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NY Cannabis Insider’s Week on Legal Weed June 11, 2022
Weekend greetings, everyone!
Last week, NY Cannabis Insider ran a slew of stories about the progress — and in some cases, the shortcomings — of the state’s legal marijuana market. Let’s take a look at some of the stories we’ve been tracking:
On Thursday, we organized a story by Brad Racino This begs an important question: if NY wants to create the most equitable cannabis industry in the United States, why are the state’s own positions vacant?
As Brad points out in the article, the state’s Office of Cannabis Management has yet to hire a director of equity, and a 13-member advisory board to help the CMO and Council of cannabis control remains vacant. This despite the requirement of MRTA, the positions are filled and the fact that OCM is still ahead of the roll-out of regulations and the start of legal sales by the fall.
A CMO spokesperson told Brad that the agency was “working hard” to find a candidate for director of equity and was “nearly at the end of that process.” It is unclear when the members of the advisory board will be appointed. A spokesperson for Governor Hochul’s office previously said he expected the council to begin meeting in May, but had no substantive update as of last week.
In a survey piece we ran this weekBrad has delved into allegations of medical marijuana patients and argues that OCM is letting New York’s medical program crumble as it focuses its attention on creating a recreational market.
Stakeholders who spoke to NY Cannabis Insider said patients were experiencing long delays in enrolling in the medical program and many were unable to get the care they needed. Meanwhile, OCM has been plagued by technology issues and ignored patient concerns (according to patients) while trying to catch up after a delayed start in establishing the leisure market.
Antoine Scottifounding partner of the Colorado-based genetics brand Cherrywrote a column for us arguing that NY will fare better than other states that have legalized weed. Scotti thinks the state has already established a decent foundation to avoid issues that have plagued other legal states like market saturation, product overflow or shortage, and declining revenue.
We also organized a column invited by Scott Mazzaco-founder and COO of Buffalo’s CBD Vitality, in which Mazza advocates improving quality control for the New York CBD market. Mazza writes that some CBD suppliers ignore rules regarding quality and extraction. Hemp regulatory oversights have resulted in oils containing heavy metals and salves with fake organic credentials reaching store shelves.
Finally, the NY Cannabis Insider Summer Intern Andres Rendon made a Q&A with Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra on the shortcomings of the MRTA regarding the enforcement of the under-21 law. Sinagra has directed its department not to seize cannabis from anyone under the age of 21, saying “there are currently no mechanisms in place to enforce simple possession in small quantities” for this age group. .
More to come next week!


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8 million copies of Watch Dogs shipped so far
The full extent of Watch Dogs' success has been revealed by Ubisoft in their latest financial report to investors.
Ubisoft has managed to ship 8 million copies of their open-world techno-thriller since it launched on May the 27th across all platforms.
More impressive is the fact that 10 to 12 percent of the total copies sold were on the PC despite the initial problems that beset the Uplay servers around launch.
- Mortal Kombat X not coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 in June
- Spiders' The Technomancer to debut at E3
- Dirty Bomb open beta is coming next month
- Ubisoft now emailing players to encourage them to finish their games
- Supremacy, Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare's next DLC coming to Xbox next month with added Bruce Campbell
- 2K launches a teaser for a new title possibly called Advent
- Mad Max gets a new trailer teasing the game's story
- Bethesda purges a load of stolen keys from The Elder Scrolls Online
- Peter Stormare joins the cast of Until Dawn as it gets a release date

domain: news


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Late-Night Deliveries Are Booming
While New York will always be known as “The city that never sleeps”, the worldwide explosion of 24/7 on-demand services has changed both business owners' and customers' mindsets. Businesses that depend on deliveries understand the potential of ‘out-of-business hours’, especially as customers around the world get accustomed to ordering what they want wherever, whenever. Even small businesses that were traditionally focused on ‘brick-and-mortar’ such as restaurants, are seeing in some occasions a bigger portion of their revenues coming from deliveries; those who serve late-night customers are reaping the benefits from a new wave of demand coming from people who want more than the traditional trading hours.
The Most Punctual Countries in the (On-Demand) World
Bringg’s technology empowers companies in over 50 countries to process millions of deliveries. This gives us an unparalleled understanding of the logistic industry with a unique perspective at the challenges companies face in the last mile. We gathered some fascinating data that may surprise you.
The Drone Delivery Wars, Now Big in Japan
Drones... the word itself sounds a bit ominous, probably because of their initially intended usage. But as with many technological advancements of our time, the battlefield was only the first use-case. Only a few years ago, the idea of having goods dropped at your home by a drone seemed unrealistic... even ludicrous. But now many people in the industry not only don't laugh at the concept, they are quite adamant about its eventual large-scale application.
What’s Next for the On-Demand Economy
Change, as they say, is the only thing you can count on. Since the turn of the century the pace of change in nearly every aspect of life, particularly with regards to technology, has increased dramatically. Since the tech world licked its wounds after the dot-com bust, the innovative ways in which new technology has been applied to help make everyday tasks easier has been remarkable.


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The Bitfury Group, a San Francisco-based blockchain technology solutions company, has launched a new generation of bitcoin mining hardware based on its newest bitcoin mining ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chip 'Bitfury Clarke'. An ASIC chip is custom designed for a specific application. It is customized for an application and hence can be designed to meet the power and performance of that specific application.
The new 14nm Bitfury Clarke ASIC chip, according to the company, is fully customized for SHA256 bitcoin mining. It further describes the chip stating that it can execute a hash rate up to 120 Giga hashes per second (GH/s) and a power efficiency rate as low as 55 millijoules per Giga hash (mJ/GH) and the supply voltage required by Bitfury Clarke can be as low as 0.3 volts. In short, the ASIC chip is claimed to be energy-efficient and designed to keep mining operation low-cost and environmentally responsible.
The company says that the Bitfury Clarke ASIC offers the strongest performance characteristics among bitcoin mining chips and is unparalleled in performance and efficiency. Bitfury is also planning to integrate Bitfury Clarke into its other industry-leading bitcoin mining hardware, including its mining servers and BlockBoxes, as well as in its own bitcoin mining centers in Canada, Norway, Iceland and the Republic of Georgia. Valery Vavilov, CEO of Bitfury, said:
“Bitfury is looking at all factors, including silicon packaging, chip efficiency, optimal power distribution, cooling designs and speed of development when designing our mining hardware. We think that this will lead to solutions that deliver the best ROI [return on investment] to our customers — regardless of ASIC size.”
Founded in 2011, Bitfury is the security and infrastructure provider for the Bitcoin Blockchain. It also designs and produces hardware that keeps cryptocurrencies and blockchains secure, including custom semiconductor chips and mobile data centers. Bitfury is also a software provider for the some of the applications through its private blockchain framework, Exonum, its advanced analytics platform Crystal Blockchain, and its specialized engineering team for the open-source Lightning Network, LightningPeach.
Last month, China-based second largest producer of bitcoin mining rigs, reportedly launched the world's first bitcoin mining television set, called 'AvalonMiner Inside'. The set has a hash rate (computing rate) of 2.8 trillion hashes per second whereas the most powerful mining hardware my Canaan has a hash rate of 11 trillion hashes per second. It also released a 7-nanometer (7 nm) chips in the 30T Avalonminer A9, a Bitcoin mining device which doubles up as a household heater.
Also Read: Nvidia Exits the Crypto-Mining Industry
Earlier this month, the price of Bitcoin surged to an all-time high of $24,000 on an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange EXIR, after its President Hassan Rouhani approved the plans to make cryptocurrency mining a mainstream industry in the country.


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News Article – September 10, 2023
India and Turkey have officially signed a trade agreement that aims to strengthen economic ties between the two nations. This agreement marks a significant milestone in the bilateral relations and opens up new opportunities for trade and investment.
The agreement covers various sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, technology, and services. It aims to promote the exchange of goods and services, encourage foreign direct investment, and enhance cooperation in areas such as research and development, innovation, and intellectual property.
Under this trade agreement, both countries have agreed to eliminate or reduce trade barriers, such as tariffs and quotas, to facilitate the flow of goods and promote fair competition. This move is expected to boost trade volumes and create new business opportunities for companies in both India and Turkey.
In addition to the trade agreement, several other important agreements have been signed between the two countries recently. For instance, the Dod Mobility End User License Agreement aims to enhance cooperation in the field of defense and promote the exchange of technology and know-how.
Another significant development is the termination of franchise agreements by a leading fast-food chain in India. According to reports, the company has decided to part ways with multiple franchisees due to contract violations. This decision has sparked debates within the franchise industry, raising questions about the importance of franchise agreements and their role in ensuring mutually beneficial partnerships.
On a different note, PlayStation users are required to accept and comply with the PlayStation User Agreement WS-37368-7 to access online gaming services. This agreement defines the rights and responsibilities of users, ensuring a secure and fair gaming environment for all players.
Moving to real estate, many tenants wonder what utilities are included in their lease agreements. Understanding the utilities included in lease agreements is crucial for tenants to manage their expenses and ensure a comfortable living environment.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme Rolling Contract has recently been introduced to provide more flexibility to landlords and tenants. This new scheme allows landlords to roll over the tenancy deposit from one tenancy to another, simplifying the process and reducing administrative burdens.
Furthermore, Fannie Mae, a U.S. government-sponsored enterprise, has issued guidelines regarding IRS Installment Agreements. These guidelines aim to provide clarity and guidance to lenders when assessing the risk associated with borrowers who have entered into an IRS installment agreement.
On a different note, businesses often enter into dealer agreements with suppliers to secure a stable supply of goods or services. These agreements outline the terms and conditions of the business relationship, ensuring both parties’ interests are protected.
Finally, the agreement demon has become a popular term in contract law discussions. It refers to a clause or provision in an agreement that is deemed unenforceable due to unfairness, ambiguity, or other legal reasons.
In conclusion, the trade agreement between India and Turkey signifies a positive step towards enhancing bilateral trade and investment. Alongside other agreements in various sectors, these developments have far-reaching implications for businesses, consumers, and global economic cooperation.


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CVS Health Corp's (CVS.N) plan to buy healthcare services company Signify Health for about $8 billion will face a tough U.S. antitrust review even though the two companies do not compete directly in any markets, three experts said Tuesday.
High and rising healthcare prices, which have put even older drugs like insulin out of the reach of poorer people, have bedeviled U.S. presidential administrations determined to slow the rising costs. The Federal Trade Commission has long emphasized health deals in its antitrust reviews, and has continued that under new Chair Lina Khan.
CVS said Monday it agreed to buy Signify for $30.50 a share in cash, as well as about $400 million in equity appreciation rights, in a deal that would allow CVS to provide further care management to patients in their homes. CVS runs pharmacies, pharmacy benefits and the Aetna insurance plans.
"I would think in ordinary times, this one could go through," said Seth Bloom of Bloom Strategic Counsel and a former general counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee, who predicted that the deal would be reviewed by the FTC.
"It will be a tough one to get through a Lina Khan-run FTC," he said.
Bloom was one of three antitrust experts who said the planned merger could face antitrust headwinds. If the FTC does not review the deal, it would be probed by the Justice Department.
David Balto, an antitrust lawyer who has battled big healthcare deals in the past, agreed. "The agencies know they have to turn their attention to vertical acquisitions that can be used strategically to raise barriers to entry," he said. Vertical deals are ones in which companies merge with a supplier, which might also work with the buyer's competitors.
Balto argued that the CVS plan to buy Signify raised concerns similar to those concerning UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N) $8 billion deal to buy Change Healthcare (CHNG.O), which the government sued to block. The case is set to be decided by a judge in coming weeks.
CVS stressed in its comments that the Signify deal was not one between rivals, something that usually eases antitrust concerns. "We're not competitors and have no overlapping functions," said spokesman T.J. Crawford.
The American Economic Liberties Project urged antitrust regulators to block the deal, calling it "dangerous."
"Allowing CVS to expand its market dominance will only harm patients seeking personalized and quality care, take power away from physicians, and create even more data privacy concerns in healthcare," said Sara Sirota, a policy analyst for the group in a statement.
Andre Barlow, an antitrust lawyer with Doyle, Barlow and Mazard PLLC, said the FTC would likely have concerns because the deal would strengthen CVS, already a healthcare powerhouse.
"The FTC will certainly take a serious look to make sure there is no harm to rivals and patients," he said in an email interview, which noted heightened concerns about vertical deals.
Additional Articles on this subject:
The Wall Street Journal: CVS Agrees to Buy Home-Healthcare Company Signify for $8 Billion
Modern Healthcare: After Signify Health, CVS still looking for more deals
American Economic Liberties Project: Regulators Must Block CVS-Signify Deal to Protect Patients and Physicians


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Adobe Systems Inc. said it plans to push out emergency updates to patch a critical security flaw in its Reader and Acrobat products.
In an advisory issued Thursday, Adobe said the update addresses critical security issues in the products, including an integer overflow vulnerability
Adobe said it planned to make the updates available the week of Aug. 16. They will be offered for Windows, Macintosh and Unix.
The updates represent an "out-of-band release," the company said. The next regularly scheduled Adobe patch update for Reader and Acrobat is set for Oct. 12.


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Denise Bidot, who has been taking the plus size modeling industry by storm. She has been working it for the likes of Monif C, Igigi, and Nordstroms, among many others. She recently sat down with Yahoo Shine to shed some like on the shift in the modeling industry and to let curvy girls know everywhere that size 6 models are often times, now modeling plus size clothing. "Twenty years ago, the average model was eight percent smaller than the average American woman -but today, models are 23 percent tinier than the rest of us. Want proof? According to Denise Bidot, a popular plus-size model and recent cover girl, size-six women often model what are supposed to be size-14 samples for plus-size catalogs" Shine Interview
Bidot wanted to bring this to the forefront to let people know this is not ok, and to remind curvy women that "when it comes to their bodies, it's all about being the size that's healthy for YOU, not what the fashion and advertising worlds expect you to be." Well said, Denise! I am appalled by the fashion industry trying to give us some cockeyed presentation of what plus size fashion is. How are we supposed to know how a dress is going to look on a curvy body, if the body in the dress has to be clipped into it? I think it is unacceptable and infuriating! It's right up there with stores only being willing to offer sizes 14-20 online, but refuse to offer them in the store, even though those are the sizes that sell out the fastest!
-Cosmo says your fat, but I ain't down with that! Sir Mix-A Lot has been speaking the truth for 2 full decades! It's such a shame the fashion industry is so short sighted.


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BOC overshoots August collection target by 34%
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) again overshot its collection target in August amid tax administration improvements and gains from expensive oil.
In a statement Sunday, the BOC said it collected P78.9 billion in import duties and other taxes last month. The actual take was 34.1 percent higher than the P58.8 billion goal, the BOC said, citing a preliminary report from its financial service.
It was the eighth straight month this year that the country’s second-biggest tax-collection agency exceeded its monthly targets.
The BOC said last month’s tax take included P77.9 billion remitted by the country’s 17 collection districts at the ports of entry. Another P248.2 million came from post-clearance audits of imported goods. The BOC also generated P677.4 million via the tax expenditure fund (TEF) covering government importation.
In August, “all 17 ports surpassed their targets and cumulatively achieved a P15.8-billion or 25-percent surplus through intensified collection efforts under the present leadership,” the BOC said.
According to the BOC, Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz had ordered district collectors to “plug revenue leakages,” which included outright smuggling as well as technical smuggling such as misclassification, misdeclaration, and undervaluation of import shipments.
From January to August, the BOC’s collections totaled P559.2 billion, up 35.6 percent from the P412 billion it collected during the first eight months of last year.
“The collection performance of the BOC and its 17 collection districts, under the leadership of Commissioner Ruiz, is attributed to the intensified collection efforts, streamlined, digitized, and modernized systems and the improving economy resulting in higher volume of imports,” it said.
Last July, the BOC’s tax revenues hit a monthly record-high of P84 billion as import values surged, especially of oil products. The Philippines is a net oil importer.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) expects goods imports this year to grow by 18 percent as both the volume and value of imported products surge on the back of economic reopening which boosted domestic consumer spending as well as skyrocketing global commodity prices due to the prolonged Ukraine-Russia war and pandemic-induced supply-chain disruptions, respectively.
As of end-June, imports jumped 26.7 percent year-on-year to $68.3 billion, the latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data had shown.
As such, President Marcos’ economic team had tasked the BOC to collect P722 billion for the entire year, bigger than the original P679-billion goal for 2022, to reap a tax windfall from costly fuel imports.
Last month, Ruiz expressed optimism that the BOC would exceed this year’s larger “internal” collection target amounting to P740 billion.
Ruiz had said the BOC could shore up collections as it ramped up its anti-smuggling drive.
Last year, the BOC surpassed its P616.7-billion goal as it collected P643.6 billion. In 2020, the P537.7-billion import duties and taxes it generated were also higher than its P506.2-billion target.


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Grain: World Markets and Trade Dec. 12, 2012
India is seizing the opportunity to export record quantities of competitively priced wheat. As global exportable supplies tighten, particularly from Russia and Ukraine, India’s wheat is effectively replacing Black Sea wheat in several Middle East and East African countries. It is also replacing Australian wheat (milling and feed-quality) in Asian markets, and even displacing Turkish wheat flour in Indonesia.
Ironically, India had a wheat export ban prior to September 2011, but now it is saddled with burdensome stocks and inadequate storage facilities. The government is now permitting limited exports from its huge reserve stocks.
Further export increases from India are expected to be constrained by transportation bottlenecks and limited port capacity.
Wheat: World Markets and Trade
Global wheat production for 2012/13 is raised due to larger crops in Australia, Canada, and China. Global trade is boosted primarily on higher demand from Brazil, China, Iran, and Russia. U.S. exports are cut on account of greater competition from Australia, the EU, and South America. The midpoint of the season-average U.S. farm price is lowered $0.10 to $8.00/bushel.
Domestic: Wheat prices for all classes were slightly lower in November. Although 2013 crop conditions continue to deteriorate, Hard Red Winter (HRW) prices were down $6/ton to $372. Hard Red Spring (HRS) was down $10/ton to $374, Soft Red Winter (SRW) dipped $2/ton to $343, and Soft White Winter (SWW) was down $3/ton to $336.
Trade Changes in 2012/13
• Australia is up 500,000 tons to 19.5 million because of larger crop expectations.
• EU is raised 500,000 tons to 18.0 million due to growing competitiveness and increased sales to North Africa and the Middle East.
• India is boosted 500,000 tons to a record 7.5 million, as a result of the strong pace of shipments to date, and additional wheat made available from government stocks.
• Paraguay is up 500,000 tons to 1.6 million as a result of the strong shipment pace.
• United States is cut 1.0 million tons to 29.5 million owing to slow sales and shipments to date and increased foreign competition.
• Brazil is up 500,000 tons to 7.5 million resulting from a smaller, poor-quality crop.
• China is boosted 500,000 tons to 3.0 million attributable to recent purchases and strong deliveries to date.
• Iran is raised 500,000 tons to 2.5 million as a result of the strong pace of deliveries.
• Russia is up 500,000 tons to 1.5 million on expected imports from Kazakhstan.
• Turkey is cut 500,000 tons to 3.5 million as the strong early-season purchases are expected to taper off as Russian exports dwindle.
Rice: World Markets and Trade
Global rice production in 2012/13 is forecast at a record and essentially on par with the previous year. Consumption continues to climb to new record levels. Stocks are forecast down but still at the second highest level in a decade. Trade is forecast at comparable levels to 2010/11. U.S. production and trade are up from the previous year.
In 2012, changes in policies and prices, as opposed to production shortfalls, have helped global rice trade to rise to a new record of 38.5 million tons.
In the case of Nigeria, traders reacted to the announced imposition of future higher import levies by stockpiling. The levies are designed to protect and stimulate domestic production in response
to the government’s declared goal of self-sufficiency.
China quadrupled imports to become the second-largest importer, a massive leap from the eighteenth position in 2011. Despite record production in China, rising demand has helped make
Vietnamese imports more competitively priced in southern China.
Selected Trade Changes
• Vietnamese exports are up 300,000 tons to a record 7.5 million in 2012 on the pace of shipments. Vietnamese imports are halved to 200,000 tons in 2013 as relative prices reduce the demand for Cambodian rice.
• Iranian imports are down 150,000 tons to 1.8 million in both 2012 and 2013.
• Iraqi imports are up 100,000 tons to 1.4 million in 2012 on account of higher shipments, especially from Thailand.
Coarse Grains: World Markets and Trade
Global corn production is up, mainly due to a larger crop in China. Global corn trade is boosted nearly 1.5 million tons this month, and 4.0 million tons over the past 2 months, largely on higher import demand from the EU. Despite slow sales and shipments, U.S. corn exports remain unchanged. The season-average farm price is again projected lower from last month (although it remains a record) on strong early-season marketings at relatively lower prices.
Corn export quotes for all major suppliers rose since the release of USDA’s November WASDE
report. U.S. quotes are up over $8/ton to $330, despite sluggish sales, due in part to a strong basis
as a result of low water levels in the Mississippi River which have been restricting barge traffic. In recent days, however, prices have eased on continued weak sales. Since reaching lows in late September, South American quotes have been rising steadily and have gained over 15 percent to about $300/ton, but remain $30/ton cheaper than U.S.
Trade Changes in 2012/13
• Canadian corn is raised 500,000 tons to 1.5 million because of a substantial boost to exportable supplies (larger crop).
• Paraguayan corn is up 200,000 tons to 1.6 million on account of robust early-season shipments.
• Russian corn is raised 500,000 tons to a record 2.3 million based on greater exportable supplies and strong demand, especially from the EU.
• South African corn is up 200,000 tons to 2.5 million with greater exportable supplies (2011/12 crop, harvested May 2012).
• Russian barley is boosted by 200,000 tons to 2.2 million on strong early-season shipments.
• Argentine sorghum is raised 200,000 tons to 2.6 million on stronger demand from Colombia. (Colombian imports are raised 200,000 tons to 600,000).
• EU corn is boosted sharply by 1.5 million tons again this month to 8.0 million based on the pace of import licenses in response to tighter supplies of other feed grains


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Drug maker Cipla has said that "essential" medicines be made available to people at affordable rates and should not be sold under "monopoly".
The long-term policy of the government will be to assure that the country is self-reliant in fertilizers and pharmaceuticals and not depend on imports, he said.
The Minister said of the 440 formulations under NLEM, prices of 113 drugs have been reduced by as much as 40 per cent.
"Our main mission will be to ensure the availability of all necessary medicines at affordable prices, especially for poors across the country," Kumar said.
Health ministry formed a committee that will meet for the first time on Tuesday to consider raising the number of drugs deemed essential and subject to price caps.
The government will soon start work on distributing free medicines through public hospitals across the country,Harsh Vardhan said.
The TN Chemists and Druggists Association said existing players are already reeling under tremendous pressure from the Drug Prices Control Order of 2013.
The move is aimed at making medicines more affordable in a country where 70 per cent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.


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Cornhusker Economics June 8, 2022
The Coming Global Food Crisis
Inflation driven by rising prices for food, energy, and other consumer goods has become a major concern in the United States and other high-income countries. A far more serious issue is the effect of rising food prices on low-income households in many developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Global food prices had been rising in 2020 and 2021 as a result of supply shortages caused by adverse weather conditions exacerbated by climate change, war and civil strife in various countries, and economic shocks in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent disruption of global supply chains (Food Security Information Network 2022). In 2022, these trends were amplified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the blocking of significant agricultural exports from the Black Sea region (World Food Program 2022). Global food prices are likely to continue rising threatening millions of people around the world with serious food insecurity and malnutrition.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) publishes a world food price index based on prices for meat, dairy, cereal grains, oilseeds, and sugar. Both real (inflation-adjusted) and nominal price indexes are shown in Figure 1. Real food prices increased rapidly in the early 1970s as a result of supply shortages and rising oil prices brought about by the actions of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Real food and other commodity prices fell during the 1980s and remained
fairly stable until the commodity price boom of 2007 – 2010. Prior to the current price spike, real food prices had never exceeded the level reached in 1974 (37.4% above the base level in 2014-16). Based on average prices for the first four months of 2022, real prices were 45.5% above the base level, 58.5% above the base in the month of April 2022. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also calculates commodity price indexes including an index for food that reached 60.2% above the 2016 base in April 2022 (IMF 2022). Supply disruptions leading to rising prices for particular commodities such as wheat or sunflower seed oil can have spill-over effects on other commodities. In many Asian countries, consumers will increase their consumption of rice as wheat prices rise and this increased demand will result in higher rice prices.
As noted above, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has intensified the food price increases by blocking significant sources of supply of such commodities as wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower seed oil. Data from USDA (2022) suggest that in 2021, Russia and Ukraine accounted for 16.5% and 9.5% respectively of world wheat exports. Ukraine is also a major exporter of corn with about 23.9% of the world market in 2021 (USDA 2022). Data from the FAO show that Ukraine accounted for 42.2% of world sunflower seed oil exports in 2019 (FAOSTAT 2022). Food shipments from Ukraine’s main ports have been blocked by a Russian blockade and grain stocks within Ukraine have been destroyed or seized by Russian troops. The winter wheat harvest and planting for the new season in Ukraine have been slowed by the conflict and the widespread distribution of land mines and unexploded artillery shells (New York Times 2022). In addition to pressures on food supplies stemming from the war, Russia and Ukraine are major producers and exporters of fertilizers, with Russia producing about 10% of world nitrogen fertilizer (Hammond and Gadanakis 2022). Rising input costs including those for both fertilizer and energy will also contribute to upward pressures on food prices.
Although India has not traditionally been a major wheat exporter, strong harvests in recent years have contributed to greater exports and an expectation that India would be able to supply some 10 million metric tons of wheat to the global market this year. With rising prices and a heat wave that reduced yields, however, the government of India banned wheat exports on May 13, 2022 (CNBC 2022). Export bans have historically been a common response to global food price instability as governments seek to prevent rising world prices from being transmitted to the domestic market. In 1973, the U.S. government banned the export of soybeans and cottonseed and the oil and meal derived from these commodities in an effort to restrain domestic food price inflation (Dale 1973). During the 2007-10 food price spike, such major commodity exporters as Argentina and Brazil implemented export restrictions aimed at slowing internal food price increases (Pinstrup-Andersen 2015). In addition to India, the governments of Argentina, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and several other countries have also restricted the exportation of various food items this year (CNBC 2022). In all, some 26 countries accounting for 15% of the calories traded globally have implemented policies restricting exports (The Economist 2022). The effect of these export controls, of course, is to cause further price increases as global supplies are reduced.
The impact of food supply shortages and rising prices is likely to be devastating for consumers in many low-income countries. According to The Economist, 34.8% of the wheat imported by Sub-Saharan African countries comes from Russia and Ukraine. The proportion of wheat imports from the two warring countries is even higher in Pakistan (87.8%), Egypt (85.6%), Turkey (76.5%), Lebanon (75.5%), and Bangladesh (54.8%) (The Economist 2022). Food prices are particularly sensitive in low-income countries because food expenditures account for very large shares of consumers’ disposable income. Analysts at USDA’s Economic Research Service (2022) estimate that food expenditures account for more than 50% of total consumer spending in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kenya, and Nigeria. The FAO has identified twenty countries that are at risk of widespread starvation including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Yemen, South Sudan, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Haiti (FAO 2022a). In 2021, about 276 million people were either experiencing or on the verge of experiencing acute food insecurity and the situation can only become worse in 2022 as a result of the war in Ukraine (Food Security Information Network 2022). Hunger and malnutrition add to the migration pressures induced by climate change making it likely that there will be an increase in displaced people and international migration from the most seriously affected countries.
There is little that can be done to offset the causes of the current food crisis in the short term. The World Food Program (WFP) is working to provide emergency food assistance but funding from the international community has been insufficient given the scope of the problem. In particular, rising food prices reduce the quantities the WFP is able to procure given its resources (World Food Program 2022a). Beyond food assistance, changes in the policies restricting exports could help to alleviate supply shortages and price increases. Finding longer-term solutions to food insecurity will require efforts to reduce conflicts such as the wars in Ukraine, Yemen, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, address climate change, and re-construct global supply chains in the aftermath of the Covid 19 pandemic. Great progress in reducing global poverty has been made over the past 30 years—the extreme poverty rate in low and middle-income countries fell from 44% in 1990 to less than 10% today—but the current food crisis risks reversing much of that progress if the international community is unable to muster the will to attack its underlying causes.
CNBC (2022). “India Bans Wheat Exports to Try and Tame Prices as a Scorching Heatwave Curtailed Output,” retrieved from: India bans wheat exports to try and tame prices as a scorching heatwave curtailed output (cnbc.com)
Dale, Edwin L. (1973). “Soybeans and Cottonseed Under Export Embargo,” New York Times, June 28, 1973, retrieved from: Soybeans and Cottonseed Under Export Embargo - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Economic Research Service (2022). “Food Prices and Spending,” USDA retrieved from: 2015-2020-food-spending_update-july-2021.xlsx (live.com)
FAO (2022). “World Food Situation,” Food and Agriculture Organization, retrieved from: FAO Food Price Index | World Food Situation | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAO (2022a). “Hunger Hotspots. FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity: February to May 2022 Outlook,” Food and Agriculture Organization, retrieved from: Hunger Hotspots. FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity: February to May 2022 Outlook |Policy Support and Governance| Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAOSTAT (2022). “Data,” Food and Agricultural Organization, Statistics, retrieved from: FAOSTAT
Food Security Information Network (2022). Global Report on Food Crises 2022, Global Network Against Food Crises, retrieved from https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000138913/download/?_ga=2.107501570.1813096786.1653317413-1713203838.1652643473
Hammond, John and Yiorgos Gadanakis (2022). “Ukraine: How the Global Fertilizer Shortage is Going to Affect Food Security,” World Economic Forum, retrieved from: Global food security under threat. Here's why | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
IMF (2022). “Primary Commodity Prices,” International Monetary Fund retrieved from: IMF Primary Commodity Prices
E. Wesley F. Peterson
Department of Agricultural Economics
University of Nebraska-Lincoln


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- Twist in Sheena case: Indrani seeks to pin blame on Peter Mukerjea
- Ryan school murder: Court to hear accused bus conductor's bail plea today
- BCCI set to revoke ban on RCA soon
- Only 93 lakh 'green tax' spent by Delhi govt out of crores, RTI reveals
- Reliance Group shares plunge
WPP expands Data Alliance with India launch
MUMBAI: British multinational advertising firm WPP has launched Data Alliance in India. Data Alliance supports the company’s data business by enhancing access to data and data-driven marketing applications.
Data Alliance leverages a global network of expert leaders in market research, analytics, CRM, media and digital to deliver a solution-neutral and holistic perspective on the group’s data strategy and solutions. It drives internal and external data partnerships and connects WPP’s centres of excellence to address client challenges in the world of big data.
This, the company said, is aligned to its strategic vision of helping clients better leverage data in growth markets. The Mumbai-based operation will draw upon expertise from WPP’s global network to India to harness unique data sets. The focus is to accelerate development and enhancement of data-driven solutions while activating e-commerce, mobile and social data strategies in India.
India is the first market to launch Data Alliance in the Asia-Pacific region.
WPP’s Data Alliance in India is supported by GroupM (Mindshare, Maxus, MEC, Mediacom, Motivator, Xaxis and Madhouse), Kantar (IMRB, Millward Brown, TNS and Worldpanel), Wunderman and Ogilvy. Collectively, these companies will partner on projects to enhance the use of data across WPP solutions increasing speed, cross-fertilization and decreasing costs in this strategic market.
This launch is part of a campaign in WPP for ‘data horizontality’—the ability to better leverage WPP’s people, data and technology across the globe and replicates models in US, UK and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Data Alliance director of global partnerships Anas Ghazi said, “Data Alliance has successfully implemented ‘data horizontality’ by helping WPP companies access and leverage data creatively and optimally across multiple verticals and geographies. Growing in India is an exciting opportunity for WPP to scale enterprise data assets and partnerships for e-commerce, mobile and social data-driven marketing.”
GroupM South Asia chief strategy officer Tushar Vyas said, “We are thrilled to help bring Data Alliance to India. Data is forming the foundation layer of smarter decision-making, and with the strong emergence of digital channels, data is becoming an increasingly critical part of the conversation with our clients. Data Alliance is a powerful way to help us shape the market and provide competitive advantage to all our clients across a very broad range of data requirements.”
Ghazi and Vyas will drive the India operation, while a local team is being set up.


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By all accounts, Twitter’s doing what it’s supposed to: coaxing more people into using its high-speed social snark service… just maybe not as fast as some would like. According to Twitter’s third quarter financials — in which the company met or exceeded most milestones Wall Street types were hoping for — 13 million people started using the service over the past three months, bringing the total to a whopping 284 million monthly active users. Not too shabby, right? That’s up pretty substantial over last year, too. The potentially hairy issue is that Twitter brought 16 million people onboard last time it dropped numbers, and 14 million the time before that. Couple that with the fact that Twitter expects to rake in slightly less money next quarter than analysts expected, and you’ve got more than a few people concerned that Twitter’s growth is winding down.
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo remarked to CNBC after the results dropped that those user numbers are “priority number one” but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that big gains in user growth can’t keep up forever. He also added that the company is focusing on trying to improve the “new user experience,” and broadening the kind of content you see in your Twitter feed.
That’s perhaps why the company’s been so keen on adding new bits to the experience — Twitter’s product team keeps pushing to expand what was once a fast-paced chatting tool into a jack of all trades. Now you can listen to SoundCloud tracks without leaving your tweet feed. The company figured out a way to more elegantly shoehorn videos into its mobile app. Speaking of mobile, a full 80 percent of Twitter’s active users like using the service on the go, which makes its push to make it easier for developers to embrace the service make even more sense. Hell, pretty soon you’ll be able to buy stuff from, and transfer money with, a tweet. Oh, and there’s the looming spectre of a redesigned feed that could feature organized tweets instead of the full firehose we’re used to (naturally, some people are especially wary of that last bit). Every one of those seemingly disparate additions is yet another way for Twitter to try and make itself invaluable to your daily life… and, you know, turn a heftier profit too.
Source: Twitter Investor Relations
It would seem that Twitter has pulled the plug on their support for Google Glass. At least in the fashion that it was implemented. When Twitter launched support back in May of 2013 it came through to your Glass through a mirror API that mirrored your Twitter data to your eye-balls. It wasn’t an actual APK. To set it up you needed to visit the MyGlass store and turn it on. It now appears that Twitter has since pulled the plug on the service that brings your Twitter information.
According to Glass support Twitter is no longer developing their Glass app. This was one of my favorite and most used apps on Glass. If you remove Twitter from your Glass it disappears from Glassware and there is no option to reinstall it. -Reddit user and Glass Explorer pete716
As you can see from Pete’s information, if you remove Twitter from your Google Glass, you won’t be able to get it back. Cruising through the MyGlass app hub you can see that it has also been removed. That isn’t the end for Twitter though, reading through the comments from the Reddit post we get some more details from a Glass Community Member who points out that just last week the Glass Team released Notification Sync that uses Wear API’s and brings your Twitter notifications to Glass.
I am not privy to the Glass world, but I suspect there are a number of other ways to get Twitter to your Glass. If not, there are sure to be a slew of 3rd party apps on the horizon.
Twitpic may not have avoided an untimely demise, but you won’t have to worry about some of your older Twitter photos disappearing into the void. The defunct hosting company has reached a last-minute deal that will have Twitter take over both the Twitpic web domain and its photo archive, keeping all those legacy images intact. It’s not a revival; Twitpic is no longer taking new pictures, and all that you can do now is delete or download your collection. There’s also a chance that those snapshots will go offline, since Twitpic can only promise that your library is safe “for the time being.” Still, the pact will give you at least a temporary place to go when you’re feeling nostalgic about that first selfie.
At Twitter’s Flight mobile developer conference, Jawbone just announced a new app called Drop, which lets you and your friends create and manage playlists with tweets. Hosain Rahman, Jawbone’s CEO, says that this would be very useful in party situations, where each guest wants to add a different song to the party playlist. Once you’re in the app, you can “drop” a song in a playlist by sending a tweet to a specific username. Further, you don’t need the app to add songs — your friends can just mention you on Twitter and the word “drop” followed by the name of the song or artist. According to Jawbone, the list is comprised of songs on Spotify or Rdio, so you’ll need a premium or paid subscription to either of the two music services to use Drop. It should be available for iOS today, with no word on an Android version just yet.
Filed under: Misc
At its mobile developer conference in San Francisco, Twitter just announced Digits, a brand new way to login to apps with just your phone number. Instead of going through the tedious process of signing up with an email and password or using one of many different social logins, all you need is to enter in your number. When you do, you’ll get a confirmation code via SMS. Enter that in as well, and away you go. Digits is not based on your Twitter account at all; it’s actually an entirely new product that developers can incorporate into their apps. It’s a key part of Fabric, Twitter’s new mobile development kit that it’s rolling out today. Digits is available for iOS, Android and the web, and it’s available in 216 countries in 28 languages from day one.
Aside from Digits, Fabric includes several other tools that Twitter hopes developers will incorporate into their existing apps, such as Crashlytics, the crash reporting tool that the company bought last year. Especially of note is that developers can now not only embed tweets in their apps, but also the ability to compose and post tweets inside of them without having to launch the dedicated Twitter app.
Microsoft only just unleashed its October update for the Xbox One, and now it’s talking about what to expect next month. The update will hit consoles for those in the preview test group soon, and adds many features Major Nelson and crew say the community has been asking for, including custom backgrounds (with the PS4 getting themes soon, it’s Blu-ray 3D all over again), and extra details for profiles. The custom backgrounds will launch with a selection of pictures and the ability to post based on achievements, and after a media player update later in the month, gamers will be able to import any image they want. A returning feature from the Xbox 360 will put details like your location and custom bio back on the profile page, plus a self-curated selection of game clips and achievements. Oh, and those game clips? You’ll be able to share them with the masses easily, because the update adds the ability to share any of your favorites directly to Twitter. Check after the break for a video demo and more details on what’s coming.
The Twitter integration won’t stop there either, as the OneGuide adds trending lists for what users are watching on live TV, what people are tweeting about, or what Xbox One owners specifically are watching the most. There is even space to see what people are tweeting about a show in the MiniGuide itself. The integrated Internet Explorer browser can switch from full screen to Snap with a button on the address bar now, and a number icon to let users know when “Featured Sites” have updates. The second screen SmartGlass app has more support to see what’s going on in the Store and what your friends are playing, while the Preview dashboard app for testers has some new gamified features.
Here’s what to expect in Xbox One’s November system update (Spoiler: Customizable Backgrounds) http://t.co/ryXfkGrJWp
– Larry Hryb (@majornelson) October 21, 2014
More fan-requested features coming to Xbox One in November: http://t.co/roFbnnJf8m
– Jeff Rubenstein (@jeffrubenstein) October 21, 2014
Source: Xbox Wire
So, why hasn’t Apple updated its MacBook Air line with a Retina display? Here’s our two-word answer: battery life. That’s not all we have on deck though — check out the rest of our news highlights from the last 24 hours, including a breakthrough in fusion power, further decline of the record industry, a Comic Sans typewriter and more.
Twitter has been updating and adding features like crazy, and usually before they roll out new features they experiment by rolling them out to select users and observing the outcome. One such experiment involved inserting “suggested” tweets into the timeline to make Twitter more relevant to users. While this may distress long-time users of the service, the social media site claims that most people seemed to enjoy the extra tweets during initial experiments and is now rolling the feature out to all subscribers. Could this help the service grow at the rate they hope or could this ruin the experience? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Come comment on this article: Twitter adding suggested Tweets to the timeline based on user interest
Remember when tweets started appearing in your Twitter feed from people you weren’t even following? Well, it’s no longer an experiment. In a post outlining Twitter’s “spirit of experimentation”, the social network says it’s happening across all accounts now, in the interest of surfacing tweets it “think(s) you’d enjoy.” While many of Twitter’s power-users might sigh collectively, Twitter is likely hoping it’ll offer up faster follows, a richer experience and (possibly) boost activity, especially for those users that aren’t already following hundreds of accounts. Alas, it’s not an optional thing, and is now an integral part of everyone’s Twitter timeline — alongside those occasional promoted tweets and retweets.
Filed under: Internet
Twitter has announced the addition of a new option to their mobile client to make it easier for users to access audio content. With a single click on a link provided in a tweet, users will be able to launch the Twitter Audio Card. The Audio Card will pop up a display with information about the linked music like album art and other info and it will start to play the content. The Audio Card can be left maximized or it can be minimized so users can continue to browse their Twitter timeline while listening to the audio content.
Access to audio content will be determined by partnerships Twitter is able to establish with streaming audio services. The first, and thus far only, service to get on board with Twitter is Soundcloud.
Twitter indicates they are still testing the Audio Card, so not all partners and content creators can take advantage of the feature yet. However, Twitter seems to think they will bring more artists and creators into the fold in the near future.
Come comment on this article: Twitter adds new audio feature to mobile client


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Santander has quietly paid almost £25,000 relating to a PPI complaint it had previously thrown out, potentially paving the way for millions of customers to reopen complaints previously dismissed.
The case is thought be the first instance of a bank accepting fresh grounds for a PPI (payment protection insurance) complaint following a landmark legal case a year ago.
Santander has denied any link between its change of heart in this case and the ruling – but it has declined to explain why it first refused the claim and then offered to settle.
Consumers, meanwhile, are being urged to check old accounts and cards, especially as the “window” for all PPI claims is likely to close in 30 months’ time.
The case in question
The claim against Santander was first made in January this year by a Hampshire claims firm on behalf of a Surrey woman in connection with a Debenhams store card taken out in 1989. PPI was sold alongside it.
GE Capital Bank, which ran the Debenhams card at the time and was Britain’s biggest store card provider, was fined £600,000 by the regulator in 2008 for mis-selling PPI – at that time by far the largest fine imposed by the City regulator over the scandal.
However, in March, Santander, which bought the GE business in 2009, responded that it was “unable to agree that the PPI policy was mis-sold”.
The complaint was resubmitted in July, this time claiming that the commission involved in the sale of the policy had been undisclosed and excessive.
At the end of September the customer was astonished to receive a letter from Santander offering £24,207.
To find out whether YOU could be eligible to complain, read the rest here


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Twin Fairs Close with Record Exhibitor Count Hong Kong, Apr 17 - The Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition) and the International ICT Expo... ...http://in.sys-con.com/node/3062127
Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its latest M2M Connections and Services by Vertical report, which provides market... ...http://in.sys-con.com/node/3062036
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, a China-based internet company has seen accelerated growth in the fourth quarter ahead of a potential US IPO. In the... ...http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2014/04/16/alibabas-profits-more-than-doubled-ahead-of-potential-us-ipo/
Softbank Corp. (TSE:9984) Intraday Stock Chart Today : Wednesday 16 April 2014 Federal regulators plan to set aside a portion of choice... ...http://in.advfn.com/news_FCC-to-Set-Aside-Spectrum-for-Smaller-Wireless-Carriers_61860604.html
/PRNewswire/ -- Reportbuyer.com has added a new market research report: A comprehensive collection of essential metrics and data points for all... ...http://in.sys-con.com/node/3059271
Softbank Sprint: New Owner Could Make...


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Here at Health Tech Insider, we frequently beat the drum of “earlier treatment, better outcomes, and lower healthcare costs” for wearable Health Tech devices. Even so, we’re right in line with C-level corporate executives who say, “Really? Prove it!” That’s why we’re spend a lot of time covering scientific studies that demonstrate the benefits of wearables and other digital health products and systems. If the wearables industry is going to make the transition from an expensive luxury to a commonplace essential, we need hard, reliable numbers. And I’m glad to say that the mountains of evidence continue to pile up.
Here’s the latest exhibit: “Wearable Technology: Unlocking ROI of Workplace Wellness” from Springbuk. This report covers a retrospective analysis of three years of data from an unnamed “self-insured employer” with more than 20,000 employees. The company made Fitbit devices available at a discount to employees who wanted to participate, and nearly 1,000 took advantage of the offer. These subjects were matched up with about 1,800 fellow workers who matched based on a variety of factors including age, gender, and health history.
The results of the analysis were striking. The employees who opted into the wearables program cost their employers more than $1,100 less per year than the control group: a 25% reduction. The bulk of the gain came from those employees who were less active, based on their daily step count; their health claims costs were cut in half.
These savings add up to more than $1 million for this case study, which is significant when you consider that less than 5% of the company workforce participated in the program. If all large companies could save $1,000 per year on healthcare costs for their employees, we could see a massive impact on healthcare costs very quickly.


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2015 Season opens in TFF-Ülker football villages
10 Football Villages across 10 cities to coach 400 children in advanced football this year between July 29 and August 24: Izmir, Erzurum, Nevşehir, Sinop, Isparta, Sakarya, Istanbul, Erzurum, Nevşehir, and Elazığ.
10 football villages across 10 cities (İzmir, Erzurum, Nevşehir, Sinop, Isparta, Sakarya, Istanbul, Erzurum, Nevşehir and Elazığ) to coach 400 children in advanced football this year between July 29 and August 24. Consisting of two phases, coaches will first train eight hundred children (40 per camp). Of those, half will get to move onto advance training (phase two) during the last three days of camp.
The training will be tailored to cater the needs of 12-year olds. In addition to advanced football techniques, they’ll also learn about goalkeeping, game rules, and fair play, as well as how to play futsal.
Teachers from the Sabri Ülker Food Research Foundation’s “Balance in Food” program will lecture the kids on nutrition. The children also get a chance to learn chess and creative drama with instructors from the Turkish Chess Federation and Ekol Drama (part of the Turkish Ministry of National Education)
The kids are also excited about the Football Village Brothers & Sisters Project (launched last year by the Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG)). TOG volunteers – themselves young – spend 10 days in the villages with the kids to help them adapt.
Every kid plays 22.5 hours of football, as well as does 5 hours of creative drama, 10.5 hours of reading, 4.5 hours of chess, 1.5 hours of first aid, 1.5 hours of environmental awareness, and 1.5 hours of nutrition. There’s also time to go on tours and have fun. The kids spend about 14 hours going on field trips, watching movies, and participating in so-called “happy hour” events.
Ülker Supports “Atalık Kavılca” Wheat with Limited Edition Product
Ülker, a leading food company in Türkiye known for its commitment to sustainable raw material sourcing, has introduced a limited edition product called "Saklıköy Kavılca Buğday," made with Atalık Kavılca Wheat, one of Anatolia's oldest agricultural products with a history dating back 13,000 years....CLICK FOR MORE
Ülker invest in supplementary food products
A new brand from Ülker: Everwell Ülker, which stepped into the food supplement industry for the first time with "Pastil", further strengthens its claim in this category with the "Everwell" brand. Food supplement products developed by Ülker in cooperation with TÜBİTAK and released under the Everwell brand will be sold with a widespread distribution strategy....CLICK FOR MORE
Ülker's 2022 Sustainability Report has been published
Ülker, operating with a waste-free company model since established, has published its 2022 Sustainability Report. Ülker meets approximately 43% of its electricity consumption from renewable sources, and has initiated a carbon management program that encompasses the entire value chain, from sustainable raw material sourcing to packaging management, logistics, and waste recycling. The company continues its efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions in all areas with the goal of becoming a "net zero company by 2050. ...CLICK FOR MORE
Ülker announced its first half-year financials
Ülker Bisküvi closed the first half of 2023 with a sales revenue of 19.6 billion TL. The share of Turkiye operations in the sales revenue was 66%; while, the share of export and international operations in the sales was 34% ...CLICK FOR MORE


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Maple industry contributes $300 million to Vermont's economy every year
UVM study shows that maple is golden for state's economy
It's no surprise that Vermont is the biggest contributor of maple syrup in the country, but a new study published by UVM shows its economic impact on the state.
The Center for Rural Studies found that the industry contributed up to $330 million in total sales to the state's economy in 2013. It also found an increase in profits, wages and full-time jobs.
Matt Gordon, executive director of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association, said that although many think of Vermont as maple country, they may not know its effect on the economy.
"I don't know if people are thinking about it while they pour syrup on their waffles or pancakes, but it's a big economic driver," Gordon said.
Gordon thinks the trend is due to a change in consumer demand.
"Consumers are looking for a healthy, more natural product, and maple syrup fits in that. It's still sugar, but it's really one of the most healthful sweeteners you can get," Gordon said. "I think that people are really looking at what they are putting in their bodies and what they provide to their families."
Bruce Chapell, the owner of Templeton Maple Farm, has been sugaring for 30 years. He has seen the industry's growth firsthand and agreed that there is more of a push nationwide for local and healthier foods.
"There's a real interest in locally produced foods and also people really like to know the farmer that produced their food," Chapell said
Chapell is also optimistic about the future of maple, pointing out an increase in young people taking an interest in sugaring, as well as a push for marketing the products nationally.
"That effort is going to continue to grow in the future, and I think it's a great thing for the state of Vermont, and it bodes well for the future of agriculture in this state," Chapell said.
It was the first economic contribution study of Vermont's maple industry.


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Post-sanctions Iran is all set to boost its local manufacturing to not only meet its domestic requirements, but also to enforce stricter quality control regulation and even venture abroad to build a couple of advanced hospitals in neighboring war-torn Afghanistan and Iraq.
A sign of this upward trend in Iran's medical device sector is the signing of a cooperation agreement by Russia's regulatory agency, Roszdravnadzor, and Iran's Food and Drug Administration, on the regulation of drugs and medical devices.
The agreement, signed by Russia's health minister, Veronika Skvortsova, and Iran's minister of health and medical education, Hassan Hashemi, is part of the framework of the Russian-Iranian working group on health and aims to enhance regulatory cooperation concerning the quality control, efficacy and safety of medical products, laboratory and expert control, and post-marketing surveillance of the safety of medical devices.
The concern over quality has its roots in the sanctions era when Iran sometimes struggled with – and had to make do with – imported devices of either low quality or second-hand Asian products, partly due to lack of liquidity in the country. Also, a weak supervision system left the country at the mercy of smuggled products, especially since 2010.
"In the post-sanctions era, the Iranian government has two priorities," said Mirmohammad. "One is to support local manufacturers and the other is to supervise the quality of imported products."
The government plans to encourage well-known European and Asian brands to assemble their products in Iran as an immediate step to boost in-house manufacturing and eventually start domestic production over the next three to four years. This will allow the country to access high-tech products with lower cost of production. For this purpose, the government will provide several incentives such as a five-year tax exemption, free custom duties on the required machinery and equipment, and an extendable three-year resident permit to foreign workers and their immediate families.
The medical device market in the resurgent post-sanctions Iran is poised for a bright future over the next five years, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 10 percent and up over the next 10 years, according to Frost & Sullivan, a market research consultancy.
"Iran, which imports most of its medical devices to the tune of $1 billion, plans to move to hi-tech manufacturing in medical devices, with the government announcing in September 2015 new plans for in-house manufacturing of some of the imported devices," said Ali Mirmohammad, senior consultant and business development manager, MENASA (Middle east, North Africa and South Asia), at Frost & Sullivan. Mirmohammad is optimistic that mid-2018 onwards will see a boom for the Iranian economy.
The Iranian government also plans to support knowledge-oriented companies via subsidized long-term loans, and some free facilities and infrastructures to produce high-tech medical devices.
To improve the quality of imported devices, Iran now stipulates that every brand must be officially registered through a local trader and it should provide a guarantee and after-sales services to customers. Foreign brands that plan to sell to Iran need a track record of sales in Europe or the U.S., and need to provide relevant European and/or FDA certificates. The traders must be authorized sales representatives of the origin.
Hurdles remain. These include absence of custodian banks and international credit insurance companies; some continuing 1995 sanctions over human rights issues; weak reconnection with a swift system; limitations in international banking transactions; lack of clarity over sanction reliefs on Iran; and restrictions on transactions based on the U.S. dollar in trade with Iran.
Iran, the 17th largest economy in the world, offers a potentially large market for the medical device and health care industry. The total medical market for drugs and devices is about $6.5 billion, of which 40 percent is accounted for by imports.
But the medical device market is also struggling with smuggled products that have yet to be calculated, but are pegged informally at $1.8 billion. The market has doubled since 2005 due to increases in health ailments and disorders, attributed in part to stresses over economy, environment and demographic changes. Currently Iran imports a majority – 70 percent – of high-tech medical devices and domestically produces most – 90 percent – of general and disposable products, according to Mirmohammad.
The country has more than 500 local manufacturers and over 2,000 traders in the medical device industry. In 2015, Iran manufactured an estimated 800 kinds of equipment and devices worth $450 million, and also exported over $24 million worth of general products. An estimated 100 Iranian companies manufacture and export medical equipment and instruments, including autoclaves, orthopedic equipment, dental seats, general surgical instruments, intensive care unit beds and cardiac monitors.
The economic and technological sanctions imposed by the West in fact spurred Iran to boost its local manufacturing in some areas.
"During the sanctions, Iran had good progress in the design and pilot production of some high-tech devices such as radiography equipment, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy devices, laser devices for prostate surgery, skin laser devices and dental lasers," said Mirmohammad. "However, the country is still weak in high-tech production."
This in-house technological capability in the medical device sector, developed during the sanctions era, is set to receive a boost in the post-sanctions era too, with the injection of fresh financing into the economy. Iran plans to construct over 100,000 new hospital beds, along with hundreds of specialized clinics and imaging centers, and to renovate over 35,000 existing hospitals beds, laboratories and medical clinics.
This augmentation spree is mainly due to a rise in cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and neurological diseases in the Iranian population, and the current facilities are not well distributed to meet the demand.
There is also a growing market for medical devices for disabled and elderly people, such as wheelchairs, scooters, seats, hearing aids, safety equipment, walkers and equipment for blind people.
Besides catering to its local demand, Iran has also promised to construct a couple of large and advanced hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan, once the wars are over in both Iraq and Syria.


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Apple shut down Google’s ability to distribute its internal iOS apps earlier today. A person familiar with the situation told The Verge that early versions of Google Maps, Hangouts, Gmail, and other pre-release beta apps stopped working alongside employee-only apps like a Gbus app for transportation and Google’s internal cafe app. The block came after Google was found to be in violation of Apple’s app distribution policy, and followed a similar shutdown that was issued to Facebook earlier this week.
TechCrunch and Bloomberg’s Mark Bergen reported late Thursday that the apps’ functionality had been restored; Apple appears to have worked more closely with Google to fix this situation. “We are working together with Google to help them reinstate their enterprise certificates very quickly,” an Apple spokesperson earlier told BuzzFeed.
Apple blocked Facebook and then Google
Apple’s move to block Google’s developer certificate comes just a day after Google disabled its Screenwise Meter app following press coverage. Google’s private app was designed to monitor how people use their iPhones, similar to Facebook’s research app. Google’s app also relied on Apple’s enterprise program, which enables the distribution of internal apps within a company.
In an earlier statement over Facebook’s certificate removal, Apple did warn that “any developer using their enterprise certificates to distribute apps to consumers will have their certificates revoked.” Facebook’s internal iOS apps have since resumed functioning, as the social network said this afternoon that Apple had restored its enterprise certificate.
Apple is clearly sticking to its rules and applying them equally to Facebook, Google, and likely many other companies that get caught breaking Apple’s rules in the future.
There’s growing evidence that a number of companies are using Apple’s enterprise program to distribute apps to consumers. iOS developer Alex Fajkowski has discovered that Amazon, DoorDash, and Sonos all distribute beta versions of their apps to non-employees. Apple may be forced to take action against these apps, or to even revamp its entire enterprise program in the future.
Update 1/31, 5:45PM ET: Article updated with comment from Google, Apple, and details on other companies using Apple’s enterprise program to distribute apps.
Update 1/31: 6:18PM ET: Updated with the news that Apple has resumed letting Facebook use internal iOS apps.
Update 1/31: 10:30PM ET: Updated with the news that Apple has restored functionality to Google’s apps.


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Lagos — RwandAir would from October begin daily flights from Lagos to Kigali, Mr. Joseph Habineza, the Rwandan High Commissioner to Nigeria has said.
Habineza at a forum with stakeholders in Lagos said, "We can easily go to Europe or America but traveling within Africa is pretty difficult. But we want to break this barrier. In October, we will start daily flight from Lagos to Kigali. From Kigali they can connect East and Southern Africa, Dubai and other parts of the world." While adding that the cargo business would soon start, he said the routes expansion becaome necessary owing to increased traffic to Rwanda from Nigeria.
"No Rwandan embassy in the world is delivering visas like I'm doing in Nigeria. So you have a lot of Nigerians travelling to Uganda and using RwandAir. In six months, we issued over 1000 visas to Nigerians," he said.


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The list of blood pressure drugs recalled because they may contain a cancer-causing impurity has been expanded to include nearly five dozen products from 12 different pharmaceutical companies.
On July 13, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first announced a recall of certain valsartan tablets because they were found to contain a chemical known a N-nitrocodimethylamine (NDMA) in levels that exceeded those considered acceptable for public safety. The chemical, which is sometimes found in water supplies and food, is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a probable human carcinogen – something that can increase the risk of cancer in humans.
In the weeks since the recall was initiated, the FDA has expanded the list of affected valsartan products. The agency also announced that the impurity may have been present in some of the drugs for as long as four years.
The impurity was first identified in valsartan products in Europe and the United Kingdom in early July.
Valsartan is in a class of drugs called angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB). The drug is commonly used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. Valsartan is made by numerous manufacturers. Not all valsartan-containing products are included in the recall.
The first round of valsartan products were linked to Chinese supplier Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals. The FDA later identified supplier Hetero Labs as another source of the impurity.
Valsartan-containing products affected by the recall were manufactured by the following pharmaceutical companies – Teva Pharmaceuticals labeled as Major Pharmaceuticals; Prinston Pharmaceuticals Inc., labeled as Solco Healthcare LLC; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA labeled as Actavis; AvKARE; Remedy Repack; A-S Medication Solutions LLC; Bryant Ranch Prepack Inc.; H.J. Harkins Company Inc., doiong business as Pharma Pac; Proficient Rx LP; Northwind Pharmaceuticals; Camber Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and NuCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Many manufacturers produce multiple dosage strengths and not all are affected by the recall. The FDA provided this list of affected valsartan products.
The FDA investigation is ongoing as the FDA continues to test samples of valsartan and finished products to confirm the extent and amount of NDMA. The agency has also contacted other manufacturers of valsartan to determine if their manufacturing processes are at risk for the formation of NDMA, and is working with them to ensure the chemical is not present in future valsartan products.
FDA Recall Update
FDA Recall Listing


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The report examines what the future holds for IoT, how it can help save water, tech adoption, and more. The featured infographic looks at how different industries are implementing IoT across their organisations.
The supplement includes an article by Digital Leaders Founder Robin Knowles: who considers how leaders need to respond to IoT as we head towards half a trillion devices being connected to the Internet. Facing a Tsunami of data he says: ‘It’s now about senior leaders recognising IoT’s impact and discovering the art of the possible”.
Digital Leaders who do not already receive The Times or download an online version can download a copy of today’s report below.


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Starbucks To Try An Exclusively Online Order StoreStarbucks will test out a store in their headquarters that runs exclusively on online orders beginning next week.
Starbucks to Hire 10,000 Refugees Over Next 5 YearsThe decision is a response to Trump's indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees and temporary travel bans that apply to six other Muslim-majority nations.
Starbucks Hikes Prices on Coffee, Espresso, Tea LattesThe price jump comes a day after Starbucks announced it would boost the base pay of all employees and store managers at U.S. company-run stores by 5 percent or more.
In Symbolic Move, Starbucks to Open First Shop in ItalyStarbucks says it plans to enter probably its most intimidating market yet: Italy.
Starbucks Touts Christmas Coffee After Flap Over Red CupsStarbucks is pushing back against suggestions stoked by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump that this year's minimalist design for its holiday cups is a slap at Christmas.
Donald Trump: 'Maybe We Should Boycott Starbucks' Over Holiday CupsRepublican presidential contender Donald Trump is suggesting boycotting Starbucks over the minimalist design of its annual holiday cups.
Critics Say Starbucks 'Removed Christmas' from Holiday CupsStarbucks' red holiday cups are upsetting some Christians who say the plain red design is void of any spirit and is a sign of the war on Christmas.
Starbucks to Let Lyft Drivers, Riders Earn Rewards PointsStarbucks says people will soon be able to earn rewards points by using the ride-hailing service Lyft, a move intended to further expand the universe of its loyalty program.
Starbucks: Prices for Some Drinks to Go Up by 5 to 20 CentsStarbucks is raising prices again starting Tuesday, with the increases ranging from 5 to 20 cents for most affected drinks, the company said.
College, Starbucks Form Partnership to Help VeteransA veterans benefits clinic at the College of William and Mary Law School has formed a partnership with Starbucks to help veterans and service members with their benefits claims.
Starbucks Baristas Stop Writing "Race Together" on CupsAccording to a recently released internal memo, Starbucks baristas will no longer write "Race Together" on customers' cups starting Sunday.
Starbucks Encourages Baristas to Discuss Race With CustomersThe coffee company on every corner known for its green and white logo and pumpkin spice lattes now wants to serve up a side of serious dialogue with your grande vanilla latte.


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More news on companies cutting costs to make up for loss of revenue while the market struggles amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Realtor.com has laid off over 100 Move employees across all departments of its California headquarters.
Move CEO David Doctorow had announced the layoffs in a statement to his employees.
He explained that when he took over the position of CEO, his goal was to simplify the company to drive progression. In the statement, he said:
“As we were working through what this realignment would look like and the impact it would have on all of us, the COVID-19 global pandemic hit with full force in March. It was then that we quickly recognized how urgent it was to cut costs significantly. In response, we announced major reductions to our hiring, travel, and marketing expenses on March 31 and enacted those immediately, hoping these steps would be sufficient to weather the storm.”
The company had a number of leadership changes last month, including Ben Rubenstein, a founder of Opcity, being named Chief Revenue Officer, and Opcity’s other founder, Michael Lam, as the new Chief Operations Officer. Around the same time, two veteran executives left the company.
Among leadership shakeups and layoffs, the company was not immune to issues arising from the financial impact the pandemic has had on the market. Agents were given discounts on their agent advertising platform as an incentive to keep with the company. Realtor.com has yet to disclose how much that had cost the company, but the action is similar to what Zillow has done to cut company costs.


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Health & Fitness Without home button, but with Touch ID: Apple is revolutionizing the iPad Air
Drinking tea can significantly lower blood pressure
© wenn A new study has found that drinking tea can significantly lower blood pressure. Researchers at the University of Reading and Cambridge University have found that foods and drinks such as tea, apples and berries are high in flavonoids, and may reduce the risk of high blood pressure. High blood pressure can increase the chances of being diagnosed with a serious disease, such as coronary heart disease or kidney disease, if left untreated.
Apple presented its new products on Tuesday evening - this year, due to the pandemic, via YouTube video and not, as usual, in a large on-site presentation. The coronavirus also affects the new iPhone 12. Due to production delays, Apple boss Tim Cook will probably only present it in a few weeks. Instead, the focus was on new Apple Watch models and two revised iPad models. In addition, the group wants to anchor itself more firmly in the everyday life of users of its devices with new subscription offers. The iPhone group is bundling several services in cheaper packages for the first time and is also entering the business of online training.
Apple Watch Series 6: price, availability, specs, and everything else you need to know
Apple Watch Series 6 brings better health monitoring, better outdoors features, and lots of new looksThe Apple Watch Series 6 price will start from $399 / £379 / AU$599, for the aluminium version at 40mm. There will also be a 44mm model, as usual, and also the option to get a model with 4G built in, which will start from $499 / £479 / AU$749.
The new Apple Watch Series 6 can determine the oxygen saturation in the blood
Initially, Apple reported on the new Apple Watch with the name Series 6. Among other things, the model can determine the oxygen saturation of its owner within 15 seconds. The value is considered an important indicator of the health of the cardiovascular system. The tech company uses a new sensor that uses red and infrared light to determine the color of the blood. In addition, every Apple Watch will soon no longer have to be paired with an iPhone.
With the new Family Setup feature, parents can, for example, set up their children's Apple Watch with their smartphones. This feature will also be available in Germany when it is introduced.
With the slimmed-down Apple Watch SE, which is equipped with the processor of its predecessor, Apple also offers an inexpensive model.
Apple One, Apple Fitness +, Apple Watch Series 6… What to remember from the Apple
keynote © Apple Inc / Handout via REUTERS Jeff Williams presented the new Apple Watch Series 6 at a conference online, Tuesday September 15, 2020. Apple introduced new Apple Watch and iPad models as well as a new subscription, titled Apple One, but has not made any announcements about its highly anticipated upcoming iPhone, which could be compatible with 5G. © APPLE / HANDOUT / EPA / MAXPPP Apple Watch SE models.
There are also innovations in the services: On the one hand, Apple introduces Fitness +, which is intended to motivate users to exercise and shows appropriate exercises. The service is said to cost $ 9.99 per month. In addition to the USA, the offer will initially only be available in Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.Apple relies on subscription models
On the other hand, as already assumed in advance, there is a combination offer for all available services with Apple One. With the basic subscription, users have access to the TV +, Music and Arcade services, as well as cloud storage space. However, the subscription can also be expanded.
For 14.95 euros, Apple offers 50 gigabytes of online storage for one user in addition to music, video and games from Apple Arcade. For 19.95 euros it is 200 gigabytes for up to six family members.
The third one price level, which in addition to the maximum online storage of 2 terabytes, also includes the Apple News + newspaper and magazine subscription and the new Fitness + service, will not be available in Germany for the time being because it will not be introduced in Germany for the time being. In the US, Apple One Premier costs $ 29.95 per month.
I Tried The New Apple Watch Series 6 & It’s All About Wellness
This month’s Apple event dropped some big wellness-related releases on us, and they all centre around the Apple Watch. While Fitness+ — Apple’s game-changing workout streaming subscription, which we already wrote about — won’t be launching until later this year, Refinery29 was given an early chance to try out both the watchOS 7 software and the Apple Watch Series 6. We’re reviewing some of the most groundbreaking wellness-related features for you, including the Blood Oxygen sensor and app, the sleep tracking, and the hand-washing detection feature. Blood Oxygen Sensor & App First up, the release everyone’s talking about: the Blood Oxygen sensor and app.
innovations are also available around the iPad. The new iPad Air comes without a home button, but with Touch ID. The technology is built into the power button - for the first time in an Apple product. The latest Apple processor is also installed in the iPad Air as the first product. The A14 Bionic chip system is being manufactured for the first time with structure widths of 5 nanometers - which enables higher performance on the same area. Meanwhile, the long-standing chip leader Intel is struggling with the transition to lower structure widths. The new iPad Air now has a much smaller frame around the display, similar to the more expensive iPad Pro.
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old for new: this is how the iPhone exchange works in the Apple store .
If you want to exchange your old iPhone for a new model, you just have to go to an Apple store. In the best case scenario, you can get a credit of up to 700 euros. This is how it works with the iPhone exchange. © Apple At Apple you can simply swap an old iPhone for a new one. Holding the latest iPhone in your hands and even getting money for the old model? This is possible with Apple. With its giveback program, the iGroup enables older devices to be traded in in Apple stores.


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This may come as a surprise, but a lot of people who could be on the Internet choose not to be. The Internet, they say, has nothing to offer them. In fact, of the 6 billion citizens of the world, the online community represents only about 6 percent.
Those were just some of the findings in a study conducted by Ipsos-Reid, an international research firm that surveyed people in 30 countries who don't use the Internet. "In the developed world, a substantial number of people who could very easily go online have decided not to," according to Brian Cruikshank, senior vice president at Ipsos-Reid. He's referring to the 40 percent of those surveyed who choose not to use the Internet. "The hype and the promise of the Internet clearly hasn't impressed them--not yet, at least," he says.
In lesser-developed countries, meeting daily needs--food, clothing, and shelter--eclipses the need for getting online. But even for those who have a computer and Internet access, poor communications infrastructure gets in the way. For example, in urban India and urban South Africa, only 25 percent of the people have Web access. In urban Russia, 83 percent of those surveyed had no Internet access. Public venues, such as schools, libraries, offices, and Internet cafes, will play a key role in expanding online access in these underserved areas.
Lack of need for Internet access was the reason most people (40 percent) sited for going without, followed by no computer (33 percent), and no interest (25 percent). Others didn't know how to use the Internet (16 percent), didn't have the money (12 percent), or didn't have time (10 percent).
The fact that one-third of those surveyed don't have a computer is good news for computer makers, though. PC sales in the U.S. are expected to decline by 17.3 percent in 2001 but rise by 12.9 percent outside of the US, according to market research firm IDC. "Although it's clear consumer demand in the United States is weakening, buying in other regions remains strong," says Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide PC Tracker program. "PCs remain the dominant means of accessing the Internet, and a lot of people out there are still buying PCs to get online."


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Five hurdles brands need to overcome to focus media on the audience not the channel
For media planning to flourish amid tougher financial pressures, marketers and agencies at this year’s Festival of Media (FOM) identified five issues they need to address in order to reach targeted audiences at scale instead of just working the margins with their strategies.
‘Data (or programmatic) can be the Viagra to creativity
What separates good marketing from meaningful marketing is creativity and it’s no longer the domain of creative agencies. That was one of the messages that permeated throughout this year’s FoM where marketer and agency debated how programmatic and personalisation should evolve in future media plans.
“Programmatic is the Viagra to creativity,” espoused Daryl Lee, global chief executive of UM, while his counterpart at Maxus Worldwide Lindsay Pattinson urged marketers not to forget about serendipity, brand engagement instead of just focusing on programmatic and trading. The two contrasting views are both indicative of how programmatic and more broadly data has to sit in the ideation of agencies if advertisers are to be able to make the discipline about precision rather than automation.
Kellogg’s, Mondelez and Unilever were among those heavy spending brands at the gathering to indicate that they are changing, having realised that programmatic can inspire creativity rather than just be a media play.
“It’s about using programmatic as a strategic marketing tool underpinned by your ability to manage data, extract consumer insights and develop native content,” said Mondelez’s media director for Europe Gerry D’Angelo.
To DMP or not to DMP
Unless companies have search, social and mobile engrained into their DNA then the prospect of taking programmatic in-house is pointless. The sheer scale and complexity of building the technology stack needed is a risk and that’s before an advertiser would have to source out the talent needed to make it work. Instead, a shrewder move would be to take the data management platform (DMP) in-house. Mondelez’s D’Angelo said it was one of the options it was considering in order to take its programmatic play forward, while Xaxis chief executive for its EMEA business Caspar Schlickum said it was something it encouraged all its clients to do.
Our DMP is not a client DMP it’s a media behavioural DMP,” he continued. And I think clients need to take more strategic ownership of their data and I think they’re starting o talk about that.”
Adopting a media first mindset
It is an approach that sums up the way brands hope to fully break from the channel mentality that is admittedly holding back their marketing. Unilever revealed at the festival that is now briefing media first when developing marketing strategies, while Kellogg’s vice president of global media and strategy Jon Suarez-Davis said its media division was its new creative department when trying to describe data’s impact on its marketing.
Suarez-Davis’ revelation highlights the advantage media agencies have is the access to data in the move toward better targeted marketing. He went on to add how its focus on co-creation with its media agencies had allowed it to leverage Starcom’s “breadth” of resources, categories and meta data with its “depth” of brands (see above), disciplines and first party data to spread data-led planning across the purchase funnel.
Forget about mobile first. Think what value your brand can add and deliver it as content
If you’re a customer first company then you’re a mobile first company, said GSK’s head of digital media Khurram Hamud. It is a thought shared by his fellow panel members from The Weather Channel, Mondelez and Mastercard, who all admitted to being at various places in their attempts to use harness mobile media better. GSK’s said it needed to think about consumer behaviour more on mobile devices but was happy with its progress, while Mastercard’s group head of global media Ben Jankowski said it was on the right path and Mondelez’s D’Angelo felt the business was not where it needed to be.
“The way that we drive growth is trying to identify what the barriers and opportunities for growth are and the only way of doing that is to be consumer centric,” said D’Angelo. “You look at mobile’s role within that and you begin to identify roles for it to be a commercial enabler rather than just saying ‘hey lets do more mobile’”.
One key barrier, said Hamud, is advertisers tendency to bombard people with multiple messages, particularly in-store. Despite mobile’s rapid growth, it is a channel still in its infancy with unresolved data and security issues. Indeed, more than a third (38 per cent) of consumers are comfortable with brands capturing their mobile data and this figure rockets to 72 per cent for brands that are trusted, according to eMarketer.
Diversity is pivotal to the media models of the future
Brands and agencies urged the industry to work harder to ensure diversity. Cultural diversity impacts business because consumers want their brands to be a real reflection of themselves and yet many festival speakers highlighted how it was still a tick box exercise in some cases.
And its not just about gender. Maxus’ Pattinson said race was also an issue, arguing that there are “no male or female leaders, there are just effective leaders”.


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Dozens of community banks may freeze their pension plans over the next several years, as they seek to cut costs and limit their potential liabilities. One that did so is Rockville Financial, whose CEO says it could no longer justify to shareholders the expense of a pension.
Pension Cuts Loom at More Small Banks
This feature displays payments industry news and analysis from American Banker sibling brand PaymentsSource. Registration is required; for more information contact customer service.


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New York, Apr 19 (EFE).- U.S. private-equity giant Blackstone Group has abandoned plans to acquire Dell Inc., citing the PC maker's "rapidly eroding financial profile."
In a letter that Dell published on Friday, Blackstone said "a number of significant adverse issues have surfaced since we submitted our letter proposal to you on March 22nd."
The firm cited "an unprecedented 14 percent market decline in PC volume in the first quarter of 2013, its steepest drop in history, and inconsistent with management's projections for modest industry growth," as well as "the rapidly eroding financial profile of Dell."
"Since our bid submission, we learned that the company revised its operating income projections for the current year to $3.0 billion from $3.7 billion," Blackstone said.
Blackstone in March submitted a bid to acquire the PC maker for $14.25 per share, topping an offer of $13.65 per share announced a month earlier by a consortium led by the company's founder, Michael Dell.
Multi-billionaire investor Carl Icahn, for his part, has offered to buy 58 percent of Dell's stock for $15 a share, a bid that is being evaluated by the Special Committee of the Texas company's board.
Michael Dell's plan to take the company private has been opposed by numerous shareholders, who must approve the transaction, and faced rival bids from Icahn and Blackstone.
The consortium he leads includes U.S.-based private-equity firm Silver Lake and is assisted by a $2 billion loan from Microsoft, which is very interested in the survival of computer manufacturers, like Dell, that use its Windows operating system.
Dell's shares, which had fallen 3.7 percent to $13.44 shortly before Friday's close, have declined by 16.8 percent over the past 12 months.


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In the highly competitive environment of consumer banking, finding comparative advantage over major players is a rare opportunity. However, recent research by Telsyte shows clearly that the reluctance of major banks to adopt digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay (formerly Android Pay) and Samsung Pay has created an opportunity for those institutions who have led the way in offering their customers more choice in the way they pay.
Aussies will move banks to pay with their phones or wearables
Recent research shows that mobile and wearable payment solutions like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay are increasingly influencing consumers’ choice of financial institutions.
The Telsyte study found that around one in five (22 per cent) iPhone users claim they are more likely to bank with a provider if it supports Apple Pay. This figure increases to 32 per cent for those who are also using an Apple Watch. This research shows a clear opportunity for financial institutions to differentiate from the major banks to acquire new customers – particularly those using Apple devices.
Mobile payments are growing in Australia
Although the number of payments made by mobile devices is still comparatively small, the use of mobile payments is growing quickly year on year. The RBA reported in its 2017 Consumer Report that only 2% of consumers had used a smartphone, watch or band to make a payment. This figure has grown exponentially to 14%, according to Telsyte’s study in 2018. This could be due to increasing understanding amongst consumers that mobile payments are more secure than Tap & Pay cards, which I discussed in my recent article on digital wallet security.
Other key takeaways from Telsyte’s research that have implications for financial institutions that are considering offering mobile payments to their customers include:
- Smartphone sales were up 11% year on year, 9.2 million units sold in 2017
- There are 19.3 million smartphones in circulation in Australia
- Android/Google based smartphones made up 55% market share, Apple with 45%
- Growing price is being driven by need for greater internal storage (supporting greater capabilities and use)
- 85% of consumers replace an Apple iPhone with another iPhone, Samsung at 70%
- For the first time, more smartwatches were sold than smart bands in 2017 (58% v 42%)
- Apple watches lead the smart wrist wearables market in Australia, with now over 1 million Apple smartwatches in the country. FitBit were the leader in smart band devices
We were an early partner and adopter of mobile payment solutions, offering Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay to our clients. At Cuscal we support over 41 financial institutions offering Apple Pay, Google Pay and/or Samsung Pay to their customers.
By Trent Gunthorpe, Head of EFT, Acquiring and Digital