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At BroadcastAsia early last month, the BroadcastPro ME team had a chance to witness the launch of new products and technologies and meet with regional heads of some of the exhibiting companies to have an insight of the APAC broadcast market. Here are some sound bites from the event Calvin Koh, Assistant Project Director, BroadcastAsia […]
At BroadcastAsia early last month, the BroadcastPro ME team had a chance to witness the launch of new products and technologies and meet with regional heads of some of the exhibiting companies to have an insight of the APAC broadcast market. Here are some sound bites from the event
Calvin Koh, Assistant Project Director, BroadcastAsia
BroadcastAsia has experienced a year on year growth. This time we saw a lot of new companies such as Accedo, Nice people at Work, ARRI, Quickplay, Pay Wizard, to name a few, exhibiting with us. The response to our new TV everywhere zone was very positive and we hope to have it next year as well.
Adobe also joined us this time at the exhibition.
There has been a growing interest from broadcasters on how to secure their content, monetise it and how to use content analytics to know the viewer profile.
Content streaming and multi-platform delivery were the dominant trends at the show. 4K also generated a lot of interest as has been the case in the past several editions of the show. We welcomed several end users from the region to share the experience at the post and production hub.
As expected IP and digital media asset management, were the key technologies that generated a lot of interest. Our goal is to focus on new technology but also address the core issues and the needs of the traditional players.
The Asia Pacific region is not uniform in terms of the adoption rates of these new technologies. While countries such as Singapore offer a robust infrastructure for new age solutions, others like Thailand and Vietnam have a long way to go in terms of updating their technical infrastructure.
Just like in the rest of the world, the APAC region is also ready with 4K for acquisition but is not quite there for transmission yet. We are doing well with 4K acquisition and production but the streaming part will take some time. Regional broadcasters have just moved from SD to HD but 4K will take time. Certain parts of the 4K value chain have been established but there are missing links.
Broadcasters and content owners are now in urgency to format the content into different devices and they are optimising content to various devices to give consumers the opportunity to watch content any time, anywhere. They are also providing platforms for more people to enjoy content and are looking for ways to monetise it.
Our objective is to showcase the entire ecosystem of the broadcast industry right from acquisition to delivery to offer a wider choice of exhibitors, solutions, networking platforms and conferences. Our conferences steer the exhibition in the right direction for a brighter future of TV. We had a good mix of speakers at our conferences with globally renowned international DoPs, Academy Award winners and industry leaders.
Next year, the show will be earlier as we expect a bigger base of visitors from Indonesia Malaysia and Brunei so we want to host it before Ramadan next year. For the next two years we plan to host the show in May. The venue will be the same.
We are also trying to reach out to the Indian subcontinent and we will continue to explore other countries where we can have a larger visitor base. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other South East Asian countries are on our radar for bringing in some quality visitors.
The show has grown bigger in terms of exhibition space and hospitality suites.


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Tata Global Beverages on Monday said it proposes to launch a ready-to-drink tea-based beverage.
Tata Tea Fruski is expected to be launched on May 10, the company said in a regulatory filing to the BSE.
It added that the product will cater to the domestic market only.
To tap the growing consumption of coffee in India, Tata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL) forayed into the branded instant coffee business last year in India by launching Tata Coffee Grand.
According to the company, Grand is distinctly flavoured and aromatic, to appeal to the discerning consumer. Tata Coffee Grand is available in 50 gm jar, 50 gm and 5.5 gm pouch priced respectively at Rs 110, Rs 95 and Rs 10.

domain: news


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One in seven gamers bought two copies of GTA 5 as ‘too impatient’ for delivery
Thursday 26 September 2013
After half a decade of waiting for GTA V, it has emerged that just an extra few hours to wait was all too much for some gamers.
According to a poll, carried out by www.deliveryquotecompare.com, around one in seven gamers ended up with two copies of the game, both pre-ordering and buying it from the shop.
Of the keen ones who bought two copies, three quarters said that they became ‘too impatient for the delivery of the game to arrive’ and felt compelled to rush to stores to get their copy, some even at the midnight launch.
Some may have been pushed into their decision by the news that Amazon shipped some of their pre-ordered GTAs days before the scheduled release date.
However, it does seem that for a majority of gamers with two copies, the dust has settled after their buying frenzy. Half of those surveyed said that they planned to simply return their second copies for a refund; some have even come to the conclusion that they may have made a shrewd business decision, saying that they could probably “get a profit” if they sell their game on.
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Mr Adebayo said this when he received the representatives of the Beer Sectorial Group of the nation’s manufacturing sector led by the Managing Director of International Breweries, Mr Hugo Rocha in Abuja.
The Minister said that government is fully aware of the challenges facing the manufacturing sector and was doing everything within its power to address them.
Mr Adebayo added that the Central Bank has given assurances that attention would be given to manufacturers using local raw materials.
The secretary of the Beer Sectorial Group, Mr Tony Eneh listed the challenges facing producers of beer to include devaluation, restricted access to foreign exchange, insecurity, escalating logistics cost, covid-19, ease of doing business, increasing excise duty, multiplicity of taxes and tax stamp.
He noted that despite the increase in the yearly taxes paid by the beer producers, their net profit has been on the decline due to the various challenges listed by them.
Mr Eneh therefore sought the support of the Minister towards achieving excise deferment for year 2022 and beyond and other support that may be deemed necessary.
Trade Minister pledges support for beer producers, manufacturing sector


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Move over Rick Ross. Super producer DJ Khaled is entering the chicken wing market. And his spin on getting the tasty poultry delights will be in how he delivers them … on jet skis.
According to the New York Post, the “Wild Thoughts” hitmaker’s new business venture is an international chicken wing delivery startup called Another Wing.
Spanning over 150 kitchens in five countries on three continents, the GRAMMY-winner is partnering with Reef Technology, the ghost kitchen operator.
Khaled told Hypebeast during a recent interview that Another Wing will be “the first restaurant concept to ever launch on three continents at the same time.”
The charismatic chart-topper took to social media to animatedly talk about the new venture captioning on Instagram, “WE THE BEST ALL CATEGORIES! . Introducing @another.wing, my new chicken wing concept, available for pickup and delivery from your favorite delivery platforms. Powered by @reeftechnology. #AnotherWing.”
View this post on Instagram
When asked in his Hypebeast interview about why he wanted to get into the cluck-cluck market, he said, “Sharing something I love, like delicious food with my fans all over the world, how could I say no?”
“It’s all about spreading love and showing people what is possible when you dream,” he said, adding that “we goin’ global,” he concluded.
“The concept is global. Three continents and 150 locations is just the beginning. But we’re going to do it different – not only do we deliver by land, but we will be delivering by sea – with jet ski’s offering boatside delivery. We’re doing everything new.”
According to Bloomberg, the flagship stores will be in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and the United Arab Emirates.
The North American franchises will first open in the following popular cities: New York, Atlanta, Houston, Miami (where the jet ski option will most certainly be popular), Los Angeles, Toronto, and Vancouver.
The offerings on the menu included bone-in and boneless chicken wings that will set you back $6.95 for a six-piece order. The franchise will also immediately offer eight different flavors, including “Un Un Un Believable Buffalo,” “Don’t Quit Nashville Hot,” “You Loyal! Lemon Pepper,” “Honey! Honey! Hot Honey Sriracha,” and “They Don’t Want You To Win TRUFFALO.”


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Source: Pharmacies owe US$30m to foreign suppliers – NewsDay Zimbabwe July 10, 2019
BY MTHANDAZO NYONI
THE Pharmaceutical Wholesalers’ Association (PWA) says international suppliers have put them on advance payment terms because its members owe the external suppliers over US$30 million in legacy debt, spanning over 18 months.
PWA chairperson Kuda Chapfika told NewsDay that the legacy debt was crippling their operations.
“External suppliers are owed over US$30m in legacy debt, spanning over 9-18 months. The future depends on us meeting our payment obligations so that we can get the products into the country and supplies can continue uninterrupted. At least 70% of medicines that are consumed in country are imported,” Chapfika said.
“The support at this point in time needs to come in the form of financing to settle the legacy debt. Once this is done, the supply chain of medicines will become very efficient and the patients will get their cost effective medicines and a healthy nation is very much possible if we can achieve this,” he said.
He said the major challenges relate to financing.
“We, as local players, owe our foreign suppliers a lot of money from products supplied to us over the past 9-18 months. So the main challenge is that most international suppliers have put us on advance payment terms, which is a difficult situation for us,” Chapfika said.
Chapfika, however, said currently the sector has seen an improvement in pharmaceutical supplies to both the private and public sector.
“This can be attributed to players having to self-sustain and negotiate with suppliers, who are mostly foreign suppliers, to keep supplies coming into the country,” he said.
He said the pharmaceutical sector players had embraced S1 142 of 2019 and were trading in local currency.
The public sector in Zimbabwe is heavily dependent on donated drugs, funded by humanitarian agencies, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund, Global Fund, the United States’ President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, among others.
More than 90% of drugs in public hospitals are supplied by donors.


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Invest in Government Bonds Through ATM – IDBI Introduces New Facility….
State-owned IDBI Bank has introduced a first of its kind investment facility that allows a retail customer to invest in government bonds using the bank’s ATM.
The move is aimed at promoting and popularize retail participation in government securities in line with the government of India and RBI’s efforts towards broad basing and expanding retail holding of sovereign bonds in the country, IDBI said.
“The process of transacting in G-Sec through the ATM is very simple, convenient, transparent and cost-effective. The facility of investing in G-Sec through ATM is an extension of bank’s Samriddhi G-Sec Portal to enable retail investors to transact in government Securities, the bank said.
The retail customers of the bank can register, one time, for this facility and invest in G-Sec through any of the Bank’s ATMs.
Ninad Karpe, director, IDBI Bank, inaugurated the facility at the IDBI Bank’s ATM at Corporate Centre, Mumbai.


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After a morning filled with good-natured conversations and a distinct lack of hard questions, WPP chief Martin Sorrell took the stage at the 4A’s annual “Transformation” conference via a video feed. The 30-minute chat with Ken Auletta, writer at The New Yorker, was devoted almost entirely to the case of ousted JWT CEO Gustavo Martinez, who resigned from the WPP agency after being sued for widespread racial and sexual harassment.
Sorrell conceded that the issue of sexism in the agency world is pervasive and that the Martinez case does not represent an isolated incident. His remarks stood in direct contrast to Publicis CEO Maurice Levy, who, during a separate talk, said that Martinez was “one man” who made a mistake. Social media and other speakers jumped on that statement, including DDB North America CEO Wendy Clark, who argued that sexism and racism were rampant at every level of the agency industry.
“I would agree with Wendy Clark,” said Sorrell. “I disagree violently with [Levy.] He says the JWT, Gustavo Martinez situation was a one-off. He has the habit of ignoring the facts.”
Sorrell said that among the 190,000 people who work across WPP, half are women in junior and middle management positions. The percentage of women in senior management positions drops to a third.
Sorrell has made diversity a priority at WPP, he said: Late last year, he wrote in the company’s sustainability report that it was a key part of the company’s growth plan: “And with women accounting for 60 percent of university graduates and responsible for 80 percent of purchasing decisions, this is an issue of access to talent and access to markets too.” (See how WPP stacks up against other holding companies on diversity here.)
Sorrell said that Martinez and he came to the agreement together that the latter would resign — three days after the suit was first brought by JWT’s global chief communications officer Erin Johnson. “That was in the interest of the company, its clients and its people,” he said, adding that Martinez was not forced to resign. “Whether you believe Martinez was innocent or guilty — that is yet to be determined in the court of law — in the court of public opinion he has been judged and found guilty.”
Auletta also asked if Johnson, who has been on a paid leave since the suit was brought, could come back to the company. “It’s up to her if she wants to come back,” said Sorrell. “It’s up to her.”
The suit was brought on March 10, and alleged, among other things, that Martinez joked about raping Johnson, and made disparaging remarks about Jewish people and black people. (You can see the whole list of allegations here.) Martinez resigned March 17 and was replaced by chief client officer Tamara Ingram. WPP then announced that it would retain the law firm Proskauer Rose LLP to “conduct an independent investigation into the allegations in the complaint.” The investigation is ongoing.
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The BSE Sensex has been surging, breaching all-time high levels several times over the last year and trebling since 2009. The rest of the economy – in terms of industrial production, employment and exports – do not yet reflect the same strength.
Markets around the world have been similarly robust. The US Dow Jones doubled in six years, reflecting annual growth in excess of 10%. UK’s FTSE has increased by roughly 50% during this period. According to World Bank data, market capitalization of all listed companies around the world surged from $34.8 Trillion in 2008 to $54 Trillion by 2012. But globally, as in India, industrial production has lagged behind.
Some valuations – like those of Tesla or Google – reflect technological enhancements and productivity improvements. But much of the strength in the stock market maybe explained not by growth but due to Central Banking policy.
Last month, for instance, Mario Draghi, president of ECB, threw his hat into the ring of central bankers attempting to douse the economy with a gush of cash when he committed the Eurozone to a quantitative easing program of at least $1.3 Trillion. This policy tool, almost unheard of till 2008 and not yet a part of standard economics texts, has been the favoured weapon to shore up the economy. It comprises electronically generating new money to directly acquire financial assets – really a steroid shot when standard central bank tools, like interest rate adjustment, do not revive growth. So much new money has been introduced into the system using exotic means that since 2008 the assets of major central banks (Eurozone, US, Japan and China) tripled to $13.9 Trillion. The easy money policy is akin to adding the total money supply of India ($1.6 Trillion as of December 2014) each year for eight years.
When money supply increases, initially more currency chases the same goods and services, and prices increase. This is accompanied by a lowering of interest rates, which makes consuming and investing cheaper, so output should also rise. Higher output increases need for workers, pushing up wages. So, conventionally, higher money supply raises prices, wages and output. Uncontrolled increase of money supply can cause spiraling inflation. To cite an extreme example, prices doubled every 3.7 days in the Weimar Germany when the Reichsbank rapidly increased money supply in 1923. Some commentators speculated that QE would also have a large impact on inflation. But seven years after the launch of QE, prices around the world have hardly budged. In 2014 inflation was 3.9% globally and 1.7% for developed economies.
Sticky prices may have been caused due to several factors. Since 2000s, capacity buildup in countries like China meant production of goods could be increased without adding fixed costs or raising prices. Similarly, with improved connectivity, purchasing goods and services can occur virtually, and across international borders. Access to additional vendors allows a potential consumer to shop around for better prices, which has a moderating impact on inflation. Moreover, productivity enhancements augment output that can match, and exceed, existing demand. For instance, in the mid-1960s in India, food-price inflation was mitigated due to productivity enhancing innovation such as fertilizers, mechanization and higher yielding varieties of seeds. Without these enhancements, supply of food would be lower, and inflation would be higher. Similarly, improvements in analytics, communication and mobility have enhanced workplace productivity in the last decade, and have had a dampening effect on prices. But mainly, the reason inflation has been low is because additional currency did not primarily chase goods and services in the first place, it mostly went to purchase assets, and mainly liquid financial assets like stocks. So, while there was an asset (stock) price inflation, inflation in goods has been limited.
For the same reasons – labour saving technology in services, and off shoring of manufacturing to lowest wage cost countries – the surge of liquidity hasn’t caused wages to shoot up either. ILO’s Global Wage Report in 2012-13 shows that global monthly wages grew by only 1.2 % in 2011, down from 3% in 2007 and it remained at 0% in developed nations.
So, the largesse of the central banks have flowed into the stock market and thus into the publicly listed companies. Companies are in a position to swap their stocks to acquire other companies or make investments. In India some of this fund flows in as foreign portfolio investments whose stake in BSE listed companies is at a ten year high. Can the goal of economic revival be achieved by funding into these company’s stocks? It can, if the firms invest the money to grow – by building additional factories, recruiting more staff and introducing more products. If they did, it would be answering the call of the central bankers – capital investments would revive demand, recruiting would increase employment and the economy would be chugging along. But most firms didn’t invest. William Lazonik of University of Massachusetts found that US companies used 54% of their earnings to buy back their own stock, increasing their share price, and most of the rest was paid out as dividends leaving little for investments in capital or in employment. That is, while the firms had money, they did not contemplate that in an economy where demand is weak, building more capacity or hiring more people would be wise. No firm will manufacture more goods unless there are buyers willing to buy, notwithstanding the availability of funds. Thus, most of the funds remain as cash in their books.
Thus while the central bank policy has helped increase stock price, it has not had the same inflationary effect on the rest of the economy. Now, as some central banks, notably the US Fed, reduce or eliminate the asset purchase policy, stock markets may swoon. This drop of share price every time central banks taper asset purchases already has a moniker – it is called taper tantrums.
Ultimately, central banks have limitations, even though their power has vastly expanded in the past fifty years. In the early parts of the twentieth century, central banks only issued currency based on their individual gold reserves. This kept a leash on their balance sheets. Having been freed from those shackles, they have greatly increased money supply, and much good has resulted – the world economy would have been a fraction of today’s size if the gold standard was maintained.
However, economic policy still primarily depends on the statesman, and not the banker. And it is a testament to global weak governance that in no country bold economic policy is seemingly possible. China, as a one party state, could confidently build infrastructure that aided growth, but it has been stymied by weakness in soft infrastructure – establishing legal and property rights, transparent banking procedures for appraising loans – that are equally important for an economy.
In emerging market democracies like India, fiscal policies are therefore critical and are occasionally a bottleneck for development. For instance, India’s power consumption is still modest at around 600 KWH per person. Richer countries such as China (2,900 KWH) and Brazil (2,300 KWH) generate and use far more energy per person. To grow our economy, we need more energy to run our factories and transport our goods. But, government policies on coal sourcing, power distribution and pricing will have a bearing on whether the power required for India’s growth can be generated. Similarly, India’s complex land and labour policies hinder our economic performance, and fall within the domain of fiscal reform. Not only will these policies be welcomed by the stock market, they will also help in spreading the benefit to other sectors of the economy. Monetary policy alone cannot revive growth or enhance wages. Central bankers and the judiciary are mostly independent from the populist pressures that the executive and legislative sections of the state face, and sometimes is able to push through measures that are unpopular, but real reform will have to wait till governments ride their popular mandate to bring changes. Let us hope the upcoming Union Budget is a step in that direction.
The Statesman | 24-Feb-2015


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For example, this from Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com: "This is a film that has literally nothing to offer viewers -- there are no moments of humor, excitement or insight regarding a culture that considers emojis to be the pinnacle of contemporary communication."Or this, from the Wrap's Alonso Duralde: "It is a soul-crushing disaster because it lacks humor, wit, ideas, visual style, compelling performances, a point of view or any other distinguishing characteristic that would make it anything but a complete waste of your time, not to mention that of the diligent animators who brought this catastrophe into being."Or just the headline from Screencrush: "We're Gonna Need A Bigger Poop Emoji."The studio behind the movie, Sony Pictures, declined to comment on the reaction.
In the end, the studio will iphone case creator look to the numbers, If this tale of a world in which the emojis on your phone have a life of their own attracts audiences, Sony will be happy, And there is a glimmer of hope, Currently on Rotten Tomatoes, 46 percent of audience reviewers liked the movie, Technically Incorrect: Bringing you a fresh and irreverent take on tech, Special Reports: CNET's in-depth features in one place, Commentary: It's one thing to jump on a phone trend, It seems like another to make a movie out of it, At least, if you believe the critics..
The sequel to the Fitbit Blaze watch will have apps. Similar to how Pebble operated its own app platform with watches like the Pebble 2, these Fitbit watch apps would be compatible across both iOS and Android devices according to Park and Thomas Sarlandie, Fitbit's head of engineering. The company also hopes to keep its app review process as simple as possible for developers. However, Park is hesitant to call it an "app store," specifying that apps made by other companies would be found inside of an "app gallery" inside Fitbit's current mobile app.
Fitbit confirmed Park and Sarlandie's comments to CNET, but did not have any other details about the watch, So far, this next Fitbit wearable is rumored to iphone case creator look similar to its Blaze watch while also including GPS and waterproofing, Park did say that Fitbit hopes to have better music features though in its next device, "All we can say at this point is that music is a really important part of the fitness experience, and you'll see functionality related to that," Park said to The Verge, Meanwhile, Pebble's watches recently received a software update that will allow their timepieces to keep working, even after Fitbit pulls the plug on their cloud services..
These apps would be powered by software acquired when Fitbit bought Pebble. We might finally know one reason why Fitbit purchased the Pebble watch company for $23 million last year: Apps. Fitbit's next watch is going to launch with its own app platform that would rival those found on the Apple Watch and Android Wear watches, Fitbit CEO James Park said to The Verge. Park said that upon the watch's launch, Fitbit would also have a development kit available to all app makers that relies on software it acquired from the Pebble purchase.


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This commercial starts off quietly enough, with some potential customers arriving at a Renault dealership in England for a test drive of the new Clio compact with a salesman. The drive route takes them to a nondescript intersection where the customer is told to try out the "Va Va Voom" button, ...
While we wait for the 2013 Renault Clio RS to come out from under its camo, the fourth-geneeration Clio hatch it's based on has just been fully revealed. The new car has been given gifts from every department: it's lost 220 pounds, its design showcases the French marque's new corporate identity, ...
The supermini market is a vital one for European automakers, and though its current Clio remains a popular choice, Renault is not about to rest on its proverbial laurels as its most popular model gets older and less relevant. So with that in mind, the French carmaker is apparently preparing to ...


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Sony cutting PS2 price to £95
Memory cards cut too.
Sony will cut the price of the PlayStation 2 to GBP 94.99 in the UK and EUR 129.99 across Europe at this week's Leipzig Games Convention, with memory cards cut to EUR 19.99.
"At this new price point of EUR 129, the market leading PlayStation 2 should remain the computer entertainment system of choice for an even wider and more diverse audience for many years to come," said David Reeves, SCEE president.
The news represents a drop of roughly GBP 10 and reflects Sony's desire to continue building its current-generation installed base even as PlayStation 3 strengthens its hold on the company's agenda.
Embarrassingly for Sony, the announcement had been embargoed until Wednesday morning, but was accidentally uploaded to the company's Virtual Press Office today before being hastily removed. Albeit not before various newsmen had sunk their teeth into it.
Less embarrassing is that publishers, many of whom have already abandoned large-scale support for Xbox 1 and GameCube, continue to support the format en masse.
More than 100 million PlayStation 2 consoles have already been sold worldwide and PlayStation 3 is due to launch in the UK on November 17th.
Sony also plans to launch a pink version of its slimline PlayStation 2 model, it said today, with the blinding new unit to go on sale from November 8th, accompanied by a pink controller and memory card.


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Morgan Stanely predicts that soon, more Americans will access the internet from their mobile devices than from desktops. But which target audiences will be using smartphones instead of PCs?
Internet marketers looking to plan campaigns on channels appropriate for their core audiences may appreciate the latest report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, in which the research organization asserts that affluent consumers use technology differently than middle-class Americans.
According to the “Use of the internet in higher-income households
” report, 95 percent of those familes earning more than $75,000 use the internet and phones. In comparison, 70 percent of households earning less than $75,000 use the internet.
Higher-income households are more likely to check the internet daily through multiple internet-ready devices. Ninety-three percent of them have broadband connectivity, versus 85 percent of households that bring in less than $75,000. Plus, 99 percent of wealthier households use the internet at home, compared to 93 percent of households in lower income brackets.
Perhaps not surprisingly, there was also a correlation between income and the number of high-tech gadgets consumers owned. Seventy-nine percent of households earning more than $75,000 had laptops, another 79 percent had desktops and one in 10 had tablet computers.
This is not to say marketers who appeal to middle-class families should give up internet campaigns. On the contrary, the study is still encouraging, with more than half of households that earn less than $75,000 owning desktops and another 47 percent owning laptops.
Another point the authors make is that affluent Americans, in particular, are increasingly using the internet to get news online. Yet, a separate report from Pew indicates that U.S. consumers of different education levels and age groups turn to search engines to keep up with the news. With this in mind, brands catering to various audiences may consider incorporating news into their content marketing strategies in 2011.


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Elektron Technology, the company behind the Checkit food safety monitoring system for commercial kitchens, is holding a special free webinar entitled ‘Food Safety – Planning for 2020’ this week.
The webinar, which is held in association with Campden BRI, will take place on Thursday 17 September, between 3pm and 4pm.
In 2020 the industry will need to feed somewhere in the region of nine billion people, with no margin for error in regard to food quality standards.
The future of food safety will see food safety regulators and food businesses demanding new technology developments to drive the most rigorous and cost-effective monitoring approaches.
The webinar will be hosted by a panel of industry experts, who will discuss how the industry can prepare for the challenges it faces.
The panel will include Alan Campbell, food and packaging technologist at Campden BRI, Sarah Daniels, a chartered environmental health practitioner and consultant who works with catering businesses on their food safety management requirements, and Martin Nash, product manager for Checkit.
You can register for the free webinar here.


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Ford Threatens to Pull Out of the United Kingdom
Ford Motor Company has reportedly informed British Prime Minister Theresa May of its tentative plan to move out of the United Kingdom. The automaker explained the situation to May during a private call with business leaders tasked with assessing how Brexit might impact the economy. Ford said it was already preparing to move its facilities — which include two engine plants, a transmission factory, and an R&D center — abroad.
With the European Union and British government still unable to establish trade terms, automakers are having a panic attack. Ford later told Reuters that a no-deal Brexit would be catastrophic for its European-based businesses, citing earlier claims that it would cost the manufacturer up to $1 billion.
While that cost involves plenty of speculation, Ford thinks the probability of higher tariffs and supply chain issues under a no-deal situation are too high to ignore. In fact, the automaker was already making contingency plans last month after May failed to receive adequate support for her negotiated deal with the EU.
“We have long urged the UK Government and Parliament to work together to avoid the country leaving the EU on a no-deal, hard Brexit basis,” Ford told Reuters on Tuesday. “We will take whatever action is necessary to preserve the competitiveness of our European business.”
Ford previously said it already planned on cutting thousands of jobs and was considering plant closures in Europe as part of its larger restructuring plan. In the absence of a no-deal Brexit, many assumed Britain would receive preferential treatment due to its status as a key market for the company. However, with no trade deal in place, it’s looking increasingly likely that a worst case scenario will come to pass. Britain exits the EU on March 29th.
Automakers know that, until a new arrangement can be made, Britain and the EU will default to World Trade Organization rules — automatically imposing a 10-percent tariff on imports and exports.
[Image: Ford Motor Co.]
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- Kwik_Shift Once 15 Minute Cities start to be rolled out, you won't be far enough away from home to worry about range anxiety.
- Bobbysirhan I'd like to look at all of the numbers. The eager sheep don't seem too upset about the $1,800 delta over home charging, suggesting that the total cost is truly obscene. Even spending Biden bucks, I don't need $1,800 of them to buy enough gasoline to cover 15,000 miles a year. Aren't expensive EVs supposed to make up for their initial expense, planet raping resource requirements, and the child slaves in the cobalt mines by saving money on energy? Stupid is as stupid does.
- Slavuta Civic EX - very competent car. I hate the fact of CVT and small turbo+DI. But it is a good car. Good rear seat. Fix the steering and keep goingBut WRX is just a different planet.
- SPPPP This rings oh so very hollow. To me, it sounds like the powers that be at Ford don't know which end is up, and therefore had to invent a new corporate position to serve as "bad guy" for layoffs and eventual scapegoat if (when) the quality problems continue.
- Art Vandelay Tasos eats $#!t and puffs peters
Instead of buying more expensive food from France, the UK will purchase lower priced food from Canada, Australia and the US.
Yes, but the UK would also have lower food costs. Including produce from South America, the British standard of living will increase. French farmers will lose out.


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Things have had a bit of an historical flavor lately here in Progress City, but like any good city of the future we must always keep looking forward at what’s just over the horizon. This means a trip to the Rumor Mill, which just so happens to be currently bursting at the seams with buzz about new Disney theme park projects. We’ve mentioned before that the Mill is a fickle and unpredictable thing; long spans can pass when it seems like nothing will happen, and then all of a sudden there’s a conflagration of speculation. Well, the worm has turned once more and gossip is rife with news about dozens of new projects for Disney parks worldwide. So much, in fact, that it’s almost becoming hard to track all the projects both real and speculative.
So, keeping in mind the caveats in my recent post, let’s look at what’s coming to the Disney parks over the next five years or so. Much ado has been made online about the years 2011 & 2012; as Walt Disney World’s 40th anniversary year and the culmination of California Adventure’s first five-year refurbishment, they will allegedly mark the arrival of many new experiences. Looking into the next decade, we’ll see new construction in Florida and Japan, the near-complete rebuilding of California Adventure and Disney Studios Paris, and a series of massive additions to the anemic Hong Kong Disneyland. Finally, it’s looking more and more like we’ll also be seeing an entirely new Disneyland in Shanghai.
Check in over the next few days as we take a look at the future.


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It could have been worse. That’s about the best trade experts have to say about the “phase one” trade deal President Trump inked with China on Jan. 15.
Under the so-called deal, China has pledged to buy about $100 billion in additional American exports per year, on top of what it was already purchasing before the trade dispute erupted in 2018. If that happens, it would be a big boost for U.S. exporters.
But there are many warning signs that neither side will ever uphold its side of the bargain. Trump has exaggerated and lied about progress on the deal for months, and the phase one deal may be more dissembling. Plus, the deal leaves in place tariffs on U.S. imports that raise costs for American businesses and consumers.
“While the deal is a step in the right direction, further tariff rollbacks should not be expected until after the elections, and broken promises could lead to tariffs snapping back in the coming months,” forecasting firm Oxford Economics advised clients. “Elevated policy uncertainty will keep businesses on the sidelines until further clarity emerges on the long-term bilateral relationship.”
Trump has imposed tariffs on the majority of Chinese imports to the United States, and most of those tariffs will remain in place. The average tariff rate on Chinese imports has risen from 3% in 2017 to 19% now. That’s where it will stay.
Trump has repeatedly said China is bearing the cost of the tariffs, which is incorrect. In more than half a dozen studies, economists have found American businesses and consumers are paying the tariffs and the net effect on the U.S. economy is negative.
“All of the studies that considered the impacts of tariffs on imported goods prices concluded that the tariff costs imposed by the U.S. were nearly 100% passed on in the form of higher costs and were absorbed in part by importers and in part by U.S. consumers,” Robert Eisenbeis, vice chairman of Cumberland Advisors, explained to clients recently. “Some domestic producers did benefit from the tariff protections, but those gains appear to have been offset by losses to other producers.”
One study, by the New York Federal Reserve, estimates that Trump’s tariffs have cost the average U.S. household $414 in higher costs and depressed economic activity. Another study, by the Tax Foundation, argues that the Trump tariffs will cost the economy 199,000 jobs. In 2018, Trump imposed tariffs on imported washing machines that have raised the cost of those appliances by 12%, or $86 per unit.
Is Trump exaggerating?
Trump and his defenders argue that his trade war has caused no recession, as some critics predicted, with the unemployment rate still at a historically low 3.5%. All that’s true. But the economy is growing at only around 2%, far short of Trump’s 3% goal. The manufacturing sector, where importers are now paying higher prices for imported components, is under stress and may be contracting. Business spending has stalled. Farm bankruptcies are rising, with American farmers hurt by China’s retaliatory measures against U.S. farm imports.
If China really does ramp up purchases of U.S. food products, farmers would rejoice. But keep the champagne corked. “In reality, the scale of the required increases in Chinese purchases means that it is never going to happen,” research firm Capital Economics believes.
For China to buy as much new U.S. farm products as it seems to be promising, it would have to sharply curtail agricultural purchases from other countries, such as Brazil and Russia. “This is a potential area of conflict with the rest of the world,” economist Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics told reporters after the Jan. 15 trade deal signing. “If they’re not opening up markets overall, and they don’t start buying from everyone else, that’s a big concern to the international community.” Chinese trade partners who feel cheated would have a solid case if they complained to the World Trade Organization.
Could Trump and his team be exaggerating what the phase-one thingy is likely to accomplish? Likely and perhaps certain. Trump has lied repeatedly about progress in the trade talks and the consequences of the trade dispute. His favorite lie is the claim about China bearing the cost of his tariffs, which he has spun well over 100 times. He also likens the U.S. trade deficit with China to theft and seems to think his tariffs have sent China back to medieval times. So when he says he has notched a great deal with China, discount that: It’s more like the best deal this month.
Of course, it depends what you compare the deal to, and markets clearly favor the phase-one outcome over endless tariffs. “It’s better than escalation,” says Bown. “Was this all worth it? That is a very different question. I’m not willing to stipulate we’ll be better off under this deal than if we had taken a different approach.”
Rick Newman is the author of four books, including “Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success.” Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. Confidential tip line: firstname.lastname@example.org. Encrypted communication available. Click here to get Rick’s stories by email.


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It’s no secret that Haah is partially owned by China’s car firm Chery, who’re scouting for potential automotive property globally.
Sources near the event instructed ET that HAAH might not find the money for to grow to be a significant shareholder of SsangYong with solely 23 billion received in annual gross sales, with SsangYong needing 500 billion received to normalize its operations. The association through Haah would swimsuit Chery fairly nicely as they’d get within the required funds, over a time period.
ET reached out to Haah on a possible bid for SsangYong and whereas the corporate didn’t deny any improvement, a spokesperson talked about that they don’t touch upon rumours and hypothesis.
Pawan Goenka, MD, M&M has talked about on the Q1 outcomes convention, “SsangYong is in dialogue with buyers and we might announce the standing of those dialogues at an acceptable time”.
Mahindra’s board moved a particular decision at its AGM to cut back its shareholding in SsangYong to lower than 50%, a sign of a brand new investor coming in moderately than an entire promote out. The board final April rejected a Rs 3300 crore turnaround plan for SsangYong, pushing the Korean automobile maker into deep monetary insecurities.
Some speculate that Chery might enter the U.S. auto market through HAAH Automotive, which is partially owned by Chery, by making the most of the Korea-U.S. FTA. The Korea-U.S. FTA was additionally cited as a significant factor when Chinese language automakers Geely and BYD made strikes to take over SsangYong Motor.
“The Chinese language are looking out for careworn property “, stated Mahantesh Sabarad , Head, Retail Analysis, SBI caps Securities, including that the shareholder decision was step one to an impending exit. “Chinese language carmakers, that are saved in examine by the U.S. authorities, appear to be contemplating buying SsangYong as a detour to go abroad,” stated an trade professional.
Haah is a automobile distributor primarily based in Irvine, California and is planning to distribute Chinese language autos within the North American market particularly the corporate’s SUV Vantas’ within the US and Canada by finish subsequent 12 months. HAAH might be contemplating promoting SsangYong fashions within the U.S. market by making some fairness funding.
Overseas banks servicing SsangYong’s loans have knowledgeable that if Mahindra cedes a controlling stake, it could jeopardise refinancing of its loans with the customer having to clear all excellent dues earlier than taking management. As of finish March, SsangYong has USD 322.four million short-term loans, to be repaid earlier than a 12 months with 167 billion received from JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Financial institution of America.
Mahindra had ready a proposal earlier this 12 months to infuse 230 billion received in SsangYong, nevertheless it’s board rejected the proposal final April, as an alternative infusing simply 40 billion received, sufficient to run operations for 3 months. Within the face of rising debt, SsangYong offered one among its service centres positioned within the Guro district in Seoul to an asset administration firm, elevating $147 million.
Not too long ago, SsangYong’s exterior auditor refused to signal its monetary assertion, citing discrepancies and its “uncertain existence” even because the automaker posted a 98.6 billion received ($82.three million) working loss within the first quarter of 2020, and is prone to sink deeper into the pink within the second quarter.


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EFF in the News
However, the anti-SOPA and anti-PIPA movement gathered tremendous support, and that support may not be enough. Electronic Frontier Foundation, cornerstone of Internet freedom, DemandProgress, American Censorship and the White House in the form of U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden are attacking this law from all sides.
The EFF is taking a look at some websites that may face serious legal questions and liability should SOPA become law, specifically looking at Etsy, Flickr and Vimeo.
Opposing the bills are Google, Yahoo, eBay, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Consumer Electronics Association and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. (Yahoo left the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last month, and Google and the Consumer Electronics Association are reportedly considering leaving.)
We also checked with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which had tweeted a link to the story. "One of the problems is that the streaming provisions are vague enough that it's very hard to be certain what kinds of streaming would be protected," EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry told Ars. "And the current language includes noncommercial activity—so one obvious limit disappears, even though proponents of the bill insist they are only interested in 'high-tech bandits.'"
The Electronic Frontier Foundation calls the proposal "the most extreme, anti-Internet, anti-privacy, anti-free speech copyright proposal in U.S. legislative history."
"There are myriad reasons why individuals may wish to use a name other than the one they were born with," Jillian York wrote on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's blog in July.
The groups—the Competitive Enterprise Institute, TechFreedom, Public Knowledge, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation—argued that it's not clear how the measure will "affect the due process and free speech rights of law-abiding Internet users around the world, user security, and the ability of entrpreneurs to create new products and invent new industries."
Hundreds of sites have been joining American Censorship Day, taking place tomorrow, November 16, including the EFF, Boing Boing, Reddit, Creative Commons, Hype Machine, and many, many, many more. The momentum is building really fast!


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Korean company LG has prepared WebOS 2.0 upgrade for older versions of Smart TV, a new press release wrote. The upgrade will be available for download on September 21 and it will be designed particularly for TV devices from 2014.
The 2015 generation of LG’s Smart TV has been endowed with the WebOS 2.0 operating system, but no upgrades have been made available for the older generations for a while. As a result, the Korean-based company has decided to release a free update for its 2014 models.
LG is the first company to release a free software upgrade. Competing TV producers like Samsung and Vizio have only released apps and partial updates for their older customers. In addition, huge charges were perceived in exchange of the new TV upgrades, which is what makes LG’s recent announcement all the more appreciated.
Several improvements have been brought due to the Smart TV upgrade. Users will get quicker access to the Home menu and will thus, be able to better control their activities. The software features a much more modern and slick look in keeping with the trends of 2015, developers have added.
Smart TV users will be able to watch DirecTV programs on their 2014 devices. This is possible thanks to the new DirecTV Ready App that will come with the Korean company’s upgrade. No external box will be required to get access to the programs in this app, according to the company’s official description.
The upgrade will be automatically added on Smart TV devices for users who have turned the automatic updates setting on. A notification will be displayed for the rest of the users in case they prefer to keep the Automatic Updates Setting off.
LG guarantees that WebOS 2.0 will take older models and turn them into new devices. The software is 1.5 times faster, which guarantees a far better user experience, the Korean-based giant has concluded. Their goal is to meet consumers’ growing demand of streaming content and to deliver it at a faster and better quality.
Image source: www.digitaltveurope.net


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A single system would let consumers quickly compare choices within a variety of food categories, the report said.
Determining whether or not a product can carry a healthy food package label would be done on a point system based on how much sugar, salt and fat it contained. These were picked because they are linked to obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, among other illnesses.
To be eligible for a "healthy" label, the product would have to have limited amounts of sugar, salt and trans fats, the IOM committee said.
"For example, 100 percent whole-wheat bread could earn all three points; graham crackers could earn two points for fats and sodium; and an oat-and-peanut butter bar could earn one point for sodium," the committee noted.
Items with the most points would signal to consumers that these are the healthiest choices.
Samantha Heller, clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., said that "one of the reasons nutrition labels are so confusing is that nutrition is very complicated.
"In fact, the current labeling system is so confounding to consumers that as part of a series of adult nutrition classes, I devote a one-hour class to reading and understanding the Nutrition Facts Panel," she added.
Simplifying front package labeling so consumers can make healthier choices is a great idea if the IOM can make it work, Heller said. "It is a huge undertaking and fraught with difficulties on many levels, from the food companies push-back to consumer understanding and education," she said.
It is difficult to apply the same standards to all foods, Heller said. "Some healthy foods may come up short and some less-than-healthy foods may end up getting more checks than they really deserve," she noted. "All this said, we do need a
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. fund managers are continuing their retreat from consumer-related stocks and increasing their defensive bets out of concerns that the U.S. economy is slowing even though government leaders had reached agreement to end the longest shutdown ever.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 22, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
While the S&P 500 index is up more than 5 percent since the start of January, money managers including Federated Investors, Baron Funds and Hodges Capital Management are bracing for a powerful knock-on effect on the consumer. The shutdown left roughly 800,000 federal workers without pay for 35 days, and U.S. consumer confidence fell in December by its largest amount in three years.
President Donald Trump said on Friday afternoon that he had reached a deal with Congress to end the partial shutdown and restore government funding for three weeks while talks continue on funding a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, one of Trump’s signature campaign promises.
Trump said that the government may shut down again on Feb. 15 or he will declare a national emergency if Congress does not appropriate money for a border wall.
“The market right now is treating this like a hurricane, where you know there will be an economic impact but you tend to discount any hit to the data because you know there will be some catch up,” said Steve Chiavarone, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors. “But here’s what’s dangerous about that approach: the sample size is zero for shutdowns this long.”
As a result, Chiavarone said he is becoming more cautious on consumer stocks. He noted that these probably saw revenue declines as government employees cut back and as that affected spending by owners or employees of restaurants, hotels, and retailers that depend on their business.
Shawn Kravetz, Esplanade Capital LLC’s chief investment officer, said he expected consumer stocks like Walmart Inc and dollar-store chains like Dollar Tree Inc to benefit as furloughed workers “trade down” into more value-oriented chains, leaving higher-end department stores and travel companies ripe for a slowdown.
“There’s no question that life is about cash flow. Even if you are highly confident that you will eventually get paid, people will pull in their horns and hunker down,” he said.
The benchmark S&P 500 has been little changed during past government shutdowns, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of U.S. equity strategy at New York-based CFRA.
Each of the more than 20 government shutdowns since the 1970s has lasted a week on average and left the S&P 500 essentially flat, he said. The longest, a 21-day shutdown from December 1995 to January 1996, saw the S&P 500 rise 0.1 percent during the shutdown itself and gain 4 percent in the month after it finished.
Michael Lippert, a portfolio manager at Baron Funds, said the shutdown is not likely to leave a lasting impact on portfolio holdings such as Amazon.com Inc that are still grabbing market share. Still, it could curtail investor enthusiasm for initial public offerings, he said.
“Sentiment affects stock prices in the short term and my bigger worry is what dysfunction in D.C. will do to market confidence,” he said. “Could we see a pullback on the magnitude of what we saw in December? It’s certainly possible.”
Eric Marshall, a portfolio manager at Dallas-based Hodges Capital Management, said the firm is underweight restaurant stocks in part because of the government shutdown and concerns about slowing economic growth.
Marshall expects to see more companies lowering guidance as they report earnings over the coming weeks. S&P 500 earnings are now expected to grow by 5.9 percent in 2019, compared to October estimates that earnings would grow by 10.2 percent, according to data from Refinitiv.
“You’re going to start seeing over the next couple of weeks whether companies factor the shutdown into their guidance, and whether it’s going to start to have some negative momentum in the economy,” he said.
Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Cynthia Osterman and David Gregorio


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The much-anticipated Bowland Food Hall opened its doors last week, welcoming a stream of customers eager to explore the new food and drink retail concept in the heart of the Ribble Valley.
The latest phase in the £10m redevelopment of Clitheroe’s Holmes Mill, say its creators James’ Places, aims to offer customers a showcase of the best produce from Bowland, Lancashire and beyond.
Food Hall buyer Alison Ashworth said: “A visit to the Bowland Food Hall is an experience for the senses to make the taste buds tingle.
“The food hall is truly the larder of Bowland. We’ve spent months seeking out the best produce available on our doorstep and our ethos is to support the local, the artisan, the craftsman and the specialist.”
More than 50 local suppliers are already signed up to the new outlet, many of them award winning, with more to come.
Producers include Leagram Cheese, Gazegill Organics and Roy Porter Butchers, of Chatburn.
Rapeseed oil from Wignall’s will be on sale alongside Bowland Eggs, smoked trout from the Bowland Smokehouse and raw, organic bars from Gisburn’s Mr Yeti.


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|Search Results||Showing 41 - 50 of 100+ results for "Sunsuper"|
|Sunsuper is onboarding two new team members as part of its strategy to remain a serious player in retail financial advice and to expand this service across Australia. Joining the $58 billion superannuation fund in its retail advice arm are two new business ...|
|... roll into Tasplan, consolidating the two Tasmanian funds in a similar vein to the merger of Queensland industry funds Sunsuper and AustSafe Super in July . Macquarie merges private wealth businesses In May, Macquarie decided to consolidate its private ...|
|... Earlier this year Payden's PARI strategy won a $150 million mandate from another industry fund, Queensland based Sunsuper.|
|... options on offer from the likes of AustralianSuper, HESTA, UniSuper, Mercer, Australian Ethical Super, First State Super, Sunsuper, Energy Super, legalsuper, Christian Super, AMP and BT Financial Group. It also looked at some new disruptor products such ...|
|... Equipsuper, First State Super, Future Super, GuildSuper, HESTA, Local Government Super, LUCRF Super, MTAA Super, NGS Super, Sunsuper, VicSuper and Zuper. Fund manager and bank signatories include: Altius Asset Management, Bennelong Funds Management ...|
|Sunsuper chief economist Brian Parker told delegates at the AFA National Adviser Conference their role is to ensure their clients don't end up a case study for A Current Affair. Ending his presentation on the state of the global economy this week, Parker ...|
|... Mackenzie Strategic Wealth were presented with AFA Appreciation Awards. Meanwhile, Recognition Awards were received by Sunsuper manager, retail business Mark Stubbings; TAL general manager of retail distribution Niall McConville; and CommInsure acting ...|
|... more towards their retirement savings, according to latest research from a $57 billion Queensland superannuation fund. Sunsuper released its 2018 Australian Employee Insights Report, which found 40% of working Australians consider a lack of financial ...|
|... than 20 years ago before being established in 2012 when consumer group CHOICE - then chaired by SCC board member and Sunsuper director Jenni Mack - convened a committee of financial services heavyweights. Later that year the SCC lobbied the Government ...|
|... Electricity Supply Industry Superannuation (Energy Super) Hostplus IOOF Mercer NULIS (MLC/NAB) Onepath and Oasis (ANZ) Suncorp Sunsuper Cbus QSuper APRA ASIC|
As investors seek to integrate ESG data into their investment processes, they can mistakenly conflate ESG scores in practice with more familiar financial quality metrics, new research from Eaton Vance has revealed.
One of the nation's largest super funds has joined forces with Women's Legal Service Victoria (WLSV) to simplify the process of splitting super assets.
Clime Investment Management has partnered with Sequoia to launch a new fund that aims to provide a yearly income of 8%.
The executive manager of operations at a $17 billion industry superannuation fund resigned recently, with a replacement yet to be appointed.
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Event organiser Constellar has inked a Memorandum of Understanding with China National Convention Center (CNCC) in Beijing to explore strategic partnership opportunities and facilitate MICE industry exchange between Singapore and China.
The MOU with CNCC will strengthen the Greater China footprint of Constellar as it looks to build its portfolio in 2023 through organic and inorganic growth. Constellar, which manages the Singapore EXPO venue, says there is a growing demand for events to be hosted there, with bookings having reached about 65% of pre-Covid levels thus far.
The partnership will also help support CNCC, China’s largest convention centre, with a growing number of international events and meetings returning to Beijing following the reopening of China's borders earlier this month.
Jean-François Quentin, Constellar's group CEO, said: “Asia's MICE landscape remains dynamic with pent-up demand and strong growth opportunities. With Singapore and Beijing as two of its most important economic centres, Constellar and CNCC can play a key role in restoring vibrancy to the MICE industry through strengthening platforms for business and industry transformation.
Wei Mingqian, general manager of CNCC, added: "We look forward to combining our knowledge, boosting mutual exchanges, and joining forces to enhance industrial cooperation and exchanges between China and Singapore."


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General Atlantic has directed an additional investment of $100 million for the development of PhonePe.
The investor provided new financing four months after he directed $350 million to an Indian fintech startup. As of today, the total amount of funds raised by PhonePe is $850 million. The company receives financing during the slowdown in the global economy.
PhonePe, backed by Walmart, announced the investment on Monday, May 22. The current value of the startup is estimated at $12 billion. The company intends to raise $150 million more.
PhonePe is currently India’s most valuable fintech startup. The company competes with Google Pay and Paytm, the latter of which is valued at almost $5 billion.
PhonePe last year completely separated from the e-commerce giant Flipkart. The company dominates UPI transactions, a network created by a coalition of retail banks in India, and represents the most popular way to make online transactions among Indians. This network processes more than 8 billion financial operations every month.
PhonePe controls about 50% of all UPI transactions by value. Earlier this year, the company said that its current growth rate in the foreseeable future will allow it to process transactions totaling $1 trillion annually.
Walmart, which also owns a controlling stake in Flipkart, said that the separation of this firm and PhonePe was very similar to eBay and PayPal, conditions in which everyone can implement their initiatives within the framework of independent activities.
General Atlantic, which has supported several Indian firms over the past decade, including Jio, BillDesk, Byju’s, Amagi, NoBroker, and Unacademy, plans to invest between $2 and $3 billion in the Indian fintech sector over the next 5-7 years.
PhonePe is currently actively expanding its product range. Earlier this year, the firm launched a hyperlocal commerce app called Pincode, which runs on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a zero-fee platform.
PhonePe intends to invest significant efforts in Pincode in the coming years. According to the startup’s management, the implementation of this action plan will expand the geography of the activities of the owners of Indian stores.
PhonePe aims to capitalize on its 450 million registered user base. The company is expanding the scope of additional financial services, including money management, lending, stockbroking, ONDC-based purchases, and account aggregation.
The growth of PhonePe could be limited by the intention of the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to impose restrictions on market share for participating players. But this regulator postponed the date of entry into force of restrictive measures until 2025. This means that there will be no barriers to the development of a startup for another two years.
The Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, has abandoned a project to create a competitor to UPI. This circumstance is also a favorable factor for the development of PhonePe.
As we have reported earlier, PhonePe Backs Out of ZestMoney Acquisition.


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roadway convey priesthood has authorized the same and the National Highways dominance of India (NHAI) has been ordered to comply with the standard. NHAI had sent the proposal for ministry's approval in its bid to bring relief to commuters who have bought the FASTags and recharged them for smooth travel through fee plazas and also to make the toll operators responsible.
TOI on December 26 had first reported this move by NHAI.
The command publicized by roadway convey priesthood expressed that when such vehicles are allowed to travel free "an appropriate zero transaction receipt shall be publicized mandatorily for all such transactions."
Currently, one lane on each side of the 414 fee plazas have the system to process RFID labels and all lanes at 110 plazas have been fitted with this system. More than 13 lakh FASTags have been sold and the government has taken multi-pronged approach to increase their penetration, which includes mandatory installation of tags in all new four and multi-axle vehicles at manufacturer or dealer's end.
Moreover, online and offline selling of the labels have been moved to increase the sum.


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Father shot son as well
First night of concert series
Man runs to CAMC General for help.
Shoals Elementary has top patrol.
Warmer temperatures expected as weekend goes along.
WCHS Radio 58


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Craig briefs: Median gas prices rise slightly across Colorado
Average retail gasoline prices in Colorado have risen 1.2 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.67 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 2,158 gas outlets in Colorado. That compares with the national average that has not moved in the past week to $2.76 per gallon, according to gasoline price website gasbuddy.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Colorado during the past week, prices yesterday were 93.6 cents per gallon less than the same day one year ago and 3.6 cents per gallon more expensive than a month ago. The national average has decreased 3.9 cents per gallon during the past month and stands 85 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
“With the exception of the West Coast, last week saw gas prices moving lower in many regions,” Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst said in a statement. “And last week the story at the pump has been completely about the West Coast. Pump prices have surged as a result of a hopefully temporary stoppage of gasoline imports into the West Coast, which the region has relied upon thanks to earlier year refinery issues. Areas of California have set new records for highest single day price increase, and prices will continue to advance for a few more days before things cool off. For the rest of the county, gas prices will resume their decline for the time being, even as gasoline demand remains historically very strong.”
CPW hunting licenses to go on sale Tuesday
Colorado Parks and Wildlife over-the-counter and over-the-counter with caps (bear and elk) licenses go on sale online, in person and by phone at 9 a.m. Tuesday according to a news release.
“A valid license is an important step in planning your hunt this and every year in Colorado,” Henrietta Turner, CPW’s license manager, said in a statement. “A familiarity with CPW’s hunting regulations and brochures goes along way to ensure you can ‘Come Hunt With CPW’ with the right tag for the right location where you choose to hunt.”
Over-the-counter with caps licenses are licenses for bear and elk that are limited in number and only available first-come, first-served.
The list of over-the-counter with caps can be found in the 2015 Big Game Brochure and the over-the-counter with caps list with quotas will be available online Tuesday. Do note that over-the-counter with caps rifle bear licenses have season participation rules, read more on page 59 of the 2015 Big Game Brochure.
Storm spotter training to be offered Tuesday
The National Weather Service will offer free storm spotter training from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the conference room at the Moffat County Courthouse, located at 221 W. Victory Way. Use back door on the north side of building to enter. Those with an interest in severe weather are encouraged to attend. For more information, visit weather.gov/gjt.
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Tesla Sues Rivian, Alleges Secrets Stolen. Here's What We Know
Jul 30, 2020
In the electric car industry, Rivian is Tesla's biggest direct competitor. Recently, Tesla filed a lawsuit against its rival alleging former Tesla employees divulged company secrets that Rivian is using to unfairly gain an advantage in the market.
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National security may be at stake as private businesses try to manage a growing number of cyberthreats, but IT professionals shouldn't have to bear that burden alone.
An analytics company is trying a novel approach to evaluating risk: by putting a price on it.
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Samsung is expected to release four foldable phones next year, according to a new report from South Korea.
Samsung will continue its foldable smartphone adventure stronger in 2021. South Korean sources claim that the tech giant has greenlit the two Galaxy Z Fold 3 models and will launch another sequel of this year’s Galaxy Z Flip devices. The new phones of the series will be launched under the name Galaxy Z Flip 3. Therefore, reports show that in 2021, Samsung will not produce new forms for foldable phones.
In addition to all these, it has been claimed that all four foldable phones will arrive in the second half of 2021. Samsung’s current plan is said to be to start production in August. Also, the two Galaxy Z Fold 3 models will differ depending on the targeted markets, as it is a special device Samsung is supposedly planning for China.
The new generation Galaxy Z Flip, on the other hand, seems to be an affordable model, but it is confusing that it comes with 5G support and is close to flagship phones in terms of features. It is a matter of curiosity about how the new generation smartphones will affect the Galaxy Note series. However, we can still state that the new device of Samsung’s pen-equipped flagship phone series Galaxy Note will be announced next year.
Finally, let’s point out that we will be able to access the exact information with the new year and we can see exactly what Samsung’s new generation phones will be after this date.


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Despite the pressures of tight freight capacity and a lingering pandemic, truck driver turnover did not rise in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA’s) Quarterly Employment Report.
The turnover rate for truckload fleets with more than $30 million in annual revenue was unchanged at a 92% annualized rate, while the churn rate for smaller truckload carriers dipped two percentage points to 72%, the ATA found.
Likewise, the turnover rate at less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, typically much lower than the rate at truckload fleets, dipped two percentage points in the fourth quarter to 12% on an annualized basis – one percentage point off the 13% turnover LTLs averaged in 2020, the group said.
However, motor carriers need to remain focused on driver retention as the U.S. economy continues to recover from the pandemic recession, ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello warned in a release.
“With the continued tightness in the driver market, it may seem surprising that the turnover rate didn’t jump in the fourth quarter as economic activity and freight traffic increased. However, paradoxically, strong freight demand may have actually contributed to turnover staying steady by keeping drivers – particularly those engaged in the dry van and temperature-controlled sectors – too busy to change jobs,” Costello said.
“While the driver shortage temporarily eased slightly in 2020 during the depths of the pandemic, continued tightness in the driver market remains an operational challenge for motor carriers and they should expect it to continue through 2021 and beyond,” he said.


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Oct 29, 2021
Squid Game cryptocurrency soars 2300% in first few days
If you're a fan wanting to express your devotion to the hit Korean Netflix show Squid Game - well, there's a cryptocurrency for that. Squid is what is known as a "Play-to-earn" cryptocurrency, where people buy tokens to play in online games where they can earn more tokens. In the case of Squid, many buyers will be gamers looking to play in an online game of the program, which begins in November. Play-to-earn games have grown increasingly popular during the pandemic as the surge in online gaming encouraged the development of the GameFi technology sector which combines entertainment with real tools for earning money. It's not just crypto traders that have benefited from Squid Game's popularity.
Make a complaint about Netflix by viewing their customer service contacts.


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Royal Enfield posted
highest-ever sales of 60142 motorcycles in combined domestic wholesale and
exports in April 2017, recording a growth of 25% over the same period last
year. Domestic sales constituted 58564 units in April 2017 as compared to 47037
units in April 2016, a growth of 25pc. Exports increased to 1578 units from
1160 units during the same period, recording a growth of 36pc.
Royal Enfield opened its
second direct distribution subsidiary outside India, in Brazil, the fourth
biggest two wheeler market in the world. Royal Enfield’s first direct
distribution subsidiary outside India was - Royal Enfield North America (RENA)
that was set up in 2015. The brand also has strong presence in Colombia,
another important two-wheeler market in Latin America.
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- Our Blog
… My friend Lewis Howes is working on a new book. Naturally, he’s excited. At a conference, he told a group of people about his book – including the title. Now let me make one thing clear: this wasn’t a big group of people. It was a small group of trusted confidantes. Well… One of these people stole his book title and published a talk…
… By now you’ve probably heard about someone who created an online course, started selling it, and made a living doing it. The question is, how can you do it effectively? And profitably? Well… Over the last 5 years, I built Social Triggers from scratch into a multi-million dollar online business. And as you know, much of this revenue…
So, the New York Times just reported that Facebook intends to change their algorithm… AGAIN. This time Facebook plans to emphasize updates from friends and family over other things like “business pages.” And I have a HUGE smile on my face. Why? Over the next few days people will complain about their decision. Especially when they see their traffic and reach disappear over night.
… the truth about business cards… I show you in the new Social Triggers comic strip: Share on Facebook Looking back, what happened here makes sense: people questioned the realness of my online business, so I responded by creating something people could hold in their hand… something real… a business card… But the truth is: a business card doesn’t…


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What if there’s a place that is wholly created for K-Pop fans? A place where one doesn’t have to endure a 6-hour flight to South Korea just to get a taste of Korean culture ranging from music, food, and fashion?
Well, it’s actually happening.
Thailand-based firm Show DC Corp Ltd. recently announced that it will open the first retail and entertainment mega-complex in the heart of Bangkok’s Rama IX entertainment district by June 2016. With a total investment of USD265 million, the project aims to attract 100,000 visitors a day.
The project, which has a massive 152,000 square metre gross floor area, will include the world’s largest “hallyu town” outside of Korea. Tentatively named “K-Town”, the 6-storey establishment is apparently aiming for completion by the first half of next year.
According to Mr. Chayaditt Hutanuwatra, Chairman of SHOW DC Corp Ltd., 60% of the rentable space at SHOW DC has already been leased. YG Entertainment, home to global K-Pop sensations like BIGBANG and 2NE1, is one of its anchor tenants.
The report said that the Korean entertainment agency is planning to operate a 5,000 square metre rooftop K-Pop culture and entertainment park with hip bars and eateries.
Mr. Chayaditt said:
As part of our emphasis on presenting the richness of Asia, SHOW DC has an expansive 10,000 square metre Asian Food Street dedicated exclusively to restaurants.
Next to that, inside the K-Town are large areas devoted to Korean fashion (K-Fashion), Thailand’s most extensive offering of Korean beauty products and services (K-Beauty), as well as celebrity food and beverage outlets, such as Psy’s “Psy Ramen”, and “After Rain”, inspired by global K-Pop sensation Rain.
Korean entertainment agency Chorokbaem will also take part in the venture.
On the K-Beauty side, South Korea’s major duty-free chain Lotte Duty Free was offered the opportunity to open a branch in the shopping complex in March.
Sources told The Korea Times that K-Towns are also planned for Chiang Mai and Phuket in Thailand and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
There has been no further details as of yet, but are you excited about this? Where do you think they will build the new shopping complex in KL? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
Follow us on Telegram for more updates and breaking news: https://t.me/hypemsia


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Things continue to heat up in SMB Saas. For those unfamiliar, this sector is represented by companies that build software tools for small businesses. It’s everything from “front of the house” marketing and customer acquisition tools, to “back of the house,” operational management (think: payroll).
This is a wide range of companies and opportunities as we examine in an upcoming white paper. And while following the sector on an ongoing basis, we’re struck by the level of venture funding it’s receiving. So for the latest Funding Watch post, we’re rounding recent SMB-Saas funding inflows.
Here’s the latest roundup of the top 10 funding rounds (listed in order of investment dollars). We’ll be back next week with 10 more, as the year is off to a big start in SMB SaaS investment:
French challenger bank Qonto has raised a $115 million Series C round from Tencent and DST Global. Bordering on fintech, the challenger bank (or neo-bank) specializes in B2B operations for SMBs, including managing payments and other banking needs, using its payment institution license.
German SMB-focused HR platform Personio has raised $75 million in Series C funding from Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lars Dalgaard, Index Ventures, Northzone, Rocket Internet’s Global Founders Capital, and Picus Capital. Its software combines HR, recruiting and payroll into a single platform for companies ranging from 10 to 2,000 employees.
Stockholm-based marketing data company Funnel has raised $47 million in Series B funding from Eight Roads Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Balderton Capital, Oxx, Zobito, Industrifonden and Kreos Capital. The software helps businesses automate online marketing by aggregating data and insights from disparate platforms.
San Francisco and Lagos-based fintech startup Flutterwave has raised a $35 million Series B round as a strategic investment from Worldpay FIS. The company powers B2B payments for companies operating in Africa, processing 107 million transactions worth $5.4 billion last year.
New York-based customer management and CDP startup ActionIQ has raised $32 million in Series C funding. The company’s software helps SMBs, startups and larger brands manage and optimize customer interactions for more personalized service.
Goal-setting SaaS startup WorkBoard has raised a $30 million Series C round from Andreessen Horowitz, Microsoft’s M12, GGV and Workday Ventures. The company rides the OKR (objectives & key results) wave by automating the process’s key components into an organized workflow.
Berlin-based rental management firm Home has raised €11 million ($11.9 million) in Series A funding from Capnamic, EQT Ventures, FJ Labs and Redalpine. The software helps property managers streamline payment and other operational aspects.
French property management startup Matera has raised $11.2 million from Index Ventures with participation from Samaipata. As the second property management play on this week’s roundup, the SaaS platform equips small property owners or managers with tools to organize payments, vendors and other operational requirements.
Stasher has raised $2.5 million from VentureFriends and angels that include former Hotels.com president Johan Svanstrom. Stasher’s marketplace and app connect travelers with local shops that can store their luggage on a short term basis, thus managing auxiliary revenue streams for SMBs.
Customer feedback software provider Harvestr has raised a $650,000 seed round from Nicolas Hernandez, Guillaume Alary, and the Atomico Angel Programme. The software helps businesses prioritize customer service tasks by centralizing customer feedback from several sources such as Zendesk, Salesforce and Slack.


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Jaguar reveals new Vision GT Roadster for Gran Turismo 7 | FOS Future Lab
Jaguar has revealed the third – and perhaps coolest – variant of its Vision GT. Meet the Vision GT Roadster, which has taken Jaguar’s virtual supercar full D-Type. It joins the launch line-up of the Gran Turismo 7, which went on sale a week ago.
The Roadster is in effect a visual makeover of the Coupe, so the performance specs are the same. That means 1,020PS (750kW) from three motors, 0-62mph in under two seconds and a top speed exceeding 200mph. The SV is the track-oriented variant, which packs 1,903PS (1,400kW) from its four electric motors and is capable of getting to 62mph in under two seconds on the way to a 255mph top speed.
The Roadster, thanks to its ‘50s sportscar leanings, is also a single-seater, with the driver’s aperture poking out of the top of the car like a canopy on a fighter jet. Falling away from it at the back is the iconic ‘D-Type’ fin. Though the VGT trio are the preserve of the virtual realm for now, we wouldn't be surprised to see an all-electric F-Type successor that draws heavily on these incredible designs.
“As a car designer, being part of the team that has delivered three virtual cars for the Gran Turismo series has been a dream project,” said Oliver Cattell-Ford, Exterior Designer, Jaguar Advanced Design
“Since the reveal of the Vision GT Coupe in 2019 and Vision GT SV in 2020, we wanted to curate the perfect way to present the full line-up of the three cars together when we revealed the Roadster – Gran Turismo 7 is the perfect way to do it.
“The visual effect is dramatic and wouldn’t look out of place on any track or circuit around the world, from the streets of night-time Tokyo to California’s Laguna Seca raceway.”
Welcome to FOS Future Lab where we report on the latest visions of future technology. We'll be boldly covering flying cars, hoverboards, jetpacks and spaceships with plenty of down to earth topics in between.


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U.S. Trade Optimism at All-Time High - Dominance in Technology Exports to Remain Strong
Published on: 18th Mar 2014
Note -- this news article is more than a year old.
Trade optimism among U.S. business leaders is at an all time high and the U.S. is positioned to retain its dominance as a global technology export leader, including in industrial machinery, for the next twenty years, according to research by HSBC.
However, to maintain its supremacy, the U.S. will need to increase research and innovation investment, according to data from the Global Connections Trade Report.
The U.S. HSBC Trade Confidence Index rose to 115 from 114 six months earlier, the highest level since its inception, and higher than the global average of 113, driven by stronger global demand and increased private sector confidence. The index is an international survey of small and middle market businesses engaged in cross-border trade including around 250 in the U.S. Unexpectedly strong recovery in leading industrialized nations, including the U.S., has boosted global trade confidence, according to the report.
U.S. wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers were the most optimistic about the six month trade outlook with more than 70 percent of these sector leaders expecting stronger trade flows. Other key findings include:
Two thirds of U.S. respondents expect trade volumes to rise in the next six months
- 50 percent cited increased global demand and improved economic conditions in key industries, including manufacturing, as key drivers of the increased business.
- Most U.S. business leaders still see Asia as the most promising export region (33 percent), followed by Latin America (28 percent).
- Within Asia, Vietnam and Korea are the fastest growing destinations for U.S. exports in the near term; China is expected to be the market with the greatest upside potential over the longer term.
- Canada, Mexico and China are expected to continue to rank as the top destinations for U.S. exports for the next two decades, with Korea and Brazil rounding out the top five.
"The U.S. has a highly educated workforce, advanced technology and high R&D investment rates," said Steve Bottomley, HSBC Group General Manager, Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial Banking for HSBC in North America. "And with high demand growth in emerging markets longer term, U.S. businesses and exporters should greatly benefit."
U.S. to remain global leader in technology exports over the next 20 years
In fact, U.S. technology-intensive exports will grow faster than total U.S. trade over the midterm, and the U.S. is expected to retain its position as a top technology goods exporter for the next two decades, third highest among 25 countries included in the forecast. However, emerging markets are rapidly increasing R&D investment to capture more of the value of their merchandise exports, and the U.S. still has room to improve its R&D spending, which currently ranks below Japan and Korea, according to the report.
"As an owner of the intellectual property of high value goods, the U.S. and other developed economies currently dominate the global technology export market, but under-investment in R&D over the long term can pose a competitive threat," said Prabhat Vira, Regional Head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance in North America for HSBC. "The world economy is becoming more knowledge-intensive and for the U.S. to retain its lead, it's crucial that businesses continue to invest in research and innovation."
For the purposes of the report, technology goods are products such as office and automatic data-processing machines, telecommunications equipment, electrical machinery and appliances, and photographic apparatus and optical goods.


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Motorists will have to pay more at the fuel station after the Energy Regulatory Commission issued new rates in its monthly review.
Super petrol is up by Ksh 1.62 to now retail at Ksh 107.92, the highest it has hit in three years. Diesel will retail at Ksh 93.68 while Kerosene hits Ksh 73.98.
The regulator cites the rising global crude oil price which is now $69.75 per barrel, an increase of 7.56% from $64.85 per barrel in December 2017.
Over the same period, the mean monthly US Dollar to Kenya Shilling exchange rate appreciated by 0.43% from Ksh 103.12 per US$ in December 2017 to Ksh 102.68 per US$ in January 2018.
“The purpose of the fuel pricing regulations is to cap the pump prices of the products which are already in the country, so that the importation and other prudently incurred costs are recovered, while ensuring reasonable prices to consumers,” said ERC Director General Robert Oimeke.
Oimeke adds that the improved efficiencies in the pipeline has saved consumers Ksh 0.16 per super petrol.