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Partnership to facilitate the creation of state-of-the-art assembly facilities to boost employment, localization and local automotive industry in Pakistan
KARACHI – European automotive manufacturer, PEUGEOT, has officially launched operations in Pakistan for the first time in its distinguished history with its exclusive partner Lucky Motor Corporation. The partnership commenced with the opening of eight 3S dealerships in six cities, as well as a state-of-the-art facility for the assembly of cars in Pakistan.
Lucky Motor Corporation is a subsidiary of the Yunus Brothers Group, and has a legacy spanning over five decades, thanks to its robust and aggressive approach gaining considerable market share in the Pakistani automotive industry, and setting new benchmarks in terms of product offering & customer service. With the introduction of PEUGEOT, the company now aims to provide the best mobility solutions the European Brand can offer its customers.
PEUGEOT is an inventive brand that has been a pioneer in the automotive industry for over 211 years guided by its brand values; Allure, Emotion and Excellence, which represent sharp design, intuitive driving pleasure and uncompromising quality. With its entry into Pakistan, these values will be upheld as the brand strives to provide the market with the latest innovations and mobility solutions.
Linda Jackson, CEO of the PEUGEOT Brand, said: “We are delighted with this partnership and what it means for the Pakistani market. This will be the first time a European car is assembled in Pakistan and we are excited to work with Lucky Motors to support employment, localization and the local automotive industry in the country. Internationalization is a key focus for PEUGEOT, with the B and C segment SUV growth representing a great opportunity for us. This is also bolstered by the evolution of the legislation of the country towards electrification which is in line with our own strategy.”
Samir Cherfan, Chief Operating Officer, Middle East & Africa Region, Stellantis, said: “We are excited to embark on this journey in Pakistan with our new partner, Lucky Motor Corporation. We see tremendous potential and opportunity for PEUGEOT in Pakistan, and are looking forward to serving customers in this exciting market. I would like to also take this occasion to thank Mr Muhammad Ali Tabba and Mr Asif Rizvi for making this partnership possible and I am looking forward to witnessing the growth of both parties in the country.”
Asif Rizvi, Cheif Executive Officer, Lucky Motors Company, said : “Lucky Motors is set to change the automotive landscape of Pakistan by introducing Peugeot, the first locally made European brand in the country. We are very excited to partner with Peugeot and look forward to being associated with Stellantis, a company that strongly believes in futuristic mobility solutions.
Pakistan, with its 220 million population, offers a great opportunity for someone to come in and disrupt the automotive market. And we have no doubt that the Stellantis with its 14 brand portfolio, will be the one to do so. Lucky Motors is proud to become the first company in Pakistan to have multi-brand manufacturing and dealers. We are delighted to embark on this adventure, bringing with it the best automotive solutions, while also making meaningful contributions and investments that will support economic and social development in Pakistan.”
The first step of this ongoing commitment to the Pakistani customer will begin with the introduction of the PEUGEOT 2008. The lauded 2008 has been a success story for the brand since its development and stands apart in the compact SUV segment with its distinctive design, advanced technology and efficient powertrains. It also benefits from The PEUGEOT i-Cockpit, which features a stimulating interior design along with a state-of-the-art digital cluster and touchscreen that amplifies any driving experience. With 26 international prizes, including the Red Dot Design Award, and its perceived quality and value, the 2008 is the perfect model for Pakistani families.
The e-2008 will be the next model launched, giving customers the freedom to choose between a 100% electric and a thermic version, thanks to the Multi Energy platform CMP. Together, with support from PEUGEOT, Lucky Motors Corporation will assemble various models locally at state-of-the-art facilities, and is currently exploring opportunities to distribute multiple models by early next year.
KARACHI - Following are the foreign currency exchange rates for US Dollar, Saudi Riyal, UK Pound Sterling, U.A.E. Dirham, European Euro, and other foreign currencies in Pakistan open market on February 8, 2023 (Wednesday).
Source: Forex Association of Pakistan. (last update 09:00 AM)
|UK Pound Sterling||GBP||331.78||332.48|
|Hong Kong Dollar||HKD||35.08||35.45|
|New Zealand Dollar||NZD||174.19||176.18|
KARACHI – Gold prices fell on Wednesday for the third straight day in local markets, after hitting aan all-time high in previous week.
The per tola price of 24 carats gold in Pakistan dropped by Rs2,000 to settle at Rs198,000 while the price of 10 grams decreased by Rs1715 to reach Rs169753.
On Monday, the gold price witnessed a drop of Rs200 per tola to close at Rs204,300.
In the international market, the commodity witnessed an upward trend as per ounce price reached to $1,880 after an increase of $11 dollars.


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Orange Delta is being awarded the Singapore SME 500 Award 2022 on 7-JUL-2022, Singapore – We are pleased to announce that Orange Delta has passed all assessments and have made it to the Singapore SME 500 Award 2022. The Singapore SME 500 Award 2022 is significant for our business as it affirms our business standards, qualities, and performance.
The Singapore SME 500 Award continues to be one of Singapore’s highly regarded business accolades that recognises local enterprises for its business qualities, excellence, and capabilities. The assessment is conducted by the Association of Trade & Commerce (Singapore) and part of the process includes evaluating enterprises in its quantitative and qualitative aspects, including the ability to further develop the business and scale its market.
Being awarded the Singapore SME 500 Award is an achievement for us and we would like to thank our partners, colleagues and clients who have made this possible.
About Orange Delta
Orange Delta is based in Singapore and provides Project Management, Engineering, Consultancy and Contracting services for the offshore energy industry.
About the Association of Trade & Commerce (Singapore)
The Association of Trade & Commerce (Singapore) (ATC) is a business association that represents and advocates for the interests and development of Singapore enterprises across all industries and business sectors.
SME 500 Award 2022

domain: news


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Because it's nearing peak 2015 anticipation time, Todd Price has just unveiled his top coming attractions to savor next year. The list includes 15 forthcoming restaurants (find them below), including Robert Leblanc's (of Meauxbar and Sylvain) "meat-heavy" Uptown expansion--formerly known as Manor on Magazine--which has a new name: Cavan Co., in honor of Leblanc's Irish heritage, but still no chef.
Meanwhile, the still-unnamed restaurant likely heading to Magazine and Nashville from the NYC-restaurateurs behind Maysville is bringing along their chef. Yes, Maysville chef Kyle Knall will do "'American' food with smoky flavors to compliment the restaurant's large bourbon list." Across town, the rather hush-hush expansion from SF pizza place Pizzetta 211 called Palador 511 is still on for the 511 Marigny building by the end of January. In the Warehouse District, Hot Tails chef Cody Carroll (from New Roads, LA) will open Cajun/Creole restaurant Sac-A-Lait in the former Sun Ray Grill around March.
The Times-Pic's highly-anticipated restaurants of 2015:


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1. Indian Navy’s fifth Scorpene-class submarine sails out for first sea trial
- The Indian Navy's brand-new submarine, the fifth of six French-designed Scorpene-class submarines, sailed out on its first sea sortie.
- It will undergo rigorous trials before being delivered to the Navy later this year.
- The submarine-designated "Yard 11879" during its construction by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in collaboration with the Naval Group of France will be named 'Vagir' after it is commissioned into service.
2. Government approves continuation of scheme for Assistance to National Sport
- The government has approved the continuation of the Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations with an outlay of Rs.1575 crore for the 15th Finance Commission Cycle 2021-22 to 2025-26.
- It is the main source of funding for the preparation of national teams for all major national, international competitions.
- Funding will be used by National Sports Federations to conduct national coaching camps and provide training of international standards to athletes.
Honours & Awards
3. Neeraj Chopra nominated for Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award
- Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra has been nominated for the prestigious 2022 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award
- The other 5 nominees are Daniil Medvedev(Australian Open runner-up), Emma Raducanu(British tennis star), Pedri(Barcelona and Spain footballer), Yulimar Rojas (Venezuelan athlete) and Ariarne Titmus(Australian swimmer)
- The winners will be revealed in April following a vote by the Laureus World Sports Academy, made up of 71 sporting greats
4. PNB launches co-branded credit cards with Patanjali
- Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd have launched co-branded contactless credit cards in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
- The cards are offered on NPCI’s RuPay Platform and are available in two variants — PNB RuPay Platinum and PNB RuPay Select.
- The cardholders can enjoy a cashback of up to 2% (not more than Rs 50) for transactions of Rs 2,500 or above at Patanjali Stores.
5. BDL signs contract for supply of Konkurs anti-tank missiles for Indian Army
- Bharat Dynamics Ltd signed a contract worth ₹82 crores for the manufacture and supply of Konkurs anti-tank missiles for the Indian Army.
- BDL will manufacture and supply Konkurs anti-tank missiles to the Indian Army
- Konkurs - M is a second generation, mechanized infantry anti-tank guided missile, to destroy armored vehicle equipped with explosive reactive armour.
- BDL is also offering Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, Nag, Milan-2T and Amogha, for exports.
6. Dukaan partners with Simpl to provide Buy Now, Pay Later services
- Dukaan, a platform that enables small and medium-sized businesses set up online stores and sell products digitally, has partnered with Simpl to provide BNPL services to Dukaan's merchants.
- Dukaan is notably the latest software platform to join Simpl's network of more than 10,000+ retail partners, to offer millions of customers buy now pay later options.
- In addition, Dukaan has made an application marketplace for further customization of online stores.
Banking & Finance
7. India's GDP expected to grow 7.8% in FY23: Crisil report
- Domestic rating agency CRISIL estimated FY 2022-23 real GDP growth at 8 per cent as compared with the 8.5 per cent projected in the Economic Survey.
- This estimate is owing to Budget proposals focused on loosening the purse strings by boosting capital expenditure and going slow on fiscal consolidation.
- The agency said global growth is expected to slow this year as major economies see a withdrawal of monetary and fiscal stimulus.
Banking & Finance
8. LIC 10th most valued insurance brand globally: Brand Finance
- According to the London-based Brand Finance, LIC is the strongest and the largest brand in the country with a valuation of $8.656 bn.
- Also, LIC is ranked 3rd in brand strength globally after Poste Italiane, Italy and Mapfre, Spain
- It is also the 10th most valued insurance brand
- The market value of LIC will become Rs 43.40 lakh crore by 2022, and Rs 58.9-lakh crore by 2027.
- In overall brand ranking LIC become the world's 206th most valuable brand in 2021.
Science & Technology
9. Sanctuaries in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh listed as Ramsar sites
- Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat and Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh — were declared Ramsar sites.
- With this, the total number of Ramsar sites in India goes up to 49.
- Khijadiya, which is part of the Central Asian Flyway, has become the 4th wetland of Gujarat to get the Ramsar tag.
- Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary, a freshwater marsh in the Sant Kabir Nagar district.
- It is the largest natural floodplain wetland of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
10. India & Nepal Sign MoU to Construct Motorable Bridge Across Mahakali River
- India and Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a motorable Bridge over the Mahakali River.
- It will connect Dharchula in India to Darchula in Nepal.
- It will be constructed under Indian grant assistance.
- The newly announced project to build a bridge over the Mahakali river would strengthen Nepal-India relations.
- The project will improve cross-border connectivity between Nepal’s Sudurpaschim province and India’s Uttarakhand state.
Banking & Finance
11. EXIM Bank signs $500m LoC agreement with Sri Lanka
- The EXIM Bank of India and the Sri Lankan Govt signed a $500 mn Line of Credit.
- Aim: to help Sri Lanka cope with its current fuel shortages, amid one of the worst economic meltdowns facing Sri Lanka.
- India’s support for fuel imports — by Sri Lanka from India — through the LoC, is in response to Lanka’s urgent requirement.
- This critical support comes in the wake of a virtual meeting b/w the EAM S Jaishankar and the Sri Lanka’s MoF Basil Rajapaksa.
12. Mithali Raj moves to 2nd spot in ICC ODI rankings
- India's One-day International skipper Mithali Raj has risen one spot to second in the ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings for batters.
- Mithali has displaced South African batter Lizelle Lee, who is now third on the list with 731 points
- India opener Smriti Mandhana, who was recently named 'ICC women's Cricketer of the Year for 2021', continues to maintain her sixth spot.
- Australia's Alyssa Healy ranked first.


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The new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 is included here as well as a whole gigabyte of RAM. That's novel in smartwatches in 2019.
This model is going into a second year, but not without a few new muscles in its body. This includes extneded battery life.
Louis Vuitton unveils wildly extravagant Tambour Horizon smartwatch collection with Android Wear 2.0
It's hardly surprising to see the Louis Vuitton brand join the likes of Tag Heuer, Fossil and Movado in the smartwatch arena. But $2,450?!


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companies like Royal Enfield, India Yamaha and BMW India, almost all two wheeler manufacturers
in India registered a slump in sales in January 2021 as compared to January
2020. The growth for several companies has been negative during this period,
according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).
Royal Enfield, a unit of Eicher Motors sold 54,461 units in January 2021 as
compared to 53,038 units in the same period in 2020, India Yamaha sold 44,511
units as compared to 41,137 units and BMW India sold 351 units as compared to
303 units in the period under consideration.
far as three-wheeler sales are considered, sales of every company slipped in
the month of January 2021.
TWO WHEELER DOMESTIC SALES IN JANUARY 2021
HERO MOTOCORP LTD
HONDA MOTORCYCLE AND
SCOOTER INDIA (P) LTD
TVS MOTOR COMPANY
ROYAL-ENFIELD (UNIT OF
SUZUKI MOTORCYCLE INDIA
INDIA YAMAHA MOTOR
PIAGGIO VEHICLES PVT LTD
CLASSIC LEGENDS PVT LTD
ADISHWAR AUTO RIDE INDIA
INDIA KAWASAKI MOTORS
TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES (INDIA)
H-D MOTOR COMPANY INDIA
DUCATI INDIA PVT LTD
DUCATI MOTOR HOLDING S.P.A
THREE WHEELER DOMESTIC SALES IN JANUARY
MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA LIMITED
Others including EV
1- The above numbers do not have figures
from AP, MP, LD & TS as they are not yet on Vahan 4.
2- Vehicle Registration Data has been
collated as on 07.02.21 and in collaboration with Ministry of Road Transport
Highways, Government of India and has
been gathered from 1,273 out of 1,480 RTOs.
BorgWarner has clinched an agreement with a major North American OEM to supply its bi-directional 800V Onboard Charger (OBC) for the automaker’s premium passenger vehicle battery electric vehicle (BEV...
Uno Minda, a leading tier 1 supplier of proprietary automotive solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), has unveiled an innovative range of side stand sensors and switches that use advanc...
As the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) continues to grow, Honeywell has created innovative solutions to address safety concerns across the spectrum of EV manufacturing and use.


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UWM students Alycia Doxon and Chantel Teague aren’t giving up on efforts to make a difference in the world.
The two were part of UWM’s team in the Kapco Charitable Challenge, which gave students $1,000 to develop a project to improve their community. The challenge, which moves through several levels, is funded by Kapco Metal Stamping in Grafton in an effort to develop leadership and business skills in young people while helping local nonprofits. This is the first year UWM has participated.
While UWM’s team didn’t advance in the challenge, Doxon, a senior in the Lubar School of Business and a University Innovation Fellow, and Teague, a junior in the business school, decided to keep on working to find a good way to invest that $1,000 in doing good.
They found that opportunity in the Center for Community-Based Learning, Leadership and Research, which teamed with the Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship in sponsoring UWM’s Kapco Challenge team. Laurie Marks, executive director of the center and Ben Trager, the team adviser, introduced them to Jacarrie Carr, a UWM graduate student who was organizing a fashion show to raise money to buy holiday presents for children in need.
Carr, who runs a nonprofit called Jacarrie Kicks for Kids, has been collecting shoes and backpacks to distribute to children for the past three years. He had decided to expand his efforts to help the community this winter with a toy drive. When their initial Kapco project didn’t work out, Doxon and Teague decided to join forces in helping Carr promote the fashion show and organize a follow-up toy drive.
They’ve already used some of the Kapco money to do a video to promote the show (held Nov. 6) and the toy drive. They both worked at the fashion show – which raised more than $3,000 – and now are looking into social media ads, fliers and other ways to promote the toy drive. (A collection barrel for new and gently used toys is set up in the Center for Community-Based Learning, Leadership and Research, Union G28 on the ground floor of the Union and will be in place until Dec. 24.)
Both Teague and Doxon became involved in the Kapco Challenge because of their interest in community.
“It’s been a very positive experience for me to learn how to make a difference,” said Doxon. “I’ve learned a lot from trying to help an organization.”
“Nicole (Green, University Innovation Fellow, program coordinator at the Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship and one of the team’s advisers) approached me, and I saw it as a way to give back,” said Teague of the Kapco challenge. “Jacarrie has been working to accomplish things and meet different needs and it was a good fit with what we wanted to do.”
The Kapco Challenge gave the students an opportunity to be strategic in creating a business plan for social innovation, said Green. Though limited time prevented them from accomplishing all they wanted to do, she and Marks agreed they’d like to enter the challenge next year.
“I don’t like to drop out of things,” Doxon said about why she continued with the project even after the UWM team was eliminated. “Though it didn’t turn out the way we first thought, we have an opportunity to do something with that money. We still have $1,000 to make a difference in the community.”


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Deepinder Goyal, the creator and CEO of restaurant aggregator Zomato, has served on the board of directors of Urban Company as an independent director.
Former Mckinsey partner Ireena Vittal, Helion cofounder Ashish Gupta, and Shyamal Mukherjee, previous chairperson and senior partner of PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India, have all joined the Urban Company board as independent directors.
“We are humbled to have esteemed industry leaders join our board as independent directors, as we step into our next phase of growth. They bring in a lot of experience and industry expertise that will guide us in our company building journey. We look forward to their mentorship in the years to come,” Abhiraj Singh Bhal, cofounder and CEO of Urban Company, said in a statement.
In an interview, Bhal stated that Urban Company intends to go public by the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023.
Urban Company, founded in 2014 by Abhiraj Bhal, Raghav Chandra, and Khaitan, provides offerings in the home and beauty segments in India, Dubai, Australia, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.
To date, Tiger Global, Vy Capital, Steadview Capital, and other investors have contributed about half a billion dollars to the company.
Three executive directors, three non-executive directors, and four independent directors will now serve on the board of Urban Company.
Vittal, an IIM Calcutta graduate who spent 16 years as a partner at Mckinsey & Co, is an independent board member of various firms, including Compass Plc, Diageo Plc, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, HDFC Limited, and Wipro Ltd.
Gupta is a cofounder of venture capital firm Helion and serves on the boards of InfoEdge, Hindustan Unilever, Pubmatic, Simplilearn, and Gupshup, among others. He was a cofounder of Tavant Technologies and Junglee, as well as a consultant for Oracle, IBM Research, and Woodside Fund. Daksh (IBM), Infoedge, MakeMyTrip, MuSigma, Upwork, Redbus, and Flipkart are among the companies in which he has invested.
Goyal, who founded Zomato, also serves on the boards of Unacademy and Magicpin. He launched the food delivery company in 2008 and took it public the following year.


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California Man Injured After Corona Bottle Explodes Like “Glass Hand Grenade”
For Corona, this is just another in a long line of exploding bottles.
Mexico’s craft beer scene might be exploding, but for Mexican brewer Corona, perhaps success could come with fewer explosions.
A California man has been injured after a glass bottle of Corona spontaneously exploded, sending shards of glass into his leg. “It’s like they are selling glass hand grenades,” John Jay Curtis, a retired lawyer, told the New York Post yesterday.
While walking from his kitchen to the garage with a 24-bottle case of beer, Curtis says, there was a “an explosion like someone shot off a grenade.” Pain and bleeding followed.
For Corona, this is just another in a long line of exploding bottles, the Post pointed out. In 2007, a Long Island toddler was rendered partially blind after a defective bottle exploded, leading to a $46 million lawsuit against the company. In July 2017, another rogue bottle sent shards into the eye of a Manhattan barback, who has since sued for pain, suffering, and loss of vision. In July 2018, a construction worker in Queens needed emergency surgery after yet another bottle blew into his eye.
A quick Google of “beer bottle bomb” yields plenty of results on home brew sites warning of this menace (don’t, as I mistakenly did, Google just the phrase “bottle bomb”). Apparently, this unintended result can be caused by too much sugar, too early bottling, and too much carbonation. It’s common enough that many a beer blog lists ways to avoid the problem and how to control it.
It’s not just home brewers, either. In 2014, Oregon brewer 10 Barrel Brewing Co. recalled their Swill sour after finding that some batches were still fermenting in the bottle, creating a risk for explosion. But it’s unclear why Coronas in particular seem to be susceptible to spontaneous combustion.
According to a spokesperson for Constellation Brands, Corona's parent company, "We conduct rigorous testing throughout our production process and our bottles are designed and tested to maintain their integrity. We will investigate this matter and remain committed to ensuring that our products continue to meet our high quality standards."
In any case, it might make sense to switch to cans for now—or perhaps this may be the most compelling argument yet for the plastic 40-ounce.
This article originally appeared on Munchies US.


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Scottish Firm’s Covid-19 Efforts Recognised with An Early Day Motion
Outdoor clothing manufacturer Keela, has been recognised by the UK government with an Early Day Motion for its outstanding work throughout the pandemic.
The Scottish firm, based in Fife, received a thank you in the form of an Early Day Motion as a result of its work producing much-needed PPE for use by the NHS throughout the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. At its height, the company was producing 15,000 gowns per week. To keep up with demand and allow for social distancing measures, the team expanded the company’s facilities by 10,000 sq. ft, setting up a brand-new dedicated manufacturing facility within three weeks, and in the process, created 70 jobs for people from the local area. Using Scottish-produced fabric from Cupar Angus, the team dispatched PPE to the NHS on a weekly basis.
When the pandemic first hit, there was a shortage in the supply chain and very few items of PPE were produced in the UK. Keela has been manufacturing outdoor and technical garments in the UK for over 40 years and so the team made the decision to use this knowledge and transfer the skills of the team to support the effort.
Early Day Motions are used by MPs to draw attention to a specific event or campaign. The aim is to demonstrate parliamentary support for a particular cause and in this case, Keela received recognition from MP’s across the political spectrum.
Sam Fernando, Sales Director Keela Outdoors said: “It was such a lovely surprise to find out we had been put forward for an Early Day Motion. When details of Covid- 19 started to emerge, our team felt an immense need to support those on the front line. We knew we had the manufacturing capabilities, and we felt a strong desire to do our bit in such a difficult time. It is delightful to receive this credit and it makes me so proud to see what the team have achieved here at Keela”.
Keela has been pushing the boundaries of outdoor gear and textile design for 40 years. The first Keela kit was tested by local mountain rescue teams, and today emergency services and rescue teams still rely on Keela garments. Keela is worn the world over by adventurers, expedition leaders and outdoor enthusiasts.


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January 21, 2014
WASHINGTONMore than 200 businesses and organizations have urged President Obama to require food companies to disclose GMOs (genetically modified organisms) on labels.
The businesses and groups referenced a 2007 speech from the Illinois senator-turned-president that pledged he would grant consumers the right to know if GMOs are present in their food.
Two states, Connecticut and Maine, have enacted GMO laws, although they don't take effect unless other states pass GMO labeling legislation. More than 20 other states are considering similar laws, the groups pointed out in a Jan. 16 letter to Obama.
"While we will continue to support state-level labeling efforts, we believe there should be a mandatory national labeling system," the letter stated. "FDA has the authority to require food companies to disclose the presence of these novel food ingredients, and the agency has already required labeling of more than 3,000 ingredients, additives and food processes."
Signatories of the letter include a diverse group of businesses and organizations such as Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Amy's Kitchen, Stonyfield Farm and the Center for Food Safety. One of the letter's signatories, Dr. Bronner's Magical Soaps, provided financial support for a GMO labeling initiative in the state of Washington that voters rejected in November.
Some lawmakers, including Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), joined in support of the letter. In April 2013, DeFazio and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced legislation that would require FDA to label genetically engineered whole and processed foods. Most co-sponsors on the legislation were Democrats.
Plain and simple, this is about consumer rights," DeFazio said in a Jan. 16 press release. "People should have the ability to make an informed choice about what they feed their family and we know its not an impossible request of food manufacturers, because they already label GMOs in more than sixty countries."
According to the letter, FDA approved voluntary GMO labeling more than 10 years ago, yet "consumers are more confused than ever".
The FDA has maintained genetically modified ingredients are as safe as conventional food. But critics of GMOs question their safety and impact on the environment.
The White House on Tuesday did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.
Theresa Eisenman, an FDA spokeswoman, said food manufacturers are free to disclose on labels whether or not food has been genetically engineered so long as "such labeling is truthful and not misleading."
She said FDA is reviewing citizen petitions that concern genetically engineered foods, including labeling of such foods.
"FDAs role is to ensure that foods under its purview meet applicable safety, labeling, and other regulatory requirements. Foods derived from genetically engineered plants must meet the same requirements, including safety requirements, as other foods, such as foods derived from traditionally bred plants," Eisenman said.
While campaigning in 2007 for the nation's highest office, Obama promised to require GMO labels, according to a YouTube video that is available on the website of Food Democracy Now, a grassroots movement that is among the signatories on the letter.
"We'll let folks know whether their food has been genetically modified because Americans should know what they're buying," the president pledged in the video.
Although most consumers are in favor of GMO labeling, the Grocery Manufacturers Association is said to be advocating for a voluntary federal standard. According to a discussion draft disclosed in a Jan. 7 Politico article, such a standard would preempt conflicting state legislation (such as the GMO labeling laws in Connecticut and Maine).
The proposed legislation "would allow manufacturers to voluntarily make claims about the absence of bioengineered ingredients if the manufacturer has in place a traceability program to ensure bioengineered food is not commingled with the non-bioengineered food at any stage of production from farm to retail, while making allowances for unavoidable, inadvertent cross contact with bioengineered foods." GMA was unavailable to comment Tuesday.
The Center for Food Safety, which filed a 2011 petition requesting that FDA require labels on GMOs, opposes GMA's draft legislation.
According to the non-profit public interest group, FDA has received more than 1.4 million comments supporting its petition and mandatory labeling of GMOs.
Associate editorial director, Natural Products Insider, Informa Markets Health and Nutrition
Josh Long directs the online news, feature and op-ed coverage at Natural Products Insider, which targets the health and wellness industry. He has been reporting on developments in the dietary supplement industry for over a decade, with a focus on regulatory issues, including at the Food and Drug Administration.
Josh majored in journalism and graduated from Arizona State University the same year "Jake the Snake" Plummer led the Sun Devils to the Rose Bowl against the Ohio State Buckeyes. He also holds a J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law, was admitted in 2008 to practice law in the state of Colorado and spent a year clerking for a state district court judge.
Over more than a quarter century, he’s written on various topics for newspapers and business-to-business publications – from the Yavapai in Arizona and a controversial plan for a nuclear-waste incinerator in Idaho to nuanced issues, including FDA enforcement of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA).
Since the late 1990s, his articles have been published in a variety of media, including but not limited to, the Cape Cod Times (in Massachusetts), Sedona Red Rock News (in Arizona), Denver Post (in Colorado), Casper Star-Tribune (in Wyoming), now-defunct Jackson Hole Guide (in Wyoming), Colorado Lawyer (published by the Colorado Bar Association) and Nutrition Business Journal.
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Mintsifra offered to give the main customers the right to purchase Russian software without bidding
MOSCOW, December 19 – RIA Novosti/Prime. Minister Maksut Shadayev said that the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation has proposed to give anchor customers the right to purchase domestic software modified according to their requirements without bidding, in order to simplify market access for developers who are ready to invest in finalizing their products. .
The government Digital Development Commission approved roadmaps last week reflecting the need for software in the Russian sectors of the economy. It was noted that most of the projects, totaling more than 200 billion rubles, will be implemented at the expense of companies’ own funds, including as part of agreements with the government on the terms of guaranteed demand for products. The remaining projects include the withdrawal of loans (about 20 billion rubles) and grants (more than 23 billion).
“We believe that if a company commits to investing in the improvement of its platform, the product that suits customers’ requirements, then customers should have the right to purchase a modified product without bidding … We offer such an interaction scheme within these roadmaps” – Shadayev, anchor customers answered the question of how they would interact within the framework of the newly approved roadmaps.
“But it’s not an obligation, it’s a right. This is how we facilitate market access for companies that invest in their products,” said the head of the Ministry of Digital Development.
According to Shadayev, the Ministry of Digital Development hopes that the government will approve the proposed mechanism in the first quarter of next year.
Russia has established industrial competence centers for import substitution of digital solutions in key sectors of the economy. ICC connects customers and developers in the creation and implementation of new digital products. Under the program, developers receive grants from the government that cover up to 80% of the cost of software development. The remaining funds are deposited by the client. At the same time, the rights of the product belong to the developer of the solution.
I am Emma Sickels, a highly experienced journalist specializing in news and economy. As an author at News Unrolled, I cover the latest trends in the economic sector and provide readers with valuable insights into its complexities. My work has been featured in various media outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Bloomberg Businessweek and many more.


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Ferrari million dollar concept cars Net Worth is .Ferrari million dollar concept cars ...
Ferrari million dollar concept cars Latest News
It carries a beautiful, sweeping dramatic line that accentuates the long and very elegant car design." A similar 1932 Packard Twin Six sold for $607,500 last year; others have taken more than A$1.4 million ... and the 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB fits right ...
Posted: January 16, 2017, 12:15 pm
a Ferrari 488, and two of the most expensive cars in the collection, a Pagani Huayra, and a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K. CNBC values the Pagani at $2 million and the Mercedes at $15 million, though that exact 540K last sold for $11,770,000 at Gooding & Company ...
Posted: January 20, 2017, 7:31 am
Giugiaro has penned the design of cars for Alfa Romeo, Lamborghini, Ferrari, BMW ... this one-off Maserati will fetch at least a couple of million dollars when it goes up on auction. Unlike most concept cars, the Maserati Boomerang is a fully-functional ...
Posted: June 17, 2015, 9:05 am
“When you’re talking about these types of people, a million-dollar ... Ferrari FXX. (There are only 30 of those, whereas thousands of Californias are made every year.) Every time a brand’s race car wins a Formula 1 event, or a newly unveiled concept ...
Posted: April 9, 2015, 4:32 am
The Women’s March in Washington happened today, with thousands turning out in support of political and social issues related to the core concept of equality ... through the process that would cut $500 million from Planned Parenthood’s $1.3 billion ...
Posted: January 23, 2017, 8:51 am
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It looks like the sale won’t happen (at least for now) and that could mean big changes to the resort’s iconic casino
Selling an asset on the Las Vegas Strip, at a time when any property on this historic 4.2-mile route has become incredibly valuable, seems like a terrible idea. Yes, prices have reached all-time highs, but the value of the asset still looks higher than any price you might get for it.
This makes it at least somewhat debatable why Caesars Entertainment (CZR) – Get the report from Caesars Entertainment Inc. wants to sell a strip property. The company has made it clear that it believes it owns too many rooms on the Las Vegas Strip and that removing one property would actually help raise rates at its other resort casinos.
Flamingo, which appears to be the property Caesars will sell, also needs a lot of work. It’s more of an old-school property than Caesars’ other assets on the Strip, and the company notably hasn’t invested in it like it has in many of its other properties.
Paris Las Vegas, for example, recently added Vanderpump to Paris, an upscale bar/restaurant, and will soon add a new Martha Stewart restaurant. The company’s Harrah’s property revamped its food hall adding a Bobby Flay Burger Bar while adding Walk-Ons as a sports bar. The company has invested heavily in Ballys, which will soon be rebranded to the gambling-friendly Horseshoe brand.
Flamingo clearly hasn’t received a major investment, as the casino company nears a deadline to sell the property.
Caesars has a deadline to sell Flamingo
Caesars hasn’t said much about the sale process, but CEO Tom Reeg did comment on it during his company’s second-quarter earnings call.
“The timeline outlined in the VICI documents that govern this is very clear. So we launched early this year, the deadline is late summer. And every deadline I’ve ever seen in agreements , the work continues within this timeframe,” he said.
These comments were made on August 2 and we are now approaching the end of September and the company has not sold the property. It is possible that the deadline has actually passed or that the company has changed its agreement with VICI Properties (VICI) – Get the VICI Properties Inc. report.who has a first refusal on the property.
Reeg was clear that Caesars did not need to sell the property.
“For us – and there are – there are a lot of interested parties. Obviously the funding environment is what it is. And if that’s going to have an impact on what someone will pay, there’s at a level where we’re not going to chase it. I’m very happy to just cut free cash flow and come back later,” he said.
Caesars can’t sell the Flamingo
Selling Flamingo would help Caesars pay off some of the $15.5 billion in debt it incurred when it merged with Eldorado Resorts in 2020. That deal was made without the company knowing a pandemic would devastate its business.
Demand, however, has rebounded and Caesars appears to be able to not only manage its debt, but also pay off some of it. This makes selling Flamingo a kind of luxury for the company, not a necessity.
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“As we discussed, this is a discretionary trade for us,” Reeg said, “We still think we can do it within the parameters that we set out initially. But we are – we certainly recognize that we live in a market that changes day by day, and if the financing conditions change, the result could change.
The CEO also noted that he finds the attention to the possible deal “rather amusing.”
“When I started talking about selling our Vegas Strip asset, the response from both the sell side and the buy side was why would you want to sell the Vegas Strip asset? Look how awesome that is. And we said he there are times in the market where you don’t have to go back very far, where — we don’t have — we wouldn’t want to own that many coins,” he said, “And now, the conversations turned to, oh my god, can you do this? It’s essential. It’s a change in you, not in us.


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BEIJING, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Supplies of legal and smuggled rare earth minerals from China used in production of electronics are tightening, a London expert in rare earths said.
"We do believe that this source of supply is diminishing, and there is some evidence leakage over the border into Vietnam is diminishing," Judith Chegwidden, managing director at Roskill Consulting Group, said, referring to the route smugglers take from southern China.
Analysts estimate half the world's legally sold rare earth minerals, such as dysprosium, terbium and europium, come from China, primarily southern China. About half comes from the same source, but is mined illegally and smuggled out of the country.
China controls about 99 percent of the world's supply and said this week export quotas for the first half of 2011 would be lowered 35 percent, The New York Times reported Wednesday. There is evidence the country is cracking down on illegal mining operations. A source in China said 100 mine owners and managers had been arrested recently.
The supply issue made headlines in mid-September, when China cut off shipments of rare earth minerals to Japan after Japan arrested a shipping boat captain in disputed territorial waters.
That embargo, which lasted more than two months, was partly undermined by smugglers who continued to operate. But it sharply highlighted a supply chain Achilles heel, given Japan's and the world's reliance on supplies from one country.
Pricing also tells part of the story. Dysprosium that costs $6.50 a pound in 2003 now goes for $132 a pound, the Times said.
That makes the rare earth minerals even more precious as a political doorstop, an industrial component and as a smuggler's commodity.


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POLL - Holiday Donations
Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:57:11 GMT —
Goodwill says this is the busiest week for donations of clothing and household goods out of the year.
WACH Fox News wants to know, have you donated to charity this holiday season?
Vote in our daily web poll below. If so, leave a comment below to let us know where you donated.
Check back on your WACH Fox News to see if we share what you have to say on-air.


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Microsoft unveils the formidable innards of the most powerful console ever made
Microsoft has finally unveiled the specification for Project Scorpio—its forthcoming upgrade to the Xbox One—ending months of speculation and firmly cementing the machine’s status as the most powerful console ever assembled.
We now know that Project Scorpio’s central processor is blisteringly fast, performing calculations 30 per cent faster than the original Xbox One. The graphics processor, meanwhile, is a behemoth, promising 4.6 times more power than your current console.
That means that Scorpio is powerful enough to comfortably outperform the PlayStation 4, and even the upgraded PS4 Pro in basically every measurable department. Put simply, multiplatform games should look better on Scorpio, while Microsoft’s own developers will be able to craft exclusives of peerless visual quality. What’s more, the specs back up what Microsoft’s been saying for some time now: Scorpio is a machine built for native 4K gaming.
So, while the PS4 Pro often has to resort to a clever bit of software to make lower resolutions resemble 4k content, Microsoft’s machine boasts the raw power to get the job done without resorting to upscaling algorithms or checkerboarding, pushing four times as many pixels as a regular high-definition image. In a secretive demo, Microsoft even showed the Forza engine running at 4K resolution and 60 frames per
“The graphics processor is a behemoth, with 4.6 times more power than your current console”
second, a feat that required only 66 per cent of its GPU power.
Project Scorpio is great news for those of us using regular HD screens, too. The console will use its extra power on a process called supersampling, using all of those extra pixels to carefully smooth out your 1080p image. The result should mean amazing picture quality and significantly smoother visuals.
Settle the score
And if the promise of unparalleled image quality isn’t tempting enough, Microsoft is promising compatibility with the existing library of Xbox One games. Naturally, many developers will issue patches for their existing games to enable them to take full advantage of Scorpio’s outrageous power reserves, but even without an update, your library should load faster, play more smoothly and look better, thanks to the machine’s vast memory and improvements to texture filtering.
And even when you’re not playing games, Project Scorpio will look like the ultra-high-resolution bee’s knees. Thanks to the machine’s UHD Blu-ray drive, you’ll be able to watch movies and TV shows at the highest possible resolutions, without having to fork out on an expensive separate device. It’s further proof that Scorpio was built without compromises. If you want the best, Microsoft has built it for you.
For more info on Scorpio, keep your eye on issues in the coming months
BELOW Forza’s cars look even more expensive in ultra-HD.
right Microsoft used a behindclosed-doors demonstration of the Forza engine running at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second to showcase Scorpio’s power.


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This wasn't on the iPhone Bingo card, but it should have been. Where there's an extremely coveted gadget, there'll be an extremely expensive luxury case for it. Louis Vuitton has announced a set of four cases for the iPhone: Monogram Canvas, Taiga Leather, Epi Leather and Alligator Skin. The Taiga ...
Deals of the Daymore deals
Software Updatesmore updates
- Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014 available, bringing new characters, physics and more
- Agile Partners releases Lick of the Day 2.0
- Google announces new Hangout app to hit iOS today
- Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Update 14.3.4
- Pixelmator 2.2 available with over 100 new features and improvements
- DabKick for iPhone lets you share photos, watch videos and now listen to music in real-time
Featured Storiesmore stories
I'm never leaving home without my pogo connect again. Love this thing.


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Superstar couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have revealed that they are having a baby… GIRL!
A source close to the couple revealed that the pair, who’ve been dating since April 2012, could not be more excited about the news.
They’re over the moon! Kanye always wanted a girl.
The couple, who will welcome their baby daughter in July, will undoubtedly keep their little one in high fashion from the moment she arrives. During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kim spoke out about her baby daddy’s need to keep their daughter looking fresh.
If anyone knows Kanye, they just know how into fashion he is, and I think he’s going to have things specially made… So I don’t think hand-me-downs are going to work.
Yeah, we don’t think anyone was ever expecting a Kardashian to wear hand-me-downs, Kim.
Baby West will join Mason, 3 and Penelope, 7 months, as the third grandchild for Kris and Bruce Jenner. Congrats Kim and Kanye!
You Will Like These Stories Too!!
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Posted in Fashion, Kanye West, Khloe Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Music, Photos |


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Jaguar is to unveil the new supercharged 4.2-litre V8 XKR at the British International Motor Show next month.
The XKR will be revealed at a press conference on the Jaguar stand on Tuesday 18 July.
"Following the resounding success of the XK since it went on sale earlier this year, we are confident that the much awaited XKR will continue to build on the momentum the car has generated for our dealers," said Jaguar's UK Managing Director Geoff Cousins.
As with all Jaguars, the new XK is designed, engineered and developed at the company's in Coventry, and it is manufactured at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham.
More information will be released at the motor show, but expect the XKR to have in excess of 400bhp to trump its predecessor. Styling tweaks are rumoured to include mesh inserts in the grille, extra body mouldings and four prominent rear tailpipes. Inside there will be sports seats and bespoke trim options.


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This week Acer, HP, Toshiba, and Asus introduced new Chrome OS laptops and desktops featuring Intel Haswell processors. The Chromebooks are expected to offer longer battery life than their predecessors, and the Asus Chromebox will benefit from the latest Intel CPU and graphics performance.
But the company that made one of the most impressive Chromeboks to date has no immediate plans for a sequel. Google hasn’t yet announced plans for a next-generation Chromebook Pixel.
The Chromebook Pixel turned heads when it launched in February thanks to a 2560 x 1700 pixel touchscreen display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, an Intel core i5 Ivy Bridge processor, and an excellent keyboard and touchpad. It’s a remarkably good laptop, especially if you’re sold on Google’s idea of an operating system based around the Chrome web browser.
But with prices starting at $1299, it’s unlikely Google sold an awful lot of units — and PC World reports that Google is now calling the Pixel a prototype designed to show what a Chromebook could be and that the company currently has no plans to offer a second-generation model.
That doesn’t mean there won’t ever be a new Chromebook Pixel — GigaOm reports that Google spokesperson said the company isn’t commenting on future plans, which suggests that Google hasn’t ruled out a Pixel 2. It’s just not announcing anything at the moment.
It’s interesting to see that half a year later Chromebooks are coming out with faster processors, longer battery life, and other improvements over previous generations. But the Chromebook Pixel is still the only model with a 3:2 aspect ratio display, a higher-than-full-HD screen, or a touchscreen.
via Chrome Story


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Last year I posted on Google modifying representations of reality (Streetview) and hypothesized about the potential problems. Now we have a potential real world test case as Google might be selling advertisements inside Google Maps:
This patent, which was originally filed on July 7, 2008, describes a new system for promoting ads in online mapping applications. In this patent, Google describes how it plans to identify buildings, posters, signs and billboards in these images and give advertisers the ability to replace these images with more up-to-date ads. In addition, Google also seems to plan an advertising auction for unclaimed properties.


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If you have a Google account, Google has announced that you can now access the online document editing service, Quickoffice, for free through your mobile devices.
Quickoffice lets customers edit Microsoft Office Excel, Word and PowerPoint files on their iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet. The company views this offer as a way to ‘make’ users who haven’t “gone Google yet” go Google and migrate to its own document formats.
For the users who already have Quickoffice for Google Apps for Business, they are advised to update their app to the new version and they will see a new icon.
To add to that, users who sign in from the new Quickoffice app for Android or iOS by September 26, 2013 will receive an extra 10GB of Google Drive storage for the next two years.
Google is really smart, how else could they get more people on Google, however we hope that this offer will stay long enough to get people talking, and not forgetting the efficiency Google, it had better be as good as it was before the fishing began.


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GLOBAL drinks company Diageo, the makers of Guinness, said yesterday that it suffered poorer sales results than expected for the first three months of 2013.
The company's financial results echo the poor outlook for the drinks sector in Ireland, where alcohol sales in pubs fell by 6pc last year.
But the importance of Ireland's drinks industry to the overall economy should not be underestimated.
Research by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) says that the sale of alcohol in Ireland contributes €2.8bn to the economy through business running costs such as raw materials and wages, and employs 62,000 people.
It pays out €1bn a year, DIGI says, towards wages and personnel costs. Yet the industry is clearly hurting. Alcohol sales in pubs are down 33pc in five years.
Still, the drinks sector generates over €1bn in export sales annually – as much as the country's dairy industry – and €1.8bn in tax revenue through VAT and excise duties.
These taxes are controversial. Early last year the Government increased VAT from 21pc to 23pc and Budget 2013 increased excise duties substantially. Beer excise was raised by 22pc, spirits by 18pc and wine by a massive 41pc. Irish-bought wine is now subject to heavier excise duties than anywhere else in Europe.
This is roundly criticised by drink sellers. Many chose to absorb these excise increases themselves rather than pass them on to customers through price hikes, to try and save falling sales. DIGI is calling on the Government to begin to reverse the tax increases.
As a results of narrowing profit margins and falling sales, 6,000 jobs have been lost since 2009.
Donall O'Keeffe, CEO of the Licensed Vintners Association, says falling sales mean pubs are forced to change their business models by cutting working hours and hiring part-time staff where they would have previously hired full-time.
He says many pubs are family owned and it is incredibly difficult to let go or reduce the hours of loyal staff from local communities.
Diageo's results illustrate that alcohol sales are not just challenged in Ireland – the trend is evident worldwide. The global drinks company, which makes Baileys and Johnnie Walker whiskey as well as Guinness, said sales growth was 4pc, lower than expected by analysts.
Sales fell in emerging markets such as Brazil, Nigeria and South Korea.
Not all brewers reported less than positive results. UK manufacturer SABMiller had some bright spots, including parts of Africa and also eastern Europe, where new premium product launches helped boost sales.
France's Remy Cointreau bucked the gloomy trend, with solid China New Year cognac sales and a sales increase in Russia and Britain.


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The fashion industry is going through a somewhat painful transition from analog to digital, induced by the coronavirus pandemic and the relentless rise in global temperatures, triggering climate change and increasing pressure on the industry to become more sustainable.
To continue to trade in the face of these challenges, fashion brands have adopted digital prototyping methods, thereby reducing waste and streamlining physical production post-lockdown. The bag design software online helps luxury brands to adopt new digital trends and let their buyers determine what stays in and what goes out.
Handbag Design Software Helps Brands in Reinventing Virtual Measures
The digital trend is not a new concept, and it has revamped the way we eat, shop, and communicate, but you could argue that the fashion industry is yet to keep up. Like many other industries, the recent backlash has provided both the opportunity and the much-needed trigger for fashion to self-reflect and develop a new approach to survive. While many global brands have adapted to these changes, other fashion industry visionaries are reinventing. Viewing the current fashion industry challenges within the context of shifting consumer desires and online behaviors, some are devising an entirely new business model for fashion consumption, with no physical outputs.
Here are a few ways digital technology helps leading in the luxury industry:
- Promoting an Inclusive Model
As part of its biodiversity strategy, the luxury group, Kering, is committed to generating a net positive impact on biodiversity by 2025. It aims to regenerate one million hectares of farms and rangelands throughout its supply chain and supporting the protection of an additional one million hectares of “irreplaceable” habitat through independent conservation programs. Companies often supported biodiversity as part of their corporate social responsibility programs, rather than their operations. The statement holds true because everything from raw material to selling the product, the fashion brands have always taken from the planet and never gave anything in return until now. The digital technology helps brands adopt an inclusive model where they can also respect biodiversity and carefully perform their business processes.
Unearthing Biodiversity in Fashion – This Wednesday July 1st at 3:00pm CET, join Kering and @GFAgenda in a unique masterclass to understand the changing relationship between fashion and biodiversity.
Register here: https://t.co/JKjHAiOYJ9 #KeringForSustainability pic.twitter.com/5gwzWU8R58
— Kering (@KeringGroup) June 29, 2020
- Collaborating Men and Women Fashion Together
Another way to control the brands from overstepping on nature is by combining both genders’ fashion and provide them a chance to wear unisex products and show-off their style. This may also be a nod to increasing gender fluidity, which is becoming more mainstream within both fashion and beauty retail. Gen Z is among the most gender-aware and gender-diverse population in history, and will soon account for 40% of global consumers this year. The bag maker software enables brands to break down the gender wall and let customers design and buy all kinds under one roof. The tool comes with an in-built digital preview helping buyers understand and check minute details in the product they wish to customize, and based on it; they can create their fashion sense. It ensures no product is wasted, and buyers purchase what they ordered.
- Trusting Your Power to Engage Customers
Brands are aware of the power they hold, and therefore, they are trying to make the most of it by engaging with customers and accessing them. The Millennial dollar doesn’t stretch too far either, but you have the most populist spenders between the two groups. The fashion brands are always seeking options that help them increase engagement with customers, and this time Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons has come to their rescue. The label has been flooded with a lot of high-end fashion brand designs on their digital platform since its latest installment back in March, and people are buying into the feature. Animal Crossing allowed for the recreation of designs from brands like Marc Jacob, Kirin, Sandy Liang, and Valentino. These brands have been available in the game’s digital store.
Wearing Valentino on #AnimalCrossing?
— Valentino (@MaisonValentino) May 4, 2020
The Ball is in Your Court-
The digital platform has become one of the most viable options to survive in the fierce competition of the luxury market for brands. The more they invest their time in the digital realm, the higher are the chances of them succeeding. This kind of engagement is the battle other brands have faced in translating luxury through digital mediums, which have not been easy for some high-end fashion brands. The bag design online by iDesigniBuy helps luxury fashion houses to make room for recent technological development and allow their buyers to translate their idea of fashion into reality.
Collaborate with us now!


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Blackberry growers in bumper harvest due to warm weather
British blackberry growers are forecasting a bumper harvest this year.
The industry expects to grow 2,000 tonnes of the fruit, beating last year's production by 82%.
The market has grown more than 70% over the last decade, according to British Summer Fruits (BSF), the industry association.
And there is scope for further growth as commercial growers develop new snack-friendly "sweet-eating" varieties of the berry, it says.
High light levels, warm days and cooler nights have resulted in the fruits ripening a month earlier than usual, BSF says.
Growers have been experimenting with new varieties to extend the growing season, and the introduction of climate control technology has enabled production to extend into November.
Apples and pears
Other fruit growers are also experiencing bumper harvests, thanks to the fine weather.
Earlier this month, the trade body English Apples and Pears said apple growers were expecting a "delicious and juicy" early harvest, with some varieties ripening three weeks earlier than in 2013.
Shoppers can expect soon to see early croppers such as Galmac and Delbar Estival, with fruit including plums, cherries and pears also doing well.
A mild spring followed by recent sunny weather has created better conditions for growing apples, growers say.


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The New Rules of the IPO
Nearly 200 companies are expected to go public in 2020. Here are the ones to watch.
Perhaps you?ve heard of it? Last September, the ur-unicorn declared its intent to become a publicly traded company in 2020, instantly making it the year?s most anticipated offering. The home-rental behemoth was most recently valued at $31 billion in a 2017 funding round. (Last March, Recode reported that an internal valuation put the figure at $38 billion.) Founded in 2008 after RISD-grad roommates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia started renting out an air mattress in their San Francisco living room and decided that the idea of home bed-and-breakfast could scale, Airbnb has asserted that it was profitable in 2017 and 2018. More recent reports, however, say that rising costs pushed it into the red for the nine months ending in September ? and that this and the uncertain impact of the coronavirus mean the offering may not happen until the second half of 2020. Many reports suggest that the company is one of several that may issue shares by way of a direct listing ? meaning current investors will be able to sell their shares, but the company itself is not raising money. Slack and Spotify are the marquee examples of firms that have taken this route, but Airbnb is part of a small pack that may follow suit this year.
Last January, Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta assured CNN Business that an IPO was ?on the horizon.? It didn?t happen in 2019, so maybe this year? The controversial app-based grocery delivery service ? you punch in your order on your phone, and a gig economy ?personal shopper? fulfills and delivers it ? was valued at around $7.8 billion in its last funding round in 2018. By his own account, Mehta cycled through 20 failed attempts to start a company over a two-year period before launching Instacart in his mid-twenties. The startup has had rocky relations with some of its freelance ?shopper? workforce, notably paying $4.6 million to settle a class action suit from workers who alleged the company?s policies caused them to lose potential tips. That said, Instacart isn?t exactly radioactive, boasting partnerships with the likes of Walmart, Kroger, and Costco.
According to the Wall Street Journal, it?s been about 15 years since private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management began engineering the creation of today?s Albertsons Cos., which encompasses that namesake grocery chain as well as Safeway and Jewel-Osco ? more than 2,200 stores that together racked up around $61 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year. Albertsons flirted with an IPO in 2015 (pulling the plug because the market didn?t seem retail-friendly at the time) and again in 2018 through a planned deal with Rite Aid (also scuttled when investors reacted poorly). There?s no public paperwork on this go-round, but the Journal cites an anonymous inside source suggesting the valuation could be around $19 billion. The supermarket sector has been squeezed by Amazon and Walmart, among other factors, but given the critical coverage of private equity?s role in the bankruptcy of Fairway, if this offering does happen it would be a notable private equity success story.
GitLab markets a DevOps (translation: software development and operations) platform designed to help clients from Delta to Ticketmaster create and and implement custom software more efficiently. But the nine-year-old company may be just as well known for its idiosyncratic culture: The entire company (1,100-plus employees) works remotely and management strikes a ?radical transparency? pose that includes its on the record goal ?to go public in CY2020, specifically on Wednesday, November 18, 2020.? The company has explained the weird precision of the announcement by noting that the date is ?five years after the first people got stock options with 4 years of vesting,? and as late as possible in the year but before Thanksgiving (on the theory that the markets get quiet after that). The nine-year-old company reports annual revenue growth of more than 140%, with its most recent funding round ($268 million, last September) valuing it at $2.76 billion. GitLab is among the tech unicorns believed to be considering a direct listing.
Easily the brightest spot in the not-so-sunny world of J. Crew Group Inc. ? and retail-at-large ? is the culty, denim-centric Madewell brand: With about 130 stores and counting, its sales increased 13% last quarter, and revenues are up a reported 55% from 2016 to 2018. Meanwhile, J. Crew overall is losing money, the flagship brand?s sales are down, and the private equity-backed company is struggling with a $1.7 billion debt load. A plan to spin off Madewell via an IPO looked a little shaky last year ? until creditors signed off in December on a plan that would use a percentage of IPO proceeds to address the debt issue. J. Crew has estimated Madewell?s potential value at up to $2.9 billion, but a Moody?s report in September put it in the $1.2 to $1.9 billion range. The final answer will depend on whether the market can be convinced that Madewell has significant room to grow.
Promising to use innovative software and other technology to make the health-insurance experience more efficient for both patients and medical practitioners, Oscar launched in 2012 with an eye toward carving out a role in the then-emerging Obamacare marketplace. Notably, its founders include Joshua Kushner, a venture capitalist who is also the brother-in-law of Ivanka Trump. The company?s revenue is growing smartly, it hired a new chief operating officer, and it is well-funded, having raised about $1.3 billion at a valuation of $3.2 billion in 2018. As Axios? Pro Rata newsletter noted, its future may depend on how the presidential election breaks, and ?obviously it wouldn?t favor a Trump reelection.? Awkward.
Late last year, this desktop and mobile no-fee stock-trading platform announced it had passed 10 million users. Founded in 2013, Robinhood is pitched as democratizing the financial markets, and has been particularly popular with millennials. It?s also become a de facto reference point for hot-to-overheated stocks: recently, when Tesla shares soared into bubble territory, CNBC noted that in a single day 12,000 Robinhood accounts bought the stock for the first time. In late 2018, Robinhood?s CEO Baiju Bhatt told the audience at TechCrunch Disrupt SF that the company ?is on the path to an IPO.? That didn?t happen in 2019, but the company did raise another funding round, pegging its valuation at $7.6 billion. It hasn?t made its 2020 plans known, but remains on the watch list.
Last September, this fintech unicorn?s latest investment came in at a whopping $35 billion valuation, making it one of the ?highest-valued startups in the world.? Backers include Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz, among others. It was founded in 2010 by Irish brothers John and Patrick Collison (now age 29 and 31, respectively) who moved to Silicon Valley to pursue entrepreneurial tech careers. It?s fair to say that?s worked out: At Stripe?s current valuation, they?re said to be worth more than $4 billion each. While there?s little to nothing in terms of actual evidence that the payment software company will go public in 2020, it remains a regular on the IPO rumor mill.
The work-software firm co-founded by Facebook Mafia?s Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein ? a Facebook co-founder and former Facebook engineering lead, respectively ? hit a $1.5 billion valuation with its most recent funding round in late 2018. Moskovitz and Rosenstein reportedly bonded over shared interests in meditation, yoga, and Buddhism, and say that this has guided their management style as well as the design of their product (its name means ?pose?), which work teams use to collaborate efficiently. Last year the company passed $100 million in annual revenue, and reportedly began preparing to go public. In February 2020, the company announced it had confidentially filed its Form S-1 to begin the SEC review process that precedes a public offering; Axios reported that the firm intends to do so through a direct listing.
The food delivery service started by four Stanford students in 2013 isn?t profitable, but it?s reported that one in three Silicon Valley households has used it. Last year it sparked controversy over a confusing system for handling tips given to its gig-worker delivery drivers, and eventually promised to implement a clearer structure. The San Francisco-based startup is reported to be considering a direct offering in 2020. Meanwhile, it has been able to tap other sources of funding, including a $100 million investment in 2019 that valued the company at $12.7 billion. One notable backer: SoftBank, lately most associated with the WeWork debacle.
This story is part of The New Rules of the IPO, a multi-part special report.


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January 2021 PubTalk Keynote Speaker: Andrew McCormick
Andrew McCormick | General Counsel & Secretary | Laird Superfood
Catching the IPO Wave from Sisters, Oregon
Experience Andrew McCormick’s keynote speech at the January 2021 Central Oregon PubTalk. Andrew McCormick discusses and gives his insight into the biggest IPO to hit Central Oregon in years.
Check out other segments of the event to hear pitches and updates from local companies and start-ups. Our YouTube channel includes the January 2021 PubTalk pitching companies, Astromotive and Velmacchi.
About Andrew and Laid Superfood
Earlier this year, Sisters-based Laird Superfood launched a successful Initial Public Offering (IPO), raising over $58 million. Why did this company choose to launch their global products from a small town in Oregon? Why did they decide to go public? Tune in as we hear from Andrew McCormick and the story of how this startup has grown into one of the biggest companies in Central Oregon. Caprielle Lewis, EDCO’s Sisters Area Director will moderate the discussion.
PubTalk Company lineup
Pitching Company: Velomacchi
Founder Kevin Murray
Velomacchi is an adventure travel apparel company that builds premium quality gear for mobile professionals. Each piece is carefully considered and tested for high speed travel. Never ones to follow the status quo, they continually seek out the best craftsmen and the best materials from the best factories around the world, creating a product that drives the category forward.
Pitching Company: Astromotive
Founder Lawrence Sheets
Some of Founder & CEO Josie Johnson’s main passions are cooking and baking. But when allergies led her to go gluten-free, Josie’s Best was born. Josie’s Best produces gluten-free and allergen-free baking mixes from Sisters, Oregon. Recently, they were featured on Good Morning America, further spreading the word of their delicious mixes.
EDCO’s Central Oregon PubTalk, held the fourth Thursday of the month, is a happy hour aimed at bringing together different facets of the business community in one place to network, share ideas, and further local businesses.


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iOS 7 Training Begins for AppleCare Support Employees Ahead of Release Date
Apple has begun training its AppleCare support staff to tackle user questions regarding iOS 7. According to a 9to5Mac, the training is expected to be completed by the second week of September, in time for the release date of iOS 7.
iOS 7 is the biggest change to the iPhone OS since the introduction of the original iPhone. Every screen, button and color palette has been redesigned to give it a more clean and fresh look. Apple is anticipating customer “shock” when they see iPhone running iOS 7 and the support staff is being trained accordingly. The support employees are expected to explain potential customers that even though the operating system looks different the core functionality remains the same.
Training its support staff is extremely important for Apple since the changes in iOS 7 are quite drastic and could lead to a lot of questions. AppleCare support employees are reportedly going to focus on explaining customers the Find my iPhone Activation Lock feature, show how Photo Stream works, sharing files using AirDrop, new settings in Control Center, new Safari enhancements and more.
After ousting Scott Forstall, Apple CEO made Jony Ive the head of human interface design at Apple and iOS 7 will be the first mobile OS released under his leadership. iOS 7 is a complete departure from the design language used in previous versions of iOS. The new operating system has been given a more simplistic look without any heavy ornamentation.
Apple is rumored to release the GM version of iOS 7 on September 10th and also unveil the new iPhone 5S alongwith the cheap iPhone 5C.


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Welcome to a live press conference with Ekobot AB and Victoria Woyland from Volvo Group, connected solutions. During the meeting, a presentation will be made of the nomination committee's proposal for a new member of the board of directors, Victoria Woyland. Ekobot's and CEO Erik Jonuks will also provide a status update for 2021.
Erik Jonuk's CEO Ekobot AB
Victoria Woyland Vice President Volvo Group connected solutions
Thomas Lindgren Chairman Ekobot AB
The press conference begins on Tuesday, June 29, at 10:00. Participation in live press conferences with the opportunity to ask questions is reported to firstname.lastname@example.org
It will also be possible to follow the press conference live via the link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhWgAP4EZ6Y
The press conference is mainly held in Swedish with the opportunity to ask questions in English.
10.00 CEO Erik Jonuks + Chairman Thomas Lindgren Welcomes
10.05 Presentation Victoria Woyland, Volvo group connected solutions
10.15 Q&A Victoria Woyland
10.25 Status reporting – CEO Erik Jonuks
10.35 Q&A from audience
10.45 Ending press conference


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Ombudsman Simon Cohen told journalists there was an 18% decrease in complaints overall - 35,000 fewer complaints than last year - with a "substantial decrease" in mobile phone related complaints.
The total number stood at 158,652 complaints and Cohen attributed the decrease to three factors - a recognition from industry CEOs of the importance in strong customer service, the new Telcecommunications Consumer Protections Code which came into effect in September 2012, and a renewed focus on compliance from operators.
Mobile phone complaints dropped a massive 25.6% while landline complaints decreased 9.3% to 33,940, and internet complaints increased marginally (1.9 %) to 31,431. Billing and payment issues, customer service complaints and overall fault concerns all reduced in 2012-13.
“This is the second successive year we have seen telco complaints decrease, and complaints to the TIO are at their lowest since 2008-09,” Cohen said.
Vodafone received its lowest level of complaints for three years, but Cohen wasn't able to specify whether this was due to a lower customer base or network improvements. He did say there was "still a substantial number of coverage complaints" in relation to Vodafone.
There were significant rises in complaints about Internet faults (18.3%) and landline faults (19.1%), which Cohen attributed to extreme weather events and disasters.
The decrease in complaints was also recorded despite a 58% increase in consumer awareness of the TIO. Aided awareness of the Ombudsman’s office had increased from 36% in 2008 to 57% in 2012.
Victoria was the 'most whingey' state with 7.8 complaints per 1,000 people, compared with a national average of 6.8. There were also "very few" complaints around the NBN, though Cohen said this "reflected the modest rollout of the NBN last financial year."
For more, including complaint statistics around controversial MVNO Kogan and industry reaction, continute to page two.
The Ombudsman reported that more than half of the complaints made to the TIO in 2012-13 included customer service issues, and the vast majority of these were resolved quickly by referral to senior complaints handlers within service providers.
“The high number of simple complaints resolved by TIO referral demonstrates ongoing opportunities for telcos to improve how they deal with customer complaints,” Cohen said.
Coverage-related concerns – about reduced or no reception, poor voice quality and dropped calls – remained the main reasons consumers complained about their mobile services. In 2012-13, 25,770 consumers made a complaint about this these issues, a 13.5% decrease when compared to 2011-12. Coverage was an issue in 28.2% of new complaints about mobile services.
ACCAN CEO Teresa Corbin said the numbers were an improvement but still needed a lot more work.
“This significant drop in TIO complaints shows that enhanced consumer protections introduced with the TCP Code and a new focus on fixing customer service issues by industry is beginning to have the desired effect," she said.
"But it’s important to keep some perspective - the 158,652 new complaints are coming off record highs and are still considerably higher than the number of complaints dealt with by the financial ombudsman, which includes the banks.
“Complaint figures are starting to go from the stratosphere back down to Earth but there is still significant room for improvement. Mobile service issues were the cause of more than half of all new complaints and almost 26,000 people complained about mobile coverage. Fixing mobile coverage issues should be a priority as this continues to be the top issue in all of the top 10 complaints postcodes. Additionally, it is concerning that more than half of the new consumer disputes included a customer service complaint about issues such as broken promises or wrong advice.
The Ombudsman agreed with the sentiments, telling iTWire 150,000 complaints is "still a lot", and that "one in five complaints includes a gripe about a broken promise, and that really shows there's substantial room to improve."
Meanwhile troubled MVNO Kogan, which no longer operates, received around 800 complaints to the Ombudsman, mostly around its controversial 'Acceptable Use' policies.
"There have been some issues presented to customers who subscribed to MVNO services during 2012/13," Cohen told iTWire.
"We've seen some big issues around how customers have been transferred into those services, the acceptable use policies, and some issues around customer service and complaint handling, so those sorts of factors have seen an increase in the proportion of complaints from small providers, in relation to the overall trend of a decrease in complaints.
"There are some challenges in meeting consumer expectations with the product they're actually going to receive, and I think also in ensuring that the business model for those services is a sustainable one."
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association CEO Chris Althaus said the 25.6% fall in mobile complaints was a major reduction and provided industry with important feedback on its ongoing efforts to improve customer service.
“These figures show that our industry is definitely heading in the right direction over the past 12 months with a strong performance in addressing customer service issues, but we know that we must keep pushing hard on this key task to try and ensure lasting improvements in customer service,” he said.


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Super Tuscan estate Monteverro plans to significantly increase production of its top wines over the next decade.
A view of Monteverro vineyards in southern Tuscany. Image credit: Monteverro
Monteverro only planted its first vines in 2004, but the estate’s German owners, the Weber family, is keen to capitalise on the rising popularity of Italy’s so-called Super Tuscan wines.
‘We have 27 hectares of vines planted but we have 50 hectares of land,’ the property’s sales and marketing manager, Olympia Romba, told Decanter.com during a visit to London to show the estate’s 2011 vintage.
Monteverro, based close to the coast just outside Capalbio in southern Tuscany, currently produces 18,000 to 20,000 bottles of its namesake flagship wine. It is a blend of classic Bordeaux varietals, consisting of 40% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, with Merlot and Petit Verdot making up the rest.
‘By 2020, I think we will be closer to 40,000 bottles,’ said Romba. She added that the estate could double production of its second wine, Terra di Monteverro, to 100,000 bottles over the same timescale.
Both wines have the same proportions of Bordeaux varietals, but the Monteverro wine has spent 24 months ageing in French oak barrels with 80% new oak, while Terra di Monteverro spends 20 months in the barrel, with 50% new oak.
The estate’s winemaking team, led by winemaker Matthieu Taunay, also produces around 4,000 bottles of Chardonnay annually and 10,000 bottles of a Rhone-style blend of Syrah and Grenache, named Tinata. Bordeaux wine consultant Michel Rolland advises Monteverro and visits in person three times per year, usually for two days at a time.
Romba spent 10 years working at Mahler-Besse in Bordeaux, which is part of the syndicate that owns Chateau Palmer, before joining Monteverro in 2010.
Written by Chris Mercer


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Last week, the Mayors’ Institute on City Design—a Washington, D.C.-based group of urban design experts—swung through Sacramento and offered a critique of our deeply dysfunctional downtown, in particular the J-K-L corridor.
A lot of what the MICD had to say at its brief presentation at City Hall last week was familiar to anyone who’s followed downtown development.
For one, K Street isn’t really a street anymore, malled up and cut off by Downtown Plaza and the Sacramento Convention Center. Downtown Plaza itself is a Death Star, a gloomy fortress at war with the neighborhood outside.
(In fact, Bites has been talking about getting rid of Downtown Plaza for years now. See “Blow up the mall” by Cosmo Garvin; September 20, 2007. Also check out www.deadmalls.com to see what other towns are doing with their abandoned, and might-as-well-be abandoned, shopping centers.)
Unfortunately, the MICD panel ignored the one factor that mucked up downtown in the first place: redevelopment.
Mayors up and down the state are pitching a collective hissy fit because Gov. Jerry Brown wants to take away their power to divert taxes into redevelopment agencies.
The upside is that it will mean an end to bizarre experiments like K Street, where for decades millions of dollars in public money have been spent trying out the latest gimmicks. Banning cars, building suburban-style shopping malls, creating a heavily subsidized entertainment district, complete with an underperforming IMAX theater and a mermaid bar.
What did a once perfectly good urban thoroughfare like K Street ever do to deserve such shabby treatment?
Along with the many physical perversions of K Street came the social and political perversions. What was the point of banning street musicians from K Street? Is there not something a bit corrosive about using tax dollars and the power of eminent domain to force “undesirable” businesses like restaurants, record stores and clothing shops to relocate?
Did we really need to spend millions to relocate light-rail stations—and light-rail riders, some of whom are homeless, or young and rowdy, or drunk, or all of the above—away from the sight lines of property owned by certain favored developers? Oh, and how did that whole Z Gallerie thing work out, anyway?
And why does it seem like, inside the redevelopment zone, nobody does anything positive without a fat government handout?
The city lionizes downtown super developer David Taylor, who has made his career parlaying public funds into impressive, but often sterile, commercial projects. At the same time it demonizes downtown landlord Moe Mohanna, because he was smart enough to buy up property in the downtown redevelopment zone and then, when the city decided it wanted his land, to demand a high price for it. But both men are products of the same distorted system.
Of course, it should be noted that SN&R’s Del Paso Boulevard mother ship was paid for with a loan from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.
And Bites is no Libertarian. Twenty percent of redevelopment money now collected by local agencies like SHRA by law has to be used to produce much-needed affordable housing in our communities. That part of the governor’s plan will actually hurt real people.
But if Mayor Kevin Johnson and the other “Big Ten” city mayors are going to go to the mat for redevelopment, it would be nice if they put extra focus on saving the affordable-housing money, and less on saving the mermaid bars.
Perhaps, with some serious reforms, redevelopment could be made to work better. As it stands now, Bites will only be 20 percent sad to see it go.


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THE GOVERNMENT HAS announced that the VAT rate for the supply and installation of solar panels will be abolished from 1 May.
The Department of the Environment has stated that reducing the rate from 23 to 0% will bring the average cost of installing solar panels down by €1000, meaning that consumers will pay €8000 rather than €9000.
The Department has stated that this permanent change is being made in order to help families and businesses deal with “high energy prices and cost of living challenges”.
The change will cost the Government €19m annually, according to estimates from the Department of Finance.
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said that he believes that scrapping the VAT rate on solar panel installation will encourage more people to avail of the technology.
Government’s Commitment to Help Households
“This measure underlines the Government’s commitment to help households to save money on their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint and contribute positively to our national climate change targets,” he said.
Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said that the announcement is another step towards “cleaner, cheaper, renewable energy”.
He outlined other measures that the Government has taken to incentivise homeowners and businesses to opt for solar panels: “We have removed planning permission requirements to install solar panels on residential homes. Our Micro-generation Support Scheme is continuing to prove very successful, following record levels of installations supported in 2022 via the Domestic Solar PV Scheme – operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.”


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The innovation ecosystem contains both competitive and cooperative relations between actors, and both complementary and substitute relations between technologies, patents, components, applications, and systems. In this memo, I demonstrate these relations between the two tech giants: Apple and Samsung.
In 2011, Google purchased Motorola and its patent portfolio for $12.5 billion to protect the Android ecosystem. Google did this acquisition to fend off litigation threats from Apple and to protect its partners. Between 2009 and 2015, many patent infringement lawsuits were filed in various jurisdictions. The most disputed smartphone technologies were mobile data access, touchscreen technology, and mobile data transmission. One of the most reported fights in the smartphone patent war was the one between Apple and Samsung that involved patents related to iPhone and Galaxy as shown in the side figure. Samsung’s IP awareness had been awakened since the 1980s by a patent infringement case involving ten US patents on DRAM held by Texas Instruments. Samsung adopted a strategy for patent protection, establishing an IP division, and making efforts to increase in-house innovativeness3. Samsung was at very high risk in its fight with Apple as they countersue a big company, in addition to that most competing firms, also were Samsung’s customers in that they procured components from Samsung. That led to a massive loss of $1billion paid by Samsung to Apple. This was an example of competitive relations.
The accessibility of a specific technology is not impacted only by patents of the focal technology, but also by patents on complementary and substitute technologies and standards. For example, the cross-licensing of complementary patents played an important role to enable accessibility among main innovators in the innovation ecosystem. It all depends on the mode of technology governance employed by an actor. Such cooperative relations were demonstrated in the case of iPhone X. Samsung is controlling 90% of the OLED market share. OLED is the core screen technology used in iPhoneX. With a 90 percent yield rate, Samsung Display can churn out around 224 million 6-inch panels per year to Apple. Samsung Display will supply Apple with between 180 to 200 million flexible OLED panels for the iPhone in 2018. Although Apple hates such a monopoly. Samsung as the world’s biggest chip maker can only satisfy the demands of Apple. Apple pays $120 for each OLED screen compared to $45 for LCD Screens.
 Samsung is making Apple pay a small fortune for the iPhone 8 display. TechCrunch. 2018
 ‘Apple’ OLED Display On The $1,000 iPhone 8, ‘iPhone X’ Gets You This. Forbes. 2018
 A review of the ecosystem concept — Towards coherent ecosystem design. sciencedirect.com. 2017
 The evolution of intellectual property strategy in innovation ecosystems. sciencedirect.com. 2017
 Phone Patent Fight. The Wall Street Journal. 2012
 IPR and technological catch-up in Korea. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 2010


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3DPrint reports on an exciting announcement by the fashion industry juggernaut Chanel. Chanel has finally unveiled their 3D printed mascara brush, which has been in the works for over ten years, since 2007.
“Chanel Parfums Beaute, together with its French partner, Erpro 3D Factory, is changing up the brush manufacturing process by increasing flexibility and saving time and money for forgoing expensive, time-consuming molds.” This new 3D printed mascara brush is called Le Revolution Volume mascara.
Erpro 3D Factory, specializers in large-scale 3D printing, “have designed a joint production line with [Chanel]. The line has six 3D printers, which can produce a total of 50,000 brushes per day – this equals out to 250,000 brushes per week, for a total of up to 1 million brushes each month.”
Chanel first filed a 3D printing patent all the way back in 2007, “for manufacturing cosmetic products applicators, which included a 3D printed mascara brush. Fabricating the brush via 3D printing introduces flexibility to the production process, as Chanel was able to manufacture as many inexpensive prototypes as needed in order to test out and determine the best brush formula.”
Production of Le Revolution Volume mascara is expected to begin in June of 2018. “Several patent applications protect the process, in which layers of polyamide powder are polymerized using a laser beam to 3D print the mascara brush. The powder 3D printing method allows Chanel to produce the specific shape of the brush, which it wouldn’t be able to do with other, more conventional manufacturing methods. This shape allows the mascara to be distributed homogeneously on the user’s eyelashes.”
La Revolution Volume mascara brush will be available in Canada starting in the fall of 2018.
Image and Quotes Courtesy of 3DPrint and Chanel


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Norgard has earlier invested in startups like SpaceX, Lyft, and NotionHQ, according to a Chingari statement.
Grinda has more than 200 investments in several big firms including Alibaba Group, Airbnb, Beepi, FanDuel, Palantir, and Windeln, it said.
Co-founder and CEO of Chingari App, Sumit Ghosh said, "We are humbled that globally acclaimed entrepreneurs like Brian Norgard and Fabrice Grinda loved the vision of the Chingari team and invested into what we are building."
"We are absolutely delighted to have them onboard the Chingari rocket ship and look forward to learning from them the art of building and scaling Global product companies," he said.
Grinda was quoted as saying in the statement: "Weve been impressed with the way Chingari has grown organically and in a very capital efficient manner so far."
"Chingari has been able to make its way into the hearts of the Indian people and the team is shipping upgrades at the speed like none we have seen so far", he said.
- Front Page
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- ET Markets
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- Indices Rally on Positive Cues from Fed Minutes
Indian equities made a dramatic surge in the last half hour of trade on Thursday – the last day of the November derivatives series – with two of the biggest gauges advancing over 1% led by information technology companies and the HDFC twins.Will Implement UCC but After Open and Healthy Debate: Shah
Union home minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that the BJP is firm on implementing Uniform Civil Code (UCC) across the country but keeping democratic norms in mind, this should be done only after healthy and open discussions have taken place.LNG Storage Planned at Major Ports at ₹20,000cr Investment
India is preparing a roadmap for setting up floating storage facilities for liquefied natural gas (LNG) at all its major ports, a senior government official aware of the matter said.
ETPrime stories of the day
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KUALA LUMPUR (April 22): MMAG Holdings Bhd, which is buying two parcels of land in mainland Penang from Dynaciate Group Bhd for RM41 million, today entered into a supplemental agreement on the deal.
The agreement entails a revised schedule for the payment of RM8.2 million, being the second out of five payment tranches, for the contiguous industrial land in Sungai Bakap.
The amount is now payable within 12 months, instead of six months, from the date of the sale and purchase agreement. The SPA was signed on Oct 18 last year.
"Save for the above, all other terms and conditions contained in the SPA shall remain unchanged and continue to be in force," said MMAG.
The company said it requested for the longer period in view of the challenging business environment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
MMAG said it paid the first payment tranche or deposit sum of RM2.05 million upon signing the SPA. The sum accounted for 5% of the total purchase price.
It is scheduled to make the third, fourth and fifth payment tranches totalling RM30.75 million within three and a half years upon settling the full payment of the second tranche.
MMAG, which owns Line Clear Express & Logistics Sdn Bhd, is acquiring the land to expand its logistics business by developing a regional hub and warehouse on the 5.1ha site.
The new warehouse will increase Line Clear’s warehouse and storage land area from the current 726,097 sq ft to up to 1,276,022 sq ft, according to Bursa filings.
Currently, the company has a warehouse-cum-office in Subang Jaya, as well as 45 branches and depots nationwide.
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Pangsapuri Permata Merah (Red Ruby), Taman Universiti Indah
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