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Web3 and the metaverse are being adopted increasingly, and with their adoption, their impact on all industries also grows. Media is one of the sectors that is already being transformed from traditional social media into qualitatively superior platforms operating in a decentralized environment.
Constantin Kogan, GamesPad co-founder, and Rachel Wolfson, Senior Cointelegraph reporter, are discussing the possible developments in this sector in the episode of GamesHUB “How Will Web3 Reshape News Media?” Let’s explore more on this topic together with them.
As Rachel mentioned, Web3 not only delivers many benefits to content creators but also provides them with a decentralized environment where they can publish content without limitations imposed by traditional social media companies. The content is going to be moderated by the community, and rewards will also be assigned by the community.
It is going to democratize the digital media industry by reducing the constraints of censorship and offering content creators an opportunity to express themselves in a way they believe is right.
There are already platforms that ensure transparency, content ownership, and compensation for content creators. Specific monetization mechanisms are developed to allow content creators to monetize their digital content through non-fungible tokens that represent digital ownership or fungible digital assets that can be exchanged for fiat and, thus, used for everyday needs.
This, in turn, will motivate content creators to develop and share quality content and contribute to the creation of future media concepts.
The digital media journey in Web3 and metaverse is just starting, but the perspectives are very promising. Even though it is difficult to tell for sure how the media industry is going to evolve, some trends are already seen. Here are the most fascinating of them.
There are already changes in how people consume media. Popular streaming channels and streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu are replacing traditional television, and such social media platforms and apps as TikTok produce accessible video content that is already more popular than text. Rachel hopes that in some time, Cointelegraph will have a physical location in one of the metaverses, and users will be able to come there to get some merch, watch news clips, and experience everything on their own.
Communication professionals forecast that in the future, the means of visual communication will continue developing, and the popularity of online video platforms will be growing.
Traditional news outlets will learn to benefit from the emerging technologies and might even establish virtual offices or newsrooms in the metaverse, offering more immersive interactive digital experiences to their audience.
Digital advertising is expected to benefit from its presence in virtual worlds greatly. The current industry professionals are already making the first steps in the metaverse, and the results are impressive.
Communication specialists and marketers can effectively communicate with their existing and potential audiences and collect key insights on users’ wishes and expectations.
Further, the received data is analyzed and used to provide key insights on what is important to users. The data analytics results will be further applied to create effective outreach campaigns and provide users with relevant and less intrusive advertising.
Brands can open their departments in a virtual world and thus enable direct communication with their clients and interested persons.
For now, famous fashion brands have started growing their presence in virtual spaces to provide users with unique experiences. As an example, it is possible to use your own avatars to try on branded clothes, drive a new car, and similar.
The application of the mobile-first strategy will expand the target audience by including also those users who don’t have access to computers and will turn mobile video marketing into a major advertising channel.
Journalism hasn’t changed much throughout the ages – all until virtual reality and augmented reality stepped in. With the application of specific software and hardware, VR recreates environments, and AR enhances physical images. VR can bring viewers closer to the event location and provide immersive experiences.
Constantin reminds us that there are practices of performing interviews in the metaverse. Even though these occurrences aren’t frequent, but in the future, we are going to see more of them. It won’t be uncommon to see the avatars of famous people in studios and to interact with them.
New developments will help print media integrate virtual reality and augmented reality to introduce new exciting communication methods and deliver users an incomparably better user experience.
Combined, Web3 and the metaverse are shaping the future of social media. A social media platform that benefits from the newest technologies can collect all the information on user behavior and such crucial data analysis metrics as engagement, conversions, and reach.
Social media uses the incorporated insights gleaned from such data to predict news cycles, improve PR tactics, and create more effective outreach campaigns, thus shaping their own future and changing the job market.
As data analytics technologies advance, it will be possible to collect and analyze massive data volumes to improve the online communication degree between media and customers.
The digital media industry continues evolving, and there is no doubt that the metaverse offers social media giants immense resources. However, the mainstream introduction and adoption of new technologies by social media platforms stumbles over several challenges.
Privacy is one of the main benefits that customers want to enjoy in a metaverse, and indeed, users will have more control over their virtual identities, the information they provide, or the content they create.
It is a challenge for digital media managers and marketers because they rely on data provided by users to create a specific advertising campaign.
Accessibility is another challenge that has to be handled in the near future.
For now, only tech-savvy audience is able to navigate confidently the complexities of Web3 and the metaverse.
However, people are willing to learn new technologies if their benefits are clear, and thus, overcoming this challenge is just a matter of time.
As soon as the presence of online media grows in the virtual world, and it becomes available from mobile devices, people will willingly switch to new social media channels even though it may require some learning. And with the development of more user-friendly interfaces, social media in the metaverse may become mainstream.
Finally, users would like to participate in decision-making processes in the metaverse.
It may be the main challenge for social media managers because, in the modern world, social media is managed mainly by a couple of social media giants, and it is unlikely that they would give up control easily.
They determine the current and future media concepts driving the market, the ways of digital advertising, social media messages that shall be communicated to the public, and other aspects of the media world. It is needed to find viable ways to transfer this control over content to users while preserving its quality.
Web3 offers effective solutions to some issues.
So, decentralized governance may solve the problem of users’ participation in determining how the virtual versions of media platforms will develop and the type of content they will provide. Decentralized storage will allow storing content without any possibility of data alteration , and content creators will become also content owners.
Decentralization, one of the main characteristics of Web3, can contribute greatly to the promotion of free speech and democratizing access to information. It, in turn, can lead to the development of a more equitable and open media landscape.
The metaverse could offer new avenues for audience engagement. Constantin again mentioned Cointelegraph as an example, and Rachel speculated what direction the development of this media platform could take.
It can make media consumption more interactive by applying augmented reality and virtual reality and allowing users to participate in news online, discussions in real-time mode, interacting with brands, and similar.
Platforms will use real-time data to provide the most updated information to users, and the application of mobile video will ensure enhanced user engagement.
Rachel believes that Web3 and the metaverse have potential real-world applications that go beyond the current hype. These technologies are going to change the way companies interact with the public and, eventually, will modify the entire industry.
Indeed, these technologies have already impacted traditional communication professions by shifting the focus on creating relationships with customers instead of just informing users. Content creation (particularly video creation) will be decentralized and rely on customers for rewards.
Web3 and the metaverse are evolving and impacting all industries, with media being influenced by these new developments heavily. It is still difficult to forecast what direction this development is going to take, but for sure, there will be many obstacles and challenges. For now, we can work to handle those challenges and to make media more accessible and reliable.
Disclaimer. This material should not be construed as a basis for making investment decisions or as a recommendation to participate in investment transactions. Trading digital assets may involve significant risks and can result in the loss of invested capital. Therefore, you must ensure that you fully understand the risk involved, consider your level of experience, investment objectives, and seek independent financial advice if necessary.


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(Australian Associated Press)
Australia’s financial and consumer watchdogs aren’t happy with Facebook’s proposed global digital currency Libra, also known as the “Zuck Buck”.
The eight regulators, including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, plan to investigate Libra after the social media giant failed to address concerns about the currency.
There are fears the cryptocurrency could enhance money laundering and expose social media users to more scams and privacy issues.
Regulators met with Facebook executives in the US in October but weren’t satisfied with the outcome, The Australian reported on Wednesday.
Documents from ASIC published under freedom of information laws and cited by The Australian say Libra poses “many risks and threats” to Australian financial markets.
The Office of the Australian Information Commission, one of the regulators looking into Libra, has suggested the agencies investigate independently.
Other agencies involved include Australia’s anti-money laundering regulator, Austrac, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
In light of the backlash against the currency, several big companies initially involved have withdrawn, including Paypal, Visa and Mastercard.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to launch the currency in 2020, allowing Facebook and WhatsApp users to send money to each other, across borders, at low or no cost.
Cybersecurity pioneer, libertarian and independent US presidential candidate John McAfee says even if Libra gets the tick from regulators around the world, he doesn’t believe it will be backed by many consumers.
“Libra is a perversion of the original intent of cryptocurrency which is to free people from financial control,” he told AAP in an interview on Wednesday, ahead of him speaking at the Startcon event in Sydney later this month.
“Libra is merely a cryptocurrency that tells Facebook and therefore the government every single thing about your financial life.
“People will discover very fast, ‘oh my god, using this I get 10 times the number of ads addressed to me’. It will be a nightmare.”

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Kathryn Rem: Good work by ethical companies
Consumers are a demanding bunch. Not only do they want the food they buy to taste good and be priced fairly, they want the companies that get their nickel to be operated in an ethical way.
To that end, a New York-based group called the Ethisphere Council publishes an annual list of what it deems the most ethical companies in the world. A panel of professors, lawyers, government honchos and organization execs concerned with honest business practices selects the businesses.
After soliciting nominations, the panel studies conditions of supplier factories, the company’s stance on the environment and its record on product liability, going back up to five years. Lawsuits against the companies are looked at, as is whether problems are attacked with action, rather than simply a public relations campaign.
The mega-companies, all turning over at least $50 million a year and employing 100 people or more, are scored on corporate citizenship and responsibility, governance, leadership, integrity track record, internal systems and innovation that contributes to public well-being.
Of course, the problem with any kind of council that holds itself up as an arbiter of virtuous behavior is the council’s funding source. Who’s to say the biggest contributors aren’t rewarded with a spot on the list?
According to the Ethisphere Council’s Web site, PLI, LexisNexis and Corpedia created the group in partnership with Deutsche Telekom, Time Warner, Avaya and Kraft.
The 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies list, released earlier this month, includes companies in a range of fields. U.S. food-related businesses on the list are General Mills, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, Stonyfield Farm, Dole, McDonald’s and Starbucks Coffee.
Retailers include Gap, IKEA, Target and Trader Joe’s. Apparel makers are Nike, Patagonia and Timberland. Consumer products include Aveda, S.C. Johnson & Son, Unilever, Henkel and Whirlpool.
Some of the other well-known names on the list: Caterpillar, Deere and Co., Rockwell Automation, Aflac, Google, Marriott, Kiplinger, Alcoa, UPS, Honda, BMW, Time Warner, Manpower, Pitney Bowes, General Electric, Waste Management, Texas Instruments, American Express, Xerox, Cisco Systems, Oracle and Symantec.
The full list can be found online at http://ethisphere.com/wme2008.
Food editor Kathryn Rem can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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US President Joe Biden said the country’s labor market remained “strong” with the unemployment rate at 3.6% and the creation of more than a million jobs in the second quarter alone. In his statement on the second-quarter GDP report, Biden stressed that the U.S. economy was “on track” despite recession fears raised by the latest report released by the Commerce Department. According to the report, the US economy contracted again in the second quarter from April to June.
“Even though we face historic global challenges, we are on the right path and will navigate this transition stronger and more secure. Our labor market remains historically strong, with unemployment at 3.6% and more than a million jobs created in the second quarter alone,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Biden said it was “not surprising” that the US economy was slowing as the Federal Reserve worked to bring down inflation, according to the statement released by the White House. He insisted that consumer spending in the United States continues to grow. He spoke of his meeting with the Korean Chairman of the SK Group earlier this week and noted that it was “one of the companies that have invested more than $200 billion in American industry since I took office, fueling a historic recovery in American industry.” Additionally, US President Joe Biden has stated that his economic plan is focused on reducing inflation without the need to give up all the economic gains made by the US. Biden’s statement came just days after he said the US economy “will not be in recession.” He added: “But I don’t think we’re going to – God willing, I don’t think we’re going to see a recession.”
US GDP falls in second quarter
Biden’s statement comes after the US Department of Commerce released a report showing the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell at an annual rate of 0.9%. The drop in GDP follows an annual decline of 1.6% observed from January to March. The decline in real GDP shows a decline in private inventory investment, residential fixed investment, federal government spending, state and local government spending, and non-residential fixed investment, the statement said. release published by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Bureau of Economic Analysis noted that the decline in private investment in inventory was caused by a decline in retail trade. In addition, the decline in residential fixed investment was caused by the decline in “other” structures, including brokerage commissions. According to AP, the report comes at a time when consumers and businesses are struggling with inflation and rising loan costs.


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Edinburgh's Ocean Terminal to be transformed into premium outlet centre
Ocean Terminal shopping centre in Edinburgh is set to relaunch as a premium outlet destination in the third quarter of 2019, owner Resolution Property announced on Friday.
It will be renamed as Porta and feature a new mix of aspirational and premium brands. French Connection, Debenhams, H&M, New Look, Schuh, Superdry and White Stuff are currently part of its line-up, which features mostly low-cost brands.
Whilst the high street is struggling with falling sales and shopping centres turn to technology to lure shoppers, outlet centres are emerging as a bright spot in the UK market.
Last month saw the opening of a brand new premium outlet centre at the O2 arena in London, and outlet operator McArthurglen announced this week a €1bn investment in new designer outlets and expansions.
Resolution property said Ocean Terminal’s repositioned offer will help it capitalise on increasing visitor numbers and provide a new premium outlet destination in Scotland. It already has premium outlet centres in Germany, France and Denmark in its portafolio.
The 407,000-square-foot Ocean Terminal will retain its 12-screen Vue Cinema as well as food operators Wagamama and Zizzi. The existing PureGym and skatepark will also stay to bolster the centre’s leisure offer.
Shane Scott, partner at Resolution Property, said: “Delivering an outlet concept to the area is a unique and exciting opportunity and one that will transform the current offer.
“Ocean Terminal already enjoys good footfall and an impressive line-up of international brands, but we believe there is greater demand for a destination that provides experience as well as value. In fact, a number of our tenants have expressed demand for an outlet offer. Porta will build on this demand to establish the centre as one of Scotland’s leading outlet destinations.”
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TRAD UK CEO Des Moore has released a statement to ScaffMag explaining why its Hire & Sales business will continue to charge its customers during the coronavirus lockdown.
The statement comes after a number of TRAD Hire & Sales customers were left disgruntled after receiving a letter informing them ongoing hire charges would continue during these unprecedented times formulated at the request of many customers who sought clarification.
Many of TRAD’s customers, as have TRAD have been directly impacted by the coronavirus and have had to temporarily close during the national lockdown, TRAD has not and does not intend to do so, they said.
One scaffold business owner told us “We have kit on hire from TRAD and due to the current situation we have taken the steps to shut for a minimum of three weeks for the safety of our employees. But TRAD is going to continue to charge us hire.”
Another company said: “We’ve used TRAD for years and we thought we had a great relationship with them but the message we received was if it’s on hire it’s charged. Disgusting really as this could start making things messy by scaffold companies having to charge additional hire when morally it isn’t right.”
We reached out to TRAD UK’s CEO Des Moore for an explanation on making the difficult decision. He said: “As someone who values our relationships with customers and our position in the industry, I wanted to respond directly to the feedback we have had following a letter sent from Trad Hire & Sales earlier this week.
“We are all facing an unprecedented situation: one that is putting a great deal of pressure on businesses of all shapes and sizes across the country, clearly we have complete empathy for those who are affected.
“The construction and housebuilding sectors have been uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, as have those businesses that supply those sectors. This is largely because of the lack of clear guidance from the government, which has only recently been clarified.
“The fact that this advice has not been as clear as all construction companies would like has resulted in many companies continuing to work – particularly on those projects that are deemed ‘essential’ such as public infrastructure and other crucial programmes. Others had already taken the decision to close sites down on a temporary basis, pending guidance from the CLC, Build UK and Public Health England, which is now available.
“For companies like TRAD Hire & Sales, and other hire and sales companies, where we are all supplying a sector that is currently expected to remain open, there are difficult decisions to be made to ensure we can support our customers and look after our staff while staying in line with the Government’s instructions to remain open and support the sector as a whole.
“Based on the advice and guidance from the Government, from Public Health England and from construction industry bodies, we plan to remain open. If the advice changes, we will review our position – but we do not expect it will, given various comments from the government this week. Indeed, one statement suggested that construction sites remaining open are part of the Coronavirus modelling programme.
“We have no option but to continue charging for equipment hire as our standard default position.”
“For TRAD Hire & Sales, and other companies in the construction supply chain, this means that many of our customers are still working on site. Our depots remain open for collection and return of equipment as usual, whilst adhering to safe distance guidance set out by Public Health England.
“Given this situation, we have no option but to continue charging for equipment hire as our standard default position. With approximately 600 live accounts we obviously have no way of determining at this stage the extent at which our individual customers are affected. This has been a difficult decision to take, but as the construction industry remains ‘open’, we need to keep our business running as normally as we can to support you, our Employees and the sector in general.
“Of course, given that not all sites are open, or accessible, we are and will continue to be as flexible as we can with our customer base. If you are experiencing a site shut-down, partial shut or temporary closure, please contact your regular TRAD H&S representative and we will work with you on an individual case-by-case basis, and evaluate our respective positions’ accordingly, as we have always done, to do the best we can to support you through this difficult period.”


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It seems as though a handful of classic RPGs from famed studios Bioware and Black Isle Studios are headed to major consoles this year. Veteran studio, Beamdog, has been working on remastering a flurry of nostalgic PC titles, and it seems Skybound Games is helping send a handful of those games over to the Xbox One, PS4 and Switch.
Those of you pining to return to the glory days of Bioware, or curious to see how impressive the now-closed Black Isle Studios was twenty years ago, this new collection of remasters is exactly what you've been waiting for. Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights and the expansion to Baldur's Gate — Siege of Dragonspear — are all expected to hit consoles later this year.
"These games are iconic, including Baldur’s Gate, which has really set the standard for Dungeons & Dragons computer roleplaying games(…)We’re excited to bring Beamdog’s incredible slate to new platforms for both the dedicated fan and those who will soon discover these adventures for the first time." — CEO Ian Howe, Skybound Games
The deal between the two companies — Beamdog and Skybound Games — was just announced today in order to bring these Dungeons and Dragons classics over to consoles. There's no word of any more releases on the horizon with the partnership, but this is a pretty solid way to start off a relationship.
There has yet to be any official statement regarding when any of these ports will arrive on consoles, but we do know they are all confirmed to appear on the PS4, Xbox One and Switch. Baldur's Gate on the go, anyone?


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小编摘要：美国投资者周三再次对中国公司首次公开募股（IPO）钟爱有加，奇虎360科技有限公司（Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd.，简称：奇虎360）上市首日股价飙升了近135%
美国投资者周三再次对中国公司首次公开募股（IPO）钟爱有加，奇虎360科技有限公司（Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd.，简称：奇虎360）上市首日股价飙升了近135%，而美国本土私募股权投资公司阿波罗全球管理公司（Apollo Global Management LLC，简称：阿波罗）的股票却受到冷落。
American investors reignited their love affair with Chinese initial public offerings on Wednesday, sending shares of Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. soaring nearly 135% in their first day of trading, but snubbing home-grown private-equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC's stock.
Qihoo, which shot up 86% on its first trade, closed at $34 a share, up 134.5% from its initial public offering price of $14.50. The Beijing company sold 12.1 million shares at a price above its expected $10.50 to $12.50 range.
Qihoo's offering is the best-performing IPO to launch in the U.S. so far this year, and the best first-day pop since Chinese Internet television company Youku.com Inc. rose 161% in December. Youku was one of four Chinese stocks that ranked in the top five U.S. debuts last year.
Like Youku, Qihoo's business focuses on the fast-growing Internet market in China. It claims to be the third-largest Internet company in the country as measured by user base, and provides free Internet and mobile-security software to protect users' personal data. The company makes its money by sharing revenue from other third-party Internet products, such as games or group-buying websites, that are sold to its users.
奇虎360在美国IPO之前，美国投资者对于来自中国IPO的兴趣似乎已有所冷淡。中国男装制造商左岸服饰（Zuoan Fashion Ltd.）、移动应用程序供应商创博国际（Trunkbow International Holdings Ltd.）和模拟信号集成电路制造商BCD半导体（BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.）这三个已在美国上市的中国公司周三收盘价均低于其发行价。
Prior to Qihoo's arrival, Americans' interest in Chinese offerings appeared to have cooled, with three previous deals from Zuoan Fashion Ltd., Trunkbow International Holdings Ltd. and BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. closing below their IPO prices Wednesday.
Qihoo stole the spotlight from Apollo's larger offering of $565 million, which declined 4% in its debut. Apollo had drawn investor interest during roadshows, and ended up selling more shares than expected at the high end of its price range, but the price may have been too rich to support additional gains after it started trading, said analysts.
IPO研究网站IPOfinancial.com的总裁兼IPOfn Capital Management的执行合伙人门罗（David Menlow）说，有人以为阿波罗的发行价定在指导价区间高端，所以需求量必定很大，其实这是一种假象，而最初指导价区间预计是18至20美元。
'There was a false appearance that this deal was in high demand because it priced at the high end of its range, but this was originally supposed to be an $18-to-$20 deal,' said David Menlow, president of analysis firm IPOfinancial.com and managing partner for IPOfn Capital Management.
Apollo was about to file an updated prospectus with a price range when the markets fell after Japan's earthquake, so it delayed the filing. When the terms were set later, the range was lower than some investors had expected, at $17 to $19.
Apollo closed at $18.20, down 4.2%. The company sold 29.76 million shares, 3.6 million more than expected.
Both Apollo and Qihoo had upbeat financial data behind their offerings. Apollo's total revenue more than doubled in 2010, to $2.1 billion, and it reported net income of $94.6 million, compared to a loss of $155 million in 2009. Qihoo's total revenue rose 79%, to $58 million in 2010, while net income doubled, to $9 million.
Apollo plans to pay out a quarterly dividend using 'substantially' all its net after-tax cash flow from operations. No estimate was given for the amount it might pay out in 2011.
高盛集团（Goldman Sachs Group Inc.）、摩根大通（J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.）和美国银行/美林（Bank of America Merrill Lynch）担任阿波罗IPO的承销商，瑞士银行（UBS AG）和花旗集团（Citigroup Inc.）担任奇虎360的承销商。
Apollo's offering was managed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Qihoo's was managed by UBS AG and Citigroup Inc.
2011-04-01 15:30 编辑：icetonado


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The Indian warehouse automation market (henceforth, referred to as the market studied) was valued at USD 86.2 million in 2020, and is expected to reach USD 512.2 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 26.4%, over the period of 2021-2026 (henceforth, referred to as the forecast period).
The warehousing property segment is emerging as a significant investment opportunity for investors. However, the COVID-19 lockdown has led to a considerable slowdown in the warehousing industry, with both investment activity and occupier leasing being subdued in Q1 2020. The first quarter witnessed only one investment deal worth USD 54 million in the Indian warehousing sector. Economists worldwide have forecast India’s GDP growth to slow down considerably in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown, affecting businesses across the board and reducing their aggregate demand for warehouses. However, in 2021 IMF projects India’s GDP to increase by 11.5%, and this factor is expected to impact the market positively.
India’s warehousing industry is undergoing a significant shift, keeping pace with the emerging manufacturing sector and the vast logistics industry. With the implementation of the goods and services tax and real estate investments, the warehousing industry is expected to benefit considerably.
For the first time, GST will ensure that India will see consolidated large space central warehousing parks instead of the current scattered standalone facilities. This will give enable the industry with an added advantage to look at more investments in the large warehouses and modernize the facility with automation technologies.
For instance, e-commerce giant Amazon, which has committed an investment of USD 5 billion in the Indian market, is investing in automated warehouses across India. It set up multiple new warehouses to cater to various categories. Amazon is among the first few companies in India that experimented and adopted robotics in their warehouses. Its Kiva robot engages in picking and packing process capabilities at large warehouses. Such robots’ usage brought a change in perception and made robotics and automation coexist within the warehousing sector.
Key Market Trends
Healthcare is Expected to hold a major share
According to the IBEF Indian Pharmaceutical Industry’s report published in November 2020, India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally. The Indian pharmaceutical sector caters to over 50% of the global demand for various vaccines, 40% of generic demand in the US, and 25% of all medicine in the UK. Pharmaceutical export from India stood at USD 16.3 billion in FY20. Pharmaceutical export includes bulk drugs, intermediates, drug formulations, biologicals, ayush and herbal products, and surgical. Such stats showcase the massive landscape of the Indian pharmaceutical industry, which requires significant automation in the warehouses for efficiency in the supply chain.
There is a growing need for increased output while improving operational efficiency in the pharmaceutical industry. Maintaining a high quality of products and safety standards is creating a significant demand for automation in the healthcare industry. As a result, there is a parallel growth of warehouse automation in the healthcare industry, as these systems facilitate the availability of the required products promptly, with minimal human interaction, thus enabling the prevention of contamination during the drug manufacturing process.
Also, the requirement of the samples and its lot number tracking, serial number recording, strict timeframe demands, increased security demands, and strict confidentiality is prevailing as significant factors that are increasing adoption of warehouse management software and robotic systems. Typical solutions include the areas of receiving, storage, put-away, replenishment, consolidation, order packing, and truck loading. The various load types of the pharma and healthcare markets, such as vials, strips, blisters, cartons, totes, poly bags, drums, and pallets, are significantly handled and conveyed.
The region is witnessing significant expansion activities in the pharma and healthcare warehouse segment. For instance, in August 2020, West Pharmaceutical Services announced the opening of its warehousing operations in Chennai, India.
Exponential Growth of the E-commerce industry in India
The e-commerce boom in India has benefitted several industries in India, especially the supply and logistics sector, wherein data science is applied heavily to shipment tracking. Now, with the continued rise of online shopping and changing buyer expectations, speed and accuracy of delivery have spurred e-commerce companies to find a faster way to reach customers.
The retail fulfillment paradigm shift sees a new dimension, with e-commerce giants competing fiercely to fulfill faster deliveries. That’s where warehouse automation and control system sales are stimulating growth by boosting operational efficiency. Today warehouse automation forms the backbone of e-commerce players in India such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, among other names. For instance, Noida-headquartered Falcon Autotech Pvt. Ltd provides its automated solutions inside the warehouses of such prominent e-commerce portals. Companies such as Amazon are not only acquiring large automated warehouses on lease but have also globally started acquiring a fleet of airplanes and warehousing robotic companies.
Rapidly, most offline traditional retail stores are expected to have an online version, making the in-store shopping experience more holistic and ensuring that lack of shelf inventory is made up by warehouse inventory, increasing their customer loyalty base in this process.
Large-format wholesalers and offline retailers are stepping up and changing their efforts to serve customers online and build omnichannel models to meet the increasing demand for essential goods and groceries. The overall architecture of retail will be changed with social distancing as a critical component. Customers were reluctant to go to places where there isn’t enough social distancing, or the hygiene standards are not perceivably available and played a significant role in rising in the adoption of e-commerce in India.
The Indian Warehouse Automation Market is on a rapid rise thus multiple foreign companies are making significant investments in India. Further with the ongoing rise of e-commerce and new innovation strategies of large and small enterprise companies are expected to drive market growth. Some of the recent developments in the market are:
December 2020 - Pune-based FM Logistic India is announced to set up intra-city warehousing units across Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, where one of the models is to build the warehouse from scratch vertically instead of horizontally, as it gives the possibility of separation between the different customers and has a considerable advantage for the cold storage for pharma.
September 2020 - GreyOrange announced patents for technology essential for companies to achieve high-yield omnichannel fulfillment as well as to maximize facility space utilization through multilevel operation capabilities. The patents cover First-to-Fill Technology, Retail-Ready Fulfilment, Multilevel Robot Mobility.
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The price of gold today is about $42 per gram. The price of regulated medical cannabis oil in Pennsylvania is $80 to $144 per gram, if you can even find the rarer substance.
In less than two weeks, one registered medical cannabis patient in central Pennsylvania paid more than $700 for legal products. Another patient estimated her bill to be close to $1,000. These seriously ill residents simply can't afford to keep using the new dispensaries, and aren't getting the promised relief.
Launch prices for cannabis wax, live resin, shatter, oils and pre-filled "vape" cartridges were some of the highest ever seen. Half a gram of refined hash oil was on the Pa. menu for $72. That's a more than four times the same type of product being sold today for $35 per gram in medical cannabis dispensaries around the country.
Then they ran out.
As of this writing, menus at the few Pa. cannabis facilities were down to just two or three choices and some, like Keystone Shops, have already closed the front door. (Although they are taking some limited appointments.)
Right now, one company has a monopoly on production : Cresco-Yeltrah. They have the privilege to set the wholesale price for everyone. But even in their own "CY" flagship dispensary prices aren't any cheaper.
This is worse than any of us predicted, but not surprising.
The compassionate use effort was supposed to be about getting a beneficial, non-toxic plant to sick residents. Perhaps more than a million Pennsylvanians already buy cannabis underground, or even legally in other states, to deal with various medical conditions.
Back in 2009 a group of advocates testified before the House Health and Human Services Committee, launching the effort. A slow burn persisted. Suddenly, in 2015, a team of Republicans and out-of-state cannabis industry operators came in to rewrite the bill. Home cultivation for patients was eliminated, and so was access to any whole plant material. All of former Gov. Chris Christie's horrendous regulations were imported from across the river. That's how Pa. got the bottleneck physician registry and limited operating permits.
Today, instead of holistic access Pa. is running the Big Pharma model of stiff big price hikes and drug shortages.
Seriously ill residents are shelling cash out of pocket, locked into the state's a catastrophic failure to properly regulate medical marijuana. Zoning was even expensive.
About 400 doctors are certified as practitioners, a handful of the 53,000 who practice in the commonwealth. They often can't co-charge insurance companies for cannabis recommendations, but they do take cash and credit cards. Some of the Pa. practitioners are even selling dubious "CBD" alternative "dietary supplement" products.
I have to smoke a joint of decent $8.50 per gram street weed to stem my nausea watching it all unfold.
The Pa. Department of Health and the cannabis operators are sticking to their story: Things will get better when more growers come online, they say. Prices will decline. But that hasn't been the case in New Jersey and New York where some of the same operators hold permits.
Pa. could declare failure immediately and start a vast expansion. That's exactly what Gov. Phil Murphy is doing in the Garden State. But, in the midst of gerrymandering, budgets and an election year, it seems unlikely to come up in Harrisburg.
Meanwhile, marijuana arrests are actually increasing. One of the reasons could be more medical cannabis patients than ever accessing the underground market. Clearly the financial hurdles of the program alone are a major deterrent to participation.
Since marijuana flowers are still prohibited, police could be arresting a new glut of low-income medical cannabis consumers. Certainly there are many residents seeking the benefits being sold by lawmakers.
One more puff. I'm smoking a popular strain called Sour Diesel that was organically grown in Washington DC. An ounce, 28 grams, would cost $250. These few grams were free to me though. A gift. In Philadelphia, where possession of 30 grams or less is tolerated, I'm not afraid.
Philly exists as an oasis for patients right now. The real answer to all of these bizarre, expensive restrictions is clear; simply ending prohibition. We're getting there, and learning some important lessons about fair pricing along the way.


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Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba, recently visited Australia – an enormous milestone in the company’s global ambitions.
Ma’s arrival in Australia was a symbolic event, demonstrating to the world that Alibaba is entering a new phase of international expansion. Ma’s trip focuses on cultivating relationships with business and government leaders throughout Australia in order to create an open dialogue about issues related to global trade, including cross-border financial technologies, big data, and the Internet of Things.
Ma met with high-level officials from various government agencies and high-profile business executives. He also visited universities and held workshops and keynote speeches in cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. Ma has been vocal in affirming his commitment to working closely with the local industry to help drive technological advancements and uncover new opportunities for businesses in Australia.
Moreover, during this trip, Ma announced that Alibaba will open a digital training academy in Australia, which will offer programs such as retail e-commerce courses to enable small businesses around the country to gain access to digital skills necessary for success in the modern economy. Through this initiative, Ma hopes to share his vision for empowering businesses by leveraging the potential of technology.
Jack Ma and the Rise of Alibaba
Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, is in Australia this week for a series of high-level meetings. The visit is a clear symbol of Alibaba’s global ambitions – and of Ma’s own status as one of the world’s most influential businessmen.
Alibaba is now China’s largest e-commerce company, and its IPO in 2014 was the biggest in history. But it was only founded in 1999, and Ma himself only rose to prominence in the last decade or so. So how did he do it?
Here’s a brief introduction to Jack Ma and the rise of Alibaba:
Jack Ma was born in Hangzhou, China, in 1964. He started out as an English teacher, but he quickly became interested in business. In 1995, he founded Alibaba – originally just a directory of Chinese manufacturers.
The early days were tough; Ma reportedly slept on his office floor for years. But Alibaba slowly began to grow, thanks to its unique focus on small businesses and its innovative “Taobao” platform, which allowed businesses to sell directly to consumers.
By 2003, Alibaba was already China’s biggest e-commerce site. And it just kept growing from there: expanding into new areas like online payments (with Alipay), cloud computing, and even Hollywood movies (through its investment in Paramount Pictures).
Nowadays, Jack Ma is worth an estimated $30 billion, making him one of the richest men in China.
Jack Ma Visit to Australia and Its Significance
On May 10, 2016, Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, visited Australia as part of his Asian tour. This was a significant visit as it marked Alibaba’s increasing focus on the Australian market.
Alibaba is the world’s largest online and mobile commerce company, with over US$485 billion in annual sales. The company has over 500 million active users and operates in over 200 countries. Alibaba’s success is built on its ability to connect buyers and sellers from around the world.
The Chinese economy is slowing down and this has led to a decline in demand for Australian exports such as iron ore and coal. In response, the Australian government is looking to diversify its export markets and tap into the growing Chinese consumer market.
Alibaba is well-placed to help Australian businesses tap into this market. The company already has a strong presence in Australia, with two data centers and an office in Melbourne. In 2015, Alibaba launched 11 Mainland China-Australia cross-border e-commerce pilot zones, which allow Australian businesses to sell directly to Chinese consumers through Alibaba’s platform.
Jack Ma’s visit gave Australian businesses a chance to learn more about how they can utilize Alibaba’s platforms to reach Chinese consumers. During his visit, Jack Ma met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Treasurer Scott Morrison, and other senior government officials. He also gave a keynote address to Australian business leaders and held a roundtable for young entrepreneurs.
Jack Ma’s visit is a clear sign that Alibaba views Australia as an important market with strong potential. As the Australian economy continues to diversify, it is likely that partnerships between Australian businesses and China-based companies like Alibaba will become increasingly important.
Exploring Alibaba’s Global Ambitions
Alibaba is the world’s largest online and mobile commerce company, founded in 1999 by Jack Ma. Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere.
Alibaba is the world’s largest retailer, with over US$485 billion of the gross merchandise value (GMV) sold in Alibaba’s marketplaces in FY2018. In the same fiscal year, Alibaba’s annual active consumers reached 654 million.
Ma has been on a global expansion spree, taking Alibaba into new markets such as Southeast Asia, India, and Europe. The company has also invested heavily in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and logistics.
Now, Ma is turning his attention to Australia. He visited the country earlier this week and met with Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The visit was a symbolic one—a sign that Alibaba is serious about expanding its reach even further.
During his meeting with Morrison, Ma committed to helping Australian businesses sell their products to Chinese consumers via Alibaba’s platform. This is a significant move given that China is Australia’s biggest trading partner.
It’s also an important step for Alibaba as it looks to become a truly global company. Although it started out as an e-commerce platform connecting Chinese businesses with each other, Alibaba has slowly been expanding its reach beyond China’s borders.
The visit to Australia is part of that larger strategy. By partnering with Australian companies, Alibaba can continue to grow beyond its Chinese roots. This furthers the company’s aim to make it easier to do business anywhere in the world.
The Impact of Chinese Businesses on the Global Market
As the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world, Alibaba Group has its sights set on becoming a global player. And it is making inroads into Australia, with Jack Ma – Alibaba’s founder and executive chairman – recently paying a visit to the country.
This is symptomatic of a wider trend of Chinese businesses increasingly looking to expand their reach internationally. In fact, China has become the second-largest investor in Australia, with Chinese companies investing A$15 billion (US$11 billion) in the country last year alone.
There are a number of reasons behind this surge in investment. For one, China’s economy is slowing down and its businesses are looking for new opportunities abroad. Additionally, as Chinese companies have become more successful, they have also become more international in their outlook and ambitions.
Whatever the reasons, there is no doubt that Chinese businesses are having an impact on the global market. And this is likely to only increase in the years to come.
Strategies Employed by Alibaba to Reach a Global Audience
When Alibaba founder Jack Ma visited Australia in March 2017, it was a symbol of the company’s global ambitions.
Alibaba is the world’s largest online and mobile commerce company, with over 500 million active users. The company operates in over 200 countries and regions and offers a platform for businesses of all sizes to sell to a global audience.
To reach such a vast audience, Alibaba employs a number of strategies, including:
Localization: Alibaba knows that to be successful in different markets around the world, it must offer a localized experience. The company has adapted its platform and services to meet the needs of local users, whether it be in language, payment options, or delivery methods.
Partnerships: Alibaba has formed strategic partnerships with leading companies in various industries, such as Microsoft, Yahoo!, and SoftBank. These partnerships help Alibaba extend its reach into new markets and tap into its new customer base.
Innovation: Alibaba is constantly innovating to create new products and services that meet the ever-changing needs of its customers. This continuous innovation helps keep Alibaba at the forefront of the e-commerce industry.
Jack Ma’s visit to Australia is a testament to the success of Alibaba and its global ambitions. It demonstrates the potential for businesses around the world to benefit from access to markets, enabling them to grow exponentially in new territories. The future looks bright for both Alibaba and Australia, with their joint venture furthering a deeper relationship between the two countries that could prove mutually beneficial in terms of investment opportunities and technological advancement. Thus, Jack Ma’s successful visit serves as an inspirational reminder of how dedicated entrepreneurs can bridge boundaries between nations through positive contributions toward global development.


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Facebook Live to Reach Android Phones This Week
Facebook today said it is expanded the availability of its Facebook Live video feature to people who use Android devices. Until now, the feature had been restricted to Apple iPhones. Similar to Twitter's Periscope app, Facebook Live lets people broadcast live video to their friends. Broadcasters see the number of viewers and their names, and a real-time stream of comments. Live broadcasts are automatically saved to users' timelines where they can be kept or deleted. People will be able to see live videos in their News Feed, but may also subscribe to the feeds of their favorite broadcasters. Facebook will send alerts to let people let them know when broadcasters go live. Facebook Live will reach Android devices in the U.S. first, with other countries to follow.
Facebook Expands Live Video Streaming to More People
Dec 3, 2015
Facebook today said a small percentage of iPhone owners in the U.S. will be able to test streaming live video to their Facebook friends.
Facebook Expands Live Video to All US iPhone Owners
Jan 28, 2016
Facebook today increased the set of people able to make use of its live video feature to all iPhone owners in the U.S. Facebook first tested the service with celebrities and public figures before expanding to a small set of iPhone users back in December.
Periscope Adds Search and Saving Tools
May 9, 2016
Periscope today detailed forthcoming changes that will make it easier to find and save video broadcasts. First, Periscope will improve search by making it possible to browse live broadcasts via categories as well as via keywords.
Facebook Video to Turn Up the Volume
Feb 14, 2017
Facebook is making several big changes to how it treats video on mobile devices. First, sound will fade in and fade out as users scroll past videos in their News Feed as long as the phone's volume is turned on.
Periscope for iOS Lets You Draw On Your Live Video
Apr 29, 2016
Periscope users can now sketch on the screen during live broadcasts. Periscope added the feature in a recent update to the app, which it says "provides a new way to express yourself while broadcasting." The tool, which requires a long-press to access, lets users draw in red, green, or blue, or use a dropper to sample a color from the video.


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In Pictures: HRH The Princess Royal opens Sustainability in UK Textiles conference
HRH The Princess Royal opened the first Sustainability in UK Textiles conference in London on Thursday 12th May 2022, in her role as President of the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT).
Adam Mansell, CEO of UKFT, said: “We are extremely proud of having HRH as UKFT’s President and she has a keen interest in sustainable manufacturing. She is an enormous supporter of our industry and has visited countless textile manufacturers over the years.”
She acknowledged the complexity of the sustainability landscape and the extent of the challenge, but also recognised that the UK textile industry has been focused on producing the very best yarns and fabrics in the most economically sustainable way for many years.
At the conference, she listened to some of the latest progress from cashmere weaver Alex Begg and met with representatives from The Textile Livery Group, which supported the event. She was introduced to a range of UK textile industry leaders from companies including John Spencer Textiles, Camira Fabrics, English Fine Cottons, SIL Group, Halley Stevensons, iinouiio and AW Hainsworth. She also met Jonny Mckinnon, a recent graduate from the Glasgow School of Art and a winner of a bursary from The Weavers Company, who was commissioned to create a wall hanging using recycled and scrap textiles that was shown at the conference.
She also spoke with Professor Parik Goswami, Director of Technical Textiles Research Centre and the Head of Department of Fashion and Textiles at the University of Huddersfield; Tom Fiddian, Head of AI and Data Economy at Innovate UK; and Shailja Dube, from the British Fashion Council and Institute of Positive Fashion.
Read more about some of HRH The Princess Royal’s recent visits to UK textile manufacturers here.
Above: HRH The Princess Royal with textile designer Jonny Mckinnon
Above: HRH The Princess Royal with Andy Ogden of English Fine Cottons, Alan Williams of Camira Group and Amanda McLaren of AW Hainsworth
Above: HRH The Princess Royal listening to a presentation from Oscar Macdonald of Alex Begg
Above: HRH The Princess Royal meeting Shailja Dube, from the British Fashion Council, Professor Parik Goswami from the University of Huddersfield, Chris Barker from SIL Group and Adam Mansell, CEO of UKFT
Above: HRH The Princess Royal with representatives from The Textile Livery Group
Above: HRH The Princess Royal opening the Sustainability in UK Textiles conference
Above: HRH The Princess Royal with John Snowdon, chair of The Textile Livery Group
Above: HRH The Princess Royal with the Alex Begg team and UKFT chairman Nigel Lugg
Above: HRH The Princess Royal with Jimmy Campbell of Halley Stevensons and Dr John Parkinson of iinouiio
Images: Ben Broomfield Photography.


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August 22, 2014
Videos: Developer Sales, UX and Community ROI
Many entrepreneurs in the dev-tools space struggle with moving from the role of engineer to the role of sales person and sole business devel...
Just one year after launch, Heavybit member company Runscope has raised a $6 million Series A round led by General Catalyst. Runscope has seen huge demand for their API debugging and testing tools with tens of thousands of developers and APIs on the platform. With this new round of funding, the founders John Sheehan and Frank Stratton, are taking the product line into the enterprise with the recently-announced Runscope Enterprise — an on-premise deployment that works behind the firewall.


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After reaching the 50% market share mark, Internet Explorer reverted some of its gains and is back to 49.87%, 0.13 point decrease.
Only few more points remain as Google Chrome slowly climbs towards the 20% mark, up from 17.41% to 18.05%, 0.64 point increase.
Forgets about the iPad.
Here is some drama for a Thursday night. In the tablet market where Apple pretty much dominates it with a healthy 90% market share mark (in terms of shipments), Mozilla decided to complain about no other than Microsoft, which, according to them, will not allow other browsers than IE to run in the Windows Classic mode on an ARM based, Windows RT OS.
Back in November, 2011, we have reported that the Internet Explorer web browser has fallen below the 50% market share mark.
Now, it looks like the software giant has something to celebrate as according to the latest numbers, it’s back at 50%, up from 49.82% (0.18 point increase).
Developers to blame.
In an interesting turn of events, which we view as positive news for its users, Opera Software will soon be releasing an experimental build of Opera Mobile Emulator, which will use WebKit prefixes to combat ignorant web developers. In addition to that, since it will be integrated into Opera’s core, you can expect to see same prefixes across all Opera web browsers in the near future.
Windows XP edition.
Despite very positive Windows 7 reviews, it still remains the #2 operating system, right behind everyone’s beloved Windows XP. And although trend favors Windows 7, it does not mean that the XP users should be left behind. Since Internet Explorer 9 won’t run on this OS, guys at TomsHardware have decided to test IE8 against the top 4 web browsers.
If you’ve ever thought that Maxthon is just a peace of UI on top of a rendering engine, then you were wrong.
Although there were no mind blowing browser releases last month, it does not mean that the user base will remain the same and as the title says, it’s all about Microsoft this time.
Whether it’s a result of clever ads or Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Internet Explorer has regained 0.9 point of its market share, up from 48.92% to 49.82%.
Can’t beat Opera or Firefox Mobile.
Continuing the development of Internet Explorer 10 for the Windows Phone 8, (which is set to be a very different game) Microsoft’s web browsers has popped up in the recent HTML5 test results and as of now, they are not that impressive.


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YAKIMA POLICE DEPARTMENT NEWS RELEASE -- In the last month, the Yakima Police Department (“YPD”) has noted a significant increase in auto theft reports. Most of the reports involve vehicles located east of 16th Avenue which were stolen during overnight hours.
Honda models account for about 50% of all vehicles reported stolen in March. Hondas have an ignition style that makes them more vulnerable to theft.
The YPD has made numerous arrests recently in response to the increase in stolen vehicle reports. However, the trend seems to be continuing.
The YPD needs the community’s help by making it more difficult for thieves to steal vehicles. The YPD urges vehicle owners, particularly owners of Hondas, to take extra precautions to protect their property. The YPD recommends that all vehicles be parked inside secured garages if possible. If keeping vehicles in a garage is not possible, using extra security devices such as steering wheel locking devices is strongly encouraged.
“Everyone can significantly decrease the possibility that their car will be stolen by just following a common sense approach,” said Yakima Police Chief Dominic Rizzi. “Almost half the cars stolen in our state have keys left in them by their owners. Almost half of the cars stolen are unlocked,” said Rizzi. “If we can make it harder for thieves to steal cars, fewer cars will be stolen.”
Additional vehicle theft prevention tips can be found on the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority website.


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- Ikea has reached its goal of using electric vehicles (EVs) to make all home deliveries in Shanghai, part of the company's 2018 pledge for global EV delivery service by 2025, as reported by Fast Company.
- A partnership with Shenzhen truck-leasing company DST "allowed us to secure vehicles faster, cutting months off the timeline," according to Angela Hultberg, who oversees sustainable mobility at Ingka Group, Ikea’s parent company. DST manages more than 16,000 logistics vehicles and has thousands of charging stations in Shanghai and other cities.
- Ikea is aiming for similar results in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and Amsterdam by 2020, according to Fast Company.
Ikea has an overarching goal of reducing the carbon footprint of its products by 70% by 2030, including removing all single-use plastics from its products and stores by 2020 and using 100% renewable energy.
Hultberg called Shanghai, a city plagued by pollution, "the very problem we’re trying to address." How bad is it? On Jan. 25, hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled as record levels of air pollution shrouded the city in smog, prompting authorities to issue the highest level of health warning, Scientific American reported. The city’s pollution index ranged from 23 to 31 times the levels recommended by international health officials.
The Swedish company also said it is trying to change customer behavior to encourage low-emissions transport. Its expansion strategy is to establish smaller stores in urban cores, rather than its typical "big box" facilities, so customers can reach them via public transportation, walking or biking. A new store in Shanghai, for example, will open in 2020 and connect directly to the city’s metro system. It also will be more than 130,000 square feet smaller than the company’s typical 400,000-square-foot building.
Ikea is one of 31 members of EV100, a global initiative committed to "accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and making electric transport the new normal by 2030." Other members include Air New Zealand, Bank of America, Deutsche Post DHL, HP, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and Unilever, to name a few.
EV100 said the transport sector accounts for 23% of global energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It views electric transport as a major solution in cutting millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, as well as curbing transport related air and noise pollution.
"With businesses owning over half of all registered vehicles on the road, it is crucial that companies lead the shift to electric vehicles," EV100 said. "By setting out their future EV purchasing requirements on an ambitious timescale, companies can drive mass roll-out and make electric cars more rapidly affordable for everyone around the world."


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China is home of modern day industrialization. There is very little doubt, if any, that is directed towards this. As a matter of fact, what may happen to be of a challenge is spreading this technological advancement to other parts of the world. First things first, we focus on the automobile industry. The reason that has made automobile sales remain low in Africa and the overall dismal performance of the sector is poverty and economic strains. Having identified that reality, Chinese manufacturers have moved with haste to produce cheap and affordable automobiles, clearly cut for such a market as Africa. These manufacturers have concentrated more on satisfying the consumer needs, while still maintaining standard quality.
Why rush to dismiss quality?
When china started making overtures to Africa for business reasons, particularly in automobile and machinery sector, they were prematurely dismissed with the notion that Chinese products were scoring low on the quality scale. Terms such as ‘fong Kong’ and ‘zhing zhong’ were coined in South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively, to refer to low quality Chinese products. Having successfully managed to shake off these denting tags, China has moved on to build and establish vehicle assembly plants in Africa. The need to focus more attention in Africa has been necessitated by the fact that Africa is an emerging economy with a high potential for growth in the near future. Other areas which have received the Chinese motor industry attention are the Latin America and south East Asia.
Mammoth companies at the spearhead
It is rather astounding how fast the Chinese motor industry has grown. Today, there are big and Chinese international motor companies, barely three decades since the industry took shape in china. Africa has recently witnessed companies such as Geely, Chery automobiles, Fonton motor group and Great Wall setting business feet in many countries. The Foton motor Group opened their assembly plant in Nairobi in 2011, which is today offering job opportunities to locals directly and indirectly, as well as lowering the cost of new cars in the region by avoiding a 25 per cent duty on fully built imported units. This has enabled many locals to afford new cars.
These business endeavours have meant heavy investments in Africa. The resulting win-win situation has seen the continent receive heavy investments from these firms in return for ample environment and infrastructure for business-and of course the luring profits. In South Africa for instance, China’s First Automobile (FAW) has invested an approximate $25 million to build a plant in Port Elizabeth. These investments leave the economy stronger and better, and it leads to improved standards of life in the continent.
More disposable income for many.
The gradually improving standards of living and the improving economies of Africa have led to higher disposable incomes. This, coupled with the cheaper locally-produced Chinese cars has resulted to booming sales for these automobiles. This is not forgetting the fact that China firms produce all ranges of vehicles, cutting across the social status- from rich to middle class to the lowly in the society.
At last, anybody in Africa can now manage to buy a new car. These firms have provided that opportunity by producing cheap vehicles whose quality still remains standard.


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Internet of Things to grow 30-times by 2020: Gartner
The Internet of Things (IoT) will grow to 26 billion units by 2020, representing an almost 30-fold increase from 0.9 billion in 2009, as per IT research and advisory firm Gartner.
The Internet of Things is the network of physical objects that contain embedded technology to communicate and sense or interact with their internal states or the external environment.
The IoT product and service supplier, which excludes PCs, tablets and smartphones will generate incremental revenue exceeding $300 billion, mostly in services, in 2020. It will result in $1.9 trillion in global economic value-add through sales into diverse end markets.
"The growth in IoT will far exceed that of other connected devices. By 2020, the number of smartphones tablets and PCs in use will reach about 7.3 billion units," said Peter Middleton,research director at Gartner.
"In contrast, the IoT will have expanded at a much faster rate, resulting in a population of about 26 billion units at that time," he added.
Gartner expects the "ghost" devices with unused connectivity to be common owing to the low cost of adding IoT capability to consumer products.
In addition, enterprises will make extensive use of IoT technology. There will be a wide range of products sold into various markets, such as advanced medical devices, factory automation sensors and applications in industrial robotics, sensor motes for increa
"By 2020, component costs will have come down to the point that connectivity will become a standard feature. This opens up the possibility of connecting; very simple to the very complex, to offer remote control, monitoring and sensing," said Mr. Middleton.
"Today, many categories of connected things in 2020 don't yet exist. As product designers dream up ways to exploit the inherent connectivity that will be offered in intelligent products, we expect the variety of devices offered to explode."
Emerging areas will witness rapid growth of connected things. IoT will also facilitate new business models such as usage-based insuranceother than supporting a large range of health and fitness services, connected sensor and generic technologies.


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Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. confirmed it would release a “Red Dead Redemption” videogame next fall after investors drove up the company’s shares 5% Monday on earlier hints that the announcement was imminent.
Without a new installment of Take-Two’s
“It’s a positive indicator that there’s this much excitement about a game coming out next year,” said Macquarie Securities analyst Ben Schachter. That Take-Two announced the game now, as rivals are preparing many big-budget releases for the holidays, signals that the company is confident it will be a hit, he said.
“Red Dead” is a western action-adventure series that made its debut in 2004. In total, the franchise’s three installments to date have sold more than 20 million units worldwide, according to Take-Two.
Also popular on WSJ.com:


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Gasoline is below $2 in Lubbock
The price of regular unleaded gasoline is below $2 in West Texas, just not Midland.
Lubbock, where stations typically post the lowest prices in West Texas, is showing prices as low as $1.96, according to TexasGasPrices.com
The lowest price in Midland is 25 cents more, according to the website.
There is some good news for those who buy their gas in Midland. The cheapest gas in Midland is still 8 cents less than the cheapest in Odessa.
Also, the price of gas in Midland-Odessa is dropping fast. The price on Thursday is 13 cents cheaper than last week, nearly 36 cents cheaper than one month ago and just less than 65 cents cheaper than a year ago. What is the significance of gas that is 65 cents cheaper? For someone filling up a car with a 16-gallon tank, that is a savings of more than $10.
That’s one thing everyone in Midland can celebrate this Christmas holiday.
GAS PRICES IN MIDLAND
Cheapest gas: $2.21 (Sam’s Club, SH 191/Tradewinds)
Cheapest gas (non membership station): $2.26 (locations in central and northwest Midland)
Most expensive gas: $2.49 (Texaco, Front Street/South H)
Most common price: $2.39
Cheapest prices in West Texas: Lubbock $1.96, San Angelo $2.06, Abilene $2.15, Midland $2.21, Odessa $2.29)


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Remember Knight Capital Group’s algorithm-driven stock trading glitch from yesterday?
Turned out that 45 minute mistake, the company said in a statement, "has resulted in a realized pre-tax loss of approximately $440 million."
In other words, about $10 million per minute, which makes it a ridiculously expensive mistake.
In Q2 2012, the company took in $289 million in revenue—meaning this single’s day loss could possibly drive the company out of business. Investors agreed, dumping the stock as fast as possible. Trading of KCG stock closed on the day at $2.58 per share, a single-day loss of over 60 percent.
Knight Capital Group said that the loss has "severely impacted" the company’s capital base. That’s finance-speak for "We're in big trouble."
The company added that it is "actively pursuing its strategic and financing alternatives to strengthen its capital base." Translation: We need money, quick!


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SAN FRANCISCO (CBSMW) -- In the sponsorship poker game, two major sports industry players -- Nike and Goodyear -- have decided to pass while an Internet newcomer has pushed its chips into the minor league golf pot.
"Our decision is based, in part, on ... the ongoing split between CART and IRL."
Stu Grant, Goodyear
The Buy.com Tour will tee off with a total of $12 million in prize money spread across 30 events. Average purse per tournament will be $350,000 -- a jump of more than 50 percent from the 1999 tour, but still small potatoes compared to the PGA Tour?s million-dollar paydays.
Although it?s not profitable yet, Buy.com should be able to afford the entry fee. The e-commerce company recently filed for a $150 million IPO (Merrill Lynch MER is the lead underwriter on the deal) and it has the rights to thousands of Web sites. Buy.com uses some of those sites to sell computer hardware and software, books, music, videos, and sporting goods.
PGA Tour officials did not name a price for the five-year sponsorship package, saying only that it added "significant value" to Buy.com?s position in the e-commerce world.
Joyce Julius Cotman, whose firm Joyce Julius & Associates measures the impact of sponsorship programs, said Buy.com could use the exposure, even though this tour is not a particularly overwhelming opportunity to push the brand.
"Obviously they are looking for name recognition," she said. "The tour is not as well known as the PGA, or the Senior PGA or even the LPGA. And it doesn?t get a lot of TV exposure. It?s probably something they could get into without spending a tremendous amount of money."
Nike, on the other hand, was ready to make a change.
Bob Wood, president of the Nike Golf Co., indicated the company?s program for 2000 is to "further our goal of becoming a authentic golf brand that is respected by the people who love the game of golf."
Julius said the move made sense for Nike, which is pushing a new line of golf balls and bags to go with its well-established shoes and a line of golf shirts, shorts and sweaters.
"Nike is so big and has so much sponsorship money that goes out ? from college football through the NFL, through all of the PGA Tour and the Senior Tour," she said. "I can understand why a lesser series that doesn?t get as much TV or as much play from many other parts of the media was a less appealing use of some of those dollars."
Goodyear pulls out of IRL, CART
Goodyear GT, +5.39% may be the world?s leading tire maker and a pioneer when it comes to blimp branding, but it is pulling its equipment off the Indy Racing League and Championship Auto Racing Teams MPH circuits next year. That leaves the track clear for Firestone, the Bridgestone BRDCY, +1.88% subsidiary that has been adding victories and team support in both racing venues.
Goodyear officials pointed to the higher costs of racing support and to the ongoing feud between the IRL and CART as two reasons for the break, which doesn?t affect its participation in NASCAR and other racing circuits.
"Our decision is based, in part, on open-wheel racing's present state of affairs in North America and the ongoing split between CART and IRL," said Stu Grant, Goodyear?s manager for race tires. "Like many suppliers, we are certainly disappointed that no reconciliation between the two groups is in sight and therefore believe it is in the best interests of our shareholders, customers and the racing division to take a sabbatical from the CART and IRL series."
That hiatus may not be permanent, according to Julius, whose firm does a lot of work for the motor sports industry.
"It?s been a losing situation for Goodyear, but this may be only a temporary pullback so they can work on getting their racing tires better," she said.


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Mercedes-Benz joins BMW with a 'downloadable content' model.
Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class News
Based on new spy shots, it appears the new Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class is just about ready to be revealed. And the update can't come soon enough, considering the current version dates back to about the 2012 model year when it was still called the M-Class. Two versions of the midsize luxury crossover were caught, one of them like


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With the U.S. economy climbing out a recession, and $4-per-gallon gasoline a not-too-distant memory, you might expect that only small cars and bargain brands like Kia and Hyundai are prospering.
There’s some truth to that. In a list of 10 top percentage sales gainers for 2009, there are two Kias and two Hyundais.
But there are other success stories: New models with sharp styling are finding buyers and some shoppers still can afford more than $40,000 for a car.
What’s not selling in 2009? In a word, trucks. According to AutoData Corp., no full-size pickups, no full-size SUVs, and only one minivan model saw an increase in 2009 sales, year-to-date through October.
Here are the top 10 sales gainers for 2009, by segment, based on AutoData reports for the first 10 months.
Sales: 47,233 Percent change: NA, new model Starting price: $23,530 Why it’s a winner: Styling, retro appeal
The hotly anticipated Chevrolet Camaro revives a 1970s muscle car nameplate. The new-generation 2010 Chevy Camaro went on sale in April 2009, and is outselling the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Challenger. The new Camaro has retro appeal, but also modern touches like narrow, “firing-slit” windows; an optional V-8 that shuts off half the cylinders while cruising on the highway to save gas; plus optional electric-blue “high-intensity discharge” headlights.
Sales: 32,058 Percent change: +235 percent Starting price: $29,325 Why it’s a winner: Styling, decent mileage for its size
The boxy Ford Flex is a crossover based on the same platform as the Ford Taurus and the Volvo S80. That gives it a car-like ride and decent gas mileage, plus seating and cargo capacity like a big SUV. The Ford Flex was first introduced midway through 2008. That makes comparisons a little misleading, since it’s comparing a full year in 2009 versus a partial year in 2008. Even so, the Flex has legs. Ford Flex sales were up 8.2 percent in October 2009 versus the year-ago month.
Sales: 60,106 Percent change: +28.9 percent Starting price: $10,690 Why it’s a winner: Low price, high discounts
Despite a lot of hoopla about tiny, gas-sipping small cars, most small-car sales actually cooled off in the last several months, since gas prices subsided. Sales of the rival Toyota Yaris, for instance, were off more than 40 percent in 2009 through 10 months. The Hyundai Accent is an exception that proves the rule. Besides a low sticker price and up to 36 mpg on the highway, the Accent got a boost this year from promotions like a promise to take the car back if you lose your job; a $1.49-per-gallon gas offer; plus rebates and discount financing.
Sales: 17,784 Percent change: +347 percent Starting price: $33,800 Why it’s a winner: Size and features for the money
The Hyundai Genesis is the South Korean brand’s first luxury car, and the first Hyundai with an optional V-8. It was a gamble whether customers would accept a luxury car from Hyundai. The brand is still living down a poor quality reputation from the 1980s. However, Hyundai’s new cars get high marks for quality from J.D. Power and Associates. The Genesis was first introduced in June 2008. It’s bigger than entry-level cars from European luxury makes, but priced lower, especially since the traditional luxury brands charge extra for features that come standard on the Hyundai, like leather seats.
The Kia Sedona is the only minivan on the U.S. market with 2009 sales better than 2008, according to AutoData Corp. The biggest-selling minivans are the Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Dodge Caravan, and Chrysler Town & Country, but their sales all are down by at least 30 percent this year. The U.S. recession has probably helped Kia, with buyers looking for a bargain. On top of a low sticker price, Kia has been offering rebates on the Sedona.
Like the Kia Sedona among minivans, the Kia Sportage is the only model in its segment — small, traditional truck-based SUVs — with higher sales in 2009. The much bigger-selling Jeep Wrangler dominates the small-SUV segment, with year-to-date sales down 1.5 percent through October. The segment is losing customers to car-based crossovers like the Toyota RAV4. The Kia Sportage gets better gas mileage than many SUVs, up to 25 mpg with a four-cylinder engine. Rebates and other special promotions have also helped Sportage sales.
The Lincoln MKS is the brand’s flagship model. The Lincoln MKS debuted in August 2008, which inflates comparisons between 2009 sales and 2008. Still, the new Lincoln is holding its own in the mid-luxury segment, which is dominated by the BMW 5-Series. This year, the 2010 Lincoln MKS gets an optional engine that parent Ford calls “EcoBoost.” The turbocharged, six-cylinder EcoBoost engine generates as much power as a V-8, with no gas mileage penalty versus the standard V-6.
Sales: 5,395 Percent change: +13.3 percent Starting price: $24,950 Why it’s a winner: Miles per gallon, hip image
Highway gas mileage up to an EPA-estimated 37 mpg is a big part of the attraction for the Mini Cooper Convertible. But Mini’s distinctive styling and eco-friendly image also attract a lot of customers who could easily afford bigger, thirstier luxury cars, according to Jim McDowell, vice president in charge of Mini in the United States. Mini Cooper Convertible sales were slow before this year, because the convertible model was the last version of the Mini Cooper to get a ground-up redesign that the hardtop models got starting in 2007.
Sales: 21,371 Percent change: +72.5 percent Starting price: $29,000 Why it’s a winner: Bang for the buck, last-chance Pontiac
General Motors is dropping the Pontiac brand as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, but while they last, customers are buying up the remaining stocks of the Pontiac G8. The G8 is a modern successor to the legendary Pontiac GTO. It’s relatively tame with the standard V-6, but it can be ordered with an optional V-8 with up to 415 hp, the most powerful Pontiac ever. Surviving GM dealers will be able to service the G8.
The Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen gets a turbocharged, 2.0-liter diesel engine for the 2010 model year that gets a thrifty, EPA-estimated 30 mpg city/42 mpg highway. VW says that’s a conservative estimate, with an independent test showing 38 mpg city/44 mpg highway. The base model has a 2.5-liter, five-cylinder gasoline engine. VW is also offering free scheduled maintenance on all models for three years/36,000 miles.


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IOWA CITY, IOWA (August 3, 2012) – Today, National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) announces it will reject the recently proposed $7.25 billion class action settlement with Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc., and several major banks. The settlement was offered in response to antitrust litigation alleging unfair practices by credit card and debit card issuers, including charging billions in noncompetitive “swipe” or “interchange” fees to retailers across the country. NCGA is named as one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
“When NCGA signed onto this action, we did so in the interest of consumer fairness and in support of industry transparency,” said Robynn Shrader, chief executive officer of NCGA. “This settlement falls short of providing true reform in the system by continuing to allow credit card issuers and credit card networks to exploit retailers and consumers without risk of repercussion.”
For years, retailers have been forced to pay non-competitive fees, which average about 2 percent of the price of a purchase. Over the last seven years, credit card issuers have charged retailers $350 billion in fees. The proposed settlement includes a $6.05 billion payment for alleged past damages as well as a temporary reduction in swipe fees for 8 months that is valued at 1.2 billion.
The proposed settlement would allow for individual retailers to charge fees directly to consumers who wish to use credit cards or debit cards, a scenario NCGA rejects as a way to pass the burden to retailers of collecting non-competitive fees from consumers. The practice of surcharging is an inadequate solution to the broader problem of swipe fees. The settlement also does not limit credit card issuers and credit card networks from hiking related fees in the future, and if accepted, would protect credit issuers from future lawsuits.
NCGA urges other retailers to reject the proposed settlement and push for a revised settlement that holds credit card
About National Cooperative Grocers Association
National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), founded in 1999, is a business services cooperative for retail food co-ops located throughout the United States. NCGA helps unify food co-ops in order to optimize operational and marketing resources, strengthen purchasing power, and ultimately offer more value to natural food co-op owners and shoppers everywhere. Our 128 member and associate co-ops operate 165 storefronts in 35 states with combined annual sales over $1.4 billion. NCGA is a winner of the dotCoop Global Awards for Cooperative Excellence in recognition of the application of cooperative
Input formatvalues and principles to drive cooperative and business success. In the 2012, cooperatives around the world will celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives. For a map of NCGA member and associate co-ops, visit www.ncga.coop. To learn more about co-ops, visit www.strongertogether.coop or www.go.coop. To learn more about the US observance of the International Year of Cooperatives, visit www.usa2012.coop.
In this article
- Chief Executive Officer
- Company Founded
- Company Legal Issues
- Consumers' cooperative
- Contact Details
- Credit cards
- Debit card
- Food cooperative
- Interchange fee
- IOWA CITY
- MasterCard Inc.
- National Cooperative Grocers Association
- Person Career
- Personal finance
- Robynn Shrader
- Social Issues
- Visa Inc.


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By JONATHAN NG
Massport — which is now looking for a new executive director to run its complex airport and harbor operations — oversees facilities that contributed to creating more than 9,000 jobs and injected $1.8 billion in revenue last year, the agency claimed in a new economic report released Thursday.
Massport officials touted “smart investments and partnerships have led to growth in jobs, business revenues, and tax contributions” during a panel discussion Thursday.
A search committee named by Massport’s board of directors has been conducting a secretive search for a new executive director, without identifying publicly any of the candidates or their backgrounds, or whether it is leaning toward a politically connected hire versus a transportation professional..
In a 46-page report Massport commissioned from Pennsylvania-based consulting firm Martin Associates, researchers claim the Port of Boston contributed $8 billion to the regional economy in 2018 and that more than 9,000 direct jobs were created by cargo, cruise, fish processing and harbor tours.
Massport’s Ray Flynn Cruiseport served 390,000 passengers on 151 cruise ships last year, according to the report. Chris Allen, a vice president at Royal Caribbean, said as the cruise industry sees growth at 6 percent each year, the company will continue to invest in Boston.
According to the report, more than 1,600 companies across New England use the port to ship and receive goods.
Charlie Cunnion, a vice president at Foxboro-based International Forest Products, said Boston’s ports allow the paper company to seamlessly market its product abroad.
“I can take that paper that you put in your recycling bin at the end of your driveway and I can have it in Ecuador in just a couple of weeks,” said Cunnion. “We have great partnerships with the truckers who can make incredible turn times here. I have a plethora of steamship lines who I can book with and a port that will be here for the long term.”
“Assets like Massport do not happen by accident, they are choice, an investment, they are well led,” said John Regan, chief executive of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, one of the state’s largest lobbying groups.


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Petrol price was increased by 5 paise per litre and diesel 13 paise a litre across the country, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.
In Delhi, a litre of petrol now comes for Rs 80.43 per litre as compared to Rs 80.38 earlier. Diesel rates have been increased to Rs 80.53 per litre from Rs Rs 80.40.
Rates vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.
In Mumbai, petrol price went up from Rs 87.14 per litre to Rs 87.19, while diesel was hiked to Rs 78.83 from Rs 78.71.
While the diesel rates have been hiked for the 22nd time since June 7, petrol price has been raised on 21 occasions.
There was no change in prices on Sunday.
The cumulative increase since the oil companies started the cycle on June 7 now totals to Rs 9.17 for petrol and Rs 11.14 in diesel.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- ET Markets
- I-T Wing’s Lens on Offshore Payments by Indian Cos Now
A company, like an individual taxpayer, is also required to disclose its overseas financial interests, subsidiaries, and bank accounts in the annual I-T returns.Need More Direct and Indirect Tax Reforms
There is need for further reforms in the direct and indirect tax regimes, revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj said.Global Apparel Cos Bounce Back in Style
About half a dozen global apparel and lifestyle brands expanded anywhere between 30% and 70% to garner combined annual revenues of nearly $2 billion in FY22, reversing the performance from a year ago when Covid-induced curbs on mobility and business operations caused sales to shrink.
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Lulu Hypermarket set to open in Bahrain
Manama, August 29, 2007
Middle East retail giant Emke Group is to open its Lulu Hypermarket chain's first store in Bahrain on Monday.
Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro will open the multi-million dinar hypermarket at Dana Mall, Sanabis.
Lulu Hypermarket group managing director M A Yusuffali said the store would be a totally new experience for all the discerning shoppers of Bahrain.
'We have not left any stone unturned to make this hypermarket the best shopping destination,' he said, speaking from his headquarters in Abu Dhabi.
'I am sure we will get the same great response from all the residents here as we are getting in our other hypermarkets in other parts of Middle East'.
Yusuffali said the Bahrain outlet was his group's 64th hypermarket in the Middle East.
'The 175,000sqft hypermarket is one of the biggest in this region,' he said.
The group, which has its own manufacturing and sourcing offices in almost all major markets of Asia, Far East and Africa, makes sure that the customers get the best and widest choice of products from around the world at very attractive prices, said Mr Yusuffali.
'Taking this concept further, Lulu has launched its own brand of products in almost all categories, which provides the shoppers with good quality products at a much lower price, compared to the existing big brands,' he added.
Regional director Juzer Rupawala said the hypermarket would be open from 9am till midnight.
It will employ more than 150 Bahrainis, said Yusuffali.
'Out of the 150 Bahrainis who have already joined us, 50 have just returned after a one-month training at our outlets in Qatar and Oman,' he said.
'As the group has further expansion plans for Bahrain, more and more local youth can look forward to new opportunities.'
Rupawala said the group was extremely grateful to the Labour Ministry and the Industry and Commerce Ministry, as well as the municipality authorities, for all the support given to the project, which has created 600 jobs. TradeArabia NewsService
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- Wa’ed, the entrepreneurship arm of Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, has doubled down its financial support to Saudi-based startups, raising the amount from SAR8.9 million to SAR19.1 million ($5.9 million) during a national entrepreneurship roadshow.
Yanbu roadshow saw Wa’ed recommend two loans and three incubation seed grants to five new startups.
Ever since its creation in 2011, Wa’ed has deployed more than $106 million in VC investment, loans and incubation services into more than 100 Saudi-based startups.
Wa’ed’s future roadshows will be held in Jeddah, Riyadh, Madinah and Makkah and will focus on drones, security technology, reverse engineering, green tech, fintech and tourism, among other sectors.
Wa’ed nearly doubled its financial support to Saudi-based startups to SAR19.1 million during a national entrepreneurship roadshow, following its decision to issue SAR8.9 million in new loans and grants at an event in Yanbu.
The socially distanced gathering at the King Fahd Cultural Center in Yanbu saw Wa’ed recommend two loans and three incubation seed grants to five new startups. Wa’ed on September 6 set aside SAR10.2 million for six startups at its first roadshow in Jubail.
The Yanbu roadshow highlighted the petrochemicals sector and drew entrepreneurs from a range of fields. The remaining roadshows will focus on drones, security technology, reverse engineering, green tech, fintech and tourism, among other sectors.
“With this second round of support in Yanbu, Wa’ed is broadening its commitment to the next generation of ambitious Saudi entrepreneurs,” said Fahad Alidi, the Wa’ed Managing Director.
Wa’ed’s financial support to Saudi-based entrepreneurs during the campaign is set to rise further as the entrepreneurship arm of Aramco continues its national tour with roadshows planned in Jeddah, Riyadh, Madinah and Makkah through December 6.
In Yanbu, Wa’ed recommended loans be issued to Rawabet, Saudi’s first supplier of rubber rings, grommets and other parts for the auto and appliance industries, as well as to Tech Air (Surrati), developer of new-generation air filtration and sanitisation system for buildings.
For business incubation, Wa’ed recommended a SAR75,000 seed grant to Buy Sell Online Marketing Company, a startup platform that enables companies to obtain comparative price quotes for chemicals; a SAR50,000 seed grant to Rama Farms/iRAMA, creator of hydroponics and aquaponics farm environments using advanced smart technologies, and a SAR25,000 seed grant to Sorting Medical Waste, a female-led project developing a smart device to sort medical waste for safe disposal.
The awards were presented at an event co-sponsored by The Royal Commission at Yanbu, overseer of one of Saudi Arabia’s largest industrial zones.
Created as a wholly-owned venture of Aramco in 2011, Wa’ed has helped drive the growth of the Kingdom’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by deploying more than 400 million SAR in VC investment, loans and incubation services into more than 100 Saudi-based start-ups.
The next Wa’ed Entrepreneurship Roadshow will be held on October 5 in Jeddah.
Applications are open to entrepreneurs through November. For more information about the Wa’ed Entrepreneurship Roadshow or to apply, see: https://waed.net/roadshow


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Apple ceases production of the iPods 20 years after the first release
The tech giant has made the drastic decision to discontinue one of its best-known and most popular items after 20 long years.
Apple is discontinuing production of the iPod 20 years after its first release.
The US tech giant said the iPod is essentially redundant after being replaced by other gadgets over the decades. The sun relationships.
Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of global marketing, said, “Today, the spirit of the iPod lives on.
“We have integrated an incredible music experience into all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to the HomePod mini, and on Mac, iPad and Apple TV.
“And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio – there’s no better way to enjoy, discover and experience music.”
The first iPod went on sale in November 2001.
The iPod has undergone many changes since that first version.
The first iPod was monochromatic, could store up to 1000 songs, and sold for $ 399 dollars ($ A575).
After the classic came the iPod touch, shuffle, mini and nano.
Apple is still selling the iPod touch on its website despite the announcement.
Prices for the iPod Touch start at $ US 199 ($ A286).
Apple said in a statement, “Customers can purchase iPod touch through apple.com, Apple Retail Stores, and Apple Authorized Resellers while supplies last.”
The tech giant used the statement to list other Apple products that can be used to listen to music.
It said: “Among the amazing ways to listen to music on a wide range of devices, including a wide variety of models from the new iPhone SE to the latest iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone is the best device for streaming Apple Music or for archive an entire music library on the go ”.
Apple Watch and HomePod mini have also been listed as alternatives.
This article originally appeared in The sun and has been reproduced with permission
Originally published as Apple announces plans to discontinue the iconic product 20 years after its first release


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“Adventure Time” has scored successful deals with companies such as H&M, Asda and Tesco and Cartoon Network is looking forward to forging new partnerships for the contemporary comedy brand at BLE.
Cartoon Network is also showcasing the multi-platform franchise "Mixels" and its long-standing, classic boys' brand “Ben 10” (now grossing $2 billion in retail sales in EMEA with more than 100 million toys sold worldwide).
The network's original “girl power” franchise, "The Powerpuff Girls," was celebrated at a cocktail party Tuesday where a few lucky winners took home one-of-a-kind, Powerpuff Girls inspired handbags by London designer Joanne Stoker. An all-new series produced by Cartoon Network Studios and a full international licensing program is slated for 2016.
“BLE is the perfect time to demonstrate the power and personality of the Cartoon Network brands,”
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