Ripple Labs in 2012. It can be used to facilitate transactions and exchanges of fiat and cryptocurrencies. According to predictions from experts and analysts, XRP is expected to increase by 385.25% in 2024. It currently has a market capitalization of over $19.3 billion.
Dogecoin was created as a lighthearted alternative to other more serious cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. In recent years, it gained significant fame, becoming a widely used cryptocurrency for investments and transactions. After a huge decline it had with other cryptocurrencies in 2022, Dogecoin is set to move to be bullish in the coming years.


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Noodles and Company to Close 55 Locations – No Word if Twin Falls Included
It's never good news when a business announces it's closing stores. It especially hurts when those stores serve food. That is unfortunately the case for Noodles and Company, whose parent company has indicated it's closing 55 locations.
Here's the word from the Franchise Times:
The closures will affect roughly one in 10 of the 510 total units for the company. The company stated that many of the restaurants targeted for closure opened recently in newer markets, where its brand awareness is not as strong. The closures are expected to take place in Q1 and Q2 of 2017.
It's the "opened recently in newer markets" that is concerning as the Twin location just opened in October of 2015. I find it hard to believe that such a new store could potentially close so quickly, but I guess we'll find out soon enough.
According to the Franchise Times article, the Noodles and Company stock has not had a banner year dropping from over $10 per share to around $3 now. Ouch.
Check out the full Franchise Times article and let's hope some of our local Noodles and Company folks aren't out of a job soon.


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A Minority Report-like future is nigh, and will soon be commercially available, thanks to a new partnership between Leap Motion and Best Buy.
The motion-control software/hardware company will launch its Leap Motion Controller ($182.55 at Amazon) this spring, exclusively at U.S. Best Buy stores and online at BestBuy.com. Leap will begin taking pre-orders in February on its website.
Leap Motion's high-tech controller 3 inches long, 1 inch wide, and half an inch thick boasts a 150-degree field of view and the ability to track individual hands and all 10 fingers at up to 290 frames per second.
"Consumers expect Best Buy to have the latest connected technology and the Leap Motion Controller is a great example," Jason Bonfig, merchant vice president for computing at Best Buy, said in a statement.
Still in its infancy, Leap Motion unveiled its intense technology and tiny controller in May 2012, quickly garnering interest from more than 40,000 global developers. The company handed out 12,000 free units for developers to build the application store that will be available when the controller ships.
"Finding a major retail partner for our North American launch was a critical component to our strategy, and Best Buy was the obvious choice," Leap Motion President Andy Miller said in a statement. "Best Buy's market leadership and extensive store distribution network, combined with the product floor space and dedicated marketing promotional plans, represents an incredible opportunity to bring the Leap Motion controller to a massive consumer audience."
Prior to the Best Buy deal, the Leap Motion website was the only place to find the controller. It will continue to be sold directly from the company, for $69.99.
News of the Best Buy deal comes only two weeks after Leap Motion announced that PC maker Asus will bundle the controller with select new All-In-One PCs and notebooks, though no specific details were released.
"Leap Motion has developed an exciting technology that will truly enhance the experience our customers have with their Asus devices, opening a world of opportunity for personal use and business, from entertainment to architecture to education," said Asus's desktop division senior director, Albert Wu.
Leap emerged from stealth mode in May 2012, demonstrating its $69.99 USB peripheral running on a Mac monitor.
For more on how the Leap Motion Controller works, check out the company's video below.
For more from Stephanie, follow her on Twitter @smlotPCMag.
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ECONOMYNEXT – The European Union will launch a project this month to help strengthen Sri Lankan exports to the EU, a senior official said.
“The aim of the project is to ensure more business between Europe and Sri Lanka,” said Roshan Lyman, deputy head of the Political and Trade Section Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The eight million euro project will engage several Sri Lankan ministries, he told a forum for Danish investors interested in Sri Lanka.
The new project will cover areas like value addition to Sri Lankan exports, supply chain management and World Trade Organisation trade facilitation talks.
It will focus assistance particularly on the information technology and business process outsourcing, as well as the spices sectors, Lyman said.
“The aim is to intensify Sri Lanka’s trade with the European Union. We will fund it, and the International Trade Centre and UNIDO will implement it on our behalf.”
(COLOMBO, Nov 02, 2016)