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Behavioral-biometrics company TypingDNA, a Romanian start-up has announced on January 4 that it raised a USD 7 million Series A round led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture fund. Other participants include EU-based fund GapMinder, Techstars Ventures, among others, businesswire.com reported.
TypingDNA, set up by Romanian Raul Popa and Cristian Tamas in Oradea four years ago, has developed proprietary artificial intelligence algorithms to authenticate users based on how they type. Through a simple training process of watching user keystrokes, TypingDNA can recognize further attempts from a specific user by matching them against their known account. This technology, known as typing biometrics, will enable existing applications such as authentication, fraud detection, password recovery, and online education assessment to fingerprint users more securely than traditional forms of two-factor authentication.
“Advancing the research and distribution of typing biometrics is of global importance. Keyboards are incorporated in almost any device today, making typing behavior the most widely available user biometric. This round of funding will allow us to further our mission to provide user-friendly, non-intrusive biometrics and increased security to people around the world,” said Raul Popa, CEO and Co-founder at TypingDNA.
“We’re excited about TypingDNA’s developer-first approach to enable people to authenticate securely based on how they type,” said Darian Shirazi, General Partner at Gradient Ventures. “With global regulation impacting face-recognition-based authentication and hackers targeting SMS-based two-factor authentication, typing biometrics is the best form of identifying people without compromising privacy or security.”
“TypingDNA is revolutionary in the authentication area. Its state of the art proprietary technology allows second factor or multifactor authentication based on typing biometrics in a highly reliable, and non-compromising way. And all these in a non-expensive way and easily interacting with existing systems or applications. Their recently launched mobile product is unique in the market and comes as complementary to the existing TypingDNA API.
We are excited about TypingDNA’s vision and evolution, and are comfortable to further support their international hyper-growth, beyond the current USD 8.5 million financing raised by TypingDNA in Seed and Series A rounds,” said in his turn Dan Mihaescu, Founding Partner of GapMinder.
Since January 2018, when it was created, until now, GapMinder invested in 31 companies and reached a threshold of EUR 40 million as fund size.
TypingDNA obtained a previous investment of USD 1.5 M in January 2019 from GapMinder, but with the participation of some investors from USA and UK.
Previously, TypingDNA got more funds from Gecad Ventures, controlled by Romanian businessman Radu Georgescu, but also from other local entrepreneurs such as Adrian Gheară, Alex Negrea, Dan Mihăescu and Lucian Todea.
In 2018, the Romanian start-up was admitted to join the Techstars New York business accelerator, and it was then when TypingDNA relocated its office to New York.


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Earlier this month I offered up a review for the official book on the C8 Corvette called Corvette Stingray: The Mid Engine Revolution and there was a paragraph in there from Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter about “hiding in plain sight” that really stuck with me, especially when we see these older powertrain mules still being driven in the Detroit area.
That paragraph reads:
Bringing the eighth-gen ‘Vette to production required extensive testing, and test mules logged nearly 1,000,000 real-world miles on the road. The keen camera lenses of spy photographers captured images that fanned the flames of mid-engine Corvette fever. “On a typical Corvette program, we can test right under everybody’s nose,” Juechter says. [emphasis mine] Advanced development work on a new chassis, changes to suspension geometry, new tires, new powertrain stuff all can be installed under an old body, which means test engineers can drive around and onlookers would never know it’s the new car. This time was different.
And with that said, we have a new sighting from a Corvette friend who came across a camouflaged C8 Corvette prototype parked in a Detroit-area driveway late last week. This is one of the early powertrain mules that Chevy continues to test and it’s our belief that this could be one of the E-Ray prototypes as it has the various testing ports and shutoff switches that we’ve come to associate with the rumored hybrid model.
I drew an arrow to this section of the C8 Corvette’s passenger front fender as it appears there is a covered cutout panel. On previous sightings, that same location on similar models featured 12-volt battery connectors that would protrude through the body.
Some of the interesting features we see are the 2-into-1 exhaust tips and the trailer hitch that is used to cart around testing equipment behind it. We also note seeing for the first time a small toggle switch inside the car that’s mounted to the side of the climate control buttress.
From looking at the car on the outside, there is no way to really discern what exactly is being tested here, and of course that’s one of the goals for the Corvette engineering team. But as that paragraph about Tadge above reveals that nearly 1,000,000 real-world miles were generated in testing the Stingrays, we have to believe a similar testing regime is in place for any of the future models as well. Especially for those models whose powertrain is different than the already validated Stingray.
The E-Ray model is currently rumored to be part of the 2023 model year line-up, and we believe this model will be the first step in getting Corvette enthusiasts to embrace a fully electric Corvette that will be coming someday in the future. GM has given themselves 15 years to swear off internal combustion engines, and if the eAWD drive capabilities perform in a manner that elevates and empresses current owners, we might look back someday on the E-Ray and give it the same adoration as the 1955 Corvettes that are known for being the first Corvettes with a V8 engine.
Photo credits: Thomas Marcucci
[SPIED] C8 Corvette E-Ray Prototype Makes the Sunday Shopping Scene in Brighton, Michigan
[SPIED] C8 Corvette E-Ray Hybrid Prototype Found in a Parking Lot
[SPIED] Camouflaged C8 Corvette Driving in Colorado

domain: news


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US chipmaker AMD has denied the information that its current GPUs will not support DirectX 11.2. The new API will arrive in October along with Windows 8.1 and will bring a number of improvements such as D3D tiled resources, which is analogous... Read more
A Chinese web site has reported that AMD is very likely to release its next generation GPUs in October 2013. The new GPU line may be called Radeon HD 9000 as the company already has Radeon HD 8000 products on the market – but they only get... Read more
AMD has officially presented a new family of server Opteron processors with low energy consumption. The new family is known as Opteron X and its first representatives are said to be the world’s most energy efficient processors based on a... Read more
AMD has officially launched a new breed of accelerated processing units (APU) that includes the Temash, Kabini and Richland APU families. The official names are as follows – AMD Elite Mobility APU series (Temash), AMD Mainstream APU collection... Read more
At the on-going CES 2013 AMD has leaked more details on the upcoming Kabini and Temash APUs – both expected this year.
The news is that both platforms will come with four x86 Jaguar cores and will feature a built-in Radeon HD... Read more
The next generation of AMD GPUs, codenamed Sea Islands, are now expected in Q2 2013, sources close to the company have revealed.
This information fully complies with the company’s previously released plans, which claimed the launch... Read more
About a month ago hardware analysts online reported that AMD’s next generation Radeon graphics cards known as Sea Islands and Radeon HD 8000 would be nearly 40 per cent faster than the current Southern Islands generation. Unfortunately it now... Read more


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Industry giants Rubie’s and Smiffys have responded to the Halloween sustainability report which has been featured in the national press across the UK.
The report – which looked at the amount of plastic waste generated by Halloween costumes alone – generated a number of attention-grabbing headlines, such as: ‘Halloween costumes contain the same amount of plastic as 83,000,000 bottles’, ‘Costumes will create 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste’ and ‘Scariest thing about Halloween is plastic waste’.
The report itself focused on the results of an investigation by environmental charity Hubbub, which looked at the Halloween costumes available from a number of supermarkets and retailers – including Aldi, Argos, Asos, Amazon, Boden, John Lewis, M&S, Next and Tesco.
The findings showed that 83% of the material used to make the costumes was oil-based plastic which was likely to end up in landfill – an amount that the charity estimated to be the equivalent of over two thousand tonnes of plastic (or 83,000,000 plastic bottles).
The report also states that: ‘Unless retailers and manufacturers take action’ the huge plastic-waste footprint of Halloween ‘is likely to continue’, and calls for ‘better and consistent labelling’ as many consumers do not realise that these materials are plastic.
It goes on to suggest that consumers looking to reduce their plastic consumption should buy from charity shops, re-use costumes to create new outfits, or make their own from non-plastic materials.
Holly Oldham, managing director at Rubie’s, acknowledged the importance of sustainability in the current market.
“Rubie’s has been working on our own sustainability plan for some time and we can now manufacture costumes that are made from recycled fabrics and trims, bio-degradable glitter, ZDHC prints and bio-degradable packaging,” Holly revealed. “The greater challenge is with whether or not consumers are willing to pay the extra to support sustainable products and this is an ongoing conversation with our retail partners.”
She added: “We are continually working on ways to manufacture products that are more sustainable and affordable and it is a key focus area of our business strategy.”
Smiffys has taken a similarly proactive approach to the issue, as director Dominique Peckett revealed.
“We have plans in place to start introducing both recycled fabrics and recycled fabric made from plastic, from early next year,” she said. “Until recently the problem has been finding fabric with less environmental impact, at a price that was acceptable to the consumer. The fabrics we have sourced are still more expensive, but we will market the new items highlighting the sustainability credentials and let the consumer make the choice.”
“In addition to recyclable fabrics, we have been focusing on how to reduce the impact of our packaging, such as the fully-recyclable cardboard wig boxes made using water-based inks and varnishes, ensuring far less environmental impact.”
Dominique also pointed out that there’s still a way to go to for the global apparel and fashion industry as well. “They need to really exert their influence to encourage fabric mills and suppliers to develop the technologies and reduce the costs,” she explained. “There’s also a focus required from government to really improve recycling facilities.”


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Jul. 5, 2012 (China Knowledge) - Jaguar Land Rover, British based automaker owned by Tata Motors of India, announced that its auto sales in China grew nearly 100% from a year earlier to 36,451 units in the first half of this year.
From January to June, the sales of Land Rover reached 32,177 units, almost double the 16,322 units it realized in the same period of 2011. The sales of Land Rover Evoque model surpassed 10,000 units during the six month period.
By the end of last month, the British based automaker had 130 authorized dealers in China, of which 90 of them had put into operation.
In May 2012, Jaguar Land Rover inked an agreement with Chery Automobile Co Ltd, the largest private automaker in China, to set up an assembly plant in Changshu
Province. With a total investment of RMB 12 billion, the new plant will have an annual output capacity of 130,000 vehicles.


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The Meet Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MEET) reported better-than-expected revenue and earnings for the third quarter of 2019, sending shares climbing by 8% in premarket hours on Thursday.
Total revenue jumped 15% year-over-year to $52.6 million, beating estimates of $51.8 million.
GAAP net income was $3 million, or $0.04 per share, compared to $1.3 million, or $0.02 per share, in the prior year quarter. Adjusted net income was $10.1 million, or $0.13 per share, which was ahead of forecasts of $0.12 per share.
During the quarter, video revenue grew approx. 85% from the prior-year period to $20.3 million. Global average revenue per daily active video user was $0.27. The company had an average of 829,000 daily video users across its apps in the quarter.
Geoff Cook, CEO, said, “With the launch of Streamer Levels and one-on-one video chat, we are giving users even more reasons to engage in video. Just last week we further expanded our product portfolio with the launch of NextDate, our new livestreaming dating game. While early, in markets where NextDate is available, we’re seeing an approximately 20% increase in daily video users versus September, the month prior to launch.”
Meet saw strong results in advertising during the third quarter. Mobile ad revenue, which comprises approx. 90% of total advertising revenue, grew year-over-year for the first time since Q1 2017. The company anticipates this positive momentum to continue in the fourth quarter of 2019 and throughout 2020.
For the fourth quarter of 2019, revenue is estimated in the range of $56.9 million to $58.4 million. For the full year of 2019, revenue is expected to come in the range of $211 million to $212.5 million.
In the fourth quarter, video revenue is expected to increase by 10-16% sequentially as new products and features help in increasing user engagement. In October, the company saw solid growth in video revenue and this growth is expected to continue in November and December.
Cargo giant FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Thursday reported a decline in first-quarter adjusted earnings, despite an increase in revenues. The company also provided guidance for fiscal 2023. Net income, adjusted
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) reported first quarter 2023 earnings results. Total sales increased 6.1% year-over-year to $2.4 billion, driven by blended same-restaurant sales growth of 4.2%. Net earnings amounted to
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reported fourth quarter 2022 earnings results today. Total revenues were $15.4 billion, up 15% year-over-year in US dollars and up 22.4% in local currency. Net income attributable


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Of these 63,000 crew and passengers onboard these ships, 56,000 reached the major ports
New Delhi: As many as 63,000 crew members and passengers on board vessels mostly from China have been denied disembarkation at Indian ports so far, as part of efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus, a shipping ministry official said.
These crew members and passengers reached Indian ports on board about 1,990 vessels between January 27 and April 30, the official added.
"A total of 62,948 crew and passengers reached India's ports on board about 1,990 ships, mostly from China. Thermal scanning of all these crew and passengers were done as per the WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines. Besides adhering to all precautions and laid-down protocols to prevent any further spread of COVID-19, no shore passes or daily passes were issued to these people, and EXIM cargo was handled with care," the official told PTI.
Of the total 1,990 ships, 1,621 reached major ports and were allowed anchoring at designated places for loading and unloading of export-import (EXIM) cargo.
Of these 63,000 crew and passengers onboard these ships, 56,000 reached the major ports, the official said.
India has 12 major ports Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V. O. Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia). These ports handled nearly 705 million tonnes (MT) cargo in 2019-20.
For maintaining smooth operations across ports, the shipping ministry has initiated a number of steps that include waiving of rentals.
The government has asked all major ports to ensure that no penalties, demurrage, charges, fees and rentals are levied on any port user (traders, shipping lines, concessionaires, licensees, etc) for any delay in berthing or loading/unloading operations or evacuation of cargo caused by the reasons attributable to lockdown measures from March 22.
Besides, for existing and operational PPP (public private partnership) projects, major ports can permit waiver of all penal consequences on a case-to-case basis along with deferment of certain performance obligations.
The official said hospitals across the major port trusts have been supplied with personal protective equipment (PPE), and the arrangement of sufficient staff round the clock has been made.
Ports and PSUs under the Ministry of Shipping have contributed over Rs 52 crore from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds towards PM-CARES Fund.
Besides, employees of ports, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and other offices of the ministry have contributed over Rs 7 crore from their salaries towards the PM-CARES Fund. The number of vessels handled by ports during 2019-20 was around 20,837 as against 20,853 vessels in 2018-19.


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Swiss technology group Bühler, in partnership with leading Canadian packaging equipment manufacturer Premier Tech, announce the launch of the CHRONOS OMP-2090 B, a fully automatic bagging station.
Higher international quotations for vegetable oils, dairy products and meat more than offset lower quotations for cereals and sugar.
Since wheat is a product that can be produced both in dry and irrigated conditions, its effect on production planning is not expected to be high compared to other products.
The theme for this year's World Water Day is "Peace and Water." Preserving water resources is crucial to prevent significant consequences in the future. The sustainable utilization and equitable distribution of water resources are fundamental pillars of global peace and prosperity.
Maintaining the body's fluid balance during Ramadan is crucial. It's essential to prepare for fasting by consuming ample water not just during Ramadan, but also beforehand. Even a 2 percent water loss is significant for the body. I've shared tips on how to calculate your individual fluid needs.
The 18th International Congress and Exhibition of the Turkish Flour Industrialists’ Federation (TFIF), themed “Global Agricultural Policies, Food, and Energy,” is underway with strong sector participation.
In an exclusive interview with Miller Magazine, TMO General Manager Mr. Ahmet Güldal stated, “2024 was an exceptionally fruitful year for our country.
At the heart of our factory, adorned with the essence of Mesopotamia, we carefully process each grain of wheat, each telling its own story, and bring it to the tables of our people.
Gürsel Erbap, the Chairman and CEO of Doruk Un, has disclosed the company’s performance in 2023 and its expectations for 2024.
Turkey has maintained its position as the global leader in flour exports for the past 10 years, with exports experiencing a growth of over 60 percent during this period.
Turkey's durum wheat shipments to Italy, along with large volumes from Russia and Kazakhstan, have been a boon for importers in Italy.
March 20 is dedicated to flour, the key ingredient in bread, pasta, and baked goods found on tables globally, regardless of social standing.
Bagel is a popular baked bread product, often associated with Turkish cuisine, but its consumption is not limited to Turkey alone.
BBM Mutfak, as part of the IDMA Fair from May 2nd to May 4th, will showcase a unique vision of the future of food, offering diverse tastes and experiences within the evolving agriculture and nutrition sector.
Catch the agenda, follow the events, access special content!


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LeEco has been projecting an image of success, after a grand debut in USA at the end of October, marked by a sparkling event, filled with electric cars, VR headsets and smartphones. Now we’re hearing that the company is not doing so well, on account of its cash running out.
Jia Yueting, the company’s cofounder and chairman has admitted that the firm has spent too much and went too far too fast. The company has been rushing from one segment to the other over the past years, first acting in the video streaming segment, then the smartphone biz, TV sets and electric cars. Jia Yueting sent a long letter to shareholders and employees, apologizing for the state of the firm’s finances.
He’s also ready to slash his income to just 15 cents and slow the pace of expansion to get things back on track. LeEco has been spending a lot over the past year, including $2 billion to acquire TV maker Vizio, plus money for one of Yahoo’s former campuses, ready to host thousands of its employees. Then there’s the investment in electric cars and of course the smartphones sold at a loss.
As Jia Yueting’s business is not doing fine, the stock value of the firm dropped and so did the stock value of Coolpad, where the billionaire is also a board member. Xiaomi’s cofounder, Lei Jun wants more info on LeEco’s financial status, after the firm has been shrouded in secrecy for a while now, even claiming they’re in serious debt.
What’s clear is that cost cutting is needed and that the US debut could have waited a bit.


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The Federal Investigation Agency has arrested the owner of a mobile payment shop for filming and sharing obscene videos of his female customers on social media.
FIA Karachi’s Cyber Crime Reporting Centre (CCRC) received a complaint from a resident of Shershah, Karachi that someone has uploaded obscene videos of his daughter on social media.
The complainant raised suspicions on a man running the mobile payments shop in his area and requested the agency to investigate.
Karachi CCRC recorded the statement of the victim. It then raided the shop and seized mobile phones and the laptop of the suspect, Muhammad Yousuf.
Initial technical analysis of the suspect’s mobile phone and social media accounts established that he was involved in blackmailing, threatening, harassing and defaming the complainant.
The technical analysis proved that the suspect not only transmitted obscene videos and pictures of the complainant, but he also filmed obscene videos of many girls.
The suspect used to take the mobile phone numbers of his female customers when they came to his shop to top up their credit.
Later, he would telephone the girls, befriend then and establish a relationship.
An FIR No 31/2021 under Sections 20, 21, 24 of the Pakistan Electronic Crime Act (PECA) 2016 has been registered against the suspect on the complaint of the victim.


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The FinTech industry continued its growth in 2020 and 2021 despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic. Its resilience owes to the ever-growing demand for financial products that exploded when most people decided to switch from traditional models to digital models. The demand for innovative financial products kept skyrocketing during the pandemic times due to a switch from traditional bookkeeping models to automated bookkeeping models.
Here is what we can expect in the FinTech industry in the months to come:
FinTech industry will still struggle to breakeven
Despite the disruption FinTech industry has brought to the financial sector and their ability to usher in new innovative products to the sector, the traditional banks still hold more capital compared to FinTech industry. However, you can optimistically expect a convergence where banks slate to provide capital while FinTech provides a front-end platform for customers such as bookkeeping automation tools.
Until recently, banks and FinTech have viewed each other indifferently. The FinTech industry specifically believes they could put the latter out of business. While the banks looked at the FinTech industry as temporal market disruptors that could soon fade with the wind.
We are now experiencing a paradigm shift where both sides are beginning to see the importance of convergence for the common good of their customers. The FinTech industry has realized the importance of long-term presence in the market. That is why embracing the common saying “if you can’t beat them, then, join them” is a strategy to amass their market presence and awareness.
It is not to say the banks are losing any, in fact, if anything, they are adding agility and creativity to their traditional operations.
Convergence brings with it conflicts between banks and start-ups
Even when everything looks good for the convergence, it is not without friction. Both FinTech and banks are willing to collaborate but there are underlying issues that need attention from both industry players. If we pin out what necessitated the convergence in the first place, it boils down to — size & scale and, dynamism & agility of the start-up. It creates a noticeable source of friction due to the clash between ideologies from both sides. On one end, banks commit to profitability while start-ups or FinTech concentrate most on innovations.
According to senior managers in banks, they commit to deliver profitability to the shareholders, and if FinTech doesn’t come in to enhance that, it is not hard to see this promise slip through priorities. Therefore, this limits how banks justify the need to pump in a significant amount of money towards innovations if no tangible return is feasible.
From a FinTech perspective, there is fear that the bank’s interest in partnership with start-ups is fueled by an urge to corral the disruptive nature of FinTech.
To show goodwill, start-ups need to up their game when collaborating with bigger entities and adapt swiftly to how banks work. Doing so makes it easy for banks to realize how important FinTech is to their operations.
Why is it that FinTech companies are responsible for fantastic innovations yet they struggle to monetize or ensure profitability? In a nutshell, the sector lacks economic sense but its impacts on people’s lives are real.
Change is inevitable
Despite the tension that exists between the industry players, banks have to embrace innovation no matter the means. Whether to partner with a FinTech company or buy one of their own, it needs to accelerate change. Taking into account the amount of change the sector has realized in recent times. Innovations in bookkeeping automation, for example, has led to a rise in the amount of plastic money and drastic drop in cash. The same has happened to mobile money. So change is real, change is inevitable and change is accelerating!
What to expect after the pandemic is most certainly more hustle and bustle, as FinTech companies strategize to monetize their innovations, while banks embrace agility in its operations.


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Omer Dormen, Managing Director - Castrol India Limited:
“Our 3Q 2019 result underlines a resilient performance despite an extremely challenging environment with declining industrial production levels and muted consumer offtake. Our sustained efforts on our strategic drivers including product mix improvement and rigorous efficiency programmes helped us to successfully manage the short-term adverse conditions and still deliver a profitable growth for the third quarter as well as the first nine months.
In this quarter, we continued making strong progress on strategic partnerships and unique service offerings for our customers.
We are excited about our first two-wheeler OEM-endorsed Castrol brand for the retail market with Honda 2 Wheelers India. A new range of Castrol Activ lubricants was launched exclusively for Honda’s ever-growing family of over 40 million happy customers.
Castrol Fast Scan, a unique digital reward and payment platform for the mechanic and retailer community, has crossed 1.5 lakh registrations opening a potential avenue for collaboration with other corporates looking to reach similar stakeholders in a seamless, transparent manner.
In line with our goal to transition to a low carbon environment, we launched our industry first Castrol Certified Carbon Neutral programme enabling our customers to reduce as well as offset their carbon footprint in support of their sustainability agenda. The first Carbon Neutral car dealership was inaugurated in Bangalore which has offset 100% of its operating emissions across all its 12 sales and service locations.
I am delighted that we continue to put in place building blocks for the future while looking to create significant differentiation in the market and add value to our customers.”


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We all have our own ways to survive the sultry, hot weather of summer: go for a dip in the pool, enjoy cool drinks on the beach, or simply pick up a book and read in the cool comfort of your air-conditioned room.
In Korea, we also have various dishes that are known for restoring energy during the hot and humid summer, and Koreans’ all-time favorite is Samgyetang, or ginseng chicken soup. You can find a bit more about what Samgyetang is through our previous post here.
While Samgyetang is good to eat all year round, we have a tradition of eating it on the three hottest days of the year. And today, August 16, marks the last of the three days according to the lunar calendar.
This year, the first and second hottest days – Chobok and Jungbok, respectively – fell in July, and our colleagues at Samsung Display decided to celebrate the festivity with local communities by sharing Samgyetang.
More than 500 Samsung Display employees visited some 30 villages in the rural areas throughout the month of July and invited the elders for a meal of Samgyetang. Our colleagues also bought fruits harvested in the villages to share with them.
It was more than food that they shared. As they played games and shared stories about their daily lives, our Samsung Display colleagues were reminded of their childhood memories of visiting their grandparents during vacation.
It was Samsung Display’s third year of treating Samgyetang to the elders in the rural villages, and after each visit, our colleagues feel it was really them who were treated, being received with such warmth and kindness.
After all, you know what they say. Happiness, when shared, is doubled.


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OpTier Raises $63M in Fourth Round of Funding
September 24 2008
NEW YORK, September 23, 2008-OpTierTM, the leader in business transaction management, today announced that it has raised an additional $47.5 million in funding from new investors Index Ventures and Morgan Stanley and existing investors Pitango Venture Capital, Carmel Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Gemini Israel Funds and strategic partner Cisco. The company has also secured a $15M credit line with Plenus Venture Lending.
The funding is a reflection of investors' confidence in OpTier's current and future growth prospects. In the past year, OpTier further accelerated and broadened its deployments in Fortune 500 organizations, generating significant sales growth. Along with continued product innovation, OpTier's exceptional momentum has strengthened the company's position as the leader in Business Transaction Management (BTM). OpTier's management team will use the funding to aggressively pursue plans to enhance and broaden the company's offerings in the BTM market via acquisition and organic development, fueling sales and marketing and expanding industry partnerships. The company is currently building its staff through employee recruitment in the U.S., Europe and Israel.
"OpTier has repeatedly succeeded in winning strategic customer deals and creating valuable partnerships with the world's largest organizations," said Bernard Dallé, Partner with Index Ventures. "We believe the company is well positioned for rapid growth across markets and geographies in one of the top priority areas for enterprise IT. We are excited to lead this investment round."
"OpTier addresses the critical need for increased performance and high availability from technology services in today's competitive markets," said Thomas Mosimann, Executive Director with Morgan Stanley. "Morgan Stanley seeks to partner with exactly these kinds of companies that possess a combination of a differentiated offering, a huge addressable market, and a strong management team."
OpTier's CoreFirst® tracks business transactions through a complex infrastructure, automatically discovering the interconnections of each transaction, and then mapping them to a business service. By uniquely identifying all transactions, OpTier provides a real-time picture of every transaction throughout IT infrastructures. It identifies and reacts to changes in the infrastructure in real-time, using this information to reduce outages, quickly isolate and repair problems, improve operational efficiency, better align IT with business priorities and lower overall costs.
Since the debut of CoreFirst in 2005, OpTier has been recognized by the industry for its unique approach to BTM. It has gained the trust of many Fortune organizations that today use CoreFirst to assure the timely execution of their key business activities across a diverse set of critical and complex IT services.
"With CoreFirst we have created a new platform for managing IT with a business-focused, transaction-driven approach. At global organizations today, hundreds of millions of transactions are flowing faster and more efficiently through complex IT infrastructures using our solutions," said Israel Mazin, CEO & Chairman of the Board at OpTier. "This significant funding will help us achieve our long term growth plans. We are delighted to welcome the investments of prestigious, top-tier investors Index Ventures and Morgan Stanley, along with world-class investors Pitango Venture Capital, Carmel Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Gemini Israel Funds and strategic partner Cisco. Together with the credit line from Plenus, we now have the flexibility to capitalize on a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our market prominence. OpTier is viewed by the industry as an excellent company, and we aim to continue to inspire confidence with our customers and partners."Back to top


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Made in collaboration with the Milanese start-up WIDE VR, and thanks to the most advanced technologies that can reproduce artworks and three-dimensional digital spaces, Cardi Gallery – on the occasion of the exhibition I Dormienti by Mimmo Paladino – presents a Real-time 3D streaming version of the exhibition which will be available on the gallery’s website www.cardigallery.com
The gallery makes use of this new digital format which integrates the most advanced technological research on virtual reality, to offer its audience a high-quality experience.
The 32 terracotta sculptures which make up the artwork were scanned employing a photogrammetry procedure that reproduces the three-dimensional image to the finest detail, to then reassemble it in the virtual space of the gallery. The visitor will be able to navigate online among the artworks and observe the details that compose the works of art at 360 degrees, just as they would in real space, with the opportunity of clicking on the artworks to gather in-depth information and unpublished content from them.
The innovative element at the heart of the project is the Real-time 3D Streaming technology,
used mostly from gaming, and able to bring the quality of the virtual exhibition to unprecedented
“At a time when it is crucial to think about new ways of attending exhibitions, this initiative aims to propose an additional tool to bring the public closer to art”, underlines Nicolo Cardi, Group CEO & President of Cardi Gallery.
“Our innovative project enriches the wide offer that galleries and fairs from all over the world have proposed in 2020. The field of technological research still offers plenty of room for experimentation and we wanted to play a leading role for a new evolutionary chapter”, adds Giacomo Nicolodi, Chief Marketing Officer of Cardi Gallery.
“Cardi Gallery has always experimented with innovative ways of sharing and interacting with the public. During these weeks we still have the honor of hosting the wonderful exhibition of the great artist Mimmo Paladino. An installation that offers a unique emotional experience, now available to everyone, thanks to Real-time 3D Streaming technology. An opportunity that, I am sure, will be particularly appreciated”- explains Barbara Berlusconi, Partner of Cardi Gallery.


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It is raining deals all over. Motorola announced its holiday deals last week which you can grab right away and there are Google’s own deals which will go live later this week. Now it is the turn of OnePlus and it has a mouth-watering deal on its very first TWS earbuds, the OnePlus Buds as well as the OnePlus 7T from last year.
According to a tweet from the OnePlus USA account, the OnePlus Buds will be on sale tomorrow for just $1. That is an awesome deal considering the earbuds are currently priced at $59. OnePlus says the deal ends when the item goes out of stock.
There is no mention of how many units a buyer can purchase but we won’t be surprised if it is limited to just one. The earbuds are also available in white and gray only.
Alongside the OnePlus Buds, The OnePlus 7T has also received a Black Friday price cut. The 2019 flagship phone can be picked up for $349 right now, a significant cut from its launch price of $599. Unfortunately, only the T-Mobile version is available for purchase.
It is important to state that the US variant of the phone has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Nevertheless, this is a good deal, and to make it even sweeter, OnePlus is including a free pair of Bullets Wireless Z earphones which sells for $29.95 separately.
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Mini sales in US up on UK for first time
Sales of the Mini in the United States have for the first time soared ahead of those in the UK.
Motoring on: Mini sales in the US are up on the UK for the first time
A 27% rise in US sales in the year to September led to 40,694 Minis being sold in America. Over the same period in Britain, some 35,496 Minis were sold - a fall of 1.4%.
The Mini is built at the company's factory in Oxford which employs 4,700 people and produces around 240,000 vehicles a year, of which 80% are for export.
The soaring price of petrol has fuelled the tiny motor's American success. Maker BMW's first British main board member, Ian Robertson, told the annual BMW press dinner at London's Claridges Hotel: 'The Mini has seen phenomenal growth in the United States. It's now the largest market - and ahead of the UK for the first time in history.'
Robertson, the former head of UK subsidiary Rolls-Royce who took over as BMW's global head of sales and marketing in the spring, said the Mini's success bucked the trend of the international markets.
He said world economies were in 'unchartered waters', adding: 'Maybe we are in the eye of the storm at the moment. Events have taken everyone by surprise.'
But he said the motor industry was 'resilient' and would bounce back.
An electric Mini that produces zero pollution and can be charged up from a domestic plug is to be launched at the Los Angeles Auto Show next month.
Robertson said 500 electric Minis will be shipped to California, New York and New Jersey for testing with private and corporate customers on a one-year lease. London and Munich are also set to take part in the trial.
Mini has already launched a Clubman 'estate' with double rear doors. A 4X4 Mini called the Mini Crossover is to be built abroad by Magna-Steyr in Graz, Austria.
The original Mini was created in 1959 by the late Sir Alec Issigonis and next year celebrates its 50th anniversary.
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The CBN is yet to address why the app was removed from the store.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s eNaira app has disappeared from the Google Play Store two days after it was made available for download.
The eNaira Speed Wallet app had been downloaded over 100,000 times by Wednesday, October 27, 2021, 48 hours after the digital currency had been launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
But the app was dogged by a low 2/5 rating and overwhelmingly terrible reviews by users who faced numerous troubles with the registration process.
Even some of the over 2,700 reviewers who rated the app 5/5 had similar complaints as those that rated it 1/5.
eNaira rating on Google Play Store, as of Wednesday, October 25, 2021
The CBN replied numerous reviews on the app, suggesting solutions to users’ issues, or asking them to send an email to its helpdesk to address the problems.
The app disappeared from the app store for Android users late on Wednesday, and the CBN is yet to address why this was done.


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Springfields shopping outlet in Spalding has announced a 12th consecutive year of growth.
Owners say the opening of upmarket brands such as Next, Ernest Jones, Fat Face and Starbucks have accelerated its success – and they promise more to come this year.
Quarter four results for the Camelgate centre show turnover is up 10 per cent year on year and spend per head is up seven per cent.
The centre’s Black Friday event saw it achieve its highest-ever weekly turnover and they also recorded record Boxing Day sales – up 17 per cent on 2015.
Christmas school holiday trade was up 12 per cent, December coach numbers up 19 per cent and late night turnover up 19 per cent.
Next opened at Springfields in February last year, with the store saying it was its best outlet launch in years.
Ernest Jones followed in September, with Fat Face in October and Starbucks in December.
Fat Face say they doubled their previous best outlet opening record, whereas Starbucks doubled the previous occupier’s full weekly take in just three days.
The centre, which attracts over 2.3million visitors a year, also spent £1million on a makeover for its Blue Diamond Garden Centre, as it strives to be “more upmarket and attract a more purposeful, discerning customer”.
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Nominated actors such as Lily Collin, Kaley Cuoco, Emma Corrin and Sacha Baron Cohen have taken to Instagram to share their excitement over Wednesday’s nominations announcement.
The musician, sitting front row at the Saint Laurent show with his daughter Zoë Kravitz, once had to keep the Iron Lady waiting.
WWD went behind the scenes with the television guru and his star Lily Collins as the new series wraps shooting in the French capital.
Society’s best and brightest young ladies were presented at the 24th edition of Le Bal in Paris on Nov. 24.
The San Francisco charity ball founded by Trevor Traina, Vanessa Getty and Allison Speer made its final bow on Friday.
Victoria Justice, Gabrielle Union, Margot Robbie, Yara Shahidi, Kathryn Hahn and more turned out for the opening of the interactive exhibit.
The starlet and Emmy-winning costume designer discuss lead character Celia Brady’s Thirties-era look in Amazon’s series “The Last Tycoon.”
Lily Collins, Kirsten Dunst, Sienna Miller, Sofia Coppola, Dita Von Teese and more joined the lavish fete at Milk Studios in Hollywood.
Rachel Zoe, Sistine Stallone, Kenya Kinski-Jones, Katy Perry, Lily Collins and more attend Chanel Dinner Hosted by Pharrell Williams in L.A.
Octavia Spencer and Jane Fonda were also among those who attended the 19th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards.
Canadian designers featured on digital wholesale platform Showroom Canada discuss emerging fall fashion trends.


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The US often acts as a canary in a coal mine for Australia’s beauty fortunes. As the world’s largest single cosmetics market, its impact on global trends is huge.
Prestige beauty took a major hit in most major markets during the Covid-19 pandemic. The tide has truly turned during the important third quarter of the year, with US prestige beauty sales reaching US$4.9 billion, reports The NPD Group – an increase of 25 per cent over the same period last year.
Makeup was strongly on the comeback trail in advance of the pre-Christmas period, with sales surging 24 per cent in Q3 to US$1.7 billion. Hot categories which experienced double-digit growth included lipstick, lip gloss, blush, bronzer, highlighter and tinted moisturiser.
Fragrance sales also suffered during the coronavirus crisis, but surged back in the US during the third quarter. Revenues reached US$1.1 billion – an increase of 36 per cent over the same period in 2020 and 38 per cent above 2019 pre-pandemic sales.
Prestige skincare continued to outperform and recorded growth of 14 per cent to US$1.4 billion. Eye treatments and serums were the standout categories.
Hair styling was back with a vengeance during Q3. Driven by styling sprays, gels and hair masks, prestige haircare sales soared 36 per cent year-on-year to US$619.4 million.
According to NPD’s 2021 Holiday Purchase Intentions Report, beauty ranks among the top 10 physical goods US consumers plan to buy in the run-up to Christmas.
Today, amid many uncertainties, we are seeing glimmers of normal life return which is helping the beauty industry to experience growth across all its categories, notes Larissa Jensen, beauty industry advisor, The NPD Group. “Fragrance has emerged as the brightest star and is experiencing unprecedented growth against both 2020 and 2019. With the holiday season upon us, we can expect this momentum to continue through the fourth quarter”.


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PlayStation 5 revealed, new games and features detailed
Jun 11, 2020
After months of questions and a few delays, Sony has officially revealed the PlayStation 5.
The next-gen console was revealed alongside a slew of different titles including Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Resident Evil 8, and many more. Sony made the reveal in an online event that was streamed on YouTube and Twitch, which garnered over 1 million live viewers across both streaming platforms.
Response to the event was generally positive, with the long list of titles and broad appeal giving gamers of all sorts something to look forward to. Included in the reveal was a teaser trailer for NBA 2K21, which was tailor-made to show off the extra power of the PS5.
PlayStation 5 new features, release date, price
News on the PlayStation 5 has been released slowly for over a year now, with small leaks and reveals being made every few months.
From a technical perspective, the PlayStation 5 will set itself apart from the PlayStation 4 through its solid state drive. Though the PS4 is a powerful piece of technology, the HDD has held the console back from both a user experience perspective and a game development perspective, giving players long load times and placing tight restrictions on developers in terms of how much of a game can be loaded in a given amount of time.
The side-by-side comparison that was used in 2019 to demonstrate the power spike offered by an SSD was the popular Spider-Man title released in 2018. The game itself was optimized for the PS4 in order to have the city load at a rate identical to Spider-Man’s movement speed. With a SSD, the city loaded in at a speed that could accommodate a fighter jet.
The other major advancement is the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller. Though the controller looks largely similar to the DualShock controllers of the past, the DualSense has a few new features including a built-in microphone for online gaming as well as dynamic sensitivity for the triggers. It also has an improved rumble feature that will likely be more in line with that of the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons.
Interestingly, there were two PlayStation 5 models revealed including a standard and digital-only console. Digital-only consoles is something Sony has been intrigued in for years, starting with the PSP Go in 2009.
Unfortunately, a number of key questions were not answered. No exact release date was announced, with the game’s tentative “Holiday 2020” launch window not being narrowed further. No price point was given for either model of the PlayStation 5, or its accessories. And no explicit information was given on backwards compatibility.
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Greece's Syriza party gained the key backing needed to form a government Monday, creating a surprise alliance with a small right-wing party that signals possible confrontation over the country's bailout.
Michael Weissenstein, Associated Press | posted 22 minutes ago
Cut off from the Internet, young Cubans have quietly linked thousands of computers into a hidden network that stretches miles across Havana, letting them chat with friends, play games and download hit movies in a mini-replica of the online world that most can't access.
Echelon Expands its IzoT Platform for the IIoT to Enable Multiprotocol Wired and Wireless Building Automation Systems
Echelon Corporation, Associated Press | posted 23 minutes ago
Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ:ELON), a leading independent control networking company for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), has expanded its multiprotocol IzoT™ platform for the IIoT to include new Wi-Fi control modules and integrated support for BACnet/MS-TP. Echelon is demonstrating a converged building control and lighting control network supporting both wired and wireless devices that use LonTalk/FT, LonTalk/IP, BACnet/IP and BACnet/MS-TP protocols in booth #3434 at the AHR 2015 show.
The Associated Press | posted 33 minutes ago
Rising sales helped boost hiring at U.S. businesses in the last three months of 2014, and companies are optimistic that continued improvement in business conditions will bring increased employment and wages in the current quarter, a new survey shows.
The Associated Press | posted 43 minutes ago
AT&T is buying Nextel Mexico from NII Holdings for about $1.88 billion, minus the company's debt.
The Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 5:31am
It will be oil giant BP's turn Monday to call witnesses as it makes its case for a civil penalty lower than the $13.7 billion the federal government is seeking for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 5:30am
Rock-Tenn and MeadWestvaco will join forces to create a $16 billion packaging company, driving down its own costs and possibly gaining the scale to better dictate prices.
The Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 5:20am
Post Holdings will spend $1.15 billion to bulk up its presence in the market for bagged and hot cereals by buying the privately held MOM Brands Co., maker of Malt-O-Meal cereals.
Joe McDonald, Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 5:01am
Motorola unveiled three smartphone models on Monday for its return to China following a two-year absence from the most populous mobile phone market.
Laura Mills, Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 5:01am
Russian officials struck a defiant note Monday after Western leaders threatened to further punish Moscow for escalated fighting in eastern Ukraine over the weekend.
The Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 4:50am
Thailand's beleaguered national airline will be saved from bankruptcy under a rehabilitation plan being worked out between the airline and government, premier Prayuth Chan-ocha said Monday.
The Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 4:50am
The European Union has blacklisted Sri Lanka for failing to combat illegal fishing, officially banning imports of fisheries products from Sri Lanka-flagged vessels into the EU.
Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 4:50am
Aer Lingus announced Monday that British Airways parent IAG has made an improved takeover offer of 2.55 euros ($2.85) per share, and the board of the Irish airline says it is considering the proposal.
David McHugh, Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 4:40am
German business optimism rose for the third straight month in January, giving a positive signal from Europe's biggest economy as executives foresee export gains from the weaker euro.
The Associated Press | posted Jan 26th - 3:40am
Turkey's state-run news agency says a court has ordered authorities to block access in the country to Facebook pages that "insult" the Prophet Muhammad, in the latest move to censor the Internet.
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How To Pay When Using An Online Marketplace
The CEOs of respective firms appeared in a teleconference on July 29, 2020 before the lawmakers of the U.S. On June eleven, 2020, the European Union introduced that it will be urgent charges in opposition to Amazon over its remedy of third-celebration e-commerce sellers. On February 17, 2020, a Panorama documentary highlighted the quantity of information collected by the company and the move into surveillance inflicting considerations of politicians and regulators in the US and Europe.
Anti-vaccination and non evidence-based cancer ‘cures’ have routinely appeared high in Amazon’s books and movies. This may be as a result of optimistic evaluations posted by supporters of untested methods, or gaming of the algorithms by truther communities, rather than any intent on Amazon’s part. In July 2020, Amazon together with other tech giants Apple, Google and Facebook were accused of maintaining harmful energy and anti-aggressive strategies to quash potential opponents available in the market.
The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government called for extra transparency. Others advised incentives to massive corporations do not enhance the native economic system.
Kuiper Systems LLC, is a subsidiary of Amazon, set as much as deploy a broadband satellite web constellation with an introduced 3,236 Low Earth orbit satellites to supply satellite tv for pc based internet connectivity. Amazon Maritime, Inc. holds a Federal Maritime Commission license to operate as a non-vessel-proudly owning frequent carrier (NVOCC), which enables the company to handle its own shipments from China into the United States. A9.com, an organization focused on researching and building progressive expertise, has been a subsidiary since 2003. In September 2017, Amazon ventured with certainly one of its sellers JV Appario Retail owned by Patni Group which has recorded a complete income of US$ 104.44 million (₹759crore) in financial year 2017–18. In June 2017, Nike confirmed a “pilot” partnership with Amazon to sell goods instantly on the platform.
CNN reported that Amazon’s tax bill was zero as a result of they took advantage of provisions in years once they had been dropping money that allowed them to offset future taxes on profits, as well as numerous other tax credits. Amazon was criticized by political figures for not paying federal revenue taxes. Construction has been suspended whereas these issues are determined. Amazon has launched the Shipment Zero program, nonetheless Shipment Zero has solely committed to lowering 50% of its shipments to web zero by 2030. Also, even that 50% does not necessarily mean a decrease in emissions compared to current ranges given Amazon’s rate of growth in orders.
- Upon putting an order online on Baskin Robbins web site, the corporate arranges supply from retailer in your vicinity to ensure you get freshest merchandise.
- Jet sells groceries, family staples, pet requirements, electronics and electrical appliances, readymade garments, prepared-to-cook dinner meals and much more.
- Rite Aid additionally supplies magnificence merchandise, maternity needs, child care merchandise, sexual well being supplements and lots more.
- Jet.com is a superb online shopping web site that lists curated or choose merchandise that Americans favor.
On July 15, 2019, in the course of the onset of Amazon’s “Prime Day” sale occasion, Amazon employees working in the United States and Germany went on strike in protest of unfair wages and poor working conditions. On Black Friday 2018, Amazon warehouse employees in a number of European nations, including Italy, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, went on strike to protest inhumane working conditions and low pay. In an effort to boost employee morale, on November 2, 2015, Amazon announced that it would be extending six weeks of paid depart for brand new mothers and fathers.
Amazon’s market capitalization went over US$1 trillion again in early February 2020 after the announcement of the fourth quarter 2019 results. Results generated by Amazon’s search engine are partly decided by promotional fees. On 10 August 2020, Amazon announced the rebranding Twitch Prime, the live-streaming site, in another attempt to crack the online game market after failing an enormous-finances recreation effort. With Twitch Prime, users will be given a free subscription to Twitch, with free video games from small studios and discounts for larger titles like Grand Theft Auto and League of Legends. As of 2015[update], the service had over 1.5 million broadcasters and a hundred million month-to-month viewers.
Souq.com is the biggest E-Commerce platform in the Middle East based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. On March 28, 2017, Amazon confirmed it might be acquiring Souq.com for $580 million. Souq.com is now a subsidiary of Amazon, and acts as Amazon’s arm into the Middle East region.
Beijing Century Joyo Courier Services
This change consists of start mother and father and adoptive dad and mom and could be utilized in conjunction with current maternity leave and medical go away for brand spanking new moms. s account of “shockingly callous management practices” that he stated would never be tolerated at the firm. Amazon paid no federal income taxes within the U.S. in 2017 and 2018, and truly acquired tax refunds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, despite recording several billion dollars in income annually.


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This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 2, 2019 - December 8, 2019
WHILE it has been criticised by tobacco companies for turning a deaf ear to their pleas to crack down on the illicit cigarette business, which has seriously affected the legal trade, the Ministry of Health (MoH) is standing firm on its position to discourage smoking.
In 2017, tobacco firms such as British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT) and JT International Bhd (JTI) shuttered their manufacturing plants here amid market declines, and more recently, they announced lay-offs for the second time in two years.
The companies have issued warnings that the country will lose billions in tax revenue each year as more smokers switch to illegal products.
In an interview with The Edge, Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye acknowledges tobacco firms’ concerns and problems. He also explains the ministry’s perceived lack of empathy for their plight for not cooperating in the fight against the illicit tobacco trade.
“It is unfortunate [that the two tobacco companies have announced lay-offs] but I look at it this way — for us, health comes first. We know that smoking cigarettes is harmful and that exposure to second-hand smoke is also harmful,” he says.
“This is in line with our objective and the World Health Organization’s to reduce cigarette consumption and the number of smokers. I do not think there is any government in the world that would say it should promote smoking to stimulate the economy.”
Looking at whether reducing cigarette smoking has a positive or negative impact on the economy, Lee says studies have shown that the government spends about RM7 billion to RM8 billion a year to treat smoking-related illnesses such as lung cancer and heart problems.
“The private sector spends another RM7 billion to RM8 billion, bringing the total cost to about RM16 billion a year,” he says, adding that the RM5.1 billion in lost excise duty and sales tax revenue last year, as reported by an Oxford Economics study this year, pales in comparison with the cost of treating patients with smoking-related illnesses.
“I sympathise with those who have been laid off, but I would say to them that they should plan ahead, knowing government policies throughout the world that this is not the way to go. Tobacco is a sunset industry.”
And while tobacco companies have reported a decline in sales, Lee points out that they are still profitable and raking in billions in revenue.
“This downward trend is essentially a reflection of the global trend, which will continue to be negative going forward as far as cigarette sales are concerned. Already, some companies are saying they will phase out sales of conventional cigarettes several years from now, shifting completely to vaping products,” he says. “Health-wise, if you do not [reduce cigarette consumption] now, later on, the health burden will be heavier. If you allow things to progress, you will pay a higher price [later]. In the short term, economically, there will be winners and losers. Of course tobacco companies and retailers will lose through less business.
“But if you talk about the overall economy, why should it have an impact? At the end of the day, a lot of smokers are from the low-income group. So, why not help them quit smoking so they can spend their money on other things such as milk powder, books and shoes for their children? Currently, for every ringgit we collect in tobacco tax, we pay RM3 to RM4 to treat illnesses. It does not work.”
On claims by tobacco companies that MoH is reluctant to take action against the inflow of cheap contraband cigarettes, Lee says only the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs can provide law enforcement against the illicit tobacco trade.
With its mandate on health, MoH can only impact the legal cigarette trade and consumption, commercial advertising, graphic images and packaging. “Enforcement against the illicit trade is not within MoH’s jurisdiction, but that of the Customs Department and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs. In fact, they have been actively clamping down on the illicit tobacco trade,” says Lee.
He points to the Customs Department increasing the minimum fine to RM100,000 or a minimum jail term of six months or both for selling or smuggling contraband cigarettes from January this year. Previously, those found guilty were subject to a minimum of a day’s jail and/or a RM1,000 fine.
He also points to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s Budget 2020 speech in October, on the government’s allocation of RM235 million to purchase 20 additional cargo scanners to be placed at strategic ports of entry.
Differing perspectives on Malaysia’s illicit trade figures While tobacco companies have decried the high level of the illegal cigarette trade in Malaysia — which stood at 65% of total cigarette consumption based on the latest Illicit Cigarettes Study conducted by Nielsen — MoH is seemingly unperturbed. This can be partially attributed to disputed numbers.
According to Lee, a joint study by MoH and Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2015 found the level of illicit cigarette trade to be around 27%. The estimate was based on the total cigarette consumption in the country compared to the sales figures as reported by tobacco companies.
“The figure quoted by tobacco companies is about 60%. We have looked at how they do their studies — through the collection of empty cigarette packs on the ground and how many of them are from illegal and legal sources,” he says.
“The results depend on the sample area. For example, if I were to go to the kampung and do the sampling, the incidence of illegal cigarettes would probably be about 70% to 90%. And if I were to go to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur or KL International Airport, the incidence of illegal cigarettes would probably be only 10% to 20%.
“As such, even though industry players maintain that the level of illicit cigarette trade is about 60%, they need to be more transparent about their methodology — how they arrive at that figure.”
Nevertheless, Lee concedes that MoH’s public health agenda to reduce tobacco consumption through increases in tobacco taxes has so far failed due to a lack of effective enforcement. “The idea of a hike [in tobacco taxes] is to reduce the number of smokers. Studies have shown that we need to have a certain price level, based on gross domestic product per capita income, for cigarettes to be inhibitory to reduce smoking. But it did not work because of illicit trade. That is why you need to strengthen enforcement.”
He is of the view that the current price of a 20-stick cigarette pack of RM17.40 is inhibitory enough, but there is still a lot of leakage because of the illicit trade.
A Centre for Public Policy Studies report in September last year revealed that there has been an upward trend in excise tax rates for cigarettes from 1990 until 2015. The government last hiked the excise duty on cigarettes in November 2015, by 42.8% to 40 sen per stick.
“When the price of cigarettes was raised, the number of smokers actually increased while revenue from tobacco taxes went down, that means a lot of smokers shifted to illicit cigarettes. So, when you hike the price, there must be effective enforcement. So far, it has not been effective but we are improving. The Customs Department is working very hard to strengthen enforcement and has increased the penalty for illicit trade,” says Lee.
He declines to comment on reports that there are plans to increase the minimum cigarette price from RM10 to RM15 (pack of 20), except to point out that the government has not raised tobacco excise duty and the minimum cigarette price since 2015, taking into consideration that a further hike in price may not achieve the desired results without taking better measures to curb the sale of illicit cigarettes first.
“In general, a price hike should go hand in hand with effective enforcement against the illicit trade. If enforcement is not effective, then the price hike will cause more smokers to shift to illicit products,” Lee says.
On BAT’s recent lawsuit against MoH over its unexpected U-turn — re-categorising and revoking the approval of the Dunhill HTL-Cigarillo granted on July 12 last year, as a non-cigarette tobacco product — Lee says, “Let the lawyers sort it out. [I have] no comment on the issue because this is a matter of interpretation. It is their right to sue and we will defend.”
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Two retired LEGO Ideas sets returned to LEGO.com in the US earlier this month. 92176 NASA Apollo Saturn V and 92177 Ship in a Bottle are nearly identical to their original sets, 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V and 21313 Ship in a Bottle. But while the reissued rocket is available worldwide, UK fans are still waiting for 92177 to appear on LEGO.com.
That wait may unfortunately be an endless one, if the official LEGO Twitter account is anything to go by. Responding to a fan asking about 92177’s availability, the LEGO social team tweeted: “If it’s the Ship in a Bottle set you’re seeking, we have retired this product in the UK to make room for awesome new sets!”
Of course, the folks who run the company’s social accounts may have simply confused 92177 for the original retired set, 21313. But given the fan who asked the question specifically referred to the new product number, it seems unlikely.
That suggests 92177 Ship in a Bottle may not be coming to the UK after all. And if that is the case, it’s a real shame for Ideas fans hoping to grab the re-released display set. But it would explain the set’s absence on LEGO.com, especially as 92176 NASA Apollo Saturn V is already available to order.
We’ll let you know if 92177 Ship in a Bottle ever does turn up in the UK. For now, you can grab the current LEGO Ideas range at LEGO.com. Please support Brick Fanatics by doing so using our affiliate links.


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Germains was proud to attend the 2019 BBRO Demonstration Days in Fotheringhay and Thelveton Estate, Diss on 2nd and 4th July.
We are passionate about the UK sugar beet industry and the 2019 BBRO days provide a fantastic opportunity for us to speak with UK growers and discuss the ways in which our products can help to maximise their yields.
Celebrating our Latest Innovation
Our expert R&D team was on hand at the innovation plots to demonstrate the benefits of our new technology, Xbeet® enrich 100, and future product, Xbeet® enrich 200.
Both Xbeet® enrich 100 and enrich 200 products have achieved strong yield improvements in our latest strip trials, achieving 4.4% and 2% respectively. Germains’ trials are run independently with the BBRO and Armstrong Fisher and our yield results are independently calculated by NIAB. Download our Xbeet® enrich series here to learn more about our products and trials programmes.
A poster was on display across the two days, explaining the importance of our new Xbeet® enrich series in boosting in early plant growth to support establishment, leading to greater yield potential.
Also on display were some of our other technologies in development, as part of our commitment to continue to enhance the yield potential for UK sugar beet growers.
We would like to thank all of the growers who came along to visit us across the two days. It is always great to see so much passion for the industry and its future.
Click here to keep up-to-date with our events.


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Genetically Engineered Alfalfa Threatens OrganicsJuly 10th, 2006
Alfalfa is a prime forage crop for organic livestock farmers. It’s drought resistant, has a high nutritional value, and grows well in areas of the U.S. where dairy and beef livestock are important. Alfalfa is the third most valuable and fourth most widely grown crop in the U.S. A perennial plant, alfalfa spreads its pollen (with the help of bees) for miles.
The Cornucopia Institute has joined a coalition of farmers, farm groups, consumers and environmentalists in a lawsuit challenging the USDA’s approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa.
Monsanto’s GE alfalfa poses a potential contamination disaster for organic farmers and consumers who believe that GE crops have no place in our food supply. Readers interested in more details about GE alfalfa, can find an online guide here that explains the issue in greater detail.
Additional background on the lawsuit and updates as it proceeds through the courts can be found here.


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With excitement reaching a fever-pitch for Terminator Salvation, it’s only fitting that we take a look back at the second biggest film in the franchise, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which is scoring a Skynet Edition Blu-ray release on May 19th!
To remind people just how good this flick was, Lionsgate has released an exclusive clip from the Blu-ray onto the Facebook T2 fanpage. Click the image, become a fan, watch the clip, and then pre-order yourself a copy below!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Rage against the machines in the Dread Central forums!


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[News in a Nutshell] From Tesla's Model 3, WWE 2K15, ' Project Zero' to RoboCup 2014
Tesla announces its 4th Vehicle, 'the Model 3' to complete the series : S III X
Tesla Motors revealed its newest vehicle plans, a smaller vehicle the ' Model 3 '. According to Auto Express reports the vehicle is designed to take on BMW and its 3 series. Tesla has confirmed that, the vehicle will be 20 percent smaller than the Model S and go more than 200 miles on a charge. The Model 3 will be unveiled in 2016, with sales beginning the following year.
The Model 3 will come after Tesla's Model X, which was unveiled at an event in California in 2012. It will be available to early buyers in 2015. This ' crossover ' vehicle lies somewhere between a sedan and an SUV, and can fit up to seven passengers.
The Model 3 will actually be the company's fourth car, and is set to come after Tesla's Model X.
Elon Musk revealed that they were going to call it model E instead of Model 3 for a while, but then Ford sued them on the grounds that they wanted to use the 'Model E' . Elon Musk was quoted saying, ' I thought this is crazy, Ford's trying to kill sex! So we'll have to think of another name.The new model is going to be called Model III, we'll have three bars to represent it and it'll be S III X!"
WWE 2K15 Preorder Bonus to include 2 Generations of the Legendary Wrestler 'Sting'
2K Sports has announced that professional wrestling legend Sting will appear in the game WWE 2K 15 even though he has never been a part of the WWE roster since its inception.
Sting in WWE 2K15 will take two forms, the first of which is his crow-like persona with his iconic black and white face paint. The second variant is his earlier look, where he wore bright colors and a flattop hairstyle.
WWE 2K15 was developed by Yuke's and Visual Concepts. Featuring John Cena on the cover, the game will launch on October 28th for consoles: Xbox 360, Xbox One,PS3 and PS4 It will be available to international markets October 31st onwards.
This 2K legend marketing has proven to be a very creative and commercial success for the WWE in the past, last year they had a similar release for the Ultimate Warrior.
Undertaker vs Sting, anybody?
'Project Zero,’ Google’s Secret Dream Team of Researchers and Ethical Hackers to fix vulnerabilities on the internet
Google's Project Zero, a group of top Google security researchers and hackers are on a mission to track down and neuter the most insidious security flaws in the world’s software. These secret hackable bugs, are well known in their security industry as 'zero-day' vulnerabilities. These are exploited by criminals, hackers and intelligence agencies in their spying operations.
Google hopes to get those spy-friendly flaws fixed. Also Project Zero’s hackers will be exposing bug attacks not only on Google products but also on any software whose zero- day vulnerabilities can be dug up and revealed.
George Hotz was a well known hacker who cracked into AT&T’s lock on the iPhone in 2007, reverse engineered the PlayStation 3 on both occasions he was either ignored or sued for his actions.But when Hotz dismantled the defenses of Google’s Chrome operating system, Google gave him a $150,000 reward for helping fix the flaws he uncovered. Two months later George Hotz received an email from Chris Evans, a Google security engineer.It was an offer to join Google's ' Project Zero'. He was asked if wanted to join an elite team of full-time hackers who were paid to hunt security vulnerabilities in every popular piece of software on the internet.
After the FIFA World Cup, Brazil to host RoboCup 2014
Brazil will be hosting a soccer tournament for robots from July 19-25 in the north-eastern city of Joao Pessoa. This event will bring together around 3,000 university students from 45 countries and 400 teams will participate in this year's competition. This event is expected to attract about 60,000 spectators.
The competition will be divided into five different categories based on the size and characteristics of the robots, according to the organizers.
Although the main attraction is the soccer competition, RoboCup 2014, the event also includes other leagues covering rescue operations and domestic tasks. It also includes a separate RoboCup Junior leagues for young students.
RoboCup founded in 1997 in Japan, is one of the world's leading technology events with the ultimate goal of developing a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots capable of defeating the FIFA World Cup-winning squad of 2050, in a match governed by FIFA's official rules.


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eMoney Advisor is a leading provider of planning-centric wealth management software and solutions for advisors, firms, and enterprises.
In order to scale, eMoney realized they needed to move online -- and needed help transforming from a traditional model to a subscription-based business.
eMoney chose Zuora as their partner to extend their self-service platform and improve the productivity of their sales teams, their financial processes, and the customer experience.
Just 6 months post Zuora implementation, eMoney has already automated bill runs, and slashed the time from order to revenue by 93%. Tiered and volume pricing will be implemented by end of Q1 2019.
eMoney has approximately 57,000 subscribers and is in the midst of rapid growth and expansion both internally and externally. In 2016, the company came to a crossroads realizing that the offline environment that had led to their current success was not capable of scaling.
As Barrie Effron, VP of Business Analytics Systems and PMO at eMoney, explained: “Picture this: a billing team sitting around a conference room table with literally piles of contracts – physical contracts – all of which had to be scanned, recorded, processed and faxed. It simply wasn’t sustainable. We couldn’t hire finance staff fast enough and our customers demanded a better way.”
Adds Megan Murray, Head of Finance at eMoney, “We knew we had to move our business systems online, but it was a huge undertaking and a cultural shift.”
After a team of eMoney executives attended Zuora’s Subscribed conference, said Murray, they “knew that Zuora was absolutely the right partner to help guide [them] through the organizational and financial changes required to transform from a traditional service model to a subscription-based business,” -- and specifically to help with the billing and finance aspects of their online business.
From day one, eMoney was all in on Zuora. “Our sales, billing, contracts, legal and client services teams were trained on our new Zuora workflow from the start, and it’s been very successful,” says Effron.
Just six months after implementation, eMoney has already seen vast improvements with Zuora at the center of their billing business model transformation:
eMoney continues to extend the Zuora platform across multiple business units, so all ARR is captured in one, central system.
The success eMoney has achieved with creating a self-service framework has far reaching implications for the future. “Today, customers can see their contracts and update their payments online. Our customers love it,” says Effron.“


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December 06, 2020 7:00PM - 8:30PM
Large cities the world over, including Houston, will be profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. If continued home delivery of goods leads to more closed retail stores, what will happen to shopping centers? If the work-at-home trend leads to more empty office space, how will that space be re-purposed? How will traffic and commuting patterns change? Join Sisterhood as Bill Fulton, Director of Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, gives us a look into the future as he discusses these and other provocative questions related to the pandemic.
There is no charge for this Zoom program; however, registration is required to the Sisterhood office at 713.529.5771, ext. 233 or email@example.com.


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- E-commerce deliveries to resume in some areas from April 21st
- Smartphone sales, which were on hold due to the lockdown, can also restart online
- Companies are allowed to deploy 50 percent workforce to manufacture of essential goods and to package tech hardware
While the entire country is headed for 19 more days of lockdown due to the Coronavirus, there is a faint glimmer of hope for a few industries. The government is going to allow e-commerce deliveries, IT services, construction of roads and buildings in rural areas, and inter-state goods transport to resume starting April 21st. Also, the lockdown will be relaxed in a few areas after April 20th. The government is also allowing a 50 percent workforce to operate for the manufacturing of essential goods and packaging of IT hardware. Of course, the Amazon and Flipkart deliveries, as well as other relaxations, will not be applicable in areas that are deemed coronavirus hotspots, where the government has imposed strict lockdowns till May 3rd.
Starting April 21st we should see smartphone companies, which had cancelled their launches in the country due to the lockdown, resume their launch plans.
The allowance of e-commerce websites like Flipkart and Amazon is good news for people who want to purchase a new smartphone or other electronic products online. Before the lockdown was announced last month, many smartphone brands, such as Realme, Xiaomi, and Motorola, had lined up product launches but were unable to follow through as the nation came to a standstill after March 24th. While many companies did offer warranty extensions on their products, people who wished to buy new smartphones had no avenues to explore as online sales were paused and offline stores were shut. Starting April 21st we should see smartphone companies, which had cancelled their launches in the country due to the lockdown, resume their launch plans.
Realme had cancelled the Narzo series launch while Xiaomi had postponed the Mi 10 unveiling in India. Vivo had also planned to launch the Vivo V19 in India, which was suspended; it later announced the device in the form of a soft unveiling. OnePlus has also recently announced its flagship OnePlus 8 series, which may also start selling on Amazon when e-commerce deliveries resume.


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Increasing levels of resistance to antimicrobials in food-borne bacteria, such as campylobacter from poultry meat in the UK are being found, according to a study.
The study, a systematic review of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) bacteria in UK retail products, has recommended research and surveillance efforts be continued to monitor AMR trends in both food-borne and commensal bacteria in British and imported chicken and poultry meat in the UK.
Conducted by the Royal Veterinary College for the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of AMR bacteria that could pose a risk to consumers. It looked at published evidence between 1999 and 2016.
The review confirmed there was a lack of AMR prevalence data for British-produced food and to a lesser extent in countries that exported food to the UK. It called for further efforts to be made to develop surveillance programmes that would identify trends in the prevalence of AMR bacteria in foods. If this was tackled, this could lead to a framework for assessing potential risks associated with exposure among British consumers.
The specific desk research on AMR in poultry meat noted there was more research in this sector than other livestock sectors. It found there had been an upwards trend to fluoroquinolone resistance since 2001, when resistance levels were at 12.6% and 15.6% in Campylobacter jejuni isolates from chicken meat from conventional systems, according to previous FSA surveys. Resistance to the antibiotics ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid rose from 15-22% in 2005 to 21.7% and 23.1% in 2007-8 and was at a high in 2015-16 of 50% and 51.5%. Erthromycin resistance in Campylobacter jejuni from British chicken has however decreased between 2005 and 2014-15 from levels between 4-5% to 1%.
Prevalence of multiple-drug resistant bacteria has increased in recent years from 19.1% in 2008 to 43.4% in 2014-15 in Campylobacter jejuni isolates from chicken meat at retail level in the UK – with the common phenotypes being ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, tetracyclines and trimethoprim.
The FSA said it was releasing the report ahead of a meeting of the Codex Alimentarius (a global food standards body) working group on AMR, which will set terms of reference for an intergovernmental task force that will follow.
Author: Tony McDougal


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A ConsenSys and YouGov survey of 15,158 people aged 18 to 65 years from 15 countries revealed that Nigeria is a leader in the adoption of digital currencies on the African continent.
This high level of awareness was, according to the study, found to be higher than the world’s leading economies such as the UK, USA, Japan and Germany.
The survey also revealed that 90% of respondents from Nigeria expressed a willingness to invest in digital assets by 2024 and 65% of those surveyed believed that crypto could help protect their savings from inflation.
Incidentally, the country’s authorities have sought to expel the Binance exchange from the domestic market, citing a violation of investor protection laws.
South African respondents also showed a high degree of awareness about the Web3 industry with 98% of respondents indicating they were aware of its existence.


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In a recent Wall Street Editorial titled “The VW-Tesla Redistribution” (July 1, 2016), they report on the cost of VW’s Business Ethics transgression (“installing ‘defeat devices’ in diesel cars that overroad nitrogen-oxide controls”).
In case you’re considering cutting corners and violating business ethics, think again. And consider the costs if (and more likely “when”) you’re caught. The piece doesn’t give the total cost, but does give the various pieces of the cost, which I’ve then added up (below). It’s somewhere north of $17 billion! That’s a lot of VW cars! Here’s a breakdown:
- $14.7 billion settlement (not including attorney’s fees) to resolve consumer class-action lawsuit as well as charges by the EPA, the CA Air Resources Board (CARB) and the FTC
- $583 million to settle consumer protection claims by 44 states
(As the Journal reported, “the feeding frenzy isn’t over: the EPA could still impose billions in civil fines for Clean Air violations, and the Justice Department has threatened criminal charges. The CA Public Employees’ Retirement System has sued in German court for investment losses.”)
$2.7 billion that VW will have to pay into an environmental mitigation trust.
That’s nearly seventeen and a half billion dollars, and as the Journal reports, there are other costs, some of which are transfers to the green energy industry:
“Owners or lessees will have the option of selling their cars back to VW for their value prior to the company’s emissions disclosures. Or they can return their cars to be modified once (and if) the EPA and CARB approve a fix.
“If consumers don’t agree to junk or fix their cars, VW will have to pay more to the slush fund. If merely 75% of consumers respond to VW’s recall, state governments get to spend an extra $985 million on green welfare.
“An additional $2 billion of the settlement will ‘support increased use of technology for Zero Emission Vehicles’ including public-awareness programs, ride-sharing, self-driving vehicles and charging stations.”
And the list (of penalties – and transfers to the green industry) goes on, but you get the gist: breaking the public trust and the law has steep penalties – and much of fines are used to support the administration’s love of green energy.
So think twice (maybe three times) before you commit an ethics violation!


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On Saturday morning, nearly 2,500 people converged on Dallas Farmers Market for the third annual brunch fest the Morning After, bringing dozens of Dallas restaurants together to celebrate all things brunch. It was a cold, blustery day — Did we spot a little snow flurry, or had we just had one too many bloodys from the bloody mary bar? — but that didn't stop thousands of Dallasites from grubbing down on brunch dishes ranging from breakfast tacos to chicken and waffles. There was a ton of food, far more than any one person could eat in a single brunch outing, but that didn't stop us from trying.
This year's people's choice winner, Taqueria Taxco, went above and beyond by serving not just one dish, but several: chilaquiles, migas, huevos rancheros, huevos a la Mexicana and trompo and barbacoa tacos. Now that's commitment.
Despite the glut of food, a few dishes in particular stood out. We came back for seconds at AllGood Cafe's table, where owner Mike Snider was serving up beautifully fluffy, fresh-baked biscuits topped with local honey and Yims Foods' jalapeno gravy. Considering the event was hosted at the Farmers Market, serving biscuits with preserves from a Dallas company just felt right.
Meso Maya cooked up phenomenal chorizo migas, and right next to their booth, Arepa TX cooked up one of the best bites of the year: capachas, a lightly sweet corn patty stuffed with perfectly stretchy, melty cheese and topped with a dribble of syrup and a touch of crema. Doc B's Fresh Kitchen went above and beyond with acai bowls, chicken and waffles and oh-so-perfect candied bacon. Cook Hall at the W Hotel poached eggs on-site — no small feat with such big crowds — for Naughty and Nice bowls made with quinoa, smoked bacon, squash, tomatoes, kale and hollandaise.
But by far our favorite dish of the year came from the VIP section, where Mot Hai Ba chef Peja Krstic served gorgeous plates of ginger pork over lime-scented jasmine rice. Had we not already eaten our body weight in brunch foods, we would have been back for seconds.
All in all, this year's Morning After event was a hit, and the bloody mary and mimosa bars certainly helped cut through the chill. If you missed this Dallas Observer event, we've got more in the works — our annual slider festival Between the Buns takes over Dallas Farmers Market on Saturday, March 23, so grab tickets soon.
Keep the Dallas Observer Free... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Dallas with no paywalls.


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Abarbershop focusing on providing haircutting services for males in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hznews.hangzhou.com.cn]
Agrowing number of barbershops that focus on serving males are becoming increasingly popular in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province.
"We open at 12 am and close at 9 pm. Theshop is often filled with customers, but I can only serve eight at most during a day," said Hum, a barber at a barbershop in Hangzhou.
"Comparedwith traditional Chinese hairdressers, we tend to focus more on the intricacy of the hairstyle," he added.
According to Hum, most of customers coming to the shop are males, adding that females who want to have a men's style hairstyle withAmerican and European featuresare also welcome.
Hum studied American-style haircutting in Chongqing for half a year and opened a shop in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, when he came back to the province. Last April, he closed his shop in Yiwu and moved to Hangzhou.
The "male economy" is emerging as a burgeoning phenomenon in Hangzhou. A number of hairdressing shops in the city have launched tailor-made services or products targeted at males to further tap into this consumption trend.
In Hangzhou, shops specifying in shaving heads for men have even emerged. In addition, many cosmetics brands have launched facial products targeted at men.
According to oIBP, a company focusing on big data research of fashion brands, the retail sales of services and products for males has increased by 13.5 percent on a yearly average from 2016 to 2019, far exceeding the global average level.