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Kojo, a plant-based eatery, has announced plans to open its second site this month, in London’s Liverpool Street – where the group will launch its new ‘Kojo to Go’ concept focusing on “grab and go only”.
The restaurant concept, which opened its first site in December 2020 in Hampstead, was launched by Nobu London Portman Square executive chef Michael Paul and nutritional therapist Alina Gromova-Jones.
Its flagship Hampstead site offers customers the choice to eat in or takeaway. However, the group’s new ‘Kojo to Go’ stores will focus solely on serving “fresh food on the go”.
The outlet will serve “balanced and healthy meals” such as miso-glazed aubergine, teriyaki rice bowl, Goma ramen, Tulum tacos and Thai basil rice paper rolls.
Alina Gromova-Jones, co-founder of Kojo, said: “Kojo is born out of a passion for nutrition.
“Creating a menu that can do good for ourselves as well as our planet, that places us at the centre of a growing community which is prioritising the health of the environment in order to protect our own health and wellbeing.”


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Report: Apple's AT&T Deal is Done
A new report this morning has everyone talking about a suspected break in AT&T's five year exclusivity agreement with Apple. As a result, the prominent advertising firm Landor & Associates has reportedly been hired by Verizon to launch an ad campaign for the next gen iPhone.
One of the primary reasons yours truly has opted to put forward this story is because, unlike most un-sourced rumors that seem to just appear from thin air to take root in the blogosphere, this particular story comes from our friends at CrunchGear
, who have evidently gleaned their info from those within the advertising industry.
It should be noted, however, that Landor & Associates has been doing business with Verizon since Apple reportedly began its exclusive agreement with AT&T in 2007. According to the report, the ad firm is now "hard at work preparing for the iPhone HD launch."
So why the sudden (potential) shift to Verizon territory? Possibly because the iPhone is beginning to lose market share to its closest competitors and Apple sees the need to expand its coverage in order to remain the dominant force in smartphones. An NPD Group report shows that the iPhone has been bumped to third place by competing devices running Google's Android OS.
John Biggs of CrunchGear maintains that this rumor "very nearly confirms a Verizon launch of the iPhone"... possibly as eary as late summer 2010.

domain: news


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If I am not mistaken, this is going to be the third refresh for the DS. Nintendo has announced DSi which will look like the DS but with some changes. Engadget
has the photos and the details. The DSi is going to be thinner because the GBA slot will be gone but the screens get a little bit bigger. The biggest additions though are a .3 megapixel camera on the back and a small camera on the hinge's front when you open the DSi up. It has an SD slot and from the video it looks like you can plug in something for the excercise game. My guess is that it's a pedometer. The DSi is expected to be launched in Japan in November and the rest of the world next year and it will come in black or white.


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The Queen in royal fur debacle
The Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall have found themselves in hot water after they attended Christmas Day festivities wearing fur hats. Animal rights protesters have slated the Russian-style hats made from different types of foxes.
'This strikes me as an ostentatious display of cruelty. To parade fur in 2010 says something unpleasant about the person wearing it,' said Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid.
Despite this a spokesperson for the Queen could not confirm whether her hat and coat trimmed sleeves were real fur or not. Camilla, on the other hand, wore a Cossak-style hat created from vintage fur by Philip Treacy. It was also used by a piece of fur which previously belonged to her mother. This has brought up another debate on the use of recycled furs. 'It doesn't matter when the animal was killed, it's a body part and a product of cruelty,' says Tyler.


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The 9th annual Unofficial Star Wars Fan Day is coming to Disneyland. This annual event will be happening on June 30, 2013. According to their website, the Unofficial Star Wars Day, “started as a protest to Disney about the lack of Star Wars Weekends here at our Disneyland and has now turned into a massive fan get together!”
The website encourages members of the Fan Force, 501st, and Rebel Legion members, and really just about any Star Wars fan to join to celebrate Star Wars.2012 Unofficial Star Wars Day at Disneyland
At 2:oo PM, there will be a big group photo taken in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. If you want to be in the shot, get there early. One official photo will be taken (so there aren’t a million people asking the photographer to use their camera). A copy of the picture will be uploaded on the Unofficial Star Wars Fan Day website and facebook page later. A Disneyland Photopass photographer will also be on hand if you wish to purchase a photo from the Disneyland Resort.2012 Jedi Training Academy Photo for Unofficial Star Wars Day at Disneyland
Participants of the Unofficial Star Wars Day are encouraged to wear Star Wars shirts, ties, hats, but not costumes. This is due to the fact that the Disneyland Resort will turn away fans who come dressed in costumes. If you wish to purchase an official shirt for the Unofficial Star Wars Fan Day at Disneyland, you can do so at: http://www.starwarsdisneyland.com. These are limited and will go fast. All shirt sale proceeds for the event going straight to the American Cancer Society.
More information about this event can be found on their website and facebook.
May the Force be with you… always.


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MLM Beautycounter Knocked By Watchdog Group For Embellishing Distributor Opportunity
Truth in Advertising, Inc. (TINA.org) says it has compiled more than 100 examples of Beautycounter or its sales reps making deceptive, “atypical” income claims. The company says it paid out $120m to independent consultants in the US and Canada in 2019, but it is clear to TINA.org that “the typical Beautycounter distributor is earning little to no money.”
You may also be interested in...
The Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act, reintroduced in the US House, exceeds the proposed Personal Care Products Safety Act in the Senate in terms of the duties and resource demands it would impose on companies and the FDA, while leaving states free to regulate cosmetics even more stringently. The proposal now must vie for the attention of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Plaintiffs allege that Coppertone sunscreens are deceptively labeled as “mineral-based” when they contain a larger percentage of chemical active ingredients than mineral active ingredients. On 31 July, California’s Northern District roundly rejected defendants’ motion to dismiss.
The Perfectio device marketer came away from the advertising industry’s self-regulatory process with a number of claims intact or mostly untouched, though it discontinued a couple going into the assessment and the National Advertising Division advised against a few others. The firm has pledged to comply “in the spirit of compromise.”


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Brewing the Next Generation of Beer Experts
With more than 380 breweries and brewpubs and counting across the state, North Carolina’s brewing industry is booming. SmartAsset’s most recent annual beer study ranked Asheville the fifth-best city in the nation for beer based on several factors, including the total number of breweries and breweries per 100,000 residents. Wilmington and the Triangle area are also expanding their brewery options.
As the state continues to claim a top spot for beer brewing, North Carolina State University is expanding its brewing education for students by offering a new Brewing Science and Technology minor through the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences. Sebastian Wolfrum, the lecturer for the minor and recently appointed manager of the Wolfpack Brewing Lab, brings years of international experience to train the next generation of brewmasters while also fostering meaningful collaborations with breweries across the state.
Expanding Beer Education
Wolfrum grew up outside of Munich, Germany, where he also trained as a maltster and brewer. He worked for several years in the industry before moving to North Carolina in 2005.
“I moved here really not quite knowing how wild that ride would be in terms of the beer industry and the growth,” says Wolfrum. “When I got here, there were 20-some brewers in North Carolina. It already felt, compared to what I knew from Germany, exciting because everybody can make any style of beer. And then, all of a sudden, it grew completely out of proportion over the years that I’ve been here and it’s been super exciting.”
Wolfrum has worked with several different breweries in the Triangle area, including the Bull Durham Beer Co., the first brewery in a minor league ballpark, and Natty Greene’s Brewing Co., the second-largest craft brewery in North Carolina. He also was a founding member of the NC Craft Brewers Guild. Through these collaborations, Wolfrum learned about NC State’s impact on the industry.
“Through all these interactions, there’s nothing you can do without running into somebody from NC State,” said Wolfrum. “It always felt like the NC State folks were the ones who were really thinking about the big picture and have answers or try and find answers to growing the industry in this state. And that includes the agriculture side.”
In October 2021, Wolfrum joined NC State in his current role. The Wolfpack Brewing Lab has been around since 2006 under the leadership of John Sheppard, a professor and the director of undergraduate programs for bioprocessing science. With the addition of the minor, students are able to use the lab for hands-on learning experiences. The lab will continue to brew Porters, Oktoberfest lagers and the infamous Wolfpack red ale, but Wolfrum also plans to expand its offerings, including new flavors and maybe a seltzer.
“Beer is one of the earliest foods, so the entire food processing universe really has grown around beer.”
“We are most likely going to go for a couple of the various versions of IPAs,” says Wolfrum. “Traditionally, it was just an English [style], then there’s obviously American [style], who’s been taking over the whole industry by storm. And then hazy IPAs have come obviously into play over the last couple of years. Those all will be new.”
Beer is Food
As the beer industry continues to grow, Wolfrum wants folks to remember that beer is considered food based on the science behind brewing.
“My main focus is to shift people away from thinking that beer is alcohol,” says Wolfum. “Beer is one of the earliest foods, so the entire food processing universe really has grown around beer. The first real cooling machine was built in a brewery and all of microbiology has found its start in brewing. The first yeast cell was discovered by a brewer in a brewery.”
With the industry rapidly growing, Wolfrum says brewers will need to understand the science behind making tasty beer.
“There’s a need for not just folks who know the basics, but who are trained as scientists who work in labs that support the brewing quality or folks who can actually manage a modern, more industrial-sized brewing operation. And that’s what we’re trying to teach here.”


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Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) late Monday reported second-quarter sales and adjusted earnings that edged estimates, but gave third-quarter guidance that just missed views.
Cadence stock was up 1.5%, near 35.60, in after-hours trading on the stock market today. During the regular session, Cadence rose 0.3% to 35.07.
San Jose, Calif.-based Cadence makes software and hardware tools for designing electronic systems, including integrated circuits, systems on chips, and printed circuit boards.
Cadence earned 34 cents a share excluding items, up 17% year over year, on sales of $479 million, up 6%, in the quarter ended July 1. Analysts expected Cadence to earn 32 cents a share on sales of $476.2 million.
For the current quarter, Cadence expects to earn an adjusted 34 cents a share on sales of $480 million, based on the midpoint of its guidance. Wall Street was modeling for Cadence to earn 35 cents a share, up 17%, on sales of $481.9 million, up 8%.
"Customer adoption of our innovative product portfolio enabled Cadence's strong second-quarter results, driven by robust software and IP (intellectual property) growth," Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan said in a statement.


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Renowned Metal Vocalist LANCE KING Reveals Potent New Video Single TODAY for new single “Pointing Fingers” – New Album “ReProgram” out Next Friday March 29, 2019 New Video Premier “Pointing Fingers” at 11AM CDT US time Here! Pre-Order Now via iTunes | Amazon Iconic vocalist LANCE KING – the original voice behind Pyramaze, Avian, Balance of Power and Gemini – is set to release his second solo album, ReProgram, on March 29, 2019 via his own Nightmare Records. Featuring a powerf
Heaven's Metal started in 1985 and has been dedicated to covering and supporting the current above and underground Christian hard rock and metal scene ever since.
Heaven's Metal Magazine Presents:White Throne Radio


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Twitter’s foray into search (through last year’s acquisition of Summize) has been commented on by every pundit under the sun. Twitter Search is has proved the benefits of real-time search — namely quicker access to feedback, which gives the ability to respond and steer the person’s experience.
Businesses have found this useful, the limitations of real-time search (RTS) have kept it primarily out of consumer search habits. Twitter today could make a lot of money by sitting as the platform for feedback and service between businesses and consumers, but to justify their recently rumored $1B valuation, you can bet solving the limitations of real-time search (RTS) as it applies to consumer search is on their radar.
The big problems with RTS revolve around the inability to distinguish noise from signal in the short term. Just being the most recent doesn’t make you the most interesting, but it does make you more interesting. The hard problem to solve here is how to factor timeliness into the algorithm for search relevancy. Twitter Search currently understands timeliness, and understands the basics of how people are voting with their actions (although, trending topics is just scraping the top layer of something that needs rich click AND publish data to be interesting), but it doesn’t quite have the larger search algorithm game figured out. Twitter has to internally solve the problem of bringing in more standard search knowledge and expertise.
Bit.ly, a startup that shortens links for use in micro-updates, has developed an incredible (and timely) database on how many people are posting links, how many of those people are unique or simply reposting from someone else, and how many people are clicking them. That data could be very interesting to Twitter as a way to dig deeper on trending, but it could be even more interesting to someone who is trying to work real-time information into an existing search algorithm. Do we know any companies that are very concerned about making sure they are on top of the next innovation in search? Google comes to mind; Microsoft Bing should be paying attention too.
Twitter could benefit from bringing bit.ly in house, but I don’t think they’d benefit as immediately from acquiring bit.ly as Google or Bing would. Not that bit.ly has to sell, but, they’ve only raised 2M, could likely get a large sticker price, and could get to help reshape a search service relied on by hundreds of millions of people. If I were BD at GOOG or MSFT, I’d be starting conversations.
Bonus: Twitter, I’m not just dishing out free BD advice to the big guys, you get some too! Buy or build a service similar to Blippr and automatically give feedback on products based on what people are saying on your service, then, license this rich “micro-review” data to companies like Amazon and RichRelevance.
Come see me speak, Oct. 6th in Sunnyvale


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November 27, 2009 |
NEW DELHI: Beverage maker Coca-Cola is giving a second shot at energy drinks, after its first one ? Shock ? failed to make a mark. The company is set to bring in Burn, one of its global energy drink brands, in the first fortnight of December. Unlike its other carbonated drinks and juices, Burn will not be mass distributed through conventional retail channels. Instead, going by the category, the brand's availability will be restricted to pubs, select modern trade outlets, gyms and so on, it is learnt.
June 30, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: The Health Ministry's likely notification, which may make it mandatory for beverage firms making colas to declare caffeine content on their labels, could have a significant impact on not only on established beverage firms but also smaller, regional brands. Besides Coca-Cola and PepsiCo , several smaller brands like RC Cola and Big Cola also sell their beverages in the country. As of now, companies like Coca-Cola already declare that their colas contain caffeine.
March 26, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: Fruit drink concentrate maker Rasna is mulling to enter the ready-to-drink segment with plans to launch energy drinks and premium juice through a new subsidiary. "Currently, we are looking at manufacturing high end beverage products, energy drink, fortified water and premium juice," Rasna Chairman and Managing Director Piruz Khambatta told PTI. The new business will be operated under a new entity, Rasna Beverages, which will be independent of the juice concentrate operations, he added.
November 2, 2012 |
MUMBAI: First the fizz went out. Now Austrian energy drinks maker Red Bull and its erstwhile partner Rahul Narang Group seem headed for a long and bitter court war, with both claiming victory in the first battle. Rahul Narang Group moved a Mumbai local court charging the multinational for disregarding and breaching their long-term agreement and poaching its proprietary distribution network, just weeks after ending one of the oldest alliances in the country's beverage segment earlier this month.
January 15, 2015 |
Rexam Plc, the world's second largest beverage can maker in terms of revenue, said it has completed investment in Panamanian single-line beverage can plant Envases Del Istmo SA (Endelis) jointly with Envases Universales de Mexico (EUM). Rexam, which makes 20 per cent of world's cans for beverages including beer, soft drinks, juices, energy drinks, wine and tea, said it had secured long-term supply agreements with SABMiller Plc and Florida Ice & Farm Company SA. Affiliates of SABMiller and Florida Ice previously owned the Endelis business.
September 17, 2007 |
NEW DELHI: Aiming to become a total beverages solutions company in India, global soft drinks major Coca-Cola is planning to launch 20 new products, including flavoured tea Enviga and energy drinks in three years. Sources familiar with the development said the company is studying a wide range of energy drinks, sports drinks, tea and coffee and fruit juices products from its global portfolio to bring into India. Some of the products that are being considered include Burn, Full Throttle and Tab Energy from the energy drinks segment while flavoured tea brand Enviga and Gold Peak are also being looked at, sources said, adding even lemonade version of its recently launched pulpy orange drink Minute Maid might be considered.
April 28, 2012 |
BANGALORE | KOLKATA: Water is now more than just a thirst quencher, and dairy drink's more than flavoured milk. They can now rejuvenate you and boost your performance in the form of energy drinks, vitamin water, fortified milk and yogurt, and enhanced iced tea, among others. A slew of companies, including Groupe Danone , Dabur, PespiCo , Coca-Cola, Amul, Britannia and Rasna , are betting on such functional beverages to woo the young, health-conscious Indian consumer.
March 21, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: Fruit juice concentrates maker Rasna Private Ltd is setting up a separate subsidiary-Rasna Beverages, to manufacture, distribute and market high margin ready-to-drink beverages like energy drinks, fortified water and premium juices in tie-up with global firms. "We plan to form different brand licensing and collaboration arrangements for different product categories like energy drinks and water," Rasna chairman said. The company is in talks with two European and one American firm to form either brand licensing arrangements or technical collaborations.
September 16, 2007 |
NEW DELHI: Aiming to become a total beverages solutions company in India, global soft drinks major Coca Cola is planning to launch as many as 20 new products, including flavoured tea 'Enviga' and energy drinks in three years. Sources familiar with the development said the company is studying a wide range of energy drinks, sports drinks, tea and coffee and fruit juices products from its global portfolio to bring into India. Some of the products that are being considered include 'Burn', 'Full Throttle' and 'Tab Energy' from the energy drinks segment, while flavoured tea brand 'Enviga' and 'Gold Peak' are also being looked at, sources said, adding even the lemonade version of its recently launched pulpy orange drink 'Minute Maid' might be considered.
May 26, 2007 |
KOLKATA: Post stake-sale in Energy Brands Inc, Tata Tea has two options to build volumes in the ultra-competitive US beverages market. The company either has to acquire sizeable space in the fast-growing energy drinks segment or in the speciality/herbal tea space, which is gaining popularity in health-conscious America. Energy drinks had taken the US beverage market by storm in 2006, outperforming most other beverage categories. Although carbonated soft drinks still dominate the US market, sales of energy drinks shot up by nearly 50% last year.


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Yes folks, only in Canada can you be the proud owner of a bottle of perfume that smells like pizza dough. Not content with the 2012 WTFery that is the Hot Dog Stuffed Crust pizza, the Canuck Hut produced a limited batch of this toilet water and awarded 100 lucky(?) Facebook folk after an online poll got way out of hand. Expect eBay bidding war shenanigans, shortly.
From the official press release:
Introducing Pizza Hut Perfume – a brand new fragrance from Pizza Hut Canada boasting top notes of freshly baked, hand-tossed dough.
The limited edition perfume was designed to commemorate Pizza Hut Canada reaching 100,000 Facebook fans. Only 110 bottles were produced and shared with lucky Facebook fans who won a bottle by being among the first to share their desire for Pizza Hut perfume.
“For now, we’ve only produced 110 bottles of Eau de Pizza Hut, but who knows what the future has in store.”
Personally, let me know when CK Whopper or Golden Corral by Jessica Simpson hits the streets.


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There’s no shortage of countries who want to do deals with the UK
The UK-Australia trade agreement paves the way for further deals with other foreign nations, international trade secretary Liz Truss told GB News, and revealed plans have been made for talks with the US, India, Canada, New Zealand and others.
Appearing on the Brazier and Muroki show, Ms Truss said consumers can expect tariff-free goods products like cars, Scotch whisky and confectionary will be cheaper to sell to Australia because of the tariff-free agreement, while British farmers will be protected by a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years.
She told GB News: “As well as being a great deal in itself, it’s also an important stepping stone for the UK joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. That’s a major trade area – 500m people, lots of people there want to buy high-quality goods Britain is producing.
“This is about the deal with Australia, but also about signing up to the Trans-Pacific partnership as well.”
She added: “I’ve got the New Zealand trade minister coming tomorrow so I’m hoping to accelerate talks there. We’re also working on a new, more advanced deal with Canada and Mexico.
“We are due to launch negotiations with India in the autumn and I’m in talks with the US as well, so there’s no shortage of countries who want to do deals with the UK.”
Prime minister Boris Johnson insisted the Australian trade deal will benefit British farmers following fears from the sector that they could be undercut by cheaper imports.
However, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has called for more information on the protections for UK farming businesses, while also raising concerns over possible compromises on food standards.
Labour has also accused the Government of “screwing over our farmers” after Australia’s trade ministry revealed that tariff-free protection periods would stop in five years for dairy products, and after 10 years for beef and lamb.
NFU president Minette Batters said in a statement: “We will need to know more about any provisions on animal welfare and the environment to ensure our high standards of production are not undermined by the terms of this deal.
“The ultimate test of this trade deal will be whether it contributes to moving farming across the world onto a more sustainable footing, or whether it instead undermines UK farming and merely exports the environmental and animal welfare impact of the food we eat.”
Similarly, animal welfare charity the RSPCA said that the agreement could set a “worrying precedent” and sought reassurance that standards on imports would be equivalent to that of the UK.
Chief executive Chris Sherwood warned that it is legal in Australia to mutilate the rear end of sheep, while chicken can be washed with chlorine and almost half of cattle are given growth hormones.
He added: “The UK should be proud of its animal welfare standards and strive to maintain and improve them, but there’s a danger this is being sold out for the sake of a quick trade deal.” Mr Johnson said the trade agreement will adhere to the “strongest possible” animal welfare standards, while Mr Morrison insisted that Australian standards were “very high”.
Downing Street also sought to ease concerns over animal welfare, telling reporters that hormone-fed beef will not be allowed to be sold in British supermarkets under the pact.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told Westminster reporters: “We are absolutely not compromising our high animal welfare and food safety standards.”
Elsewhere in the agreement, UK citizens under the age of 35 will be able to travel and work in Australia more freely – scrapping the requirement for farm work. Previously, Britons under the age of 30 could work in Australia for two years and were required to spend time working in agriculture to do so, but those under 35 can work there for three years without this under the new deal.
However, further details of the free trade deal have so far been sparse, with the announcement by Downing Street lacking specifics on when the agreement comes into force and what other sectors are set to benefit.


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Spotify has just finalized a licensing deal with Universal Music Group in the US, according to details first shared by the Wall Street Journal.
The deal pushes Spotify closer to that magical US launch, though a tie-up with Warner Music Group remains in the balance. Earlier, Spotify sealed stateside licenses with both EMI Music and Sony Music Entertainment.
The momentum is now solidly in Spotify’s favor, though it still remains difficult to put a timetable on a Warner signature. The label group has been mostly resistant, though more recent comments by chairman Edgar Bronfman, Jr., suggest a thawing in sentiment. Additionally, the recent sale of Warner Music to Len Blavatnik sounds like a wildcard, though the management philosophy is expected to change little after the acquisition is finalized.
And what about product positioning? If Europe is a pricing prelude, then Spotify is likely to offer a somewhat-limited free tier, with a monthly upgrade in the $10-a-month range. Mobile access will be a critical aspect, though the recent launch of the iCloud could impact pricing decisions.


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Devin Dreeshen, Alberta’s minister of agriculture and forestry, will give an update Thursday on efforts to protect food security during the COVID-19 crisis.
Dreeshen will be joined at a news conference by other officials, including Paul Wynnyk, deputy minister of municipal affairs.
CBC will livestream the news conference here at 11:30 a.m. MT.
Canada’s agriculture sector has warned of higher prices and potential food shortages if farming isn’t designated an essential service and allowed to do business as usual during the COVID-19 crisis.
While governments maintain supplies are secure, some people worry about empty grocery store shelves, especially in regard to food staples.


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Palm dismisses WAP out of hand
Better suited to mobile phone use
The much hyped wireless application protocol (WAP) has been described as irrelevant and unsuitable to the PDA market, by the leading handheld device vendor. A senior executive of Palm Computing told The Register that WAP was all well and good, but as it had been developed for mobile phones, it was unlikely to find success in the PDA arena. Jean Baptiste Piacengino, Product Line Manager for GSM Products at Palm Computing said: "Demand for sure, but will it deliver on the promises? WAP was exclusively developed for phones and non-computer devices. Web clipping is far better designed for products like the Palm. We are not sure that WAP would work on PDAs." While Palm is still a member of the WAP forum, it has no plans to put WAP on a PDA. But this view not is not shared by everyone the phone camp. Colin Ellis, senior product manager for Ericsson said: "WAP devices are flexible enough for many different screen sizes. It will be application dependent." The larger screens and keyboards that populate PDAs lend themselves more readily to applications such as reading and writing emails. However, Ericsson does not believe that WAP will impact directly on the PDA market. Piacengino said: "AU Systems (the creators of the platform for PDAs) have a lot of experience with Ericsson and whilst doubling up on the platform it is down to the user experience more than the browser and the right connectivity services. It is not just a browser for the benefits of data access. People don't just care about technology they care about how quick they can access it." Future developments in the WAP market this year will see the development of secure transactions to boost ecommerce for mobile devices. Ellis said: "There has been a real growth in the ecommerce marketplace and e-shopping is accelerating. People will start using mobile devices not for grocery shopping but, for instance, if they are looking for a book say on Amazon.com. They could do that from a mobile." ®
Sponsored: RAID: End of an era?


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A 40-year-old Reno man has been arrested for stealing lots and lots of Lego bricks from Target. Authorities say his M.O. is to paste a cheaper bar code over more expensive kits and then resell them. It appears as if he's been doing this for a number of years.
Target officials contacted police after noticing the same pattern at their stores in the five western states. A Target security guard stopped Swanberg at a Portland-area store November 17, after he bought 10 boxes of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon set.
In his parked car, detectives found 56 of the Star Wars sets, valued at $99 each, as well as 27 other Lego sets. In a laptop found inside Swanberg's car, investigators also found the addresses of numerous Target stores in the Portland area, their locations carefully plotted on a mapping software.
Records of the Lego collector's Web site, Bricklink.Com, show that Swanberg has sold nearly $600,000 worth of Legos since 2002, said Dolyniuk.
Link (thanks, Shawn!)
Hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization earlier in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, Reuters reports. Security experts blame an advanced cyber-espionage hacker group known as DarkHotel. A senior agency official says the WHO has been facing a more than two-fold increase in cyberattacks since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Additional $15M will go to third parties and nonprofits
The death toll in Italy’s coronavirus outbreak today passed 1,000. Schools throughout Italy are completely shut down, which is reportedly driving a surge in internet traffic as bored kids forced to stay indoors turn to online games.
Dealing with all the COVID-19 fallout is one of the new realities of our ever-changing world — and that isn’t likely going away anytime soon. It’s also prompted a rash of existential questions for parents. Questions like how do I protect my kids? Or how do I soothe their fears? And there’s also one of […]
If you’re already incredibly bored in your social distancing situation, now is a great time to pick up a hobby. Actually, now’s a great time to pick up multiple hobbies, and nothing will make that easier (or nicer to look at) than this very cool AquaSprouts® Fountain: Aquaponics Water Garden. What the heck is an […]
Many Americans are facing unexpected changes in their professional lives that have left them with quite a bit of downtime. It’s stressful and frustrating, but the best thing to do is focus on controlling what you can control. If you have extra hours on your hands, you can be productive with them. Use them to […]


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Flavorz, an electronic cigarette store, celebrates its grand opening at Indian Mound Mall on Friday, when 10 percent of its sales will be donated to Licking County Hospice.
The cigarettes, according to a press release for the company, come in multiple strengths of nicotine that provide a safer alternative to smoking and help people stop smoking. The press release states the cigarettes produce no second-hand smoke.
Flavorz will give away prizes all day Friday and have a drawing. It is located across from FYE.
Store hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.


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The company continues to see unprecedented growth despite the coronavirus pandemic, economic downturn and lockdown began in March this year.
From their base in Seville, Spain, GM Technology serves clients in all 27 EU member states as well as Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin America. The day the lockdown and state of emergency was declared in Spain because of the pandemic the company had 166 employees. A few weeks into their circular economy growth marketing strategy.
Seven months later the picture has changed significantly at the company. Now it has 204 employees and 3 freelance agents developing new sales territories for the company.
The expanded international sales team closed an all-time record month in September that boosted their Q3 (July-August-September) that delivered a staggering 107% increase in volume resulting in the export of 81 containers to various markets globally.
The strength of the growth has prompted the company to bring forward their new diamond partner programme for their channel partners.
On the hardware equipment side the company collected more than 3100 used devices in September alone saving them from recycling or landfill.
The company reports that their copier remanufacturing plant is now outputting more than 50,000 remanufactured copier toner cartridges per month, including the unique R-OEM range filled with genuine reclaimed OEM toner.
GM Technologies Green Line manufacturing plant is running on full capacity and currently we are selling more green line refurbished machines than we can make. In the third quarter we remanufactured and sold more than 400 machines.
According to Zoltan Matyas, GM Technologies Director of International Business Development, attributes this growth in times of pandemic as “a great proof that the circular economy is not only great for the environment but creates local jobs as well.
Our focus on cost-saving, profitability and circular economy made us a clear market leader in this sector. Combine this with our highly skilled multilingual sales team, who have extensive experience dedicated exclusively to the international market. This approach allows us to develop unique and outstanding trade relationships.”


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Jason Schultz, professor of clinical law and director of NYU’s Technology Law & Policy Clinic, returned to campus this fall after serving as a senior adviser on intellectual property and innovation in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. His first book, The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy, which he co-authored with Aaron Perzanowski of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, is out this month, and he sat down recently to discuss it.
Why did you write The End of Ownership?
We wanted to address a shift going on right now in the way in which we buy things that are digital. For a very long time, if you bought something, you owned it. As technology has gotten more complex, and as the law has gotten more complex, there’s been a dramatic but gradual shift to a more ambiguous way of owning things — eventually to where we might never own anything. The shift in ownership in the digital economy has been happening behind the scenes, through deeply embedded digital device lockdowns and endless click-through licensing agreements that nobody — not even lawyers — pay attention to. Writing this book was a way to say, “This is an issue--this shift is happening and we have to decide what kind of world we want to live in when we live in a digital economy.”
How do digital products challenge traditional notions of ownership?
In what way do the licensing agreements that come with digital products affect consumer rights?
They are harming consumers in terms of what we can actually do with the things we buy -- the kind of privacy we have when we own something, versus when we license something from a company and they can track us; and the competition issues that come up when we want to switch from one device to another. As a consumer, you often don't see a licensing agreement until after you’ve bought whatever it is you think you want to own. If you buy a car that has software in it, or if you buy a smart refrigerator, or a smart TV, it’s not until you get home, plug it in, and turn it on that this licensing agreement pops up. And you’re not going to return it. You’re not going to call up the company and negotiate. These kind of dynamics really put us in a position of vulnerability, where it’s take it or leave it, and you can't really leave it.
How does the question of ownership come up in the Internet of Things?
Most things you’ve bought, historically you’ve owned — you go to a store, you buy it, you bring it home. But with the Internet of Things, you don’t know exactly what you own. Take the iPhone. According to Apple, in legal documents that they’ve filed, you may own the physical case — the hardware — but Apple owns all the software and all the data inside of it, so you don’t own probably 90 percent of why you bought the iPhone in the first place. Expand that to all Internet of Things items — if it’s a car, a television, a refrigerator, or a fitness tracker, all those devices have contested ownership inside them, within the hardware, software, and data.
Why is cybersecurity an issue with the Internet of Things?
Is there a way these questions around ownership get resolved?
I expect at some point there will be a major court case to resolve this issue. Someone, somewhere, is going to contest ownership and courts and judges will have to look at “do we really own anything anymore in the digital economy?” When that happens, the court might be able to solve a lot of these problems. I don’t know if it’s going to be a lower court or if it’s going to be the Supreme Court, but there’ll be an opportunity, I think, in the next three to five years for a court to lay down new law, and I hope it’s favorable law for consumers.
Are there any court cases on the horizon that could have an impact?
This interview has been condensed and edited.
Posted November 7, 2016


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The worst possible time for a campaign to be Britain’s next Prime Minister as the Bank of England warned the country is facing a lengthy recession in 2023 and the nastiest fall in living standards for a generation or more.
Inflation is forecast to reach 13% a year by October – then slump to 2% by 2025 as the economy slides into a nasty recession where growth is forecast to fall by 2.1 percentage points from peak to trough, with the average fall in GDP of 1.5 percentage points through the slowdown.
In fact the forecast strongly suggests there will be no growth for the next two perhaps three years – which in turn strongly suggests rising unemployment, rising government spending on benefits and very weak corporate investment and profits.
UK share prices will be weak and for some sectors, such as food retailing and media, revenue gains and earnings will be hard to find in that time.
The most astounding part of the latest forecast was that consumer inflation would hit 13% in two months – which would ensure that millions of Britons will not be able to afford Christmas and face the prospect of losing their jobs next year.
The bank forecast that the post-tax income of households would fall in real terms in both 2022 and 2023, even after factoring in the £21 billion cost of living package announced by the British government in May.
The peak-to-trough decline of more than 5% in household income would be the worst on record, with data stretching back to 1964 when the information was first collected.
The forecasts say Britain is now facing a much bleaker economic outlook than either the United States, Europe, Canada, NZ or Australia. All are facing a slowing pace of activity next year, only the UK is looking at a slump into a recession.
The 50-basis-point increase saw the BoE join other central banks such as those in Australia and NZ in lifting rates half a per cent. The US Fed has used two 0.75% rises (and before than an increase of 0.50%) and the Bank of Canada has trotted out a 1% rise.
Officials expect the slowdown to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, and continue until the end of 2023. The peak-to-trough fall in output will be an estimated 2.1% – a shallow but lengthy slowdown that won’t be the stagflation feared in earlier forecasts, but a full blown recession.
While the slump will be similar to the one in the early 1990s (at the end of the Thatcher governments) it will not – on present figuring, be as deep as the slump in the GFC in 2008-09 or in the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.
The surge in consumer price inflation would trigger the slide, peaking at an estimated annual rate of 13.3% in October – the highest in 42 years. UK inflation hit an annual rate of 9.4% in June which was shocking, but the latest forecast is even more amazing – it is up from previous forecasts for a peak of 11%.
As a result real wages and household income will slump, consumer spending will slump and tax revenues will slump and the budget deficit will balloon.
Economists say the slump in incomes would be the largest since record started in 1964 (and top the 1976 recession which saw Britain go broke and the IMF called in to provide $US4 billion in aid).
The previous forecast from the BoE said there would be no economic growth until 2025 at the earliest – which was described as stagflation. Now that has been replaced by a recession forecast.
In the new forecasts, the BoE sees inflation falling back to 2% in two years’ time as the slump in demand and in growth drags the economy into a recession.
The BoE stressed on Thursday that there were “extremely large” uncertainties about the economy – which could make the slowdown more or less severe than its core forecasts.
“Policy is not on a pre-set path,” the BoE said. “The scale, pace and timing of any further changes in Bank Rate will reflect the Committee’s assessment of the economic outlook and inflationary pressures.”


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Sunny Christmas for Kids 2023
With our Christmas Appeal 2023 just around the corner, we’ve been overwhelmed by the support of local businesses and individuals who wish to get involved with our toy drive and donate to SunnyKids.
Our CEO, Kathleen Hope and Service Delivery Worker, Sarah Crain, spent some time recently talking with ABC Radio about our 2023 Christmas Appeal.
This is an extremely moving interview and well worth a listen. You can listen to the interview here


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Besides the signing of a new property under a franchise agreement with a local partner in Kolkata, Dusit is in talks with other potential owners and is on course to conclude at least four more signings within the next 12 months, Lim Boon Kwee, chief operating officer, Dusit International told ET.
Dusit International, which has hotels in markets such as the UAE, China, US, Maldives and Egypt besides Thailand, had previously entered India through a joint venture agreement with Bird Group in March 2007. The separation agreement concluded in March 2018.
“We parted ways amicably as we decided that our philosophies are different in terms of operations. India has the second largest population in the world. We see a huge potential for international brands with Indian outbound travellers at our hotels in the Middle East and China. Currently we have 39 hotels in operation. Out of these we own nine hotels,” said Kwee.
Dusit International has appointed Deepika Arora as its regional representative for South Asia and Africa. Prior to this, Arora was regional vice president, Eurasia at Wyndham.
Kwee said the chain is looking at brownfield opportunities and will look at both franchising and management agreements to expand in the country. The first hotel could come up next year, he said. The chain expects the Kolkata hotel to be operational by 2023. It will be under the Dusit Princess brand. He said besides Dusit Princess, the chain hopes to bring the other brands as well if it finds the right fit in terms of locations, partners and assets.
“Covid will not derail our plans. Hotels are a long term business and in the long term, Covid will pass. We have been in this business for the last 70 years. We are going to be in this business for a very long time. We will continue to invest and go after deals,” he said.
Elite Havens, a 100% subsidiary of Dusit International which is into luxury villa rentals and management has also launched its operations in Goa. Kwee said the chain will also expand through the company. “We manage close to 300 villas in Asia through Elite Havens including villas in Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka as well as Indonesia and now India. Besides the hotels, we will also expand through villa management,” he added.
Kwee said business for the chain was decimated in the second quarter this year as markets such as the US, Europe and major countries in Asia closed their borders.
“In the third quarter we are seeing the opening of many of our properties within the domestic market. Going forward, we don’t see international traffic coming back to our properties until the first quarter of next year,” he said.
“Resorts in destinations such as Phuket, Koh Samui and Chiang Mai were getting 80% business from international traffic. The contraction in Thailand’s economy is phenomenal because the dependency on tourism is almost 22%,” he said.
“So we have to diversify, restructure and reposition our business. Post Covid, we expect people to travel but not as much. Domestic market will be key for most players,” he added.
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On The Table: A Buyout And A Merger. Tata Eyes Apple Vendor Wistron’s India Unit as Air India and Vistara announce merger. Airline to become second biggest in Indian skies.Piramal-Cosmea’s ₹5,231cr Bid Highest for RCap, Units
Piramal Enterprises and Cosmea Financial Holdings have made the highest combined offer, of ₹5,231 crore, for Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Capital and its units, two people aware of the final bids for the insolvent financier told ET.Adani to Redevelop Dharavi
Adani Properties has won the rights to redevelop Asia’s biggest slum Dharavi on 600 acres in Mumbai. The firm made the highest bid of ₹5,069 crore against the stipulated minimum investment of ₹1,600 crore that the lead partner of the special purpose vehicle (SPV) was expected to bring in.
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New research conducted by University of Auckland has linked shopping to a longer lifespan.
Researcher Janine Wiles, who looked at almost 2000 elderly Taiwanese, said people who are shopping frequently are quite likely having lots of social contact, which is also strongly associated with well-being.
AdvertisementMeanwhile, Massey University lecturer Juliana Mansvelt said another benefit may come from the physical activity of walking from store to store.
The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
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Bhargav Kheni, 19, has about 120,000 followers on Instagram and that makes him a social media celebrity. Kheni is known as an influencer in social media lingo given his follower base. The Surat-based teenager, who captures and attracts followers through photographs, started exploring the photo-sharing platform about two and a half years ago. By then, he had already learnt how to work editing software such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom by watching YouTube videos and was editing his own pictures.
“I started off on Instagram by uploading pictures I’d clicked and edited of people and things around me,” said Kheni. As his pictures started getting traction on his Instagram account, an opportunity caught his eye. “I saw others use Instagram to share their fashion ideas and I thought of giving it a try,” said Kheni, for whom this became a turning point. He is now pursuing modelling as a career and has taken a break after completing school because he wants to focus on getting fit. “I am taking a break to get into the right shape for modelling. I am planning to do an undergraduate course from an open university so I have a degree,” said Kheni.
One of the boons of social media is that young individuals get a ready platform to showcase their talent and build their brand value. The advertising industry, on its part, has been capitalising on such brands as part of its strategy to tap consumers through new media.
According to a recent study by Deloitte India, called Unravelling the Indian Consumer, 28% millennials purchase products due to social media recommendations and 63% of them stay updated on brands through platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Social media platforms form an important part of the millennials’ shopping journey as it influences their purchase decisions, said the study.
And this gives social media influencers such as Kheni a chance to monetize the craft. “Advertising products through Instagram influencers works out way cheaper for brands because social media marketing is still in its nascent stage. Plus, if you pick a new kid on the block, it’s even cheaper. However, in a typical media advertisement, brands have to pay a lot because ad placements in newspapers or on TV are very expensive,” said Anil Talreja, partner, Deloitte India, a multinational professional services network and a consulting firm.
WHAT THEY EARN
Uploading pretty pictures is not what makes brands approach these teenagers for collaboration or business. It is the follower base that does it. As the number of followers increase, so do their collaborations with brands.
Kheni’s large number of followers has made him an ideal fit for many brands such as Fastrack watches, Revive beverages, The Indian Chai, TAGG, a consumer electronics brand, and Shein, an online clothing brand, among other brands.
Kheni is among the many other teenagers who are using Instagram to monetize their ideas.
Shilpi Saha, 25, a Kolkata-based fashion blogger and influencer, who has about 106,000 followers on Instagram, said that payments vary widely across brands and the number of posts. “Brands pay as per their requirement. I can make anywhere between ₹25,000 and ₹35,000 for multiple posts by uploading a few pictures or videos along with a couple of stories on Instagram endorsing the brand,” said Saha. Her first collaboration was with Myntra when she was 21 and since then, almost all her posts are promotional content for brands such as Max Fashion, FBB, Grofers, Lakme, Westside and Budweiser, among others.
The rewards don’t always come in cash. Kheni, for instance, has a different deal with different brands. “If it’s a clothing brand, they just let me keep the clothes and give me a unique discount code which I attach with my post on Instagram. Each time someone makes a purchase using this code, I get paid about 10-12% of the total sale amount,” said Kheni.
When Kheni had 50,000 followers, he charged ₹600 for a post. Now that his followers have increased, he charges upwards of ₹1,000 for a post. “For Instagram stories, I am paid ₹300-600 per story,” said Kheni.
However, a part of what these influencers make is ploughed back into doing the photo shoots that keep the followers hooked and generating new content and ideas. Most teen influencers either invest in their own equipment or collaborate with studios to cover up for costs. Kheni collaborates with studios, while Saha’s brother is a photographer and does all her shoots.
While for some it is about monetizing talent, for others, it is simply about acknowledgement and popularity.
Mumbai-based Jaijeet Singh, 15, has already collaborated with more than 10 brands, including Shein and Sunburn festival in India, for advertising on Instagram, but it’s not the money that excites him.
He is in it for the popularity, and says that being a social media influencer is a part of his journey to become a cinematographer. “My father handles all my monetary transactions. I am here for the people who follow me and the appreciation I receive on my Instagram posts. It makes me happy to know that people like my style,” said
Singh, who has about 1.7 lakh followers on
Instagram. He recently signed a deal with Skagen
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
“Popularity trumps money for most teens but I’m not a fan of this trend. Kids are looking for validation outside. But the good thing is that they are earning at a young age. If managed well, this could give them a head start in life,” said Shweta Jain, certified financial planner, CEO and founder, Investography Pvt. Ltd, a financial planning firm.
Some of these children seem to be striking a balance. Kheni has stopped taking pocket money from his parents and manages his lifestyle and gym-related expenses by himself. Even at a tender age of 15, Singh wants to upscale his skills so he can downscale on the costs. He has picked up various photo editing software so he can edit his own pictures and save money. He said the money he’s making now is being saved by his family to fund his higher education and future needs.
Though there are many success stories on how teen influencers are able to monetize their fan base, experts view the trend with a lot of worry as they fear it can lull the young crop into thinking that money can be made easily and this could become a long-term career choice. “It is not ideal to see this as a long-term career because Instagram promotions work today but this may not be the case 10 years from now because marketing strategies keep evolving every few years,” said Talreja.
You’re paid but it’s also time consuming and if you don’t have your own equipment and ideas, it could end up becoming an expensive affair.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO
Making money definitely gives you a sense of confidence but if you are making money early in life, then it’s only fair that you should give yourself a kickstart in terms of investments. “If possible, start investing because if you start now, the power of compounding will help you get great returns as you have time on your side,” said Jain.
Parents also have an increased responsibility given that the child has been able to cut the financial strings early in life. As parents you need to help your child manage their money efficiently. Teach them how to prioritise their purchases or spends by giving them perspective. Most importantly, keep your communication lines open so that they can reach out to you without having to worry.


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A new update has started hitting the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone. Arriving as version N910FXXS1DQG5 and weighing in at 200MB, it's a security update that brings along Android fixes for the month of July.
Aside from the latest security patch, some other minor changes are also included in the update, which is currently hitting units in Europe.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy Note5 has also started getting a new update. Currently rolling out to T-Mobile units in the US, the update arrives as version N920TUVS4EQG1 and weighs in at 24.39 MB. As for changes, while officially, T-Mobile says the update brings along system improvements, reports say July security patch is included.


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OKLAHOMA CITY – More than a decade after Oklahoma City residents approved a multimillion-dollar economic development program to create new jobs, it’s still paying off.
The City Council on Tuesday approved a joint agreement with the city Economic Development Trust and North American ATK Corp. for 76 primary jobs at a new plant, 600 N. Sara Rd., over the next five years. In exchange, the company will receive incentives of up to $75,000.
The manufacturer also has promised an estimated average annual wage of $43,235 for those jobs in the first year and the investment of about $2 million in equipment at the facility. The total estimated economic impact of the project is $38.6 million over the first three years of operation, said Brent Bryant, the city’s economic program development manager.
The plant will produce remanufactured engines.
In 2007, city voters approved funding the Economic Development Trust’s strategic investment program, or SIP, with the issuance of $75 million in bonds. An injection of $60 million was approved to continue the program last year. The money has been paid out in many incentives to companies including Boeing, Paycom, Tapstone Energy and Skywest, leaving as of May 31 just $15.7 million still available for similar deals.
Not all SIP participants have met their initial projections. Auto parts manufacturer Affinia Products Corp., for example, earned just $36,000 for 154 jobs after it entered the program in 2007, short of 224 jobs the company expected to create when consolidating its Indiana operations in Oklahoma City.
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has been working with ATK company representatives for more than a year on identifying a development site and incentives. Parent company LKQ, based in Chicago, is a manufacturer of alternative and specialty parts to repair and accessorize automobiles. The company has offices in Europe, China and Taiwan.
“In addition to the improvements promised at the Sara Road facility, the company also built a very large warehouse on S. Council Road,” Bryant said. “That’s not part of the original deal; it’s an example of how you can incentivize one part and see it drive other investments in the community.”


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Adam Equipment (Australia) - Larger facility accommodates growth, increases office and warehouse space.
Adam Equipment, a global manufacturer of scales and balances, has relocated its Australia office to a larger facility. Located in Bibra Lake, Western Australia, the new office is twice the size of the current one and includes additional office and warehouse space.
The move into a bigger building allows increased warehouse area and expanded operations, including customer service and sales, according to Henk Van Rhyn, regional sales manager of Adam Equipment PTY Ltd.
“It gives us the ability to maintain larger stocks with a greater selection of Adam Equipment’s quality balances, scales, and accessories,” Van Rhyn said. “The investment made in buying this building indicates our positive outlook of the company’s growth, and confirms our commitment to our dealer network.”
The new address is:
Adam Equipment (S.E. ASIA) PTY Ltd.
70 Miguel Road
Bibra Lake 6163


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Target Canada is clarifying a major policy change on price matching, the retailer told CBC News Tuesday.
Starting Tuesday, consumers can present digital flyers from selected online Canadian retailers and Target will match that price, confirms Lisa Gibson, spokesperson for Target Canada.
Those retailers include Walmart.ca, Bestbuy.ca, Futureshop.ca, ToysRUs.ca, BabiesRUs.ca, CanadianTire.ca, Sears.ca and Amazon.ca.
Target will also match any other retailers advertising in the local area. That means, consumers can present a digital copy of a local ad, or a digital copy of one of the selected online retailers. Target will meet or beat that price.
However, Canada-wide price matching — which for many consumers is considered the "Holy Grail" — is not permitted, Gibson clarified Tuesday in an email to CBC News.
"We'll continue to offer price matching if a guest buys a qualifying item at a Target store and then finds the identical item for less in the following week's Target flyer," said Target in a news release.
"To deliver fast service with unbeatable prices, price matching is now available at any check lane, not only the Guest Service desk."
Wal-Mart's official policy — which it calls "Ad Match" — is the same. It allows for price matching in local areas.
Despite that, consumers online have reported individual Wal-Mart store managers deviating from the official policy since last winter. That has led to the growth in forums where consumers seek out the very lowest price anywhere in Canada, to be matched by their local retailer.
A grocery store in Manitoba might advertise laundry soap for $2.88. A shopper in Halifax can take their smartphone or tablet to their local Wal-Mart outlet and ask to "match" that price. Some managers have allowed cashiers to override their own price and honour the price from Manitoba.
Halifax shopper Nichola Fish-Cumine told CBC her family was saving hundreds of dollars each month using the policy, with the help of social media.
"There's so many forums out there. A lot of us will help each other find out where those sales are," said Fish-Cumine.
Wal-Mart will be sticking to its local matching policy, said Alex Roberton, the company's director of corporate affairs in Canada.
"We'll ad-match with online flyers from other local merchants and as well using their printed flyers," he said Friday.


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Damac Properties launched the world’s first Bugatti-branded villas at Cityscape Global exhibition in Dubai.
The villas consist of seven bedrooms overlooking the Tiger Woods-designed Trump World Golf Club. It was initially named after Ettore Bugatti who founded the famous French car, Bugatti Veryon, which holds two world speed records.
The villas were conceptualized by Bugatti designers and their prices start from $9.8 million. Since many of the customers are huge fans of the sports car, the villas will have glassed panels that display the car so owners can admire it all the time.
“The opportunity to live in the world’s first villas styled in Bugatti’s design language featuring key codes of the brand’s DNA is a unique opportunity to experience the fantastic brand in a whole new way,” said Ziad El Chaar, managing director of Damac’s Properties.
With Damac Properties and Buggati working together, we can’t wait to see what comes to life.
“We are delighted to be working with the Damac Properties on these unique living concepts, which reflect the key design codes of the Bugatti brand,” Massimiliano Ferrari, managing director of Bugatti Brand Lifestyle, said.
WE SAID THIS: Don’t miss 20 Things No One Tells You About Moving to Dubai


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A NEW Uber-style app that allows people to book a cleaner to come to their home has been rolled out across Perth.
The app, called FlashMop, even allows residents to rate their cleaners after they’ve done the job.
Founder Megan Harrison said she realised there was an opportunity after noticing how difficult it was to find and book a great cleaner when she needed one.
She said it was important that all Perth postcodes were covered before the app could be up and running.
“The app only has traction if we have enough availability and coverage to service the whole of Perth, and do it well,” she said.
All cleaners, or cleaning partners, booked through the app must go through a strict on-boarding system and are required to have police checks before signing up.
Ms Harrison said after every clean was completed, users rated their cleaner and the service they experienced, ensuring high standards were maintained.
The app can be downloaded from the iTunes app store or the Google Play store.
Click here for more information.


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Photo: Daily Monitor
Beer bottles go through a production line (file photo).
By Issa Aremu
Mni — Today, Monday November 20th is Africa industrialization Day (AID). It is a significant day declared by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) as an annual platform for Governments, businesses and organized labour linked to industrial development to examine ways and means to stimulate Africa industrialization process.
The officials of UNIDO in Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, manufacturers, relevant stakeholders, members of African affiliates of Industriall global union (with 59 million members in 149 countries) on Friday 17th of November, as part of the labour’s activities to mark the day, organized 6th Policy Dialogue which extensively focused on the “Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0): Implications for Africa” at Yar’Adua Centre.
Today, the stakeholders will also march for beneficiation and Industrialization of African economies from Eagle Square to same Yar’Adua Centre, where the 2017 commemorative event holds. The objective of the Policy Dialogue was to critically examine the opportunities for Africa to diversify its economy, promote mass decent employment with respect to workers’ rights within the context of digital/smart manufacturing (Industry 4.0).
As the Vice President of the global union, yours comradely moderated the policy dialogue which featured definition and understanding of Industry 4.0. Brother Brian Kohler, Director, Health, Safety and Sustainability, IndustriALL Global Union, Geneva, Switzerland ably led this discussion as he did at IndustriALL Global Union’s World Conference on “Industry 4.0: Implications for Trade Unions and Sustainable Industrial Policy” in Geneva, Switzerland between 26 -27 October 2017.
Industrialization and industrial policies as well as national development are too important to be left to governments and businesses alone. Indeed promoting sustainable industrial policy is one of the critical success goals of our global union. In Africa, promoting sustainable industrial policy even assumes a special importance.
Industry is a key driver of sustainable jobs and development for national economies and the foundation of good living standards. It does not matter whether it is first industrial revolution, (Industry 1.0), Second Industrial Revolution (2.0) Third Industrial Revolution (Industry 3.0) or the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), we as Africans must make what we wear (gold, rings and necklaces, clothes and textile), what we ride, (automobiles), what fuel our cars (petroleum products) what we build with (iron and steel), soaps we bath with, shoes we wear (chemicals and allied leather products) and generate energy we consume.
We must stop exporting raw cottons, crude oil, mineral resources, gold and diamond only to be importing finished goods from China, Europe and America. It does not matter whether it is small or medium scale enterprises, Africa must consume products it produces NOT imported or smuggled as it is the case in Nigeria. UNIDO over the years had shown that manufacturing industry in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) lags behind other developing regions in almost all measures of economic development, namely income per head, industrialization and agricultural productivity. The distribution of manufacturing activity in SSA, measured by the dollar value of manufacturing value added (MVA), is highly skewed.
There are three leading economies in Africa, Nigeria which worth some $406 billion, Egypt $332.3 billion and South Africa $294.1billion. However in terms of manufacturing value added South Africa at 25 per cent, Egypt at 20 per cent are ahead of Nigeria with scandalously less than 5 per cent. Ghana is even more industrialized than Nigeria at 6 per cent manufacturing value added (MVA). In 2015, Africa has as many as 1.2 billion population. Millions of youths join the labour market annually. Only industry can provide sustainable jobs and living wages and necessary revenues for government to provide the needed infrastructure for development.
There was once a developmentalist Nigeria leading in textile production, oil refinery, tyre (remember Dunlop and Michelin) and shoes production (remember Bata!). For Africa to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 2030, especially SDG 9 dealing with industry and innovation our continent must innovate and industrialize. Africa should stop being romantic and clapping for China through uncritical importation of goods and services.
Rather Africa must copy China’s industrialization drive which has within 20 years moved over 250 million people out of poverty through manufacturing and industrialization. Africa must make what it consumes, otherwise it will be consumed by the rest of the world. Most African countries have not reaped the benefits of the first industrial revolution yet we must live in a globalized world of digital and smart manufacturing and value addition.
Many African countries have robust documents and policies on industrialization and diversification, yet few existing industries are closing with mass job losses. It’s time South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana! Zimbabwe, Sudan walked/worked the policies and add value to the continent abundant raw materials.
Today we acknowledge and commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for launching the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). Together with the existing National Industrial Revolution Plan, it can promote revival of industries and creation of mass decent jobs. The chieftain of the ruling APC party Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu hit the right nail last week when he said: “No populous nation has ever attained prosperity without first establishing a robust industrial capacity.”
Nigeria and Africa must industrialize now or perpetually remain in poverty and living on aid and credits. We hail the states governors who have commendably taken to development and industrialization such as Godwin Obadeki with Edo industrial parks, Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto and Ayande of Cross River States with innovative garment factories. Governance must be judged based on how leaders increase manufacturing value added and how many sustainable decent jobs they create.
Happy Africa Industrialization Day (AID)!


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Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux continued their romantic vacation yesterday, stopping to grab a cup of coffee on the island of Kauai. The pair are doing their best to fit in with tourists and have been spotted visiting local fruit stands, shopping, and hanging with friends. Jen and Justin even dropped by Christine Taylor's 40th birthday celebration Monday night. Justin's the next one to mark the major milestone in his life when he turns the big 4-0 Aug. 10. Jen and Justin have a few more weeks to enjoy their vacation before work draws them back to the mainland. Their upcoming project Wanderlust is scheduled for an Oct. 7 release, though there's a possibility they could return to LA this weekend for the Teen Choice Awards, where Jen's nominated in two categories for her role in Just Go With It.
Posts for August 5th 2011
Prince Albert escorted his beautiful new bride, Princess Charlene of Monaco, to tonight's 63rd annual Red Cross Ball in their home of Monte Carlo. The princess stepped out in a jewel-toned Akris gown, which was a stark contrast to the classic white Armani dress she wore just last month during their lavish royal wedding. Charlene kept her hair pulled back and makeup simple to complement the stunning custom-made Van Cleef & Arpels piece she wore around her neck. The necklace was given to the princess as a gift from her husband and can also be worn as a tiara. It was reportedly designed to evoke memories of the ocean and is composed of 88 round diamonds, weighing in at over 44 total carats, with 10 pear-shaped diamonds and 359 sapphires!
TGIF, let's play!
Ben Affleck supported his three girls and his hometown boys, the Boston Red Sox, while out to breakfast in LA on Friday. Seraphina got playful in her dad's arms as they stepped out after the family meal while Jennifer Garner was on stuffed animal duty. The Garner-Affleck foursome reunited this week when Ben returned from his trip overseas to prepare for his next project Argo. Ben is both directing and starring in the film, which calls for his headline-making longer hair. Ben Affleck kicked off the week in Istanbul, where he met with city officials to talk about shooting his movie there. Jennifer, meanwhile, has been holding down the fort home in California with their tiny karate kid Violet and cutie Seraphina.
Jessica Simpson stepped out of a studio in LA yesterday in a leg-baring sequined gold minidress. Her fiancé, Eric Johnson, met up with Jess later in the evening at the Sunset Tower, though there was no sign of his parents who joined the engaged couple for cocktails over the weekend. Taping has already begun on Jessica's upcoming NBC fashion reality contest, Fashion Star, and according to sources Jess and her fellow judge, Nicole Richie, are getting along great. In addition to filming her show, Jessica's still looking for the perfect wedding dress and launching a new fragrance, I Fancy You. If that wasn't enough to keep her busy, she's also prepping for the Fall release of her latest shoe, clothing, denim, and signature bag collection.
Miranda had her adorable son Flynn on her hip and her red Prada bag on her arm yesterday in Sydney. The model mom has been hanging out with Flynn and her husband Orlando Bloom in her native country for the last week, and while she's had Flynn by her side for much of the trip, she's also been fitting in some work. Miranda sported a sexy swimsuit in David Jones's fashion show on Tuesday, topped off a Summer dress with a fascinator for a shoot last weekend, and stopped for a photocall at the David Jones department store shortly after landing down under. Miranda and her family will likely enjoy some time off during their stay, since she told us back in May that they plan to make the trip a bit of a vacation and a chance to visit with her family.


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The late U.S. Senator Russell Long was a keen observer of how our elected officials go about deciding the intricacies of tax policy. During his long tenure as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee (1966-1981) he was especially resourceful at deciding whom to tax. Actually, his recipe for creating taxes was quite simple. He put it this way, “Don’t tax you. Don’t tax me. Tax that fellow behind the tree.”
There is a lesson in that maxim for every business in the pet industry. It doesn’t take much for enterprising politicians to conclude that the pet industry is that fellow behind the tree. The pet industry, which represents a marketplace of over $50 billion, could find itself an easy target for special taxes. It is an industry that generates lots of revenues but is not known as a lobbying powerhouse or as a major political contributor. Elected officials like to pick on easy marks that they expect will not fight back.
It takes revenue to fund government at federal, state and local levels. We all know Uncle Sam finds himself in serious debt, and his cousins in the state and local governments are struggling to make ends meet. Once the government has taxed individuals and business to the fullest extent possible, enterprising elected officials seek new avenues for revenue. Usually, these new revenue sources are products or services that the public has a proclivity to purchase in volume. Anything that sells tends to be fair game for a special tax levy. Pet products, and even pets themselves, are not immune from this taxing trend.
In fact, we are already witnessing the first wave of this new tax grab. Some state legislators are introducing special tax measures aimed at dog food sales to pay for spay and neuter programs. Other states are contemplating taxes or new fees on the sale of pets. Still others want to increase fees on breeders. All of these special taxes are on top of sales taxes. The easy way that legislators gain support for these tax initiatives is to earmark the new revenue for a “worthy cause.” Another tactic that legislators employ is hiding these taxes from consumers by making the manufacturer or the distributor pay the tab, so consumers don’t see the tax. Although costs of these hidden taxes or new fees get passed on to consumers, they often do not realize what happened until it is too late.
Most businesses do not believe they will ever fall victim to this taxing tactic. A little history lesson says otherwise. First, it happened to the so-called sin products—alcohol and tobacco. Now, soft drinks have been added to this taxing mix. Almost any product could be next in line, including pets and pet products. And once a tax makes it way on the books it tends to stay, and over time it tends to increase.
Maryland and Washington state are pioneering special tax initiatives in their states, making the initial distributor or “responsible buyer” of large volumes of pet food pay a spay/neuter fee. States are also coupling so-called inspection fees for pet food and specialty pet food along with spay/neuter fees. Expect to see even more efforts along these lines in the near future.
Groomers and breeders are in the crosshairs too. Expect the purpose for these special taxes or fees to vary, depending on where there is a funding shortfall for any government program that is animal related.
Senator Long made another observation that speaks to the pet industry’s predicament when it comes to special taxes.He said, “Democracy is like a raft. It won’t sink, but you will always have your feet wet.” Given the accelerated special tax trend we are witnessing, the pet industry will have wet feet for some time to come as it fends off these unwarranted special tax challenges. If the pet industry is to succeed in stopping these taxes, an industry-wide commitment will be needed to persuade politicians that their insatiable appetite for special taxes should not include pets or pet products.
Charlie Sewell is executive vice president, external affairs, for the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC). For more information about PIJAC, visit pijac.org.


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Los Angeles: Singer Britney Spears will reportedly perform her first live performance of “Make Me” alongside G-Eazy at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards.
G-Eazy, 27, visited a store whose owner revealed on the social media that the rapper himself told them that he will be performing with the Spears at the VMA, reported AceShowbiz.
“So G-Eazy came into my store today. He’s performing with Britney at the VMAs,” he wrote on Facebook.
When one of the fan asked if the information is true, the store owner replied, “100 per cent he shops with my co-worker.


text: JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng - More than a third (35%) of car owners considering a new car in the near future say they will possibly not buy from the same brand they currently drive.The data comes from Ipsos, which conducts national surveys that claim to provide accurate data in measuring the views and opinions of South Africans.Rentia Kramer, head of loyalty research at Ipsos SA, said: “What this means is that car manufacturers count on less than 30% repeat purchases, which shows a low level of automotive brand loyalty.” IMAGE MATTERS?This lack, the Ipsos report says, is most noticeable among buyers aged 25-34 and among better-paid people - the very market which automakers find the most attractive. Kramer asks: “Seeing that car buyers are considering switching brands, what are the most important aspects influencing car brand choice?"The study, Ipsos says, shows 28% of vehicle owners stated that price was the most important consideration in a vehicle purchase. This was followed by brand reputation (15%), fuel efficiency (13%) and engine size (12.5%).The study also showed a subtle trend towards down-scaling – 28% of car-owners were considering buying cars smaller in terms of price, actual size and engine size.Kramer claimed: “These price/cost factors are most likely influenced by general economic conditions, inflation and ever-increasing pressure on household budgets but we also know that brand reputation is largely influenced by experience, indicating the importance of positive experiences with the brand throughout the ownership experience.”Such experiences could be of the vehicle, sales and after-sales service and at the dealer. A positive customer experience contributed greatly towards brand loyalty.3730 face-to-face interviews were conducted for the study with randomly selected adult South Africans from February 20 to March 28 2014.


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Marvel has revealed the first official Spider-Man NFTs.The NFT will be released on 7th August. It is also releasing a lot more spiderman NFTs in its Spider-Man statue initiative. Marvel has partnered with VeVe Digital Collectibles app and Orbis Blockchain Technologies Limited to launch the NFT. This would give Marvel a brand new lane in the digital and/or cryptocurrency markets.
NFTs are one of the fastest-growing commodities on the digital market. They’ve been giving collectors vouchers for rare digital collectible items like the original images that became famous memes, or high-value digital pieces of pop culture, music, and/or sports memorabilia. Now comic book superhero memorabilia will officially be part of that evolving market.
“Spider-Man is one of the most legendary Super Heroes in the Marvel Universe, so there was no better way to kick off our global digital collectibles experience with VeVe,” said Dan Buckley, President, Marvel Entertainment. “We can’t wait to bring Marvel fans and collectors even more exciting drops throughout August and beyond.”
According to the press release Veve’s Marvel Spider-Man statue initiative will include:
- Common – Spider-Man – The Amazing Spider-Man Price: $40.00 – Quantity: 32,000
- Uncommon – Spider-Man – Hangin’ Out Price: $50.00 – Quantity: 16,000
- Rare – Spider-Man – Jump Into Action Price: $100.00 – Quantity: 9,000
- Ultra-Rare – Spider-Man – Animated Price: $250.00 – Quantity: 2,500
- Secret-Rare – Spider-Man – Ultimate Animated Price: $400.00 – Quantity: 1,000
Earlier this year Marvel had announced the launch of NFTs in partnership with The VeVe App. It also plans to launch 3D statues and comic books in future.
Marvel Entertainment LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. It is mainly known for its own comic book by Marvel Comics. The comic book characters highly owned by the company are Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine.


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India’s shift towards protectionism is increasingly evident with tariffs being deployed as a policy instrument to boost domestic manufacturing capabilities. However, scant attention has been given to the policy’s viability. The article examines the claim of rising protectionism in India and attempts to establish a case for Indian industry through the linkages in trade and historical evidence on FTAs. It also reasons that India will have to re-look some of its existing trade practices in order to be integrated into the global supply chain, especially at this crucial juncture when countries are looking for alternatives to China in manufacturing.
Angira Shukla and Nissy Solomon
Protectionism in India is often synonymous with the pre-liberalisation era after which the country relaxed its trade restrictions with the rest of the world. Therefore, when the 45th US President Donald Trump called India as a “Tariff king,” it sparked a media chase on India’s trade policies.
After pulling out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in November, the tariff for medical equipment, footwear and furniture was increased followed by a ban on defence equipment and refrigerants later in the year. According to the latest data compiled by the World Trade Organization (WTO),India’s real tariff has increased from 13.5 per cent in 2014 to an average of 17.6 per cent in 2019. Trade-weighted average tariff too rose from 7 per cent to 10.3 per cent between 2014 and 2018, showing that protectionism is rising in real terms. There have been changes in customs sphere such as increase in customs duty on finished goods as well as on certain raw materials, stringent measures to ensure Free Trade Agreement (FTA) compliances, introduction of tariff quota as a safeguard measure and enabling provisions for imposition of non-tariff import restrictions. These have been accompanied by rising non-tariff restrictions as well.
At a time when India faces some of the highest unemployment rates in the decades after independence, the Atmanirbhar Bharat package was launched as a means to stimulate the economy by merging domestic production and consumption with global supply chains without being self-contained or being closed to the world. Atmanirbhar India aims to turn the country into a manufacturing hub, a sector which has accounted for not more than 17 percent of the GDP in the last decade despite having such a large pool of skilled and unskilled workforce.
The population of the country leads us to have a comparative advantage over other emerging Asian hubs like Bangladesh and Vietnam. Yet, India has failed to integrate itself into global value chains (GVC) with its potential. The Modi government has been publicising the sentiment of export-orientation and entrepreneurship since 2016 through the Startup India and Make in India initiatives. The Atmanirbhar package takes it forward through increased investment in domestic industries in the form of credit.
The government, in its defence on the rhetoric of protectionism, points out to the disadvantage that India has had through its past FTAs. Another argument is that it will help reduce India’s merchandise trade deficit unless the exports are ready with the capacity to compete at the global stage. The current regime rationalises this protectionist policy at a time when most of the developed world are looking to shift manufacturing base from China.
First, the data does not support the claim that FTAs are causing our skewed export track record. In the years of high growth [2004-05 to 2009-10], exports were rising faster than the GDP growth rate and as a share of GDP when India became a much more open economy by usual measures. Between 1995 and 2018, India’s overall export growth was the third largest in the world, averaging around 13.4 per cent annually (in $). This shows that, historically, a more open economy has been beneficial in terms of the growth of exports as well as its share in GDP.
Figure 2: Growth Rate in Imports
Second, the goal professed by the government was to give space to the domestic industries to make growth in exports, but the actions seem to suggest otherwise. The tariff regime is unlikely to improve the scope for Indian exports as it incorporates imported goods to the extent of 50 per cent of their value, meaning that the majority of these imported goods are used for making export products. In that sense, the goal to reduce trade deficit would be fulfilled but it would not be because of an increase in the share of export in GDP, but due to a fall in imports. This hampers the overall continuum of production.
Even though India’s trade deficit with three of its FTA partners and China has been rising and is a concern, this problem arose not merely from increasing merchandise imports, but more from the inability of India’s merchandise exports to find access in the international markets. Data does not show a fall in overall imports despite the rising tariff structures in place. The growth rates for imports fell in the years 2013 to 2016, but again grew by 24 per cent and 39 per cent in the subsequent years. The year-on-year imports of products like base metal mounting, fitting or similar items meant for furniture, etc, fell by only 3.7 per cent in the year 2019-20, when overall merchandise imports were down by as much as 7.8 per cent.
Exports, on the other hand, show a slow trend growth of 8 per cent in the current decade as opposed to 17.3 per cent in the previous decade. The growth was even lower in the second half of this decade (at 1.4 per cent between 2014-15 and 2018-19).This regime does not facilitate the industries to function optimally through free movement of goods.
Figure 3: Growth Rate in Exports
Even if the budget is subliminally trying to target the domestic market, it is important to examine how the reforms affect the efficiency of the domestic market. Countries like China, South Korea, Bangladesh and Vietnam have a high number of small to medium-sized firms to whom subsidiary work like assembling, packing, etc are outsourced. This trend is missing from the Indian industrial sector. In India, even if we ignore the lack of infrastructural constraints, the share of these kinds of firms is missing.
The IMF expects India’s per capita GDP to decline by 10.5 per cent to US$ 1,877 in 2020. An inward looking policy that solely focuses on the Indian markets may also not work in the long term due to the large share of the lower income class, who cannot afford the relatively higher-cost Indian products.
Figure 4: Herfindahl-Hirschman Market Concentration Index
If we examine the trend of Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), which measures the concentration of big companies in the Indian market, we observe that the share of the biggest companies in India has been rising since 2014. An increase in HHI is an indication of decreased competition in the market and that the concentration of market power is increasingly going into the hands of a few, which is a sign away from entrepreneurial capitalism.
An increased tariff regime will only prompt business uncertainty and further avert investments, making it more difficult for smaller firms to get access to finance. India fell by 10 positions in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index to 68 in the year 2019. Factors underlying this include inadequate infrastructure, restrictive land and labour policy, among others. Niti Aayog studies on trade agreements have shown that Indian exporters suffer logistics, compliance and transaction costs twice as high in other countries. According to an HSBC report, India’s domestic bottlenecks explain 50 per cent of the recent slowdown in overall exports, by world growth (33 per cent) and exchange rate (just 17 per cent). Long procedural waiting times and unpredictable policy framework have led to significant problems in the industry. An example of this, Facebook Inc. waited for two years for approval for WhatsApp to send and receive payments. Even if we consider low cost of (informal) labour, the structural problems pertaining to the industry such as transportation and communication drive up the cost of production. As per World Bank parameters, India’s logistic cost is as much as two-three times of the global benchmarks. To cement our presence in global value chains, it is important that we set right institutional policies that enable open and more competitive spirit in the market. Increased protectionism will not contribute in reducing the cost of production for the manufacturers.
In a bid to enhance domestic capabilities, the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme was recently initiated, which gives government subsidy to firms for a limited period on incremental sales such that minimum qualifying criteria of investment and sales are met.
Although it is a much better alternative to the tariff-based policy, concerns remain regarding its implementation. There is incongruence in tariff policy with the PLI Scheme making it more difficult for market players to navigate through the system. The high customs duty placed on many products, when continued for too long, thwarts the idea of raising India’s competitiveness. For PLI to be successful, a strict sunset clause is imperative coupled with a gradual phasing out of high customs duty, to truly achieve global competence.
More openness to trade is important for sustainable growth of the economy. Foreign Direct Investments will be a major driver of the implementation as it brings global practices, technological exchanges and access to bigger markets. In the COVID-19 era when companies are looking to diversify their investments, it is important that India avoid backsliding into protectionism and instead create the right institutional support that enables an open and technologically-innovative ecosystem.
Angira Shukla is Research Intern under CPPR Articleship programe and Nissy Solomon is Senior Research Associate at Centre for Public Policy Research. Views expressed by the authors are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of Centre for Public Policy Research.
Featured Image Source: Deccan Herald
Amendment to Section 11 of the Customs Act, 1962
 NITI Aayog – A Note on Free Trade Agreements and their Costs.
Dhar, Biswajit, and Ramaa Arun Kumar. 2020. “Union Budget and the Trade Sector.” EPW, February 29, 2020.


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The research assessed volume expansion in cells with NMC cathodes and E-magy’s nano-porous silicon anodes through 100 cycles. “E-magy has developed a nano-porous silicon which absorbs the expansion in the nano structure itself,” says the company.
In an article published in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society, the researchers write: “Considering the cycling time required to reach the 80% capacity retention threshold, the cell expanded in total less than 1% of its original thickness.”
According to E-magy, this is the first time that a less than 1% battery cell expansion has been demonstrated in a silicon-dominant lithium-ion battery.
“With silicon-dominant anodes becoming a reality, we will see a whole slew of new product categories that have simply not been possible until now,” says E-magy CEO Casper Peeters.


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West Roxbury’s local restaurants were in competition mode for two weeks this month, putting their best burgers on display to win West Roxbury Main Streets' Burger Wars in the neighborhood.
Between March 5 and 16, nine West Roxbury restaurants participated in , in a (WRMS) competition, an organization that promotes and enhances West Roxbury’s business district. A dollar of each burger purchased is going to WRMS' revitalization efforts.
Barely a year in business, found a creative and simplistic way to make a name for itself. Owners Dermot Loftus and Paul Murphy heard about the competition through WRMS and thought it would be a good idea to participate. Their “Classic Burger” has since gained a lot of attention over the recent weeks and is now a force to be reckoned with in West Roxbury's restaurant circle.
The Porter Café was honored on Saturday afternoon with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Their award of recognition was presented by WRMS and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
When Loftus and Murphy found out their burger won the competition, they were ecstatic and totally shocked.
“We were really surprised,” said Loftus. “We’re still a fairly new business and being one of the smallest restaurants in the neighborhood, it was nice to get some recognition.”
The owners are anticipating an upswing in burger sales with the win. More importantly, they are grateful for the neighborhood support, citing that 99.9 percent of their customers are from the West Roxbury, Roslindale, Hyde Park and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods.
Their juicy and flavorful burger made of 8 oz. prime chuck beef, cheddar, housemade mayonnaise and red onion relish attracted 269 votes within the first 12 days of the competition. Their secret – simplicity.
“That’s the whole idea behind our concept,” said Murphy. “We execute things simply and excellently.”
When Mayor Menino was asked to describe his burger experience, he simply stated, “Mmm, mmm, mmm…delicious! Now, I know why this burger was voted the winner.”
The participating restaurants included , , , , , , and . Each participating restaurant donated $1 from the sale of their signature burger to fund West Roxbury Main Streets. Each dollar counted as one vote. In addition, WRMS created an online poll, which counted for 25 percent of the vote.
The inspiration behind the competition came from West on Centre co-owner Eleanor Greene, who was influence by a social burger and beer event held at the MET Bar & Grill in Chestnut Hill. She presented the idea and WRMS and they ran with it.
“This was a great idea by Main Streets to promote local businesses,” said At-Large City Councilor John Connolly. “I think it’s part of our job to support these businesses because they are vital to this neighborhood’s identity.”
West Roxbury's District Councilor Matt O’Malley emphasized that for every $100 spent in a local business, approximately $67 comes back to the community through payroll, taxes and many other ways. More so than from a commercialized business. “That’s why it’s so important to partronize businesses like this,” said O’Malley.
During the course of the competition, more than 600 burgers were consumed. WRMS Executive Director Kara O’Connor couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.
“Sounded like a great idea to highlight, publicize and generate excitement around the restaurants in our community,” said O’Connor. “This is exactly the type of attention we were hoping for from the community."
Conveniently, the competition served as a precursor to the upcoming WRMS event in May.
Menino praised WRMS for their efforts as he recalled their four prong approach to community revitalization: enhancing physical appearance, improving economic stability; marketing features and benefits, as well as promoting community involvement.
“You need creativity to stay relevant these days,” said Menino. “Mom and pop businesses are the backbone of our city and simply maintaining the status quo means going backwards.”
So what “war” will come next? Battle of the pizzas, desserts, fries? We’ll see says O’Connor.
For now, “It’s good to see healthy competition that brings out the best of our neighborhood,” said State Rep. Ed Coppinger, D-West Roxbury.