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Festive season is just around the corner and the auto-makers in India are busy putting their upcoming models through its final testing before its take off in the market. While some of the models, which are already on the roads will go under the knife for a makeover, there are also exotic and brand new models shaping up to excite the crowd. Tata Motors is also readying a slew of models for the Indian market, which would break its cover during the festive season. As automotive landscape gets ready to welcome the new offerings, International Business Times India brings a list of cars coming out of Tata's stable.
Tata Kite 5
Tata Kite 5, the compact sedan, which is also known as Tiago sedan is based on Tiago hatchback. Tata had showcased Kite 5 in its production-spec at the Auto Expo 2016 earlier in February. The compact sedan is believed to be nearing its production stage and is expected to see the light of the day during the festive season this year.
The Kite 5 measures 3,995mm in length, 1,647mm in width and 1,535mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 2,450mm. Under the hood, the Kite 5 will come packed with a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol and 1.05-litre three-cylinder diesel motors. While the 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine will churn out 83.8bhp of power at 6,000rpm and 114Nm of torque at 3,500rpm, the all-new 1.05-litre, three-cylinder turbo-charged diesel engine will develop 69bhp of power and 140Nm of torque. Both engines will be available with multi-drive modes â€” Eco and City.
The Kite 5 will be pitched against Maruti Swift Dzire, Honda Amaze, Volkswagen Ameo and Ford Figo Aspire.
Tata is expected to bring Hexa to the Indian market in October. Hexa has been caught on camera while undergoing testing in the country since its India debut at the Auto Expo 2016.
Under the hood, Hexa will be launched with a 2.2-litre engine that is tuned to generate 154bhp of power at 4,000rpm and 400Nm of torque at 1,700 to 2,700rpm. The engine will come mated to either a six-speed automatic transmission or six-speed manual transmission.
Hexa, what is known as the copiously tweaked Aria, is expected to come with wrap-around LED tail lamps, door claddings, dual-coloured wheel arches, integrated spoiler and roof rails. Other features expected include dual hexagonal-patterned front grille with chrome accents on the front and smoked projector headlamps, fog lamps and daytime running lamps.
Hexa is expected to be priced in the range of Rs.10 lakh to Rs.15 lakh (ex-showroom).
Tata Tiago AMT
Buoyed by the success of Tiago hatchback in India, Tata Motors is gearing up to offer the automated manual transmission (AMT) in its new offering. Tiago AMT is likely to make its entry into the market around Diwali. The development of the AMT avatar of Tiago was confirmed recently through a spy shot that showed it being tested on Indian roads.
Tata, which has two AMT models in its line-up â€” the GenX Nano and Zest â€” is expected to offer the AMT box in Tiago petrol models. In the AMT model, the design and style will remain untouched and the only change will be the addition of the AMT box.
Tiago, Tata's first offering to be based on its Impact design language, is offered in both petrol and diesel engine options. It comes powered by a 1.2-litre three-cylinder Revotron petrol and a 1.0-litre three-cylinder Revotorq diesel mills. While the petrol mill churns out 83.8bhp of power at 6,000rpm and 114Nm of torque at 3,500rpm, the 1.05- diesel engine produces 69bhp of power 4,000rpm and 140Nm of torque at 1,800-3,000rpm. Both the engines come mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. Tiago claims to deliver a mileage of 23.84 kmpl for petrol and 27.28 kmpl for diesel.
Tiago is also expected to get a sporty powerful avatar and a crossover in India.


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Come in out of the cold and view hundreds of orchids in bloom. We have created a safe show to come out and get a taste of Spring!
Orchid Show and Sales - FEB 13/14 SHOW CANCELED
New Location: Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Kettering, Ohio
Previously held at Cox Arboretum MetroPark
Show and sale hours are Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. The show is free and open to the public but we are asking for a $2 donation per person which will be given to local missions.
Exhibits from several states will include hundreds of award-winning flowering orchid plants arranged in a variety of creative exhibits, clay orchids, photographs, and other orchid-related items. The show is an American Orchid Society judged show which plants judged at both the local and international level. Members of the Miami Valley Orchid Society will be on hand to answer questions about growing orchids.
Local, regional, and national vendors will offer favorite orchids for sale. Also available for purchase will be pots and potting medium.
The show is family-friendly with all ages welcome to attend.
Dayton Local publishes events in the Greater Dayton region. If you have an event to promote, click here!

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ScotHot, Scotland’s leading showcase for food, drink, hospitality, retail, and tourism, is set to return to the SEC Glasgow from 8 – 9 March 2023 following a four-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic.
Now in its 50th year, ScotHot23 offers an unmissable opportunity for guests to meet with suppliers, network with others to share ideas and inspiration, and learn about the latest trends from across the industry.
Supported by major partners including VisitScotland, Scotland Food & Drink, Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA), The Scottish Chefs, The Staff Canteen, The Caterer and Drink Think, ScotHot23 is expected to welcome an estimated 7,000 visitors over the two-day event.
With over 200 exhibitors from the food and drink, technology, catering equipment, tableware and design and many more industries to be showcased over the two days, ScotHot23 will fill the SEC with some of the biggest names in the industry already confirmed to attend: Alliance Scotland, Braehead Foods, Brakes, Compass Scotland, InStock, Lynas Foodservice, WRS Systems, Nespresso, Panasonic, Elite Contract Furniture and Welbilt to name a few.
Toby Wand, Managing Director of 365 Events, the team behind ScotHot23, said:
“We’re back, bigger and better than ever, and we can’t wait to welcome our partners, sponsors, exhibitors, and guests to ScotHot23. It is widely known how challenging the past few years have been for these industries but now we look to the future, sharing ideas, inspiration, and trends with some of the best names in the business.”
Once we’ve helped to dress the venue, we’ll be positioned at stand 650 and we’d love for you to come and say hello!
The must-attend event for all professionals in the food, drink, hospitality, retail and tourism industries is now officially open for registration. Click here to register and find out more about the event.


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On Friday the site announced a new function, called Snooze, which allows users to mute people from their timelines for 30 days without having to unfollow or delete them altogether, DAILY NEWS reports.
The option will be available through the top-right dropdown menu on every post. It can be applied to individuals, pages and groups.
Facebook believes this will give users "more say over what they see in News Feed," according to a blog post. They're also hoping it'll help "make their experience more positive."
According to Tech Crunch, Facebook will notify you when the 30 day Snooze period on a user has ended.
They've also added a tool called Take A Break, which functions similarly to the Snooze tool, but is designed to help users control how much or how little they see of an ex-partner's Facebook content. It also helps users determine how much of their content said ex can see, including future and past posts.
In their blog post, Facebook cites research that suggests "offline and online contact, including seeing an ex-partner's activities, can make emotional recovery more difficult."
It's unclear whether this function is time sensitive like Snooze, or users have to opt to undo it when they're broken hearts have healed.
Both new functions, in addition to a number of others, are set to roll out on Friday.


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NEW YORK — The airfare wiz kid who got sued by United Airlines and Orbitz is not alone in his fight.
More than 1,600 donors have contributed $33,000 on GoFundMe by Wednesday morning to pay the legal expenses of 22-year-old Aktarer Zaman, founder of the airfare advice site Skiplagged.com.
Zaman said he appreciates the financial support and “all the positive things everyone has been saying about what I’m doing.”
A computer scientist at a New York technology start-up, Zaman has become famous after media coverage of a lawsuit filed against his site by United Airlines and its travel agency partner Orbitz.
The two travel companies say he’s providing “unfair competition” and promoting “strictly prohibited” travel.
But Zaman (pictured here) said he hasn’t done anything illegal and is only helping people find cheap tickets using publicly available information.
His site Skiplagged.com finds cheap flights by using a strategy called “hidden city” ticketing. Some flights are cheaper if travelers buy tickets to a third destination with the intention of getting off at the layover airport. If travelers use this strategy, they have to buy a one-way ticket and cannot check their bags.
United is suing Zaman for $75,000 in lost revenue.
Zaman said he has no intention of shutting down his web site.
“Giving in to pressure from big corporations will be a bad precedent that I hope to avoid for as long as I can,” he said.
Zaman said he hasn’t paid legal fees yet but is worried about the potential of a big bill.
“Working with experienced lawyers who bill hourly can easily push the cost to several hundreds of thousands if this goes all the way to trial,” he said. “I’m hoping it won’t be that extreme as I definitely won’t win a battle of money.”


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It may get an earlier release in Europe, but considering the fact it was announced last August, it's still quite late.
The much-rumored iPad Pro 10.5 is expected to become official on June 5 during Apple's annual WWDC.
This is probably the most unsurprising news of the week, by quite a margin.
The device is already available across the pond in the UK, and it will interestingly be cheaper than its predecessor.
Includes system-wide beauty filters that work during live streams and an enhanced front camera.
On the similar lines, the large screen model has been codenamed 'Star 2.'
The app should help improve the phone's battery performance.
Some users in the United States are seeing PayPal as a payment option in their Android Pay app.
It's currently limited to LG's home country of South Korea, but other regions should also get it soon.
The device was launched in the US back in March this year, carrying a price tag of $599.99.
On offer is the North American variant (unlocked, Titan color) with model number RS988.
The device is said to be powered by an SoC with octa-core CPU and run Android Nougat out of the box.
A quick look at the app's Play Store listing reveals that it is now accessible to users in India, Singapore, and Turkey.
The annoying and arguably intrusive Google Home notification can now be turned off for a Google Home or Chromecast device.
Though, the only way to be eligible is if you happened to purchase the S8 or S8+ between these specified dates.
Ikea’s new lineup of smart lighting that was announced in Europe last year will be compatible with the biggest three smart home assistants.
It's now rolling out to this model after being spotted on the Galaxy Note5 yesterday.
It runs Android and was announced last October, but it's definitely not cheap.


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Microsoft Loses Online Advertising VP to Priceline Subsidiary
- By Gladys Rama
- September 27, 2011
The corporate vice president of Microsoft's Consumer & Online (C&O) business, Darren Huston, is leaving the company to become CEO of Priceline subsidiary Booking.com, Microsoft confirmed on Monday.
Huston began his eight-year tenure at Microsoft as the corporate vice president of the Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partners Group. In 2005, he became president and CEO of Microsoft Japan -- the company's "second-largest subsidiary," according to his Microsoft executive bio.
Most recently, Huston served as corporate vice president of Microsoft's C&O group, where he oversaw the online sales and marketing efforts for Microsoft's consumer products, including Windows, Bing and Windows Phone. Huston led a team that comprised about 3,000 employees in over 40 countries.
Inklings of Huston's departure from Microsoft may have been evident since April, when a reorganization of Microsoft's online advertising units effectively dissolved the C&O group that Huston led. During that reorganization, 13-year Microsoft veteran Frank Holland was named head of the newly formed Advertising & Online organization, while 17-year Microsoft veteran Chris Capossela was appointed senior vice president of Microsoft's Consumer Channels and Central Marketing Group.
As the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported at the time, Microsoft was unclear about where Holland's and Capossela's appointments left Huston. One spokesperson told the Seattle P-I that Huston would be exiting the company, while another said, "Huston may not leave Microsoft and could move to another role." At any rate, the Seattle P-I reported the spokesperson as saying "[Huston] will help Holland with the transition until the end of Microsoft's fiscal year."
The spokesperson later confirmed to the Seattle P-I that Microsoft was dissolving the C&O group.
Booking.com, Huston's new company, is a major online hotel-reservation service. In a prepared statement, Priceline President and CEO Jeffery H. Boyd said, "[Huston] is extremely familiar with the online marketing landscape and the strategies that work in different markets around the world. And his leadership of business activities in Japan and 40 other countries position him to understand the global landscape, market conditions, and growth opportunities facing Booking.com."
Gladys Rama (@GladysRama3) is the editor of Redmondmag.com, RCPmag.com and AWSInsider.net, and the editorial director of Converge360.


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It would appear the price of broadband in the rural areas of the UK could be in line to fall; this follows a ruling by the communications watchdog, Ofcom ordering BT to cut the wholesale price that it charges other broadband providers. How this will affect consumers is not yet known, it does not seem likely that ISP’s will pass these savings on!
The ruling seems to be that from August of this year to March 2014, BT must charge twelve per cent less than the headline inflation figure for that year. It should be noted that this only applies to broadband services that are up to 8 Mbps.
According to a spokesperson for the Countryside Alliance, they said that they are
“delighted” and “People living in the countryside have been left behind in the digital divide for far too long and it is vital that they have effective and affordable broadband if their rural economies are to grow and prosper,”


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September 26, 2016
Bricks-and-mortar department stores have failed to catch up to pure-play online retailer Net-A-Porter, with the ecommerce site outperforming them in online operations, according to new research from ContactLab and Exane BNP Paribas.
With added pressure from earlier moving ecommerce ventures, U.S. retailers were expected to ramp up their digital efforts to reach the same level as these digitally native retailers. While the retailers with a physical presence excel at connecting online and in-store, they fall behind Net-A-Porter when it comes to online-specific service.
"Net-A-Porter is digital native and is extremely consistent in assuring a top luxury performance in the majority of the more than 100 digital and physical touch points we have been evaluating along the online purchasing process," said Marco Pozzi, senior advisor at ContactLab. "Strangely U.S. department stores came out better on the digital touch points—in particular Nordstrom and Saks, while are average or lagging on physical touch points.
"It should not be difficult for department stores to improve packaging, fillers, documentation and overall care in order to give a more luxury and less Amazon like feeling to online customers," he said. "Of course this requires focus on the problem, and for sure additional costs."
After investigating the services of luxury brands in Milan, ContactLab has shifted its sights to the United States. “The Online Purchase Experience Ranking: From Milan to New York City” ranks 31 monobrand and five retailers based on the process of buying via ecommerce and returning items in New York.
Net-A-Porter, the only etailer in the report’s rankings, began selling luxury goods online in 2000. Its early adoption of online selling continues to pay off, with the report placing Net-A-Porter in sixth place, with its closest multi-brand competitor Saks Fifth Avenue in 13th.
Nordstrom follows at 18, Barneys New York comes in at 26th and Bergdorf Goodman comes in second to last on the entire list at 35th.
Across the entire sample, ContactLab and Exane BNP Paribas found that the variance in scores given to each brand is lesser, showing that the outliers are beginning to catch up to the more advanced digital marketers. When compared to the assessment made in Milan nine months ago, ContactLab found that the rankings were very similar for both physical and digital touchpoints.
Balenciaga, Fendi and Saint Laurent sit at the top of the rankings, reflective of the dominance of boutique labels over mega brands such as Louis Vuitton. Gucci has remained stable, while Burberry and Prada go against the trend with slight improvement.
Fendi store on Madison Avenue in New York
When comparing luxury groups, ContactLab and Exane BNP Paribas show Kering in a positive positioning as it makes improvement in online selling while other conglomerates have more mixed progress.
"Balenciaga, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta all benefit from the elite excellence in digital processes and supply chain, a clear accelerator not only in Europe and the U.S., but above all in Asia.
"Fendi, the last major luxury brand launching the ecommerce channel, has been able to engineer a superior and coherent experience on both digital and physical touch points," he said.
"The task is more difficult for mega-brand like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes, Burberry, Prada, which generally must adapt older and somehow more rigid software platforms. In addition, the pace of change in big organizations is always slower."
In New York, luxury brands’ digital experiences were generally more advanced than they were in Italy. For instance, both Tod’s and Bottega Veneta offer a quick buy option at checkout in the U.S., enabling shoppers to place an order without registering for an account, something their European online stores require.
Some key areas where brands can improve are their abandoned cart communications and packaging.
Other best practices revolve around communication throughout the order process. While most index brands provided prompt replies to customer service emails, some including Cartier and Gucci never responded.
In addition, few brands provided information about the packaging as the order was placed, a best practice outlined by the report.
Dior gift packaging
When it comes to returns, Burberry and Cartier top the rankings in service offered, and the majority of department stores rank high. Most brands institute a window for returns, with Nordstrom standing out for its unlimited time to return.
While most returns are free, some brands charge a small fee.
Ecommerce is going to be the major growth driver in the luxury industry for the foreseeable future.
Seven percent of personal luxury goods sales are made via ecommerce today, but online retail will represent 12 percent of the luxury market by 2020, according to projections from the Boston Consulting Group (see story).
ContactLab and ExaneBNP Paribas project that ecommerce’s penetration of the luxury market will be even greater, representing 15 percent of sales by 2020. In the United States, ecommerce’s position within the luxury industry was already at 12 percent in 2014, far higher than the 4 percent average across the rest of the world.
Every step in the purchase process goes into brand perception, making customer service and presentation paramount.
Consumers buying luxury goods online are more apt to pay extra to ensure a package’s on-time arrival than those purchasing other products.
While 84 percent of luxury shoppers said they would shell out more for on-time delivery, only 67 percent of all consumers said the same. As a survey by Dotcom Distribution finds, luxury clientele has higher expectations of the ecommerce delivery service, making fast shipping, packaging and communication key to winning repeat business (see story).
"I believe it is mostly a matter of focus and priorities," Mr. Pozzi said. "Too often the digital agenda is fragmented across too many functions—ecommerce, CRM, marketing, IT—and a formal and shared digital dashboard is missing.
"In addition, some brands still resist in shifting the budget from physical to digital," he said. "Last, even if not digital native, CEOs should always be somehow in charge of the digital agenda, and shareholders should push for this if they are reluctant."


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Author Archives: John Jackson Miller
Comics shop orders were essentially unchanged overall in June versus the same month last year, producing a similar result for the first half of 2010, according to analysis by The Comics Chronicles of data released by Diamond Comic Distributors. Marvel’s … See More
As well as the comic-book direct market performed in the month of March, the industry underperformed in April, with orders for all comic books, trade paperbacks, and magazines off nearly $10 million, or 24%. The monthly estimates appear here. The … See More
Despite having the best-selling direct market comic book of the decade after reprints figured in — the Obama appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #583 — last January was a pretty bad month in comparison with January 2008. So this January didn’t … See More
Diamond Comic Distributors has just released their Top 500 charts for both comics and trade paperbacks for the year. Topping the chart at number one was Amazing Spider-Man #583 with estimated orders of over 530,500 copies. This number was over … See More
Diamond Comic Distributors has started its roll-out of sales charts for the final month of 2009, and Blackest Night has again topped the list of comics ordered by comics shops. The sixth issue of the series joins several other DC … See More
The Barack Obama commemorative issue of Amazing Spider-Man was the comic book ordered most by comics shops in North America in the decade of the 2000s, according to analysis by The Comics Chronicles. Comichron looked back at 119 months of … See More
Diamond Comic Distributors appears to have shaved a full week off of its process when it comes to starting the rollout of sales information; as with last month, we have the actual order rankings almost immediately. Diamond is also back … See More
In one of the earliest releases of such data since Final Orders began being reported in 2003, Diamond Comic Distributors released its Top 300 Comics, Trade Paperbacks, and Market Share data Nov. 5 releasing the full tables in addition … See More
Diamond Comic Distributors today released the first stage of its sales reports for September 2009 — its Top 10 lists and market shares. As the charts show, it was basically a static month at the very top of the list: … See More


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Chinese New Year is a notable event on the holiday calendar and the shoe calendar, and Nike is honoring the Chinese holiday with a number of different colorways for its Jordan Brand. Nike usually uses the holiday as an opportunity to emulate the Zodiac and pick symbolism from it to use in its shoes. This time, though, it’s decided to celebrate in a more colorful way.
One of the most striking is a Air Jordan 6 Retro that features huge fireworks explosions and floral accents on an all-black background. The colorful and striking design is one of a few different Chinese New Year-themed designs the Nike company is announcing ahead of Chinese New Year, which is on Friday, February 16 in the upcoming year.
As Sneaker News points out, Jordan Brand did a similar thing with its Air Force 1s this season, though in a much more reserved way. The all-white Air Force 1 kept its fireworks limited to inside the swooshes on each shoe with minor red accents on the Nike logo.
Other Jordan Brand shoes were a bit less reserved. Here’s a look at the Air Jordan 32 with its own floral and firework accents.
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It’s a fun look that Nike seems to be giving a few different grades between flashy and subtle. I think I’m more of an Air Force One when it comes to my celebrtions but, hey, to each their own.


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A global manufacturer of wipes and toilet paper has created a stench among its French employees after asking them to carry a device that goes off if they break social distancing rules in the workplace.
The personal alarm system emits an 85 decibel warning sound – about the same as a lawn mower – if the wearer gets too close to a colleague, according to outraged union representatives from the group.
It is expected to be tested at the French sites of personal hygiene specialist Essity, a Swedish company that makes hand soap, tissues, hygiene products and towels.
The CFDT union denounced the alarms as “a system comparable to those that try to dissuade dogs from barking”, adding that it would be stressful and “infantilizing” for employees.
Reached for comment at the company’s headquarters, spokesman Karl Stoltz told TBEN that “he has just been tested in France”.
Employees have been advised that the alarms are for their own safety and that devices will be disabled in the company canteen, washrooms and medical areas.
The sensors will not be personalized and will not have a system for the company to locate them, according to management.
The proposals are expected to be discussed at a staff meeting next week, but employees are already warning that the devices will end up as many of the company’s single-use products.
Christine Duguet, a union representative of the CFDT, predicted that “they will end up in the trash or stay in a cupboard. It is completely absurd”.


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2019 Toyota Rush has longer available the name of one of the greatest vehicles available for purchase, and its change can provide a sharp and modern look to help it become more attractive. But the show is used, and right now it’s time for it to remodel the others. Hopefully 2019 Toyota Rush guarantees the latest look, powertrain, or others.
[mwp_html tag=”img” src=”http://handsupstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2019-toyota-rush-price-and-release-date.jpg” alt=”The 2019 Toyota Rush Release date and Specs”]
Visually, there is absolutely no entire data on the market, however there exist interesting spy pics. We hope to view the corporation replace the existing fascia fluffy style and provide a circular 2019 Toyota Rush fascia which includes modified headlights and a shorter hood. Spying photos also reveal more glass right behind the A-pillar, which helps improve visibility going forward, will probably continue. We also calculate the taillights to take a horizontal orientation, cutting out the used vertical taillights.
Even though there is nothing at all approved from the Company about 2019 Toyota Rush powertrain, we hope to feel important adjustments. The significant change will remove the old powerplant that supports a 1 liter turbocharged engine. In its current kind, this powerplant generates good hp, but yet this can change before the 2019 Toyota Rush come out.
While this automobile in the same class sometimes competes in crash tests. Now, this vehicle has done well in most testing IIHS has done four crash tests and front crash avoidance tests, and this automobile is now enjoying the best scores for all. We will not expect 2019 Toyota Rush to accept a step back in safety equipment or scores.
The corporation has not revealed information regarding 2019 Toyota Rush, so there is absolutely no the facts about when it will be released. With the upcoming year’s model arriving instantly, we no need to wait long for official reports regarding this.
Even though we hope that everything should be new for up coming year, we do not anticipate a major prices change from the existing price range which include destination fees.


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Discarded food and wastewater could become raw materials for drinks bottles and food wrappers thanks to technology that can turn them into bio-based plastics. The European Union produces a staggering 100 million tons of food waste and 47 million tons of food packaging waste per year, but the technology can help ease both problems at once. A team of researchers has worked out a way to ferment waste water from fruit juice processing plants to make a type of plastic that can be used for bottles. The plastic, known as PHB, is biodegradable and is made naturally by some types of bacteria. Researchers at the EU-funded PHBOTTLE project have found the best way to feed the bacteria with the sugar-rich fruit juice waste. ‘The main objective of the PHBOTTLE project is to develop a new bottle made from biodegradable material,’ said Lurdes Soares, technical and scientific affairs manager for the European Fruit Juice Association, a partner on the project. The issue now is for researchers to work out how to do it cheaply enough that it can compete with current plastics that are made using oil.
Click Here to read more about this new innovative use of plastic in the specialty packating market.
Contact Us for a FREE Consultation on how we can help you with innovative ideas and materials for your injection molding packaging.


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Homewares and lifestyle online department store OO.com.au has joined forces with The Living Room and invited 100 of the show’s biggest fans and families who had experienced hardship in 2014, to be part of the studio audience for a Christmas special.
Guests were invited to give OO.com.au’s Santa their wish list for the year; a modern-day Santa who was connected via earpiece to the team at OO.com.au, who spent the next three hours furiously selecting and packing gifts at their Sydney warehouse to match the requests.
Just one example of OO.com.au’s generosity this Christmas is the story of Miriam Zaffira, a widow of an Australian defence force officer and member of Legacy Australia, who was invited to join the Christmas event with her six-year old son, Isaac. When asked by Santa what he would like most for Christmas this year, Isaac’s request was for Santa to bring his dad back from heaven, so his “mum could be happy again”. Miriam says, “Isaac is at an age where he is starting to realise what he’s missing out on”. Miriam hasn’t kept many photos of her husband since his death and so was gifted a digital photo frame to store memories, both past and future. Little Isaac nearly forgot to ask Santa for his other Christmas list item – a Lego Go-Cart – which he also received.
Additionally, during the month of November, OO.com.au took the streets of Sydney surprising and bringing joy to innocent shoppers in three locations – Bondi Junction, Parramatta and Martin Place – giving people the chance to receive a gift of choice. Wrapped up and a surprise until opened, OO.com.au gave away plasma screen TVs, Razor scooters, kitchen appliances, kids toys and music accessories.
Giving away a total of $30,000 worth of gifts, OO.com.au most definitely brought joy and surprise to many people during Australia’s silly season this year.
Jacqueline Gonzales [featured image] is the Head of Global Marketing at Squarespace. In this piece, she shares her best pieces of advice for launching a campaign globally. It’s estimated that we see between 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day. In today’s digital landscape we’re constantly bombarded by so many different brand messages from every […]
From the audio producer of The Teacher’s Pet comes The Elements, a new Acast Creator Network podcast hosted by Thredbo survivor Stuart Diver. The Elements is a podcast that journeys into the heart of surviving a natural disaster and will be hosted and distributed by the creator-first podcast company Acast as part of the Acast Creator […]


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03 October 2011, Japan kicked-off an event which held at the British Embassy.
The Campaign for Wool is held to enhance the knowledge, superior quality and functionality about wool to the consumers.
Vivienne Westwood, Burberry, campaign executives, reporters, fashionista and more brands are so active to join in this campaign to raise the public awareness towards wool and helping to develop the wool industry too.
The Campaign for Wool是为了增进消费者对于毛绒的知识，品质与可用性。
Vivienne Westwood, Burberry, 活动当局，记者，潮人及更多品牌也积极地参与这项活动以促进消费者对于毛绒的认知和毛绒产业的发展动向。
Besides, their wool creations also exhibited in the middle of hall.
At the day of event, people are carried the ‘fashionable sheep’ and having a cool and refreshing outdoor fashion show which are first attempt to all.


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Want to construct your own Marina Bay Sands and erect the integrated resort with its boat-shaped SkyPark in your living room?
Now you can - with Lego bricks. The iconic building by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie is Singapore's "first landmark in Lego bricks", Lego Singapore said on its Facebook page Wednesday.
It is the latest in the Lego Architecture series, which has already replicated famous buildings - such as the Sydney Opera House and American architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater - with Lego bricks.
The building - which has featured prominently in Singapore's skyline since it was built in 2010 - was chosen after being voted as "one of the most inspiring structures of recent times" in an online poll, Lego and Marina Bay Sands said in a statement Wednesday.
Your Lego figurines will be able to lounge in the infinity pool within the miniature SkyPark atop the three towers of the 55-storey hotel complex, but there will be no visits to the lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum, which is not included in the set.
The limited-edition set can be bought at Marina Bay Sands gift shops for $89.90. It is also available at selected Lego retailers in Asia.


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Company takes monster lead in better food labelling
A family-owned breakfast cereal company has become the first food manufacturer to embrace the Food Health Star Rating system, undermining industry complaints the regime is confusing and too costly to implement.
Monster Health Food Company said it cost little more than $4000 to redesign packaging for seven products to comply with the code, which has been endorsed by the nation’s Health Ministers, but whose website was controversially taken down under instruction from Federal Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash – an action that ultimately cost the job of her chief of staff, Alastair Furnival.
Monster Health Food said it had embraced the new labelling system as a way to help time-poor consumers quickly compare products and make informed choices based on nutrition information.
“We have been honest and transparent about our products for 21 years,” said Monster Health Food co-owner Trevor Lauman. “The Health Star Rating is about delivering honesty and transparency to consumers about products, so we wholeheartedly support it.”
But the scheme, which was formally endorsed by Australian and New Zealand food ministers late last year following an exhaustive two-year development process involving extensive consultation between health, industry and consumer groups including the AMA, has since become mired in controversy.
Soon after the scheme was unveiled in mid-2013 industry groups began to backtrack from their support, complaining that it would cost the sector $200 million to implement, and would result in ratings that would confuse consumers.
Then, in a sensational development, Senator Nash intervened in early February to direct the Health Department to take down the Health Star Rating website soon after it went live.
It was subsequently revealed that the Minister took the decision just hours after peak industry body the Australian Food and Grocery Council contacted the Minister’s office to voice its concerns about the website, which it considered “premature”.
At the time, Senator Nash said the website was only a draft, and that it had been made public inadvertently.
But The Australian has obtained documents showing that a Health Department official had prepared a briefing for the Minister more than a week earlier informing her of plans to make the website live on 30 January, saying it would be “an important information resource for industry, and will house key technical documents about how to apply the HSR System to its packaged food products”.
The Minister’s intervention to have the website taken down ultimately cost the job of her chief of staff after it was revealed he retained an interest in a lobbying firm that had had major food manufacturers among its clients.
The website is not expected to be reinstated until after the nation’s food ministers meet in June and a cost-benefit analysis by the Department of Health is completed.
But the AMA is among groups who have expressed disappointment and frustration at what they see as spoiling tactics by the food industry to delay the introduction of the system, which they believe will help consumers make better food choices.
Mr Lauman said there was mounting consumer scepticism about food claims such as ‘99 per cent fat-free’, and the rating system provided an honest snapshot of what products contain.
Using the health star calculator available briefly on the website before it was pulled, the company determined its Berry Muesli qualified for four stars out of five (a result verified by consumer group Choice), and the accompanying information panel indicates that every 100 grams contains 1.3 grams of saturated fat, 18 milligrams of sodium, 17.9 grams of sugar, 6.8 grams of fibre and 1530 kilojoules of energy.
The first products bearing the new labelling began appearing on supermarket shelves just before Easter, and Mr Lauman said he hoped other food manufacturers would soon follow suit.
“Today we draw a line in the sand for the Australian food industry,” he said. “We hope companies big and small follow our lead. Consumers deserve to have the food they are eating classified in an easy-to-understand way.”
Disclosure: Australian Medicine received a 600 gram sample packet of Monster Health Food Co.’s Berry Muesli.


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NEW YORK (The Deal) -- As Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT) launches a strategic review following reshuffling earlier this year, an outright sale may seem like the most obvious choice for the hotel operator. But some company followers doubt that will happen any time soon.
Starwood Hotels announced Wednesday that it has retained Lazard to explore a full range of strategic and financial options. The Stamford, Conn.-based company declined to comment further Thursday. Matthew Lustig of Lazard will be leading the review, The Deal has learned.
"Ultimately, it makes sense for consolidation to occur in the space," said Chad Beynon, an analyst at Macquarie Capital. "The problem is they have five different avenues they're trying to walk down, and that's resulting in a higher price."
In fact, the announcement of the review comes as Starwood prepares to spin off its vacation ownership business and looks for a permanent chief executive.
Starwood, which owns and operates a number of high-end leisure brands such as St. Regis, Westin, Sheraton and W Hotels, announced in February that it planned to spin off its vacation ownership business.
Beynon explained that while there were talks about a potential marriage between Starwood and its U.K.-based peer InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) over the past year amid the tax inversion wave, such a scenario is not as feasible today.
InterContinental has been a target of activist hedge fund Marcato Capital Management, which in November urged the hotel operator to consider a strategic transaction with peers, including Starwood. With stock prices up sharply since then, that deal would be much more expensive now. So Starwood is left to contemplate a range of other options.
"It would be difficult to see a merger occur based on where the stock is trading and all the other avenues they are walking down," Beynon said.
Still, InterContinental and Wyndham Worldwide (WYN) would be the most likely suitors for Starwood, based purely on the size, balance sheets and geographies, according to Beynon.
While Starwood could also look to divest some of its assets, what makes such scenario difficult is that the properties are "not painted with the same brush," he explained.


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Amazon wants to leave marketers without doubt that its ads are better than those of its rivals at driving sales on its sites.
The retailer is testing its Amazon Attribution tool, which lets advertisers compare whether ads on its sites are more effective than those on its rivals. Only those advertisers that sell on Amazon, rather than through it, are being invited to the free trial. Competition for search rankings on Amazon is getting harder as more advertisers compete, forcing some to look elsewhere for traffic.
Page views, purchase rate and sales are among the conversion metrics advertisers can pick to pinpoint the influence of their display, search or video ads outside of Amazon.
“This move will encourage brands to drive more ads to Amazon because they’ll have attribution parity,” said Connor Folley, former Amazon executive and founder of search ad platform Downstream. “Brands will see how much better their Amazon product detail pages convert compared to their own site. From an ROI perspective they’ll be hard pressed to justify driving traffic elsewhere as a result.”
Like Google and Facebook, Amazon is effectively trying to take credit for the success of ads outside its own platform, whether they’re on a rival or publisher site.
Google has an advantage over Amazon in that most advertisers are likely using some form of Google attribution to measure not only their Google campaigns but also their their Amazon campaigns. Now, Amazon can have advertisers use its own attribution to measure ads outside of its own sites.
“Owning your own attribution lets you grade your own homework,” said Ben Tregoe, svp of revenue at ad tech company Nanigans. “The reason each platform is intent on having their own attribution system is that they know the other platforms cannot be trusted to properly credit ads outside their own platform. Google is always going to say it’s ads were more effective in driving the conversion just as Facebook and Amazon will.”
As intrigued as many advertisers are by ads on Amazon, they only spent $2.2 billion on its ads in the latest quarter, whereas they spent $28.9 billion over the same period. To loosen the purse strings, Amazon ran a series of attribution tests earlier in the year.
One advertiser that’s happy with the performance of Amazon’s ads is Pernod Ricard. The world’s second largest alcohol manufacturer will spend more on ads that drive sales back to its pages on the site as it looks to expand a fledgling ecommerce business.
“Amazon is a platform for both sales and advertising for Pernod Ricard,” Laurent Pillet, md of the company’s U.K. business told Digiday. “Over the last year we’ve dramatically increased the amount of media we buy on Amazon. On top of the media we buy, we’re also looking to sell more on Amazon. In 2017, our sales on Amazon grew by 100 percent and we’re now the second largest spirits provider for the site, with a market share of 10 percent. That’s far more than we have in traditional markets.”
An Amazon spokesperson said it would not reveal any further information about the pixel that wasn’t already included in the announcement it ran earlier this month.
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Rather than fear them, Adland should embrace ad blocking technology says Mike Hill and Dan Hitchcock in this combined opinion piece. Hill and Hitchcock – both from Sydney digital agency Holler – argue that (bad) banner ads have become so annoying that the technology’s inevitable.
B&T’s article last week reported that global usage of ad-blockers is set to climb over the 200 million mark.
According to a study from Adobe and Software Company Page Fair, this figure represents nearly $40 billion in lost revenue.That’s a very large drop in the advertising ocean. Enough to push Adland into a state of mild hysteria.
In Australia there are almost 4 million ad-blocker users, a figure that surpasses the number of Twitter users in the country. These numbers are inevitably set to surge with confirmation that Apple’s IOS 9 will allow ad-blocking apps on its devices.
So are we going to dust off our pitchforks and wage war against those evil ad-blockers, who have the audacity to assist those who don’t want their browsing experience routinely invaded by pop-up ads?
We all knew this day would come. Most of us are surprised it didn’t come sooner.
Our own industry has actually created ad blockers in the past—a nice effort by D&AD, which replaced rubbish ads with award-winning ones (oh the irony of blocking our own ads just to watch someone else’s).
Although we’re not quite doing cartwheels across the office at the news of banner ad’s impending demise, we can all probably admit that this is a step in the right direction for digital advertising.
Why? Because banner ads are annoying. We know it, and so does everyone else.
Consumers have grown increasingly tired of being subjected to a deluge of random or, even worse, targeted shitty ads that invade their screens and generally impinge on their browsing experience.
Ad blockers are the rational response, a silent protest by those who want to make their own choices about the information that they view online.
At recent innovation festival US Vlogger Casey Neistat neatly summed up the prevailing sentiment, “I f**king hate ads.”
It’s clear need to come up with a new way to tell stories and sell products that doesn’t annoy people. Just like we have always tried to do.
Neistat himself makes ads (under the guise of native content). His recent video for Nike, “Make It Count,” has received over 14 million views. He doesn’t really hate ads…he just hates the bad ones.
We in advertising are seemingly faced with two options: to prolong the life of banner ads or to acknowledge their time has come. Some in the industry will opt to play a game of ad-blocking cat and mouse, which will eventually prove an impossible task.
The second and most plausible option is that digital advertisers will be forced to produce better, more thought-provoking content in a different channel.
Digital publishers will move away from the monotonous age of the banner ad, and throw their energy and resources into something else.
Interestingly, the real problem here will be for Neistat and his fellow content creators. The very people who “f**king hate [bad] ads” are often supported by them, heavily reliant on impressions from pop-up banner ads to generate revenue from their blog, vlog or whatever else they’ve got going on.
The gap in the digital ecosystem left by banner ads can’t and won’t be filled by open briefs from Nike. Without banner ads, some content creators will go hungry and others will starve. Not Neistat, but someone.
Meanwhile, advertising will do what it always has: adapt and move to greener pastures…and create better experiences in the process. At least that’s what we intend to do.
Advertising has a rich history of being daring. From DDB’s 1960 Lemon ad for Volkswagen, to Salvador Dali designing Chupa Chup’s logo in 1969, to Droga5 pretending it was making a new Crocodile Dundee movie for Tourism Australia, the creative we crave dare to stand out! So, tomorrow B&T has teamed-up with our good friends […]
One of Australia’s largest groups of privately-owned public relations and marketing agencies has rebranded under one name, The Recognition Group. The group is comprised of three separate agencies: Recognition PR; Outsource and Write Away Communication. The Recognition Group is owned by Liz Marchant [feature image] and Adam Benson, employs 31 full-time staff members and supports […]
Premium mixer brand Fever-Tree has launched its largest advertising campaign in Australia to date via indie agency New Colony. With summer on the horizon, Fever-Tree’s latest campaign encourages consumers to ‘mix with the best’ with new messaging that reinforces its brand promise as a premium, high quality mixer complementing light and dark spirits. The out-of-home […]
Frameplay today announced its first global integration with Magnite to provide advertisers with the ability to buy intrinsic in-game advertising programmatically. The combination of Frameplay’s software developed for in-game advertising and Magnite’s scale and experience in programmatic technology across any format and screen provides advertisers with greater access to engaged audiences. Current RTB programmatic capabilities […]


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UFC star “Mr. Wonderful” Phil Davis earlier posted a picture on his Twitter of him and with a fan wearing pink.
Davis is known for wearing pink trunks and supporting breast cancer research. Like everyone else, Davis and his loved ones have been affected by breast cancer.
With it being October, Davis is one of several MMA fighters who have taken fight to breast cancer over the years. While MMA is a sport of violence, it is great to see athletes take the gloves to a disease that affects everyone.
Mr. Wonderful began wearing only the Susan G. Komen pink ribbon on his trunks, but eventually went to wearing all-pink.
Davis is not the only one who supports the breast cancer awareness. Over 60 women MMA fighters participated in the MZ and Emmers Sports Bra Auction back in January that raised over $5,000 for breast cancer awareness.
Several sports apparel and equipment companies made pink sports equipment. Companies like ClinchGear, TITLE and MusclePharm make clothes where a portion of the proceeds go toward breast cancer research.
FightChix’s Bleed Pink Thermals are the items they are selling for breast cancer awareness.
Everlast will be going into their eighth year of donating to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. In addition to selling hand wraps and gloves, the company is will be presenting new gloves, which will be worn by fighters competing in the Bellator 102 event, Oct. 4.
In the past, Blackeye promotions have held their Breast Cancer Beatdown events, where part of the proceeds went to charity. I haven’t seen any upcoming fighting events relating to breast cancer awareness lately, but I’m sure they would be as welcomed as any other fighting event, it not more because it supports a good cause.
Know any fighters or companies who are contributing to breast cancer awareness? Answer with a comment below, send a tweet to @alstover or email firstname.lastname@example.org


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While the Impreza concepts all feature sharply drawn LED-headlights, the production model looks set to switch to more simplified conventional lamps.
Beneath the headlight a large, strongly defined intake remains in place, as does Subaru’s mesh-filled six-point grille.
Under the skin the new Impreza will ride atop Subaru’s new modular chassis, dubbed Subaru Global Platform, which will sit beneath Subaru’s small car and can be stretched out to accommodate a three-row SUV.
Mechanically, the new Impreza will continue Subaru’s tradition of horizontally opposed four cylinder engines, linked to all wheel drive.
Full engine and powertrain details will be kept under wraps until the Impreza’s New York debut.
Australian launch timing for the all new Impreza is set for the fourth quarter of 2016, with further details of Australian delivered cars to be released closer to the local launch.
MORE: Subaru News and Reviews
- Interested in buying SUBARU IMPREZA? Visit our SUBARU IMPREZA showroom for more information.


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NEW YORK — McDonald’s has seen a marketing resurgence in the past few years, partnering with a cadre of pop culture icons and courting favor with young consumer groups that once spurned its fast food. Helping drive the transformation behind the scenes is a bigger prioritization of first-party data, an area where the Golden Arches owner previously lagged. Key to McDonald’s success on the data front has been the brand’s app and a MyMcDonald’s rewards program introduced in 2020, assets it now views as instrumental to growth.
“We really only moved into the space of putting ourselves in the position to have power over first-party data two and a half years ago when we launched the MyMcDonald’s rewards program. We had an app, but the reality was the app was, at its earliest, a display menu,” said Tariq Hassan, chief marketing and customer experience officer at McDonald’s USA, at an event hosted by the Digital Place-Based Advertising Association (DPAA) on Tuesday. The DPAA is a trade group for the out-of-home advertising industry and the discussion was moderated by Barry Frey, its president and CEO.
McDonald’s debut of its loyalty offering in 2020 aligned with a rediscovery of its marketing mojo through efforts like a Famous Orders platform revolving around the preferred meals of celebrities including Travis Scott and Mariah Carey. More on-trend campaigns served as a course correction from a period of directing too much energy toward “haters” — fast food is nothing if not a combative category — and transactional ploys like limited-time offers, said Hassan.
“We were trying to buy our way back and we all know what that story looks like,” said Hassan. “But Famous Orders gave us our swagger back.”
The executive, who joined McDonald’s two years ago from PetCo, admitted that the QSR was a latecomer to realizing the potential of first-party data but now operates with the sophistication of a customer relationship management platform. That evolution has provided a major chip in winning over Gen Z, the golden goose for many QSRs that spent years fighting to attract health-conscious millennials.
“In a digital-first youth market, data is a currency. It’s a form of language,” said Hassan. “If we can use it the right way to create value, you’re going to create deeper relationships.”
The mandate around data acquisition has been aided by McDonald’s massive scale and name recognition. Roughly 90% of U.S. consumers set foot in a McDonald’s at least once per year, according to estimates shared by Hassan, while nearly 60% do so on a quarterly basis. The McDonald’s app was downloaded 40 million times in 2022, and the brand’s total “contactable” user base today is north of 60 million, per Hassan.
“The level of data that we’re now playing with [when wedding first- and third-party data] has fundamentally changed the way we think about the business,” said Hassan.
Tapping into culture
Implementing big changes in organizational thinking can be complex for a company as sprawling as McDonald’s. The nearly 70-year-old brand has a vast network of franchisees who have traditionally focused on areas like driving daily transactions. A wider data purview means McDonald’s is putting more attention toward lifetime customer value and spending on cost per acquisition.
“For our franchisees, that is a seismic shift,” said Hassan. The marketing chief described his work with franchisees — who can be a combative bunch — as the “congressional part” of his career.
“At the end of the day, I spend a percentage of all of our operators’ money,” added Hassan. “I’m accountable to that ... It’s a great responsibility.”
While the data-driven pivot has a lot of moving parts, McDonald’s has been on a winning streak. Heading into October, the chain experienced 83 consecutive weeks of comparable growth and traffic growth, a new record, Hassan said. McDonald’s U.S. comp sales were up 10.3% in the second quarter, a bump aided by viral marketing like a nostalgia-themed celebration of mascot Grimace’s birthday.
Despite the momentum, Hassan noted that his organization has opened itself up to addressing failure head-on as it looks to preserve a lead in cultural marketing. The brand has started hosting quarterly celebrations of what the CMO termed “amazing almosts,” concepts that didn’t quite get over the finish line or meet internal expectations, to develop a startup mentality and learn to quickly pivot.
“It’s about putting the right objectives in place, collaborating, approaching it the right way and then having sound reasons why you didn’t achieve it,” said Hassan. “How do you start to bring a pivot mindset into a corporate culture, that it then begets success?”


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Traditional independent shops are disappearing from the high street at a faster rate than before after new figures show that the number or closures outstripped new openings in the first half of 2015.
For the first time since 2012, independent shops have gone into decline with a loss of 144 shops in the first half of 2015, down 0.14 per cent.
This compares to a net increase of 289 shops, or 0.28 per cent growth, for the same period in 2014, according data released today by The Local Data Company (LDC) and British Independent Retailers Association (bira).
This is despite the LDC reporting last week that overall vacancy rates across the UK have fallen to their lowest level since April 2010, while shops closures have also fallen to a five-year low.
Independent women’s clothing shops, newsagents, public houses and jewellers suffered the biggest decline while barbers, cafes, tobacconists and mobile phone shops enjoyed the strongest growth.
Convenience retail such as bakers, butchers and other food retailers went into decline from growth in previous years, with a net 36 units closures compared with the first half of last year when 76 stores opened.
Leisure openings such as restaurants has slowed since last year to 0.06 per cent growth – or 21 shops – compared with 0.37 per cent growth (125 units) the same time last year.
Meanwhile service-led retailers such as health & beauty shops and financial services, increased by the biggest number of stores (241) - up 0.8 per cent on last year.
Michael Weedon, Bira’s deputy chief executive said: “Since 2010 the net numbers of independents have been growing, adding more than 7,000 extra retailers to the High Street. This has been a lifesaver for town centres in a period in which multiples have consistently shuttered shops – as they continue to do.”
“Now the High Street has run out of road..closures have been accelerating,” he added.
LDC director Matthew Hopkinson, said: “The first half of 2015 has shown how fluid and challenging the retail environment is be you an independent or a chain retailer.
Of significance is that independents, which account for 65% of outlets nationally, have gone into decline for the first time since 2012.
At the same time the chains have continued their retreat from high streets, which will, in part, have impacted the independent shops that were left behind through lower footfall and thus sales.”


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The entire roof of a Crestline grocery store collapsed under the weight of snow this week.
The community, already reeling from major roadblocks and being snowed in amid a powerful winter storm, is now left without their local grocer, Goodwin and Son’s Market.
“We are the only grocery store in town, been there for 77 years,” Mike Johnstone, vice president of the market, said.
Other grocery stores are miles away, but reaching them has been almost impossible.
“Some of the more remote roads, could be a week or two before we can get back in there,” said a Caltrans representative. “We are trying to bring back extra resources which will accelerate that, but for now, they should plan for a week or two.”
In a statement to their “valued customers,” Goodwin and Son’s said the collapse was “too much” for the store to handle.”
The corner of the roof began to collapse around 4 a.m. Wednesday, while Johnstone and two others were inside.
They evacuated and called the fire department, as well as building and safety officials to assess the damage.
The rest of the roof came down around mid-morning.
“After a few tears were shed and a few moments to process the store that their father and grandfather built, they stood up dusted off and started to making calls to the insurance adjuster and contractor to get the ball rolling on the repairs,” the statement detailed. “Although we were unable to help service the community at this immediate time we WILL NOT let you down. We will work tirelessly to get back up and running even better than ever.”
Conditions are so severe in San Bernardino County mountain communities that California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday to allocate additional resources as crews continue to work on reopening roadways.
California National Guard teams are heading to the region to help residents affected by the recent storm.


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The Congress today demanded that the five per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied on domestic LPG cylinder be removed as it was burdening the poor.
"The price of domestic LPG cylinder has gone up by Rs 32 in parts of the country after the GST became effective. This is affecting common people, the poor especially. We demand that the GST on domestic LPG cylinder be removed immediately," senior AICC spokesperson Ajay Maken told reporters here.
LPG has been put in the five per cent GST slab. Earlier a two to four per cent VAT was imposed on LPG in some states.
Maken accused the government of not passing on the benefits of drop in global crude oil prices to people of the country.
"The government is making profits to the tune of Rs 3 lakh crore every year by not slashing prices of fuel here. On the one hand, it is making profits and on the other, it is burdening the poor by imposing GST on the LPG cylinder," Maken added.
He claimed food and beverages, helmets, hair oil, tooth paste, tea, coffee, butter, curd, cement and mineral water are some of the items prices of which have shot up, notwithstanding the government's assurance that their rates will drop once the GST is in force.
Maken also described the GST as 'Gayi Savings Tumhari' (your savings have vanished).
The GST came into force on July 1.


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Stitch Fix Inc. does the cutting About 15% of jobs are salaried as part of a plan to return to profitability.
shares Online personal design services company 16% after hours.
Revenue in the quarter ending in April was down 8% from a year earlier.
company Expected net revenue Between $485 million and $495 million for the fourth quarter, compared with estimates of $495.1 million, according to Refinitiv data.
layoffs calculation for approximately 4% of the company’s total workforce, or about 330 jobs in total.
The majority of jobs are in non-tech companies and design roles, according to CEO Elizabeth Spaulding.
“[The decision] Spaulding wrote in a letter to Stitch Fix employees, “We had to do to position ourselves for profitable growth…There will be tough choices along the way, and this is one of those choices.”
|ribbon||protection||else||they change||they change%|
|SFIX||STITCH FIX INC.||7.78||-0.91||-10.47%|
Job cuts and other changes are expected to save $40 million to $60 million in costs in fiscal 2023. The company will also incur $15-20 million in fees in the fourth quarter.
The company lost $78 million in the third quarter of the fiscal year. On a stock basis, the San Francisco-based company said it had a loss of 72 cents, which is more than the expected loss of 57 cents a share.
Reuters contributed to this report.
“Explorer. Unapologetic entrepreneur. Alcohol fanatic. Certified writer. Wannabe tv evangelist. Twitter fanatic. Student. Web scholar. Travel buff.”


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It’s no secret Battlefield 3 will be out later this year, or in “Fall 2011” as everyone so nicely and professionally puts it. However, a set-in-stone date is yet to be announced by DICE and EA, something someone might have accidentally – or not – done. According to the EA Download Manager, November 2nd would be a hot winter night to remember. Follow the link for proof.
Checking the US EA Store however, said date is nowhere to be found. Again, only “Fall 2011” is plastered all over the place. However, if this rumor turns out to be true, that would put some pressure on the yet-to-be announced annual Call of Duty title, a whole week and a half worth of pressure if history is anything to go by.


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LEGO has announced a new line of building bricks that are invisible to stupid children.
THE government has confirmed there is absolutely nothing it can do to save the non-London-based steel industry.
McDONALD’S has unveiled its latest food item that will fail because it is not a burger.
A TENANT in a London flat has been evicted for attempting to pay the same amount in rent for two consecutive months.
FACEBOOK’S small tax bill means it is eligible for a range of benefits for people on low incomes, it has emerged.
BRITAIN has asked Tesco if it could stop dragging it out and just die.
ORDINARY Britons are to buy Lloyds bank so that they can send it back to the hell from which it came.
EVERY company is now claiming to have a 'punk ethos' that drives it forward.


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In the first talk from Open Source Hardware Camp 2015 to go up on YouTube, Hannah Stewart, a Research Associate at the Royal College of Art and an independent researcher, asked the questions:
- What are the promises of the maker movement and does the evidence built up by the research so far prove them?
- What does the research tell us about the differences between the UK and USA maker movement?
- Who is funding all the research and what are their motivations and agendas?
While we're huge proponents of the maker movement, many bold claims have been made as to how it will make a significant contribution to the economy and it has now come to attract the attention of property developers and private investors. As such, these are important questions that must be asked.
For details of Open Source Hardware Camp 2016 and to register visit the event page.


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The 2008 Forbes list of the 100 largest U.S. private companies is out, and nine convenience stores made the cut.
Flying J topped the c-store segment at No. 16 (moving up from No. 19 last year. Love's Travel Stops made the list at No. 25 (jumping up from No. 42 last year). Cumberland Farms held its spot at No. 35 (same as last year).
QuikTrip moved up three places from last year to No. 37. Sinclair Oil came in at No. 45 (losing a little ground from last year's No. 38 spot). Colonial Group, operating Enmark gas stations and convenience stores, took dead center of the list at No. 50 (moving up seven spots from its place last year).
RaceTrac Petroleum skipped up five places from last year, earning the No. 56 spot of this year's list. Wawa came in at No. 69, dropping five places from its position in 2007. Sheetz made the list at No. 82, gaining ground from its place last year of No. 98.Beyond just the Top 100, Forbes total list of top private companies in the United States (with $1 billion or more in 2007 revenue) included 441 companies employing 6.2 million people and accounting for $1.8 trillion in total revenues.
Other convenience store companies that made the expanded list include: U.S. Oil (No. 211), Thorntons (No. 250), Kum & Go (No. 283), and Brookshire Brothers (No. 361).


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Several years back, Adobe chose to deliver its monthly updates the same day as Microsoft. Since Adobe's products like Flash and Acrobat are tied so closely to Internet Explorer, it made sense for businesses to test and deliver at the same time.
It's happened before and it's rare, but this month Adobe has chosen to delay its patch delivery by a week. Citing problems during regression testing, September's patches from Adobe will now release the week of September 15, 2014. To be sure, Adobe's products are considered some of the easiest to hack, but it's a good sign to see the company is waiting to ensure its fixes are stable before release. It's a very responsible and refreshing action.
So, next week Adobe plans to deliver critical security updates for Acrobat and Reader for Windows and Macintosh systems.
More information can be found in Adobe Security Bulletin: APSB14-20
That doesn't mean you're out of the woods today, by any means. Microsoft is still delivering it's reported 4 security updates today, affecting Windows, IE, and Lync. Of course, most companies don’t patch right away, and as is being reported in our survey, many companies have altered their patching policies due to the perception that Microsoft's updates quality has degraded severely. Would it be great to see Microsoft make such a determination?
"We've found problems with our updates. We're delaying until we fix them."


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Fairtrade coffee is helping to empower and change the lives of women working in agriculture in East Africa. That’s the message that will be delivered next week by Fairtrade coffee producer from Kenya, Esther Koskei during a talk in Tunbridge Wells.
Fairtrade Africa launched a three-year project in 2015 to support female coffee farmers in Kenya, and Ms Koskei is vice chair of Kabngetuny Women in Coffee Cooperative in the country.
It is estimated that women supply 70 per cent of the labour on farms in Kenya but the land and assets usually belong to the menfolk in the family.
Women have traditionally been excluded from joining farming cooperatives or earning income from their work.
Fairtrade’s Growing Women in Coffee project has led to the transfer of coffee bush ownership to 300 women within the Kabngetuny Cooperative.
As part of the scheme they have been given training on agricultural practices in order to help them increase the yield and quality of their produce.
They have also benefited from the provision of green energy biogas units for their homes, which reduce exposure to smoke and the time spent collecting firewood. Kipkelion Union, which represents 32 cooperatives including Kabngetuny, has worked with Fairtrade to develop and market a ‘women’s coffee’ for sale in Kenya.
David Finlay, Fundraising Manager at Fairtrade Foundation, said: “By working with the women in these co-operatives to roast, grind, package and sell their beans as ‘women’s coffee’, we hope they will be able to increase the amount they sell on Fairtrade terms, which will bring benefits for their whole community”. The Growing Women in Coffee project has been supported by a grant of £389,831 from the Big Lottery Fund, the first donation it has made to Fairtrade.
The talk will take place at Baptist Church in Upper Grosvenor Road from 7.30-9.30pm on Wednesday, March 1. Admission is free, and Fairtrade refreshments will be provided.


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“It’s like telling somebody you’re heading to get a puppy and now you are not,” Ms. Sinclair explained. She gets frustrated now when she sees advertisements for Peloton and content about the company’s founders and their existence, she explained. “They grabbed all of our dollars, and listed here they are getting set on the address of the magazine,” she reported. “They just can’t even give us our products.”
The outrage has worsened in response to evident glitches that some buyers say have allowed them to snag previously supply times by obsessively clicking a connection in rescheduling e-mail. In 1 instance, so quite a few dates were being unveiled all around Xmas that folks who purchased in December reported they acquired bikes the same month, while a lot of who positioned previously orders ended up nonetheless ready. Peloton was not equipped to demonstrate how this transpired.
Right before, when new Peloton prospects took to Fb to complain about the prolonged waits, enthusiasts would protect the business, arguing the wait was worth it. That mostly stopped late last 12 months, according to Crystal O’Keefe, who hosts a Peloton-targeted podcast named “The Clip Out” with her partner, Tom.
“We’ve attained a tipping point,” she said. “You are not able to speak these men and women down any longer. It’s confused with problems.”
Peloton is now transporting some of its bikes by airplane to prevent congested ports, a go that is drastically a lot more costly. In late December it compensated $420 million to purchase Precor, a conditioning producer primarily based in the United States, which will enable Peloton to start producing bikes stateside in the 2nd 50 % of the calendar year.
Competitors are striving to just take gain — SoulCycle has been speedy to publicize that its bikes are arriving inside one particular to 3 weeks. Michael Sepso, an entrepreneur in Manhattan, tweeted in late December that the Peloton Tread he purchased in Oct had nevertheless not arrived. “Clearly they have a very hot products with a lot of demand, but the assistance portion of it has just been infuriating,” he claimed.
A number of physical fitness brands responded to his tweet with messages pitching their products, he stated. He canceled his Peloton purchase and bought a treadmill from a competitor. It arrived in early January.


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Costa Coffee has axed items from its menu as supply chain issues continue to affect fast food outlets across the county.
The coffee giant is following in the footsteps of high street rivals Greggs, Nandos and McDonalds by offering a reduced menu.
As Birmingham Live reports, Costa issued an update to its customers on social media.
The high street coffee chain said on Twitter: "We are facing some supply chain issues just now.
"We're working hard to resolve this ASAP".
The company - renowned for its hot and cold drinks, as well as breakfast items and lunchtime snacks - is offering a reduced menu due to supplier issues.
McDonalds is the latest to be hit by supply woes after Nando's was last week forced to shut around 50 restaurants amid a chicken shortage. It blamed staffing shortages at suppliers and a reduced number of lorry drivers.
Rival KFC also warned recently that supply chain issues meant it was unable to stock some menu items.
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High street giants across a raft of sectors in the UK have been battling with a supply chain crisis due to a shortage of lorry drivers following post-Brexit EU immigration rules, Covid-19 lockdown measures and also self-isolation rules.
The supply pressures have also been affecting supermarkets in recent weeks, while manufacturers have reported sharp increases in the prices of raw materials.
Business groups representing the retail and transport sectors have been calling for the Government to review plans not to grant temporary work visas to drivers from the EU.


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Apple’s rumoured music streaming service looks to be coming along nicely, with a report today from The Verge claiming that Apple will sign deals with Universal Music and Warner Music in the near future.
“Multiple sources” have told The Verge that Universal Music Group, the largest of the major record companies, is in the final stages of negotiation with Apple, meaning that a deal could be confirmed within the next week. Furthermore, Warner Music is said to be close behind, meaning that iRadio may finally be unveiled in the near future, likely at this year’s WWDC conference, after rumours last year suggested we would see iRadio in 2012.
This report comes a week after CNET’s own report, which gave further insight into the streaming service, saying that Apple would be better for record companies than the deals they have made with Pandora.
The Verge also detail negotiations with Sony Music Entertainment and Sony / ATV, which are said to be in much earlier stages. In addition to this, Apple will have to also negotiate with music publishers.
The report gives more insight into the prices Apple may be paying, which may be “neck and neck” with Pandora’s. This may still be a good deal for Apple however, considering that their service is expected to feature more on-demand content than Pandora, and yet they are still paying a similar price.
Provided that Apple does strike deals with all the necessary publishers and labels, we will likely see this new streaming service later this year, with some rumours pointing to WWDC as the big unveiling.


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By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL — For the business community, it is no longer a question of “whether” to become involved in social media, but rather, “how” to become involved in social media.
That is a key focus for the upcoming East St. Tammany Chamber Tech Smart conference, set for Tuesday, June 19 at the Northshore Harbor Center.
This is the second year a similar topic for a business conference has been brought back by the Chamber, after the local business group held something close to this prior to Hurricane Katrina.
“The Chamber had sponsored a conference before Katrina that focused on technology, but it was mainly about different software and how you used them,” Chamber CEO Dawn Sharpe-Brackett said. “Since we brought this back last year, the entire overview of the conference is much different with the advancement of technology.”
Without doubt, social media is at the center of the conference and Brackett said attendees will not only learn all about things like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but more importantly, find out just where their business needs to fit in with them.
“The question we get asked the most is whether these forms of social media are good for a particular business,” she said. “And that’s a good question—not every business can utilize every social media the same. The conference will answer the question about whether you should use it, and how to use it.”
The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with several sessions repeated in the afternoon to give attendees plenty of opportunity to fit the conference into their schedule.
The fee is $59 for early bird registration for the first 100 registrants and Brackett said there are still a few of the lower prices tickets available. Once they are sold out, entry fee is $70 a person.
Attendees will have a choice of classes in three tracks including: Social Media, eMarketing and Getting Started.
Social Media will begin at 9 a.m. and explain basics and differences in Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, showing how to separate your personal and business interests.
In the eMarketing track at 9 a.m., attendees will learn how to advertise their business electronically, how to build Facebook ads, use text messaging and effective e-mails.
The 9 a.m. session for Getting Started will help business leaders understand how to determine which social media is best for their business, while reviewing the pros and cons of each.
A 10:35 session focuses on website reviews, how to create and manage your site, and how to create the most positive image through your website.
Another 10:35 class reviews the best way to maximize your financial investment in any of the media venues.
Sessions continue in the afternoon with topics covering Etiquette and Your Business, Analytics and what the future holds.
“We will also discuss legal aspects of hiring and the language you can use, as well as ethics on all these social media outlets,” Brackett said.
Tickets can be obtained on the Chamber website at estchamber.com, or by calling the Chamber at 985-643-5678.


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Category: "Pistols and revolvers"
Limited Nighthawk Custom VIP Agent 2
Nighthawk Custom continues to make more 1911 models meant for the Premium segment. This time, another limited...
Strike Industries LITESLIDE
Whether you like the look of Strike Industries products or not, they do the job reliably. Accessory slides for...
Colorful Vis pistols are already available
FB Łucznik has introduced its latest pistols and accessories in a wide range of colors.
A success of our countryman
Works by Roger from Roger Stippling were published on a popular shooter's portal.
VIS 100 goes to America!
It turns out that, despite its controversial design and controversial ergonomics, Americans want to take a clo...
Glock P80 - back to the past
The new project of Glock and Lipsey's will allow fans of the brand to go back to the roots of the legendary Gl...
New Glock MOS pistols
New models are joining the increasingly popular GLOCK MOS pistol family
A new creation of Nighthawk Custom and Korth
Nighthawk Custom and Korth have teamed up to create a high-end .38 Special/.357 Magnum revolver.
Poloz - a compact pistol for the FSB
The Russian Central Scientific Research Institute of Precision Mechanics announced in mid-August, a new pistol...
Christensen Arms CA9MM
Christensen Arms jumps into a crowded PCC (pistol caliber carbine) market with its CA9MM model.
The P365 SAS for self-defense
As another model after the SIG P365, the P938 receives Israeli SAS Bullseye sights and rounded edges.
The and of Gen4 Glocks
The Austrian manufacturer of the semi-automatic pistols, Glock, has announced the end of production of the fou...
New weapons for Korean generals
Kim Jong Un handed over commemorative pistols to his generals.
Another MP5 for civilians
The Heckler und Koch company has once again decided to please civilian shooters.
VIS 100 M1 hits store shelves
FB "Łucznik" Radom has announced the start of sales of the 9 mm VIS 100 M1 semi-automatic pistol. This is a ci...


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Every year, thousands of Australians are targeted by scams, whether it be online, via phone, mail or even in person.
Australian Community Media has compiled a list of current scams identified on sites such as scamwatch.gov.au, www.cyber.gov.au and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s website dedicated to informing people about fraudulent and dishonest activities.
Scammers pretend to be Australian Federal Police
- Police have received reports of scams involving fake Australian Federal Police (AFP) representatives targeting vulnerable members of the community, according to Scamwatch.gov.au.
- Some scammers are falsely identifying themselves as a Federal Agent and telling victims they have identified suspicious activity linked to their bank accounts. They then request personal details, including a Medicare number, address, and bank details.
- The fake representatives ask their victim to deposit money into an AFP account.
- Scammers are also targeting people using email and social media with fake arrest warrants.
- The offenders then call their victims and demand payments ordering them to deposit money into a nominated bank account, transfer crypto currency, or purchase online vouchers.
- Some scammers ask their victim to meet in public to hand over money, or ask them to withdraw funds from their…


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A recent study has shown that quick response codes are rising in use, but awareness is not.
Consumers are increasingly scanning quick response barcodes, said a new MobileIron study, but they are not considering QR code security risks to the extent that they likely should.
64 percent of survey respondents said that they felt the barcodes made contact-free tasks easier.
In a pandemic-struck world requiring more options for conducting tasks in a touch-free way, quick response barcodes offer a simple scanning solution to get the job done. However, these are only truly beneficial when the QR code security risks are taken into account. Most people lack basic adequate privacy and security features on their smartphones. As a result, blindly trusting a barcode could be more problematic than they may think.
Among the survey respondents, 51 percent said that they did not know if they had any security software installed on their phones. This is a troubling thought as more people than ever before turn to their mobile devices to complete tasks in a contactless way. Phones are being used to replace paper documents, place orders, and complete payment transactions, among many other things. At the same time, they are used to connect with others and store private and sensitive information in the cloud. Without adequate protection, blindly scanning barcodes could present a surprising threat.
Many employees use their business phones to scan without considering QR code security risks.
Unfortunately, cyber attackers are also capitalizing on the gaps in protection throughout the pandemic, presenting them with a much larger opportunity. Since smartphones are essentially ubiquitous, attackers are turning their attention and their attacks toward mobile devices, not just laptops and desktops.
Mobile devices present an appealing target for cybercriminals because these interfaces prompt users to take action immediately, reducing the amount of information available to that user and the amount of thought the user will apply to decisions made. Moreover, users are frequently distracted while they use their devices, meaning that they are even more careless than they likely would have been if using a laptop.
“Hackers are launching attacks across mobile threat vectors, including emails, text and SMS messages, instant messages, social media and other modes of communication,” explained MobileIron Global VP of Solutions, Alex Mosher, who also went on to point out the QR code security risks. “I expect we’ll soon see an onslaught of attacks via QR codes. A hacker could easily embed a malicious URL containing custom malware into a QR code, which could then exfiltrate data from a mobile device when scanned. Or, the hacker could embed a malicious URL into a QR code that directs to a phishing site and encourages users to divulge their credentials, which the hacker could then steal and use to infiltrate a company.”


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Obesity in the United States has stretched to a record high—affecting nearly 28 percent of the population and costing more than $200 billion a year in related medical treatment.
At the same time, the federal government is handing out billions of tax dollars each year to businesses that produce and market the very products that have been linked to obesity.
A report by the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) found that the government has doled out at least $19 billion in subsidies over the past 18 years to companies producing corn starch, sweeteners and soy oils—all key ingredients found in junk food.
“These subsidies are all the more egregious at a time when America is facing an obesity epidemic,” researchers said in the report. “With over 31 percent of the adolescent population now overweight or obese …it is absurd that the federal government continues to finance the production of sweeteners and oil additives.”
The direct subsidies aren’t the only way the government is subsidizing the creation and sale of these products. Under the current tax code, companies can deduct “reasonable and necessary” marketing and advertising expenses from their income taxes. A practice some lawmakers want to end for companies that advertise and sell unhealthy food linked child to obesity—which has doubled in the past 30 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Just last week, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced a bill that would do away with this ad tax deduction for companies that are marketing food of “poor nutritional quality” to children under 14-years-old. The bill requires the nonprofit Institute of Medicine to identify which foods would be considered “unhealthy.” And revenue generated by the legislation would be directed to the Department of Agriculture’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which services fruits and vegetables to elementary students in low-income communities.
The lawmakers say their bill could reduce child obesity by 7 percent, according to an estimate published in the Journal of Law and Economics.
"Our nation is facing a childhood obesity crisis that demands our urgent attention, and one effective way of combating this epidemic is to ensure that our children are not confronted by persistent advertising from soda, snack, and candy makers,” Harkin said in a statement.
The Senators cited multiple studies linking junk food ads to obesity including one from UCLA, which concluded that commercials advertising junk food were related to obesity in children.
“While reducing obesity requires a multi-faceted approach, the Stop Subsidizing Childhood Obesity Act would remove an incentive for food and beverage companies to market unhealthy food to children, and encourage them to use their creativity and resources to encourage children to make healthy eating decisions,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
This isn’t the first attempt at eliminating the tax deduction for junk food companies. In 2010, Rep. Dennis Kucinich sponsored a bill that prohibited fast food restaurants from using the tax deduction. At that time, the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated his bill would result in about $2 billion in new tax revenue for the federal government.
Unsurprisingly, the food and advertising industries staunchly oppose the bill.
Dan Jaffe, executive vice president of government relations for the Association of National Advertisers told Adage that the bill would set a precedent for eliminating specific tax deductions.
"You open this door and I can assure you, there will be a tremendous number of people trying to rush through it," Jaffe said. He added that such carve-outs would cause "immense complexity to carry out."
The legislation likely faces an uphill battle from the food and beverage industry, which has previously quashed the Obama administration’s effort to restrict advertising junk food to kids through an intense lobbying effort.
A Reuters analysis from 2012 shows that more than 50 food and beverage groups lobbied against the federal effort in 2011 “to write tougher — but still voluntary — nutritional standards for foods marketed to children.” The report found that these groups spent more than $175 million lobbying since President Obama took office.
Top Reads From the Fiscal Times:
- The Government Entitlement Program That’s About to Dry Up
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- IRS Does It Again - Wastes Another $13 Billion


text: Something that nobody wanted has started – a trade war. At least nobody on the south side of the Rio Grande wanted it, because on the other side it seems that it was wanted. In response to tariffs on steel and aluminum, the Mexican government has decided to impose several tariffs on various American farm products. For many, that was a lukewarm response, or even timid, very timid, since Mexico "punished" the U.S. with tariffs on cranberries (how many cranberries do Mexicans eat?) and bourbon (maybe we do consume more this, but I doubt it is consumed more than tequila).


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UK poultry meat production was 124,400 metric tons in August, up 4.9 percent over August 2011 numbers, according to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs' latest report.
Of that, 102,600 metric tons were broiler meat, 14,800 metric tons were turkeys, 4,600 metric tons were boiling fowl and 2,400 metric tons were ducks. This brings the UK's total poultry meat production for 2012 to 1.07 million metric tons so far, the majority (886,000 metric tons) of which are broiler meat.
UK broiler chick placings were 3.3 percent higher than August 2011, at 72 million birds, while UK turkey placings were 3.3 percent lower at 2.2 million birds. UK broiler slaughterings were 2.6 percent higher than August 2011 at 68 million birds, and UK turkey slaughterings were 33 percent higher at 1.4 million birds, according to Defra.


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AUG. 22–ROCKFORD, Ill., — CLARCOR Inc. has acquired Total Filter Technology Inc. (Chelmsford, MA), a manufacturer of melt blown and string wound filter cartridges and liquid filter bags.
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Major companies in the chemical, food and beverage, water, paint and general industrial markets use these filters to eliminate contaminants throughout their manufacturing processes. We are very excited about being able to now manufacture these products within CLARCOR,” says Norm Johnson, CLARCOR’s chairman and chief executive.
The acquisition, he adds, furthers CLARCOR’s “Total Filtration Program,” saying its products complement other process liquid filters CLARCOR already manufactures, including pleated membrane and depth cartridges.
“Customer demand for process liquid filters has grown substantially in recent years and we expect this to continue,” Johnson says. “We plan to significantly expand TFT’s manufacturing capacity over the next several years.”


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Philips blunders again in case of the sleep apnea machines of the healthcare technology company. Fine dust has been found in some repaired devices.
The Eindhoven company has announced this to the American food and medicine watchdog FDA. According to Philips, there are two problems with repaired sleep apnea machines.
The first is that the silicone foam, which replaces the foam previously used, can peel off and block the air supply of the device. The other problem is that fine dust has been found in the air duct of some repaired fans. To clarify this problem, Philips has an external agency conduct an investigation.
The problems surrounding Philips’ sleep apnea devices first came to light in 2021. The recall campaign that had to be set up already cost the company hundreds of millions of euros. In addition, the position of CEO Fran van Houten became untenable due to th affair and the bonus he nevertheless received.
Due to the disappointing operating results, Philips previously announced that it would cut 4000 jobs worldwide In the Eindhoven region that means at least dozens of forced redundancies.
Translated by: Anitha Sevugan


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South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix worries about China future
- SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean computer chipmaker SK Hynix said Wednesday it might be forced to sell its manufacturing operations in China if a U.S. crackdown on exports of semiconductor technology and manufacturing equipment to China intensifies.
- SK Hynix may find it difficult to equip its manufacturing line in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi with the most advanced chipmaking machines, including extreme ultraviolent lithography (EUV) systems, Noh said.
- Citing an “unprecedented deterioration” in market conditions, SK Hynix said it would cut its investment next year by more than 50% as it anticipates supply will continue to exceed demand for the time being.
- The country’s operating profit for the three months through September was at 1.65 trillion won ($1.16 billion), compared to 4.17 trillion won ($2.92 billion) during the same period last year.
- Samsung, the world’s largest provider of memory chips, is widely believed to have received a similar exemption from the U.S. restrictions, although the company has not publicly confirmed it.
- SK Hynix and other semiconductor makers are also navigating new U.S. restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to China.
By KIM TONGHYUNG Associated PressSEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Korean computer chipmaker SK Hynix said Wednesday it might be forced to sell its manufacturing operations in China if a U.S. crackd [+3540 chars]