text:
A lot has happened in the intervening five years since the early hopes of a happy GM-Fiat partnership. Fiat's patriarch Gianni Agnelli has died - and so has his successor, his brother Umberto. GM has acquired collapsed Korean automaker Daewoo, has closed its UK Vauxhall plant at Luton, and has suffered mounting problems at its European Opel division, based at Russelsheim, Germany. It has been forced into a costly restructuring programme that will see the loss of up to 10,000 jobs. The last thing GM wants is the new problems that integrating Fiat would bring.
However, that decision is out of GM's hands. And under the terms of the agreement signed in 2000, Fiat Group could force GM to buy its ailing car division. This is because of the so-called `put option' - a clause in the original agreement - comes into force. The put option gives Fiat the right to force GM to buy the 90 per cent of Fiat Auto it does not own, under terms decided by Fiat. Fiat can now invoke its "put" option.
GM has known this was coming, and for the past 12 months it has been trying to engineer an escape route. And like any good American corporation, when the going gets tough it mobilizes an army of lawyers. GM's legal team argues that the original agreement has been invalidated by recapitalization at Fiat since 2000, which has resulted in the dilution of GM's initial 20 per cent stake to 10 per cent, and the sale of the company's consumer finance division.
Fiat disputes the claim, and since December 16 Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and his GM opposite number, Rick Wagoner have been trying to work out a solution. Legal action is seen as a last resort. Marchionne last week made conciliatory overtures to GM, saying he hoped the dispute could be settled without going to court.
"I'm hopeful that both organizations will do the best thing," Marchionne told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Marchionne said surrendering the put option via an out-of-court settlement would not come cheap. "The put is an incredible asset, and it cannot be bargained away for nothing", he said. Forcing GM to buy the shares would be "the ultimate draconian resolution", he added. "At the other end of the spectrum is a validation of the put at a level that satisfies Fiat's assessment of its value."
Analysts believe GM will have to offer Fiat a cash settlement to get out of the deal - and the price will be high. GM has already written off the $2.4bn it has spent on its stake in Fiat Auto, and analysts claim it will have to pay another $2bn to get Fiat to cancel the put option.
This is a lot of money - but a fraction of the cost to GM if Fiat were to exercise the put option. This is because the terms of the year 2000 deal, not revealed at the time, but recently made public on Fiat's own web site, are extremely tough. GM would immediately have to pay, in cash, all Fiat Auto/Fiat Group intra-company debt - estimated at about $6bn. It would downgrade GM debt to junk status.
On top of that, GM would be lumbered with costly and unwanted overheads. It would have to maintain Fiat Auto's global management, headquarters, engineering and R&D centre in Turin for five years. It would have to buy part's from Fiat group companies without renegotiating prices or terms for the same period, and would be unable to restructure Fiat Auto for two years without Fiat Group's approval. So while jobs are being shed in Russelsheim and Luton, workers in Turin would avoid the chop until 2007.
Indeed, GM could end up paying for the deal forever, unless it decided to ditch the Fiat nameplate, as the terms include the payment of royalties to Fiat group to use the Fiat brand. The agreement reads: "Fiat will determine...the terms for a perpetual license."
So why did GM agree to such a punitive deal? Wind the clock back to 2000. The car industry is gripped by merger fever in the wake of major deals such as Renault-Nissan, and the DaimlerChrysler merger, in turn forging alliances with Mitsubishi of Japan and Hyundai of Korea. GM genuinely saw these as a threat to its status as the world's largest auto maker.
The final straw was a $12bn cash offer for Fiat Auto, which DaimlerChrysler was shaping up to make. GM's then-chairman Jack Smith and CEO Rick Wagoner believed the only way to block the move was to offer Fiat an alliance. The wily Agnellis, seeing a solution to their loss-making car company, locked GM into the tightest of deals. Even if Fiat decides not to enforce the put option right now, it can do so any time until July 24, 2010.
Without its car-making division, Fiat Group would be very profitable. With the Agnellis gone, and a tough businessman like Marchionne at the helm, the emotional pull of the car business has been reduced. And anyway, Fiat would still have Ferrari, not part of Fiat Auto.
At the Detroit motor show, Marchionne admitted that when the alliance was signed in 2000, an eventual merger was likely. Indeed, some activities - engine manufacturing and purchasing - were merged into joint ventures. But so much has changed since 2000 that a merger with Fiat no longer makes sense for GM. It needs less European capacity, not more. Its acquisition of Daewoo gives it a more effective source of low-cost technology, Korea, to pump into growing emerging markets such as China and India .
How might the saga end? Marchionne could even engineer a win-win situation by getting GM to fork out $2bn to annul the deal, and then be free to find an Asian carmaker that would buy Fiat Auto, possibly a Chinese group. After all, Fiat looks like a better beachhead into Europe than MG Rover, currently embroiled in takeover talks with Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation - GM's Chinese partner.Reuse content


text:
You are being redirected to the story the piece of content is found in so you can read it in context. Please click the following link if you are not automatically redirected within a couple seconds:
Hershey stuns critics with commitment to source 100% certified cocoa by 2020
Author: Oliver Nieburg, Confectionery News [France], Published on: 4 October 2012
The Hershey Company has surprised its critics after announcing plans to...use certified cocoa from third-party audited farms that prohibit the use of child labor and aim to increase farmer well-being...“I hadn’t expected them to do this. Until this year Hershey seemed to be impervious to public pressure. It’s a good first step. The question is; how are they going to do it?”, [asks the director of STOP THE TRAFFIK Netherlands]...Hershey has yet to communicate annual goals – but announced that its Scharffen Berger brand will go 100% certified by the end of 2013...Yesterday, Whole Foods Market removed Scharffen Berger from stores over Hershey's failing to demonstrate a commitment on child labor. The International Labor Rights Forum said in a Tweet to this site that Whole Foods' decision may have triggered the announcement to go 100% certified.

domain: news


text:
News & Opinions
The latest news and insights from Hanley Wood’s outspoken experts and key thought-leaders throughout the residential and commercial design and construction industry.
Peyman Nilforoush / Content Marketing Institute / June 17, 2014
As marketers, we’re acutely aware that there is more content being produced today than ever before — with the rate of content production doubling each year. Content marketing has progressed from buzzword to doctrine in many organizations, despite the fear, uncertainty and doubt surrounding “content shock” — the highly debated idea that too much content is being produced, and that consumers are becoming too overwhelmed to engage in it.Read More


text:
A ship sunk by a Nazi torpedo during WWII may yield $240 million in silver bars and coins, the biggest take ever from beneath the sea. Odyssey Marine Exploration, the U.S. company that will attempt the salvage of the S.S. Gairsoppa , says the wreck is just one of many whose recovery has been made possible by new technology, and made profitable by rising precious metal prices.
Gold and silver prices, hit hard last week, remain near historic highs. On Friday, gold suffered its biggest one-day loss in five years, dropping 5.8 percent to $1,637.50 an ounce. Silver fell 15 percent, posting its biggest one-day decline since 1987. It traded today around $31. These reduced values are still far above the levels needed to make salvage profitable.
"My guess is, we're not going to see much more degradation of precious metals prices, going forward," says Odyssey president Mark Gordon. He expects gold and silver prices to remain high, buoyed by investors' worries about the world economy.
Odyssey, working in partnership with the British government—owners of the torpedoed ship—hopes to salvage perhaps 240 tons of silver this spring. The New York Times reported details of the salvage operation.
The Gairsoppa, a merchant vessel steaming in from Calcutta to Liverpool, became separated in the North Atlantic from its protective convoy. As it tried to reach landfall in western Ireland, it was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in 1941.
Gordon says a variety of developments, both technical and financial, have made hunting for such wrecks an attractive business proposition.
It starts with search tools like side-scanning sonar, he explains. "In the past six years, we've been able to double our search speed. We can tow the sonar faster and still get very high-quality images. Better software helps us analyze the images to judge the target's length and size and shape."
Odyssey then can compare that data against the original plans for the ship, to see how closely they match. Once they know they've found their target, they can recover its cargo using a new generation of unmanned vehicles able to operate at depths of up to 20,000 feet. The Gairsoppa is 2.9 miles down—"deeper than the Titanic,"says Gordon.
Rising gold and silver prices have made even the most sophisticated and difficult salvage operations potentially profitable.
A salvage job, Gordon explains, can entail "a lot of risk and expense." For that reason, Odyssey is interested only in jobs that give the company a 10-fold return on investment. "When we first started planning for this," he says, referring to the Gairsoppa salvage, "silver was trading at $11 an ounce. The job looked good to us at that price—very feasible economically."
It looked even better by early 2010, when the company reached an agreement with the British government that any monies recovered would be split 80/20 in the company's favor. Silver then was trading for $17 an ounce. And today? "At $30 or $40 an ounce," says Gordon, "we're really, REALLY happy." That $240 million would make Gairsoppa the largest recovery ever of precious metal from the sea.
How much more gold and silver might be sitting in other wrecks?
The world's oceans, by one estimate, harbor some three million wrecks. Odyssey has developed a proprietary data base of 6,300 targets. At least 100 of those, says Gordon, have a retail sales value of $50 million—Odyssey's threshold for profitability. The top 10 represent, potentially, "hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars each."


text:
The use of cell phones and social media has increased incredibly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the world has shifted to digital technology, the competition among the applications has raised. From social media applications to online video streaming platforms, massive traffic has been recorded during the entire pandemic. People are finding ways to keep themselves busy and entertained in this tough time as mental health and peace of mind comes over everything.
According to the revenue list of applications in November 2020 shared by Sensor Tower, TikTok rests at the first rank as the non-gaming app with the highest-grossing rate. The company is recorded to have over $123 million user spending for more than a month. TikTok’s revenue increased 3.7 times more than that of November 2019. The majority of TikTok’s revenue is recorded from Douyin in China, whereas 8% of revenue comes from the United States and 2% from Turkey.
TikTok is followed by YouTube as a non-gaming grossing app in November 2020, and the revenue of the company reached $88 million, which is 59% more as compared to the revenue in November 2019. Most of the YouTube revenue comes from the United States, which is 53% and 11% from Japan.
The list attached below is revealed by Sensor Tower and shows the top 10 non-gaming applications with the highest revenues.


text:
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has had its price target increased from $370 to $435 by Cowen analyst, John BlackHedge. The increase in the price target comes on the heels of a survey result showing that Amazon was leading in the cloud wars between its AWS, Microsoft’s Azure and Google’s Cloud Platform (GCP) and others.
In May, a Fortune article reported that Amazon was leading its rivals in the cloud wars. The article has it that Amazon’s AWS has about 10 times the combined capacity of the remaining players in the cloud market. In June Google responded with its own stats to challenge Amazon’s claim to top dog status in the cloud wars.
A post on GCP’s blog revealed that Google Cloud Platform network has the capacity for “100,000 servers to exchange information at 10Gb/s each, enough to read the entire scanned contents of the Library of Congress in less than 1/10th of a second“.
Amazon is Still Top Dog
Google can blow its trumpet from now until eternity about the strength of its GCP but Amazon is still the leader in the cloud space, at least based on third party reports. The result of a survey carried out by Cowen TMT Team has shown that Amazon is leading the pack in the cloud wars.
The Cowen 2015 survey polled 200 public cloud vendors and the market leaders are already obvious. In terms of cloud related budget share, Amazon’s AWS had 27% and Microsoft’s Azure was second with 23%. Microsoft is taking the lead in the overall usage of its cloud platform at 45% slightly higher than Amazon’s AWS 44%.
However, in terms of making money from the cloud, Amazon’s AWS is still the top earner. AWS customers spent an annual average of $124,000, which is above the annual average spends with rival vendors.
The Cloud War is Actually between Amazon and Microsoft
Cowen believes that the cloud war is now between Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure, Google is not yet a serious contender in this market. Between Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure, Cowen seems to be leaning towards the possibility that Amazon’s AWS will be the ultimate winner.
John Blackledge of Cowen sums of Amazon’s AWS market lead in the statement supporting the raising of his price target. He says, ” Across several key criteria, AWS was the highest-rated Public Cloud vendor as AWS ranked #1 in share of budget, avg. annual spend and expected spending growth and was a close #2 in overall usage (to Azure)”.
Amazon has been trading up nicely in the last one year. The stock has gained 30.93% in the last one year, it has gained 40.72% in the year-to-date period and it has gained 16.64% in the last three months.


text:
Kuala Lumpur, 16 April 2020 – Local carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd has repurposed the production lines at its Shah Alam plant to make face shields for medical frontliners, reinforcing its commitment to help fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Malaysia.
Proton said up to 3,000 units can be produced in a single day and the carmaker is expected to take approximately 20 days to produce the 60,000 units it has committed to deliver.
“The first batch of 8,000 units will be shipped out on April 16 to hospitals in Kelantan followed by other east coast states due to the logistics involved,” it said in a statement today.
It said the production process began with designing and testing prototypes and getting feedback from end users to ensure the final product met their needs.
“The original design for the face shield was contributed by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM),” it said.
It said the designers at Proton Design then developed the frame based on feedback from end users and also added the slogan ‘STAY STRONG! We will get through this!’.
At the same time, it said the project team had to plan for a production line that was both safe and efficient to meet COVID-19 health protocols.
“Fifty people, picked from a pool of volunteers, work on an assembly line to measure and cut the various components required before assembling the final product,” it said.
Proton said it also received contributions from its vendor community who are eager to get involved including Pos Logistics Sdn Bhd, who contributed over 2,000 large carton boxes used to pack the face shields and make it easier to transport them.
It said another vendor, HICOM-Teck See Manufacturing Malaysia Sdn Bhd, contributed 1,500 kg of polypropylene that was used to produce the frames of the face shields.
Deputy chief executive officer Datuk Radzaif Mohamed said Proton had reached out to its vendor community to get them involved and the response has been heart-warming.
“Malaysia’s automotive sector has the capability and desire to contribute to the nation’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and hopefully we can do more in the coming weeks and months to help break the chain of infection,” he added.


text:
May 18, 2020 – Oculus has today announced several updates to its Quest platform, including a new software update for hand tracking on Quest devices, increased apps to support remote work, updates to the Guardian system, and further integration with the Facebook platform. Regarding the latter, starting this week, Oculus is testing the ability for people to share to Facebook Groups under their Oculus username. This will let people connect with other Oculus users on Facebook to swap stories and share their VR exploits. Click here for more information.
Remote work apps on the Oculus Store
As more people shift to remote work, VR has demonstrated that it is an effective tool for collaboration and has helped teams working from home during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Oculus states that fully immersive environments can help improve focus, while realistic avatar interaction in virtual meeting spaces lets users feel more connected with colleagues. As a result, Oculus has also announced that it will be introducing more collaboration and productivity apps to the Oculus Store on Quest later this year, including Immersed and Spatial:
- Immersed helps optimize focus and productivity, whether solo or collaborating with a team, by immersing users in a distraction-free VR workspace. People can connect Immersed wirelessly to their Oculus Go or Quest to their computer to access up to five additional virtual screens, which can be multi-screen-shared with peers. Colleagues can teleport into the same space to collaborate and whiteboard together. Planned updates include the ability to connect computers to headsets simultaneously, workspace customization, presentation mode, team/user-access management, workflow-integration, and more. Immersed is coming to the Oculus Store on Quest this summer;
- Spatial is a VR/AR collaboration platform that allows people to work across distance as if they were in the same room, without the need for video conferencing or work travel. Spatial will hit the Oculus Store in the coming months.
Spatial CEO and Co-Founder, Anand Agarawala, commented: “We’ve seen a massive uptick in customer demand from prosumers and companies of all shapes and sizes who are having to rethink business models as they navigate a new and unknown territory”. He added, “Connectedness has never been more needed than it is today—on both a practical, productivity level but also helping us feel closer to our coworkers, colleagues, or friends. With Spatial we can feel like we’re in the same room again working side by side, instantly changing the dynamic of any meeting.”
Oculus states that apps such as Immersed and Spatial will allow users to experiment with VR productivity solutions on their own. Furthermore, for companies that are looking to scale larger, Oculus offers its ‘Oculus for Business’ solution.
Finally, this week, Oculus is bringing new Guardian updates to Quest including Playspace Scan, which helps users detect and exclude objects in a Playspace during Guardian setup. The update also introduces color customization features to Guardian with three new options—blue, purple, and yellow—which the company states are coming soon.
In celebration of the one year anniversary of the Oculus Quest, on May 21 Oculus will be kicking off its “A Year of Quest” anniversary sale to commemorate one full year of all-in-one VR gaming and entertainment. Oculus will also open up a sale on the Rift Platform to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Rift S.
Image credit: Oculus
About the author
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.


text:
Shares of local electronics makers in the Apple Inc supply chain came under pressure yesterday, although the US-based consumer electronics giant launched two new iPhone models targeting both the high and low-end markets, dealers said.
Selling in these “Apple concept stocks” was triggered by a 2.3 percent decline in Apple shares on Wall Street overnight after the company unveiled its new devices, dealers said.
The broader market remained stuck in a trading range amid cautious sentiment toward the local political climate after the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) revoked the membership of Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) after accusations of improper lobbying.
Shares of smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) fell 6.44 percent to close at NT$945, off a low of NT$940, while those of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple, ended down 1.30 percent at NT$76, off a low of NT$74.70.
Shares of flexible printed circuit board supplier Flexium Interconnect Inc (台郡) dropped 7 percent to NT$102.
In comparison, the TAIEX closed up 0.22 points at 8,208.99.


text:
Better Buy: Nike, Inc. vs. Skechers
Footwear makers Nike (NYSE: NKE) and Skechers (NYSE: SKX) went in opposite directions this year. Shares of Nike, once considered a stagnant market leader, rallied more than 20%. Yet shares of Skechers, once considered a high-growth underdog, tumbled nearly 20%.
I compared these two stocks last August, and concluded that Skechers' superior growth, ambitious overseas expansion plans, and defensible niche in the casual footwear market made it the superior pick. I clearly misjudged Nike's ability to break out of its rut, so let's take a fresh look at both stocks to see if the tables have truly turned against Skechers.
Continue Reading Below
How do Nike and Skechers make money?
Nike operates two core brands — Nike (which includes Jordan and Hurley) and Converse. Nike's brand revenues rose 5% to $34.5 billion on a constant-currency basis last year, buoyed by a 2% increase in wholesale revenue, a 12% jump in Nike Direct revenue, and a 25% increase in digital commerce sales.
However, its Converse revenue fell 11% to $1.9 billion, as weak sales in North America offset the brand's growth in Asia. Nike's international growth accounted for "over 100%" of its growth during the year, with the Greater China region growing nearly twice as quickly as any other market on a constant-currency basis. Its total revenue rose 6% to $36.4 billion on the same basis. Analysts expect Nike's revenue to rise 8% this year.
Skechers is the third largest athletic-footwear maker in the U.S. by annual revenue after Nike and adidas. Over half of its revenue came from the U.S. and Canada last year, but it's been expanding (mainly through joint ventures) into other markets like China, South Korea, Japan, and Latin America.
Skechers' revenue rose 17% to $4.2 billion last year, supported by robust demand for its walking, work, casual-lifestyle, casual-dress, and athletic footwear in the U.S. New styles for children performed well during last year's holiday season, and its brand achieved "record sales" during Singles Day (Nov. 11) in China. Wall Street expects Skechers' sales to rise 14% this year.
How the tables turned against Skechers
Skechers was widely considered a better growth play than Nike last year, but its growth hit a brick wall this year. After beating estimates during the first quarter with 17% sales growth, Skechers warned that its sales would rise only 9% to 11% during the second quarter — which would be its slowest growth in five quarters. Analysts had expected 13% growth.
Skechers also guided for flat to 13% earnings growth for the quarter, which was well below expectations for 42% growth. Skechers attributed that abrupt slowdown to an "expected shift" of some shipments from the second quarter to the second half of the year, but investors fled and the stock plunged nearly 30% in a single day. However, analysts still expect Skechers' full-year earnings to rise 19%.
Meanwhile, Nike impressed investors last quarter by growing its North American market again. Sales in North America — which had been tough due to tough competition and the bankruptcies of major footwear retailers — rose 2.8% year over year, crushing estimates for 1% growth. Nike's gross margins are also rebounding as Skechers' are slipping — but it's still too early to tell if this is a long-term trend.
Nike's recovery, combined with its constant-currency sales growth of 25% in Greater China, 13% growth in Asia Pacific and Latin America, and 10% growth in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region, lifted Nike's sales by 13% from the prior-year period last quarter — marking its strongest growth in 14 quarters. Nike didn't provide precise guidance for the current quarter, but it boosted its full-year sales forecast from a mid-to-high-single-digit range to a high-single-digit rate.
Wall Street expects Nike's earnings to grow 11% this year. The company also announced a new $15 billion buyback program, which would be enough to repurchase 12% of its outstanding shares at current prices.
The valuations and verdict
Skechers currently trades at 15 times this year's earnings, and it doesn't pay a dividend. Nike trades at 29 times this year's earnings, but it pays a forward dividend yield of 1.1%.
It's tempting to consider Skechers "cheaper" than Nike at current levels, but its decelerating sales and earnings growth cast a dark cloud over its future. Nike is generating better growth and brushing off concerns about Adidas, but the stock's premium valuation isn't really justified — especially when there are plenty of other cheaper stocks with better growth.
I don't plan to buy either stock, but I'd pick Nike over Skechers as a long-term investment. Skechers still has great growth potential, but the market can be brutal to companies that abruptly lose their momentum.
10 stocks we like better than NikeWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Nike wasn't one of them! That's right — they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
Click here to learn about these picks!
*Stock Advisor returns as of June 4, 2018
Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nike and Skechers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Source: Read Full Article


text:
CAN Info-Tech kicks offThe 24th edition of CAN-Info Tech, an annual information technology exhibition organised by the Federation of Computer Association of Nepal (CAN Federation), kicked off on Thursday at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu.
The 24th edition of CAN-Info Tech, an annual information technology exhibition organised by the Federation of Computer Association of Nepal (CAN Federation), kicked off on Thursday at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu. The six-day fair will showcase technology related products and services, with focus on sales of IT hardware, power solutions, mobile accessories, telecommunications equipment, software and payment solutions.
The IT expo was inaugurated by Information and Communications Minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet. To highlight the fusion of tradition and technology, organisers also flew a drone, which sprayed petals of marigold, to inaugurate the ceremony.
“In the age of technology, failure to prioritise IT sector will prevent the country from achieving much-needed economic prosperity,” Minister Basnet said, stressing on the need for collaboration between the government and the private sector to deliver tangible results in technological development. “I urge the private sector, including the CAN Federation, to provide assistance and feedback to the government.”
CAN Federation President Hemant Kumar Chaurasia said, “Until information and communication technology is accessible to rural people, it would be difficult to implement the concept of e-Nepal envisioned by the CAN Federation.” He also called on the government to promote information technology to make galloping progress in implementation of ‘Digital Nepal’. The CAN-Info Tech is a flagship event of the CAN Federation, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
This year, organisers expect people from all walks of life, including entrepreneurs, customers, policy-makers, students, officials from governmental agencies and banks, and representatives from diplomatic bodies, to attend the fair. Organisers expect the show to draw over 400,000 visitors in the six-day period till January 30.
The show features IT goods and services of over 155 companies. These companies are providing special discounts and offers to attract customers. The expo features various electronic and networking devices such as mobile phones and accessories, routers, television sets, laptops, and printers. The title sponsor of the event is Subisu CableNet Pvt Ltd and the associate sponsor is Motorola Nepal. The show features altogether 222 stalls, with 49 big stalls inside the main hall, five branding exhibition stalls, 144 stalls in trusses, 14 stalls in open spaces and 10 food stalls. The expo is also hosting a separate pavilion consisting of 44 stalls from more than a dozen software companies.
The regular entrance fee is fixed at Rs100, but students can receive a 50 percent discount. The CAN Federation is organising four CAN Info-Tech Expos outside the Kathmandu valley in Narayangadh, Butwal, Pokhara and Itahari with the aim of spreading technological products and services across the country.


text:
Chinese language tech monumentalHuaweihas downplayed experiences that it’s HongMeng OS will changeGoogle’sAndroidon its smartphones within the shut to future. The clarification has map from Huawei senior vp Cathrine Chen, voice files companyXinhuaexperiences.
As per the file, Chen stated that HongMeng OS isn’t designed to be an working system working on smartphones. In point of fact, Huawei’s in-home OS used to be never intended to interchange Google’s Android within the first location. She stated, noting that the working system contains a fewer line of codes than a phone OS and has grand decrease latency, which come it’ll activity a high level of files messages with shrimp extend. The manager goes on to reveal that HongMeng OS is designed namely for industrial exercise.
Chairman Liang Hua stated closing week that the sector’s 2d-supreme smartphone maker hasn’t made up our minds but if the Hongmeng OS will even be developed as a smartphone working system within the prolonged flee”, in step withTechNode. Hua evidently stated that the system used to be designed as a low-latency resolution for IoT devices.
That’s a u-turn from Huawei, since the company has beforehand beneficial that it can perchance switch to Android. After the US govt banned American companies from doing business with Huawei, the company stated that its Android rival would be launched as early as drop this yr. “Huawei is within the strategy of no doubt launching a alternative,” Andrew Williamson, vp of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s public affairs and communications, beforehand toldReuters.
Richard Yu head of Huawei’s shopper division, additionally toldCNBCin June that the company plans to roll out the recent OS within the fourth quarter in China. In point of fact, the company’s CEO reportedly stated that the recent OS can be effectively suited with diverse devices, collectively with smartphones, laptops, pills, natty playing cards, and can be 60 per cent sooner than Android. Huawei honest currently filed a trademark for HongMeng OS in loads of nations, in step withReuters. HomgMeng is mostly identified as Ark or Unity OS outside of China.
AReutersfile closing week stated that extra companies would be granted with transient licenses to sell their products to Huawei within the next four weeks. Some gargantuan tech companies, love Google andMicrosoft, fill reportedly resumed business with Huawei.


text:
2009 Ford Flex: 100,000 sales a year 'absolutely' possible
Ford's marketing honcho Jim Farley stated in a recentAutomotive News reportthat the goal is "absolutely" possible. Ford is looking to market the Flex as an upscale alternative to its established Expedition and Explorer SUVs.
Also on Ford's calendar this year is the release of the 2009 Lincoln MKS sedan and thenext-generation 2009 F-150. Together with the Flex, Ford is hoping that the three vehicles will help it reverse its sagging U.S. sales.
Source: Automotive News (subscription required)


text:
UOB partners with Shopmatic to give SMEs a digital e-commerce boost
(9 May 2019 – Singapore) UOB is integrating the digital solutions of e-commerce firm Shopmatic into its suite of cloud-based business solutions, UOB BizSmart, to help small businesses build e-commerce websites quickly and expand their sales channels.
The partnership will reduce the time taken for SMEs to set up e-commerce websites and create new online revenue streams without the technical know-how in coding, online and user experience design.
Sales data generated on Shopmatic will also help small businesses without a track record required for bank financing to apply for UOB business loans. UOB will use insights generated from the sales data alongside traditional data - such as financial statements - to determine the business' credit-worthiness.
"As Asean's e-commerce market continues to grow, it is essential for small businesses to tap the revenue opportunities within the digital economy by expanding their sales channels and attracting new customers," said Mr Lawrence Loh, UOB's head of group business banking.


text:
A new year means new roaming charges. From the end of this month, Vodafone will force many customers to pay more for calling, texting and using the internet when traveling in Europe. But it’s not the only mobile network to raise prices; EE and Three will follow in the weeks and months to come.
Providers will charge you up to £2 a day to stay connected on the mainland. The last of the ‘big four’ networks, O2, has confirmed it won’t bring in any charges, but it has reduced the amount of data customers can use abroad.
The exact terms vary from network to network, but you can see how you will be affected here.
Why are roaming charges coming back?
Roaming charges were commonplace. In 2007, you had to pay 50p a minute to call home from Spain. Even moderate use of your mobile phone during a two-week break could cost £100, with headlines regularly featuring horror stories of holidaymakers racking up bills more expensive than their entire trip.
In 2017, the European Union (EU) banned this practice, forcing all mobile networks to charge the same price within member states. This also applied to Britons abroad and EU citizens in the UK. Then Brexit meant that the UK gave up its membership.
The post-Brexit trade deal states that the UK and EU will “strive to work together to promote transparent and reasonable prices for international mobile roaming”.
However, it does not include any binding consumer protections, leaving mobile networks free to add fees once again.
It’s something most networks said wouldn’t happen. “At the end of the Brexit transition period in December 2020, all major UK mobile network providers pledged that they ‘have no intention’ of passing on the costs of European wholesale tariffs to consumers,” he said. said Ernest Doku, mobile phone expert at Uswitch. com.
In the end, the prospect proved too tempting. EE announced that it would bring the charges back less than six months later. “As is often the case, once one vendor changes course, many more will follow,” Doku added.
What do roaming charges pay?
Roaming charges help cover the cost of what UK mobile providers have to pay local operators to use their network when you are abroad. Using 20-25GB of data while roaming in the EU usually costs them €75 (£63), according to Enders’ analysis.
However, these costs are increasing. A Vodafone spokesperson told TechToSee: “Roaming agreements entered into since we left the EU are more expensive for us than those entered into following the 2017 settlement.”
They added: “Like many other industries, we face rising costs for energy, personnel, logistics and transportation. Unlike many other industries, we also have costs from the regulator – who have chosen to maintain multi-million pound license fees for spectrum use – and from the government, who have forced us to make significant changes and costly to our supply chain.
However, it should be noted that all of the largest mobile phone providers in the UK are owned by multinational companies. For example, Vodafone UK is among the world’s top 10 telecoms, operating in 21 other countries, more than half of them in Europe.
So any calls or messages you send through these sister services actually cost them nothing compared to piggybacking on third-party networks.
How does this affect your next vacation?
These new roaming charges are a far cry from the outrageous amounts that networks used to charge. The government has also introduced rules, including capping roaming charges at £45 per month.
Plus, the networks have to ask you to agree to spend more – and they have to alert you when you’re at 80% data usage and back to 100% again, so you don’t unexpectedly run out.
Frequent travelers can also opt for special packages. A Vodafone spokesperson said: ‘Inclusive roaming will always be part of the selected plans. For roaming in Europe, customers can choose a package that includes it, purchase an additional 8 or 15 day roaming pass for the equivalent of just £1 per day, or pay a daily rate of £2 per day. day.
“Customers will also be able to set their own limits via our Vodafone Spend Manager, which can be configured free of charge via the My Vodafone app.”
Despite this, experts still believe roaming charges will have an impact. “In the short term, the reintroduction of roaming charges by certain networks could encourage frequent travelers to turn to another operator who has not yet done so,” estimates Ernest Doku.
“The long-term effects could lead to behavioral changes in consumer travel habits and more pressure to consider using only Wi-Fi abroad – ensuring it’s safe and secure. secure when using public services – or even turn off their phone completely.”
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Brexit means the government could use trade deals to negotiate lower roaming charges around the world.
Sue Davies, which one? The head of consumer protection policy, told TechToSee: “It is positive to see this included in the UK’s agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The government should seek to build on this success by securing similar terms with the European Union and other countries to prevent travelers from facing higher phone bills after traveling abroad.


text:
Lei Jun Releases Xiaomi’s Self-Driving SU7 Road Test Video
Lei Jun has released a video of the Xiaomi SU7 self-driving car road test. He mentioned that all Xiaomi executives have participated in the road tests of Xiaomi SU7, accumulating over 100,000 kilometers.
Lei Jun said:
“I personally participated in the tests more than 10 times, covering a distance of over 3000 kilometers. The longest trip was on January 5th this year, from Beijing to Shanghai, a total of 1276 kilometers. I drove alone, using NOA on the highway throughout the journey. Including charging and resting time, the total duration was over 15 hours.”
Lei Jun revealed that 576 test vehicles of Xiaomi SU7 have been deployed for on-road testing, traveling in 300 cities across the country, enduring extreme conditions from -40°C in Heihe to 60°C in Turpan, spanning a temperature difference of 100°C, and even testing at an altitude of 4768 meters in the Kunlun Mountains.
IT House noted that Lei Jun previously announced the release date of Xiaomi’s car to be March 28th. At the same time, Xiaomi’s car has also started pre-order test drives in 29 cities and 59 stores nationwide.
The Xiaomi SU7 is positioned as a high-performance ecological tech sedan in the C-segment, with a length of 4997mm, wheelbase of 3000mm, width of 1963mm, height of 1440mm, and a drag coefficient Cd of 0.195.
In terms of power, the dual-motor version of Xiaomi SU7 has a maximum power of 673 horsepower, accelerating from 0-100km/h in 2.78 seconds, equipped with a 101kWh CATL lithium-ion battery offering a CLTC range of 800km. The single motor version has a maximum power of 299 horsepower, accelerates from 0-100km/h in 5.28 seconds, comes with a 73.6kWh CATL lithium iron phosphate battery providing a CLTC range of 668km.
Source: IT House


text:
Agora and the dozens of other dark web markets out there act as a kind of black-market eBay. Vendors can sell drugs and other contraband.Dec 08, 2019 Welcome to the links directory for dark web sites. risks and the existence of child pornography and sale of drugs in deep web links. Thinking of grocery delivery? Shop at Safeway online store and get grocery delivered to your doorstep. Use Safeway for U rewards & coupons to save money on. And activities of illegal markets. There are now around 50 online marketplaces on the 'dark web' that trade illegal drugs, novel psychoactive. How often does a dark web marketplace last, on average? as dark net markets sell everything from illegal drugs to databases of stolen.
The site is a relatively new market on the dark web, counting just over 100 active vendors who sell and ship illegal drugs to buyers in exchange. Employers bow down to tech workers in a hot job market Drug overdoses in San Diego County jails increased darknet market comparison sharply. An international law enforcement effort targeting illegal drugs on the dark web resulted in 150 arrests and seizures of more than 31. Our innovative Raley's O-N-E Market concept offers a curated assortment. discover more Stock Up on Holiday Essentials. We have everything you need to. But this unlikely black market would not have formed if they weren't so or at a deep discount to willing corner stores and pawn shops. Ohio State sociologists Dana Haynie and Scott Duxbury are understanding how darknet drug markets operate on a sociological level. Darknet markets consist of websites, which are in many ways similar to other online platforms that facilitate trade, such as eBay or Amazon.
Dec 08, 2019 Welcome to the links directory for dark web sites. risks and the existence of child pornography darknet market comparison chart and sale of drugs in deep web links. Mining the dark web: drugs and fake IDs. Studying illicit drug trafficking on Darknet markets: Structure and organisation from a Canadian perspective. The Justice Department and European police authorities said they arrested 150 people who sold and bought drugs and weapons on darknet forums. Monopoly Market DWMs offer access to the shadow economy. They offer a variety of goods including drugs, firearms, credit cards, and fake IDs. The most. 'Dark Web' Market for Illegal Guns and Drugs Grows. The sites have names like Evolution, Agora and Nucleus, where criminals can buy and sell.
Drugs still rule the darknet, but aren't the only inventory on offer. Currencies included: BCH, BTC, LTC, USDT. Above, we see how the top. How to Start Selling Weed as a Black Market Marijuana Dealer Prior to the legalization These days though everyone just buys drugs on the deep web. com. Founder Global Drug survey and Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Monica Barratt PhD. Global Drug Survey and Post-Doctoral Researcher. Darknet markets or. Dec 08, 2019 Welcome to the links directory for dark web sites. risks and the existence of child pornography and sale of drugs in deep web links. Employers bow down to tech workers in a hot job market Drug overdoses in San Diego County jails increased sharply. To browse.onion Deep Web links, install Tor dark web drug markets Browser from Drug Market. This piece is brought to you by the founder of the Global Drug Survey, Dr. Adam R. Winstock and Dr. Monica Barratt, Global Drug Survey and.
The failure of the Evolution drug market suggests that law enforcement may have an easier time dealing with online drug dealers than many. Thinking of grocery delivery? Shop at Safeway online store and get grocery delivered to your doorstep. Use Safeway for U rewards & coupons to save money on. For example, the Silk Road, a site on the dark web, was estimated at its peak to be a dark web drug markets billion dark web drug markets traded in darknet market canada illegal drugs and guns, among others. The report concludes that a wide range of factors appear to be driving change and development in internet drug markets, mostly linked to technology. Nick Robinson as Ross Ulbricht, founder of the dark web marketplace the first modern dark web market, known for selling drugs that are.
Alphabay Darknet Market
In regards to blockchain technology, cryptographic signatures are typically used to prove that the correct private key was used to initiate and darknet market black send a transaction through a complex authentication process that involves the use of both a private and public key. For instance, your accounts on the deep web contain a lot of your personal information that criminals might value. In doing so, alUSD is the mechanism by which Alchemix offers automatically repaying stablecoin-backed loans. Accessing a Market may not always be illegal, but trading almost always is. Leading Canberra barrister Jack Pappas says prosecutors barely dark web drug markets have a 50 per cent chance of securing convictions, with some charges "doomed to fail" and others plagued by "insuperable difficulty". However, the very privacy the darknet affords is also being put to more sinister uses, especially crime such as illegal drug and arms trafficking.


text:
Majid Al Futtaim - the Middle East, Africa and Asia’s leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer, has announced an exclusive partnership with the world’s leader in digital payments, Visa, to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and unforgettable great moments for Visa cardholders across the region. From 25 November – 25 December, Majid Al Futtaim’s shopping malls will be the first to engage with shoppers to offer seven incredible winning opportunities to attend the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ in Russia.
“We are proud to partner with Visa as this collaboration underscores Majid Al Futtaim’s commitment to rewarding customers with unrivalled first-time experiences through meaningful partnerships with leading global companies. By understanding the needs of our loyal customers -- in this case, their passion for football -- we are dedicated to creating experiential marketing and promotional activities that deliver ‘money can’t buy’ opportunities,” said Nada Abou Saab, Marketing Director, Shopping Malls (East region), Majid Al Futtaim Properties. “With four teams from the region -- Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Morocco -- having qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, our winning customers are set to enjoy great moments just by shopping with Majid Al Futtaim and Visa.”
Karim Beg, Head of Marketing – MENA, Visa said: “As the exclusive payments sponsor of FIFA globally, Visa is proud to offer our cardholders the chance of a lifetime at next year’s World Cup. We appreciate the love and passion for football that runs strongly in the region and are pleased to partner with one of its leading retailers to offer our cardholders a rewarding cashless shopping experience. Over the coming months, we look forward to reinforcing our partnership with Majid Al Futtaim to bring consumers more fantastic opportunities, and award seven lucky winners the chance to attend the biggest sporting event in the world.”
This year will be the 21st FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. More than one billion fans tuned in to watch the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, with the competition reaching a global in-home television audience of 3.2 billion people, according to final figures from FIFA and Kantar Media. An estimated 280 million people around the world watched matches online or on a mobile device, as a sign that more and more fans are embracing new technology for sports content.
Shoppers at Mall of the Emirates; City Centres Deira, Mirdif, Me’aisem, Al Shindagha and My City Centre Al Barsha in Dubai; City Centres Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, My City Centre Nasseriya and Matajer Al Quoz, Al Khan, Al Mirgab and Al Juraina in the Northern Emirates; City Centres Muscat and Qurum in Oman; City Centre Bahrain as well as City Centre Beirut in Lebanon and Mall of Egypt in Egypt can avail from this exclusive promotion. Guests who shop in participating retailers using Visa will receive entry into the draw.
The seven prizes shared between the malls in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt and Beirut include flights and accommodation for two people to stay in Russia for up to four nights plus tickets to attend either the opening match, group stage matches, quarter final games or the semi-final. For further information please visit: www.visamiddleesat.com/closertotheaction


text:
Consumers are getting smarter every year. Growers and retailers who understand this have the opportunity to increase sales and profits in 2016.
By Tom Smith, President of Four Star Greenhouse Inc.
Recent economic indicators are starting to show an uptick in home improvement and new home building – both are great signs for our industry. If consumers are more willing to invest in home improvements, they should also be willing to invest in making the outside of their homes more attractive.
This is an opportunity for our industry to make the case that a relatively small investment in plants (at less cost than many are willing to pay for structural changes) can have a very dramatic, positive impact on the appearance and curb appeal of a home.
The industry continues to find ways to make it easier for consumers to grow plants, such as this self-watering container and others like it.
Consumers are looking for better plants and changing the way they find them. I think many consumers are moving from buying big flats of bedding plants to buying larger plants that perform better and are easier to maintain. This has huge implications for our industry.
We’ve seen many instances where consumers want it made easy for them. They want plant growing to be easy, combining plants to be easy, and prepackaged plants and decorative containers (also easy). Finally, they want plant maintenance to be easy. As an industry, we should continue to ask: How can we continue to make gardening successful for them?
The fact that consumers are getting smarter is big opportunity for our industry. In the past, they learned about gardening from traditional sources, but now they are using internet searches and plant information websites, social media, videos and more. Watch where they’re getting information and you’ll understand what they want.
Social media sites like Pinterest are particularly huge. Consumers see photos of plants growing with others and creative planting ideas, and they search for those plants online. Our industry can benefit from understanding this.
Proven Winners® heavily promotes its products to consumers through social media and other outlets, and it knows what consumers are looking for. But there is a disconnect between what consumers want and where they can find it on a retailer’s bench. Even though a plant is selling at record numbers, consumers may not be able find them at the local retailer.
Two examples of this are Superbells® Lemon Slice and Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum. Lemon Slice took off big when it debuted and continues as one of the most popular Proven Winners® plants; yet consumers scramble to find it. We get tons of questions about finding and growing Vista Bubblegum, but it too can be hard to find at retail.
Superbells® Lemon Slice and Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum® are heavily promoted to consumers and are in high demand, although many buyers scramble to find them.
Smarter consumers are becoming aware of the better products and if you carry them, you will win in 2016. We know retailers who can’t find the plants they want to sell at their local growers. At Four Star, we’re looking for growers to partner with us to help supply those retailers.
Our industry is full of innovators who understand that better plants and products will continue to win consumers’ attention. For instance, the advancements in quality performance of shrubs and perennials are going full force. Spring Meadow Nursery is doing a fantastic job with introducing new genetics in many varieties, as Walters Gardens does with perennials. Take advantage of the many new varieties to round out your offerings – you’ll be amazed at how many great innovations are being introduced.
In the same way, container companies are bringing out great new products like water-holding containers, as well as decorative containers in many styles and colors to appeal to buyers. These containers will lead to more container gardening and they give growers the opportunity to sell packages for consumers that are beautiful and much easier to grow than before.
Not many people are comfortable with change and many in our industry operate as they always have for years. They look first at their costs, and then later think about what’s selling and how fast. That isn’t a bad approach, but it rarely leads to jumps in sales or profits.
In contrast, there are a growing number of growers and retailers who watch what consumers want to buy, and are adapting to that. Consumers are price conscious, for sure, but the steady growth of sales for premium plants like Proven Winners varieties shows there is a healthy high-end market. I think there are more consumers out there who are willing to pay more for quality plants and decorative containers than the industry believes.
There is a market for everything. It seems like many in our industry are fighting over the low end versus the higher end of the market and the subsequent upselling that is possible. Many retailers still mix their generic plants together with branded ones, forcing customers to take the time and effort to search for the plants and brands they want. Imagine what would happen if grocery stores mixed all the brands and types of soup, cereals or canned products together on the shelves!
Some retailers (both independent and big box) are getting much better at merchandising and marketing premium plants and products. Though I still don’t think there are enough great looking impulse items grown or created for the garden center, I do look forward to seeing more of those in the future.
Today’s consumer knows what they want more than ever before, and he or she wants the shopping experience to be easy (and the growing experience to be successful). They’re starting to look online because they can find what they want there.
Have you ever searched for a product online because you couldn’t find it in the store? Have you paid a little more for that online product just because it was available and it was convenient to have it delivered? This is one of the biggest changes driving our industry this year.
Online plant sales are dependent on inventory, but if this process can be made workable, think of the possibilities. Imagine an online sales site that sells plants and offers complete and correct growing information — along with photos of what the plants will look like alone and in combinations. We’re beta testing such a site with English Gardens because we believe people are looking for information and products online.
Things are looking positive for our industry in 2016. I hope you adapt to the changing market and have a great year!
Share your thoughts on this article at email@example.com.


text:
If you think that threat isn't real, ask Miss Teen USA 2013, whose webcam was hacked into and used to take nude photos of her.
These young researchers will shape cyberworld in the next decade.
Avoid becoming a victim as some of our friends did, watch your card closely.
Phishers exploit global World Cup interest with a campaign disguised as a petition to reinstate Luis Suarez. Microsoft patched 29 security vulnerabilities.
The list of highly touted devices that have been launched in recent years with embarrassing flaws – security and otherwise – is long and distinguished.
A Brazilian cybercriminal scam targeting a popular payment method known as Boletos is costing that country billions. How can you protect yourself?
Criminals invented Cryptolocker, spying malware and Zeus banking Trojan. We have new protection against them.
The first summer month brought us news about the eternal confrontation of law enforcements and cybercriminals. Let’s see who was busted in June.
New analysis pinpoints some weaknesses in a new generation of cars with online capabilities. If exploited, this may result in car theft and other problems.


text:
As we’ve mentioned many times on these pages, price controls that were last employed on a widespread basis during the 1970s inflation era were eventually discarded by both parties as an abysmal failure.
So we shouldn’t be too surprised that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to bring them back.
On Thursday, Pelosi pushed through the House her Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act – which would allow the president to declare an “energy emergency proclamation” when prices are rising. During the emergency, companies would be barred from charging “unconscionably excessive” prices for gasoline or any other fuels. The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general would be empowered to pursue violators.
There is no legal definition of price gouging, but apparently, it is the new pornography – the pols know it when they see it.
Sadly, only four Democrats – Liz Fletcher of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Kathleen Rice of New York, and Stephanie Murphy of Florida – voted no.
Pelosi isn’t done yet. She is now pressuring the administration to file criminal charges against baby formula companies. “I think there might be a need for indictment,” Pelosi said when asked about her plans to combat the formula shortage. No one mentioned that even her own Appropriations Committee chair admits the baby formula shortage was primarily caused by the FDA’s months-long failure to investigate poor sanitary procedures at an Abbott plant in South Dakota.
These price control measures will make supply chain problems worse and cause prices to rise even faster.


text:
Chinese EV-maker Xpeng Motors fully acquired another Guangdong-based EV maufacturer Foday through its subsidiary Zhaoqing New Energy Investment Company Ltd. The move could be instrumental in allowing the company to expand their production line and manufacture cars independently.
SEE ALSO: Xpeng P7 Allowed for Road Tests in U.S.
The company commented, “The transaction is a critical step for our long term strategic plan.” The acquisition is expected to streamline Xpeng’s supply chain management processes, as well as optimize the company’s product development and manufacturing capabilities.
Prior to the acquisition, Xpeng did not have production facilities under its ownership, making use of the Zhengzhou-located facilities belonging to Haima, a major Chinese automaker and subsidiary of the FAW group. However, Xpeng emphasized that the company willl continue to cooperate with Haima despite the acquisition.
In a similar manner as Xpeng, WM Motor has acquired Dalian-based automaker Huanghai. In October 2018, Byton acquired FAW subsidiary Huali while CHJ Automotive, owner of the EV-brand Leading Ideal,acquired Chongqing Lifan Automobile to strengthen its production capabilities.
There are certain advantages to not owning a factory, as it allows companies to go to market faster and invest more in R&D. Yet, having few heavy assets, automakers like Xpeng or NIO miss out on hefty government subsidies. NIO announced in February 2019 that it would build new headquarters in Hefei, Anhui Province, where it already produces its cars under a manufacturing arrangement with state-owned JAC Motors. The company received 10 billion yuan in government support as a result of the decision.
The value of the acquisition was not disclosed, yet the EV-maker noted that “Xpeng Motors is in a healthy operating status and the transaction will not impose any major pressure on its financing capability.” The company raised $400 million in its latest Series C funding round in November 2019. Additionally, last year Xpeng secured several billion in RMB-denominated credit lines from leading Chinese and international banks, including China Merchants Bank, China CITIC Bank and HSBC, in order to diversify its funding sources.


text:
Raking in the moolah, and well deserved too.
CD Projekt RED has been persistently working away at The Witcher series, putting out highly acclaimed games – none more so than 2015’s superlative and genre defining The Witcher 3, but still – steadily. The result is that CD Projekt’s series has been rewarded with extremely high sales, especially for RPGs, which until recently, didn’t sell all that well.
How high? Since 2007, The Witcher series has sold 25 million units worldwide, the company confirmed in its latest financial briefing.
“For years we have consistently prioritized quality and focused on a limited range of products. The persistently strong sales of the entire The Witcher series vindicate our approach and contribute to long-term appeal of our releases. Between the launch of The Witcher in 2007 and the end of 2016 we have sold over 25 million copies of The Witcher games,” Adam Kiciński, President of CD PROJEKT, noted with pride.
“This year we will continue to expand The Witcher brand – it is, after all, the year of GWENT. We’re in the process of organizing the game’s first major tournament, with a $100,000 USD prize pool. Another crucial round of beta tests will commence in spring, with the retail release to follow in the second half of 2017.”
The Witcher series may not actually be over- CD Projekt recently admitted that not making a fourth game in the series would be almost irresponsible of them. While a fourth game is not yet announced, if it were to release, it’s safe to presume it would not star Geralt of Rivia, since his story was concluded with Wild Hunt. Maybe it could star Ciri?
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here- before any of that happens, we need to finally see CyberPunk 2077, which hopefully is due out by June 2019.


text:
The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has lowered the price of the T-24 ticket, which gives passengers unlimited access to RTC buses, including regular and metro buses, within Greater Hyderabad. The new price is Rs. 90, down from Rs. 100, starting from Thursday. The decision was made to ease the financial burden on passengers during the hot summer months. Senior citizens over the age of 60 will receive a 20% discount and can purchase the ticket for only Rs. 80 by presenting their Aadhaar card to conductors for age verification.
The T-24 ticket has been popular among passengers, with an average of 25,000 tickets sold per day. TSRTC Managing Director, VC Sajjanar, said that the reduced price aims to provide passengers with 24-hour travel for less than the cost of one liter of petrol. The original price of the T-24 ticket was Rs. 120 but was reduced to Rs. 100 previously.
In addition to the T-24 ticket, TSRTC has launched other discounted tickets. The T-6 ticket is priced at Rs. 50 and allows women and senior citizens to travel anywhere in the city between 10 AM and 4 PM. The F-24 ticket costs Rs. 300 and permits a family of four to travel around Hyderabad for 24 hours. The corporation encourages passengers to take advantage of these discounted tickets and enjoy hassle-free travel.
Overall, TSRTC aims to provide affordable and accessible transportation for all passengers in Hyderabad.


text:
Whether a brand does something about it or not, the future is where it’s going to spend the rest of its life. How long that life is up to the brand, determined by how it responds to today’s reality.
The post-recession landscape will present brand marketers with new challenges, new engagement realities and new rules, which will increase pressure to prove how and why branded products deliver value.
1. Value is the new black
2. Brands are increasingly a surrogate for “value”
3. Brand differentiation is Brand Value
4. “Because I Said So” is so over
5. Consumer expectations are growing
6. Old tricks don’t work/won’t work anymore
7. They won’t need to know you to love you
8. It’s not just buzz
9. They’re talking to each other before talking to the brand
10. Engagement is not a fad; it’s the way today’s consumers do business
Speaking of brands, an eMarketer report states, “Researchers at Pennsylvania State University studied nearly 150,000 tweets that named brands and found that nearly one-half of them were simply ‘comments’ – posts that mentioned a brand, but where the primary focus was something else. A further 18.1% were information-providing and 11.1% were information-seeking.”.
The study discovered that brand-tweeters do so in order to connect with products.
“Businesses use micro-communication for brand awareness, brand knowledge and customer relationship,” said Jim Jansen, associate professor of information science and technology in the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) at Penn State. “Personal use is all over the board. It may be right up there with e-mail in terms of its communication impact.”
Though the brand-related Tweets in the study had varying tonality, “a lot of the brand comments were positive,” Jansen said, adding that “there are some good products out there, or at least products that people are happy with. People are using tweets to express their reaction, both positive and negative, as they engage with these products and services, and tweets are about as close as one can get to the customer point of purchase for products and services.”
No matter you love it or hate it, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and more are increasingly common for effectively reaching both internal and external audiences.
Yet, while many in management have embraced the idea of delivering into social networking waters, many of these same individuals have supported policies that prevent their own employees from using these new communication channels. But why? What are their concerns? And, more importantly, what are they doing to address them?
You can learn more from the survey that conducted by Minneapolis-based Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law Embracing the Opportunities, Averting the Risks in July 2009.
Hope this information will help your company’s management, marketing and human resource professionals engage in the social media conversation – both using these new communication opportunities and addressing any underlying concerns – not as unilateral dictates, but as natural extensions of corporate values and ethics.


text:
Facebook Introduced their Lighter version of Facebook called Facebook Lite. The new application is for slow network, which will use only less data. Now in most region facebook is accessed on mobile which uses different mobile network of different speed, in that case the data consumption is much higher and which makes user to spend more data for the use.
Now Facebook Lite will be for such network which will use less data and will load contents faster even in slow network. The new application will be available of android users and in the beginning it will be available in Asian, Latin America, Africa and European countries. The application will allow to view and upload photos as like in the Original application.


text:
What would you do if you learned your teenager walked into a local head shop under the pretence of purchasing plant food or bath salts, only to find out the purchased substance was used to get high? The scenario is not so far-fetched any more. Head shops all over the UK sell what are known as Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS), better known on the street as ‘legal highs‘. Wigan Council and the Manchester police have teamed up to do something about them within their jurisdiction.
Legal highs are synthetic drugs created to mimic the effects of illicit drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. These are being purchased in larger numbers every day as both shopkeepers and kids have learned how to get around the law where drugs are concerned. According to sources, some 70 individuals have already died from using the substances.
In Wigan, council officials have been paying visits to local head shops in order to warn business owners not to sell to minors. Storeowners have been told that undercover work will be conducted by Manchester police to ensure that the law is being followed. Shopkeepers found in violation could be subject to very stiff penalties and possible prosecution.
Skirting the Laws
Manufacturers of NPS products are able to get around the law by carefully controlling what goes into their formulas. For example, they already know what ingredients in a typical dose of heroin make the drug illegal under current regulations. Therefore, they set about creating a synthetic substance that will mimic the effects of heroin without using ingredients with the same chemical make-up. Doing so enables them to get around drug laws.
For the record, legal high manufacturers cannot market their products for human consumption. In fact, they are illegal for that purpose. That is why the brightly coloured packaging used for the products indicate customers are purchasing plant food or bath salts. As far as the head shop owner is concerned, what the customer does with the product after leaving the store is not his or her concern.
Wigan Council and the Manchester police do not see it that way. They plan to hold shopkeepers accountable if they or their employees sell NPS products to minors. The crackdown will not completely eliminate the problem in the local area, but it is certainly a good start. We hope to see more jurisdictions take proactive measures to stop the flood of legal highs now on the streets.
Danger in Every Package
Proponents of novel psychoactive substances say these are relatively harmless when compared to the ‘real thing’. However, they are not. There are a number of problems with legal highs that make them extremely dangerous. For example, no one really knows what is in the products except the makers themselves. Moreover, those that make the drugs are demonstrating, by their behaviour, that their interest is not in the public health. They could very well be poisoning customers with every dose sold.
Of equal concern is the fact that new legal highs are coming onto the market at such a fast pace that the medical community is finding it difficult to keep up. This could result in accidental death or injury from an overdose because an emergency medical worker does not know how to treat an individual in trouble.
Nothing good can come out of the use of legal highs. Addiction Helper urges you not to use these products under any circumstances. If you are struggling with drugs or alcohol, please consider contacting us for help. We maintain a 24-hour recovery helpline staffed by trained counsellors waiting to provide free advice and referrals.


text:
Hey Whats-up guys welcome to the 29th episode of the tech updates, Let’s get started. HMD Global owned Nokia is all set to launch another smartphone in India on 31st October 2017. Nokia has not given any hint of the smartphone it can be the recently launched mid ranger Nokia 7 or the upcoming budget smartphone Nokia 2.We think it will be Nokia 2 as they will try to go for the budget segment in India and looking at the past record they don’t launch a smartphone so fast after global release. Nokia 2 is expected to be priced at ₹6,499 and will house a 4,000 mAh battery.
The smartphone will be powered by the Snapdragon 210 processor and will come with 1GB or 2GB of RAM. Nokia 2 will sport a 4.7 inch HD display. now coming to the Nokia 7 ( If HMD decides to surprise us). The device is Nokia’s first glass back smartphone with metal all around. Nokia 7 is powered by the 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 630 octa core processor coupled with Adreno 508 GPU. It comes in two variants with 4GB and 6GB of RAM with 64GB of internal storage on both, expandable via MicroSD
Sony has now announced that they are rolling out the Oreo update for the Xperia XZ Premium. Sony has also released list of other smartphone that will get the Android Oreo update soon. It includes Sony Xperia X, Song Xperia XZ, Xperia X compact, Xperia XZs, Xperia XZ performance. The new update also brings Sony’s 3D Creator app which lets users quickly create 3D models of face, head, food or any object using device camera.
Lenovo owned Moto was all set to launch the Moto X4 in India on 3rd October but delayed the launch due to some problems and now the company is all set to launch the smartphone on 13th November 2017. The smartphone is expected to launch with Android Oreo out of the box as it is launching late in the country. And now the official retail box of the Moto X4 has been leaked and it shows some important details. The Moto X4 will be priced at ₹23,999 and will be available in 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage variant. The model number of the device is XT1900-2 and houses a 3,000 mAh battery. Do you think it will be the best smartphone available under ₹25,000? Let us know in the comments below.
Ever since Reliance launched the Jio Phone, other telecom operators are trying to beat the feature phone having features like a smartphone. While Airtel partnered with Karbonn, Vodafone has partnered with Micromax to take down both Jio Phone and the Airtel one. Micromax Bharat 2 Ultra is a 4G Smartphone with at an effective price of ₹999.
Existing and new Vodafone customers can buy the smartphone for ₹2,899 and will have to do recharges of at least ₹150 pr month for a period of 36 months and at the end of 18 months they will receive a cash back of ₹900 in their Vodafone M-Pesa wallet. It will be available in November. Then after another 18 months you will receive a cash back of ₹1000, making it’s effective price to be ₹999. You don’t have to return the phone or show the phone to get the cashback. The device sports a 4 inch WVGA display and is powered by a 1.3GHz Spreadtrum processor coupled with 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal storage.
Acer today launched another gaming laptop in India called the Acer Predator Triton 700 ultrathin gaming laptop. The laptop is priced at ₹2,99,999 and is available via authorized retailers and e-commerce websites. The gaming laptop is powered by a 7th Gen Intel i7-7700HQ processor coupled with the Nvidia Geforce GTX 1080 GPU. It comes with 16GB of 2400MHz DDR4 RAM upgradable to 32GB. In terms storage it comes with two 512GB SSD’s.
Karbonn has launched another budget titanium series smartphone in India called the Karbonn Titanium Jumbo. The smartphone is priced at ₹6,490 and comes with a free back panel cover. We don’t know about the availability of the device yet. The smartphone is powered a 1.3GHz quad core processor coupled with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage expandable via MicroSD upto 64GB. The titanium jumbo sports a 5 inch HD display and houses a 4,000 mAh battery.


text:
Panasonic has announced a choice of free "high-definition" products for purchasers of Full HD Viera plasma televisions. Buyers can choose from a digital camera, a Blu-ray home theatre system, or a digital television recorder.
The latest Panasonic plasma televisions -- the 42in and 50in panels in the G15 series -- offer access to online services including YouTube, Picasa and the Bloomberg weather service.
Yesterday I told you how to limit the amount of hard-drive space Windows Media Center could claim for TV recording. Today let's look at the flipside: adding more storage so you can record to your heart's content.
Toshiba raised the bar for rival TV vendors and set-top box makers on Monday, showing off its new Cell Regza television, which harnesses the Cell processor to decode and record multiple high-definition video files -- a capability far beyond what upco...
Several major consumer electronics companies have started working together to develop a common interface for hooking up cell phones and portable gadgets to TV sets.
Akamai Technologies is extending its content delivery network to the Apple iPhone as it introduces the Akamai HD Network, a system for streaming high-definition live and on-demand video to a variety of devices.
Akamai Tuesday began pitching its new HD Network as the perfect solution for entertainment companies that want to deliver high-definition video streams over the Internet.
Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Sony Xperia Z3 review: The no-frills flagship
- 2 Samsung's Galaxy Alpha review: A peek into the Galaxy S6
- 3 Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review: The busiest, biggest and best Samsung phablet
- 4 Aldi's $279 Bauhn Sphere review: Disappointing
- 5 Nokia Lumia 735 review: Perfectly ordinary
Best Deals on GoodGearGuide
Latest News Articles
- US rejects North Korea offer to investigate Sony hack, reaches out to China
- North Korea wants joint probe into Sony hack, warns of consequences if not
- Staples says hack may have compromised 1 million-plus payment cards
- Judge questions evidence on whether NSA spying is too broad
- Three ways enterprise software is changing
GGG Evaluation Team
First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.


text:
A craft brewery from northern Iowa tops the new list of the 50 Fastest Growing U.S. Craft Brewers.
The fastest growing breweries list is compiled by the Brewers Association (BA), the not-for-profit trade group representing U.S. craft brewers. The BA also publishes CraftBeer.com.
Lake Time Brewery in Clear Lake, Iowa, founded by Bob and Suzy Rolling, was 2018’s fastest growing craft brewery. Lake Time opened in 2013 and recently expanded production, added a canning line, and is now distributing to about three dozen Iowa counties.
“These small and independent breweries and brewpubs demonstrate there are still growth opportunities.” Bart Watson, Brewers Association
This marks the second year the BA has compiled and released data around the fastest growing small breweries. You can see the 2017 swiftly growing breweries here. BA Chief Economist Bart Watson says the list demonstrates that craft breweries continue to thrive in communities across the U.S.
“Even as market competition continues to increase, these small and independent breweries and brewpubs demonstrate there are still growth opportunities across a diversified set of regions and business models,” Watson says.
When you see the fastest growing breweries full list, you’ll notice some breweries are in historic craft beer hotbeds like San Diego and Chicago, further illustrating Watson’s point that there’s still an opportunity for breweries to grow — even in already-busy beer markets.
The breweries range from 50 barrels to more than 40,000 barrels. A few more interesting tidbits we see in this year’s fastest growing breweries list include:
- 27 states are represented
- Four breweries were featured in both the 2017 and 2018 fastest growing lists: Hopsters in Newton, Massachusetts (No. 15), Hutton and Smith Brewing Co. in Chattanooga, Tennessee (No. 16), Gnarly Barley Brewing in Hammond, Louisiana (No. 37), Whalers Brewing Co. in Wakefield, Rhode Island (No. 40)
- 13 are brewpubs
For more insight, check out BrewersAssociation.org.
CraftBeer.com is fully dedicated to small and independent U.S. breweries. We are published by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade group dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s small and independent craft brewers. Stories and opinions shared on CraftBeer.com do not imply endorsement by or positions taken by the Brewers Association or its members.


text:
Liv/Giant Inspire model sells out • Swagman hires director of sales • Clement athletes to race Utah gravel race • Marketing staff changes at BMC
NEWBURY PARK, CA (BRAIN) Monday July 9 2012 8:04 AM MT—Liv/Giant has sold out its first run of its special-edition women's road bike, the Avail Inspire.
Introduced in April, the Avail Inspire retailed for $1,360, and Giant retailers quickly sold through the initial shipment of 300 bikes. Giant made an additional 200 that are being delivered now.
The Avail Inspire is the result of a contest held last fall that challenged young breast cancer survivors to design graphics for a special-edition bike. The winning design was created by Emily Gresh of West Hartford, Connecticut. She said the design was based on the origin of the word “inspire,” which is “to breathe in.”
“Even in our most difficult and private moments, we still have that power to breathe in,” said Gresh. “To know that so many women are connecting to my design has moved me beyond words.”
Ten percent of the proceeds from sales of the Avail Inspire and Inspire-themed Liv/Giant jerseys, socks and water bottles are being donated to Young Survival Coalition, an organization dedicated to the critical issues unique to young women with breast cancer. So far, YSC has received nearly $45,000 from the project.
Liv/Giant further supports breast cancer awareness by sponsoring the Tour de Pink East Coast and West Coast rides, which are YSC fundraisers.
More information: www.LivgiantUSA.com/Inspire.
Swagman hires director of sales
PENTICTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA (BRAIN) Monday July 9 2012 8:04 AM MT—Swagman Bike Racks recently hired Dave Michael as director of sales. Michael, a former cross-country ski racer and avid cyclist, brings more than 10 years of sales management experience in the sporting goods industry.
Michael’s first task will be the creation of a sales force as Swagman prepares to launch new designs for the 2012 and 2013 season.
“Dave is a natural fit for Swagman and we are pleased that he made the move from Ontario to join us in our offices in Penticton, British Columbia. His industry experience will suit us well as we continue to accelerate our growth,” said Perry Grago, Swagman's president.
Clement athletes Trebon, Berden and Mani to ride Utah gravel race
DENVER, CO (BRAIN) Monday July 9 2012 8:18 AM MT—Cyclocross veterans Ryan Trebon, Ben Berden and Caroline Mani will test their legs and their Clement gravel tires next weekend at the Crusher in the Tushar. In only its second year, the race is drawing a stacked field to southern Utah's Tushar mountains. The 69-mile course features a 50/50 split between pavement and dirt, and has earned a reputation for challenging riders and their equipment. Trebon, Berden and Mani will race cyclocross this season on Clement tires and will ride the Crusher using Clement's new gravel adventure tires. Called the X'Plor series, the line includes the 700x33mm USH tire and the 700x40mm MSO tire.
Like other Clement tires, these models are named after airport codes from around the world. USH is the airport code of Ushuaia on the island of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. MSO is the airport code of Missoula, Montana, home of the Adventure Cycling Association.
Staff changes at BMC
GRENCHEN, Switzerland (BRAIN) Monday July 9 2012 8:28 AM MT—BMC brand manager Markus “Kusi” Eggimann is moving to a new position as "product manager retail," the company has announced.
Adrian Zahnd will now coordinate media requests directly within the product management team and provide the media with information and test products.


text:
Essex-based law firm Palmers Solicitors is inviting you to attend a coffee and cakes morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The event is taking place on Thursday 30 October from 10am until midday at its South Woodham Ferrers office and the firm would like to see as many people as possible join them for tea, coffee and cakes.
There will be a raffle, with our star prize being a £100 voucher for Palmers’ Legal Services. Upon entry to our raffle, you will automatically be entered into the Macmillan raffle, which includes a first prize of £10,000 or a brand new Seat Ibiza; a second prize is £2,500 or a holiday in Portugal; and third prize is £500 or a Smart TV. There are also runner up prizes such as 100 Macmillan tote shopping bags up for grabs!
The address of the office is:
1/3 Brickfields Road
South Woodham Ferrers
For more information, telephone: 01245 322 111 or email: firstname.lastname@example.org.


text:
Survival is based on instinct. While this is true for people, it’s also true for companies.
The intuition we follow when deciding which path to take is similar to a company’s roadmap for product development. Bell and Howell is a good case in point. The company, which is remembered by some as a manufacturer of motion picture machinery, is aiming to make its mark in the IoT world through its smart locker package delivery system.
Over the years the company has undergone changes which have moved it from motion picture machinery to an information technology company. It has also changed owners and names, but is now back to its original name. The services it provides include production print and mail, parcel packaging, management and logistics, card and secure ID production, currency management, robotics and other industrial mechatronics.
And it’s in the parcel package part of its business that Ramesh Ratan, CEO of Bell and Howell, sees as a key opportunity that will keep the historic company on its trajectory to future success.
“Of the many factors driving innovation in the world of ecommerce package and parcel supply chain and logistics, “speed” or “same-day delivery” has become the Holy Grail of modern-day Silk Road crusaders,” Ratan wrote on his company blog.
The last mile logistics market, the name given to that part of the supply chain that is responsible for delivering packages directly to the customer, is heating up. With the increase of eCommerce as a preferred purchasing method, coupled with quick delivery expectations, the model of how to satisfy customers has changed. Add to this the very real threat of “piracy” (bandits who steal packages off porches) and Bell and Howell saw an opportunity.
So the company got into the smart locker business. Smart Lockers, or intelligent parcel terminals, offer 24x7 delivery, pickup and drop-off of small to medium-sized parcels.
“Smart lockers are a huge improvement to delivery to doorstep," explained Ratan, the former Pitney Bowes executive who took over as CEO in 2013, at his company’s booth at MODEX in April 2016. At MODEX the company introduced its latest innovation in this space called PackRobot.
PackRobot locker uses a 3D lift system that measures each parcel’s dimensions, and dynamically configures a locker slot to optimally secure the parcel. It also has adjustable internal climate control and therefore can be used for parcel delivery involving temperature-sensitive food and groceries.
Using a integrated smartphone app and a high-speed lift consumers can retrieve a parcel in as little as 10 seconds.
“For every 6 truckloads that would have gone to individual houses, it only takes one truck to a smart locker." Ratan pointed out. Aside from those large savings, the flexibility of the locker creates a number of opportunities. In addition to placing lockers at key points in crowded cities ( such as train stations in New York City), retailers who have brick and mortar buildings can place the smart locker in the parking lot to allow customers to get delivery without the need for customer service. This method is growing as retail stores are offering customers who order online the opportunity to pick up the item at the store.
The company partnered with Cleveron, a postal technology company based in Estonia, to bring this technology to North America. “Cleveron terminals are installed at 800 locations across Europe, with over 61,000 lockers delivering 450,000 parcels each month,” said Ratan. “We anticipate that demand in North America will be tremendous." In fact Bell and Howell is projecting a potential of 15,000 parcel terminals in North America in the next five years.
While this use of smart machines is touted as an IoT application Ratan prefers to call this market the Iot of Things and People. “Machines will never replace human instinct, intuition and interaction,” he explained while demonstrating the parcel system at MODEX and delivering a chocolate bar to me.
He explained it best through a blog he has written.
Our technicians have had service dispatch applications for a while, first through BlackBerries and soon iPhones and other smart devices. This allows our men and women in the field to use the app as an extension of themselves. Through GPS, video, barcode scanners and tags, this helps us to enable not just the “Internet of things” but the “Internet of people and technology.” It’s a unique concept that empowers the mutual exchange of information that makes both our people better through technology, and our technology better through our people.
He believes that his company's reputation for outstanding customer service will be its competitive advantage in this space. The company built a world-class training center at its Durham, N.C. headquarters. "Our training program is one of our biggest assets," says Ratan.
His workforce is trained in mechantronics which is a multidisciplinary field of engineering that includes a combination of systems engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering, control engineering and computer engineering. The need to understand all of these fields is what will continue to advance automation says Ratan.
"Neither humans nor technology can optimally solve problems on their own," says Ratan. "It’s the interplay between human judgment and technical data that combine to enhance operations.


text:
China's capital has banned outdoor advertising that promotes hedonistic or high-end lifestyles as the government seeks to ease public concerns about the country's widening wealth gap.
The Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce said in a recent statement that businesses were given an April 15 deadline to rectify such ads, along with any that excessively promote foreign things. Such promotions help create a politically unhealthy climate, it added.
It gave no details on which foreign things were deemed objectionable. Violators could face fines of up to 30,000 Yuan (4,600 US dollars), the state-run China Daily said Monday.
Newly forbidden words include supreme, royal, luxury or high class, which are widely used in Chinese promotions for houses, vehicles and wines, it said.
Authorities in the south-western mega-city of Chongqing last week issued similar rules that barred real estate advertisements from using phrases including best, unique or irreplaceable.
Chinese officials are struggling to cool criticisms over a widening income gap at a time when high inflation has put economic pressure on the country's hundreds of millions of low-income farmers and industrial workers.
Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier this month that resolving unfair income distribution would be a major objective under a 2011-2015 state economic plan.
The Chinese luxury goods sector is set to become the world's largest by 2015, as rising affluence, urbanisation and increasing competition stimulate demand. McKinsey surveys 46,000 Chinese consumers each year, and combined these figures with a poll of 1,500 luxury buyers in 2010, alongside modelling data.
The consultancy reported that the luxury industry had a turnover of 12 billion US dollars last year and should hit 27 billion by 2015, at which point China is expected to surpass Japan as the biggest outlet for premium products.
On this date, 20% of global luxury revenues are drawn from China. The 13million upper middle class Chinese households, earning between 100,000 Yuan (15,213 USD) and 200,000 Yuan a year, represent the greatest growth opportunity.
According to McKinsey this group currently yields approximately 12% of purchases, a total due to strike 22% among the 76m homes falling into such a demographic in 2015.
Some 36% of Chinese shoppers bought exclusive offerings last year, compared with 25% in 2008, indicating a move towards personal indulgence.


text:
Work hard and the rewards will be there
GLENN DELVE, a Director at the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said, "My 34 years with MSC have gone quickly, it has been an eventful journey and a great profession to be in."
At school his aptitude tests predicted him becoming a chartered accountant or a chemical engineer, but he wanted something different. His professional journey began in 1978, when he accepted a post as a management trainee in a shipping company. His natural aptitude for learning saw him complete several training courses in the field of shipping, which he said, "gave his career a good grounding".
MSC owns ships and is the second biggest shipping company in the world. The company has 510 vessels around the world, including several renowned cruise liners. Delve says that since he started working at MSC, the company has grown from 15 people and 20 ships to where they are now.
Being part of the MSC journey has provided him with many opportunities to continue to learn as, "No day is ever the same". Since the company has grown, new divisions have been added, which have included: ships agency, container depots, ship tracking and repair. "Each division has had learning phases and challenges, which has made the business exciting," he said. "We have a huge team of 1300 people around the country that assist our MD, our chairman and myself to achieve the company's goals."
As national commercial director, Delve's primary responsibility is to fill the cargo ships, with both import and export goods from and to South Africa. "I get involved in everything; operations, logistics, and solutions. It's a very exciting and challenging position."
His journey with the company has ensured that his career has had many highlights, not the least was his appointment as a director of MSC in 2006. In addition, he said, "Being able to conclude a commercial agreement is a highlight on every occasion; each circumstance is different and has different requirements. Over the years, we have had to negotiate complex multinational contracts. Each takes a lot of time and it is very rewarding to see the conclusion."
Delve added, "The majority of the many companies who were approached as potential clients over thirty years ago are still shipping with us today. Building long mature relationships with our clients has been heart-warming. This has been achieved through trust, empathy and transparency."
Joining an Italian family owned business has had many advantages. Delve says that he has enjoyed his long working relationship with the Chief Executive Officer Captain Salvatore Sarno and MSC founder Chairman Gianluigi Aponte. He said, "The company has always treated its employees not only as assets but as family members. This philosophy is apparent in that the average length of employment within the company is over 20 years. In addition, during times of economic downturn, no employees have been retrenched, which is a very different response to most of our opposition shipping companies."
For young people embarking on a shipping career, Delve has this advice, "Work hard and the rewards will be there". However, he said, "It is not an industry for the faint hearted." He added that it is also important to work your way up from the bottom so that you have a good understanding of the different aspects of the shipping industry. His advice to anyone wanting to follow in his footsteps is "Not to lose focus and don't lose sight of other people".
Delve says life today is challenging as there is a lot to keep on top of and it's more difficult now to find time for the things you used to do in the past. However, out of office hours, he participates in varied activities, and "if it involves water even better". He enjoys going to gym and playing squash as well. He also still finds time to be outdoors and especially to be in the bush. His parting words are to "Just love life, work hard and play hard!"


text:
In 1985, Israel became the first country ever to conclude a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. 2005 year marks the 20th year anniversary of the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement. With the exception of agriculture products, the United States-Israel FTA has eliminated nearly all tariffs on trade and administrative import licensing requirements between the two countries. To fully take advantage of the benefits offered under the FTA, U.S. exporters should carefully review the information regarding the Certificate of Origin for U.S. exports to Israel or visit the USTR website.
Because of the FTA, U.S. companies have gained greater Israeli market access, reduced transaction costs, increased sales, and enhanced export revenues. Over the years, the FTA has supported strong U.S. export growth in the Israeli market by making U.S. products and services more attractive to Israeli consumers. Thanks in large part to the FTA, U.S. companies exported more than $6 billion worth of goods and services to Israel in 2005, making Israel the largest U.S. export market in the Middle East. U.S. companies are encouraged to take advantage of this historic agreement to expand their export opportunities in the Middle East’s most dynamic market.
The agreement, which has no expiration date, also provides for a Joint Committee comprised of representatives from both countries to review the functioning of the agreement. The last Joint Committee meeting took place in Washington, DC, July 8-9, 2004. The next meeting is expected to take place in Israel this fall.
For more information on how U.S. exporters can benefit from the United States-Israel FTA, please contact Commercial Specialist Yael Torres at firstname.lastname@example.org.