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Fairtrade Launches Virtual for all Middle East Africa 2021
Focus on Middle East Africa's (MEA) agrofood & plastprintpack sector on 31 May to 02 June
After the great success of Virtual agrofood & plastprintpack Africa (www.Virtual-Africa.net) in November 2020, the German trade show specialist fairtrade Messe (www.fairtrade-messe.de) is launching another digital format with the Virtual for all Middle East Africa (www.Virtual-MEA.net) from 31 May to 02 June 2021.
The organisers' aim with this event is to contribute to deepening global relations with the Middle East and Africa in the agrofood & plastprintpack sector.
A brief review of November's Virtual for all Africa also gives an indication of what participants at the new event can expect.
A total of 2,353 registered participants from 87 countries attended. 64 exhibitors from 17 countries received 8,783 visits to their virtual stands and their products were consulted 2,008 times. 3,540 visitors attended 67 panel discussions, presentations and product demos with a total of 98 speakers.
These facts, together with high satisfaction scores on both the exhibitor and visitor side, have made Virtual for all Africa the most important agrofood & plastprintpack online event with an Africa focus.
“30 years of experience in organising international trade fairs in the Middle East and 25 years in Africa enable us to establish the new Virtual for all Middle East Africa on a solid footing. At the same time, we are going down innovative digital paths so that our exhibitors and attendees can communicate and do business in the best possible way," explains Martin März, fairtrade founder and managing partner.
And fairtrade managing director Paul März outlines: “Virtual for all MEA 2021 will benefit from two innovations: Firstly, in addition to our proven partners in the Maghreb and in West and East Africa, we are setting further regional focuses.
In Africa with Egypt and South Africa and in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.
And secondly will we complement the award-winning event platform we already used for Virtual for all Africa 2020 by a mobile app that will bring notifications regarding appointments between exhibitors and attendees directly to the smartphones, helping to ensure that agreed B2B appointments actually happen."
Participation for visitors is complimentary. Exhibitors can choose between various exhibitor and sponsorship packages.
Relevant content & inspiring speakers in panel sessions, presentations & product demos
In addition to the B2B meetings, Virtual for all Middle East Africa 2021 will offer a large-scale conference programme extending over the entire three days addressing relevant and currently highly debated topics.
Focus on investment in agrofood & plastprintpack in Middle East Africa
For three days, the focus will be on Middle East Africa and on agricultural production, food and beverage technology, food ingredients, food trade, as well as plastic, printing and packaging materials, raw materials and technology.
• agro: To diversify Africa’s economies and revive its rural areas, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has committed US$ 24 billion towards agricultural industrialization. According to the German Engineering Federation VDMA, MEA's agricultural machinery imports amount to well over €2 billion annually.
• food + bev tec: Imports of food processing & packaging technology account for €4.683 billion in 2019 (VDMA)
• food ingredients: With 1.6 billion inhabitants, MEA has long been one of largest food markets in the world. Expenditure in the F&B sector is growing steadily, and F&B production is by far the largest segment of the MEA processing industry.
• food + hospitality: According to the African Development Bank, MEA’s annual food imports are estimated to rise from US$ 85 billion to US$ 170 billion by 2025.
• plast: Since the Middle East is a huge exporter of plastics in primary forms, and Africa only produces 39% of its required plastic raw materials itself but imports 61%, the Middle East & Africa fit very well together to outbalance their needs. African Imports of plastics raw materials, for instance, grew by 5.9% annually between 2011 and 2017, from 4,220 kt to 5,939 kt, +41%. And the Middle East’s exports of such material grew from 16,607 kt in 2011 to 25,280 kt in 2017, an annual increase of 7.25%. (EUROMAP) MEA’s imports of plastics technology made up for €1,779 billion in 2019. (VDMA)
• print: MEA’s imports of printing & paper processing technology represent €1,368 billion in 2018, up 7.8 per cent to 2017. (VDMA)
• pack: MEA’s imports of packaging technology make up for €2.291 billion in 2019, +3.2% compared with 2018. (VDMA)


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AUSTIN, Texas — Tattoo shop owners across Texas are wondering when they'll get the chance to welcome customers again. They believe they should have been added to the list of re-openings with hair salons and barbershops because they follow similar regulations.
"I always felt like Gov. Abbott was the kind of guy who might just do the right thing. When we found out that tattoo shops weren't going to be open along with those other businesses that are similarly regulated, that was a huge slap in the face," said Atomic Tattoo co-owner Justin Timming.
It wasn't only a shock to Timing, but to most of the artists and shop owners in the tattoo industry. In Gov. Greg Abbot's executive order to expand openings of certain businesses and activities, it states: "People shall avoid visiting bars, massage establishments, tattoo studios, piercing studios, sexually oriented businesses, or interactive amusement venues such as bowling alleys, video arcades, amusement parks, water parks, or splash pads, unless these enumerated establishments or venues are specifically added as a reopened service by proclamation or future executive order of the governor."
"I just think that maybe people are out of touch with how truly high-tech the tattoo business has become," Timming said.
Before the pandemic, Atomic Tattoo was open every day and they closed up shop because they had to, like everyone else. Timming didn't realize it would take this long to reopen, especially when other similar businesses are now allowed to take customers.
"There is no timeline for us. We've called the governor's office. We've sent emails," said Daniel Garza, a tattoo artist in Paris, Texas, a city near Dallas. "We are trained to know about cross-contamination and aseptic practices."
Garza, along with several others in the tattoo industry, will be holding a peaceful rally at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday about their issues with being excluded from the order.
"All this stuff is disposable. All this stuff goes in the trash. Nothing I use, when I tattoo someone, is used on the next person. You cannot say that about the other businesses that have already been allowed to open," Timming said.
When salons reopen, here's what you need to know | Q&A with Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said there are 2,642 tattoo shops in Texas, which are required to be licensed by the department. They said questions about opening tattoo shops are best answered by the governor’s office because decisions about opening businesses are made by the governor and the governor’s Strike Force to Open Texas.
For now, Atomic Tattoo is preparing to open for a date they don't have yet.
"We're not just doing tattoos. This isn't 1975. Our ability to do tattoos in a way that's just really, really safe. I can't stress enough how our ability to do a tattoo is just as safe as it's ever been. It's a completely disposable system now," Timming said.
"We're just confused on how we would get passed up by gyms and salons," Garza said. "When we were already doing these practices prior to COVID-19. If anything, allow us to come up with a plan to keep our clients safer."
MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:
- Gov. Abbott says all Texas nursing home residents, staff must be tested for COVID-19
- LIST: Confirmed Central Texas coronavirus cases by county
- Respiratory therapist recalls the moments that make the long days in the hospital worth it
- Another Ascension Seton nurse fired for traveling to New York to care for COVID-19 patients
- Gov. Abbott takes coronavirus test a third time after White House personnel test positive
- Capital Metro brings Wi-Fi to students who need it
- LIST: Austin businesses close permanently during COVID-19 pandemic
- Circuit of the Americas 'COTA Food Drive' collects 1.6 million meals, more than $200K in donations for Central Texas Food Bank

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Dickens' costumes combustion creates Christmas kindness
Each year Fred Harris of Harris Cleaners graciously donates his services to clean and store the woolen Dickens' costumes in support of Dickens' Christmas. Fred's company endured a terrible fire this summer, which destroyed his facility in Cazenovia where the costumes were in storage.
The word went out via the local media that the chamber needed help replacing these costumes and in true Central New York fashion volunteers responded.
Skaneateles residents Barb Honcharski, Nina Burnette, Jackie Churchill and Kathleen Hanley said they could tackle the sewing.
Tracy Longway had bags of material to donate. Dickens artistic director, Maria Wechsler a.k.a. Miss Fanny Applebottom, bought the patterns, Joanne Mitchell from Ovid donated material and money, Bob Evans from the Birds Nest Motel made a financial contribution and Bob Krigbaum (a.k.a. Scrooge), Mary Pat Harris of Skaneateles and Phyllis Sprague of Cayuga donated Dickens' ready-made costumes.
The true spirit of Christmas is alive and well, and due to these generous people, those who come to Dickens' this year will have plenty of costumes to choose from.


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The Australian tallies up the total number of works being auctioned in Australia’s Spring sales and they come to 1000 works. The results are just beginning to come in with some disappointments but also many successes:
Howard Arkley’s House with Gate (1996) was the highest-profile painting among 400 lots at the week’s first auction yesterday by Melbourne auction house Leonard Joel. It was passed in when bidding stalled at $60,000, $10,000 below its lower estimate. “This surprised me, because it was well-priced,” said Leonard Joel chief executive John Albrecht.
A similar Arkley, Freeway Exit (1995), fetched $90,000 in May and Cosy Clinker (1994) sold for $265,000 in April last year. Mr Albrecht said lower-priced contemporary works were selling well and the market for traditionals such as still lifes and impressionists was strong, with an overall 70 per cent clearance rate.
Damian Hackett, the Sydney executive director of Deutscher and Hackett, which is auctioning 150 lots on Wednesday, expects prices for top-end paintings to hold well this week despite the financial climate.
1000 Paintings Set to Test Market (The Australian)


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Ethereum also processes transactions extra shortly. The research additionally explains how the Ronin sidechain has its personal native wallet with a view to handle sidechain transactions. Only time will inform,” Lee’s examine concludes. “A lot of blockchains, whether they prefer it or not, will specialize,” Lee pressured in the report. Allessi is well known for activities like this given he’s bought a YouTube web page that features the various electric automobiles he, himself, has constructed from scratch. Meanwhile, Mayweather endorsed the token in his boxing match with YouTube star Logan Paul. RON token is released, however it should likely price less than $1. Kardashian brought on a stir final yr when she made an Instagram post selling the EthereumMax token. NFTs had already won the 12 months. The blockchain-powered recreation Axie Infinity has been a very talked-about application in the course of the last 12 months, as the game’s NFTs have outpaced each NFT collection at present when it comes to all-time sales. Axie Infinity, the Ethereum coin-primarily based blockchain recreation developed by Sky Mavis has seen a major amount of NFT sales surpassing each NFT compilation released thus far. The birth of Ronin ushered in the rise of Axie Infinity and the Gamefi/Play-to-earn wave. “It’s nonetheless early days for Ronin and will probably be fascinating to see how the blockchain develops and grows over time.
As of now, you possibly can see Snoop Dogg NFT, Elon Musk NFT, Amitabh Bachchan NFTs, and other celebrities NFTs making noise available in the market. An arranged system overhaul for November of 2018 brought about an extended discussion among mining and creating groups in the BCH people group, prompting a hard fork and the making of BSV. On November twenty third, Solana became the network with the best worth of tokens staked when total value had crossed $eighty four billion. While Axie Infinity has seen $3.Eighty five billion in all-time sales, Nansen researcher Martin Lee lately printed a report on how Ronin, Axie Infinity’s sidechain, has seen exponential progress. The examine also delves into the Axie Infinity decentralized alternate (dex) platform called Katana. Out of 1.Forty four million patrons throughout 12.6 million transactions, Axie Infinity has seen $3.Eighty five billion in all-time sales. However, the present state of affairs requires a 6% optimistic transfer from $3,300 to $3,500 to generate a $60 million benefit.
As an illustration, a trader might have bought a put possibility, successfully gaining a positive exposure to Ether above a particular price. Considering there are lower than 12 hours until Jan. 14’s options expiry, bulls will doubtless concentrate their efforts on keeping the price above $3,300 to stability out the scales. Reiterating that he will not touch upon any particular project, the chairman detailed: “Crypto tokens, I will call them, are raising cash from the public, and are they sharing with the public the same set of disclosures that helps the public resolve and are they complying with our Truth in Advertising? 15,600 puts. The online result is $60 million favoring the decision (bull) instruments. ’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, with over 35 million users throughout 100 countries worldwide. The automotive is already constructed to deliver over one hundred kilowatts, and anything connecting to the car goes to be a fraction of that. Ronin, alternatively, gives 100 free transactions per wallet per day.
Blockchain information all transactions accessible to anyone in the world. 4. Fast. Transactions are broadcast amongst some seconds, and it takes regarding ten minutes for the dealings to be verified by miners. After the merge is accomplished, APY is predicted to extend because of unburnt fee revenue and MEV which can now go to stakers as an alternative of miners in the brand new proof of stake mechanism. Will Ronin grow to be the go-to blockchain for gaming? Lee’s analysis report compares Ronin to the sidechain protocol Polygon. Be diligent with your research. Because the proprietor of a Tesla Model S car, Allessi has used every power in his e-book to turn the automobile right into a software that may mine crypto. Making watch-lists a priceless software for investors. Gas charges on Ethereum hover between 50-a hundred gwei making micro-transactions uneconomical. Network swaps can take anyplace from 20 to 30 minutes, and customers regularly spend lots of of dollars on buying and selling fees if they’re incessantly swapping. EthereumMax was accepted as fee for tickets to the occasion, a move the lawsuit claims boosted buying and selling volumes sharply. He was also asked whether or not Ethereum coin is a security, citing that the SEC views XRP as a security in an ongoing lawsuit with Ripple Labs and its executives.


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The cyber underworld brought in a terrifying twist to Christmas, known as “Leaksmas,” a time of year marked by widespread data dumps that target people and organizations all over the world, as carols filled the air and families gathered.
Sensitive information was released on “Leaksmas,” flooding the internet with a torrent of data from the archives of a major telecom company in Peru that revealed 22 million records to a Vietnamese fashion retailer that gave up 2.5 million customer profiles.
Succumbing to the pressure, French corporations, Chilean government offices, and even a Russian sushi chain divulged everything from email addresses and phone numbers to bank account details and identity papers.
This map of the world gives a clear picture of how widespread cybercrime is and how it affects every region of the world.
“Leaksmas” reveals a complex tapestry of motivations, while financial gain is undoubtedly a factor.
Known for their prior attacks on the Idaho National Laboratories, organizations such as SiegedSec publicly promoted anti-government beliefs and presented their leaks as “Christmas gifts” in aid of particular causes.
This adds another dimension to the complex threat landscape by emphasizing the possibility that cyberattacks could be driven by ideological agendas.
The “Five Families” hacktivist alliance entered the fray, determined to not be outdone, focusing their efforts on Indian resources and Chinese clothing stores.
This intergroup cooperation highlights the increasing complexity and coordination of cybercrime networks, presenting an increasing cybersecurity challenge.
The stolen information became a joyous feast for thieves rather than just making its way into the digital abyss.
With a desire to sell their stolen payment cards before they expired, cybercriminals offered them steep discounts.
Taking advantage of the spike in online activity around the holidays, underground vendors offered “look-up services” for identity theft and loan fraud.
This spike in malicious activity highlights how fraud and data breaches are intertwined, with stolen data acting as the currency for a variety of illegal operations.
Millions of Records of Victims Are Unveiled During “Leaksmas”
The cybercriminal community in the dark corners of the Dark Web planned their eerie holiday, “Leaksmas,” while the rest of the world decked up for the holidays. Security saw this event—which happened to coincide with the Christmas season—develop as a sinister demonstration of data sharing among hackers.
A twisted expression of thanks, “Free Leaksmas” was used to identify the large-scale data dumps that were the consequence of hacks and breaches that affected numerous government organizations and private businesses. However, this malicious generosity will have disastrous effects on victims all over the world, creating a gateway for identity theft, financial fraud, account takeovers, and business email compromises.
These hacks affected countries ranging from France to India and exposed a startling amount of private information. Movistar of Peru was the victim of a significant breach that exposed over 22 million records, including vital DNI numbers—a crucial form of identification in Peru. This hack highlighted the critical need for strong DIT programs, particularly in Latin America, where cyberattacks are becoming more frequent.
Major credit services in the Philippines and a Vietnamese fashion store were among the major leaks that affected the Asia-Pacific region, exposing millions of victim records. Because of their value to illegal affiliate marketing specialists and spammers, these breaches are especially concerning.
There were more leaksmas. 1.5 million records were shared without restriction by a French company, while 1.4 million records from a project that Klarna acquired were leaked, indirectly harming the Swedish fintech behemoth. To further highlight the variety of the targets, there were notable data breaches at a Mexican bank and a network of sushi restaurants in Russia.
Known for its previous exploits, such as the attack on Idaho National Labs, SiegedSec was a major player in Leaksmas. Telcos BEZEQ! and Cellcom, as well as Israel’s Shufersal, were among the many organizations they targeted. Their actions indicate that there will likely be a persistent threat in the upcoming year.
The “Five Families,” a coalition of hacktivist organizations, exacerbated the situation by carrying out a leak involving a Chinese clothes retailer and organizing more menacing operations for 2024. Their influence was so widespread that it even reached South Africa and India.
With the disclosure of more than 50 million records, Leaksmas serves as a sobering reminder of the constant threat posed by cybercrime. Mitigating these breaches is a difficult task because of the complex relationship that exists between digital identity and personal data. Winter holidays are a time for joy and celebration, but they are also a peak period for cybercrime because of the dark underbelly of the cyber world.
The Leaksmas incident, which occurred at the beginning of the year, serves as a sobering reminder of the constantly changing nature of cyber threats and the necessity of strengthening our digital defenses against these imperceptible but ubiquitous enemies.


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New images for packaged foods
Emily Manns | Fulcrum Staff
IT LOOKS LIKE the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) is no longer satisfied with the current nutrition labels found on pre-packaged foods. With an increasing number of Canadians being diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and other serious diet-related illnesses, the OMA’s latest campaign is pushing for change. Mirroring the illustrated warnings found on today’s cigarette packages and other tobacco products, this new strategy hopes to scare people into making healthier choices.
But will it work? While the idea may have been created with the best of intentions, it’s not likely to stop people from snacking on fried and sugary treats, or lead them into ordering a salad instead of a double cheeseburger and fries.
So, why do people buy junk food? It’s usually a combination of taste, price, and convenience. An apple might be a healthy snack, but it just doesn’t stand up to the sweetness of a Double Stuf Oreo. When dinnertime rolls around, it’s cheaper to buy a microwaveable meal than it is to prepare everything separately using fresh ingredients—not to mention much quicker.
It’s obvious that these foods are not the right choice. The nutritional values are printed right there on the package—even in bold—but many people continue to ignore them and choose a lifestyle that will lead right to health problems. The examples the OMA have shown for the new health warnings they would like to see on labels bear a remarkable resemblance to the blackened lungs and cancer-ridden organs found on all tobacco boxes. It would definitely have an impact, and it has been shown to work to a certain extent, but in the end, people still smoke.
Let’s be honest: People will continue to eat fatty foods until they have a heart attack or some other health scare. Pictures and words can easily be dismissed, but actually living through a life-threatening experience suddenly makes all those warnings real. If any purpose is served by the labels, it will be that the companies producing these foods will be less accountable for people’s health. After all, you can’t sue someone if they give you all of the facts up front. In the end, it all comes down to individual choice. Whether people heed the warnings or not, they are the ones who decide whether they want to put themselves at risk by living an unhealthy lifestyle.
The OMA needs to be careful that they don’t go frightening people into thinking that everything they put into their mouth is going to make them sick. Scare tactics like that also fail to address the factors of portion control and exercise in staying healthy and preventing disease. Warnings shouldn’t be used lightly, because that could open up a whole new can—or candy wrapper—of problems for everyone to deal with.


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Maruti Suzuki recorded 1,22,784 units in December 2019 with YoY sales growth of 2.5 per cent as Baleno stood on top
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) posted a total of 1,22,784 units in December 2019 as against 1,19,804 units during the same month in 2018 with Year-on-Year sales growth of 2.5 per cent. The largest carmaker in the country swept 52.3 per cent market share last month – an increase of 1.5 per cent compared to December 2018.
The Dzire compact sedan ended up as the most sold car in CY2019 by beating the Alto but in December 2019, the Baleno had the upper hand courtesy of 65 per cent positive sales growth on YoY basis. The premium hatchback recorded 18,465 units last month as against 11,135 units during the corresponding month in 2018 with volume jump of 65 per cent.
The Baleno will face tougher competition in the form of Tata Altroz arriving on January 22 while the updated Hyundai Elite i20 is also on the cards. The Alto entry-level hatchback finished in the second position with 15,489 units as against 25,121 units during December 2018 with a massive 38 per cent negative sales growth.
|Maruti Model (+/-%)||December 2019 Sales||December 2018 Sales|
|1. Maruti Suzuki Baleno (65%)||18,465||11,135|
|2. Maruti Suzuki Alto (-38%)||15,489||25,121|
|3. Maruti Suzuki Dzire (-9%)||15,286||16,797|
|4. Maruti Suzuki Swift (25%)||14,749||11,790|
|5. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza (41%)||13,658||9,667|
|6. Maruti Suzuki Wagon R (324%)||10,781||2,540|
|7. Maruti Suzuki S-Presso||8,354||New Launch|
|8. Maruti Suzuki Eeco (-10%)||7,634||8,532|
|9. Maruti Suzuki Ertiga (-7%)||6,650||7,155|
|10. Maruti Suzuki Celerio (-40%)||5,429||9,000|
|11. Maruti Suzuki XL6||2,521||New Launch|
|12. Maruti Suzuki Ciaz (-62%)||1,786||4,734|
|13. Maruti Suzuki S-Cross (-70%)||979||3,270|
|14. Maruti Suzuki Ignis (-63%)||964||2,612|
The Dzire, on the other hand, came home third with domestic tally of 15,286 units as against 16,797 units with 9 per cent sales decline. The Swift hatchback ended the year on a healthy note as 14,749 units were dispatched against 11,790 units with 25 per cent volume increase. The Vitara Brezza was positioned fifth with a total of 13,658 units with 41 per cent growth.
The compact five-seater SUV posted 9,667 units in December 2018. The latest generation Wagon R debuted in January 2019 and it endured a successful calendar year. Last month, 10,781 units of the tall-riding hatchback were sold as against 2,540 units during the same month in 2018 with 324 per cent volume growth.
The recently launched S-Presso and XL6 have been performing well since market launch and they finished the year with 8,354 and 2,521 units respectively. The Ciaz, S-Cross and Ignis registered 62, 70 and 63 per cent negative growths in the final month of 2019.


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It's been a long time since people have confidently said that Call of Duty innovated the FPS genre. Can its 2013 release turn things around for the better in light of new competition?
It can bring FINnovation! Ha Ha Ha! Get it?! I said "FIN" because fish have fins, and the next COD has fish in it...and uh....yeah...
PINofavtion. Because of the PINGAS.
It could. But it won't. I believe that The developers have the talent and creativity to do something different, but their publisher, Activision, knows that taking risks means CoD could lose it's momentum with the mainstream players. Sadly, hardcore gamers are the only ones crying for CoD to either die out or change. Since hardcore's probably make up one slice of the pie, Acti's gonna make sure we're ignored, because CoD as it is... is selling like crack in a halfway house
N4G is a community of gamers posting and discussing the latest game news. It’s part of NewsBoiler, a network of social news sites covering today’s pop culture.


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Does NBC's "Heroes" make sense anymore? Does anyone care? Apparently, Ubisoft doesn't think so. The company has pulled the plug on its "Heroes" video game, which was announced more than a year ago.
Since then, the TV series has gone from a pop-culture hit to a tangle of incoherent stories, so the French publisher decided to cut its losses.
Ubisoft got burned earlier this year when "Lost: Via Domus," its tie-in to another cultish serialized TV drama, only sold about 100,000 copies. Which raises the question: Does it make sense to produce games based on ongoing television series when characters may die and plots may shift dramatically during the development cycle?
No matter how much you love "The Sopranos," "Battlestar Galactica" or "The X-Files," you'll get more satisfaction watching old episodes than playing the games based on them.
Movie-based games aren't faring much better. Activision's "Quantum of Solace" game is out now, and it's another lackluster James Bond shooter that barely brushes against the film's plot. The "Iron Man," "Incredible Hulk" and "Hellboy" games that came out this year were so drab, it was a relief when there was no game to accompany "The Dark Knight." And who had time for any of these pre-sold characters this summer when most of us were busy keeping Niko Bellic alive in "Grand Theft Auto IV"?
That said, the news that Atari has picked up the in-limbo "Ghostbusters" game for publication next year has given hope to some of us. Maybe 25 years is the right amount of time between a movie and video game.
— Lou Kesten, AP
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- 2 min read
EOSS fails to lift sales for retailers this year
Retailers traditionally launch EOSS by June end, before fresh season merchandise hits their shelves. However, brands started the sale mid-June and it's likely to continue till the end of July. Retailers who largely focus on to clear out inventory during EOSS are now hoping for festive season to improve sales.
Delhi rains made it worse in July for shopping complexes as shoppers preferred to stay indoors during the flood-like situation.
According to the Retail Business Survey by the Retailers Association of India (RAI), June 2023 showed a moderate growth of 7% compared to the sales levels during the same period last year.
Last year, the growth rate in June was over 50% due to the low base of 2021. But in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, growth was 13% for the same month.
"The growth has been muted and is expected to continue like this till September. The EOSS start was very slow but there has been some improvement in the last two weeks. Still, in comparison to last year and pre pandemic, it's very muted," said Lifestyle CEO Devarajan Iyer.
Retailers were expecting some recovery by offering hefty discounts during the end of season sales, but there has been only a marginal growth in both footfall and sale.
"Due to the slow growth rate in the last 3-4 months, we have also slowed down the expansion. We were planning to open one store every 30 days, now we are opening one at 50 days. We expect the festive buying to start from September, that will help in double-digit growth," said Sameer Manglani, owner of Meena Bazaar.
According to RAI data, south India reported growth of 8%, while east India and west India indicated a growth of 7% and 6%, followed by north India at 5%.
"Food & grocery and footwear showed growth at 15%, while jewellery showed 14% growth. As consumers are now getting into their normal business routines, we are witnessing moderate growth over previous year," said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI).
Retailers traditionally launch EOSS by June end, before fresh season merchandise hits their shelves. However, brands started the sale mid-June and it's likely to continue till the end of July.
Retailers who largely focus on to clear out inventory during EOSS are now hoping for festive season to improve sales.
"Growth rate has flattened for the last few months, and even the EOSS couldn't change it. Rain has not helped either. There is still some stress in the markets outside the top 8-9 cities," said Satyen Momaya, CEO of French apparel brand Celio.
The growth rate has slowed down March onwards, indicating slowest sales expansion in over 14 months.
Mall operators in Delhi-NCR said rain was not helping either, as consumers are worried about getting stuck in traffic.
"The footfall has gone down due to the rain as people are cautious. This has resulted in slowdown of sales as well," said Harsh V Bansal, co-founder of the Unity group that operates over half a dozen malls in Delhi and Punjab.


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Secondary buyouts have seen their share of the exit market rise, while trade sales hold steady, according to the latest figures from unquote” data.
However, exit numbers are set to end the year sharply down from last year, falling 63% in the first three quarters of 2012. Looking at the first nine months of this year, secondary buyouts accounted...
Buyout volume and aggregate value were up by 43% and 155%, respectively
Clinical consulting business will look to double its headcount under the GP's tenure
Allard Schuering brings legal experience from Clifford Chance and Baker McKenzie
While many observers criticised the burger chain's role in deporting employees, the controversy raised questions of its private equity owners


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Due to a big drop in car sales of 44% in the first quarter of this year, car manufacturers in Pakistan have had to make some tough decisions. They are reducing prices and offering discounts to attract buyers. They say it's because the Pakistani rupee is stronger, but their financial reports don't back that up. Whether the rupee is strong or not, local car makers need to make more cars.
Reducing prices and giving discounts have become the norm for most car companies. Pak Suzuki, a big player in the Pakistani car market, hasn't joined in the price cuts. They've been struggling since the start of FY18, losing money in 12 out of 21 quarters.
Looking at their financial data, it's clear that their prices don't cover their production costs. They only recently raised prices to try and fix this, but they're still struggling to make enough money. Import restrictions, trouble getting Letters of Credit (LCs), and sometimes closing their factory because they don't have enough cars to sell, these factors have all hurt their sales.
Pak Suzuki is trying everything to boost sales, just like other car companies. But their sales numbers for the first quarter of this fiscal year are grim. They only sold 10,946 cars, compared to 16,639 during the same time last year, a 34% drop. The Alto, despite a 27% drop in sales, is still their best-seller. But the rest of their cars are selling even less, with some down by 55%.
Pak Suzuki made headlines when it left the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) last month. The parent company, Suzuki Motor Company Japan, plans to take over the subsidiary. They said this move doesn't mean they're leaving Pakistan. They still see potential in the Pakistani market.
The future doesn't look bright for Pak Suzuki or the local car industry. Experts think sales of cars made in Pakistan will drop by another 9%. That means slow sales for all of fiscal year 2023-24.
Traditionally, the relationship between the Pakistani rupee and car prices was simple. When the rupee got weaker, car prices in Pakistan went up. Car makers waited for another rupee drop before raising prices. But things are changing now. Car makers need to sell more cars to survive.
The big question is whether they can increase there sales with all the challenges they're facing?


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Businesses trading internationally will gain an insight into how evolving digital developments will impact on global trade at the forthcoming Going Global exhibition.
Our Director General, Lesley Batchelor OBE, was the guest of honour at the recent opening of Contactum’s new headquarters in Croxley Green.
Contactum, based in Cricklewood, London, began in 1936 and is one of only a few remaining UK manufacturers of electrical wiring accessories and circuit protection products.
The countdown is underway for companies working in international trade to make their voice heard by taking part in this year’s International Trade Finance Survey – the longest running review of its kind in the UK.
The Institute’s Director of Special Projects, Mike Josypenko, has presented at a special conference spearheaded by the Welsh Government at City Hall Cardiff and attended by over one hundred companies who have demonstrated a strong track record – or who have the potential to innovate and grow.
The Princess Royal, on behalf of the Queen, held an Investiture at Buckingham Palace on the 13th February where our Director General Lesley Batchelor received her OBE for services to business.
The countdown is on for this year’s prestigious IOE Graduation and Prize Ceremony when students will gather in London along with leading figures from the world of business and international trade – to celebrate their achievements.
In a move which is sure to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of many US based chocolate lovers, confectioner giant Hershey has reached an agreement with American importer, Let’s Buy British Imports (LBB) preventing the company from importing any British Cadbury’s chocolate and Nestlé’s British made KitKats, Toffee Crisps, Yorkies and Maltesers into America.
This year marks the Institute of Export’s 80th anniversary. As part of our year long celebrations, we will be taking a look back at some of the events that have shaped our organisation, reflecting on the thoughts and words of our members as recorded in ‘Export ‘ – our official ‘members only’ journal.
Our director general, Lesley Batchelor OBE, has taken part in a lively and informative ‘tweetup’, which focused on export, growth and diversification.
Playing a key role in the online event, Lesley joined industry experts, professional services and the media to debate the future role of UK businesses in the world economy.


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Reports: FD at Danbury mall for report of odor of gas in store
DANBURY — Holiday shoppers were in for a surprise Wednesday night at the Danbury Fair Mall when Eversource had to be called for a possible indoor gas leak, according to dispatch reports.
Shortly after 9 p.m., a Danbury police officer called in the possible smell of gas inside the Lord & Taylor store at the mall at 7 Backus Ave., reports indicated. The fire department was immediately dispatched to the scene and arrived minutes later.
At 9:18 p.m., the firefighter running command at the mall told the dispatcher that Eversource would have to respond to the store.
It was not immediately clear if shoppers had been evacuated from the store.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.


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According to the vice minister of Agriculture, William Arteaga Donayre, the strike was lifted after authorities dialogued with the farmers of Tambogrande, Las Lomas, and Sullana who had been on a 48-hour strike protesting the low cost of mango.
"We are at the beginning of the campaign and we are starting it with low prices to approach exporters. Mango production is 50% lower and producers obviously expected to achieve good prices, this helps us realize that prices regulate in a positive way in a week or two," said Arteaga.
On Monday producers and authorities will resume talks. "On Monday [December 3] we will resume the dialogue table, but exporters will participate in the talks to improve the prices of mango," said the vice minister.
Producers won't sell their products until Monday
The president of Defensa, Hector Moran, said the talks had lasted three hours, but that they hadn't reached an agreement.
"The exporters were not present, but we are aware that we must have a truce so all the presidents of the irrigation committees agreed not to sell mango fruit until Monday, when we hope we'll reach an agreement."


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LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Meat Consumption and Mortality
A massive National Cancer Institute study in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine corroborates dozens of earlier findings linking meat consumption with premature deaths and reaffirms the role of lifestyle in determining our life expectancy.
The ten-year study of 545,653 Americans found that those consuming the equivalent of a small hamburger were 33 percent more likely to die, mostly from heart disease and cancer, than those who ate the least meat. Although hundreds of studies in the past three decades have linked conclusively the consumption of meat and other animal products with elevated risk of heart disease, stroke, and various forms of cancer, this was the first large study to link consumption directly to mortality.
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly we condemn regulatory authorities for traces of toxins in our food or water, while ignoring the much larger dietary health threat of animal products.


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ELIZABETH-- Cattle ranchers in Colorado are struggling to make ends meet after a particularly dry year in the state.
“This is one of the worst droughts that we’ve seen in my lifetime,” said Retta Bruegger, a regional specialist in range management for Colorado State University.
At least 65 percent of the state is experiencing an extreme drought. Because of that, some ranchers are being forced to make tough decisions, including selling their cows sooner than they normally would and at lower weights. That means the ranchers are making less money per cow than they normally would.
Even before the drought, prices for cows this year were expected to be lower because of the way the market is moving, Bruegger said.
Along with dry conditions and less grass available for the cattle, hay prices are also on the rise.
“Hay costs right now we’re probably 25 to 30 percent higher than they were last year at this time,” said James Steuter, the manager of the Lone Star Ranch in Elizabeth.
The Lone Star Ranch is a full blood Wagyu beef and seedstock operation that sells direct to consumers. Steuter says the drought started in the winter for the ranch since there was very little snowfall and that stunted the grass growth in the spring.
The dry conditions continued into the spring and summer, with June’s rain totals looking more like August’s for the ranch.
“No rain equates to no growth in the grass and no grass is no food for the cows,” Steuter said.
Because of this, he’s been switching up the way his cattle graze, moving the cows between pastures with more frequency to give the grass a chance to grow back.
“You can plan for drought but it’s going to impact your operation regardless,” Steuter said. “Everybody is adjusting to the conditions that they are dealt.”
The drought is particularly difficult for grass-finished operations because the cows receive nearly double the input of grass than a typical cow-calf operation.
“Input costs increase. We can’t stock as many cows on the ranch as we typically do in a normal year,” Steuter said. “For us it means we will have a less beef available to sell to the consumer and that absolutely impacts our bottom line.”
It’s causing some ranchers to get rid of more of their stock than they normally would, selling off mother cows and calves that they can’t afford to feed.
“This is just a really challenging situation for people right now,” Bruegger said. “People are faced with multiple bad decisions that they might be selecting between.”
Along with the drought and higher hay prices, wildfires have scorched thousands of acres of land and have also impacted some cattle operations in the state.
This month, Colorado State University hosted a workshop for ranchers to talk about ways to overcome the various hurdles they are currently facing.
Veterinary experts spoke about alternative forms of feed for the cattle that may be cheaper, business professors were available to talk about strategically selling off livestock and which livestock to sell off and other experts were available to talk about wildfire mitigation and preparation.
Even some botany experts were on hand to talk about how grass changes in a drought.
“You can see issues with nitrate consolidation in plants, which can actually poison livestock and can be a fatal condition. That’s associated with drought conditions,” Bruegger said.
All of this was an attempt to help small ranchers survive a particularly rough year.
In July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $12 billion aid package to help struggling farmers and ranchers across the country. It came on the heels of China announcing additional tariffs to beef products.
China imposed a 25 percent tariff on hundreds of American-made products, including beef.
“I know tariffs are never good for supply and demand,” Steuter said. “Approximately 15 percent of U.S. beef is exported, primarily to Asian markets.”
Because of the tariffs, beef is stockpiling here in the U.S. Steuter said.
The Lone Star Ranch doesn’t send its meat abroad; however it is competing with big beef operations that are now keeping more meat in the U.S. because of those tariffs, and that can be bad for the little ranches.
“The beef business is a tough business even a good year,” Steuter said. “It’s tough to sell beef at higher price when people have it available to them at the supermarket.”
Despite all of the hardships, Steuter doubts that consumers will notice much of an impact on the cost of their beef at the supermarket.
“But for people like us who are selling direct to the consumer, there is a huge impact,” Steuter said.
Still, the drought, hay prices, wildfires and tariffs could all affect beef operations for years to come.
“Due to the drought, we will see that loss in beef production over the next 23 or four years because it takes so long to finish these cows on grass,” Steuter said.
It’s calving season at the ranch, 37 cows are about to give birth. But Steuter says the calves will start their lives struggling to gain weight.
“You start seeing lower weight in the calves because are not getting the milk they normally get,” he said.
The mother cows are already losing weight as well and Steuter expects that it will be more difficult to breed them again next season because of it.
“When they have been struggling through the summer, struggling through the fall, they’ve got calves and they’re getting beat down, it’s tough to get them to sometimes to breed back because they’re lacking in nutrition,” he said.
Still, he’s managing the ranch conservatively just in case Colorado experiences another dry winter and he says Lone Star Ranch is ready to weather whatever conditions they are handed. And, he encouraged people to buy local to support the state’s beef business.
“We are relying on the local community to be buying our product,” Steuter said.


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Posted Jan 07, 2014By
Photos from the 2014 International CES in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Consumer Electronics Show is the world’s largest annual consumer technology trade show. The show runs through January 10 and is expected to feature 3,200 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to about 150,000 attendees.
Approximately 2 dozen undocumented immigrants attended a meeting at Pomona Apostolic Church on how to qualify for P
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a heart stent implanted Wednesday to clear a blocked coronary artery
Alta Loma sweeps Kingsburg High School 25-10, 25-6 and 25-23 Tuesday evening in Rancho Cucamonga November 25, 2014
Police say about 150 people have been arrested in Los Angeles after failing to disperse during demonstrations again
Students and faculty from the Claremont Colleges participate in a march of solidarity, with the people of Ferguson


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The group had published a list of emails and passwords for PSN, Windows Live Mail and 2K Games accounts online, and claimed to be prepared to release more, but Sony says that they’ve come from other sources than hacking.
“We have investigated the claims that our network was breached and have found no evidence that there was any intrusion into our network,” the company wrote in a declaration to Joystiq. “Unfortunately, Internet fraud including phishing and password matching are realities that consumers and online networks face on a regular basis. We take these reports very seriously and will continue to monitor our network closely.”
An advanced malicious software application has been discovered that since 2008 was used to spy on private companies, governments, research institutes and individuals in 10 countries, anti virus software maker Symantec Corp said in a report on Sunday.
The Mountain View, California-based maker of Norton anti virus products said its research showed that a “nation state” was likely the developer of the malware called Regin, or Backdoor. Regin, but Symantec did not identify any countries or victims.
Symantec said Regin’s design “makes it highly suited for persistent, long-term surveillance operations against targets,” and was withdrawn in 2011 but resurfaced from 2013 onward.
The malware uses several “stealth” features “and even when its presence is detected, it is very difficult to ascertain what it is doing,” according to Symantec. It said “many components of Regin remain undiscovered and additional functionality and versions may exist.”
Almost half of all infections occurred at addresses of Internet service providers, the report said. It said the targets were customers of the companies rather than the companies themselves. About 28 percent of targets were in telecoms while other victims were in the energy, airline, hospitality and research sectors, Symantec said.
Symantec described the malware as having five stages, each “hidden and encrypted, with the exception of the first stage.” It said “each individual stage provides little information on the complete package. Only by acquiring all five stages is it possible to analyze and understand the threat.”
Regin also uses what is called a modular approach that allows it to load custom features tailored to targets, the same method applied in other malware, such as Flamer and Weevil (The Mask), the anti virus company said. Some of its features were also similar to Duqu malware, uncovered in September 2011 and related to a computer worm called Stuxnet, discovered the previous year.
Symantec said Russia and Saudi Arabia accounted for about half of the confirmed infections of the Regin malware and the other countries were Mexico, Ireland, India, Iran,Afghanistan, Belgium, Austria and Pakistan.
A draft resolution calling for the break-up should be finalized early next week, with a vote potentially on Thursday, according to a report from The Financial Times. While the European Parliament has no formal power to break up the company, a vote to split Google could put pressure on the European Commission, the EU’s executive body.
The motion is backed by several German politicians and by the Parliament’s two largest political blocs, the European People’s Party and the Socialists, according to the newspaper. The Reuters news agency also reported on the plan.
A Google spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comments about the proposed break-up motion.
Google currently faces a long-running antitrust investigation in the EU. Google and the EU’s previous antitrust commissioner, Joaquín Almunia, agreed to a set of terms back in February, but after complaints from online publishers and other groups, the commission demanded more concessions from Google.
Consumer Watchdog, a consumer rights group and long-time Google critic, applauded the move. “This is exactly what needs to happen,” John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project director, said by email. “Search should be separated from Google’s other businesses. We called for this back in 2010 and the need to do this has become even clearer as Google’s power has increased.”
In 2010, the group called on the U.S. Department of Justice to split Google’s search service from other lines of business.
One of the better-known sites, Insecam, appeared to have gone offline after the warnings, but at least one site that publishes similar content was still available.
The websites show footage from security cameras used by businesses and in people’s homes, including CCTV networks that secure buildings and even cameras built into baby monitors.
Last week the U.K.’s data protection watchdog warned of a website based in Russia that accesses thousands of webcams using their default logins and passwords, which it said can be easily found online.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also weighed in, warning users to ensure video feeds are encrypted and that wireless routers are protected by passwords.
“Once you’ve bought your IP camera, check its security settings and keep its software up-to-date,” wrote Nicole Vincent Fleming, a consumer education specialist with the FTC in a blog post.
Security experts have long warned that not changing the default credentials on such devices can allow them to be accessed by hackers.
The domain name Insecam.cc was registered through GoDaddy earlier this month, though whoever registered it chose to keep their registration details private in the “whois” domain directory.
The U.K. information commissioner has reportedly urged the Russian authorities to take down the site.
The service, which is designed to do what Drive does for Google and what Office 365 does for software rental, has gained mobile apps for the first time as Zocalo appears on the Google Play store and Apple App Store.
Amazon also mentions availability on the Kindle store, but we’re not sure about that bit. We assume it means the Amazon App Store for Fire tablet users.
The AWS blog says that the apps allow the user to “work offline, make comments, and securely share documents while you are in the air or on the go.”
A second announcement brings Zocalo into line with the AWS S3 storage on which it is built. Users will receive an update to their Zocalo sync client which will enable file capacities up to 5TB, the same maximum allowed by the Amazon S3 cloud.
To facilitate this, multi-part uploads will allow users to carry on an upload from where it was after a break, deliberate or accidental.
Zocalo was launched in July as the fight for enterprise storage productivity hots up. The service can be trialled for 30 days free of charge, offering 200GB each for up to 50 users.
Rival services from companies including the aforementioned Microsoft and Google, as well as Dropbox and Box, coupled with aggressive price cuts across the sector, have led to burgeoning wars for the hearts and minds of IT managers as Microsoft’s Office monopoly begins to wane.
Blizzard is happy and why shouldn’t they be as World of Warcraft subscriptions are up. The reason for the increase can be traced to the release of the latest expansion pack which was recently released. The latest WOW expansion pack is called Warlords of Draeno and its release has driven subscriptions to 10 million.
Selling over 3.3 million copies of the Warlords of Draenor on the first day alone, growth has been seen in all major territories since release. The numbers do include those players that are using the 1 month free subscription that comes with the expansion pack. WoW subscriptions had climbed to 7.4 million last quarter after being down.
Of course the release of Warlords of Draenor has not been without its problems. Still Blizzard says that they are working around the clock to address them. Owners have been offered free play time as compensation.
Apple’s latest success with Apple Pay includes the addition of support from hundreds of grocery stores within six major chains in the past week: BiLo Holding, 830 stores; Harvey’s and Winn-Dixie, 530; Albertson’s and Jewel-Osco, 180; Shaws and Star Markets, 150; United Food Stores, 60; and Associated Food Stores, 135. Wegmans and Whole Foods were already part of the original 35 retail chains offering Apple Pay in an estimated 225,000 stores, about 5% of all possible U.S. retail locations.
In addition, on Thursday, American First Credit Union said its Visa card now supports Apple Pay, joining more than 500 U.S. banks already supporting the service through Visa, MasterCard and American Express cards.
In the past week, SunTrust and Regions Bank added their support.
McDonald’s has confirmed that more than 50% of its in-store mobile payments at 14,000 restaurants were made with Apple Pay in its first month. Whole Foods recently said it processed more than 150,000 Apple Pay transactions in the first three weeks of the service. And Walgreens, the national drug store chain, said in-store mobile payments had doubled since Apple Pay launched.
“Office 365 Video provides organizations with a secure, company-wide destination for posting, sharing and discovering video content,” said Mark Kashman, a senior product manager with the Office 365 team, in a blog posting.
Kashman touted Video as a tool for internal communications, citing the examples of new-employee orientation, management messaging and worker training. Employees will also be able to contribute to a “Community” section, though most companies will probably frown on cat antic clips.
The service rolls out over the next few days to companies that have registered for Office 365′s First Release early distribution program, then through early 2015 to others.
Video will be available only to subscribers of Office 365′s plans for enterprises — E1 through E4 — and universities (A2 through A4). It will not be offered to consumer subscribers or firms with small business-oriented plans like Business Essentials, Business and Business Premium.
Kashman also said Office 365 plans for government agencies will get Video at some point, but he did not proffer a timeline.
The other requirement is SharePoint Online, an off-premises component of the enterprise and academic plans, but missing from the increasingly popular Office 365 ProPlus, the rent-not-buy plan used by organizations that have decided to retain their back-end services, like SharePoint and Exchange, on premises.
Although Office 365 Video has elements of consumer streaming services like Google’s YouTube, it’s strictly an in-house affair: It will be available only to employees, and then only those whom IT administrators have assigned access rights.
EBay Inc is making over its local delivery program and extending more logistics options to smaller merchants that make up the bulk of the e-commerce giant’s sprawling base of marketplace sellers, according to one of its executives.
More of eBay’s smaller sellers, including some with annual sales under $100,000, will allow shoppers to buy items online that can be picked up in stores, an option now used by big companies such as Best Buy Co Inc and Toys ‘R’ Us.
EBay also plans to dismantle its standalone mobile app for its $5 same-day delivery service “eBay Now” as soon as this week. The service will instead be folded into eBay’s mobile app and website.
“The big play in the U.S. has been around buy online, pick-up in store,” Tom Allason, head of eBay Local, said Wednesday.
The shift reflects how eBay and other technology companies, including Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc, still struggle with the high cost of same-day delivery. Only a fraction of a small retailer’s sales come from customers who also opt for same-day delivery, making it difficult to make a profit.
“That’s a part of why delivery is only one piece of the equation,” Allason said in an interview.
Earlier, the e-commerce giant intensified efforts to court retailers as it prepares to split its marketplaces division next year from PayPal, the payments unit that has been the fastest-growing part of its business.
EBay had planned to expand same-day delivery to 25 markets by the end of 2014, but it is only available in New York, San Francisco, the broader Bay Area, Dallas and Chicago.
EBay is exploring other delivery options for the United States, Germany and other markets, including the “click-and-collect” model used by Shutl in the United Kingdom, in which shoppers pick up certain eBay purchases from British retailer Argos.
Qualcomm has confirmed that it will branch out from offering its Snapdragon mobile chips and will soon launch a line of server processors.
The firm’s CEO, Steve Mollenkopf, has remained tight lipped about the plans so far but, according to The Wall Street Journal, said during a meeting with financial analysts in New York on Wednesday that the company is working on chips for the data centre.
There’s no timing yet, either, although Mollenkopf said that his firm is currently “engaged with customers”.
Qualcomm is already the world leader in ARM chips for smartphones, and we assume that the company will develop server chips based on ARM’s 64-bit ARMv8-A architecture as rivals such as AMD have done.
The move will place Qualcomm in competition with chip giant Intel, which is currently one of the biggest server chip makers.
Qualcomm announced last month that it had acquired Cambridge-based chipmaker CSR for a hefty $2.5bn (£1.6bn), as the company looks to push further into the Internet of Things (IoT).
The buyout, which comes two months after CSR rejected a takeover bid from Microchip Technology, will see Qualcomm using the British company to push further into the IoT, automotive and mobile communications markets.
CSR rejected an initial bid from Microchip, but reports claim that the firm has until 5pm UK time today to make a better offer.
However, CSR’s board of directors has unanimously accepted Qualcomm’s offer of 900p a share. The closing price at the time of the offer was 660p.
Microsoft has seen a number of Xbox One exclusive titles already be ported to the PC. Both Dead Rising 3 and Ryse have already made it to the PC, but we are now again hearing that Sunset Overdrive again is heading to the PC and Forza Horizon 2 maybe following as well.
This is not the first time we have heard rumors of Sunset Overdrive coming to the PC. An ad that suggested as much was down played at the time by Insomiac as a mistake. Now Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2 showed up on Amazon France as coming for the PC.
While Phil Spencer has suggested that Microsoft will have more to say about the PC in 2015 and that it would be a good thing for PC gamers. The reality is that Microsoft has not pushed PC game development in a longtime as it chose to focus on titles for the Xbox and Xbox 360. With the Xbox One being closer in design to the PC, porting a title to the PC is easier and Microsoft of course wants to be a player in this space.
We will have to wait and see what actually happens, but should Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2 make their way to the PC, it will be a good thing for PC gamers. Then again it could just be nothing more than a mistake.
The inclusion of the paid-for Beats service in an iOS software update, which would instantly make it available on millions of iPhones and iPads, could happen as early as March, the daily reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
The move will mark the company’s first big push into subscription music, at a time when downloads from its iTunes are in decline, the paper said.
The service, which is likely to be rebranded under the iTunes label, will compete with music streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, and Soundcloud.
Google Inc said last week that YouTube is rolling out a long-awaited paid monthly music subscription service called YouTube Music Key.
Apple, which bought music streaming and audio equipment company Beats in May for $3 billion, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Finland’s Nokia unveiled a new brand-licensed tablet computer which is designed to rival Apple’s iPad Mini, just six months after the company sold its underperforming phones and devices business to Microsoft for over $7 billion.
Nokia, a name which was once synonymous with mobile phones until first Apple and then Samsung Electronics eclipsed the Finnish company with the advent of smart phones, said the manufacturing, distribution and sales of the new N1 tablet, will be handled under license by Taiwan’s Foxconn.
The aluminum-cased N1, which runs on Google’s Android Lollipop operating software but features Nokia’s new Z Launcher intelligent home screen interface, is due to be in stores in China in the first quarter of next year for an estimated price of $249 before taxes, with sales to other markets to follow.
Sebastian Nystrom, the head of products at Nokia’s Technologies unit, said the company was looking to follow up with more devices and will also look into eventually returning to the smartphones business by brand-licensing.
“With the agreement with Microsoft, as is customary, we have this transition and we can’t do smartphones … We have a time limit. In 2016 we can again enter that business,” Nystrom told Reuters.
“It would be crazy not to look at that opportunity. Of course we will look at it.”
Microsoft last week dropped the Nokia name on its latest Lumia 535 smartphone, which runs on its Windows Phone 8 operating system, but still uses the brand for more basic phones.
After the Microsoft sale Nokia was left with its core network equipment and services business plus its smaller HERE mapping and navigation unit and Nokia Technologies, which manages the licensing of its portfolio of patents and develops new products such as the N1 and the Z Launcher.
The end-to-end encryption comes thanks to a collaboration between WhatsApp and Open Whisper Systems, an open-source development company focused on secure communications.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has more than 600 million users who log in monthly, making Open Whisper’s encryption deployment the largest ever in the area of end-to-end encrypted communication, Open Whisper said.
The encryption is on by default. It’s only available for Android right now, though the companies are working to roll out support for other platforms.
End-to-end encryption has gained attention following the disclosures about government surveillance last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Meanwhile, the flood of cyber attacks targeting retailers and Internet companies alike have highlighted the need for better data security.
Edward Snowden himself has called end-to-end encryption the best possible form of encryption, because it keeps people’s data encrypted even while it’s on company servers. The data, in theory, can only be decrypted on people’s personal devices. That means outside groups must target individuals’ machines if they want to access the data.
Some other mainstream services like Google have released products to facilitate end-to-end encryption. And along with Apple, Google’s also working to make encryption the default on smartphones.
But end-to-end encryption still is primarily offered by lesser known companies that don’t rely on people’s data for advertising.
WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption uses Whisper’s TextSecure protocol, which encrypts text messages over the air and on people’s phones.
WhatsApp declined to comment further on the encryption deployment.
It just announced a new octa-core ARM Cortex A53 chip with rather strange name, 5-mode 4G LTE ARMADA mobile PXA1936 SoC.
The chip supports 5-mode LTE and the eight A53 cores are clocked at up to 1.5 GHz. The SoC supports 1080p displays, as well as high-def video encoding and decoding, while the improved image processor supports cameras between 13 and 16 megapixels.
Marvell claims that it has an enhanced security processor as well as advanced power management and audio codec. Marvell’s ARMADA Mobile PXA1936 supports both LP-DDR2 and DDR3, eMMC storage, WiFi, Bluetooth, FM, GPS, SOIO and the 5-mode 4G LTE.
The company also announced ARMADA Mobile PXA1908 quad-core, with A53 cores running at up to 1.2GHz. This is a cheaper 5-mode LTE chip. It also has 8 to 13 megapixel camera and 720p displays and it is meant to attack the Moto G market usually powered by Mediatek SoCs or Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 parts.
We don’t think that it will be the fastest solution around, but we hope to see this chip in some important designs. The company claims that we should see the ARMADA Mobile PXA1936 shipping in early 2015.


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In September 2017, Equifax announced that hackers stole the personal data of 143 million U.S. consumers, making it the biggest data breach in 2017 and the fifth largest breach on record. Here is what you need to know about this massive breach.
What Was Stolen
During May through July 2017, hackers accessed Equifax’s computer systems by exploiting a vulnerability in a website application. Although Equifax immediately stopped the intrusion when it was discovered on July 29, the damage had already been done. The hackers got away with the names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses, and, in some cases, driver license numbers of 143 million U.S. consumers. Plus, the hackers stole credit card numbers (209,000 U.S. consumers impacted) and dispute documents containing sensitive data (182,000 U.S. consumers affected). They also accessed a limited amount of personal information about certain Canadian and U.K. residents.
What Equifax Is Doing in Response to the Data Breach
After Equifax discovered the data breach, it hired an independent cybersecurity firm to forensically investigate the incident, conduct a security assessment, and recommend ways to help prevent this type of incident from happening again. Obtaining these recommendations, though, does not guarantee that another breach won’t occur. Equifax did not seem to learn from two previous data breaches. In 2016, cybercriminals stole U.S. W-2 tax information from an Equifax website. And, between April 2016 and March 2017, hackers accessed W-2 tax information from Equifax’s TALX subsidiary (now called Equifax Workforce Solutions), which provides online payroll, human resources, and tax services.
To keep the public informed about the 2017 data breach, Equifax established the Cybersecurity Incident & Important Consumer Information website. It contains detailed information about the incident as well as a tool that consumers can use to determine if their personal information was potentially involved in the breach. However, ZDNet reported that the tool is basically useless since it is giving out incorrect results.
To answer people’s questions about the data breach, Equifax set up a dedicated call center at 866-447-7559. It is available 7 days a week and nearly 24 hours a day. The only time it is closed is between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m.
Equifax is also offering a free one-year subscription to the TrustedID Premier service for all U.S. consumers, even if they have not been impacted by this breach. The service includes identity theft insurance and monitoring of Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit files. You can learn more about the TrustedID Premier service in the What Can I Do? page of the Cybersecurity Incident & Important Consumer Information website.
How to Protect Yourself
In the Equifax data breach, hackers obtained sensitive data — including Social Security and credit card numbers — for a massive number of U.S. consumers. Thus, the potential for identity theft and credit card fraud is high for many Americans. Until you know whether or not your data was stolen, it is a good idea to be proactive and take some or all of the following precautions to protect yourself:
- Do not respond to data breach notification emails supposedly from Equifax, even if they look official. They are likely phishing scams. Equifax will be sending notices via snail mail to the people affected.
- Monitor your accounts for suspicious activity. Besides checking your monthly credit card and bank account statements, review your online service accounts (e.g., PayPal).
- Monitor your credit reports. If you are not enrolled in TrustedID Premier or another credit monitoring service, you might want to review your credit reports. U.S. citizens have the right to obtain free copies of their credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion once a year. To request them, go to the AnnualCreditReport.com website, which is the official site sanctioned by the U.S. government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Alternatively, you can call the AnnualCreditReport.com staff at 877-322-8228.
- Tell one of the three credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) to put a fraud alert on your credit report. That company must then tell the other two bureaus. The fraud alert makes it harder for identity thieves to open accounts in your name, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. There is no fee for this service. Although the alert lasts only 90 days, you can renew it.
- Change your Equifax password if you subscribe to one of its services. Although login credentials were not stolen in the breach, it is a good idea to change your password, especially if it is a weak one. If you used that password for other accounts, change those passwords as well. Also, consider enabling two-step authentication on websites that offer it.
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Encouraged by the growing number of Indians flocking to Japan, the country has stepped up its marketing efforts in this area. The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), has established a wholly-dedicated office in India to capitalize on these tourist volumes.
While earlier the issues of language, high costs, and availability of vegetarian food had severely impacted outbound tourism from India to Japan, the hurdles are slowly being overcome. According to Kenichi Takano, JNTO’s representative in India, during 2017, as many as 13,400 Indians made the journey to Japan. Year on year, these numbers have been climbing, and projected growth for the current year is expected to scale 20,000.
This has encouraged JNTO to set up base in India and channel its promotional activities in the country. This week, JNTO also organized its largest ever roadshow, featuring key tourism players from the Land of the Rising Sun to interact with India’s travel trade.


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Friday 25th October 2019
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Federated Farmers' submission on proposed changes to the law governing the dairy sector garnered extra clout among MPs when dairy chairman Chris Lewis outed himself as a non-Fonterra Cooperative Group supplier.
National Party MP Amy Adams questioned whether Federated Farmers was just a mouthpiece for the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council given that most of its members would be Fonterra suppliers due to its dominant market position. While Fonterra currently has 10 competitors operating 15 manufacturing sites across the country, its 10,000 farmer shareholders made up the bulk of dairy farmers.
“I’m just trying to understand in my mind how you ensure that it (Federated Farmers) isn't effectively the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council by another name,” said Adams as Lewis presented the Fed’s submission on proposed changes to the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act.
“We are independent of Fonterra,” said Lewis. “Our executive and dairy councils are made up of many farmers supply many different processors, including myself. I don’t supply Fonterra. We are led very independently,” he added.
This was news to Adams, whose party has strong ties to rural New Zealand. “I didn’t know that,” she said.
Lewis also pointed out that the Federated Farmers' initial submission earlier this year surveyed 339 farmers of which between 40 and 50 indicated they supply an alternative processor.
Parliament’s primary production select committee is currently reviewing submissions on proposed changes to the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act, passed in 2001 to set rules to regulate Fonterra’s dominant position after its formation and help foster a competitive market. A government review deemed the law was still fit for purpose but could be better.
Lewis presented Federated Farmers' submission to the committee yesterday.
When questioned why some farmers opt to supply independent processors, he said “it’s like any monopoly. Not everyone loves the monopoly.” He also noted that investing in Fonterra required a massive amount of capital and “banks don’t give that away.”
He was clear, however, that he wanted to see Fonterra succeed. “I supply an independent, but I also want a strong monopoly because they set the milk price. My independent follows it closely, so it’s in my best interest that Fonterra remains strong.”
Lewis said he recently attended an independent supply meeting, and the question from farmers was whether they were going to pay more or less than Fonterra this year. "It is the benchmark. I want them to do well so my processor pays me more," he said.
Federated Farmers submitted that an “overarching piece of legislation to ensure that there is adequate competition, both in the domestic market for milk products and among processing companies for farmers’ milk” was still needed, but that change was necessary to ensure “Fonterra has the ability to manage its supply in a way that is both fair to dairy farmers and profit maximising for shareholders.”
Currently, Fonterra is compelled to take supply from new or returning farmers – with very few exceptions. The proposed changes would allow it to decline membership to farmers who were not likely to comply with its terms of supply.
Federated Farmers favoured change after a suitable phasing period.
Lewis told MPs that it should be a commercial decision for the cooperative based on whether they needed supply, rather than carte blanche open entry.
Clearly “it’s more economical to run full factories than half factories and they want to keep the labour force fully employed all year round, so of course (in that situation) they will chase my milk,” he said.
“I’ve gone from Fonterra to independent, so I know how all this plays out and works from a personal perspective,” said Lewis.
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U.S. Dollar Nears a Critical Level That May Trigger a Buying Spree
21st February 2020 Morning Report
Tech Leads Stocks Lower on Virus Fears; Gold Gains
NZ dollar falls on disappointment over Chinese stimulus
Qantas Axes Flights Across Asia as Virus Scares Off Flyers
Some of China's Top Suppliers Are Readying for a Virus Rebound
Plexure signs contract with Super Indo
20th February 2020 Morning Report
Stocks Reach Record Highs After China’s Moves, Fed
Gold breaks through $1,600


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Black Friday lives, but the draw isn’t the big deal it once was for many shoppers and the calendar makes that especially true in 2017.
Pamela Washington missed the doorbusters and that exciting push through newly unlocked doors this year. She’d traveled from Texas to visit relatives in the Kansas City area and didn’t get out until later Friday morning with her sister and cousin.
“If you come out late like I did this year, all the good stuff is gone,” Washington said in the aisles at JCPenney’s in Lee’s Summit. “I just like the rush of it, everybody bumping into each other.”
Washington and her sister still found plenty of bargains.
“I’m more or less done,” Sharon Glass said. “We got to figure out how to get all this home on the plane.”
A shopper-friendly calendar this year promises to help shoppers spread the traditional holiday buying binge over a more manageable pace.
Thanksgiving Day came early, one day short of the earliest it can land on the calendar. It gives shoppers five more shopping days until Christmas this year than they had four years ago, according to IHS Markit executive director Chris Christopher.
Also this year, Christmas falls on a Monday, Christopher said. Last-minute gifters get a full weekend to procrastinate for those Christmas morning stocking surprises.
Retailers have been doing their part to extend the Black Friday experience.
JCPenney opened its doors at 2 p. m. Thanksgiving Day and was handing out in-store coupons worth up to $500. Kohl’s, Macy’s, Walmart and Target opened their doors Thursday only a few hours behind.
And there still were bargains when doors reopened Friday, which is just fine with Gwenda Barton and her three sisters, all of whom came from outside the Kansas City area to shop Friday.
“We don’t consider Thursday as Black Friday,” said Barton, who came from Springfield, Mo. “We like coming up after everyone else has gone home.”
Online retailers have gotten an earlier start too, according to Bloomberg Technology blogger Brad Stone. He wrote about seeing Amazon’s “Black Friday” deals available a week ago and noted BestBuy.com offered a “rush sale.”
All of which puts forecasters in an optimistic mood.
Adobe Systems Inc. expects $107.6 billion in online sales this season, an increase of 13.8 percent over last year.
Forecasts have fattened this year along with workers’ wallets, companies’ payrolls and the stock market.
IHS Markit’s analysis forecasts the full retail sales season at a 4.2 percent increase over last year. The company’s US Payroll Tracker counts 820,000 more paychecks hitting bank accounts this Black Friday than last Black Friday. Paydays throughout the first days of the week mean 3.66 million shoppers are suddenly more solvent as the traditional start to holiday shopping season begins.
Restaurants are adding to the Black Friday experience more and more, offering deals and promotions to fuel up weary shoppers or entice them to come back later.
Westport’s Doughnut Lounge had a “buy a $25 gift card, get a $25 gift card free” on Black Friday, while Leawood’s Gordon Biersch offered $1 craft beers, and Brookside’s Avenues Bistro took reservations for its $10 per person brunch.
Dolce Bakery in Prairie Village plans to hand out a free cup of coffee all day Saturday.
Small Business Saturday has become another kick-off moment for the holiday shopping season, with suburban some area downtown districts promoting the day.
And Cyber Monday, online shopping’s version of the holiday shopping starting gun, continues to spread what had been traditionally limited to the Friday after Thanksgiving.
An estimated 164 million shoppers – or 69 percent of Americans – planned or considered shopping during the Thanksgiving weekend taking in Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday through to Cyber Monday, according to a survey of 7,439 consumers by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Black Friday was expected to be the busiest shopping day with 70 percent of those surveyed planning to shop then, but 43 percent are expected to shop on Small Business Saturday with a majority saying they want to show support to the local retailers.
For some surveyed, the extended weekend of shopping has become a family tradition and others see it as something to do over the long break and to take in the holiday decorations.
An extended Black Friday shopping season also works best for some shoppers who’ve met their limits.
Tonni Bender of Independence waited until 7:30 to go shopping Friday morning. She’s a recovering Black Friday shopper.
A few years ago, she was among the first through the door to buy stereos for two people on her list. She got one stereo into her cart, turned to get the second one, and when she turned back the cart was gone.
“This old lady stole my cart,” Bender said. “I was so mad I wanted to punch her. People are crazy at that part of the day.”
A store manager helped Bender recover the cart and first stereo, but her shopping tactics changed.
“The fact that I got so mad – there’s no way I can do that again,” she said in the checkout line at Kohl’s in the Independence Commons.


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This is how the Install App dialog will look like once your App goes live.
Delivering long-term, sustainable solutionsto preserve freshness in broccoliFrom 2014–17, a project was undertaken that investigated the cooling and packaging processes of broccoli. One of the activities looked at the effects of the freshness protection treatment ‘SmartFresh’ on broccoli storage and shelf-life.SMARTFRESH InBox system formulation of 1-methylcyclopropene that blocks the receptors in broccoli, preventing its ability to produce or respond to ethylene and slowing respiration.Reducing post-harvest quality loss.Western Australia broccoli grower Brad Ipsen was at the forefront of the SmartFresh trials and in this edition, he speaks to Vegetables Australia about his involvement and the positive outcomes so far.WESTERN Australian broccoli grower Brad Ipsen pictured with his hydrovacuum cleaner. Process improvements for preserving peak freshness in broccoli(2) (VG14062) was a strategic levy investment under the Hort Innovation Vegetable Fund. Led by Dr Jenny Ekman from Applied Horticultural Research, the project examined some of the factors that could increase or decrease the retail freshness of broccoli including harvest time, delay before cooling, cooling method and packaging materials.
One of the major outcomes of the project — which concluded in 2017 — is the introduction of the SmartFresh InBox system. This is a formulation of 1-methylcyclopropene that blocks the receptors in the broccoli, preventing its ability to produce or respond to ethylene and slowing respiration — which, in turn, reduces post-harvest quality loss.
AgroFresh gathered the data required to register the new In-Box formulation of 1-MCP for commercial use on broccoli in Australia, which was approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) earlier this year. It is now registered, and commercial uptake has commenced.
Brad Ipsen is the first vegetable grower in Australia to use the SmartFresh InBox system. Brad and his family run Twin Lakes — amixed farming operation located in Manjimup — about 300 kilometres south of Perth. The main horticultural crop is broccoli, which is grown on 85 hectares between November and June. Twin Lakes also produces citrus, sheep and cattle.
Eight years ago, Brad met Dr Ekman when she was conducting a postharvest webinar. He says her presentation and extensive expertise had an immediate impact on his business.
“ I left that meeting and spent around $400,000 on a hydro vacuum cooler. That was my first involvement with Jenny,Brad reflects. ”
Dr Ekman then approached Brad to be involved in project VG14062.
“Jenny said: ‘Brad, I think this is a good thing that you should try. You’re well set up to do it.’ She knew our farm and our processes,” Brad says.
“I didn’t have to question if the project was worthwhile, because Jenny has the academia in post-harvest of broccoli. We're lucky in Australia to have a person of her knowledge and her education level. She is a tremendous resource.
“To me, Jenny’s like a God of broccoli.”
Customers were shocked to find the broccoli wasn’t being transported on ice.Addressing issues
Traditionally, broccoli has been packed in Styrofoam boxes with ice. This keeps broccoli cool and hydrated through the transport chain and looks good when the box is opened.
However, Brad explains that this system has disadvantages, including cost.
“Making ice is an expensive operation. I've got a six-tonne ice machine and I'm shipping water around Australia and overseas,” he says.
Another challenge is maintaining freshness of the broccoli.
“The whole issue with ice is that people think that the broccoli sitting in that ice is fresh, because the ice hasn’t melted,” Brad says.
“Domestically in Western Australia, it’s never a problem because it sits in Perth in a cool room refrigerator but when you’re sending to the east coast for instance, you open the box, and the ice is all melted — so it’s not fresh. It doesn’t change the status of the product though.”
When broccoli sits in water, it can attract bugs that then deteriorate the shelf life of the broccoli, which Brad says is a big problem.
Finding a solution
During the project, Brad and the research team conducted SmartFresh trials that involved packing sachets of the 1-MCP into liners — placing them in either polystyrene or cardboard boxes and shipping them around WA and across the Nullarbor.
This produced encouraging results and earlier this year — once the product was registered and available to use — Twin Lakes received a commercial quantity and rolled out 2,000 cartons that included the sachets.
Customers were shocked to find the broccoli wasn’t being transported on ice.
“We told our customers that there would be no ice but then they're on selling someone else who was wondering where the ice was,” Brad says.
Another benefit to using SmartFresh is environmental, with Twin Lakes moving away from polystyrene as it becomes less acceptable. Replacing ice with sachets means no sogginess or collapsing of cardboard boxes and Brad says he is confident that this new method will overcome these challenges, as well as deliver a fresher product.
“These things are going to need a fair bit of education to our customers that this is how it’s going to be. Because next year, polystyrene will probably be phased out in WA. I’m preparing for that,” Brad added.
Another challenge is controlling temperature.
“When you’re shipping the product, you need to have a good temperaturecontrolled environment. And if you can bring those two things together, it’s very exciting. But as I said, education is needed and we’ve done quite a bit of that to show when these potential advantages are,” Brad says.
“ We’ve already seen that the product is fresher and crispier, and our customers within Australia and overseas have said that too. ”
The levy at work
Brad says being involved in this project presented him with a first-hand look at an alternative way to send broccoli around Australia and the world. He recommends other growers become involved in levy-funded projects such as this if they are suitable and applicable to their farm or their operation, and they have a high degree of trust in the researchers.
“A lot of research is done without enough collaboration with the industry. And industry pays the funds that the Federal Government matches. Sometimes, growers need to show initiative,” Brad says.
“Once you pay your funds, you can’t get them back. You can’t go and say: hey, I haven’t used any research, send me a rebate on my funds’.
“It’s a non-discriminatory tax. When you’re paying a non-discriminatory tax and utilise it, it can be good. But you don’t want to just do it for another box to tick — Idon’t think that’s the idea. I think it’s got to be applicable, and there’s got to be a high degree of trust between the grower and researchers.”
Other SmartFresh InBox suitable crops include melons, tomatoes and cucumbers.Brad acknowledges that not every project will be a success.
“Just because it’s an idea doesn’t mean it’s going to work. It’s like anything — two things have got to meet. I’m seeking a solution to lowering my shipping costs and increasing my units in a container, and there’s a creditable solution,” he says.
“This is an example of bringing good research and researchers into the commercial crossover with industry. As a levy payer, that’s what it’s about. I pay a levy to get a better commercial outcome.”
Developing the commercial productPeter Vedeniapine is AgroFresh’s Account Manager — South Australia and Western Australia. AgroFresh is an agricultural company that conducts research to develop integrated solutions for freshness and quality in fruit and vegetables.
AgroFresh made mutual connections to Jenny through attending horticulture industry conferences and in 2014, she asked Peter to present the use of SmartFresh in broccoli to growers in Manjimup.
“During the meeting, we found that the room delivery system that we use for apples did not fit well with broccoli, and Jenny suggested that we use the sachet — now known as SmartFresh InBox — as the delivery system. Brad Ipsen was in the meeting, and he mentioned that if SmartFresh could be delivered using a sachet delivery system then growers would be able to use it,” he says.
There were challenges that took time and patience to work through.
“The metabolism study (residue data work) had to be done, which took time to complete but gave us the results we needed to continue — there were no residue issues,” Peter says.
“One time, due to weather in Victoria, we could not get the quality of broccoli we wanted for the trials. We had to make do with what we could get.”
It was a long process to get from conception to registration and labelling, but now AgroFresh has the full label. This also includes other SmartFresh InBox suitable crops such as melon, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Peter explains how important it was to make sure the system was implemented correctly.
“The voice of the customer had stated that the sachet in the box delivery system was required so it could be adopted widely,” Peter says.
“At the time, approximately half of Australian broccoli was packed using polystyrene and topped with ice. This offered a big enough opportunity to replace something that was costly and created an environmental issue for retailers with something cheaper and did not. It was a win for growers as well as the environment — and a commercial opportunity for us.
“When you believe something is the right fit, to make it happen you have to make an all-out commitment to seeing it through.”
This project has been funded by Hort Innovation using the vegetable research and development levy and funds from the Australian Government. For more information on the fund and strategic levy investment visit horticulture.com.au


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China’s largest location-based service (LBS) provider, Digu.com, has laid off around 50 of its staff in a restructuring move that will keep the company lean and focused on product development and user acquisition. The unfortunate folks who have been made redundant are, for the most part, all marketing staff.
Chinese tech site DoNews claimed that the number of layoffs could equal up to 70 percent of Digu’s total workforce.
In a statement sent to us today, Digu.com’s co-founder and general manager John Huang said: “It’s a bit early to explore LBS business model while the top priority should be recruiting users.”
Digu currently has the most users of any location-based service provider in China, commanding a 26 percent market share of 10.5 million users in Q2 this year. Qieke and Jiepang occupy the second and third spots (14 percent and 12.7 percent respectively).
However, originally set up as a micro-blogging platform and having shifted its focus to LBS in July 2010, today’s restructuring could be due to Digu having lots of users, but very few who actually use location-based services. Plus, no one in the world has so far figured out how LBS will bring in the cash. Will it be data syndication with search engine (like Twitter) or will merchandisers be willing to pay-per-check-in?
John Huang continued:
Top end mobile phones, especially in Android system, will be popular and we expect there will blockbuster expansion of Android mobile at around 1,000 RMB in the next year.
Industry analysts see today’s layoffs as indicative of similar upcoming redundancies and restructurings. Yan Xiaojia from Analysys International told PO Tech Asia:
The layoffs at Digu are no exception. Numerous problems have led to a decline in investor confidence… and we are going to see more and more lay offs and more small and medium sized LBS companies folding in future.
However, numbers are showing that LBS in China is finally beginning to look up. Analysys International reported a 60.3 percent growth in the total number of location-based service user accounts in China between Q1 and Q2 this year – a sign that things might be getting better for LBS in China.
At the very least it must be comforting to those in the industry after growth slowed down to 25.96 percent between Q4 2010 and Q1 this year. So with Digu continually beating the rest of the field (it has actually increased its market share since last quarter). Why the massive lay off?
Looking at the bigger picture, China’s numbers are still small. 10.5 million users for the whole of China contrasts starkly with 10 million users for the US’ Foursquare alone. And Foursquare announced those figures back in June, so we can only speculate that it’s probably a couple of million more by now.
Nonetheless it is great to see Digu changing its direction like an agile start-up. Whether it is for better or worse, we still don’t know. But one thing is for sure, Jiepang is winning mindshare as the check-in service of choice, and Digu will have to pivot to something else sooner or later. (Seriously, just look at the number of big brands Jiepang has partnered with so far — LV, Nokia, Ikea and many more.) We also learned that Digu will still focus on LBS in the smartphone segment but the company is tight-lipped about the details.