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It was a raised concern earlier this year over the directive of recovery of over Rs. 46,000 Crore of unpaid interest on delayed GST payment. The interest was being charged at Gross Tax Liability.
The GST Council inclusive of State and Centre Finance Ministers, in its 39th meeting in March made a decision that the interest required to be paid for delayed GST payment needs to be charged on Net Tax Liability from 1st July, 2017. Hence, earlier the GST law stated that 18% interest needs to be charged on Delayed gross Goods and services tax payment to which the GST liability was considered for interest calculation also included the part which would be offset by input tax credit.
CBIC Notice regarding Delayed Gst Payment
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on August 25, 2020 notified that September 1st, 2020 would be the date from which the interest would be charged on Net Tax Liability. It was notified by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) today clarified that the Notification No. 63/2020- Central tax dated 25th August 2020 which relates to the interest on the delayed GST payment which is issued because of certain technical limitations.
Entitlement of Full Relief
However, an assurance was made that no recoveries would be made for the past period by Centre and State tax administration as according to the 39th meeting of GST council. The taxpayers are entitled to full relief as has been decided by the GST council. This notice came as a response after an assortment of comments on Social Media.
Consideration of Informal Press Release
Several experts mentioned on the condition of anonymity that the actual tax governance mostly takes place solely on the basis of formal notifications and not just by verbal assurances or informal press notes that does not include any legal sanctity. “It will lead to litigation as the field officers will go by formal notification only,” a tax consultant who works for a global consultancy firm said. Businesses are anxious at the prospect of paying over ₹46,000 crore as interest on the delayed payment of GST ever since the new indirect tax regime was launched on July 1, 2017.
From the above-mentioned notice, it can be concluded that the notice seems to be disconnected with the decisions made by GST council where it was assured that the taxpayers would be given this benefit retrospectively from July 1, 2017. This benefit would mean that there would be millions of tax payers that will be looking at demand of interest for over three years ever sine the date of implementation of GST. Businesses are expected that they approach the High Courts for the unjust interest that is demanded on ‘principle of estoppel’.


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Tesla is nearing completion of its huge expansion into Lealman. The sprawling electric car dealership has just about completed construction, with employees already moving around inside the gleaming building at 4601 34th Street North. While no official grand opening has been set, all appearances are that the Tesla dealership is weeks away from opening to the public.
Tesla received initial approval early last year to convert the old Kanes Liquidation Center on 34th Street North in St. Pete into a state-of-the-art dealership and regional repair facility, and construction began after Delray Beach, FL-based Truett Realty Group (TRG) officially closed on the property last May. The 100,000-square-foot facility will bring more than 50 high paying jobs to the area. On average, Tesla technicians make upwards of $27.65 per hour in the U.S.
TRG said it reconfigured the building’s footprint to make way for a 52,000 square foot sales, service and delivery operation. The remaining enclosed space will be utilized for indoor vehicular storage and is expected to accommodate 170 vehicles. This is TRG’s fourth Tesla redevelopment project since 2021.
TRG Principal Rob Truett said, “We’re thrilled to execute on an adaptive reuse project that will transform a building originally developed as a distribution center into a state-of-the-art Tesla facility. Our redevelopment projects are extremely rewarding as they provide a cost-efficient way to enter markets with high barriers to entry while promoting a sustainable environment.”
Tesla revitalizing Lealman with high paying jobs
Tesla’s showroom will measure 3,000 square feet, according to public records. Upwards of 40,000 square feet will be allocated for a Tesla repair center. Nearly half of the center will be dedicated for storing vehicles that have been ordered.
This is a huge get for the Lealman area. A swath of high paying jobs, and new interest in the area could spur a wave of economic development. The company’s move to Lealman does align with the initiative of the Community Redevelopment Area. Improvements to the building, including a fresh coat of paint, and structural maintenance to the former Kane’s Liquidation Center, could spawn reinvestment in Lealman.
As part of the continued growth in the area, the Kane’s Liquidation Center will move across the street to 4501 34th Street North behind the main Kane’s Furniture store located at the same address.
“The importance of this deal for Lealman cannot be understated”, said Pinellas County Commissioner Charlie Justice. “Tesla recognizes what we’ve been saying… Lealman is on the rise. And Lealman is ready to welcome you and your business too.”

domain: news


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Spireon’s fleet business in the small and mid-sized market segments grew in the first half of 2018 due to a 45% increase in utilization of its fleet tracking solutions.
The company’s FleetLocate Connected by OnStar solution for available GM vehicles achieved a 27% growth in activations in the first half of 2018 versus what was reported in the last half of 2017. The tool enables customers with OnStar-equipped GM vehicles to gain instant access to FleetLocate, according to Spireon.
Also, in the first half of 2018, Spireon experienced 53% growth in fleet channel revenue from its largest reseller partner, and a 73% increase in active subscriptions year over year. Overall, device shipments through the company’s reseller channel have increased by 39% versus the first half of 2017.
Spireon also surpassed 200,000 trailer telematics subscribers for its FleetLocate asset and trailer intelligence solution, the company said. In the first half of 2018, the company introduced FL Flex, a modular trailer tracker designed for mixed fleets.
Meanwhile, the company also recently partnered with Ford Commercial Solutions for FleetLocate to access data through Ford’s Transportation Mobility Cloud. As a result, fleet operators with Ford vehicles will be able to utilize FleetLocate with no aftermarket hardware required, according to Spireon.
In the franchise auto dealer segment, Spireon increased device shipments for Kahu, a location tracking and stolen vehicle recovery service for dealers, by 65% and boosted revenues by 38% during the first six months of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017. Also, device shipments to Buy Here Pay Here (BHPH) dealers grew 4% year over year.
In the first half of 2018, trailer revenues increased 36% versus the first half of 2017, and Spireon secured or grew business with several notable enterprise customers including Transervices, Contract Leasing Corp. and Ryder System, Inc


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Diageo Selects Accenture to Develop and Support its Global ERP Systems
NEW YORK and LONDON; October 7, 2003 – Diageo, the world’s premium drinks business, and Accenture today announced a multi-year agreement under which Accenture will develop, implement and support Diageo’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems on a global basis.
Accenture will deliver and support a suite of systems, including SAP and Ariba, which underpin Diageo’s core back office processes. The global deployment of these systems is part of Diageo’s strategy to enhance business effectiveness and efficiency.
"This agreement marks an important step toward our goal of implementing our new operating model and our intent of more clearly leveraging our global scale to support each of our in-market businesses" said Robin Dargue, CIO, Diageo.
"Diageo has long been an industry leader in using innovation to enhance shareholder value, and this is yet another strong example," said John Zealley, a partner in Accenture’s Consumer Goods & Services practice. "With new ERP systems, Diageo will be able to focus on its premium brand portfolio and compete in a market that demands speed and efficiency."
Diageo is the world’s leading premium drinks business. With its global vision, and local marketing focus, Diageo brings to consumers an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across the spirits, wine and beer categories including Smirnoff, Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Baileys, J&B, Cuervo, Captain Morgan and Tanqueray, and Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards wines. Diageo trades in some 180 countries around the world and is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com.
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry expertise, broad global resources and proven experience in consulting and outsourcing, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, alliances and technologies to help clients improve their business performance. With more than 80,000 people in 47 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$11.6 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2002. Its home page is www.accenture.com.


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The metaverse is a hot technology trend that's currently in its early phases of growth, but it is expected to become massive in the long run thanks to its ability to connect people spread across the globe in 3D virtual worlds.
In simpler words, people can work, play, learn, and socialize within the metaverse from the comfort of their homes with the help of mixed reality devices that support both augmented reality and virtual reality. Not surprisingly, investments in this space are expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. A third-party estimate forecasts that the metaverse market could grow at an annual rate of nearly 48% through 2029, hitting a size of just over $1.5 trillion at the end of the forecast period.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are two companies that can help investors win big from this trend. Let's see why the metaverse could send the stocks of these tech giants on a bull run.
Nvidia stands to gain from the metaverse in multiple ways. In fact, the graphics specialist is already reaping the benefits of this emerging tech trend by powering Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ: FB) supercomputer that's supposed to help support the metaverse's growth. Meta's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research SuperCluster (RSC) supercomputer is powered by just over 6,000 Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs). The supercomputer will eventually be powered by 16,000 Nvidia GPUs once Meta completes the expansion of the same.
Meta believes that "the work done with RSC will pave the way toward building technologies for the next major computing platform -- the metaverse, where AI-driven applications and products will play an important role." This means that the demand for Nvidia's GPUs should ideally boom in the long run as data centers, servers, and supercomputers will have to be upgraded to tackle the real-time delivery of 3D content to millions of users around the globe.
This, however, is not the only opportunity for Nvidia in the metaverse. The company estimates that, along with chips, the metaverse will also create robust demand for enterprise software. According to Nvidia, the hardware and software opportunity together represent a $300 billion addressable market.
Now, we have seen how Nvidia tends to gain on the hardware side of things from the metaverse. The good part is that its software opportunity is also taking off. Known as the Omniverse, Nvidia already has a scalable development platform that allows creators and developers to make virtual worlds, especially digital twins -- virtual replicas of physical objects and spaces in the real world.
What's more, Nvidia claims that more than 400 companies have been evaluating the adoption of its Omniverse platform. Automotive giant BMW has tapped the Omniverse to create a digital twin of a factory, while Ericsson is using the platform to simulate and visualize 5G wireless networks before launching them.
All this indicates that Nvidia's business could get a nice shot in the arm thanks to the metaverse, and that could play a substantial role in boosting the company's already excellent pace of growth. Nvidia finished fiscal 2022 (which ended on Jan. 30) with a 61% year-over-year increase in revenue to $26.9 billion, and the metaverse opportunity indicates that it is scratching the surface of a massive opportunity.
Analysts expect Nvidia to clock annual earnings growth of 30% for the next five years, and the addition of opportunities such as the metaverse could help it grow at a faster pace and supercharge the stock in the long run.
Microsoft is another tech giant that's on track to win from the metaverse in multiple ways, including the lucrative video gaming space.
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it would be acquiring Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $68.7 billion. While announcing the acquisition, Microsoft's press release said that the "acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft's gaming business across mobile, PC, console, and cloud, and will provide building blocks for the metaverse." It is worth noting that Microsoft already has a solid base in the gaming business thanks to its Xbox consoles, the Game Pass video game subscription service, and a big library of gaming titles, thanks to its ownership of several gaming studios.
This puts Microsoft in a solid position to tap into the metaverse gaming opportunity, which is expected to grow at a terrific pace. Cryptocurrency asset management firm Grayscale estimates that virtual gaming worlds could generate $400 billion in revenue by 2025 as compared to $180 billion in 2020. Almost all the virtual gaming revenue will be generated by in-game spending, so Activision's user base of 400 million will give Microsoft access to a large pool of players from whom it can drive incremental spending to power the growth of its gaming business in the metaverse.
Beyond gaming, Microsoft has already dived into the metaverse with Mesh for Microsoft Teams. This product, which is built on top of the popular Microsoft Teams collaboration tool, will allow people in different locations to attend meetings in immersive 3D spaces through their virtual avatars. Microsoft Teams has a user base of over 250 million, so the company can cross-sell its metaverse collaboration tool to a huge audience.
Meanwhile, Microsoft also plans to take advantage of the application of the metaverse in the industrial sector as well, where it plans to tap the growing demand for digital twins. This could turn out to be a smart move from Microsoft, given that the digital twin market is expected to generate $61 billion in revenue by 2027 as compared to $10 billion last year, according to Mordor Intelligence.
Throw in the company's prospects in other lucrative markets such as cloud computing and video gaming, and it won't be surprising to see Microsoft sustain its impressive growth in the long run. The company's revenue was up 18% year over year in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 (ended March 31) to $49.4 billion, while adjusted earnings had shot up 14%.
Analysts expect Microsoft's earnings to clock an annual growth rate of 16% for the next five years, but don't be surprised to see it do better than that, thanks to lucrative growth drivers such as the metaverse. That's why buying Microsoft stock looks like a no-brainer right now, as it is trading at 26 times trailing earnings, a discount to its five-year average multiple of 37.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.


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Rice farmers in the Mekong Delta have been switching to durian on thousands of hectares of lands despite warnings the soil is unsuitable and there will be oversupply.
Tran Dang Khoa in Long An Province in the delta is busy preparing to harvest his durian crop he has sold to a trader at VND150,000 ($6.32) per kilogram.
The 32-year-old man borrowed from banks five years ago to plant the fruit trees on a part of his 3.5-hectare rice farm. He invested VND1 billion to plant over 150 durian trees, which are now nearly ready for harvest.
“One hectare can produce 15 tons of fruits, and I can earn an income of over VND1 billion,” he said, pointing out that was 10 times the income he would get by growing rice on his whole farm.
In the neighboring province of Tien Giang, Nguyen Van Dong gets up early every day to fertilize his four-year-old durian trees that will be ready for harvest next year.
He too used to farm rice, but it fetched him VND20 million a year. When jackfruit prices rose, he switched to it, but prices plunged due to oversupply and he suffered losses.
With durian prices rising relentlessly in recent years, he switched to the fruit.
“I have 200 trees and invested VND800 million in the farm, part of it borrowed from banks.”
In the last three years the area under durian in Tien Giang has expanded by 21% to 17,600 ha. Neighboring localities such as Can Tho City and Hau Giang Province have been witnessing a similar trend with thousands of hectares of durian added in recent years.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development planned to have 75,000 ha of durian by 2030, but the figure has already exceeded 80,000 ha and is increasing.
Two hectares of rice are chopped down to be replaced with durian in Long An Province. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Nam
Nguyen Bao Ve, former head of agriculture studies at Can Tho University, said warned about unsuitable soil and low yields.
Tan Phuoc District in Tien Giang has for instance acid sulphate in the soil, and it would cost farmers a lot of money to make the soil suitable for growing durian, he said.
Tien Giang, Long An and Dong Thap provinces frequently suffer flooding and growing durian there without building dikes could lead to losses, he warned.
Vo Huu Thoai, head of the Southern Horticultural Research Institute, said farmers used to replace rice with jackfruit when the latter’s prices rose and chop them down when prices dropped. The same thing happened with orange and is now happening with durian, he said.
“Of the 80,000 hectares of durian in Vietnam, only 5% are approved for imports by China, and this poses a great risk to farmers.”
In the long run the government needs to impose limits on durian farming to prevent oversupply, he added.
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CEO | Ilitch Holdings Inc. | Detroit
Chris Ilitch oversees what could be one of the most transformative projects in Detroit’s history.
His billionaire parents founded the Little Caesars pizza chain, own the city’s iconic Red Wings and Tigers, and in 2014 unveiled a sprawling, 50-block, mixed-use redevelopment (dubbed The District Detroit) that will be anchored by a $627.5 million, 20,000-seat hockey and entertainment arena. It opens in fall 2017.
Total investment is forecast at more than $1 billion, and will include new housing, retail, office and green space.
Chris Ilitch, 50, has handled the day-to-day oversight of the Ilitch businesses for his parents since 2004. He’s been the public face of the family’s public events for years. He is president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings Inc., the umbrella company for the family companies, and in the future will take over for his parents in their chairmanship of the company.
He made the announcement that the new hockey arena will be called Little Caesars Arena under a 20-year, $120 million branding deal for the pizza chain his parents founded in the suburbs in 1959 and moved downtown in 1989. Ilitch also unveiled plans for a massive nine-story Little Caesars headquarters that will be built downtown.
— BILL SHEA


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Airbnb to crack down on disruptive New Year’s Eve parties in Texas – NECN
This weekend, police will be on high alert across the United States for New Year’s Eve shenanigans, as will home rental company Airbnb, which is launching a new crackdown on unauthorized parties in the city. Dallas area.
Airbnb announces it is strengthening its defenses to prevent disruptive parties over the NYE weekend, as the company says it continues to take a hard line on disruptive parties and emphasize safe and responsible travel during a weekend when some may be more likely to try to throw an unauthorized party.
This weekend there will be a ban on some one night bookings during New Years Eve for whole house listings. These defenses are in effect for those who have no positive account history or no previous reservations on the platform
There are also tighter restrictions for the same customers trying to book two- and three-night reservations, with a focus on local reservation attempts.
Airbnb said this method was tested in Dallas last New Year’s Eve with success, preventing more than 2,400 one-day bookings. It has also been tested in other cities around the world since 2020, most recently in the United States during Halloween, resulting in a global drop in New Year’s Eve party incidents of 56%.
“Just because you don’t have an opinion doesn’t mean you’re doing no good. Everyone starts somewhere. But what we’re seeing is that the people who won this story of positive reviews have earned that trust or Airbnb, don’t all of a sudden and throw a 100-person party,” said Ben Breit, director of trust and safety communications for Airbnb.
The restrictions will be in effect over New Year’s weekend in 11 countries, including the United States.
“Stays are happening around the world every night on Airbnb, with the vast majority of guests and hosts being respectful of neighbors and providing benefits to their local community. These proactive defenses will help promote responsible travel and prevent rare cases. of unwanted behavior, and allow hosts, guests, and communities to enjoy their holiday celebrations with added confidence,” said Naba Banerjee, Director of Trusted Products and Operations at Airbnb.
Airbnb officials told NBC Dallas affiliate NBC 5 that these new restrictions happening this weekend are all part of the company’s anti-party prevention systems, including a focus on guests under 25, noise sensors for hosts and a total ban on parties, which was codified during the summer.
“There will always be people who don’t care about the rules and try to break those rules,” Breit said. “We don’t want parties, or unauthorized parties in particular, to happen on our platforms. Even if it’s rare, it’s just not a good thing. can be disruptive to our neighbours.”
Airbnb also operates a 24/7 Neighborhood Helpline. They encourage anyone to use it if they think a neighboring rental is breaking the rules.
You can read more about the 2022 New Year crackdown here.


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June 5, 2008 -- Splenda. NutraSweet. Sweet'N Low. Equal. Those no-calorie sweeteners may soon have new competition made from stevia, a shrub native to South America.
Stevia isn't new. It's been used for centuries as a sweetener in South America and is used Japan.
Truvia, a new stevia product developed by Cargill and Coca-Cola, isn't settling for supplement status. It's set to debut later this year as a tabletop sweetener and ingredient in certain Coca-Cola products.
Truvia will have competition. Pepsi has its own stevia product in the works, and stevia supplements may look to move into the mainstream. All that buzz could spice up the competition for your sweet tooth.
But are the safety issues settled for good?
There's no shortage of no-calorie sweeteners on the market. The FDA has approved five artificial ones:
- Aspartame: Brand names include NutraSweet and Equal.
- Sucralose: Brand name is Splenda.
- Saccharin: Brand names include Sweet'N Low, Sweet Twin, and Necta Sweet.
- Acesulfame-K: Brand names include Sunett and Sweet One.
- Neotame: Approved for use as an ingredient in a wide variety of foods including baked goods, soft drinks, chewing gum, jams, and syrups.
Truvia differs from those products because it's natural, and it differs from current stevia products because it's backed by extensive safety studies, notes Ann Tucker, Cargill's communications director.
Those studies, published in the advance online edition of Food and Chemical Toxicology, show no signs of the possible health issues -- such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and reproductive effects -- that have been noted in some, but not all stevia studies done mainly on animals.
In the Cargill and Coca-Cola funded studies, Truvia didn't affect blood pressure in healthy people or blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. Further tests in rats show no effects on reproduction, fertility, or other health problems.
When Will Truvia Debut?
"Is it a go? Yes, it's a go," Cargill spokeswoman Ann Tucker says of Truvia. But she can't say exactly when Truvia will be available.
"That's the gazillion-dollar question," says Tucker, adding that Truvia will get a "rigorous review" by the scientific community before it hits the market.
The FDA says it will review Truvia's case to be considered "generally recognized as safe," which would pave the way for it to become the first stevia product allowed as a food additive in the U.S.
Perspective of a Watchdog Group
"No company was able to demonstrate its safety to FDA," David Schardt, senior nutritionist at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), tells WebMD. "Now maybe Cargill has done that. Maybe."
The CSPI hasn't been sweet on stevia because of possible safety issues.
"For good reason, FDA and a lot of other industrialized countries have not allowed it to be used as a food additive until these safety questions have been resolved. That's what Cargill thinks they've done ... at least with the extract that they're selling," says Schardt.
"We've always told consumers you're not going to drop dead if you use it [stevia] to sweeten your tea," says Schardt. "But there is concern about using it as a food additive, putting it into a lot of products that are sold to millions of people."
The CSPI's verdict on Truvia isn't in yet. But Schardt is cautiously optimistic. "We hope that the stevia extract does prove to be safe."
Sweetness in Moderation
Nutritionist Elaine Magee, MPH, RD -- WebMD's "Recipe Doctor" and the author of Food Synergy -- has blogged about her "wait and see" view of stevia.
"No matter what the alternative sweetener, including stevia, I would recommend moderation," Magee writes in an email. "I think that it tricks our body to taste sweetness and to not get the carbohydrates absorbed in the bloodstream that the body then expects. For some people I suspect this can bring on cravings or overeating later, perhaps."
That probably doesn't happen with "smaller amounts (like one diet soda a day)," writes Magee. "But there are people who have many diet sodas a day. This then also displaces more healthful beverages like green tea, water, or nonfat or low-fat milk."
That theory hasn't been proven. But it has come up in past research on diet sodas and weight gain. That research wasn't related to stevia.
Stevia Competition Heats Up
Pepsi plans to put its own highly purified, zero-calorie, all-natural stevia sweetener -- which doesn't have a name yet -- in various new products after it's approved by the FDA, PepsiCo spokesman David DeCecco tells WebMD in an email.
Meanwhile, a Seattle company called Zevia is already marketing Zevia, a carbonated dietary supplement containing stevia. The company touts its product as "the world's only all natural sugar-free alternative to diet soda." But Zevia hasn't bucked the "dietary supplement" label.
Zevia President and CEO Derek Newman tells WebMD in an email that the company has perfected the stevia taste with Zevia.
"I would be shocked if Cargill's product is nearly as good," he writes.
In a statement emailed by Tucker, Zanna McFerson, business director for Cargill Health and Nutrition, says, "There are many stevia blends available as dietary supplements today. We cannot comment on all the variations and only know that we consistently offer a safe, pure, and consistent product."
Truvia's research may not apply to other stevia products, notes Schardt.
"If you believe Cargill, the research establishing its safety is on a particular extract, a pure extract [Truvia], and that it doesn't necessarily apply to something else that's not quite the same. So that's an issue that I guess FDA is going to have to address," says Schardt.


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Here’s something you don’t hear every day: “FTC Commissioner Praises Direct Sellers”
That’s exactly what a reporter from The Hill wrote after attending DSEF’s April 6 event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC: Consumer Protection: A Multi-Industry Conversation on Ethics & Self-Regulation.
The event featured opening remarks from Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and panelists from several industries—including Direct Selling Association President Joe Mariano. “This public forum not only demonstrated our industry’s commitment to ethics, it embodied the Foundation’s mission to advance understanding of the direct selling business model and our industry’s leadership role in consumer protection,” said Gary Huggins, DSEF Executive Director.
Federal Trade Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen
The roundtable discussion on consumer protection issues and the role of self-regulation was moderated by George Washington University Professor Howard Beales, former director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection. Joe was joined on the panel by Lynne Omlie, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) Senior Vice President, Secretary & General Counsel; and C. Lee Peeler, Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) CEO and Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) Executive Vice President of National Advertising.
Kicking off the discussion, Commissioner Olhausen described ingredients necessary to successfully protect consumers. “Consumer expectations for transparency and corporate responsibility continue to evolve, so too must the framework used to safeguard the public,” she said. “There are three elements that must be present to provide effective consumer protection: law enforcement, education and self-regulation. I like to think of it as a three-legged stool. If any of these factors is missing or not functioning effectively, the stool will at best be off-balance and at worst, topple over.”
Introducing the panelists, Dr. Beales noted there is no “one right way” for industries to self-regulate and Lee Peeler agreed. “Today’s discussion is an excellent opportunity to share best practices in three successful self-regulation models and how we might adjust our approaches to better meet the needs of consumers,” he said, adding that the hallmark of effective self-regulation include clear standards, transparency, accountability, industry support and adequate funding.
All three panelists stressed the importance of adapting to changing consumer needs and market atmospheres. “It is critical that we continue to perfect our Code of Ethics” Joe Mariano said. “Later this year, we will further strengthen these best-in-class consumer protections by introducing greater transparency around enforcement and enhancing protections against false earnings claims. We choose to lead by example so every direct selling company in the United States has an incentive to do better by its customers. That’s why today’s discussion is so important.”
Lynne Omlie shared anecdotes from DISCUS’s self-regulation efforts, noting that all complaints they receive are resolved within seven days of being logged. She touted the evolution the council’s code, saying, “Our Code is a living document that has evolved over time as social mores and technology change, reflecting our industry’s steadfast commitment to effective self-regulation in both traditional and emerging marketing platforms.”
Panelists: Lynne Omlie, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States Senior Vice President, Secretary & General Counsel; Joe Mariano, Direct Selling Association President; and C. Lee Peeler, Advertising Self-Regulatory Council CEO and Council of Better Business Bureaus Executive Vice President of National Advertising.
Thirty-nine people attended the event, including CBBB staff, consumer protection leaders, local county regulators and representatives from Amway, Herbalife and Mary Kay. Attendees received DSEF’s Consumer Protection Toolkit, created to support the FTC’s in their efforts to educate the public about fraud, deception and unfair business practices in the marketplace. The kit includes various resources from the FTC and other state and local consumer organizations, as well as materials highlighting the consumer protections measures afforded by DSA’s Code of Ethics.
As the panel discussion drew to a close, DSEF Executive Director Gary Huggins told attendees that the morning’s discussion marked the first of many such Foundation events as part of its work to advance understanding of direct selling and promote the industry’s commitment to ethics, consumer protection and self-regulation. “American consumers deserve the highest level of ethics from companies they do business with. A commitment to effective self-regulation by industry leaders is critical to safeguarding their rights,” he said. “We thank FTC for its tireless work on behalf of consumers and look forward to continuing to work with regulators and industry colleagues to ensure consumer protections remain a fundamental goal.”


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When Syfy announced that they would not air cult sci-fi TV series The Expanse for a fourth season on May 10, 2018, thousands of fans were devastated. Before long, they took to the web to begin calling for someone - anyone - to pick up the show, organizing under a single banner: #SaveTheExpanse. The result was one of the most iconic fan uprisings in TV history.
Updates from The Expanse (Page 7)
An Extended Retrospective on the #SaveTheExpanse Campaign
A personal recollection of the historic #SaveTheExpanse fan campaign by The Expanse Lives's team. In this 5-part retrospective series, we take a deep dive into the movement and offer as much detail as we could gather on the events from our point of view.
The Expanse at DragonCon 2018
The Expanse is coming to DragonCon! Dominique Tipper, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Cas Anvar and Frankie Adams will be in attendance for three days. Panels, photo-ops, signings, and several fan events will be hosted as well. Find your scheduling and other information here!
#TheExpanseLives: The Future of a Campaign
Welcome to The Expanse Lives! We hope that this website will one day grow into a thriving space for the Expanse fandom to connect, collaborate, and create. But we won’t be able to do it without your support and participation, so read on to find out what to expect from The Expanse Lives in the coming months as well as what you can do to get involved!
We #SavedTheExpanse: Amazon, Alcon renew The Expanse for Season 4
Thanks to the incredible, historic efforts of the cast, crew and fans of the critically acclaimed sci-fi epic, “The Expanse,” the television show has been resurrected by Amazon Studios and Alcon Entertainment for a fourth season. Just two weeks after being cancelled by Syfy, the massive grassroots effort that followed the news achieved its goal in saving the series.
BREAKING: Amazon in talks to renew The Expanse (but the fight is far from over!)
The #SaveTheExpanse campaign dug in as talks between Amazon and Alcon to renew 'The Expanse' were confirmed, however many outlets erroneously reported that the show had been renewed. The campaign urged fans to keep the pressure on while talks continued in order to prove to Amazon that the show was a safe financial bet and to give it the perfect send-off on Syfy.


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Facebook made it pretty clear that it's focusing on the metaverse when it rebranded itself as Meta, and its latest acquisition is part of that effort. Jason Rubin, the company's VP of Metaverse Content has revealed that Meta is acquiring Within, the creator of immersive virtual reality workout app Supernatural for Oculus Quest headsets. A rep for Within previously described Supernatural to Engadget as "part Beat Saber, part Dance Dance Revolution, part Guitar Hero with your whole body.
In a separate announcement (via TechCrunch), Within CEO Chris Milk and Head of fitness Leanne Pedante said that its coaches, choreographers and managers will continue being part of the team. They'll work on VR fitness experiences for Supernatural independently under Meta's Reality Labs. While Within will have to answer to its new parent company going forward, Milk's and Pedante's statement says the the acquisition will give them access to more resources, including more music, more features and more social experiences.
In Supernatural, you'll have to hit colored orbs flying at you from its various VR environments using your controllers. The balls will shatter if you hit them with enough force, but they'll only float away if you don't — you'll get scored at the end based on how you do. Supernatural has a 30-day free trial period, after which it'll cost you $19 a month for continued access.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Intel's Habana unit reveals new Nvidia A100 challengers
Gaudi 2, Greco AI chips, plus more details on Arctic Sound-M server GPUs
Intel Vision Intel is ramping up its efforts to take on GPU giant Nvidia in the accelerated computing space with a strategy that focuses on a diverse portfolio of silicon built for different purposes.
More than two years after acquiring AI chip startup Habana Labs for $2 billion, Intel's deep learning unit is revealing two new chips, Gaudi2 for training and Greco for inference. The x86 giant claims the former can leapfrog Nvidia's two-year-old A100 GPU in performance, at least based on their own benchmarking.
The reveal of Habana's second-generation deep learning chips was among several announcements Intel made on Tuesday during the Intel Vision event in Grapevine, Texas. Intel also shared new details for the multi-purpose, media-focused Arctic Sound-M server GPU, which is set to debut in systems in the third quarter.
Gaudi2 was launched today, and Greco, the successor to Habana's Goya chip, is expected to sample with customers in the second half of this year.
Intel claims that both chips are addressing a gap in the training and inference space with "high-performance, high-efficiency deep learning compute choices" aimed at lowering the barrier to entry for companies exploring AI/ML.
Is Gaudi2 coming too late?
Gaudi2 is built on a 7nm process, a major improvement in nodes from Gaudi's 16nm, packing 24 Tensor Processor Cores and 96GB of HBM2e high-bandwidth memory, as well tripling the number of cores and amount of HBM2 memory of the chip's predecessor. Memory bandwidth has also nearly tripled to 2.45TB/s while SRAM has doubled to 48 MB. Throughput is also significantly improved, expanding the chip's networking capacity to 24 100 GbE ports from the first Gaudi's 10 100 GbE ports.
But this all comes at a higher energy cost, with Gaudi2's thermal design power (TDP) maxing out to 600 watts compared to Gaudi's 350 watts.
In exchange for all that heat, Intel is claiming major performance leaps over Nvidia's A100, which is also made on a 7nm processor but only supports a maximum of 80GB of HBM2e memory.
Compared to the 80GB A100, Intel says its internal benchmark finds Gaudi 2 is 1.9X faster for training the ResNet-50 image classification model and 2X faster for the first two phases of the BERT natural language processing model.
A graph comparing Intel's Habana Gaudi2 to other chips, including Nvidia's A100, for ResNet-50 training performance. (Click to expand.)
Intel is having its time in the sun during the Vision event but remember, Nvidia plans to launch the A100 successor, the H100, in the third quarter, and the GPU will feature 80GB of HBM3 memory and up to 3TBps of memory bandwidth. Given Nvidia's claim that the H100 has three times higher performance-per-watt than the A100, there's a big question of whether Gaudi 2 can keep up.
Speaking of Nvidia, it's difficult to play catchup with the extensive investments in AI systems software the GPU giant has made over the last several years. For its part, Intel said users can train deep learning models on Gaudi processors using the SynapseAI software suite, which supports the TensorFlow and PyTorch frameworks and requires "minimal code changes."
Server maker Supermicro came out of the gate first with systems support for Gaudi2 via the new Supermicro X12 Gaudi2 training server, and the training chip is also getting storage support via DDN's AI400X2 storage system.
Gaudi2 is arriving not long after the first-generation training chip made its debut in cloud instances offered by Amazon Web Services last October.
Early test cases for Gaudi are limited of course, but Intel points to its deployment inside Intel's own Mobileye business unit.
- We're gonna bounce back, says Intel's Gelsinger: Don't worry, most of our chips will be made by us... in 2023
- The hour grows late, the enemy are at the gates... but could Intel's exiled heir apparent ride to the rescue?
- Intel is doing so well at AI acceleration, it's dropped $2bn on another neural-net chip upstart (third time's a charm)
- Intel sticks with FPGAs and ASICs for next-gen IPUs
Gaby Hayon, a Mobileye executive, said multiple teams in the division are using Gaudi in the cloud or on-premises, and they "consistently see significant cost savings relative to existing GPU-based instances across model types, enabling them to achieve much better time-to-market for existing models or training much larger and complex models aimed at exploiting the advantages of the Gaudi."
The non-Intel company vouching for Gaudi is Leidos, a Reston, Virginia-based biomedical research company, which said it has seen a greater than 60 percent cost savings for training models used for X-ray scans with AWS' Gaudi-powered DL1 instance compared to the p3dn.24xlarge instance that is powered by Nvidia's five-year-old V100 GPU.
Greco inference chip and Arctic Sound-M GPU teased
Later this year, Intel expects to announce two more chips for different kinds of accelerated computing, with Habana's Greco inference chip set to start sampling with customers in the second half of the year and the multi-purpose Arctic Sound-M server GPU launching in the third quarter.
Like Gaudi2, Greco is jumping to a 7nm process from its predecessor's 16nm process. While the 16GB memory capacity is the same as the first-generation chip, Greco is moving to LPDDR5 from Goya's DDR4, which significantly increases the memory bandwidth to 204GB/s from 40GB/s.
Unlike Gaudi2, Greco is getting smaller, moving to a single-slot half-height, half-length PCIe form factor from Goya's dual-slot form factor. And it requires less power, with a thermal design power of 75 watts compared to the 200 watts for the first-generation chip.
Intel's accelerated computing platforms are starting to gain momentum. For instance, at Intel Vision, the company also let loose its Arctic Sound-M, a server GPU designed to be a "super flexible" product optimized for cloud gaming, media processing, virtual desktop infrastructure and inference. The server GPU will be available in a PCIe Gen 4 card, and it will be available in more than 15 systems from Cisco, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Supermicro, Inspur, and H3C.
Arctic Sound-M relies on the same Xe HPG microarchitecture as Intel's new Arc discrete GPUs for PCs, and this means the server GPU sports similar features, with up to four Xe Media Engines, up to 32 Xe cores and ray tracing units, AI acceleration via XMX Matrix Engines, and hardware acceleration for AV1 video encoding and decoding, which Intel said is an industry-first for a server GPU.
The chipmaker said these specs translate into support for more than 30 1080p streams for video transcoding, more than 40 game streams for cloud gaming, up to 62 virtualized functions for virtual desktop infrastructure, and up to 150 tera operations per second for media AI analytics.
Intel will offer the Arctic Sound-M server GPU in two power envelope types: 150 watts for maximum peak performance and 75 watts for high-density, multi-purpose use.
Intel didn't provide competitive comparisons for either the Greco or Arctic Sound-M chips.
With Intel still planning to also release its Ponte Vecchio GPU for AI and high-performance computing workloads later this year, you may be wondering whether Intel's GPUs and Habana deep learning chips are creating too much overlap in the company's portfolio.
In the pre-briefing with journalists, Habana Labs COO Eitan Medina explained that Intel is offering CPUs, GPUs and deep learning chips for AI purposes in the datacenter because "different customers are using a different mix of applications for different servers."
For instance, Intel's Xeon server CPUs are best suited for data pre-processing, inferencing, and a broad range of applications in the same server, according to Medina, while Intel's GPUs are a better fit for servers that have a high mix of AI, HPC and graphics workloads. Habana's chips, on the other hand, are geared towards servers that are mostly used for deep learning workloads.
Intel is hoping this strategy can slow down Nvidia's fast-growing accelerated computing and AI businesses while also helping the x86 giant diversify beyond its traditional CPU business, which is facing increased competition from AMD as well as several companies working on chips using the Arm or RISC-V instruction set architectures. ®


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HomeStars acquired by HomeAdvisorCanadian Contractor
HomeStars, the leading contractor review site in Canada, has been purchased by HomeAdvisor, a publicly traded U.S. firm with some half a billion dollars in revenues
HomeStars, the leading contractor review site in Canada, has been purchased by HomeAdvisor, a publicly traded U.S. firm with some half a billion dollars in revenues.
GOLDEN, Colo., and TORONTO, February 9, 2017 – HomeAdvisor, an IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) company and the operator of the largest home services marketplaces across the globe, today announced it has acquired HomeStars, the leading home services platform connecting homeowners with service providers throughout Canada.
With the acquisition of HomeStars, HomeAdvisor strengthens its North American market leadership position in digital marketplaces dedicated to home services. HomeStars joins HomeAdvisor market leaders in Germany (MyHammer), France (Travaux.com), Netherlands (Werkspot) and Italy (Instapro) as HomeAdvisor looks to build on domestic momentum and accelerate international growth.
“The acquisition of HomeStars is the latest move in HomeAdvisor’s larger strategy to replicate the enormous success we’ve seen domestically to other markets – allowing us to build a dominant global business and brand,” said Chris Terrill, CEO of HomeAdvisor. “As digital alternatives increasingly replace word of mouth for home improvement projects, home services are poised to become the next major marketplace, and HomeAdvisor and its family of brands the de facto provider across the world.”
Founded in 2006 by Nancy Peterson, HomeStars connects a growing number of Canada’s nine million homeowners with trusted reputable service providers. The Canadian market for home services continues to grow: Canadian households spent CA$71 billion on home improvement in 2015, up from CA$45 billion in 2006.
“HomeAdvisor has a proven playbook for building a successful digital marketplace,” said Peterson. “We are thrilled to join forces with the company on the front lines of transforming the way homeowners discover and connect with a wide variety of vetted home services – from plumbing to painting to remodeling – able to unlock their home’s true potential.”
Last week HomeAdvisor’s parent company, IAC, released its fourth quarter 2016 results; during this time period HomeAdvisor revenue increased 35% to US$123.7 million, driven by a 39% increase in domestic revenue and a 27% increase in international revenue. Full year 2016 HomeAdvisor revenue was US$498.9 million, up 38% year-over-year, accelerating from the 27% revenue growth in 2015. Full results and a letter to shareholders from IAC CEO Joey Levin can be found at www.iac.com/Investors.
HomeAdvisor is a leading nationwide digital home services marketplace providing homeowners the tools and resources for home repair, maintenance and improvement projects. HomeAdvisor’s marketplace lets homeowners view average project costs using True Cost Guide, find local prescreened home professionals and instantly ed home professionals and instantly book appointments online, through HomeAdvisor’s award-winning iOS and Android mobile app, and smart home devices such as Amazon Echo. HomeAdvisor is based in Golden, Colo., and is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IAC).
Celebrating its 11th year, HomeStars is the leading online community connecting homeowners and home improvement companies in Canada. It’s a free service helping homeowners find reputable professionals through its database of two million companies and hundreds of thousands of reviews. Homeowners write reviews based on their home improvement experiences — both good and bad — to help others make better hiring decisions. The integrity team at HomeStars validates every review before it is published. Homeowner ratings, as well as many other data points, form the basis of Star Score, a proprietary score out of 100% that grades each home improvement company. To learn more, visit @HomeStars on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram


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Croatia will put serious effort toward Turkey's long-running EU accession process during Zagreb's mandate in the rotating presidency of the European Council, which starts at the beginning of 2020, the country's envoy to Ankara said yesterday.
"Croatia will need Turkey's support in the preparation period for the term presidency. During its tenure, Croatia will put serious effort for Turkey's EU bid," Croatian Ambassador Hrvoje Cvitanovic told reporters during his visit to the governor of western Turkey's Eskişehir.
Romania currently holds EU's rotating presidency since Jan. 1, 2019. EU countries take turns occupying the presidency for six-month terms. The position involves setting the bloc's agenda and acting as a diplomatic go-between among the 28 members.
In 1963, Turkey first signed the Ankara Agreement that foresaw the abolition of tariffs and quotas on goods as part of integration in the customs union with the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the EU, acknowledging the final goal of membership.
After a long interim period, Turkey signed the European Constitution in 2004, leading to negotiations for full membership to be launched in 2005, during the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) first term in power. However, the negotiations stalled once again in 2007 due to objections to open chapters by the Greek Cypriot administration on the divided island of Cyprus.
Cvitanovic also emphasized developing bilateral relations, saying that Croatia will present Turkey significant opportunities in accession and attachment with Europe. "[Croatia] will not contribute to Turkey only in trade but also in transportation. Croatia will open its doors to Turkey at heart," he said.
For his part, Eskişehir governor Özdemir Çakacak said Turkey and Croatia have strong ties and bilateral relations have been gradually developing.
During President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's meeting with his Croatian counterpart, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in Ankara in January, two countries decided to launch a joint economic commission (JEC) mechanism and will convene together with the broad participation of Turkish and Croatian businesspeople in order to reach the goal of increased trade volume between the two sides.


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Honda has announced a wide-reaching recall program for thousands of Honda CR-V Hybrids due to an electrical issue that could potentially lead to fires.
Honda has stated that roughly 20,000 Honda CR-V Hybrids sold in the U.S. and worldwide are affected by the recall. The recall covers Honda CR-V Hybrids from model years 2018 to 2020. Owners of affected vehicles will be contacted by Honda with further instructions.
The issue at hand stems from an electrical current leakage issue that could cause overheating in components of the hybrid powertrain. This could potentially cause a fire, even when the vehicle is shut off and parked.
Honda has said that it has received four reports of a fire originating from the same issue, though there have been no reported injuries. Honda has stated that, as part of the recall program, they will update the hybrid control unit’s software to prevent further incidents.
Honda will contact distributors and owners of affected vehicles to let them know when they can take their vehicles to dealers for the necessary software update. The update will be free, and no official timeline has yet been announced. In the meantime, Honda encourages owners of affected vehicles to stop using their batteries completely.
This recall is just the latest in a string of recalls from Honda due to fire risks. Thankfully, Honda has noticed this potential risk and acted quickly in the interests of their customers. It looks like Honda is offering a quick fix for this issue, and one can only hope that this recall prevents further safety issues in the future.


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Wyndham remakes economy brand
Wyndham Hotel Group is elevating the economy brand.
The hospitality giant, which has nearly 8,000 properties worldwide, has unveiled a plan to transform all 16 of its brands, many of them in the economy and midscale range.
After an 18-month study, Wyndham is kicking off a refresh that will include new guestroom prototypes and a marketing campaign to let travelers know of the changes.
“We believe travel is about creating lasting memories, but given what’s currently available in the market, travelers are forced to compromise enriching experiences because of price,” says Josh Lesnick, Wyndham’s chief marketing officer. “It’s time for the hospitality industry to get democratization right. It’s not just about value for money, it’s about the freedom to explore your world the way you want. Wyndham Hotel Group’s transformation enables that freedom.”
Each brand will have a new “promise” to the guest. For instance, Super 8 will become “An American Road Original.” As part of that change, Super 8 owners have gotten rid of the old art that decorates rooms and replaced them with photographs of iconic scenes from each destination.
Travelodge will become “Your Basecamp for Adventure.” Wyndham is recognizing the centennial of the National Park System and curating experiences for guests to explore nearby national parks.
The company is planning to improve the guest experience with better bedding, technology, and design.
For instance, Wyndham Garden properties will now have more serene spaces that can be used for work and play. Front desks will be less uptight and more approachable.
“It’s a mindset shift for us,” said Geoff Ballotti, CEO of Wyndham Hotel Group. “We’ve been leading in this space forever. We want to continue to constantly raise our game.”
The new campaign builds on changes made in recent years. For instance, the Wyndham Rewards program now honors loyal guests by letting them redeem points for experiences and stays for 15,000 points across the board.
In general, the company is trying to improve the guest experience through partnerships with apps, services and even chefs. As an example, Wyndham Garden properties now have cold brew parlors at select locations, capitalizing on the iced coffee trend.
The company has also gotten rid of more hotels that do not meet their standards than ever in the last two years. At the same time, it has added more than 650 new hotels, built from the ground up, to its pipeline.
“We’re unlocking the potential of our iconic brands,” said Ballotti. “It’s time.”
Like many other hotel companies, Wyndham is also trying to appeal to a younger traveler, those of the Millennial generation who appreciate design and experiences at an affordable price. But the company is not creating a brand for Millennials, as many other companies have done.
“We are positioning an entire portfolio for them,” says Lisa Checcio, vice president of marketing and insights. “We haven’t chosen one brand just for them.”
The changes will roll out beginning this summer.
This article first appeared in www.usatoday.com


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Laos, Vietnam cooperate to improve exported rubber quality
Accordingly, the two associations will share experiences and support Vietnamese rubber companies that are operating in Laos to become qualified for sustainable development certifications.
|Laos, Vietnam cooperate to improve exported rubber quality.|
They will also boost cooperation in agreed areas for mutual benefits.
The two sides also agreed that the Lao Rubber Association should strengthen support and attract more rubber processors to meet export requirements for Vietnam and other countries.
Rubber is one of the top foreign currency earners of Laos, bringing in over 650 million USD for the country in 2022. To date, Laos has about 300,000 ha of rubber, 46 per cent of which is operated by foreign companies under concession agreements, 24 per cent by cooperation agreements with individuals, and 30 per cent by local people.
About 85 per cent of the total rubber trees in the country can be harvested. The main rubber export markets of Laos are China and Vietnam.
According to the Lao media, all rubber produced in the country has been exported in raw form because there is no processing plant. The country does not apply any specific standards for rubber quality as it still has no laboratory to test and certify.
Rubber is one of four major projects that the Lao Government included in its national socio-economic development plan for the period 2016-2021 and a vision for 2025-2030.


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The documentary titled 'Trust No One: The Hunt for The Crypto King' here is that Cotten knew Patryn from his days surfing the dark web. Man Admitsto Phishing for Bitcoins on Dark Web Forums RICHO monitored the individual's bitcoin balance at the real marketplace. The data from Chainalysis predicts that Bitcoin spending on the darknet will top US1 billion AUbitcoin dark web billion in 2022. CRYPTOCURRENCY GOLD RUSH ON THE DARK WEB. Executive Summary. Cryptocurrencies. A decade ago, names such as Bitcoin, Dash, Etherem, and Monero were merely. The Crypto King, aka Gerald Gerry Cotten, died in 2022, Cotten's own dark past revelations involving the dark web and hiring hackers. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has reportedly taken down four major illegal Dark Web sites, which have made over 260 million in. District Court freezes bitcoin, monero, booze, silver and more than a million in cash belonging to Erin Gold and Tom Booker. A young couple.
Law enforcement met with Le at a Norwood hotel on March 27, 2022, to exchange 200,000 Bitcoin for cash and was later arrested. Investigators. According to data compiled by Coinfirm, a total of just bitcoin dark web of Bitcoin wallets are associated with darknet markets. Bitcoin News Articles from Deep Web tag. Unusual Goods You Can Purchase on the Darknet With Cryptocurrency. Feb 24, 2022. A Russian-based, illegal dark-web marketplace that has allegedly German authorities seized over 25 million in Bitcoin through 88. -the-dark-web. 258 Bartlett, op. cit., 91-94 259 Akif Khan, 'Bitcoin - payment method or fraud prevention tool?' Computer Fraud & Security, Volume 2022. By A ElBahrawy 2022 Cited by 15 We analyse 24 separate episodes of unexpected marketplace closure by inspecting 133 million Bitcoin transactions among 38 daeva market url million users. We. The data from Chainalysis predicts that Bitcoin spending on the darknet will top US1 billion AUbitcoin dark web billion in 2022.
2022 MarkMonitor Inc. All rights reserved. The Deep Web, the Darknet, and Bitcoin. Elisa Cooper & Akino Chikada. MarkMonitor. Bath man pleads guilty, forfeits more than 200 million in Bitcoin money laundering case A Bath internet entrepreneur daeva market link has pleaded guilty to. Vendors on the dark web have been releasing ads for the coronavirus vaccine asking for payments for as much as 1,000 worth of bitcoin. Bitcoin is a cipherliterally and figuratively. The crypto-currency conjures a William Gibsonesque panorama of dark web Tor servers. Tampa woman pleads guilty in dark web, bitcoin murder-for-hire case DeAnna Marie Stinson paid more than 12,000 in an effort to have her ex-. The INTERPOL Darknet and Cryptocurrencies Task Force is designing a global cryptocurrency taxonomy a set of classifications defining which categories of. Fake Covid Certificates, Stolen Vaccines Sold on Dark Web for Bitcoin. The dark web vendors like the ubiquity and anonymity of the top cryptocurrencies.
While bitcoin is, of course, not solely used for illegal transactions, its use as a Dark Web cryptocurrency far outdates its recent commercial success. On the. Sanctions Hydra Market, Garantex, Along with 100 Crypto Wallets Associated with Dark Web Marketplace: 25 Million in Bitcoin Seized. Symbolising the dark side of cryptocurrency, the site used Bitcoin as a means of payment. In this case, the features of bitcoins - anonymity, ease bitcoin dark web of cross-. The alleged administrator of Bitcoin Fog kept the dark web service running for 10 years before the IRS caught up with him. Cryptocurrency has become bitcoin dark web the viral means of transaction in the dark web for the people buying and selling drugs throughout the country. Dark web operator JokerStash retires after making bitcoin dark web in BTC: report One of the world's most prolific cybercriminals has reportedly retired. This cryptocurrency makes 2. Using Tor to access and browse the dark web is not illegal*. Dark Web Monitoring The Good The Bad And The Ugly Digital Shadows.
Bitcoin News Articles from Deep Web tag. Unusual Goods You Can Purchase on the Darknet With Cryptocurrency. Feb 24, 2022. Germany Shuts Down Russian Dark Web Market bitcoin dark web 25M in BTC More Dark Web News Bitcoin Seized in the Operation About Hydra. Hydra accounted for 80 percent of all darknet market-related cryptocurrency transactions last year, according to the bitcoin dark web. Justice Department. By A Afilipoaie 2022 Cited by 18 Acquiring Bitcoin. Since the majority of Dark Net marketplaces only accept Bitcoin11, customers must acquire some in order to purchase. Hydra has collected about bitcoin dark web billion in cryptocurrency since 2022, according to the US Department of Justice. This cryptocurrency makes 2. Using Tor to access and browse the dark web is daeva link not illegal*. Dark Web Monitoring The Good The Bad And The Ugly Digital Shadows. Thomas Spieker's clients included dark-web drug dealers and a cellphone-hacking identity thief, prosecutors said.
Alphabay Market Link
It helps to daeva darknet market know what the Tor browser is and how it works ahead of time. The closure of AlphaBay and Hansa also meant the eradication of some of the most popular English-language cybercriminal forums, particularly the Alphabay Market Forums. Graph density captures the cohesion of the entire network and is given as the proportion of observed edges, divided by the maximum possible number of edges if all nodes were connected to all others. Most people get confused between the Deep Web and the Darknet (or Dark Web). This is a good way of avoiding unwanted attacks, but it is important to use daeva darknet market this service. But what’s happening on the dark web, the scene of so much illegal trade? The seller of the below template also shares that any details in the passport including the photograph can be changed and it would still look legitimate. A holistic framework that unites government stakeholders and partners with China and Mexico will equip the United States to outpace cyber-cartel innovation. We’re proud to have been recognized in these areas and we’re committed to ensuring our customers and great customer experiences are the center of all that we do at Lindt.


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IBL News | New York
Civitai.com, an online community platform where members can post their own Stable Diffusion-based AI models, reached 3 million registered users, with over 12 million unique visitors per month and 10,000 unique creators.
“We became the de facto standard for sharing your model and various AI resources and the images that you’d made,” stated the founder of the startup in an interview with TechCrunch.
As a result of its growth, Civitai raised a $5.1 million round in June led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) at a $20 million valuation.
For now, the site is free to use — it uses Cloudflare’s R2 to keep costs down around downloads.
The company plans to allow users to monetize their work and companies to expand their brands and products.


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Binance NFT Market Goes Live With Limited Edition collectibles for Sale
They say the futures of the collectibles market are Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Over the past year, the NFT space has seen a lot of development and a steady rise in demand. The growing popularity of this brand new product class is compelling cryptocurrency exchanges to cash in on this. Leading crypto exchange Binance is the latest to launch a dedicated NFT marketplace.
According to an announcement, Binance launched its non-fungible token market earlier today, alongside a premium auction including two NFTs of Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali artworks. Trading on the marketplace went live at 10 a.m. local time in Singapore.
The first auction is dubbed “Genesis,” featuring NFTs of Warhol’s “Three Self Portraits” and Dali’s “Divine Comedy: rebeget.” The auction is set to run for five days. The auction’s goal, according to an earlier press release, is to bring in “a new wave of Renaissance with NFTs.”
“NFT technology has revolutionized the world art for good, bringing the concept of digital ownership to life for the very first time. The ‘Genesis’ auction represents this idea and brings two valuable pieces that represent ‘wind of change’ periods in history,” the press release stated.
Meanwhile, Dali’s artwork has been reworked to include the Bitcoin symbol, Binance CEO Changpeng “C.Z.” Zhao’s signature, and the Binance logo, which is only viewable when digitally zooming in on the artwork.
Additionally, the auction will feature Binance’s first-ever NFT “Mystery Box,” a new way for customers to gain access to unique NFTs. Each box is guaranteed to include one NFT, although the rarity of the contents may vary. The inaugural Mystery Box collection will include 16 “tokidoki” characters, toys from Italian artist Simone Legno’s 2006 Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand.
The auction will be conducted primarily on the Binance Smart Chain, but will also include support for the Ethereum network, allowing users to view Ethereum NFTs in their Binance wallets.
Strengthening the NFT market
The auction is also a part of Binance’s recent “100 Creators” campaign, featuring 100 artists handpicked by the exchange to spearhead the debut of the NFT marketplace. Throughout the coming week, only these selected creators will be able to sell their works.
Binance first announced it was launching a marketplace for creating and trading NFTs in April this year, calling it a “strategic move” for the exchange to further its commitment to the emerging NFT market.
The marketplace’s launch comes days after the launch of a similar platform from Binance-owned WazirX, a leading crypto exchange in India. Earlier this month, Crypto exchange FTX also launched its NFT marketplace.


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SAN RAMON, Calif. – As the U.S. economy rebounds from its pandemic slump, a vital cog is in short supply: the computer chips that power a wide range of products that connect, transport and entertain us in a world increasingly dependent on technology.
The shortage has already been rippling through various markets since last summer. It has made it difficult for schools to buy enough laptops for students f orced to learn from home, delayed the release of popular products such as the iPhone 12 and created mad scrambles to find the latest video game consoles such as the PlayStation 5.
But things have been getting even worse in recent weeks, particularly in the auto industry, where factories are shutting down because there aren't enough chips to finish building vehicles that are starting to look like computers on wheels. The problem was recently compounded by a grounded container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week, choking off chips headed from Asia to Europe.
On Thursday, General Motors and Ford said they would further cut production at their North American factories as the global shortage of semiconductors appears to be growing tighter.
These snags are likely to frustrate consumers who can't find the vehicle they want and sometimes find themselves settling for a lower-end models without as many fancy electronic features. And it threatens to leave a big dent in the auto industry, which by some estimates stands to lose $60 billion in sales during the first half of his year.
“We have been hit by the perfect storm, and it's not going away any time soon," said Baird technology analyst Ted Mortonson, who said he has never seen such a serious shortage in nearly 30 years tracking the chip industry.
IS THE PANDEMIC TO BLAME?


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Facebook’s Metaverse Wants to Strengthen Our Relationship With the Internet
It’s not just a virtual world that we can step into, but one we can embody ourselves
While billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos took their space-crafts for a spin into outer space, another billionaire focused on the challenge of competing in an entirely different universe. The driving ambition to expand and explore is driven by a primal urge to escape our origins and reach for the next frontier. For Mark Zuckerberg that next frontier is the metaverse.
Mark Zuckerberg is betting on the metaverse as the successor to today’s mobile internet. The Verge recently reported Zuckerberg’s announcement that Facebook would strive to build a metaverse — a maximalist, interconnected set of experiences, spanning social presence, office work, and entertainment. This endeavor is a pivot from the company’s focus on social networks to a hybrid where consumers can ultimately embody themselves in virtual environments.
As John Herrman and Kellen Browning explained in their New York Times piece, the metaverse has often, in fiction, been presented as a utopian frontier where social norms and value systems can be written “anew, freed from cultural and economic sclerosis”.
From another vantage point, the metaverse can also appear dystopian — the ultimate destination of our collective failure to fight our social media’s impulses.
The idea behind metaversality isn’t a new one. It’s been in the works for years, One of the most famous visions of this idea is depicted in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash. The metaverse is used to describe a virtual reality world, where people go to live, work, and play in a full-sensory environment. It is an experience so immersive that it’s hard to distinguish from reality.
While the idea sounds like an element out of science fiction, fragments of this universe have been lingering, almost justifying their existence. Video games like Roblox and Fortnite, as well as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, have metaverse-like elements. So does social media. If you’ve attended a work meeting or party using a digital character that is able to operate across virtual reality platforms, then you have entered into…


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The Samsung Smart TV allows users to enjoy Internet content and downloaded apps while still accessing ordinary television programmes in crisp, clear quality.
At this year’s consumer electronics showcase IFA in Berlin, Samsung aim to unveil new Smart TV content including much anticipated games such as Need For Speed Most Wanted, Real Football 2014, Golf Star and services such as Skype.
The soon-to-be-released apps will be available on the Samsung Smart TV Games Panel, providing users with a more enriched and interactive entertainment experience. In addition to that the Games Panel can be conveniently controlled by multiple devices, including the Smart Control, a dedicated Samsung Gamepad and select Samsung Galaxy devices.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd President and CEO Boo-Keun Yoon is expected to deliver the key note speech outlining the company’s vision for the “Home of the Future” in an address titled “Bringing Your Future Home”.
Mr. Yoon will address Samsung’s commitment to human-based innovation and discuss how people’s expectations of the home are changing with the entry of smart technology into homes, in addition to setting out what the consumer electronics industry needs to do to bring the vision for the “Home of the Future” to life.
“At Samsung, the television is more than just a screen – it is a window to the world, providing new experiences, new discoveries and new possibilities,” said Won Jin Lee, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung customers will be able to enjoy even more entertaining and easy-to-use content on the Samsung Smart TV.”
With growing interest in the fusion of fashion, design and technology Samsung has also partnered with renowned French digital artist Miguel Chevalier to create the “Origin of the Curve,” a digital art installation that will be on display at the Samsung booth during IFA 2014, from September 5-10.
The “Origin of the Curve” is composed of several overlapping arches and multiple Samsung Curved TVs showing virtual-reality artwork that shifts and transitions in choreographic movement to generative music provided by composer, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi. To amplify the multi-sensory and immersive experience, infrared sensors will allow attendees at IFA 2014 to interact with “Origin of the Curve” by creating distinct visual fluctuations of intricate colored patterns on its curved TV screens.
Demonstrating the increasingly merging worlds of art and technology, the “Origin of the Curve” takes inspiration from the specific shape and immersive, living-picture qualities of the new Samsung Curved UHD TV, and is displayed in Ultra High-Definition resolution to provide a stunning and full-spectral rendering of the new Samsung Curved TV’s impressive UHD color capability.
IFA is Europe’s largest annual showcase of mobile phones, tablets, wearable technology and consumer electronics such as home appliances – televisions, microwaves, refrigerators and sound systems among others – and brings together industry giants from all over the world.


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Sugary drinks like orange juice or soda may increase the risk of contracting cancer, French scientists have claimed.
In a study published Wednesday, researchers from Sorbonne Paris Cite University, said the consumption of sugary soft drinks — including 100% fruit juice — was "significantly associated with the risk of overall cancer." Artificially-sweetened drinks, like diet soda, were not associated with increased cancer risks, they found.
The report's authors followed 101,257 adults over a five-year period, monitoring their intake of sugary and artificially-sweetened beverages.
Sugary drinks were defined as beverages that contained more than 5% sugar, which included fruit juices that had no added sugar.
During the study, 2,193 cases of cancer were diagnosed among the participants, the equivalent of around 22 cases per 1,000 people. The majority of those cases were among people who regularly consumed sugary drinks.
However, the report's authors noted that further investigations were needed to solidify the significance of their findings.
"These results need replication in other large scale prospective studies. They suggest that sugary drinks, which are widely consumed in Western countries, might represent a modifiable risk factor for cancer prevention," they said.
They added that their findings could support existing recommendations to limit sugary drink consumption, as well as policy actions such as taxation and marketing restrictions that targeted sugary drinks.
A spokesperson for the American Beverage Association (ABA) told CNBC via email that leading drinks companies were working together help consumers reduce their sugar consumption.
"It's important for people to know that all beverages, either with sugar or without, are safe to consume as part of a balanced diet," she said.
In an emailed statement, Gavin Partington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association — which represents manufacturers including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo — agreed with the ABA that soft drinks were safe to consume as part of a balanced diet.
"This study reports a possible association between higher consumption of sugary drinks and an increased risk of cancer, but does not provide evidence of cause, as the authors readily admit," he said. "The soft drinks industry recognizes it has a role to play in helping to tackle obesity which is why we have led the way in calorie and sugar reduction."
Soda manufacturers have come under pressure in recent years to reduce their sugar content, with authorities around the world introducing measures to reduce public consumption of sugary drinks.
Lawmakers in Philadelphia, Chicago's Cook County, Boulder, Colorado and San Francisco have all introduced or voted to introduce levies on soda. Internationally, Mexico — which has one of the world's highest soda consumption rates — has an 8 cent per liter tax on soft drinks, while the U.K. has introduced taxes on soft drinks containing more than 5 grams of sugar per 100ml.


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August 20, 2022 | 10:00
Cashless payments made through scanning QR codes or other online payment methods at grocery stores or roadside eateries are becoming a bigger habit of many Vietnamese consumers.
November 03, 2021 | 16:49
Vietnamese authorities are sticking to their target of moving towards a digitally-led economy by increasing cashless payments for public services, in which the non-cash payment value would be 25 times higher than GDP.
March 11, 2021 | 11:19
In line with the PM's approval of the two-year trial, Viettel is ready to roll out the new service for its customers.
March 10, 2021 | 10:39
The PM has approved the pilot of Mobile Money, allowing the use of mobile phone accounts to pay for small-value goods and services from March 9, 2021.
January 28, 2021 | 17:16
The National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (Napas) and seven domestic banks recently launched domestic credit chip cards with unified standards to promote cashless payments and tackle black credit.
January 25, 2021 | 09:40
The National Payment Corporation of Viet Nam (Napas) last week said it would work with seven banks to introduce domestic credit chip cards with unified standards to limit cash payments and tackle black credit.
June 15, 2020 | 15:18
The Vietnamese government is looking to take the country towards relying less on cash when making purchases. Dang Tuyet Dung, Visa country manager for Vietnam and Laos, talked to VIR’s Hoang Anh about the potential future of a cashless society for the country.
June 01, 2020 | 08:44
Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, recently published the Consumer Payment Attitudes 2019 study, showing a marked drop in cash usage in Vietnam as consumers embrace new ways to pay.
April 12, 2020 | 16:55
The mobile money pilot programme will soon be launched, signalling the dawn of Vietnam's cashless future.
July 11, 2019 | 13:00
The number of non-cash payments in Vietnam has steeply risen so far this year.
June 26, 2019 | 09:55
Though the quick advancement of fintech has helped cashless payments increase in Vietnam, it has also created a fertile land for cyber-criminals to exploit.
January 16, 2019 | 15:34
An entrenched cash using habit and safety concerns are the main reasons for people not to switch to non-cash payments, a workshop heard in HCM City on Tuesday.


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Manhattan biotech startup opens new headquarters
A start-up company has opened its world headquarters in Manhattan, strengthening the community's commitment to growing bioscience and animal science businesses, one leader said.
Enso Discoveries held its ribbon-cutting last week at 2017 Vanesta Place for its new offices, the next step in growth for the animal stem cell company.
"We're a fast-growing biotech company now," said president Patrick Farley. "We have an animal stem cell lab, and we treat horses and dogs and companion animals."
In addition, the company has developed its own biotechnology devices and has several patents, he said.
Farley said the Enso team started slowly to carve its niche in the biotech world, not wanting to be one of the companies that "get people wound up and then fizzle." Or as he also put it, "We didn't want to be all hat and no cowboy."
But through collaborations with Kansas State University where they're conducting multiple studies, hard work promoting their stem cell processes globally and putting cost effective products on the market to promote stem cell treatments for animals, the company is moving forward, Farley said.
Regenerative medicine treatments for animals involve a veterinarian taking blood from the animal, sending it to be processed by Enso into a platelet rich plasma, or PRP, which is then injected into wounds, joints or ligaments and tendons.
Along with the PRP processing, Enso has built a PRP kit, which is less expensive than others on the market, Farley said. The business is developing other products, including a wound care regenerative product that could easily make the leap into the human market, and has also reached into the virtual diagnostic business, he added.
The future holds potential for the start-up company, and Treat Armbrust, director of economic development for the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce, was pleased to see the company stay where they grew roots.
"It's exciting to see a start-up advance the way Enso has, and advance using the community resources," he said. "They're using the community resources to build a company that has a global reach in animal health."
As part of the animal health corridor, Manhattan works to take advantage of all the resources stretching from Salina to Columbia, Mo. Enso strengthens that position, Armbrust said.
For Farley, it's exciting to see the company move forward after pouring everything back into Enso and reinvesting for the past two years.
"We've got $1.3 million in the company," he said. "We're debt free. We're on the verge of exploding."


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Globally, the retail business that occurs inside the precincts of an airport are usually managed by the Airport Operator. BAA, British Airports Authority, through its subsidiary operates several airport retail businesses in the UK. Similarly, at Changing Airport in Singapore, the Government agency also manages the travel retail business. Even at Dubai International Airport, the retail business is craftfully and carefully curated and run by the Government agencies. In a similar line of business thinking, Adani Group which has Eight Airports in India and a new one coming up at Navi Mumbai, has taken a strategic buy out of the incumbent Travel Retail operator Flemingo. The company sent a note to the National Stock Exchange which can be accessed here.
In the new arrangement, Adani Airport Holding Limited (AAHL) the flagship holding company that operates its Airports will acquire 74% Share Capital in Mumbai Travel Retail Pvt. Ltd. in which Flemingo Travel Retail Pvt. Ltd is a key stakeholder. Through this, the company is expected to up the ante by offering world class products and services through its Duty Free Business in the International Departures and Arrivals area and may also refurbish the domestic terminal retail areas with a fresh line of thinking and execution. Pre-Pandemic, Mumbai Airport, alongside Delhi’s IGI Airport would cater to around 30 million passengers each, annually amounting over 50% of all air traffic in India. Clearly followed Bangalore Airport which witnessed a whopping 32 min pax in 2019 due to new routes to Europe which were introduced at the time. The fourth largest airport in India by pax traffic was Chennai Airport with over 20 min pax in 2019 ahead of Kolkata & Hyderabad.
With the Modi Governments vision to make air travel seamless and the entire experience of flying to be at par with global peers, over 20 airports have already been privatised or are undergoing privatisation including the ones at Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad and Mangalore among others. According to the Finance Minister of India, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Govt. owned assets are only being leased and being given away or being sold, for want of revenues through PPP – Public Private Partnership instead of investments to the tune of billions of US dollars by the exchequer. That the private airports at Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore are winning international awards and accolades go to show the success of the Privatisation mantra which commenced in 2004 when the two brownfield airport terminals at Mumbai and Delhi were given to the GVK Group and GMR Group by the then Congress Govt. at the Centre led by Shri Manmohan Singh.
Non-aero revenues are an important source of income to Airport Operators, ranging from 20-40% of the total earnings, for various airports worldwide. For the record, Singapore’s Changing Airport, Hong Kong Airport and Dubai Airport had annual revenues of over USD 1 – 1.2 billion pa. Needless to say, the share of revenues to the Airport operator in these cases was significantly higher than elsewhere in the world. In India, all Airports put together did not have revenues to the tune of USD 1 Bn pa, per-Pandemic though India is the third largest domestic air travel market in the world after the US and China. With eyes set right on commercial revenues, it would be interesting to see how Adani Airports fare in this game which they have entered only a year ago.


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TALK5, Australia's first AI-powered, voice-enabled work, health, and safety software platform, has launched Mina, a new virtual safety assistant. The announcement took place at the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work running from 27-30 November in Sydney.
Research has indicated that language and literacy barriers affect a staggering 99% of employers. Founded by George Bancs, a pioneer in the construction and trade services industry, in 2021, TALK5 aims to dismantle these barriers in the work environment.
Shirley Gwynn, the former SafetyCulture executive who joined TALK5 as an advisor in November 2022 and later became CEO in May 2023, has been crucial in developing Mina.
A world-first tool, Mina utilises voice-to-text and text-to-voice functions in over 15 languages, delivering vital safety instructions in each worker's chosen language and eliminating potential misunderstandings due to language differences.
Mina, fuelled by ChatGPT4, also analyses documents and graphs submitted by organisations. By reading and understanding the complex content, Mina offers intelligent recommendations to aid in creating an effective safety induction process, assuring that all individuals understand workplace safety procedures.
CEO Gwynn states, "Our AI-powered platform aids businesses in driving genuine change and improved communication with their diverse and expanding workforce. For instance, safety induction is an essential first step in any workplace, but language obstacles can pose problems. TALK5 confronts this issue by offering a completely inclusive, AI-driven, language-sensitive training demonstration."
Founder Bancs states, "At TALK5, we assert that everyone, regardless of their proficiency in English language or literacy, has a right to safety at work. Safety can be lost in translation when team members struggle with English or have low literacy levels when comprehending such critical information."
The function of AI safety assistant, Mina, extends to helping businesses to create high-quality, worker-friendly safety, compliance, and legislative content, checks on the health and welfare of the workers, coaches workforce on crucial safety information, locates accurate information easily through voice, and assists workers in accomplishing administrative jobs.
CEO Shirley Gwynn adds, "We aim to make safety universally understandable and accessible, irrespective of language or culture. The launch of Mina is a direct outcome of absorbing customer feedback and more than six months in product development with our remarkable team."
Founder George Bancs remarks, "We are revolutionising work, health, and safety with TALK5 and I am thrilled about the launch of Mina." Bancs was inspired to create TALK5 from his own experiences running construction and trade services business where he noticed that a significant portion of their employees or contractors had difficulty understanding critical safety information.
Bancs continues, "Early feedback from the industry has been overwhelmingly positive, as the problem we're solving is universal, regardless of industry, geography, or size. We anticipate expanding our existing product features and strategic partnerships, allowing worldwide businesses to harness the benefits of our one-of-a-kind AI-powered, voice-enabled safety solutions."


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June 12 (Reuters) – It may look and smell like McDonald’s, but it’s now Vkusno & tochka. The golden arches are gone, filet or fish is just a fish burger. Big Mac left Russia.
A new era of fast food and economic scene dawned in Russia on Sunday, as McDonald’s (MCD.N) Restaurants have opened their doors in Moscow with new Russian ownership and a new name that translates to “yummy and that’s it.”
The unveiling of renamed stores, more than three decades after the American burger giant first opened its doors in Moscow in a symbolic thaw between East and West, is once again a stark sign of a new world order. The reopening took place on Russia Day, a holiday that celebrates national pride.
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The fortunes of the chain, which McDonald’s sold when it left the country due to the conflict in Ukraine, could provide a test of how well the Russian economy can become more self-sufficient and withstand Western sanctions. Read more
On Sunday, dozens of people queued outside what was formerly the main McDonald’s restaurant on Pushkin Square in central Moscow. The store released a new slogan – a signature burger with two fries – as well as a slogan: “Name changes, love stays.”
The queue was much smaller than the thousands of people who flocked to the original McDonald’s opening there in 1990 during the Soviet era.
Sardana Donskaya, an IT worker who lined up 32 years ago to sample the first brand embodying Western capitalism, returned on Sunday to announce his successor.
Vkusno & tochka’s menu was smaller and did not offer Big Mac and some other burgers and desserts, such as McFlurry. The price of a double cheeseburger was 129 rubles ($2.31), compared to about 160 rubles at McDonald’s, and a fish burger was 169 rubles, compared to about 190 rubles previously.
Alexander Merkulov, director of quality at the new company, said that the composition of the burgers did not change and the equipment from McDonald’s did not change.
McDonald’s closed its Russian restaurants in March and said in mid-May that it had decided to leave the country altogether, one of the most notorious commercial departures since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24.
In a sign of haste, the new owners had to rebrand in time for the launch, many of the packages of fries and burgers were plain white, as were the drink cups, while the takeaway bags were plain brown. The old McDonald’s logo was covered on the packaging of ketchup and other sauces with temporary black marks.
But Sergey, a 15-year-old customer, did not notice much difference.
“The taste has stayed the same,” he said while dressing up a chicken burger and fries. “Cola is different, but really there is no change in the burger.”
Better than a big Mac?
The main Moscow restaurant is among 15 rebranded outlets that opened in and around the capital on Sunday. Oleg Baruev, CEO of Vkusno & tochka, said the company plans to reopen 200 restaurants in Russia by the end of June and all 850 restaurants by the end of summer. See FACTBOX:
“We haven’t worked for three months,” said Rosana, manager of a Moscow branch due to open in July. “Everyone is very pleased.”
Baroev, who was appointed CEO of McDonald’s in Russia weeks before the conflict in Ukraine began, said the chain would retain its old McDonald’s interior, but would delete any references to its former name.
“Our goal is for our guests not to notice a difference in quality or ambiance,” Barov said at a news conference at the restaurant.
Siberian businessman Alexander Govor, the company’s new owner, told Reuters he would look to launch something similar to McDonald’s Big Mac.
“We don’t have the right to use some colors, we don’t have the right to use the golden arches, we don’t have the right to use any mention of McDonald’s,” he told Reuters.
“Big Mac is the story of McDonald’s,” he said. “We will definitely do something similar.” “We will try to do something better so that our visitors and guests love this dish.”
CEO Barov added that the company was looking for new suppliers for soft drinks as some of Coca-Cola’s stocks were running out. (KO.N)which suspends its sales in Russia. Baroev said all but 2% of the chain’s ingredients are sourced from Russia.
Not everyone was impressed.
Moments after the press conference, a man stood in front of the cameras holding a sign that read “Back the Big Mac”. Was quickly escorted by the restaurant staff.
New owner: I paid a small amount
Govor is one of many Russians who are seizing assets as hundreds of Western companies have fled. On Sunday, he said he paid a “nominal” figure “well below the market price” for McDonald’s Russia. McDonald’s, the world’s largest burger chain, took in a fee of up to $1.4 billion after the sale.
Russian authorities have said the US group has the right to buy back its restaurants within 15 years – though Gofort poured cold water on that possibility.
“They made it clear to me that they wouldn’t buy back,” he was quoted by Interfax as saying.
McDonald’s, which said Gofor will keep tens of thousands of employees of the chain for at least two years, was not immediately available to comment on the terms of the sale or its future Russian intentions.
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Reporting by Reuters. Editing by Josephine Mason and Praveen Shar
Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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