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Boundless Care for Children in Mountain Area DS S
As a responsible automotive enterprise, our company aims to develop cars with high quality and perfect after-sale services. But beyond that, carrying out social responsibility is also very important, which is exactly what DS SERVICE, the DS service brand, endeavors to do.
DS 5 Shows in World War II Victory 70th Anniversa
On May 8th, a grand ceremony was held in Paris to celebrate the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II.
French Ambassador Visited CAPSA
April 8th, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, French Ambassador in China, visited CAPSA.
Peugeot Family Visited CAPSA
On March 9, Mr. Jean-Philippe Peugeot, the president of EPF and Mr. Robert Peugeot, the president of FFP visited CAPSA.
First stop of Tavares in New Year
Mr.Tavares and Gregoire Olivier came to China, to the front line of DS sales and listened to the feedback of customers and dealers.


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Online music service Spotify is planning to expand to the US and launch a mobile version by years end.
The service lets fans stream over three million tracks legally at no cost. The company has gained more than a million users in the UK since its official release in October.
According to founder Daniel Ek, Spotify wants to be everywhere, and doesn’t want to be limited to one device.
Ek did reveal that the new mobile service will only work with a paid monthly subscription.
“Portability is an important aspect, [as is] interoperability with other devices,” he added.
“That\’s definitely something we think is a premium product that people are willing to pay for – being able to bring the music with you or being able to have it working on your stereo.”
Spotify is currently developing an iPhone application, but is also seeking to develop the service on other mobile platforms.
“I definitely hope that it will be before the end of this year that we\’ll do something which allows people to bring the music with them.”
Spotify’s current service is available in Norway, Finland, France, and Spain, in addition to the UK and Sweden.
According to Ek, the service has been a huge hit in the UK since its launch in October.
Ek, a 25-year-old entrepreneur, created Spotify in an attempt to create a legal alternative to illegal file-sharing services.
He has not revealed how many users have paid to subscribe, but says more extras will be added to encourage users to sign up for the monthly fee.
Some of the extras will include better sound quality, new release previews, social networking features, and exclusive tracks for well-known artists.
The company also plans to sell music merchandise like vinyl, T-shirts, and concert tickets to users as they listen to their favorite artists.
Spotify is expected to announce a deal with Last.fm, a well-known streaming site, to provide song recommendations for fans.
“We definitely want to have music recommendation,” said Ek. “I\’d love to work with someone like Last.fm and I think in a couple of days you\’ll see some sort of announcement. Something will happen.”
According to Ek, the company does not plan to focus on streaming video anytime soon.
“It\’s something that we\’ve considered but we\’re focusing right now on the audio side, and we\’re focusing on generating revenue.”
“At the moment there are other features that are higher up in the priority list, but it\’s definitely not something that we\’ve excluded.”
On The Net:

domain: news


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September 07, 2023
Welcome to Morning Blockchain, where we’re serving up a refreshing blend of blockchain and cryptocurrency knowledge to stimulate your neurons. In today’s edition, we’ll dive into the battle for the first spot crypto fund, explore the intersection of art and blockchain, uncover the benefits of Crypto Separately Managed Accounts, and much more. So grab your energy drink and get ready to crack open a can of wisdom. Let’s dive in!
ARK Invest and 21Shares file with SEC for spot ether ETF Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest and 21shares have applied for a spot ether ETF, called ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF, which would provide direct exposure to ether and trade on the Cboe BZX Exchange; this is relevant to blockchain and cryptocurrency as it represents the ongoing battle between the crypto industry and regulators for the first spot crypto fund. Crypto VC Sino Global changes name to Ryze Labs China-based venture firm Sino Global Capital has rebranded as Ryze Labs to reflect its global ambitions and expanding focus beyond the Asian region, including investments in top blockchain-based projects, and the new name also helps to distance itself from its close association with FTX, a disgraced cryptocurrency platform. Web3 arts startup TRLab raises $5 million from Hivemind Capital, OKX Ventures TRLab, a fine art-focused tech start-up, has raised $5 million in seed funding to promote digital art in the web3 space, highlighting the increasing interest and demand for digital-centric art experiences and the potential for blockchain and cryptocurrency to revolutionize the art industry. Why Wealth Managers Are Choosing These Crypto Accounts Summary: Crypto Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) offer tax optimization opportunities, direct ownership with minimal tracking error, integration with reporting platforms, and the expertise of professional management, making them a valuable investment option in the volatile crypto market.
Relevance to blockchain and cryptocurrency: This article discusses how Crypto SMAs provide unique benefits for investors in the digital asset market, highlighting their relevance to blockchain and cryptocurrency by addressing tax optimization, direct ownership, reporting integration, and the need for professional management in this emerging asset class. Former Coinbase execs raise $8 million for fresh take on crypto lending Former Coinbase executives have launched Trident Digital Group, a crypto lending startup that aims to restore liquidity to the lending market by offering proper risk management and striking a balance between security and capital efficiency; the startup raised $8 million in a seed round to fund its “next generation” crypto lending business. SOMA Finance plans to launch retail-compliant digital security token SOMA Finance is planning to launch the SOMA token, which it claims to be the first legally issued and compliant digital security for U.S. and global retail investors, offering a financial stake in SOMA Finance and dividends of up to 10% from its profits, bridging the gap between DeFi and traditional financial systems. FDUSD stablecoin market cap grew 51% to $394 million over last 30 days The supply of the FDUSD stablecoin has increased by 51% in the past 30 days, making it the eleventh largest dollar-based stablecoin, and Binance has played a significant role in its adoption by listing it on the exchange and discontinuing support for BUSD in favor of FDUSD, though its presence in the wider cryptocurrency and DeFi sectors is still limited. Crypto Lenders Caused Crypto Contagion Last Year. How Is the Industry Rebuilding? Bitcoin, with its decentralized and transparent nature, needs a robust lending market to thrive in the financial landscape, just like the currencies that came before it. Google advertising unit permits promotion of NFT games, if gamble free Google has updated its advertising policy to allow companies to advertise NFT games that do not promote gambling-related content, but those with a gambling component are not permitted; this is relevant to blockchain and cryptocurrency as it reflects the growing adoption and recognition of NFTs and their associated games by major tech companies. Arkham identifies wallet addresses tied to Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Arkham Intelligence has identified over 1,750 wallet addresses linked to Grayscale Bitcoin Trust’s holdings, making it the second largest BTC entity globally, and it also holds 3.03 million ETH; this is relevant to blockchain and cryptocurrency as it highlights the significant holdings of a major investment vehicle and provides insights into the market demand for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Solana hackathon will award up to $1 million in prizes and funding The Solana Foundation is launching a hackathon called Hyperdrive, offering up to $1 million in prizes and seed funding, to encourage the development of new tools and apps on the Solana network, providing an opportunity for developers to compete and launch their startups on Solana, shaping the future of the ecosystem. Coinbase, Framework Venture Funds Invest $5M in Socket Protocol, in Bet on Blockchain Interoperability Socket aims to be a key player in connecting different layer-2 networks and layer-1 blockchains, allowing for seamless communication and transactions between them, thus enhancing the overall blockchain experience. Solana Labs COO Raj Gokal calls Visa pilot a ‘big step’ for digital payments Visa’s expansion of its USDC pilot to include the Solana blockchain is seen as a significant step towards making digital payments more accessible and inspiring confidence in the crypto market, with Solana’s high transaction throughput and cost-effectiveness making it a good fit for stablecoins. Accounting regulator will let firms report crypto at fair market value: report The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has approved new rules that allow companies to report their cryptocurrency holdings at fair market value, which will encourage institutional holdings of crypto and eliminate the poor optics of impairment losses on balance sheets, impacting major crypto-holding firms like MicroStrategy. Vitalik Buterin co-authors paper on Tornado Cash alternative Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and other researchers have co-authored a paper introducing a privacy protocol called Privacy Pools, which aims to enhance transactional privacy on blockchains while still adhering to regulatory requirements, potentially providing a solution to the troubles faced by Tornado Cash. This development is relevant to blockchain and cryptocurrency as it demonstrates ongoing efforts to find a balance between financial privacy and regulation in the industry. What are decentralized exchange aggregators? DEX aggregators are important in the cryptocurrency market as they provide a consolidated and simplified interface for users to access liquidity pools of various exchanges, helping users find the best trading conditions in terms of pricing and liquidity, which is crucial for efficient and effective trading in the decentralized exchange space. Looking at Uniswap and Crypto’s New Favorite Ruling Private investors have filed a lawsuit against Uniswap under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, potentially setting a precedent for future cases involving the SEC’s jurisdiction over crypto token issuers and trading platforms.


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Independent craft brewer BrewDog has announced plans to build the “world’s first craft beer hotel” as part of “an immersive craft beer hotel and brewery expansion” at the company’s headquarters in Ellon, Aberdeenshire.
The DogHouse, as the hotel will be called, is scheduled to welcome guests in the first half of 2019.
The 26-room DogHouse hotel will feature beer taps in the rooms, a built-in shower beer fridge, and rooms will overlook the brewery itself.
BrewDog said it introduced the DogHouse concept last year with the announcement of a hotel in Columbus, Ohio at the site of its American brewery, and a recent property acquisition in Ellon has led to this further announcement.
In addition to the new hotel, BrewDog is expanding its Ellon brewery to include a 300 hl brewhouse and a canning & packaging hall.
“The funding for the hotel and brewery expansion has come from BrewDog’s record-breaking Equity for Punks crowdfunding initiative, which has seen the Scottish brewery raise over £53 million since 2009 from more than 73,000 passionate craft beer fans,” said BrewDog.
Priority booking for The DogHouse will be given to “Equity Punk” investors.
In October last year, BrewDog launched its fifth round of Equity for Punks, looking to raise at least £10 million, with a “stretch goal” of up to £50 million in order to further its global expansion.
This includes planned construction of new breweries in Australia and China, the opening of 15 new craft beer venues in the UK, increasing production capacity in its UK brewery, and the creation of a dedicated craft beer TV network.
Equity for Punks V has so far raised more than £12.5 million from more than 27,000 investors across Europe, and hit its initial £10 million target ahead of its initial deadline in January.
BrewDog cofounder James Watt said: “The DogHouse is our gift to passionate craft beer fans making the pilgrimage to our brewery in Aberdeenshire.
“The idea of opening a beer hotel has always been high on our agenda, and now we are finally able to realise that dream, right here at our HQ.
“This will be the ultimate destination for craft beer fans seeking hops with their holidays. This is a beer Nirvana.”


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Disney will soon have its own way to stream any Disney related content, be it films, music, books, and television programs from the Disney Channel according to The Financial Times. This new service will be called DisneyLife and will be both a web-based service as well as an app download.
Although there will be no Star Wars or Marvel content at launch, it will have everything else you could ever dream of Disney related. The service will cost a monthly £9.99 and subscribers will have access to hundreds of films, songs, books, TV shows, games and apps.
Although the service will be more expensive than, say, Netflix, it will be cheaper than satellite television and also offer a wider variety of content, like books.
UK families embrace new technology, and demand more flexible entertainment, and this is supported by superfast broadband connectivity and the proliferation of digital devices in this market.
Although this service is rolling out in the UK at first, Disney have plans to spread it across the globe over time. If we will be getting it in South Africa, who knows, but there are alternate ways to stream international content in SA already, so get ready to give Disney money every month in the near future.


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Laws banning hidden air fares costs are expected in force by the end of the year following final approval from Euro-MPs.
The move means airlines must include all airport taxes, fees and charges in the basic ticket price advertised to travellers. All costs known at the time of publication must be clearly set out, making plain the total price customers will pay.
The new rules had already been agreed by EU transport ministers but needed the go-ahead from MEPs in Strasbourg. The aim is to end misleading promotions in which ultra-low air ticket prices are highlighted, leaving out extra unavoidable costs which travellers must pay.
A European Parliament report on transparent air fares said air passengers have as much right as any other consumers to clear and comprehensive information about the price they actually have to pay - including online.
Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope commented: “This adds much needed transparency for passengers. It means that website prices and brochure prices will become open and clear. It is the right approach to ensure that price rises are not hidden any longer.”
Labour MEP Robert Evans said: “The European Parliament is protecting British citizens. The days when airline advertisements can be a con are over.”
Fellow Labour MEP Brian Simpson said holidaymakers would welcome the new clarity, adding: “When you spot a bargain flight online you’ll be able to see the real price up front.
“It is time that consumers were clearly informed about the choices they make. When booking a flight online the price they see must be the price they pay.”
The new rules follow a crusade by the European Commission which warned two months ago that one in three European consumers were still being misled when buying plane tickets.
The problem has soared thanks to increasing internet sales, particularly as online booking is often the only possibility with low-cost air carriers.
EU Consumer affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said there were “serious and persistent” problems involving operators promoting ultra-cheap fares, knowing that customers will have to pay other charges.
A simultaneous “sweep” of nearly 400 air travel websites based in most EU countries was organised by the commission last September - although the UK did not take part as the Office of Fair Trading was already involved in action against at least a dozen airlines for misleading advertising.
The commission found that 137 sites were breaking existing EU consumer rules by confusing - or deliberately misleading - ticket pricing and the availability of seats at the lowest fares.
Of those 137 websites, about half have still not made adequate changes, according to Ms Kuneva.


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The third quarter of 2022 wasn’t a great period for the TV advertising business. But it wasn’t such a bad one for the connected TV advertising business.
Sure, Roku reported a further slowdown in advertising revenue, but the CTV platform owner’s ad revenue still grew. Meanwhile, Disney, NBCUniversal and Paramount each reported year-over-year declines in ad revenue for their traditional TV businesses but increases on the streaming side.
In fact, traditional TV ad spending fell by 23% year-over-year in Q3 — and overall ad spending across media types dropped by 5% — whereas CTV ad spending rose by 39%, according to Standard Media Index, a research firm that compiles advertiser spending and pricing data from agencies.
“We are seeing clients be very conservative, potentially shifting to channels that have increased flexibility where they can cancel things if they need to,” UM Worldwide’s U.S. chief marketplace officer Stacey Stewart said on the Digiday Podcast last month.
The still-emergent state of CTV shows in the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s 2023 Outlook Survey with brand and agency respondents pegging CTV ad spending to increase by 23% year over year in 2023, more than any other channel.
Read more on Digiday.


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Tesla inks deal to get component outside China
LONDON — Tesla is turning to Mozambique for a key component in its electric car batteries in what analysts believe is a first-of-its-kind deal designed to reduce its dependence on China for graphite.
Elon Musk’s company signed an agreement last month with Australia’s Syrah Resources, which operates one of the world’s largest graphite mines in the southern African country. It’s a unique partnership between an electric vehicle manufacturer and a producer of the mineral that is critical for lithium-ion batteries. The value of the deal hasn’t been released.
Tesla will buy the material from the company’s processing plant in Vidalia, La., which sources graphite from its mine in Balama, Mozambique. The Austin, Texas-based electric automaker plans to buy up 80% of what the plant produces — 8,000 tons of graphite per year — starting in 2025, according to the agreement. Syrah must prove the material meets Tesla’s standards.
The deal with Syrah is part of a broader effort by automakers to secure relatively scarce raw materials for batteries as demand for electric vehicles is expected to grow, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal e-mobility analyst for Guidehouse Insights.
The deal also brings the graphite processed in Louisiana much closer to Tesla’s U.S. factories.
“The pandemic pointed out to us that we’ve got these long, long, long supply chains, and it doesn’t take much to disrupt a supply chain,” said Donald Sadoway, a professor of materials chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Somebody could all of the sudden say, ‘We’re going to jack up the prices,’ or ‘We’re going to refuse to ship it.’”
It’s unlikely that the Tesla deal with Syrah will rankle the Chinese government because China has plenty of markets for its graphite, Abuelsamid said.


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Findings from the Ghana Statistical Service’s 2022 Trade Vulnerability Report indicate that four countries, account for over half of all exports while six countries are the source of about half of all imports.
The countries are Switzerland, China, Canada and South Africa.
The report further indicated that over two-thirds of all exports come from only two specific products, gold bullion and crude petroleum oil.
Imports on the other hands have about 126 commodities contributing to two-thirds of all imports.
Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, the Government Statistician, presenting the report’s findings, said the data serves as a valuable tool for policymakers, economists, and stakeholders alike, providing essential insights to inform future strategies aimed at fostering a more balanced and resilient trade environment.
The report revealed that Ghana’s three main export products are gold (37.5%), mineral fuels and oils (30.6%), and cocoa beans and products (12.4%), which constitute over 80.0 percent of all exports.
Mineral fuels and oils account for more than a quarter (26.8%) of total imports, followed by machinery and electrical equipment (13.3%) and chemical products (10.7%).
Ghana’s trade relations, both exports and imports, are predominantly with Europe, constituting more than a third of all exports (35.9%) and imports (39.2%).
This is followed by Asia, with 28.5 percent of all exports and 37.2 percent of imports.


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U.S. mobile technology company Qualcomm reached a new 3G/4G patent licensing agreement with Shenzhen Gionee Communication Equipment Co. Ltd.
According to the agreement, Qualcomm will authorize its paid patent licenses to Gionee's WCDMA, CDMA2000, and LTE devices developed, made, and sold in China. In return, Gionee will pay the licensing fee that is line with the terms of corrective measures submitted by Qualcomm to the National Development and Reform Commission of China. Specific figured related to the deal were not released.
Liu Lirong, chairman of Gionee Group, said that Gionee defines itself as a global mobile and Internet technologies provider and it strives to help consumers live a better life. With this licensing agreement, Gionee will be able to gain Qualcomm's latest technologies, which allows the company to continue to design innovative and powerful devices for all consumers.
Alex Rogers, Qualcomm's executive vice president and president for technology licensing business, said that Qualcomm's standard technologies are supporting various companies in the mobile ecosystem to create new products and services, while changing people's life. They are glad to see that those technologies can help Gionee enhance their product portfolio and achieve a strong growth in the Chinese and global markets.


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500 Birmingham jobs up for grabs as Royal Mail launches its Christmas recruitment campaign
Written by alexmetcalfe on October 15, 2018
ROYAL Mail has launched its Christmas recruitment campaign and needs to find an extra 500 workers in Birmingham.
It needs to find 23,000 in total nationwide.
The seasonal employees will help sort the Christmas post and the increased number of online shopping parcels, cards and letters.
Positions are available from later this month until early January 2019.
Other sorting and driving roles are on offer at Royal Mail Logistics and the group’s parcel business Parcelforce Worldwide.
Royal Mail has been recruiting festive temporary workers since the Second World War.
Royal Mail post and parcels CEO Sue Whalley said: “Christmas continues to be our busiest time of year.
“We plan all year round to ensure we deliver the best possible service for UK consumers and businesses before, during and after the Festive Season.
“We continue to make this substantial commitment in additional resources, including the recruitment of thousands of temporary workers, to ensure we can continue to deal with the huge amount of festive parcels, cards and online shopping orders, which we will be asked to deliver for our customers in every part of the country.”
Royal Mail has set up a dedicated website for people to apply for the Christmas positions, along with an email address and a helpline.
Royal Mail also has a year-round recruitment drive where it recruits postmen and women into its Delivery Offices around the UK.
There are a range of permanent and temporary delivery roles available.
More information is available at www.royalmailgroup.com/careers


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R.J. Reynolds is one of a number of consumer product manufacturers that increasingly rely on customized packaging to reach different market demographics. The trend heralds a significant increase in business for Alcan Packaging Co.’s Peachtree City, Ga., printing plant, which mainly produces packaging for R.J. Reynolds’ numerous cigarette brands. But to take advantage of the opportunity, Alcan management had to figure out how to tighten their processes, and for that, they turned to Georgia Tech.
Typically, Alcan’s rotogravure press operated long continuous runs of up to 20 hours per job, according to general manager Chris Turk. R.J. Reynolds’ new approach meant that while the aggregate number of cigarette packages would be about the same, the total would be divided among several shorter runs, one for each different wrapper design. So the first key issue to be tackled for increasing capacity was how to reduce the time-consuming press set-up required for each new print job.
“Strategically it wasn’t a cost-reduction initiative,” said Turk. “We were trying to get ahead of where our customers are going.” The number of SKUs – manufacturing parlance for individual items – ordered by customers has doubled and sometimes tripled in recent years, he added.
“If we were to move from a relatively simplistic supply chain to a highly complex supply chain, from a few items to a very high-mix manufacturing environment, one of the things we needed to look at was set-up time reduction,” Turk said.
He contacted an old acquaintance, Derek Woodham, West Georgia region manager for Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. Woodham visited the Peachtree City plant to outline Georgia Tech’s services and learn about Alcan’s needs.
“They recognized that to grow the business they had to look at their processes in terms of turning jobs around faster and freeing up capacity in the finished goods storage area as well as material handling,” Woodham said. “We conducted a kaizen related to setup reduction, and they took that training and application and applied it to all their presses.”
Kaizen is a learn-by-doing technique involving all employees and managers for implementing lean manufacturing and continuous improvement. The methodology focuses on process and results, systemic thinking and objectivity.
The reduction in set-up time was so successful in getting jobs through the press quickly that the pre-press work for new jobs couldn’t be ready fast enough, creating a delay. At the other end of the press, finished work quickly accumulated, creating a bottleneck. Workflow efficiency then became Woodham’s next target.
Finished goods come off the press and are stacked on pallets, which are then taken to a stretch-wrapping machine before going to the shipping area. It’s a straightforward process in theory, but had become a bit disorganized in practice.
“We created flow lanes for the finished goods area so the forklift drivers put material into designated locations instead of having things stacked all over the place randomly, ” Woodham explained. The new organization included a process for moving pallets to the stretch-wrap area that resulted in a steady flow of work to the machine, he noted. Previously, the haphazard material flow would leave the machine underutilized for periods of time, but double- or triple-booked at other times.
“They had been thinking about buying another stretch wrap machine to handle the crunch times,” Woodham said, “but by evening out the material flow, a second machine was not necessary.”
The value to Alcan of these changes and increased capacity is substantial, since they enabled the company to more than double its R.J. Reynolds’ account.
Alcan already had a little more than 40 percent of R.J. Reynolds’ cigarette packaging business when the company acquired the rest of the multi-million-dollar contract, according to Turk. “So we had to figure out how to fit more business into our existing plant until we could build a new one,” he said. “If we hadn’t been able to do that, I think we would have been in deep trouble because the contractual arrangements and agreements were fairly rigorous in terms of what would happen if you couldn’t supply the product – and more than doubling your business transcends just asking people to work overtime.”
The new business also added 25 new jobs, bringing Alcan-Atlanta’s total to 180, Turk noted.
With 31,000 employees at 140 sites in 30 countries, Alcan Packaging is a major player in specialty packaging for the food and beverage, pharmaceutical and medical, beauty, and tobacco markets. A company that size has extensive continuous improvement expertise available in-house, so why work with Georgia Tech?
The services offered by through the Enterprise Innovation Institute are, in a word, convenient, according to Turk.
“With Georgia Tech, we can tap into their lean enterprise programs when we want to, in whatever way we want, with as many people or as few people as we want,” he explained. “To me that’s a great opportunity. I might not know today that in a month I’ll need to take advantage of something they have to offer, but when that time comes, they’ll be ready to help.”
Another advantage, Turk noted, is that Georgia Tech experts like Derek Woodham bring an outsider’s perspective to the task. People within the company culture tend to think alike regardless of whether they work at a printing plant in Georgia or a printing plant in the United Kingdom, he noted.
“I think our kaizens were successful, at least in part, because nobody came in here with a pre-set notion of the way it ought to be.”
Corporate programs tend toward a one-size-fits-all approach and can be time-consuming as well as logistically inconvenient if a certain training session is held in a distant location.
“For the kaizen we ran last summer with Georgia Tech,” Turk said, “they came in, four days later they left, and we were done.
“I don’t think we even used 10 percent of what’s available at Georgia Tech to help us achieve what we were able to achieve. That’s the exciting part because from our standpoint here at Alcan Atlanta, this was a huge, huge success story for us.”
For more information on lean enterprise services offered by the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, contact Derek Woodham (706-881-0535); E-mail: (firstname.lastname@example.org) or Tim Israel (404-894-2272); E-mail: (email@example.com).
Research News & Publications Office
Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contact: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (firstname.lastname@example.org).
Writer: Gary Goettling


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The first two seasons of HBO’s Westworld both received 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray releases so it comes as little surprise that Season 3 is virtually a lock as evidenced by a pre-order listing at Amazon.com.
What we don’t know yet is the Westworld Season 3 4K Blu-ray release date. No online retailer has leaked it yet and an official announcement hasn’t come down the pipe.
Season 2 on 4K was officially released on December 4th, 2018. With COVID-19 throwing a monkey wrench into pretty much everything, speculating Season 3’s date based on historical precedence may not be the most prudent plan.
We’ll pass along HBO’s official Westworld Season 3 4K announcement once it’s made.
Pre-order Westworld Season 3 on 4K at Amazon and check out the temp cover artwork, or watch the entire season on HBO Max.


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It’s So Easy: Mothercare Visit Argos to Find a New Chief Financial Officer
Mothercare has announced the appointment of Matt Smith – currently Finance Director at Argos – as its new Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director.
Mr. Smith has spent ten years in senior financial roles at Home Retail Group, the owners of Argos; and his CV also features responsibility for supply chain, distribution and IT. Previously Mr. Smith has worked at KPMG in London and Sydney.
Simon Calver, Mothercare CEO, said “Matt’s experience working for a multi-billion [sic] pound UK retailer, and his understanding of multichannel development, will provide the Company with the financial and commercial expertise that it requires to deliver our Transformation and Growth plan, and to grow the business both in the UK and internationally.”
Matt Smith said “I believe in the huge potential for Mothercare to grow globally, and in the opportunities for the business to deliver more to its customers in the UK.”
The “transformation and growth plan” mentioned by senior executives of Mothercare plc., involves the closure of scores of stores. Its Early Learning Centre chain of toy shops are bearing the the burnt of the closure programme; these store were brought for a consideration of £85 million in 2007.


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Original shows on Snapchat Discover might be the differentiator Snap needs to fend off competition from Instagram, according to advertisers.
Snap has been talking up its “Snapchat Shows Initiative” to ad agencies as the company looks to bring more exclusive programming to its Snapchat Discover media section, according to multiple ad sources. Since last summer, Snap has been recruiting media companies — publishers ranging from NBC to Vice — to make shows spanning a wide variety of genres including reality, sketch comedy and food. Here, Snap is largely functioning like a TV network in the sense that it’s fronting the cash to produce these shows for Snapchat Discover, which it will then sell ads against and keep the revenue.
Advertisers expect Snap to ramp up its sales pitch for original shows heading into the spring. Currently, Snap is selling “presenting by” sponsorships for shows, which are priced in the “low six-figures,” according to one ad source pitched by Snap.
“Snapchat has been promoting its original shows initiative,” said Lisa Cucinotta, director of social strategy and business development for Horizon Media. “We were offered sponsorship opportunities on the first series they were kicking off.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they made more aggressive moves in this area at the upfronts and NewFronts roll around,” added a top digital ad agency exec. “Snapchat shows is a good product, and it’ll get even better once it separates further from [traditional] Discover [content].”
Right now, Snapchat shows appear in the Discover media section, which includes daily magazine-style editions from roughly 40 publishing partners. Discover is considered a “premium” (or: most ad-friendly) environment inside Snapchat — so much so that it commands a $22 CPM, compared to $8 for Snap Ads beyond Discover and $3 for Instagram Stories, as one ad buyer pegged it. (Discover prices can, of course, vary depending on the deal — “they’re selling it at whatever they can sell it for,” said another ad buyer.)
It’s not difficult to see why advertisers are intrigued by the idea of original TV-like content on Snapchat Discover, especially as Snap gets more TV networks — companies with a long history in creating high-end video shows — to produce original content.
“They need to keep growing, and they have to grow with older audiences and convert them to users,” said a third buyer. “As they do more of this exclusive content, especially with legacy media brands, that’s going to bring more people in because those brands have clout and audience affinity with older demographics.”
There is also interest among advertisers to underwrite more episodic content for Snapchat. Social agency Delmondo said it has several shows actively in development with publishing partners that would be funded by brands and would also include custom Snapchat ads that would run against these shows. The company recently did a video series for The Grammys, which ran on an The Recording Academy’s personal Snapchat account, as a partial proof of concept.
With Snapchat adding more content partners to Discover — recent additions include Harper’s Bazaar and Vulture — there is some concern that the media section was getting stale.
As the digital agency exec described it, MTV, The Daily Mail and a slew of other Discover partners are all trying to cover the same stuff. “It’s the same problem that Facebook, frankly, has,” said the exec. “Facebook keeps telling everyone to make things look like [BuzzFeed’s] Tasty, so everything looks like Tasty. By working with professionals and making more than the thing that people are most used to tapping on, Snapchat will be better off as a media company.”
Fending off Stories
Snapchat’s prioritization of original shows also comes as it tries to fend off competition from Instagram, which cloned one of Snapchat’s most popular user features with Instagram Stories. Since its August launch, Instagram Stories has grown to 150 million daily users — almost the same as Snapchat’s total audience.
“It’s not that we are paying less attention to Snapchat, but because of usage, we were already paying attention to Instagram and we’re paying even more attention now than six months ago,” said Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus. “Instagram Stories has been been a big part of what’s made it stickier.”
Advertisers aren’t likely to abandon Snapchat for Instagram Stories, but the speed at which Instagram is expanding its product and ad offerings — plus 600 million monthly users — keeps the platform top of mind among digital and social ad buyers. Currently, advertisers can buy Instagram Stories ads based on reach objectives for their target audience. Eventually, that’s going to evolve to a point where advertisers can buy based on other objectives and metrics including video views and link clicks.
“It’s going to create a lot more parity with the existing infrastructure that’s available on [the rest of] Instagram and Facebook,” said Cucinotta. “That’s going to lead to a lot more spend. Plus, frankly, there are already so many buyers on the platform.”
With traditional Discover content and original shows, Snap has an advantage where it can offer advertisers an environment filled with better-quality content.
But even here, there is an expectation among media-industry sources that Instagram will eventually introduce a feature that mimics Discover in some form — if one popular and distinctive Snapchat feature was copied, why not another? Plus, with Facebook looking for original shows, it’s not outlandish to believe Instagram won’t follow suit. Facebook, after all, has proven not very squeamish about copying Snapchat.
“Making content and brand messaging artificially scarce so advertisers pay more for people to see it — that’s essentially the business model for all of these platforms,” said Schafer. “I imagine there’s a product like that coming from the Instagram Stories perspective.”
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12 July 2019
Startups invited to apply for this year’s AppsAfrica Innovation Awards
Startups have been invited to apply for the fifth annual AppsAfrica Innovation Awards, which celebrate the best in mobile and tech from across Africa and showcases the continent’s most innovative ventures.
Run by news portal and advisory service AppsAfrica, the AppsAfrica Innovation Awards are open to startups, more established ventures and corporates across 14 categories, including Best African App, Blockchain, Ed-tech, Fintech, Agri-tech, Mobility and Social Impact.
The awards provide winners with industry recognition, global publicity, and the opportunity to network with more than 300 industry peers at the awards party ceremony in Cape Town in November. Winners will also be invited to Africa Tech Summit Kigali 2020.
Last year’s event saw a host of African startups named among the winners, including Nigerian logistics startup Kobo360, South African coding school WeThinkCode_, Ugandan transport app SafeBoda, Tanzanian fintech startup Nala, Kenyan e-health company Baobab Circle, Nigerian agri-tech startup Farmcrowdy, and South African blockchain solution Custos Media Technologies.
Applications for this year’s awards will be assessed by a team of expert judges, and are open until September 11. Shortlisted finalists will be announced in October. To apply click here


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Indore has hit New Year celebration mood. It is time to stock savouries and drinks. And, what is the choice for the common man? Either spend thousands at a hotel or organise a party yourself for few hundreds.
However, the majority may just eat or taste softies. Because, December 31 falls on Tuesday and hard drinks are forbidden for the pious.
Past midnight, it is okay to binge as Wednesday sets in from 00.00 hours and it will be January 2014.
“Tuesday definitely happens to be concern when many would wait for the clock to strike past midnight, and then initiate their drinking sessions--for which many would have stocked liquor well in advance”, said one of the director of a distillery, who did not wanted to be named.
“There are many who will not be going to the hotel venues but will be organising party and have already booked liquor orders for the new year with us. There are companies which have come up with a special celebration packs”, said one of the retailers talking about the company promotion on the New Year theme.
“To avoid a last minute rush the bars take the orders well in advance and therefore take their orders two days before”, informed Lucky Singh Director, of Oasis distilleries.
Meanwhile, youngsters are trying are fixing party venues.
“Instead of spending Rs 21000 on a party which includes liquor and good food , we have arranged a party for a small group at a friend’s house. We will spend money that will be the amount being asked for two passes at hotels but 15 of us will enjoy at our party,” says Abhishek Srivastav, sales manager of a pharmaceutical company.


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Meta Platforms Inc META CEO Mark Zuckerberg says one of the transformations at the company is that social feeds are going from being driven by people to being driven by artificial intelligence.
What Happened: Zuckerberg, talking at Meta’s second-quarter earnings call, touched on the changes happening to the company-operated Facebook and Instagram social media platforms.
“Right now, about 15% of content in a person’s Facebook feed and a little more than that of their Instagram feed is recommended by our AI, from people, groups, or accounts that you don’t follow. And we expect these numbers to more than double by the end of next year,” said Zuckerberg.
Pointing to the trend, Zuckerberg said that Reels — Facebook’s TikTok-like short-form video service — already makes up for 20% of the time people spend on Instagram.
Why It Matters: In the second quarter, Meta saw a 30% increase in the time people spend engaging in Reels across Facebook and Instagram, according to the Meta CEO.
“AI advances are driving a lot of these improvements. And one example is that after launching a new large AI model for recommendations, we saw a 15% increase in watch time in the Reels video player on Facebook alone,” said Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg said Meta was already “efficient in monetizing” additional content found by AI.
It was reported recently that Facebook migrated resources from its News tab and newsletter platform Bulletin to the metaverse and short-form video content creators to better compete with ByteDance’s TikTok.
A CNBC report from June noted that Facebook is becoming more akin to TikTok. At the time Zuckerberg said in an interview with the network, “We’re basically shifting from having most of the content that you see in Facebook and Instagram come from your friend or follow graph, to now, you know, over time, having more and more of that content just come from AI recommendations.”
However, Meta’s move to ape TikTok has also received pushback from influential celebrity users of its platforms like Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian who want to “Make Instagram Instagram Again.”
Price Action: On Wednesday, Meta shares dropped 4.7% in the after-hours trading to $161.65 after closing 6.55% higher at $169.58 in regular trading, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image and article originally from www.benzinga.com. Read the original article here.


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Starbucks, Amazon and Google are amongst a group of large multi-national companies that apparently pay the least tax possible. However, ordinary individuals are in deep trouble, facing fines of at least £100 if they don't submit their tax returns on time. —
In case anyone was unaware, the 31st of January is the deadline for the submission of online self-assessment tax returns to HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs). As the day approaches the majority of ordinary people are once again tightening their belts at the news of the latest government austerity squeeze measures. In the meantime, according to The Independent, Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the internet giant Google, proudly said that 'capitalism' was the term that should be used to describe Google's £2.5 billion tax avoidance on Thursday 13th December. It looks like ordinary folk are doing something wrong.
After all anyone who has been filling in their tax return online lately should have come across one of the questions on page 3, 'Tailor your return', where it asks point blank: 'Were you party to one or more tax avoidance schemes?' Maybe everyone should sign up with one of these schemes (which also indicates there are several of them) and share in the capitalistic party. Quentin Pain of Accountz commented 'Everyone in business is out to create wealth and make profits. That enables companies to develop their products and conduct research and thrive. It's right that Eric Schmidt is working to save his business tax, but if the countries that buy the products are slowly being strangled then in the end there might not be any customers left.'
Whatever the situation of the business owner, it is definitely time to start to organise the accounts (assuming the information was not submitted months ago). Even for those people who have registered with a tax avoidance scheme now is the time to get out those shoe boxes and spreadsheets and get the books in good order. At the time of writing there are still a number of weeks left. For those who are in a real hurry there are a number of reputable accounting programs available on the market that should help with speeding up the data entry. The beauty of accounting software is that once the basics of the package have been mastered the reporting should be more or less instant. So the time spent investing in learning the program should be more than made up in time saved analysing the books.
HMRC can be contacted on 0845 900 0444 and they are open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturdays from 8am to 4pm.
Name: Quentin Pain
Email: Send Email
Organization: Accountz.com Ltd
Address: Accountz.com Limited, South Fens Business Centre, Fenton Way, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire PE16 6TT
Phone: 01354 691650
Release ID: 1840


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As a believer in the free market, I think we have a real life experiment going on right now in Colorado and later this year in Washington, yes I’m going there, the introduction of marijuana for recreational legal sale.
For decades, supporters of marijuana have asked for it to be legalized saying it reduce crime, black marketing, and increase tax revenue. The black market claim may or may not be true. A Black Market exists when the price is too high on legal markets, thus creating a black market for lower, inferior goods of the same product. We see this in Japan and china with counterfeit IPhones. A Black Market can also exist if the government outlaws a particular product or service. Drugs, prostitution are things that generally create a black market.
Colorado is trying to bring a black market into a free market. With this marijuana experiment it will be interesting to see how we react and how the market reacts. The media and the state says they have a created a free market, but they haven’t. There is still heavy market regulation, as can be expected, and the early adopters from a business perspective have a lot of hoops to jump through to be a part of it. While we will probably never see a true free market in this situation it still gives us a good idea of how a free market, even one with high regulation, can operate.
While it is impossible to tell what the actual price of marijuana is on the black market, as it is shadowy for a reason, according to U.S. Border and Customs, the average price for an ounce is $250 in Denver. Remember a black market can exist if something is outlawed or if the price is too high. Because there is a demand beyond what can be seen and a limited supply manufactured by the government and that could be what is happening here. According to the State of Colorado the current price for an ounce is $400 plus a 25% tax rate. Yet they are still flying off the shelves. Why is that?
While the black market may be cheaper and potentially easier to get, now that there is a legal way to obtain it people are actually more afraid of the negative consequences and thus are driving the prices up farther and farther. Eventually the market will come back, but will the experiment work? Should the experiment work?


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Ford’s new ad for Super Bowl LI is full of hints towards the company’s work in across different kinds of transportation, not just the flashy new car. Instead, Ford is working to get you to associate the brand with things like electric cars, bikes, and ride-sharing.
For a 90-second ad with the tagline “Go Further,” Ford spends the first 60 seconds highlighting people being stuck in a variety of situations. The last 30 seconds finally bring in different Ford branded items to save the day for a number of the stuck humans, including Chariot, autonomous parking, electric cars, Ford bikes, and the Ford GT sports car. However, none of these innovations help the poor cat with a box stuck on its head.
One of the first obvious innovation teases in the ad is an autonomous car parking itself. Ford has been talking about releasing fully autonomous vehicles in 2020, and has tripled its test fleet of autonomous prototypes for 2017. These autonomous vehicles will also be hybrid-electric vehicles, and won’t have pedals or a steering wheel either – as seen at the very end of the Super Bowl ad.
Also featured in the Super Bowl spot is Ford’s GoBike – a branded bike-sharing program in the Bay Area that launched this year and will have 7,000 bikes in the program by 2018, says Ford. Chariot, Ford’s other ride-sharing platform in the Bay Area that’s featured in the ad, is getting almost six seconds of screen time as one rider hails a Chariot on their phone and then jogs over to the Ford branded van. Chariot will be expanding to six new cities in 2017.
There is an electric car charging up in a short spot towards the end of the ad, giving a more explicit nod to Ford’s electric vehicles. Ford clearly wants to be associated with the big four innovations of ride-sharing, electric vehicles, bike sharing, and autonomous cars, and not its old standbys, like fast cars and muscle trucks.
However, there are still a few nods to the past. The first shot of Ford “going further” is the old standby, the Ford F150 pulling a car out of a snowbank – so the best-selling car in the United States for the last 35 years hasn’t gone anywhere. We also get a glimpse of the wickedly fast Ford GT before the ad ends. But for the Super Bowl, Ford is going further.


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In the past 18 months, it has acquired three PR businesses in the growing economies of Russia, India and Brazil, and formed Ketchum Raad in the Middle East.
The agency now operates in more than 70 countries and has 100 offices. Of Ketchum's top 25 clients, 76 per cent work with at least eight Ketchum offices or specialities. Clients such as IBM, Kodak, P&G and Philips work with ten or more.
For example, Ketchum is one of P&G's strategic global partner PR agencies. Its role ranges from global strategy to local implementation for more than 15 beauty and household brands from Olay and Max Factor to Head & Shoulders and Fairy.
The agency has added Ariel to its Western Europe portfolio as well as Camay, its first assignment in China. P&G has recognised the agency with a corporate supplier excellence award.
Ketchum knows that being an international consultancy is not just about global reach, it's about localisation
Mark Maguire UK corporate comms director, GE
P&G global external relations director for beauty Nicholas Hotham says: 'The agency's fresh thinking, strategic insights and exemplary execution allow the PR discipline to contribute at the highest levels of business and organisational strategy.'
The agency also encourages staff to give something back to their local, international, social or industry-related communities through its citizenship programme.
The agency offers staff time valued at more than £1m a year to two organisations: Room to Read and the World Economic Forum (WEF). The forum's head of media, entertainment and information industries Diana
El-Azar says: 'Ketchum has been a committed and enthusiastic partner in the WEF's mission to improve the state of the world, deepening its engagement even further in the past year through health and anti-corruption initiatives.'
Most important of all, Ketchum keeps its clients happy. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is an index that identifies the proportion of clients that are extremely likely to recommend the agency. Its score is 35 per cent – typical NPS performers are in the five to ten per cent range.
The Awards 2011 book will be available in this week's issue of PRWeek


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Shin Megami Tensei III Remaster Announced, SMT V Release Window Confirmed
Nintendo had recently held a Nintendo Direct Mini that showcased two major announcements. One of them was a remaster of Shin Megami Tensei III.
Shin Megami Tensei III is getting an HD remaster for the Nintendo Switch. This is in addition to Shin Megami Tensei V, which is a brand new game that is coming exclusively to the Nintendo Switch.
Here are the details on both of these announcements courtesy of Nintendo.
- Shin Megami Tensei V: The next numbered entry in ATLUS’ Shin Megami Tensei series is coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch. In this epic role-playing game, order itself has crumbled and chaos reigns over all. Shin Megami Tensei V will have a simultaneous global launch on Nintendo Switch in 2021.
- Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster: It’s been 17 years since the original release of Shin Megami Tensei III, known in Europe as Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer’s Call. Now, the apocalyptic legend returns in a full high-definition remake of the classic game, coming to Nintendo Switch in spring 2021.
Have a look at the announcement trailer for these games below.
Both of these games will be developed by Atlus. They are known for their work on the Persona series which is a spin-off based on the Shin Megami Tensei series. While the Megami Tensei series is exclusive to Nintendo Switch, the mainline Persona games are exclusive to PlayStation for now until the recently released Persona 4 Golden for PC changed it.
Atlus first announced SMTV back during the launch year of the Nintendo Switch. They haven’t shared a release date for it but the release window for 2021 is for a worldwide launch of the game, which is a first for the series.


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ANNA, IL (KFVS) - Keeping the downtown alive and shoppers on main street is a struggle for Anna city leaders.
"We've got some people interested. It's just hard for small towns to generate interest in being downtown," said Anna's Mayor Jim Cross. "But we've got a strong Chamber of Commerce. And some of our businesses downtown have formed a group to work together."
And Mayor Cross they are working on trying to let people in town know what's available downtown. So they'll shop there first.
"We've got about anything you want right here. Some things you can't get here and I understand that. But if you check here first, before you go a lot of times you find out that the prices are competitive here."
And some business owners like Joseph Trexler at Joe's Barber & Styling says providing local goods and services is key to keeping the town alive.
"The local business owners try to look out for each other and scratch each other's backs," said Trexler. "Rather then using some of the bigger corporate chain stores. I don't think the town would survive without main street. It's very important to keep money local."
Mayor Cross points out that there are some real advantages to shopping local over going to the malls.
"These are mom and pop type places, people know you when you walk in the door which makes a difference. And they know what you like. And that's important for the community."
One of the longest standing businesses on main street is Rhonda's Consignment. They've been downtown for the past 18 years. And Brenda Verble says it's important that business owners keep their doors open.
"I think it's very important that they do and keep our towns to where they just don't shutdown. And we don't have anything," said Verble. "The more businesses we have, the more people we have in town."
Mayor Cross says they are working on some more community events to draw people into the downtown area. And he says it's key to get businesses to set up shop along main street.
"People like to see some of the older buildings. And getting someone in there doing business helps to maintain some of these historic places in our town."


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(NEW YORK) – David Block, CEO of Sarine Technologies, and Wesley Tucker, CEO of Tracr™, are set to lead a dynamic discussion moderated by Angelo Palmieri, President of GCAL by Sarine. This essential and timely webinar will tackle the critical topic of G7 sanctions and their implications for the diamond industry.
Scheduled for March 20th, at 12pm (EST), this free live webinar promises invaluable insights into achieving regulatory compliance, enhancing consumer trust, and navigating market dynamics amid the evolving landscape shaped by G7 sanctions.
Tucker and Block will shed light on how retailers can leverage integrated solutions provided by Tracr™ and Sarine to minimize supply chain disruptions and ensure cost-effective operations.
“In an evolving landscape shaped by the latest G7 regulations, the diamond industry stands at a pivotal juncture,” remarks Palmieri. “Our upcoming webinar, ‘G7 Sanctions: What Retailers Need to Know: Diamond Traceability Insights with Sarine and Tracr,’ promises to be an invaluable resource for retail jewelers seeking to learn, prepare and adapt their businesses to the new regulatory environment.”
The session is designed to arm retailers with essential knowledge and tools necessary for thriving in the face of regulatory changes. Attendees will gain actionable insights and strategies to maintain a competitive edge in the market.
Expressing enthusiasm about the collaboration, Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, stated, “I am delighted by the growing collaboration between Tracr and Sarine Technologies. We are committed to accelerating the development of our traceability systems to ensure that our customers have enhanced confidence in the provenance of the diamonds they purchase.”
David Block, CEO of Sarine Technologies, added, “We are thrilled by the growing collaboration with Tracr that will accelerate the ability to track diamonds on a large scale with the highest level of reliability, while minimizing trade disruptions. This aligns with the G7’s long-term goals of fostering a diversified supply chain.”
G7 Sanctions: What Retailers Need to Know
Diamond Traceability Insights with Sarine and Tracr™
Date: Wednesday, March 20th
Time: 12pm noon, EST
Click here to register
This webinar is the first in a series of free educational sessions hosted by GCAL by Sarine, titled “Diamond Dialogues.” These monthly sessions will provide expert insights and guidance on various aspects of the diamond industry. Learn more here.


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They got their cover. Here are Kim Kardashian and Kanye West for Vogue, wearing wedding attire in a photo by Annie Leibovitz. They are the #WORLDSMOSTTALKEDABOUTCOUPLE, according to the #caption running along the bottom of the glossy.
Surprise? I'm surprised. Although it's long been rumored that Kanye was hard at work lobbying Anna Wintour to secure a Vogue spot for Kardashian, there was no indication that his campaign was having any success. And although recently, a growing number of fashion editors have come forward with praise for Kardashian's style evolution, still we never could have predicted this. (And apparently, neither could some Vogue staffers — we heard that Kimye's cover was a closely-guarded secret even internally at the publication.)


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March 2, 2020
In an ongoing evaluation of the impact of coronavirus, the Food & Drug Administration reported that there are 32 animal drug firms that make finished drugs or source active pharmaceutical ingredients in China for the U.S. Although there are no current shortages, disruptions could present themselves.
“The FDA has contacted all 32 firms, and no shortages have been reported at this time,” FDA said in a recent notice. “However, six of those firms have indicated that they are seeing disruptions in the supply chain that soon could lead to shortages. The FDA is working with these firms to help identify interventions to mitigate potential shortages.”
In a follow-up email, FDA told Feedstuffs that it is not disclosing the identity of these firms because it represents confidential commercial information.
“Although animal drug manufacturers are not legally required to report animal drug supply disruptions or detailed information on their supply chains, they have been voluntarily communicating critical information to FDA, and we continue to monitor the supply chain,” FDA said. “We need the cooperation of the drug companies in order to obtain accurate information as we proactively take steps to mitigate drug shortages. We believe that companies will be less willing to provide this voluntary information if FDA discloses commercial confidential information such as drug names, company names or exact location of facilities.”
When asked about animal drugs specifically, Ron Phillips, Animal Health Institute vice president, legislative and public affairs, noted, “We are aware of no disruptions at this time.”
That, however, has not been the case in the feed ingredient market. With a good share of vitamins and amino acids manufacturered in China, the sourcing of product for use in animal diets has been a challenged for the past month. Indications are that things are starting to flow again with shipments to the U.S. likely resuming in late March or early April. With product not moving out of China, U.S. suppliers have had to tighten down allocations to customers and who they do business with as they carefully monitored inventory, not knowing when new product would be available. Under normal circumstance, shipping of a product from China to the U.S. takes two to three weeks. Thiamine and vitamin A were most impacted by the work and transportation stoppages in China but choline and vitamin E were also affected as were threonine and lysine to some extent.
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Rumours about LG manufacturing new Windows 8 phones
Though none of these news is authenticated, reports are circulated that LG will be unleashing their new Windows 8 Smartphone this year itself. According to latest news reports, LG is entering the market of Smartphones targeting a sales of 75 million units. Last year, the company sold only 55 million units which is not even comparable to that of Samsung, who is LG’s local rival. Samsung had sold 100 million units in Galaxy S series itself.
Earlier, LG had attempted to release a phone called 'The LG Fantasy', which was a windows 7.5 phone. The reason behind the calling off of that project is not yet revealed by the company. If they are sure to step up with a Windows 8phone, it will be welcomed as there are not much good choice in that genre except Nokia and HTC. If they are coming to front row, they should bring in considerable varieties of their model.
LG has been there under the lime light for a while as their Optimus G, the world’s first Android smartphone with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset, gathered attention and attraction of the market. The company had been on the hot talks as the manufacturing of Google’s Nexus 4 handset had been carried out in collaboration with LG.
There are also rumours which exactly contradicts the news of Windows 8phones. It says that LG has abandoned Windows and are to go on with Android. But LG's officials themselves have denied it. Though the rumours are not yet clarified, there is every possibility that LG might have realised the huge scope and potentials of Windows8. Lets hope for the release of a competent gadget from LG soon to fight shoulder to shoulder with the masters of the field.


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Can global rivalry fire up the Indian electric passenger car market?
Can the convergence of global power with an Asian startup and a local commercial vehicle giant in India stop the stagnation in the electric four-wheeler market?
India is a haven for two-wheelers and three-wheelers, which are turning into electric rapidly, as over half of the three-wheeler registrations in 2022 were electric, according to the International Energy Association (IEA). The emerging rivalry from the global EV makers is only about to get more fierce by the domestic push, aiming to turn India into a new global EV hub.
The two-wheeler sales in India were around 20 million in pre-pandemic years and dropped to about 15 million in the post-pandemic period. The awareness of climate change, rising fuel prices and increased foreign direct investments have become three essential factors in changing the urban mobility concept, resulting in a slight shift by July 2023, as two-wheeler sales dropped by 7.2% while four-wheeler sales increased by 2.6%.
Just like in Turkey, Tesla is expected to spark the dynamics in the electric passenger car market in India, as the government is preparing to cut the high import duties to attract the top all-electric car manufacturer of the world, along with other major brands. Following the productive talks with the Indian government, Tesla unveiled plans to open a factory in India to produce low-cost EVs for around $24,000 for the local market and to export.
Surprisingly, the main rival of Tesla in India is expected to be Vinfast. The Vietnamese EV maker became the third most valuable automaker in August after debuting on Wall Street (Tesla and Toyota hold first and second place, respectively). Planning to tempt Indian consumers through dealers, Vinfast aims to sell only 50,000 EVs in 2023 compared to Tesla's 1.8 million. The sales of Vinfast were just 7,200 in 2022. Yet, India appears to be the perfect growth market for VinFast, which plans to enter the Indian market with two or three electric SUVs in 2024, followed by a full-size sedan.
Through the new incentives, the Commerce Ministry of India wants to reach technical know-how and benefit from the economies of scale of new technologies, as India needs to advance EV battery production. Tesla also plans to almost double the component sourcing from India in 2023, up to $1.9 bn from $1 bn in 2022. India is about to become the second Asian country after China to have a Tesla plant, bringing the long-desired innovation and R&D to the country. The countries where Tesla produces vehicles and vehicle components are the US, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and China.
Local brands are joining the competition
Log9 Materials, an Indian nanotechnology company, reasons the lack of access to technology, particularly in lithium-ion batteries, is keeping the EV costs high and the adoption rate low. Therefore, India relies primarily on China to import lithium-ion cells.
Over a million EVs were sold in India last year, two-wheelers representing 63%, three-wheelers (mainly auto rickshaws) 32%, and four-wheeler EVs only 4%. Other than technological gaps and high costs, India suffers from a lack of charging infrastructure. Yet, the recent investments and government incentives aim to push back any barrier in the EV market.
Lack of clean energy, charging infrastructure, battery technology, and resistance to change have kept EV sales only at 2% between January and July 2023. The struggle with electric passenger cars results from the low involvement of foreign brands that prefer sleep mode, like Hyundai and Honda, while the largest automaker in India, Maruti Suzuki, is planning to introduce the first EV models in 2031. By that year, the company aims to reach 60% of sales from all-electric, 25% from hybrid, and 15% from alternative fuel vehicles.
Chinese brands are dealing with other problems. BYD abandoned a $1 bn investment for manufacturing EVs with the joint venture partner Megha Engineering and Infrastructures this year. Various sources say the Indian government rejected the proposal on security concerns. Great Wall Motors had to abandon another $1 billion investment in 2022, including acquiring the General Motors (GM) factory in Pune, owned by MG Motor India. The rejection of both investments is tied to a border clash between the two countries' armies in 2020.
Eventually, eyes are now on Tesla and VinFast, the former defied by the electric SUV manufacturer Mahindra Group. Mahindra Group has around 50% share in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) market and raised $145 million from Singapore's state-owned Temasek to improve the EV unit in exchange for 3% of its stakes. "Not fazed" by Tesla's expected entrance to the Indian market, Mahindra Group is confident in the LCV segment, planning to have e-SUVs around 20%-30% of total sales by 2027.
India's goal of EV mix
According to consulting firm Arthur Little, EV sales in India will cross 10 million units by 2030, and the adoption rate will surpass 30% in different vehicle classes.
The Indian government has an ambitious target for 2030, and the electrification targets for the vehicle segments are as follows:
|Commercial vehicles (CVs):
|Two and three-wheelers:
To that end, the Indian government has already introduced several programmes, including the National Electric Mobility Plan (NEMMP), to reduce dependency on crude oil. Another is the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, to end in 2024. The Finance Ministry also reduced the customs duty and taxes in 2023 to support domestic lithium-ion battery production.
Electrification is critical for India, the largest third oil importer globally (after China and the US), and the country holds great potential for development in renewable energies along with all EV segments.
Much is needed to tempt many more brands to become a part of the competition in the Indian electric four-wheeler market. Yet, being the world's top populated country, a significant shift in oil consumption in India would turn the tide in the global energy market, further pushing innovation and investments towards new energies.
The main image shows a VinFast LUX SA2.0 in the assembly line, courtesy of Shutterstock, 2072857997.


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Motorbikes and mobile phones may not have much in common, but today they are among the products of eight British companies honoured as global "technology pioneers", an accolade recognising groundbreaking work in the fields of IT, renewable energy and biotechnology.
Among the British winners of the annual prize, awarded by the influential World Economic Forum, were Stem Cell Sciences, a Scottish firm producing stem cells for medical research, and Intelligent Energy, maker of the world's first hydrogen-powered motorcycle.
"The creative innovations produced by our technology pioneers hold the promise of significantly affecting the way business and society operate," said Peter Torreele, the managing director of the World Economic Forum.
Alastair Lukies, founder of mobileATM, whose winning company offers a mobile phone-based management system for bank accounts using the same encryption and security procedures as financial institutions, said: "It's a lovely feeling, and great recognition for the team. It opens plenty of doors for us."
It is the sixth time the forum - best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, of the world's "most powerful people" - has made these awards. Each year a number of companies are chosen for their pioneering ideas and given a two-year invitation to the meeting, an offer which puts them in contact with some of the world's most important movers and shakers.
This year among those attending the event were the prime minister, Tony Blair, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and the investor George Soros.
Almost half of the 36 companies in the list are based in the US, but the UK provided the second largest number of success stories.
"This must tell the world that there are a lot of great minds in Britain," added Mr Lukies.
"Maybe this decade is really one where the UK can be seen as a technology leader."


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While national nashi production this year has been about 2000 tonnes, which is a reduction on normal amounts, numbers are expected to return to about 2500 tonnes next year.
Nashi growers in northern Victoria were not affected by the bush fires, although according to Australia’s largest nashi grower, Jamie Craig “the drought had a serious impact on the economics of every orchard, including Nashi Orchards.
“Nashi trees drink about 6megs of water per hectare in a season, so when allocations are restricted and we have to buy in from others the impact on the bottom line can be dramatic.
“This year water has fluctuated between $300 and $600 per meg so there is about $2000 worth of water gone into each hectare.
“Normally the same water delivered under allocation would attract only a delivery fee at about $300 per hectare. The 10 days of superhot 40 degree days were also a serious imposition on productivity.
“When temperatures reach those extremes the trees tend to shut down and the rate of growth of the fruits diminishes and then they just never catch up. Fruit is just like people and when it gets exposed to much sun it burns and that has also been another impost on productivity this season,” he explained.
Nashi has been produced in Australia for past 25 years. When nashi was introduced in the early nineties, amid much optimism, many growers planted at least a few trees.
“What was not generally appreciated, was just how tender nashi are, and how difficult and expensive it would be to produce to the standard that the consumer demands,” said Craig.
“The result has been a gradual attrition in numbers of growers as they found the inputs required consistently exceeded the return achievable.
A few have persisted and there is now a much smaller but more efficient industry where production has reduced to match demand at the premium that the production costs demand.
Nashi holds a similar market share to the corella pear variety, with estimates that the market is growing at about 10% per year.


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More than two thirds of British adults (36 million) have been targeted by a scammer since January, new research by Citizens Advice has found.
While over 55s are most likely to be targeted, those 34 and under are almost five times more likely to fall victim to a scam than their older counterparts*, the charity can reveal.
Younger people were most likely to be targeted by text or messaging service (61%), while those over 55 were most likely to be targeted over the phone (73%).
Of all those targeted by a scammer:
● 54% were about fake deliveries or parcels
● 41% were by someone pretending to be from the government
● 12% were by someone offering a fake investment or get rich quick scheme
Data from Citizens Advice Consumer Service confirms reports of scams are increasing sharply. Comparing the first five months of 2021 with the same period in 2020:
● The number of scams reported to the charity has more than doubled (123%)
● Scams via unsolicited emails are up eight-fold (667%), and scams via telephone calls have increased 60%.
To encourage people to report scams, share their experiences and look out for others, Citizens Advice and the Consumer Protection Partnership have launched their annual Scams Awareness campaign.
Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“From fraudulent get rich quick schemes to dodgy texts, opportunistic scammers continue to prey on even the savviest of consumers. Our research shows that when it comes to scams anyone can be targeted, and anyone can be tricked.
“It’s more important than ever we all do our bit to report scams when we see them to help protect ourselves and others. By learning how scammers operate, and helping each other understand what to look out for, we can all work together to stop fraudsters in their tracks.“
Paul Scully, Consumer Minister, said:
“As these figures show, absolutely anyone can be the victim of a scam. Criminals don’t care who they’re scamming, as long as they get what they want.
“You might think you’re really tech-savvy, but we’re now seeing scams so convincing they’d give a computer programmer pause for thought.
“The best way to protect ourselves from scams is to dispel the myth that only a certain type of person is at risk, share experiences, and report suspected scams to Citizens Advice and Action Fraud.”
John Herriman, Chief Executive of Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said:
"The COVID-19 pandemic has brought levels of anguish to the public that we haven't seen for many years. While there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, fraudsters have not relented.
"Beyond the profoundly destructive and life-destroying impact scams have, the climate of fear is apparent, with 68% of people reporting that they are worried for either themselves, their family, or friends falling victim to scams, a level of concern shared across all age groups.
"Trading Standards professionals across the country are working around the clock to help protect the public from malicious fraudsters, and their work throughout the pandemic has been exceptional. Their work, however, is enhanced by an informed and empowered public.
"Scams Awareness and initiatives like Friends Against Scams are vital annual campaigns that do so much to raise public awareness and improve the protective bonds between the public, consumer protection authorities, and business. We are strongest when we are united."
Louise Baxter, Head of the National Trading Standards Scams Team, said:
“This disturbing rise in scams shows that financial abuse is now a part of everyday life in the UK. They are becoming more mainstream and more sophisticated, backed by a rising influence of organised crime networks in scams and fraud that are seeking to exploit the pandemic.
“These rising cases of scams and fraud are deliberately designed to deceive victims and can cause emotional distress, social isolation, a loss of confidence, financial loss and in some cases physical effects caused by the loss, shame and stress. Just being targeted by scams has been shown to damage people’s wellbeing. We urge people to protect themselves and their loved ones from scams by completing our free Friends Against Scams awareness training at www.FriendsAgainstScams.org.uk.”
Citizens Advice consumer expert Jerry Houseago gives his top five tips to stay scam aware:
“As everything begins to open up again, we can all take steps to safeguard ourselves and others against online and offline scams alike.”
Jerry warns it might be a scam if:
● it seems too good to be true – for example, a holiday that’s much cheaper than you’d expect
● you suspect you’re not dealing with a real company – for example, if there’s no postal address
● you’ve been pressured to transfer money quickly or in an unusual way – like by iTunes vouchers or a transfer service
● you’ve been asked to give away personal information like passwords or PINs
● you haven't had written confirmation of what's been agreed
If you’ve been scammed, Jerry advises:
● talk to your bank or card company immediately if you’ve handed over any financial and sensitive information or made a payment
● report the scam to Citizens Advice. Offline scams, like telephone, post and doorstep, to the Citizens Advice website or by calling 0808 223 1133. Report online scams to the dedicated Scams Action service either online or on 0808 250 5050
● text scams can be reported to your mobile phone provider by forwarding it to 7726
● also, report the scam to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040
For more information contact: Abigail Reynolds at firstname.lastname@example.org
Tel: 07726 700399
Out-of-hours contact number: 0845 099 0107
We give people the knowledge and confidence they need to find their way forward - whoever they are, and whatever their problem.
Notes to Editors
1. Opinium surveyed a representative sample of 2,086 adults living in the UK. The sample was weighted to be nationally representative of the UK. Fieldwork took place between 21 and 25 May 2021. 1,445 out of 2,086 respondents (68%) said they had been contacted by someone that they think was trying to scam them. Using The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate (Mid 2019: April 2020 LA Boundaries) of 52,673,433 adults (18+) in the UK, we estimate that this has affected 35.8 million people
2. Polling respondents were asked the following questions:
a) Question 1: Since the beginning of the year (1 January 2021), have you been contacted by anyone that you think was trying to scam you? Please select all that apply. Answers: Yes - but I ignored it/didn’t fall victim; Yes - I fell for it; No - to the best of my knowledge I have not been contacted by any scammers; Don’t know/can’t remember
b) Question 2: What kind of scam were you targeted by? Please specify all that apply. Answers: Deliveries and parcels; Government or civil expenses; Banking; Other consumer issues; Investment; Health or medical; Pension; Holidays; Employment; Other
c) Question 3: How worried, if at all, are you about you, or someone close to you (such as your friends, family or neighbours) falling victim to scams? Answers: Yes - extremely worried; Yes - very worried; Yes - somewhat worried; No - not at all worried; Don’t know
3. *Opinium polling found 73% of over 55s compared with 57% of under 34s had been contacted by a scammer. Polling also found 9% of under 34s had fallen victim to a scam compared with 2% of over 55s
4. Internal data was sourced from Citizens Advice Consumer Service. Searches were run of cases flagged as a suspected scam by an advisor between 1st January 2020 to 31st May 2020 and 1st January 2021 to 31st May 2021. Data was accessed on 7 June 2021
a) 1st January - 31st May 2020 data found 12,004 potential scam cases. The same period in 2021 found 26,718 cases
b) 1st January - 31st May 2020 data found 479 potential scam cases resulting from unsolicited emails. The same period in 2021 found 3,675 cases
c) 1st January - 31st May 2020 data found 1,539 potential scam cases resulting from telephone calls. The same period in 2021 found 2,457 cases
5. Michael’s name has been changed to protect his anonymity.
6. Citizens Advice set up a dedicated online scams service in July 2019. The service is funded by £3 million donated by Facebook following its settlement with Martin Lewis. The service provides one-on-one help for those worried about online scams. It also undertakes scams prevention work identifying, tackling and raising awareness of online scams in the UK.
7. Scams Awareness is an annual campaign which aims to create a network of confident, alert consumers who know what to do when they see a scam. This year's campaign will take place over two weeks, from the 10th-23rd June. The campaign includes a range of organisations across the Consumer Protection Partnership, including Trading Standards, the Department for Business Energy and Infrastructure, and Citizens Advice Scotland.
8. Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.
9. To get advice online or find your local Citizens Advice, visit citizensadvice.org.uk
10. For consumer advice, call the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 to talk in Welsh.


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The financial reviews keep pouring in for the first nine months of 2020 and it’s not pretty - especially for younger Americans.
Data from TD Bank’s 2020 Money Matters Survey shows that “most millennials are strapped for cash” with over 30% telling TD Bank their bank accounts are taking a big hit.
This from the study, which tracked financial outcomes from 1,000 younger Americans:
Millennials are Struggling to Save: Almost 60% of respondents say are not saving additional money as a result of the pandemic. Of those not putting away extra funds, more than half are millennials.
Millennials are Decreasing Credit Scores: More than 15% of millennials reported that their credit score has gone down due to the pandemic, significantly higher than Gen X and Boomers.
Millennials are Indulgent Their Spending Habits: Millennials continue to indulge on purchases during the pandemic, despite having less financial stability than older generations. Almost half (42%) of millennials said they still splurge on themselves, higher than any other generation.
Millennials are hurting in the pocketbook, too. Younger Americans were much more likely than Gen Xers and boomers (31% and 17%, respectively) to report their checking account balance were “decreasing.”
TD Bank survey analysts say that COVID-19 “has placed additional strain on a generation already saddled with significant debt and increased living costs.” More than 28% of millennials said they tapped into their emergency savings during the pandemic. Furthermore, one-in-five (20%) millennials don’t even have a savings account.
"A healthy savings account is key to planning for milestone moments and unexpected hardships," notes Lindsay Sacknoff, head of consumer deposits, products, and payments at TD Bank. "With COVID-19, many people are experiencing unplanned circumstances. This is a good time to take stock of spending and saving habits, create new financial goals, and stick with them."
There is some good news from the TB Bank study:
“Despite these discouraging statistics, many millennials want to improve when it comes to saving,” the study notes. “When asked what they would do if they had an extra $1,000 right now, 46% revealed that they would put the extra money into savings. Additionally, another 31% of millennials said they have spent time during quarantine reviewing their finances.”
TD Bank experts say there are ways for millennials to improve their financial standing during the ongoing pandemic lockdowns and resulting economic strife.
For starters, many millennials are also lacking basic credit card knowledge. The TD Bank survey found that:
- 16% don’t know their credit limit
- Nearly half of respondents use more than 30% of their credit limit
- 34% revolve a balance each month
"Millennials haven't had it easy. They've been impacted by student loan debt, a recession, and a difficult job market. Now, they face a global pandemic like nothing we've ever seen before," said Mike Kinane, head of U.S. Bankcard at TD Bank. "Much of their financial situations have been out of their hands, but there are a few things they can control – how they budget, how they spend if they choose to splurge and how they manage their debt."
Building a household budget isn’t as difficult as it sounds at first blush. TD Bank advises younger financial consumers to take the following budget-building steps.
- Determine your net income
- Identify fixed and variable expenses, such as. utilities, rent/mortgage, credit card bills, student loan payments, groceries, mobile and internet
- Set realistic goals
- Track spending
- Adjust financial habits (especially spending) as needed
“It's also a good time for consumers to review their credit score,” TD Bank reports. “Consumers can receive one free credit report per year from each of the three credit bureaus, which is useful in determining areas that need improving, like payment history and credit utilization.”