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Posted: Fri 30th Mar 2018
On Friday 23 March, 100 wellness businesses gathered in London for the Wellness Exchange. The one-day event saw a range of retail buyers, entrepreneurs and experts give tips on how to grow a business in the wellness industry.
In this blog, we share our top takeaways from the event.
Make it easy for the consumer
Harry Thuiller, co-founder of Oppo Ice Cream, told attendees not to make their consumers think too much in order to make a purchase.
"When we created a healthy ice cream, we could have tried to make the packaging completely different from normal ice cream because you'd think it would stand out.
"However, it's better to make the consumer think less and not make the product look too different from others they may already buy."
Packaging is key
This was a running theme throughout the Wellness Exchange, particularly highlighted by the retail buyers who took part.
Zoe Brady from John Lewis said packaging is a key point for her when looking at products. She explained brands should look at their competitors' packaging, and other packaging of products in store.
Don't fear rejection or failure
Alex Hind, co-founder of Go Sweat, explained that launching his business has been like trying to launch a rocket and it has taken a few attempts to get it right.
He shared the importance of not giving up in the face of rejection.
Influencers are important but make sure they are authentic
Stephanie Peritore, founder of Mindful Bites, explained the importance of choosing influencers who match your values as a brand and whose followers would believe they were genuinely interested in your product. "Authenticity is key", she said.
Having a mission can be easy, but sticking to it is the hard part
Who is your avatar?
"My avatar is called Sarah. She is 35, drives a Ford Focus and I know where she shops."
Know your customer value journey
Tell a publication why you think your product is relevant to their reader
This is totally different from telling a publication how amazing your product or service is. The PR panel emphasised the importance of knowing the publication well and making sure you explain why their readers might be interested in your product or service.
At the start, be fluid with your brand
Don't be polished; just start and be real. Kat Pitcher, founder of Yogi Bare, explained that the success of her branding has been more about being an authentic voice rather than appearing polished and perfect.
She has learned lots along the way and emphasised the importance of not waiting until everything is perfect in order to start.
Involve your community in your product development on social media
Alison Battisby, founder of Avocado Social, has this advice:
"Ask your community questions so they engage and tell you, for example, their favourite product or colour.
"Not only will your community feel involved but it will also help your social media algorithms and your content will continue to be shown to your customers."


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PARIS -- The French government announced an 8 billion euros ($8.8 billion) aid package to help the auto industry recover from the coronavirus crisis, including increased incentives for new electric vehicles and boosting a scrapping program to get higher-polluting older models off the road.
Speaking Tuesday at a Valeo parts factory in northern France, President Emmanuel Macron said the government wanted France to be the European leader in EVs by getting automakers to repatriate production from abroad and develop new models on French soil.
"We need a motivational goal: Make France Europe's top producer of clean vehicles by bringing output to more than 1 million electric and hybrid cars per year over the next five years," Macron said at the news conference.
To help reach that aim, Macron said France would increase the state bonus for private consumers buying electric cars (that cost up to 45,000 euros) to 7,000 euros from 6,000 euros.
Business customers can get a 5,000 euro bonus. There will be a 2,000 euro bonus for plug-in hybrid vehicles, as long as they can travel at least 50 km on battery power alone and cost no more than 50,000 euros.
The more generous bonus for EVs will be available from June 1 until Dec. 31.
Macron is also doubling the trade-in premium designed to get older, less-efficient models off the road. People who buy a new or used latest-generation gasoline or diesel model can get 3,000 euros, while full-electric models are eligible for a 5,000-euro bonus.
Income requirements for the program are being relaxed so that 75 percent of French households are eligible, Macron said.
The doubled bonuses will be available starting June 1 and will last until 200,000 cars are sold. A buyer turning in an older car for a new EV could be eligible for up to 12,000 euros under both programs.
In all, France will set aside more than 1.3 billion euros to jump start demand and reduce dealers’ stocks.
Sales fell 72 percent in March and 89 percent in April under lockdown measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“This is a historic plan for a historic situation,” Macron said.

domain: news


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Maruti Suzuki's production cut down by 10 per cent in April
Maruti Suzuki has stated that their production had been cut by 10 per cent across factories during the month of April. After reducing production in the month of February and March, it is the third consecutive month that the company had cut down its production.
In the month of March, the company reported a production cut of 20.9 per cent and in February, the production was over eight per cent as compared to the corresponding month of last year.
The production of the passenger vehicle was cut by 10.3 per cent to 1,44,702 units with respect to 1,61,370 units in the corresponding month of 2018. The compact vehicle segment also saw a drop in production from 83,709 units to 83,411 units
The company has also reported that the production of vans has come down to 10,688 units from 14,407 units which is a 25.8 per cent drop. Excluding their utility vehicle segment, the company reduced the production of all the other segments including their cash cows.
- NewsFounder of Nikola Motor, fuel-cell transit revolutionary, resigns amidst claims of fraud
- NewsTata Nexon EV subscription rates dropped for limited period, now at Rs 34,900
- NewsMG Hector gets dual-tone colour options, prices start from Rs 16.84 lakh
- NewsHyundai Tucson and Elantra get new warranty and maintenance plan
- Review2020 Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Turbo road test review


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There’s a new Borderlands 3 update today, 1.24 (June 24, 2021). Here’s the patch notes which includes crossplay information.
A new update has been pushed live today for Borderlands 3, 1.24 (June 24th 2021). The new update today includes new content, seasonal event updates, an increase in the level cap and Borderlands 3 crossplay at long last.
Seasonal event gear has been added along with increased Captain Haunt’s drop rate for legendary seasonal gear. Bloody Harvest Anointments have been added to the Re-roll machine whilst the event is active, and wedding invitation and Polyaimourous have been added to the drop pool for Loot Hearts.
There were a number of issues with the splitscreen feature which have been addressed in today’s new Borderlands 3 1.24 update. The UI for splitscreen has been updated so both users can see information including buddy health and mission objects. Players not being added to splitscreen play, adjusting the location of news in 4-player splitscreen, and fixing an issue that caused visual effects for double barrel not to stretch properly have all been address among other fixes.
Weapon adjustments have been made with the Grease Trap getting a 20% based damage increase, the iceburger getting buffed damage along with the needle gun. Here’s everything from the 1.24 Borderlands 3 update today including information for crossplay in borderlands.
Revenge of the Cartels Borderlands 3
The Borderlands Revenge of the Cartels features brand new themed cosmetics items that can be unlocked by completing the same challenges and thresholds as last year.
New Level Cap
The level cap has now been increased to level 72
Is Borderlands 3 Crossplay? (Release Date)
As of the new Borderlands 3 1.24 update today, crossplay IS in Borderlands 3. It’s available after the new update but is currently working across Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, Stadia, PC via Stream and the Epic Games Store. Borderlands 3 crossplay has been made…


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Today’s supply chains are under increasing pressure to improve efficiencies in light of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine rollout. Distributing COVID-19 vaccines worldwide is an unprecedented logistical challenge, putting an immense strain on the pharmaceutical cold chain. As of March 23, 157 million doses have been distributed, while only 127 million doses have been administered, according to CDC data.
This disparity raises concerns regarding the safety and quality of the vaccine doses, as 20% of temperature-sensitive products are damaged during transport due to broken cold chains, while 30% of scrapped pharmaceuticals are attributed to logistics issues alone. Since at least 5.6 billion people need a COVID-19 vaccine worldwide, a 20% vaccine loss due to cold chain issues is unacceptable.
To address these growing concerns, pharmaceutical companies need to deploy end-to-end tracking processes and capabilities in their cold chain operations, which will enable them to maintain product quality from the time of manufacture to the point of delivery to the end consumer.
By implementing supply chain visibility and track-and-track technologies, pharmaceutical companies can gain deeper insight into the condition of their vaccine shipments. This is accomplished via real-time data at the unit level (i.e. product, temperature and location of each vial), which increases the safety and quality of these vaccines. Armed with these real-time insights, these companies can also avoid hefty costs associated with investigating the root cause of temperature excursions, ranging from $3,000-$10,000 for each excursion.
The particular challenges of cold chain products
Cold chain pharmaceutical products face a range of possible issues as they progress through the supply chain before reaching the end consumer. The No. 1 challenge of any cold chain product is to ensure that it is stored and transported within the required temperature ranges at all times. If a product veers out of the range by even just one degree, product quality could not only be compromised, but be extremely expensive to replace and re-send. In fact, the biopharma industry loses $34 billion each year because of temperature-control failures across their supply chain, according to the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science.
Pharmaceutical companies transporting COVID-19 vaccines across the country have already run into these issues. On Jan. 17, close to 12,000 Moderna vaccine doses were spoiled because they arrived too cold.
Solve cold chain challenges by increasing supply chain visibility
Pharmaceutical supply chain organizations must meet the following seven requirements to ensure successful distribution of cold chain products such as COVID-19 vaccines:
- Proper product storage and packaging insulation to avoid temperature excursions.
- Seamless cold chain transit, based on automated alerts and continuous data streams to ensure accurate data and real-time reporting.
- Accurate transit information for products, including real-time location, arrival time and any temperature excursion data.
- Reliable temperature-controlled storage solutions during in-transit and at the point of care.
- The ability to respond to unexpected events such as severe weather.
- Detailed, real-time streams of documentation, so that shipping and logistics partners can collaborate smoothly.
- Pharmaceutical shipment records are often incomplete, as links between shipments, orders and serial numbers can be missing; full regulatory compliance is needed by providing real-time audit records and quality certificates for regulatory authorities.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models can be used to identify anomalies and find exceptions, providing pharmaceutical companies with continuous intelligence from the billions of data points collected throughout the supply chain.
To accomplish all seven steps, pharmaceutical companies need to directly address the lack of visibility into their cold chain. Since a vaccine’s cold chain begins with the cold storage unit at the manufacturing plant and ends at vaccine administration, every single step of handling and storage must be carefully temperature controlled. Often, temperatures may fluctuate inside a trailer resulting in damage to the vaccines. Temperature excursions can also occur is when vaccines are loaded and unloaded onto transport. Generally, the real-time location of COVID-19 vaccines is known but lacks real-time product condition tracking data at the pallet level while in-transit, meaning thousands of vaccines can be spoiled.
Successful cold chain companies require real-time data access to their goods, both in the warehouse and in transit. Since temperature, humidity, light and vibration excursions can occur anywhere, these cold chain companies would greatly benefit from end-to-end visibility into their supply chain. This can be accomplished through sensors that can monitor product conditions, movement and transaction handoffs in real time, creating visibility and providing insights that can significantly reduce temperature excursions and other key cold chain challenges.
By increasing supply chain visibility through the Internet of Things (IoT), analytics, AI, ML and cloud computing, pharmaceutical companies can benefit from incorporating increased intelligence into every step of the cold chain. By capturing real-time data about the condition, timing and location of their vaccines and other products, pharmaceutical companies can mitigate issues before they cause significant loss, while distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to worldwide populations quickly and safely.


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Acela CBD held an open house on Sunday to show the community what they do.
Karen Swolsky, vice president of sales and marketing for Acela, said the open house was to educate the community on what Acela offers.
“Today, we opened our doors and welcomed the community to view our facility and see what we do here,” she said. “We’re showing them seed-to-shelf of the industrial hemp plant and what it produces. We’re also selling our line of product. Our first release of product was available on Friday.”
At 2 p.m., Acela CBD President and founder Andrew Culbertson, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarrels and Kentucky State Rep. John Sims Jr. spoke briefly about the opening of Acela and industrial hemp.
“I grew up on a farm in Ohio,” Culbertson said. “If it hadn’t been for the tobacco farm, we wouldn’t have had Christmas, so I understand tobacco farming and I did two years of ag school in 1980. I spent a lot of time wanting to get back to the farm. What is exciting for us is that we are creating a product that is pharmaceutical grade and we can get that in the market from right here in Maysville.”
According to Culbertson, Kentucky is making strides in industrial hemp farming.
“Every month, every week and every day, Kentucky is making great strides. We’re leading the nation,” he said. “It was 2001 when the first hemp bill was introduced and passed. It has taken that long to get to today.”
Massie said a lot of work was put into passing an industrial hemp farm bill.
“I’m super excited,” he said. “This is just the beginning. This is a result of 10 years of hard work in Washington D.C. and it’s been bipartisan. The industrial hemp farming act was introduced by Rand Paul’s father in 2009. It was the first bill that I co-sponsored when I got to Washington D.C. When Ron Paul left, I reintroduced the bill immediately and got to work getting as many Republicans and Democrats as I could together.”
Massie also gave some history on how the hemp bill was passed.
When Quarles began speaking, he asked how many people used to farm tobacco and how many were doing so still.
“There’s just a few of us left who are still growing,” he said. “We don’t know if hemp will replace tobacco, but we’re going to give it everything we’ve got. There is no other plant that is experiencing faster growth than industrial hemp. If there is ever a natural home for this plant, it is the Commonwealth of Kentucky, because we have heritage, history and farmers who know how to produce a high quality product. We know there are thousands of products you can make and that’s what makes this crop special. It’s my belief that in years to come, when looking back, industrial hemp will be looked upon no differently than corn, wheat or tobacco in Kentucky. This plant gives Kentucky an opportunity to be first in something. The numbers speak for themselves. We’re so proud of what you’re doing in Maysville.”
Sims said he appreciates the farmers who are growing the industrial hemp.
“I want to thank Andrew and his team for what he has put together here,” he said. “For those who don’t know, I was reading an article recently that said in the 1830s, this region was number two in the state for hemp production. I want to thank the farmers who are stepping out to do something new to help their families and their community.”
Mason County Industrial Authority Executive Director Owen McNeill said he was pleased to see Maysville be a part of the growth.
“Today’s event for Acela highlights another option for area farmers when considering what to plant. Hemp and hemp associated economic activity has grown exponentially over the last few years and I’m proud that Maysville and Mason County are part of that growth,” he said. “Very few industries represent as much economic potential as hemp. As an economic developer, I just hope legislative obstacles are removed and/or mitigated safely to ensure this growing industry continues to expand.”
Many of the products Acela CBD offers on its website include cannabidiol, or CBD, oils and extract created from industrial hemp.
Historically, the first hemp was grown in Kentucky in 1775, in Danville on Clark’s Run Creek. Early settlers in the state brought hemp to the area, along with flax and wool, which were considered the best options for fabric in a region where cotton could not grow very well.
Counties producing the most hemp were located in the Bluegrass region of the state and were either near or along the Kentucky River. Fayette, Woodford, Shelby, Clark, Scott, Bourbon, Jessamine, Mason, Franklin, Boyle and Lincoln proved to be the largest hemp-producing counties during the 19th century.
Hemp production declined during the Civil War. Although some hemp was still grown in Kentucky at that time, the cotton market in the deep South, and, therefore, the market for cordage and bagging, was cut off.
Hemp however did made a comeback during the Spanish-American War and again during World War I and World War II. The production of hemp then became illegal during the latter part of the 20th century.


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If you’re looking to pick up a smartwatch today, the selection is vast, but the OS’s are limited. Apple and Android are the two main players, and the latter obviously has many more smartwatches out in the wild. Android Wear may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Google has just rolled out an Android Wear update that’s bringing some cool new features to the forefront.
TAG Heuer has been rumored to get on the smartwatch bandwagon for some time, and this week they finally let the world know what they were working on. If you’re looking for something on the Android side of things to compete with the Apple Watch, you may have just found it…
We love a good rumor as much as the next site, but today’s juice tidbit is something that’s been hinted at before. It’s safe to say folks are looking forward to a new Nexus this year, and a rumor out of Korea suggests LG may be the company behind the upcoming Nexus 7.
Apple loves to take shots at Google and Google certainly gives as good as it gets when it comes to the never ending battle of Android vs. iOS. Apple dropped the Apple Watch today, and Google released a short little Android promo. The Cupertino company also released iOS 8.2, and not long after Google officially announced the Android 5.1 release.
Before there was Android, Google was mainly known as the place where you go to search for things. Since Android has taken off, many other project have come to light, and one of them involves Google Wireless service. A new report suggests it’s coming sooner than we thought, but that only a select group of users will be able to use it at launch.
It’s early in the year, but we’ve already covered a lot of ground in the smartphone department. That said, there are several devices we haven’t discussed often like the upcoming iPhone 7 or this year’s lineup of Nexus devices. We are going to talk about the latter for the second time in as many days as a new Nexus 2015 rumor has hit the net.
Google is still trying to get the Android One program rolling, and yesterday the company help a big event in the Philippines to promote the platform. Android One may have been the star of the show, but during the presser word slipped about the upcoming Android M update.
Whether you’re looking forward to it or cringing at the memory of devices like the Virtual Boy, Virtual Reality is making a comeback in a big way. We’ve discussed several types of VR setups, and a new one may be the most interesting as it’s going to bring a lot of new users into the fold. Mattel is going VR, and they’ve partnered with Google for the upcoming View-Master VR kit.
Even Android fans can admit that Apple has put out some catchy commercials over the years. We’ve slowly started to see Android commercials get better, and the latest one may be the best one yet… or at least the cutest. It’s a heartwarming commercial with a surprise cast and a very familiar ditty that Disney fans may recognize.
If you longed to get a consumer version of Google Glass, last month probably wasn’t the best time for you. During Google’s earnings report, the company basically said the project as we know it was dead, and now we’re getting some more information on the future of Google Glass.


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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently faced heated questions from lawmakers about counterfeit goods.
One of Amazon’s main anti-counterfeiting efforts is expanding globally — a reminder than when it comes to retail, especially e-commerce, the problem of fraud and fake products respects no boundaries.
The program, called Project Zero, launched in 2019 and is designed to ensure that customers always receive authentic goods when shopping on Amazon. More than 10,000 brands – from large, global brands to emerging entrepreneurs have already enrolled in Project Zero, including Arduino, BMW, ChessCentral, LifeProof, OtterBox, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Veet.
Now Project Zero is expanding to seven other countries: Australia, Brazil, Netherlands, Saudia Arabia, Singapore, Turkey, and the UAE. In total, Amazon has brought its Project Zero to 17 nations.
This news comes after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took heat from members of the U.S. Congress over the sale of counterfeit goods and other issues related to Amazon’s marketplace operations.
“We do a lot to prevent counterfeiting,” Bezos said during his testimony in late July, adding Amazon has more than 1,000 employees focused on that work, and that the company has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to the effort.
As well, pressure is increasing from the the part of the retail world not named Amazon to crack down on counterfeit marketplace sales. The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) in late July issued a call in support of a proposed law that would require more verification for online marketplace sellers, and more accountability for marketplace operators who fail to do so.
Project Zero Process
According to Amazon, Project Zero combines “Amazon’s technology, machine learning, and innovation with the sophisticated knowledge that brands have of their own intellectual property so we can together drive counterfeits to zero.”
According to Amazon, Project Zero uses three key components to protect brands:
Amazon’s automated protections proactively and continuously scan more than 5 billion attempted daily product listing updates globally to look for suspicious listings. These automated protections are powered by Amazon’s machine learning and are continuously fed new information.
Amazon said it has invested significant resources over the years to proactively prevent counterfeits and continue to innovate and build technology-based solutions. Project Zero goes further with a self-service tool to empower brands and provides them with an unprecedented ability to directly remove listings from our store. These removals also feed into Amazon’s automated protections, so the company can better catch potential counterfeit listings proactively in the future.
Product serialization is enabled by a unique code that brands apply within their manufacturing or packaging process, and it allows Amazon to individually scan and confirm the authenticity of every single purchase of a brand’s enrolled products from Amazon’s stores.
“Amazon is committed to protecting our customers and the brands we collaborate with worldwide,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide customer trust and partner support. “Project Zero has been a leap forward in protecting brands, especially for those that use all three of its components.”


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PAKISTAN: Garment exports in double-digit FY drop
Pakistan's apparel exports fell by 12% in value terms to US$3.61bn during the fiscal year to the end of June, compared with US$4.08bn the year before.
Exports of woven ready-made garments plunged by 8% to US$1.6bn and knitted garments were down by 14% to US$1.9bn. The shipments dropped 23% in volume terms, reflecting a slump in garment output.
Ejaz Khokhar, chief coordinator and former chairman of the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA), told just-style that garment production has declined by 35-40% during the past year, mainly due to acute shortages of electricity and gas.
He urged the government to provide a 5% relief in taxes and levies to help revive output and offset the country's soaring inflation and rising cost of doing business.
A spokesperson for the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), also told just-style that buying houses are shifting to other countries and garment makers have to travel to Singapore or Dubai to meet the buyers.
According to a study conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), 67.5% of the country's textile firms face delays in orders, 70% have seen lower output, and the sector's overall loss from the breakdowns amounts to PKR819bn.
Energy accounts for around 35% of the operating cost in the textile industry. However, the sector is being supplied with gas for just five days a week and is also being hurt by power cuts that last 6 to 10 hours a day.
An interactive databank with intelligence on the major apparel sourcing countries
- Why have US FTA imports fallen to a record low?
- Synergies Worldwide CEO unravels sourcing shifts
- First figures show Bangladesh exports climb
- Collaboration key to the future of smart textiles
- Rana Plaza three years on – Timeline of change
- Hanesbrands to buy Pacific Brands for $800m
- Retailer Austin Reed goes into administration
- Improving traceability a key industry challenge
- C&A selects PLM to boost product development
- BHS receives "expressions of interest"


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When it’s all said and done, no matter what happens from here, Carl Icahn will reign as the king of this bull run of the last few years. Make no mistake, the guy has had the Midas Touch. Consider the following trades: his buy of Netflix (NFLX) in late 2012, registering gains of more than 300% in a little more than year; calling a bottom in Apple last summer, which might have been a tad out of his wheelhouse; and his recent interest in Family Dollar (FDO), which is up more than 40% in the past 3 months.
Some may wonder after such amazing short term success if his targets and their subsequent rises are not merely sell-fulfilling prophecies. Just the rumor of his involvement can send a stock up 5 to 10% in a heartbeat (Whole Foods from a couple weeks ago: here). While the FDO stake demonstrates his continued interest in single stock stories as recently as early July, Mr. Icahn was quoted with a guarded stance towards the opportunity set before him, from Reuters July 10th:
“In my mind, it is time to be cautious about the U.S. stock markets,”
“While we are having a great year, I am being very selective about the companies I purchase.”
Duly noted. Which makes yesterday’s commentary from Icahn on Twitter regarding his sizable Apple stake all the more interesting:
Call it what you like, I’d call it a victory lap. I guess from a pure sentiment standpoint this is not exactly the sort of thing that would make me feel better about my Apple holding as it gets back to the previous all time highs. I don’t mean to take anything away from his call, or his transparency on the position, it just smacks a bit of complacent cheerleading, that’s all.
Obviously, the financial media is in a tizzy about Apple trading at par and back at the prior highs, but to me it seems that the sentiment towards the stock is getting fairly similar to August/September 2012 just prior to the company’s launch of the iPhone 5, the last time the stock approached these levels. Most Apple watchers were in agreement that $100 was in the cards prior to the new phone launch, especially once it got above and held $90. Remember the followers of Larry Livingston, the protagonist of the infamous trading bible, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefèvre – stock’s that get to $90 get to par, and then up $10, $20 maybe $30. It’s entirely possible we see that in AAPL, but I am not sure that observation holds for the largest market cap company the world has ever seen.
I suspect AAPL’s price action at these levels will be the stuff that writes trading books for years to come. Is it setting up to be the mother of all double tops with a similar set up into the iPhone 6 launch as to the iPhone 5? Or will AAPL once again pull a rabbit out of the hat and demonstrate the story of innovation that drove the stock’s resurgence over the last decade? Your guess is as good as mine, but it is important for us non-billionaires to remember, there are NO “no-brainers” in investing.
On the run up to the highs in 2012, many bulls dismissed those who suggested that despite a stock valuation well below a market multiple, the company would not be immune to the law of large numbers. The stock’s 45% peak to trough decline from Sept 2012 to June 2013 was a clear affirmation of the growth speed bump that was inevitable for a company that had gone from $76 billion in sales in 2010 to $164 billion in 2012. I think it is also important to note that for those who think that AAPL remains a “no-brainer” from current levels, the company is expected to report earnings for the fiscal 2014 equivalent to that of 2012, despite buying back more than $50 billion of stock since the end of fiscal 2012. I would also note that gross margins in fiscal 2012 were at their peak at 43.87% vs the expected 38.53% (per Bloomberg consensus) for fiscal 2014, a six year low.
I don’t mean to rain on the Apple parade, but the stock faces the same headwinds that it did back in September 2012. Despite (or at least accounting for) the enthusiasm for fabulous new products, both then and now. Can Apple again be a double digit eps grower again? No doubt. All they have to do is continue to listen to Mr. Icahn and lever up and buy back stock with the $130 billion in net cash on their balance sheet. The stock is amazingly cheap when you ex-out that cash, as it was back in September 2012.
Trust me, I am not calling a top on Apple. If the company does live up to their increasing unit expectations for iPhone 6, if they re-invent digital music with Beats, if they introduce a suite of services including payments, if they figure out how to grow iPad units in the enterprise, if they finally deliver on more than a hobby in the living room/connected home, if they dominate wearables and create a new category and continue to make inroads into China, then yes, Apple will be the first Trillion dollar market cap company.
But recent history tells us that having multiple consumer hits at the same time will be a tall task. The likelihood of the stock rising 30- 50% from here, without a meaningful pullback or a long basing period, is not great.


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Musk: Tesla’s Upcoming Pickup Truck ‘Might’ Be Ready This Summer
The Tesla boss anticipates producing the electric pickup after it launches the Model Y in 2020.
After posting its second consecutive profitable quarter, Tesla held its respective earnings call to discuss the current status of the company and its visions moving towards the future. CEO Elon Musk was the largely the center of the call and spoke of several "very exciting initiatives" that Tesla had in the works; one of which is the Tesla pickup, which "might" be ready for a summer reveal.
Tesla is slated to reveal its Model Y on March 15, meaning that a summertime showing of the pickup would place Tesla with two back-to-back product reveals. This seems unlikely but isn't unheard of with Tesla. When the automaker revealed its electric Semi, it also brought the next-generation Roadster alongside for an Apple-like "one more thing" reveal. Perhaps Tesla may delay the unveiling of the Model Y to align with the reveal of the pickup.
Tesla previously mentioned that it would build its pickup directly after it launches the Model Y, which is set to go into production in early 2020.
During the quarterly earnings call, Musk spoke in his usual flabbergasted manner, stating that the pickup would be a very unique truck, unlike anything else. He felt confident that the pickup was complete enough to begin talking about a reveal, but was rather unwilling to put a hard window of time on the table. We're not sure what to expect product-wise, however, Musk did joke about making a "mini version" of the Tesla Semi over Twitter.
Other automakers are quickly looking to fill the electric pickup segment. Ford confirmed that it was working to develop an electric F-Series pickup truck while Rivian unveiled its stunning RT1 concept at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. General Motors, however, believes that electric pickups are still decades away.
Tesla is currently hard at work to find ways to make its long-promised $35,000 Model 3 available to the public. Perhaps after it squares away the details behind affordability and launches its upcoming Model Y crossover, the pickup will become a viable target for production. One thing is for certain for all automakers: the race to bring an electric pickup to market is on.


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GROHE has announced that its intelligent water control system GROHE Sense Guard can now be combined with Nest’s Home/Away Assist to improve household safety and limit water damage.
When a homeowner leaves the house, GROHE Sense Guard can automatically shut off the water pipes based on indications by Nest’s Home/Away Assist – and vice versa.
The Home/Away Assist uses input from a users’ mobile phone, activity sensors in products from Nest and ‘Works with Nest ‘products.
Alongside collaborations with insurance companies in Europe, this partnership is further evidence of GROHE’s successful activities in the field of smart water security.
GROHE ONDUS App Will Be Connected with Nest’s Home/Away Assist
Installed directly in the main water line, GROHE Sense Guard can automatically stop the water supply if, for example, a leak has been detected. The Sense Guard can be monitored and controlled via the GROHE ONDUS app. Connecting this app with Nest’s Home/Away feature provides the possibility of extending GROHE Sense Guard’s capabilities: When Nest users are away – as indicated via Nest’s
Home/Away Assist – the GROHE ONDUS app can automatically shut off the water supply immediately or within a pre-set time period.
GROHE Sense Guard is Based on an Open Technology Platform
“When it comes to digitisation, customer value and quality will always have the highest priority for us; we do not seek innovation for its own sake,” says Robert Veltrup, GROHE Chief Digital Officer. “That’s why we decided from the beginning to set up GROHE Sense Guard on an open technology platform. With collaborations like our ‘Works with Nest’ integration, we are able to offer consumers an increased level of water security.”
Preventable Water Damage
Water damage in households is a highly underestimated risk. GROHE’s 2017 survey into water security clearly shows that far more households in Europe are affected by water damage than the respondents themselves had suspected; approximately half of European households have already experienced water damage at least once. Furthermore, a report by the insurance company ACE-Group shows that 93% of cases could have been prevented.
For more information, please visit www.grohesenseguard.grohe.comand www.nest.com/works-with-nest


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Renault expects ‘volatile year’
Renault is predicting a tough year ahead after suffering an €8 billion (NZ$13.3b) loss in 2020 and battling the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Executives at the carmaker believe it will be profitable in the second half of 2021 but gave no financial guidance for this year.
Luca de Meo, chief executive, stepped into the role in July 2020 and is seeking to boost the group’s profitability and deliver substantial cost cuts.
He warns orders have faltered in early 2021 as pandemic restrictions in some countries and a shortage of semiconductor chips disrupt production.
Renault estimates the chip shortage may reduce its production by about 100,000 vehicles this year.
“We are in the midst of a battle to try to manage a difficult year in terms of supply chains, of components,” he explains.
“This is all the collateral damage of the Covid pandemic ... we will have a fairly volatile year.
“The beginning of the year has shown some signs of weakness. We have taken the necessary measures to anticipate and overcome challenges.”
Renault has set a target of achieving €2 billion in costs cuts by 2023 but says it may hit this goal ahead of time, possibly by the end of 2021, reports Reuters.
The group was loss-making in 2019 and took another hit in 2020 during lockdowns to fight the coronavirus pandemic, which also impacted its Japanese partner Nissan.
Sales at Renault fell to 2.95 million units in 2020, a 21.3 per cent drop from the previous year.
Meanwhile, its revenue for the financial year also plunged 21.7 per cent to €43.5b.


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LG says that it’ll be showing off “the first of a suite of AI technologies” on a new version of the V30 at Mobile World Congress this month, seemingly confirming a recent rumor out of Korea. ET News reported last week that a new phone called the V30s is set for an MWC reveal and will feature AI-powered camera features.
That is pretty much what LG has announced today. The AI tech is going to feature on “the 2018 version of the LG V30,” and is indeed initially focused on image recognition. LG calls this Vision AI — it involves automatic image analysis for shooting mode recommendations (like Huawei did with its Kirin 970 chip on the Mate 10) along with object recognition and shopping suggestions (like Google did with Lens on the Pixel…
Go to Source
Author: Sam Byford
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In 2017 a total of 456 restaurants were placed under extra supervision by the Dutch food and consumer product safety authority NVWA because they were not adhering to the rules on hygiene and food safety. That's over 120 more than in 2014, RTL Nieuws reports based on its own research into NVWA inspection reports.
Both the Dutch egg sector and the government did not give food safety high enough priority when it came to the fipronil contaminated egg scandal of last year, a committee headed by former Minister Winnie Sorgdrager concluded after investigating the crisis. The previous government also did not properly inform parliament about what was going on, the committee found, ANP reports.
A majority of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, supports a free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada (CETA)
Last year the NVWA fined 172 restaurants in the Netherlands for breaking hygiene and food safety rules more than once. For the first time ever the NVWA published the names of the restaurants, and RTL Nieuws compiled it into an interactive map so consumers can see which of the restaurants are in their neighborhood.
The Netherlands Food and Wares Authority (NVWA) has developed a new app to inform consumers of the cleanliness ratings of the restaurants that they visit. This app is available from today and can be accessed with a smartphone as well as through the NVWA website.
The Dutch Food- and Goods Authority, Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit (NVWA) wants that 130 Dutch customers of meat processor Willy Selten from Oss find and recall a total of 50 thousand tons of meat.


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London, UK (BBN)– British American Tobacco (BAT) is planning to merge with its US partner Reynolds in a deal valued at $47bn (£38bn).
BAT wants to buy the 57.8 per cent of Reynolds it does not already own, reports BBC.
The merger would bring together some of the tobacco industry’s best-known brands, including Rothmans, Dunhill and Camel cigarettes.
BAT has been a shareholder in Reynolds since 2004 and the company said the merger was “the logical progression in our relationship”.
The FTSE 100 company is offering $20bn in cash and $27bn in shares for the US business.
It estimates that it can make $400m worth of cost-savings through the merger, which will give the British business access to Reynolds’ production facility in Tobaccoville, North Carolina.
BAT has not yet held talks with Reynolds and said the merger would have to be approved by all the US company’s independent directors.
However, shares in BAT opened 2.3 per cent higher Friday morning.
Earlier this year, BAT executives, in response to speculation it could be looking for a deal, said they didn’t see any major industry consolidation in the short to medium term, the Wall Street Journal reported,
Accepting Reynolds shareholders will get $24.13 in cash, and 0.5502 British American Tobacco shares worth $32.37 for each share held.
Separately, British American Tobacco said the trading environment in a number of key markets remains challenging, with foreign exchange continuing to hurt the cost of sales at a transactional level.
The company reported that revenue for the nine months ended Sept. 30 rose 8.1 per cent at constant exchange rates, or 6.2 per cent on an organic basis.
Cigarette volumes rose 2.2 per cent, or 0.9 per cent on an organic basis, in the nine-month period.


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The launch of the newest PC loot shooter, Outriders, has had some problems. The game ran into load balancing issues in various regions as servers were overloaded with new players at launch. It would appear that some of those problems have been fixed. And though some balance and gameplay issues remain, things are looking good.
The developer has been on top of the bugs, and it appears to have worked out. Outriders has tripled Marvel’s Avengers peak player count on Steam. It looks like this new game has a lot of interest behind it thanks to the intriguing story and fast-paced gameplay.
Sure, Marvel’s Avengers didn’t have a very high player count, but it needs to be brought up. With a game marketed as heavily as Marvel’s Avengers there is a need to point this out. The general lesson here is that a better and more interesting game will do better.
As of this writing, just over 1,100 players are playing Marvel’s Avengers while almost 92,000 are playing Outriders. The peak at launch for the Marvel game was around 28,000 players at peak on Steam. This new game has a peak player count on Steam of around 110,000.
One of the biggest problems for the troubled superhero game was that it didn’t have enough content. Just days after launch, most players had completely stopped playing at all. The reasons for this are many, either often being based on too much RNG and grinding; although many players pointed out that the game needs more stuff to do. There has also been a push that the game will go free-to-play, but that may not save it. Marvel’s Avengers needs a lot more than new content to bounce back.
On the Outriders front, there’s a need to have more stable servers, as well as addressing balance issues. Players have been pretty happy with the opening of the game, but found a big of a drag in the middle.


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On June 2, 2020, Riot Games officially released Valorant for Microsoft Windows. Valorant entered into the first-person shooter games genre and was competing against the likes of CS:GO and Rainbow Six Siege. Today, Valorant boasts a massive player base and competitive scene that continues to grow, especially in India.
Apparently, Riot is now trying to bring the 5v5 game on Android and iOS devices. According to a report by IGN India, Valorant Mobile is under development. The report says "Valorant for Android and iOS is indeed in development. Sources at the company tell IGN India that Valorant Mobile as its tentatively named is on the way with the gaming giant trying to gauge which markets it would work in."
AFK Gaming rolled out another report saying dataminers had discovered “strings of code and a mobile UI" in the game. Back in March, prominent leaker PlayerIGN shared a video on his YouTube channel speculating that Valorant Mobile may be announced at the upcoming E3 2021.
Valorant Mobile release date
Even if Valorant Mobile is under development, don't expect a release date anytime soon. You may or may not get an announcement about the game's development from Riot but that will be it.
Currently, the competitive mobile gaming scene is dominated by PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, Clash of Clans, and Call of Duty: Mobile. Although PUBG Mobile is banned in India for 7 months, it might be close to making a comeback. PUBG Mobile India is also likely to be called Battlegrounds Mobile India. Here's how Battlegrounds Mobile India will be different from PUBG Mobile. Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends Mobile is also coming to Android and iOS devices soon.


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Is BMW finally feeling the effects of the European car crisis?
Germany is by far Europe’s largest car market. It is really no surprise considering that the likes of Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Audi are German. It has been one of the only positives regions throughout the whole European car market. Somehow the German market has managed to increase sales and grow 0.7 per cent from January to June of this year. This statistic represents a stark contrast when comparing the rest of Europe. Sales in Italy fell by 20 per cent and sales in France fell by 14 per cent when comparing the same time period. Car sales are so bad at present that some experts predict that they will reach their lowest level since the year 1995.
Car makers are under intense pressure to cut the prices of cars. Some are being sold as zero mile cars with discounts of around 20 per cent.
It has come as somewhat of a surprise that BMW are feeling the pressure. Usually the target market for BMW is wealthy businessmen who simply ride the recession and are not affected. The new generation BMW 3 Series has been a top seller throughout the world. There has been a great deal of interest in the car but this hasn’t stopped dealers offering a great discount on the vehicle. Some customers have been quoting prices on brand new cars from abroad, forcing some BMW salesman to drop their prices.
Mercedes-Benz is also understandably in the same boat on occasion. Some dealers in Italy have lowered their prices following difficulty in sales.
BMW Sales are not making as much profit as expected. More and more customers want bargains with dealers having to lower the prices of new vehicles.
General Motors brands Vauxhall and Opel are continuing to make losses this year. Peugeot and Fiat are in the same boat. The luxury car market was expected to be the exception to loss making mass car producers. However it seems that luxury car makers have joined the struggle.
BMW car prices have fallen down to 1.5 per cent this year on average. Previously that figure was 0.5 per cent.
Will BMW sales recover and reach the heights of what they once did? It will be a difficult task considering the vulnerability of the European car market at the moment.


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An analyst with Rabobank says “all roads lead to China” when describing the potential for the U.S. poultry sector’s success in 2017. At the National Chicken Council annual meeting last week, Will Sawyer said trade with China would be critical to the success of the U.S. poultry sector next year, while another analyst said trade was the key to the U.S. beef sector. Meatingplace reports expected increases in supplies and decreased prices of chicken, beef, pork and grain had a panel of analysts at the meeting thinking along the same lines. Their expectations were more or less in line with USDA forecasts for 2017 compared with 2016. Sawyer’s enthusiasm for the Chinese market for U.S. chicken comes as China’s poultry production is expected to decrease by 10 to 15 percent in 2017 from 2016.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.


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Instagram in Russia has taken off with a far more impressive impact as a foreign app compared to the slow entrance of Facebook and others . The app has become an increasingly popular photo sharing social media app worldwide. Instagram is yet another way to connect with friends, follow celebrities, get fitness and beauty advice, among other uses like travel or humor accounts. Plus Instagram eventually introduced sponsored content like the rest of the social media. Worldwide the app is used quite similarly and certain accounts draw followers from around the globe but there are also country specific uses that develop out of domestic interests, hashtags in different languages, and general Internet behavior that can vary from one country to another.
This year Instagram ranked 9th out of Russia’s top ten sites. According to eMarketer, Instagram ranked 6th out of Russia’s top ten mobile apps ranked by unique audience, with 4.7 million Russian users. Russian Search Marketing has looked at the app and website to create a fun post outlining what we could surmise about Russian users on Instagram. This post isn’t supported by data but instead by our own activity on Instagram interacting with Russian accounts and hashtags.
How Instagram Stacks up to Social Media in Russia
According to eMarketer, 48% of Russians are registered to a social networking platform, and said they sometimes or constantly used social media. While social networks are widespread among Russia’s Internet population, about 45% of consumers in the country are not registered on any social media platforms. According to eMarketer, it is expected that 79.2% of Russians will use a social network in 2016. By 2019, it is expected that it will rise to 80.2%. Instagram is one of the top social media websites that Russians are using, and was the third top social network included in Russia’s top ten sites this past year. Following behind local Russian social media sites, Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki. The high rankings says a lot about Instagram’s success in Russia because it immediately follows in popularity after domestic social networks. Facebook has grown in popularity there but still does not quite have the penetration it does elsewhere around the world. Russia only has 9 million Facebook users, out of its 83 million Interent users, with a low 11% penetration.
Russians on Instagram
The average Russian displays very similar Instagram behavior as most, posting travel pictures or photos with their families. However, Russians have been known to post lots of photos of themselves on social media and Instagram is no exception. The government even needed to outline some rules to prevent selfie injuries, something most people with a smartphone these days could use.
Generally, it seems there is a stronger female oriented use of Instagram. Many of the posts are focused on beauty products, hair, and fashion. This comes as no surprise because culturally Russians hold a high value on appearance and name brands. The appreciation Russians have for appearance is seen in multiple ways through their online behavior. In addition to Instagram posts, the most common search query topics from both tablets and phones are related to health and beauty at, equating to 9% of all queries from those devices. Instagram posts relating to beauty and fashion are not exclusive to Russian users, and are actually a very common theme even among American users of the mobile app.
In the same way that many Americans use Instagram to follow celebrities through photos, it seems that Russian socialites and celebrities have the same same following from Russian Instagram users. For example, Xenia Sobchak, is a Russian socialite with 3.8 million Instagram followers. Many of her posts show her lavish lifestyle, including clothes she wears and products she uses. Or Miroslava Duma, a Russian digital entrepreneur, who has 1.5 million followers on Instagram and is constantly updating her account with pictures about fashion and technology.
While women seem to show dominant representation on Instagram, there is definitely a Russian male presence on the social media app too. Men’s posts are often about fitness and travel. Fitness is likely a common theme in Russian Instagram posts because of the resurgence of personal fitness in Russia. There has been an increase of fitness centers throughout the country. Also similarly to the United States, lifestyle blogs about fitness goals, workouts, and healthy eating are popping up all over the internet. Male fashion interest is present as well, because culturally the appreciation of brand names and appearance goes beyond Russian women.
Just like many of the humor accounts, Russians also follow domestics accounts full of memes that include their own humor and Russian translations of some of the videos and images we see trending on our own feeds. The screenshot below shows a woman dancing to an Usher song with a caption about wishing to rock like that woman at her age.
When it comes to hashtags, of course Russians follow more topics in their own language. A while back a Russian hashtag trended that translated to elevator look that had everyone from the average person to the Russian prime minister posting selfies in elevators. Such trends are sometimes inspired from international or social media events across the globe but others such as the one just described also remain in country.
After looking at how Russians use Instagram, it is clear that they interact on social media like most users with a slight variation of cultural nuances.


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As per the recent reports, Motorola is now preparing to roll out the third generation of its iconic Razr foldable phone. Motorola Razr was amongst the first spiral of foldable phones to be rolled out in 2019. A year later, the firm continued with the Razr 5G which was outweighed by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip line.
Lenovo Announced the News of Motorola Razr Foldable Phone
A post on Weibo by Chen Jin, GM of Lenovo – the parent organization of Motorola, indicated that the smartphone manufacturer is silently operating on its third-generation Razr foldable phone. The post in Chinese revealed that the latest phones will have enhanced processing power, a user-friendly interface, and a new structure.
Read more: Upcoming Finance Bill to Impose Higher Tax on Imported Smartphones
The official release or statement from the corporation is yet to be known. However, the Chinese translation of the post implied that the latest third-generation Razr foldable phone will be rolled out in China initially. Motorola Razr that hit the markets in the mid-2000s stood out for its distinct appearance, specifically its thin shape.
Sold as a fashion phone, Motorola Razr made waves in the international market upon its rollout. Motorola marketed over 50 million units of Razr units in 2006 restoring its thick cell phone division. The Razr series is supposed to be the most advantageous line of the brand.
Oppo Has Also Entered the Market of Foldable Phones
In addition to the third-generation Razr foldable phone, Oppo Find N is the latest in the foldable phone classification. The latest phone has a similar design to Z Fold, has a 5.49-inch outer presentation and a 7.1-inch inner display. Find N has a broader 18:9 aspect ratio adding to its comfort of use. Both screens sport a 32-megapixel hole-punch camera for selfies and video conversations. The rear cameras comprise a 50-megapixel main camera, a 16-megapixel ultrawide lens, and a 13-megapixel telephoto lens.
Source: The Verge


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Both Countdown and Foodstuffs have implemented priority systems across their networks. They’re targeting different groups, with Foodstuffs prioritising emergency services and medical staff, and Countdown putting vulnerable customers first.
Effective from Friday 27th March, Foodstuffs invited uniformed or ID-carrying emergency services or medical professionals to enter stores first if there’s a line, and go through the checkout line first.
“As New Zealand works together to eliminate Covid-19, our emergency services and medical teams are going to be critical to help New Zealanders stay safe and well,” says Steve Anderson, CEO of Foodstuffs South Island. “We’re proud to be able to do our bit to make their lives easier when we know they’ll be working long and stressful hours. They deserve priority access all day every day, and our essential working staff look forward to serving them.”
On the same day, Countdown implemented a contrasting policy which saw it focus on vulnerable customers’ home deliveries. Eligible customers can apply for Countdown’s Priority Assistance if they are:
- Over 70 years of age
- Diagnosed with chronic illnesses including respiratory conditions, heart conditions, high blood pressure, kidney problems and diabetes. This also includes people undergoing treatment for cancer and blood conditions that make them more vulnerable to Covid-19.
- Possessing disabilities that make it difficult to shop in stores.
Once registered, customers will have access to available dedicated Priority Assistance delivery times.
Countdown is also ramping up its online delivery capacity and rolling out further physical distancing measures in stores.
Countdown’s general manager health and safety, Kiri Hannifin, has asked those able to shop in-stores to do so.
“Our teams have been doing everything possible to scale up online and home deliveries to the elderly, people with disabilities or those in mandatory self-isolation. We are continuing to work hard to increase the number of online delivery windows we have available, and prioritising these for vulnerable New Zealanders.”


text: Eat and Drink Papaya King's next stop? Downtown Brooklyn Papaya King is opening a new location in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo Credit: FLICKR/bigocean By GEORGIA KRAL November 5, 2015 12:32 PM Print Share fbShare Tweet Email Downtown Brooklyn is getting another iconic New York City eatery! After Lower East Side landmark Katz's Delicatessen announced its new location at the forthcoming DeKalb Market, Papaya King is jumping on the bandwagon. "As a native Brooklynite, I am proud to bring an iconic NYC brand to the borough," Papaya King owner Wayne Rosenbaum told Eater. The new location will feature the same menu as the original on East 86th Street. So get ready for frankfurters, all-beef sausages and tropical fruit drinks! Papaya King Brooklyn will be at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Nevins Street and is expected to open in early December, according to Eater. By GEORGIA KRAL Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comments We're revamping our Comments section. Learn more and share your input.


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The inventors of a solar-powered light bulb are targeting the developing world with the invention, claiming that as well as being safer and cleaner than the usual kerosene-powered lamps it can also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere up to 250kg (550 pounds) per bulb, per year, which is good news for the rest of us.
"We’ve done everything we can to make this solar bulb affordable and long-lasting so the people who need it can afford it, and reap the benefits, ” said Nokero’s inventor and founder Stephen Katsaros of Nokero International Ltd. (opens in new tab)
The rain-proof bulb is about the size of a standard incandescent bulb and can be charged during the day to provide hours of clean, safe light at night. It’s also designed with a replaceable, rechargeable battery so it can be renewed to operate for several years.
“There are so many ways this product can change lives: It can help keep families and shopkeepers safe, help students study at night, eradicate indoor pollution, and reduce worldwide carbon emissions," said Katsaros.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) estimates that those using fuel lamps spend five per cent of their income on fuel. The solar-powered bulb is an affordable which can pay for itself within months when replacing a kerosene lantern because of kerosene’s high cost, the manufacturer claims.
The bulb is cordless and bulb provides about four hours of light when fully charged, but takes about two days to charge in full sunlight, meaning it's good for about two hours of light per night, assuming it doesn't rain. The average use of a kerosene lantern is 1.5 hours according to a study (opens in new tab) (pdf) for the United Nations.
The UNFCC estimates that 190 million tons of carbon dioxide are released by fuel lanterns each year, the equivalent of 30 million cars. Since the Nokero bulb is solar-powered and does not emit carbon dioxide. Users can expect to save up to 250kg (550lbs) of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere in one year when they use the solar-powered bulb versus burning kerosene, Nokero reckons.
It also reduces the dangers associated with fuel lanterns such as increased indoor air pollution and fire risk.
"There’s no other product like this on the market,” Katsaros said. "This bulb represents our best chance at eradicating an outdated, dangerous practice and replacing it with a safe, sustainable solution."
The device is made of impact-resistant plastic, four solar panels, and five bright LEDs. The replaceable, nickel metal hydride battery lasts up to two years, and is easily replaced. The solar panels and LEDs are rated for 50,000 hours of light,
The bulbs cost $15 each reduced to $10 when buying in bulk.


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The Galaxy S5 and earlier Galaxy smartphones had replaceable batteries and storage expansion slots. But the new GS6 says goodbye to that flexibility in favor of a sleeker design.
The most important things to know when shopping for a cell phone.
HTC's latest flagship smartphone has an all-new rear camera, but is that a good thing? We tried an early version out in Barcelona with very mixed results.
The editing tool partners with the Discovery Communications' Digital Networks to incorporate its footage into home movies.
One day after the FCC adopted new Net neutrality rules, consumers are left scratching their heads about what it means for their Web-surfing experience. Has anything really changed?
Korean electronics giant fires the latest shots at rival Apple with newly designed flagship smartphones, a mobile payment system, and a virtual reality headset.
The "Spring Forward" March 9 Apple event could hold some surprises in store, the FCC votes in favor of Net neutrality rules, and ToeJam & Earl rock Kickstarter to make a funky return.
Normally $49.95, this easy-to-use editor provides basic editing tools and supports a wide range of formats. Plus: three bonus deals!
Rounding up the free PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Games With Gold games for February 2015.
Soon, we'll see a type of wireless charging that will let you power up a whole lot of devices at once, from an ordinary surface. CNET sat down with Qualcomm for a hands-on look.


text: The U.S. tried to resolve “long-standing market access impediments affecting U.S. exporters” with India during 2020, says the 2021 President’s Trade Agenda and 2020 Annual Report — an annual report submitted by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to Congress. The report terms India’s policies “trade-restrictive” and saying the “Make in India” campaign epitomises the challenges to the trade relationship. “While India’s large market, economic growth, and progress towards development make it an essential market for many U.S. exporters, a general and consistent trend of trade-restrictive policies have inhibited the potential of the bilateral trade relationship. Recent Indian emphasis on import substitution through a “Make in India” campaign has epitomized the challenges facing the bilateral trade relationship,” the report says. The Make in India campaign was launched by Prime Minister Modi in 2014 to incentivise production in India.


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Fitbit Spent the Most on Wearable Fitness Ads Last Year
by Steven Perlberg, The Wall Street Journal
Fitbit led the pack of companies in the wearable fitness advertising race last year, as the device maker tried to maintain its grip on an increasingly crowded market, according to a new report from ad spending tracker Kantar Media.
Fitbit, which last month filed for an initial public offering, spent about $21.6 million last year across media like television, magazines and the Web to advertise its products, which track movement and sleep patterns. Garmin followed with $18.7 million in spending, while Samsung spent $11.6 million, according to Kantar Media.
Those three companies accounted for about three-quarters of the advertising spending for the entire fitness tracking category last year, Kantar Media said. Nike and Google followed the top three with about $3 million of ad spending each, according to the report, which does not include spending on things like social media or online video.
While the report covers spending from last year, the Apple Watch’s entry into the wearable fitness category this year will likely alter the ad spending calculus across the market. According to NPD Group, Fitbit holds 68% of the fitness-tracker market.
Kantar Media’s analysis depicted a young, volatile sector when it comes to ad spending. In 2010, for example, Garmin accounted for 77% of market ad spending. Then in 2011, Nike accounted for 42% of media spending thanks to an ad push for its Nike+ Training Club app, while Garmin dropped to 22%.
In 2013, Samsung spent heavily to promote its Galaxy Gear Smartwatch, making up nearly 89% of the wearable fitness ad market that year, according to the report. By 2014, Fitbit upped its spending as it invested in promoting products like the Fitbit Charge and Fitbit Surge.
Interestingly, Kantar Media noted that the top three advertisers collectively spent 65% of their 2014 advertising budgets in this category on an old-school medium: television.
Here’s the list of 2014 advertising spenders in wearable fitness:
View The Original Article From The Wall Street Journal
View Our Complete Health & Wellness Analysis


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Mario Kart 8 sells 1.2 million units worldwide
Earlier today, we reported hat Mario Kart 8, which released on Friday, was the best-selling week one for any Wii U title since launch, and the second best in the Mario Kart series ever. Nintendo has put some hard numbers behind that statement, announcing that the game sold more than 1.2 million total units worldwide during its first weekend available.
“The early response to Mario Kart 8 demonstrates that the best days for Wii U are still ahead,” said Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “This year’s E3 is just days away, and it will be all about the future games for Nintendo platforms. This milestone is a great place to start!”
In addition to today's grand news, Nintendo took the opportunity to celebrate the entire Mario Kart series, revealing that the previous seven games that have launched have combined to sell more than 100 million total units worldwide, including two of the best-selling games of all time: Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart DS.
|Title||System||Global Sales (as of 3/31/14)|
|Super Mario Kart||Super Nintendo||8.76 million|
|Mario Kart 64||Nintendo 64||9.87 million|
|Mario Kart Advance||Game Boy Advance||5.91 million|
|Mario Kart: Double Dash!!||Nintendo GameCube||6.88 million|
|Mario Kart DS||Nintendo DS||23.56 million|
|Mario Kart Wii||Wii||35.53 million|
|Mario Kart 7||Nintendo 3DS||9.62 million|
|Total: 100.13 million|


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Comprehensive M&A data with integrated detailed company information
‘Ford takes a Spin with US e-scooter company’
Posted on Thursday, 08 November 2018 10:16
According to recent media reports, Ford Motor Company has agreed to pick up two-year-old San Francisco-based electric scooter businesses Spin.
First to cited multiple sources with knowledge of the matter was Axios. The newsletter originally noted the deal was worth USD 40.00 million; however, the article was updated to note that two new insiders suggested the acquisition was valued at closer to USD 100.00 million.
Spin operates e-scooters in states including Washington, Michigan, Florida and California, as well as placing its products in specific cities and having a presence on five college campuses.
The company is one of three businesses that deployed such transportation products in San Francisco back in March, alongside Bird, said to be worth about USD 2.00 billion, and Lime, a start-up that recently entered into a partnership with Uber.
Reuters also picked up on the potential deal, citing a person familiar with the situation as saying Ford will invest about USD 200.00 million in Spin.
However, while the transaction is a significant one for both parties, it is dwarfed by other similar investments in the industry as Bird has attracted USD 400.00 million in funding, while Lime has sounded out USD 450.00 million at a valuation of around USD 4.00 billion.
Ford is said to be adding Spin to its range of future transportation services, which already include autonomous vehicles and on-demand shuttles, which it gained through the purchases of Chariot and TransLoc.
The car manufacturer has plans to expand the target over the next 18 months from 32 markets to more than 100 locations across North America, according to recent media reports that cited Sundeep Madra, head of the automaker’s Ford X start-up incubator.
A Spin scooter costs a single dollar to rent and 15.00 cents per mile and was launched in a bid to tackle the congestion of traffic in some of the majority cities across the US.
Ford is the first vehicle manufacturer to enter the market, commonly known as micro-mobility, due to the smaller size of transportation.
© Zephus Ltd


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The Rise of IP
Since the first lockdown last March there have been financial winners and losers and you don’t have to be a genius to spot which type of retail business has suffered the most and why.
With customers locked down and shops shut, established online retailers such as Amazon and those companies that have pivoted online have flourished. Retailers relying predominantly on Bricks and Mortar outlets have seen sales collapse and many are now carrying an unsustainable cost burden.
The evidence is clear to see. The last 10 months have seen a raft of large retailers with multiple locations going into administration. The list is a tale of fallen giants: Peacocks, Jaeger, Laura Ashley, Oasis, Debenhams and the once all conquering Arcadia group. The death of the High Street has been long predicted but Covid-19 has made it a reality.
What is worth noting however, is that all these brand names retained their value even in administration. The only assets Administrators have been able to sell for any value is the companies’ intellectual property. Prime examples are the Debenhams brand being sold to Boohoo for £55m (but not any of its stores), Marks and Spencer buying the Jaeger brand (but none of its stores), private equity buying the TM Lewin brand (but none of its stores) and the imminent sale of Arcadia’s brands (but none of its stores). Ultimately, the physical assets of these businesses have ended up worthless.
I suspect this trend will continue long after the pandemic has passed and it raises many questions about the long term future of the high street but, what is clear, is that never before has the intrinsic value of intangible assets been so high. It is now more important than ever that businesses, both old and new, focus on creating, exploiting and protecting their Intellectual Property. After all, it’s probably the most valuable asset they have.


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Samsung Electronics will take the wrap off its Galaxy Note 9 (tentative name) Smartphone in New York City, on August 9.
Samsung Electronics sent invitations to an event to launch a new product to media outlets around the world on June 28. The company did not reveal the name of the product but it is assumed that the product is the Galaxy Note 9. The venue is the Barclays Center in Brooklyn of New York City.
The event will kick off at 11 am on August 9. Compared to the fact that the Galaxy Note 8 was released on August 23 and released on September 21, last year, the Galaxy Note 9 will make its worldwide debut two to three weeks earlier. Analysts say that Samsung Electronics plans to do that to preempt the premium smartphone market before the launch of a new iPhone by Apple in September. The Galaxy Note 9 unpack events will be broadcast live on the Samsung Electronics newsroom and homepage.
The invitation has a picture of an object believed to be the Galaxy Note 9’s S Pen. In the meantime, there will be a change in S Pen as hints for new products have been given through invitations. The most likely change is the addition of a Bluetooth function to S Pen. Some experts predict that Samsung Electronics loaded S Pen with a Bluetooth function so the pen will be able to turn into a camera and a speaker.
According to foreign news stories put together, the Galaxy Note 9’s screen size is expected to be larger than those of the Galaxy Note 8 (6.3 inches) and the Galaxy S9 Plus (6.2 inches) as the Korean smartphone giant adopted a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display for the Galaxy Note 9. It is also expected that AI interface Bixby 2.0 will debut via the Galaxy Note 9.


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A honest Nigerian man has reportedly returned a customer’s debit card and stack of money to one of the commercial banks in Sokoto state.
Facebook user, Musa Ibrahim Babadoko who shared the story, said the ATM dispensed the cash and ejected the card without the owner being there to retrieve it.
The unidentified man who came across the items, then entered the bank and returned them.
Babadoko shared a photo of the man holding the money and card.
He wrote; “This man here did wonders, he returned this money with the ATM card to the bank after ATM machine dispensed the money and card without a customer in one of the banks in Sokoto”.
See the post:


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This text was initially posted on Bitcoinist – one of many main sources for details about Bitcoin, digital foreign money and blockchain know-how. With one of the crucial dependable information groups within the trade, Bitcoinist supplies up-to-date information and insightful evaluation. For extra observe the hyperlink beneath.
The federal government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) is about to announce the small print of its personal digital foreign money. The challenge is developed in partnership with blockchain-oriented startup LIFElabs.io.
BVI’s Digital Forex to Exchange USD
Extra governments are turning to proprietary digital currencies during the last yr than ever earlier than. China and the Marshall Islands are some good examples. Now it’s time for BVI to affix the pattern. The British territory, which is a well-liked offshore vacation spot, is internet hosting the BVI Digital Economic system symposium right this moment. The occasion gathers over 100 stakeholders that can assist the archipelago transfer to change into a digital hub.
On the symposium, BVI and LIFElabs.io will current related particulars of the government-backed digital foreign money known as BVI~LIFE.
For about 60 years, BVI has used the US greenback as its nationwide foreign money. Now the federal government is engaged on a stablecoin powered by LIFEtoken. The foreign money will likely be pegged to the USD with a ratio of 1:1. When it goes dwell, the digital foreign money system will reduce transaction charges, improve transaction velocity, and guarantee liquidity for each residents and vacationers.
LIFElabs.io CEO Sanjay Jadhav commented:
This partnership places us in a novel place to make a large influence in a spot that actually stands to profit. The inspiration of a digital foreign money is important groundwork for the British Virgin Islands to proceed to serve the worldwide economic system because it has up to now with the onset of the blockchain revolution.
LIFElabs Develops Emergency Fund and Blockchain Platform
Moreover the nationwide foreign money, BVI can have an emergency fund and a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that depends on blockchain.
LIFElabs is engaged on a Fast Money Response (RCR) fund that can present support within the case of a nationwide emergency. For instance, two years in the past, Hurricane Irma hit BVI, inflicting $three billion in damages.
LIFElabs CMO David Pugh-Jones defined:
LIFElabs was conceived with an emphasis on philanthropy, and our work with the British Virgin Islands exemplifies this completely. With the Fast Money Response fund, we’re creating obligatory instruments for the federal government to defend towards catastrophe and shield its residents from the aftermath.
BVI’s PaaS will merge blockchain options, together with peer-to-peer transactions, service provider companies, and cross-border funds, right into a single platform obtainable to all companies working in BVI.
What do you concentrate on BVI’s nationwide digital foreign money? Share your ideas within the feedback part!
Picture through Shutterstock
The publish Simply In: British Virgin Islands Launch Personal Digital Forex appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.


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On November 11th, people watch Sony Corp.'s robotic dogs Aibo at a ritual ceremony Sichi-Go San, which is usually held for praying for children's health and wellbeing, at the Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo. In an interview with Sony Chief Technology Officer Hiroaki Kitano, several companies in the world have enough technology accumulated to make them quickly, once it is clear which uses are promising, according to Sony Chief Technology Officer Hiroaki Kitano.
We will make an investment for manufacturing only if it is necessary. We believe that robots are a potential in humanoid robots, but we also believe that other forms of robots are important as well. Sony launched a robot dog called Aibo more than two decades ago. It sold about 150,000 units from 1999 to 2006 and then unveiled an advanced version in 2018, selling about 20,000 units in the first six months.
Humanoid robots have been in development for decades by Honda Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. In September, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk showed off a prototype of its humanoid robot Optimus.
Musk's company plans to deploy thousands of robots in factories, expanding the company's capacity to millions around the world.
Kitano said Sony, armed with expertise in audio-visual technology and rich entertainment content, including music and video games, was well positioned to play a major role in the metaverse, or immersive virtual worlds.
The idea that consumers will spend more time in online simulated environments is encapsulated by the metaverse. While the concept is evolving, it has become a buzzword in briefings and a driver of industry earmarking.
He said that it's not like people would show up just because they've created a venue. Content is what makes orbreaks the metaverse.
Kitano told a media briefing Sony will strengthen its research and development activities and define sensing, artificial intelligence AI and digital virtual spaces as key technical domains to drive Sony's business expansion.
Kitano told reporters that the technology is the result of sensors, AI and virtual spaces, and will be our great strength.
Sony's image sensors are widely used in smartphones and becoming key auto components as carmakers try to reduce traffic accidents and move towards autonomous driving.


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New job. New Career.
After years of working temporary jobs, Cody Flores finally has some stability. “I Love it. I really like my new job,” says Flores, trainee technician at Retting’s Auto Body Shop. “I went from painting houses to painting cars and learning the ins and outs of the auto industry.” Flores’ training program included identifying the necessary tools for specific jobs, preparing estimates and assisting in repairing vehicles and replacing parts. He learns something new daily and the job involves a lot of math and attention to detail, according to Flores.
Retting’s Auto Body Shop has been in business for over 40 years. They repair damaged automobiles, do quality inspections and provide superior service, according to body shop manager, Bob Allen. When presented with the opportunity to hire a worker through the OJT program, Allen describes it as a win-win for all. “We got an outstanding worker, he’s a go-getter,” Allen smiled as he described Flores. “His warm personality and willingness to learn the trade has made training him a delight.”
After five months, Flores has completed the training phase of the program. He’s now an auto body technician. He’s excited about his new career and looks forward to a bright future. “The supportive staff and working environment has made this journey worthwhile. I get to work with my hands and learn something new every day, Flores said.”


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Huawei has officially introduced the final member of its P30 series of smartphones: the Huawei P30 Lite. We've already seen what the P30 Pro can do (except we haven't really seen what it can do, yet -- the low-light camera performance is said to be amazing) and the P30 is no slouch either. The P30 Lite, on the other hand... that's the budget contender and it's looking quite er... contentious.
The Nokia X71 might sound like the tech company is working on a spy-plane rather than a smartphone but that’s obviously not the case… unless Nokia’s hiding something from us. But no, the Nokia X71 is definitely a smartphone. One with a great many pixels at its disposal. We can get behind that. But before we get to check out the camera(s), it’s worth glancing at the screen. ...[Read More]
The EOS RP is an affordable yet advanced camera in Canon’s full frame line-up. Offering next generation full frame optical performance with the potential to explore future RF lenses, the EOS RP features the innovative RF Mount with its high-speed 12-pin communication system, short back focus and wide 54-mm mount diameter.
Earlier this year we heard that Lenovo-owned Motorola is taking another crack at their iconic Razr phone, only this time it is going to be a (very expensive) foldable device. Pricing over R20k? We were hoping that the device would justify the cost beyond just being an entry in the burgeoning folding phone wars but... yeah.
With an opening act that sounded more like the intro for an old-school Disney film, Samsung's Unpacked 2019 event jumped right into the reveal of the Galaxy Fold. Yeah, that name's official. And appropriate.
Once upon a time, a budget Android smartphone wasn’t a very nice thing to look at. Made to conform to a price point rather than to attract customers, cheaper Androids were typically poorly-designed, slow, and difficult to use. Once upon a time. Xiaomi’s newly-announced Redmi Go, the company’s first Android Go smartphone, is hoping to change your mind on that score. The Redmi Go u...[Read More]
We’re quite fond of Hisense’s range of smartphones here at the Stuff offices, for reasons that might seem counterintuitive. They’re neat, they’re usually easy to use — if they were a friend, they’d be that one that sticks around after parties to help clean up. You know, the one with no drama while everyone around them is losing their collective er… minds. ...[Read More]
Alienware, the gaming brand developed by Dell, have announced their thinnest, lightest gaming notebook yet. And this one’s coming to South Africa in just a few weeks time. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019, Dell and Alienware decided to give consumers what they want — an affordable, lightweight gaming machine. A machine that appeals to both amateur gamers as well as pros. And...[Read More]
Earlier this week Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus revealed a partnership announcement taking place on 11 December this year. The partnership is with McLaren, which makes an awful lot of sense — Huawei and BlackBerry have previously partnered with Porsche Design. OnePlus… is after something a little faster. The OnePlus/McLaren deal is supposed to be for a McLaren Edition of the OnePlus...[Read More]
Samsung has done what it said it would and revealed its first folding smartphone at the company’s Developer Conference in San Francisco this week. In a manner of speaking, anyway. There was certainly a folding smartphone shown on stage, though the device was disguised in a case that concealed ‘key design elements’. Samsung’s new tech was demonstrated by Justin Denison, the ...[Read More]


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DC Benefits From Recession-Proof Cherry Blossoms
Published May 4, 2009 at 8:30 PM | Updated at 8:45 PM EDT on May 4, 2009
WASHINGTON -- The National Cherry Blossom Festival reports that it did in fact prove recession-proof this year.
Guest Services Inc. reported retail sales were up 25 percent over 2008, and concessions also increased. April 4 saw record-breaking sales.
WMATA reported record Saturday and Sunday ridership on April 4 and April 5, respectively.
Area restaurants and hotels reported good business, as well.


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All-Stars all get rooms at the same hotel, though that doesn't necessarily mean they're at risk for an awkward elevator ride together.
"Man, you know what, fashion week has been great", Westbrook said. Have you been paying attention to Fashion Week?
Westbrook is a noted fashion expert, often arriving to games in outfits that turn heads.
"Man, you seen the new Public School clothing?" I'm so excited about the grassroots programme and looking forward to it. Crazy. They got the mink Jordan hoodie with Tinker, and they got one with MJ. Gucci. The new Gucci stuff is dope.
Westbrook in training camp told reporters he wasn't answering any more questions about Durant but did handle a few last week leading into Durant's return game to Oklahoma City. I'm on a totally different team now.
Extra drama has been infused into Sunday's All-Star Game after Warriors coach Steve Kerr revealed he has "definitely" considered putting Westbrook in a lineup featuring Durant and fellow Golden State All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
"I'm going to handle All-Star Weekend like I always did", Durant said.
Of course, members of media were quick to continue the line of questioning of Friday during All-Star media availability leading up to the weekend. If they need advice, I will give it to them.
Still, considering their last encounter on the court featured some serious back-and-forth yapping, you can't help but wonder what their dynamic will be like during the All-Star Game. "So we've got to figure out the minutes and I have thought about it".


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Home / The Professional / ProRisk unveils new broker education webinars
7 June 2021
ProRisk has released a new schedule of education webinars to be held this year to build broker capability and product knowledge.
The lunchtime webinars offer brokers CPD points for attending.
On July 27, a “Product Training: Sole Traders & Partnerships Management Liability” masterclass will be presented by ProRisk executive director Hamish McDonald Nye and General Counsel and Head of Operations Jaydon Burke-Douglas.
Attendees will hear from the product designers on key coverage elements as well as appetite and claims examples.
On August 24, “How to Bind like a Pro” will be presented by Mr Nye and digital application manager Matthew Harkin, offering a live demonstration of ProRisk’s online trading platform ProBind, as well as how to bind in under two minutes and cross sell new products.
Other webinars scheduled through to December so far include:
Further webinars may be posted. Brokers can register here.


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Many businesses are still viewing PR as a support function. According to a study done?by Releasd in July, 40% of the 300 executives surveyed said they did not think that PR delivered good value to the business. On the functions that did deliver results, only 13% of the respondents placed communications among their top five.
Speaking at the Marketing's PR Asia Singapore conference, Su Min Sng, head of communications, Grab said where PR professionals could proactively deliver value is in having the "tough conversations" with the business leads. This means stepping up during boardroom discussions to challenge business decisions and redefine the brand narrative, where and when necessary. Not doing so can cost the business greatly, explained Sng, who shared that like any other brand, Grab has had its fair share of hard knocks and learning lessons.
For example, in July 2018, the company?experienced?backlash from consumers?for changing its?membership tiers and its policy for earning and redeeming GrabRewards points shortly after the merger with Uber SEA, a move which Grab?later reversed. Other times customers voiced their views was when the brand announced the ceasing of promotions, despite the company's promise to roll out product enhancements that will create long-term value.
Sng explained that through various situations, the brand has realised that while business decisions need to be made quickly, communications teams must also have a "good tough conversation" with business leads before the decision is made to ensure they have a plan put in place if situations go awry. The PR function needs to engage business stakeholders early and be the "voice of reason".
She added that in the world of data and growing distrust consumers often have against companies, PR professionals need to stop taking reports and research at face value, and be prepared to dive in with data teams, right from the start, to find the right "data proof points" to build a credible brand story.
[gallery link="file" ids="278786,278787,278789"]
Another learning point shared was the need for professionals to be "inherently curious" about different aspects of the business. As Grab expanded rapidly beyond transport to the realms of finance and food in 2018, Sng knew her team had to step up to create an identity that explained the company?s longer term aspirations, and how the Grab business was evolving.
"[PR professionals] shouldn?t be shy to call out issues such as asking what the company stands for or questioning when business decisions are not clear. There has to be a strategy and PR can play a role in building a coherent story," she said.
While ideas such as "consumer tech platform" and "O2O mobile platform" surfaced, Sng's team was determined to narrow in on something that can help stakeholders understand the company's aspirations better. That eventually gave birth to Grab's "everyday superapp" positioning.
She explained that most business leads across companies often desire to amplify the company's achievements through PR, but PR professionals need to take it upon themselves to educate stakeholders about?finding the right timings for communication, filtering out sensitivities, and educating about the possible implications of amplifications. She added that if PR professional prove themselves in those areas, they can build a trust and a long-lasting, healthy relationship with the business.
Adding on, Sng said successful communication is not always about garnering media coverage. For example, Grab recently met up with delivery partners and provided them with thank-you notes and gifts, but it was only shared on internal channels. The company also decided to arm its drivers with personal accident insurance, despite the high cost and low awareness because safety is something it stands for.
For Grab?s PR team, it was also important for the department to understand the broader business landscape and external environmental changes. One such example was the increased expectations for tech companies to use tech responsibly, and contribute to local communities. Sng and her team identified that this was a good opportunity for the company to emphasise Grab?s ongoing social impact initiatives and more clearly articulate its focus on improving people?s lives.
As such, in October, Grab introduced the ?Grab for Good? social impact programme. Two flagship initiatives under the programme have been launched to date ? a skills training and digital literacy partnership with Microsoft, and regional ?Break the Silence? initiative, that enables the deaf and hearing-impaired to better participate in the digital economy through the Grab ecosystem.
"Ultimately, if we can make sure there is an alignment to the overall growth of a business, the business leaders will always be open to what you have to say," she said.


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File photo. Photograph:( Facebook )
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has issued an arrest warrant against Nirav Modi after he was caught in diversion of duty-free imported goods, Cut-and-Polished Diamonds (CPDs) and pearls.
The agency has discovered that Modi's three companies — Firestar International, Firestar Diamond International and Radashir Jewellery — indulged in a total diversion of duty-free goods was found to be Rs 1,205 crore.
In December 2014, DRI, had intercepted the consignments, at Air Cargo Complex, Sahar, Mumbai, destined to Hong Kong and Dubai which were found to be mis-declared in their quality, quantity and value, mainly that of Cut & Polished Diamonds (CPD).
According to the norms, duty-free import of goods by the units located in the SEZ is permitted only if they are to be used as raw material and are exported after value addition or processing.
It was found that high-value diamonds and pearls worth Rs. 890 crore, involving customs duty of Rs. 52 crore, were allegedly diverted by the SEZ units controlled by Nirav Modi and sold in the open market, the officials said.
To evade import duty, he exported low-quality diamonds and pearls and claimed that these were the ones imported and then processed, they said.
The DRI, which is probing the case, has claimed that it has collected vital details, documents and evidence.
All the three companies are located in Surat SEZ.
Chief Judicial Magistrate B H Kapadia issued the warrant as Modi failed to present himself during the court hearings, public prosecutor Nayan Sukhadwala said.
Meanwhile, PNB's own internal report found that multi-crore scam might have been orchestrated by a few rogue employees, but it escaped detection because of widespread risk-control and monitoring lapses in many areas of the bank.
PNB, India's second-biggest state-controlled lender, has previously alleged that a handful of staff at a single Mumbai branch issued fake bank guarantees over several years to help two jewellery groups - controlled by Indian diamond magnate Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi - raise billions of dollars in foreign credit and commit India's biggest-ever bank fraud.
The bank's CEO Sunil Mehta told Reuters in April he had suspended 21 officials and "will not spare" others found involved in lapses, but he also described the fraud as a "small turmoil".


text: beGREAT Chicken Shack’s Joe Delpit featured in ‘Food and Wine’ by byanmediagroup 10 months ago 0 Comments Joe Delpit is not your average local business owner. Delpit has been in charge of Baton Rouge’s own Chicken Shack Restaurant for over 50 years, having taken over the mini – chain at the age of 18 following his father’s death. As a pillar in the African American community, Joe Delpit has had more of an impact than one can see on the surface. Joe Delpit started working in the shop at the age of five, assigned the task of making sure the toast didn’t burn and by 14 was making deliveries all over town on his bike. After being told by his father that his deliveries were not fast enough on his bike, he took Joe to the DMV and lied about his age so he could get his license and drive the truck to make faster deliveries. Delpit, not only used his mobility to make deliveries but also used it as an opportunity to take his own place in the country’s civil rights movement and giving people rides to work during the 1953 Baton Rouge bus boycott. For the full story, visit https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/chicken-shack-baton-rouge-civil-rights Share This Articles Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *CommentName * E-mail * Web Site Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.