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- Daily Zen
Johnson & Johnson has picked up a new CEO, to succeed Bill Weldon after his retirement in April this year. The healthcare giant J&J said its decade-old Chief Executive Officer William Weldon will step down from his post in April. To succeed him is the vice chairman Alex Gorsky, as the ninth chief executive officer of the 126 year-old company, while Weldon, aged 63, remains the chairman of the board.
Bill Weldon, who has served as CEO of Johnson & Johnson since 2002 and will remain on the company’s board of directors as chairman, said in a statement given to a business magazine that the selection process for his successor was thorough.
Weldon said, “This succession decision involved a rigorous, thorough and formal multi-year process, which included consideration of two superbly qualified internal candidates, as well as outside candidates. The future of J& J is in very capable hands.”
Several manufacturing magazines report that Gorsky, aged 51, is currently vice chairman of the company’s executive committee with responsibility for the Medical Devices & Diagnostics Group, Global Supply Chain, Health Care Compliance & Privacy and Government Affairs & Policy.
Gorksy’s appointment is effective April 26, 2012, the date of the healthcare giant J&J’s annual meeting of shareholders. He was also nominated for election to the board of directors at the annual meeting.
Weldon and the product recalls
Most likely, the news agencies must be focusing the stories of the announcement of the new CEO on the product recalls that have dogged the company for the past few years. But that seems a bit unfair, for Bill Weldon deserves credit for a lot of good management over his decade-plus near the top of one of the world’s biggest health care companies, and the consumer products debacle shouldn’t even rank among his worst foul-ups.
Over Weldon’s ten-year reign, J&J experienced its shares outperforming Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and even Abbott Laboratories. The healthcare giant J&J also launched more drugs than its rivals – 11 during his term as chief executive and three more during his time as head of the pharmaceuticals business, between 1998 and 2002.
Gorsky’s time spend in J&J
Alex Gorsky first joined Johnson & Johnson as a sales representative for Janssen Pharmaceutica. Gorksy had advanced his way to become the president of Janssen by 2001. In 2003, Alex Gorsky was promoted to oversee Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Thereafter he left J&J in 2004 and returned back after four years as head of pharmaceuticals in North America at Novartis. Gorsky was appointed as worldwide chairman of the surgical care group as well as the company’s executive committee, in 2009.
Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor said, “Gorsky is a conservative choice and the strongest internal candidate. That’s a big deal at a company that always taps an insider as its next CEO, even if what they need is someone from outside the team that led the company into so much trouble.”


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Due to the massive effects on Hurricane Sandy in New York City, Microsoft has permanently closed its Microtropolis art exhibit, designed to help promote Windows 8, at Pier 57 in Manhattan.
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As promised, Microsoft has launched a temporary art exhibit, Microtropolis, at Pier 57 in New York City that celebrates Manhattan by combining Windows 8 devices inside a 160 foot version of the island
Microsoft has announced Microtropolis, an art exhibit in New York City that features a 160 foot version of the city that will launch on October 26th as part of the Windows 8 launch.

domain: news


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Last July 10, 2015, the Secretary of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, was visited by the US Trade Representative Michael Froman, in order to check the remaining issues of the negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and analyze the steps to achieve the objective of concluding the negotiations this year.
During the meeting, both officials stressed the importance of finding balances and convergences in the negotiations of the Agreement, and thereby fulfill the mandate of the leaders of the TPP member countries to conclude the Agreement as soon as possible.
The United States and Mexico have progressed considerably, reaching agreements on outstanding bilateral issues. The next ministerial meeting, to be held from 28 to July 31, 2015, represents an important opportunity to agree on outstanding issues in the negotiations.
The TPP will allow North America to consolidate itself as a platform for exports to the Asia-Pacific region (one of the most economically dynamic regions) and the world, while contributing to making North America the most competitive region.
For Mexico, the TPP will allow to diversify their exports with a preferential access to new markets. Currently, the TPP has 12 members: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, United States, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
In 2014, the 12 countries of the TPP accounted for 38% of the total Gross Domestic Product; 23.8% of world exports; 28% of world imports; and 11% of the world population.


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May had failed to win a parliamentary majority on Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.Europe Politicsread more
Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg has held talks with the Winklevoss twins, his old rivals, about the social media giant's developing digital currency, the Financial Times...Bitcoinread more
Analyst Michael Olson says he has "a high degree of confidence" that Amazon shares can reach the level without "significant changes to the business."Investingread more
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler says Mueller told the committee he would make his opening statement before the public.Politicsread more
The biggest U.S. gasoline price surge in years is running out of steam just in time for the start of the summer driving season.Energyread more
A downgrade from BMO analysts led to an unsavory drop in Chipotle's stock, and some analysts are advising waiting out the weakness.Trading Nationread more
Breaking up the social network won't lead to better data protection, said former Facebook executive Chris Kelly.Technologyread more
Investors are rushing into the relative safe haven of the bond market, causing the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury to plummet.Real Estateread more
Sears opens its first Home & Life stores and plans to open more as it looks for a fresh start after bankruptcy.Retailread more
New orders for U.S.-made capital goods fell more than expected in April, further evidence that manufacturing and the broader economy were slowing.Economyread more
A recent survey found that 23% of Americans say that paying for basic necessities such as rent, utilities and food contributes the most to their credit card debt.Make It - Become Debt-Freeread more
Shanghai Disneyland is "very impressive" and could definitely add to the profitability of Walt Disney over the next few years, analyst Anthony DiClemente said Thursday.
That's because the story is about more than just the theme park, which opened Thursday and is Disney's first in mainland China.
"This is about Disney's brand globally. It's about planting a flag in China. ... It really will extend not only to the parks but also to the studio segment, to the consumer product segment," the senior media and internet analyst at Nomura said in an interview with CNBC's "Closing Bell. "
"It's something that over the course of the next 10, 20, 30 years will definitely help the operating results of Disney."
DiClemente, who has a "buy" rating on Disney, visited Shanghai Disney earlier this week. He said the rides and technology are very new compared to the company's existing parks.
"Demand is quite strong. I think the Chinese are going to love it," he said.
The park's highly anticipated debut was overshadowed by the fatal alligator attack on a 2-year-old at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday. The toddler was playing in the water on a beach near Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa when he was dragged away by the alligator.
Disclosure: DIS is an investment banking client of Nomura.


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Amid rising concerns about the environmental and human threats posed by rubber, Bridgestone and Michelin lead the search for green alternatives
Rubber: ubiquitous and versatile. It’s in everything from tyres to chewing gum; condoms to golf balls. Millions of tonnes of natural and synthetic rubber are produced each year in a market worth billions. But is it sustainable?
The answer is no. Natural rubber prices are volatile, and there are very real climatic and environmental threats to production, along with concerns about the exploitation of workers and destruction of biodiversity.
Tyre makers, the biggest users of rubber, have been much slower than consumer goods companies, which depend on palm oil, to take a close look at their supply chains - an issue highlighted earlier this summer, when Michelin became the first tyre company to announce plans to source deforestation-free rubber.
Yet as researchers from the University of East Anglia’s School of Environmental Sciences point out, rubber plantations cover about 70% of the land area occupied by oil palm. And almost the entire global supply of natural rubber – some 11 million tonnes in 2015 – comes from Southeast Asia, and is threatened by climate change and vulnerable to disease and environmental hazards.
An international research effort led by...


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Brewster Pratap sponsor SY100 Art Exhibition
Published: 18th October 2017
Brewster Pratap are very proud to be once again sponsoring the South Yorkshire Community Foundation’s annual SY100 event. This year, the Foundation are offering you the chance to view a fantastic exhibition by the talented bunch from Artistic Spectrum.
Artistic Spectrum is a unique not-for-profit group which uses art therapy to support people of all ages, who are on the autistic spectrum. Their work has been exhibited in London, Nottingham, Hull and Doncaster to great acclaim.
The exhibition will include the reveal of a bespoke work of art featuring a famous South Yorkshire face which will be up for silent auction on the evening.
All proceeds from the event will go to South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation and Artistic Spectrum.
We are excited to also announce that on the day you will get the chance to contribute to a piece of art, which will be created during the event.
- Drinks and canapés reception.
- Attendees will also be able to purchase their own drinks at the venues bar.
- Tickets cost £5, which includes your own high-quality print of one of the Artistic Spectrum's pieces of art to take home or display in your office.
- Please provide any access or dietary requirements when purchasing your ticket(s) or email firstname.lastname@example.org


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Dr. Phil suffered a huge blow on Monday.
The TV psychologist, 61, is short one classic car after his 1957 Chevrolet convertible was stolen from a Burbank, Calif. auto repair shop.
TMZ reports that the star and classic car collector (full name: Phillip McGraw) had been attempting to start the beloved vehicle, suffering transmission problems, at his Beverly Hills home. He finally had the car transported via flatbed to the repair shop.
Hours later, the shop informed McGraw that the convertible, worth $100,000, had been stolen. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that the thiefs smashed a roll-up door at the repair shop in order to swipe the classic car.
Dr. Phil has yet to comment on the theft.
This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Dr. Phil's Car Stolen from Repair Shop
- Jan. 16, 2018 Check out Chris Hemsworth's best (and worst) films
- Jan. 16, 2018 Is January Jones dating Nick Viall? Plus, more news


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QR codes aren't exactly considered groundbreaking anymore, you see them practically everywhere, but how about on a headstone? That's right, a headstone. Quiring Monuments, a company that manufactures tombstones and the like, now provides the option of placing a QR code on your loved one's headstone. The QR code would lead to a sort of online bio of the deceased, managed by a family member. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a nifty idea, but I'd like to know how others feel about this. Is it perhaps a little strange? Or is it on par with the times?
As QR codes continue to gain popularity, and art directors continue to cringe, companies are taking the scannable bar code to new levels. Skanz, a tech startup, is the first to create what they claim to be the world’s largest QR code. The 10,000 square foot QR code at Wall Stadium Speedway in New Jersey seems like quite a lot of labor for a rather dubious payoff. In fact, Skanz’s giant QR code is no longer a novelty; an “art-and-tech collective” in Charlotte, North Carolina recently created it’s own 10,000 square foot QR code on the roof of a scrap yard. The creator of the giant QR code in Charlotte admits, “This one doesn’t have that much of a practical purpose, other than it’s a fun project and it beats sitting around watching TV.” Although the honesty is appreciated, I wonder why either company didn’t use the time, manpower and 80 gallons of paint used to create their giant QR codes to produce something more artistic and aesthetically pleasing. On top of being pretty unattractive, these giant QR codes aren’t even scannable, so what’s the point? Do you think this was a waste of time and money or significant advertising?


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Tag - MacNN Podcast
It's another milestone episode for The MacNN Podcast -- our 60th episode (gotta listen to 'em all!), and in aggregate with our other podcast One More Thing and our short-lived (but returning soonish!) Off Topic podcast, we got to a total podcast output of 101 episodes so far (the OMT crew actually bumped us to 100 aggregate with their episode 35, available here if you haven't given it a try). More reason to celebrate, so we brought in a special guest and messed around with things a bit.
Can we just mention that we were right last week? We said, we actually said that if you go down to an Apple Store and wait for an hour, you might get a new MacBook. Okay, we didn't phrase it quite so specifically and actually we may possibly have meant iMacs rather than MacBooks but the principle holds: we called it. Which means this week, we have to keep that prediction record up.
This week, The MacNN Podcast deals with an unusually wide variety of topics, ranging from serious (the future of encryption) to farcical (we'd daresay anyone listening could design a better theoretical Apple Car than what Motor Trend came up with). This is a pretty good week for Apple fans, a bad week for BlackBerry fans, and a goldmine for "what th--?" type news stories. We talk about what we'd do if we ran Apple, the latest DOJ-FBI shenanigans, and much more, along with a very unusual App of the Week.
We were ready to go all profound – wait, that is different from profane, isn't it? –– over what's been happening with William Gallagher's beloved TextExpander. Before we'd opened our gobs, though, makers Smile Software walked back a lot of the problems and reacted to its customers in a way that you can only applaud. So well done them and we are pleased, but we had a great pun ready for you with the word 'TextExpander'.
We confess, this week the news was a little on the bad side in the world of Apple and tech in general: the War on Encryption continues with new shenanigans from the formerly-respectable FBI and DOJ; the MacBundler/BundleCult/MightyLoots saga continues with tales of dual (at least) identities, angry unpaid developers, and (we would have to say) a bizarre "apology" that suggests that the wolf resume guarding the hen house one more time. Then there's Smile, which has put a few frowns on a few faces this week. Find out why Mike and Charles are feeling a little Statler & Waldorf this week on episode 58 of The MacNN Podcast, and get a smoking hot good deal thrown into the bargain.
You've done this, haven't you? You're sitting there in your kitchen, having a chat, and somehow you get someone's name wrong. You keep calling them by the wrong name and when you or your friends eventually realise what's happened, you've had hilarious consequences and/or slander legal suits. Fortunately, the kitchen at MacNN has this great kettle that just so happens to beep over precisely the right syllables.
We can tell you right up front what Malcolm Owen would like to make his Thingy of the Week – but can't. It would be a new iPad Pro but at the moment, that's at best the Thingy of the Week for some courier company and throughout this One More Thing you're going to picture Malcolm looking out of the window for them to arrive.
Having shirked our responsibilities because recording a podcast on the Friday before a major Apple event on Monday would be a fool's errand, The MacNN Podcast returns this week with analysis of the March 21 Apple Event, discovers the meaning of the cryptic press invitation tagline (maybe), celebrates the 15th anniversary of OS X, updates you on the latest wrinkles in the FBI and DOJ cases against encryption, and revives talk about the Apple Car because why not. All this and much, much more on this jam-packed catch-up episode.
Nobody predicted that the FBI would blink at this point in their dispute with Apple. Certainly Apple didn't: it broke a habit the day before by addressing the issue at its product launch. William Gallagher and guest Charles Martin, editor of MacNN look at what happened and use some first-class hindsight to see why it probably had to happen this way, this time. They're still not buying it, though.
Owing to the timing of the Apple Event later today and the encryption dispute hearing on Tuesday, Charles and Mike of The MacNN Podcast realized that most of the things they would say on Friday would be made irrelevant by today, so there won't be an episode this week. There will, however, still be an episode of the UK crew's One More Thing podcast, and that will be their chance to comment on the events of Monday, the court hearing, and much more.
Now AAPL Stock: 93.74 ( -1.09 )
Tor Myhren starts as VP of Communications
After an initial announcement in December, Apple on Friday added former Grey Group chief creative officer Tor Myhren to its leadership roster as VP of Marketing Communications, placing the well-known ad exec in charge of Apple's advertising and Internet marketing efforts, as well as having a hand in packaging design. He will report directly to CEO Tim Cook, and is replacing the retired Hiroki Asai, who left Apple after 18 years with the company. Myhren is expected to continue Apple recent push into more "lifestyle" marketing rather than product-centric ads, such as the well-remembered "I'm a Mac" campaign from last decade. http://apple.co/1Wwf0Dd
Marseilles Apple Store to open May 14
Apple has officially announced its newest retail store in France, which is to open in the southern port city of Marseilles in the Les Terrasses du Port shopping center on May 14 at 10AM local time. It will be the 19th full retail store Apple has opened in the country, or 20th if one includes the Apple Watch-only boutique at Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Apple is said to be planning a new showcase Paris store to be located on the Champs-Élysées. http://apple.co/1pP77vO
Maps adds Flyover, Suggestions locations
Apple has updated Maps to include Spotlight Suggestions for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, allowing users to search both internally and across the web on both Mac and iOS devices for data in Spotlight. In addition, the company has added Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and Akron, Ohio to the 3D Flyover feature, offering computer-enhanced aerial views of the two areas -- and has activated real-time traffic information for Thailand, which will augment services like reminders to incorporate estimated travel times for appointments, as an example. The company recently added Nearby searches to five countries, and rolled out transit directions for Montreal in Canada and Portland, Oregon. http://apple.co/1Lh1Zel
Verizon gives last offer, issues workers ultimatum
Verizon has offered striking workers its "last, best and final offer" following 10 months of protracted negotiations with union leaders. The latest offer comes on the back of 36,000 Verizon employees taking strike action two weeks ago. The proposal includes a 7.5 percent wage rise, better benefits and voluntary retirement incentive offers. The striking workers, mainly on from its fixed line operations, have claimed that Verizon has outsourced 5,000 jobs to workers overseas and that it has been deliberately hiring low-wage, non-union contractors. Verizon recently posted revenue of $32.2 billion for the March quarter. http://cnnmon.ie/26AmwSv
CarPlay comes to Porsche 718 Cayman
Porsche has revealed that its new 718 Cayman series will be the latest vehicles in its range equipped with support for Apple CarPlay. The new Porsche models joins the recently announced 718 Boxster, the 2017 Macans and the 2016 model of the 911 in offering support for Apple's iOS in the car interface. Both are fitted standard with an eight speaker sound system and the Porsche Communications Management (PCM) system. The entry-level Cayman starts at $53,9000, while the faster S variant starts from $66,300. Although already on sale, the won't reach US dealers until late November. http://prn.to/1Tj1EW7
Macphun offers free Photos filters
Image editing software maker Macphun are offering a free set of up to 30 photo filter effects to extend the range of filter options available to users of Apple's Photos app for OS X, which replaced the previous iPhoto program. The first 15 filters are available after installing the software, and includes filters such as "Ancient Canvas" and "Twilight," while users who sign up for the Macphun newsletter will unlock the other 15 effects. The extension integrates directly into Photos, and include sliders for finer control of the effects and a masking brush. http://bit.ly/1VEgQD6
Snapchat sued over speed filter photo overlay
Accident victims in Spalding County, GA are suing Snapchat, as well as the driver responsible for the accident. The suit alleges that the app's "speed filter," which can post the speed that which a picture was taken, encouraged driver Christal McGee to attempt to reach 100 miles per hour in her car, leading to the accident that caused both Wentworth and Karen Maynard serious injuries. The suit alleges Wentworth Maynard suffered brain damage in the incident. McGee posted a photo of herself in a cervical collar on the way to the hospital, saying that she was "lucky to be alive." Snapchat has not commented on the lawsuit. http://abcn.ws/24nhR49


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D23 has been filled with special announcements and surprises. From a brand new “Moana” attraction coming to Epcot at Walt Disney World to “Avengers Campus” officially being named for the super-hero land at Disneyland’s California Adventure special Disney+ details to highlight anticipated sequels and new Disney films, the surprises just keep pouring in. And now we have even bigger news!
Fans have been waiting for news like this, and now their dreams have officially come true! A brand new parade will debut in Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom.
During the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products panel at D23, Bob Chapek, Chairman of Parks, Experiences and Products, announced that this new parade, titled “Magic Happens”, will celebrate “awe-inspiring moments of magic that are at the heart of beloved Disney stories.”
Visit your friends from Disney classics such as “Moana” and “Sleeping Beauty”, all lead by the one and only Mickey Mouse and accompanied by the gang. This is the perfect mix of classic and new stories, making it perfect for every generation.
Characters and stories come to life with an energetic musical score and a brand new song produced in partnership with Todrick Hall, a famous YouTuber and social media influencer.
“Magic Happens” will go down Main Street U.S.A. and celebrates awe-inspiring moments of magic at the heart of many Disney stories. D23 expo attendees even got a sneak peek with special guest, Jordan Fisher!
This brand new daytime spectacular comes to Disneyland this Spring and we cannot wait to see how our favorite Disney classics are brought to life!
Does the news of this brand NEW parade have you getting excited to take a Disneyland vacation? Look no further than Academy Travel. The Authorized Disney Vacation Planners at Academy Travel can plan every aspect of your Disneyland trip, from booking your hotel and tickets to making dining reservations and even offering expert tips and tricks for the Disneyland Resort. Click here for your no-obligation vacation quote from Academy Travel to make your Disney dreams come true at the Happiest Place on Earth.
Stay tuned for all D23 news right here on Inside The Magic.
Do you plan on visiting Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom to see the brand new parade “Magic Happens”?


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The European Union has decided to slap Google with a massive €2.4 billion fine after finding out it manipulated search results, effectively violating the antitrust law. According to The Verge, after seven years of investigation, Google was found guilty of favoring its own shopping comparison service, Google Shopping, in search results.
The fine was the largest ever handed out for breaching the antitrust law, easily topping the €1 billion penalty given to Intel in 2009. Google Shopping shows price comparison to users and Google effectively deprived its competitors a fair chance to rank up high on search results.
Part of the decision includes ordering Google to change its algorithm to give competitors a fair chance. If the company does not comply, the EU is threatening more damaging penalties amounting to as much as 5% of its average daily turnover.
As Born2Invest reported earlier this month, Google is also facing various allegations, on top of its results manipulation, which could merit more fines from the EU.
If Google goes down in Europe, it would be more of their own doing. In an article published by Business Insider, it revealed that Google maintains a stronghold in Europe than on American soil, prompting critics such as Microsoft’ Steve Ballmer and Yelp to describe it as a monopoly.
When Yelp conducted its own investigation, it found out its organic results often got buried under less important results from Google’s own content. Review sites such as Tripadvisor, which gets unique reviews from travelers around the world, have lower rankings in results compared to Google’s own Google+ review boxes, which only sources reviews from a select few.
Being a monopoly in Europe is not really viewed as a taboo. However, manipulating markets is obviously considered unfair. Google, with its dominance and popularity, is expected to flex its financial muscle and technical expertise to counter the charges thrown at them.
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UK economy grows by 0.5% in Q1
The UK economy reportedly grew by 0.5% in the first three months of the year, official figures have confirmed.
The figures were the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) second look at the GDP data, which were first published last month.
The ONS said household spending fell by 0.6% in real terms, its biggest fall since the second quarter of 2009.
The first quarter growth followed a contraction in GDP of 0.5% in the final three months of 2010.
There was some positive news for the government in its attempt to rebalance the economy to become less reliant on imports.
The ONS figures revealed that Britain’s trade deficit decreased to £5.7bn in the quarter, from £11.5bn the previous year, as exports increased and imports decreased.
This was its biggest upwards contribution to growth from net trade since records began in 1955.
But the latest ONS figures showed that business investment declined 7.1% quarter-on-quarter, in its biggest fall for two years.
The EEF engineering employers group told the national press that the 1.1% growth in manufacturing activity during the quarter confirmed that a rebalancing of the economy was slowly taking hold.
But EEF chief economist Lee Hopley added: “We’ve yet to see the positive intentions on capital spending seen in business surveys feed into growth into investment which remains a concern.
“This will be vital to offset diminishing contributions from government spending and sluggish household demand.”


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SCMP: JD.com Plans $1.5 Billion Subsidy Campaign Against Pinduoduo
As China's e-commerce sector slows, JD.com is preparing a 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) subsidy campaign in early March to compete with rival PDD Holdings, whose budget shopping app Pinduoduo has been rising rapidly, according to a source. The subsidies apply to both directly owned stores on JD.com and those run by third parties using its platform. One of the insiders added that the corporation is still working out the kinks and getting its system ready for the campaign's launch next month.
JD.com's push in the budget category, a Pinduoduo stronghold, is its first significant commercial move since billionaire founder Liu resolved a civil rape lawsuit in the United States in October and returned to Beijing to reestablish control over the e-commerce business he established over a decade ago. In the middle of 2019, Shanghai-based Pinduoduo launched a multibillion-yuan subsidy scheme, which has helped the latecomer cement its position in China's small towns, where consumers tend to be more price-sensitive.
According to Zhuang Shuai, founder and chief analyst of e-commerce consultancy Bailian, while JD.com has a strong base in major cities, its network is not as comprehensive as Pinduoduo's in low-income areas. JD.com's new subsidies may help it cause a stir in the industry.
“JD.com’s future growth will be driven by its performance in lower-tier markets,”? and “the subsidies, at the end of the day, are intended at grabbing more users [in those markets],” said Mo Daiqing, research director at internet consultancy 100ec.cn.
Although low prices tend to entice Chinese consumers, he noted that in an era of slowing development in China's e-commerce industry, this strategy might backfire and cause losses. Significant losses were incurred by Pinduoduo in its early days. In China, at least 89 e-commerce platforms shut down in 2017 due to three years of rigorous pandemic regulations and supply chain delays.
For more exclusive reports, insights, and interviews on the latest updates in e-commerce and logistics,?follow us on LinkedIn?or?join our community?as a member.


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Inflation in Türkiye is expected to decline to 15-20% by the middle of next year, according to a senior expert at Fitch Solutions company BMI.
Official figures showed Türkiye's annual inflation rate plunge from 43.68% in April to 39.59% in May — the lowest since December 2021, when the figure was 36.08%.
Türkiye's monthly inflation was 0.04% in May, another record low in nearly four years.
Anwita Basu, head of Europe Country Risk at BMI, told Anadolu that annual inflation is forecast to remain in the 35-40% range before it "further declines to about 15% to 20% by sort of mid-2024."
"The main reason is that we think there will be some Turkish lira depreciation over the next half of this year. It will be managed but it is still going to happen and so that is going to bring up input costs."
However, she pointed out, food inflation is expected to remain high, like the rest of Europe.
"Food inflation is something we are concerned about due to the drought conditions everywhere in Europe, including Türkiye," Basu said, adding that food prices had a major part in the overall consumer inflation basket.
The EU's climate observatory warned in April that two-thirds of Europe's rivers had fallen to below-average levels, and that 5 cubic meters (about 177 cubic feet) of ice had disappeared from Alpine glaciers last summer.
Barring significant rainfall, the effects of higher temperatures caused by greenhouse gas buildup are already being felt across the world, including southern Europe, where EU studies have shown that soil has become “incredibly dry.”
Energy inflation impact to decline
In Türkiye, Basu said the "general dynamics that we think will play out on the inflation are the food inflation and the developments on Turkish lira," while also noting that numerous mitigating policies have been put into place.
She also said falling international energy prices and the country's recent gas discoveries in the Black Sea would further ease inflation pressures in Türkiye.
Turkish authorities announced in April that households would get a month of free natural gas and discounted prices for a year after shipments from the Sakarya field in the southwestern Black Sea first started reaching the country's shore.
"That is going to have a mitigating factor on inflation, specifically the energy component," according to Basu, who said they expect oil and gas prices to go down over the next 12 to 24 months in international markets.
With gas prices set to be "much lower" over the next one to two years, "we think energy prices are going to be less of a concern over the coming months," Basu said.
"But, food inflation could be an offsetting one."
Basu also noted that BMI, matching the general consensus, expects Türkiye to tighten its monetary policy.
"We think it will be a bit slower, but that is still going to be there," she said.Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.


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With millions of active passengers, more than a million drivers, and a five-year head start, why on Earth would anyone want to challenge ride-hailing giant Uber?
We’re not sure, but Boston-based Fasten has set out to do just that. The startup raised nearly just over $9 million in the spring, and quietly began operating in Boston last month, according to the Boston Herald.
Fasten’s service is identical to Uber’s low-cost UberX service, which employs regular folks to ferry passengers in their own cars, except for a couple of important details. Instead of taking a percentage cut, say 20% to 30%, from each ride, it only takes $1 per ride (or a fixed daily or weekly fee, according to Fasten’s website). For passengers, Fasten can potentially be cheaper because it doesn’t use “surge pricing,” price hikes that kick in when demand goes up. Instead, Fasten says it lets passengers increase their fare offers if drivers don’t accept their ride requests quickly enough. It is similar to what taxi-hailing app Flywheel does in San Francisco and other cities.
Fasten hopes its cheaper prices will make it more attractive, and, therefore, snag enough ride requests to create a viable business. Taking a smaller cut from drivers is intended to attract more drivers to its service.
“People will still love Uber, people will still love Lyft, but there is room for us as well,” co-founder and CEO Kirill Evdakov told the Boston Herald. “It’s not a zero-sum game, it’s not a winner-takes-all game.”
But for all of his optimism, Fasten will face some huge challenges. For one, the ride-hailing market is a game of having enough drivers. People expect to get picked up within minutes, which is only possible if a service has a large number of drivers on the road at all times. Given the draconian battles between Uber and Lyft, Fasten will have its work cut out. Its only weapon right now: its pitch to drivers that Fasten will give them a bigger share of their take.
As for passengers, this could open them up to be discriminated against by drivers based on the length of their trip. Looking at the app and Fasten’s website, it appears to require riders to enter their destination when requesting a ride. Though this can be helpful if they want to get a fare estimate upfront, it can also mean that drivers, knowing they’ll have to pay $1 per ride, may not be so keen to agree to provide a $5 ride, for example. Unfortunately, taxi drivers have also been guilty of refusing short rides.
So while Fasten may be correct that there is space for another rival to Uber and Lyft, it will need to grow to large size to make its math work out. Only time will tell if its marketing and growth tactics will pay off. Sidecar, the once third-place ride-hailing company in San Francisco, eventually shifted to providing delivery services to businesses after the battle with Uber and Lyft proved to be too much.
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DELHI-NCR: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs, categorised as social media or Web 2.0, are increasingly being used by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), start-ups and emerging entrepreneurs to talk about their products, services and business goals. So far used by only top notch companies in a big way, this trend is picking up really fast among smaller players and brands now.
Manuj Sharma, an architect by profession, garnered a lot of support for his vision and designs on Facebook and LinkedIn when he gave up his high-paying career to start his own venture. "First site that I joined was LinkedIn which put me in touch with a lot of people. It eventually helped me in striking business deals. Facebook brought back school friends who started liking and talking about my designs.
In 2007-10, I got many deals through my contacts on social networking sites," said Sharma, who runs 3D Architects, 'a one-man army', to put it in his own terms. "Now I have moved to a better and finer thing. I write newsletter about my project, design and vision and send it to all my contacts. As a result of all the networking I have done so far, people have started contacting me from abroad for work," he added.
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If some companies have an in-house department for managing social media, some outsource this work to social media optimisation (SMO) and search engine optimisation (SEO) companies. Mansukh Investment and Trading Solutions, which has a centre in Noida, has outsourced its SMO work to AdGlobal 360. "We started using social media two years back. The number of people who know about Mansukh has increased manifold in these two years. We have more than 30,000 likes and comments on our Facebook page," said Deepak Ojha, manager of the investment firm.
He added, "We keep organising contests like 'Guess the Nifty?' on Facebook to keep our customers engaged. Since we can not talk about technicality, we connect day-to-day conversations with stock market to keep the customers glued to our page." It needs to be mentioned that social media started as a way for people to interact and socialise through net. But soon, realising its importance, it was picked up by marketing people for promotion, advertisement and branding. On asked why this trend is gaining momentum among smaller players, Rajiv Chawla, president, Faridabad Small Industries Assocaition, said, "It acts as a billboard for companies. Since it's a two-way communication, companies get instant feedback on their products, campaigns and policies.
Another very important reason is that social media can be managed with low budget. Also, it lets companies connect to the target audience with less resource." Faridabad Small Industries Association also uses social media to put across its new campaigns, policies, products, etc. "Immediate result and effective output are two reasons why small companies are rushing towards it," Chawla said.
Talking about this trend, Himanshu Bhalla, founder, Creativa India, an SMO and SEO firm said that this trend is picking up because of the boom in e-commerce in the recent past. "Though we cater to bigger players, we get a lot of demand from start-ups. To smaller companies, we suggest that it should be done by an in-house department as they have budget constraint and their business models are not defined. If they want to change anything, an in-house department can do it faster. Also, foundation should be laid by the company itself," said Bhalla.
AdGlobal 360 stated that social media gives two advantages at the same time. "First, if your page has been liked and commented by many people, it will feature in the top search list of Google. This is called organic traffic.
SMO does not only make your presence felt on Facebook and Twitter but also features you in the top of the search list of Google. In short, SMO benefit gives you SEO benefit also," said Sunil Sharma, CEO, AdGlobal 360. Unlike traditional media social media gives instant feedback. "If we post something today, it will be liked by many people next minute," said Rahul Singh, head of marketing, Gaja Jewellery, which has stores in Gurgaon and Ghaziabad. "On our webpage, people put queries about their demands and needs.
Within seconds, we revert to those customers and try to understand their needs. Sometimes people's profiles help us in customising products for them. In case our customers want to put forward their own design, we allow that also. Wide reach of internet and its availability at low cost are two other reasons why companies are using it in a big way," said Singh
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1 of 2 | Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia Corporation, said the computing sector has been transformed by advances in artificial intelligence. The company is the latest to join the likes of Apple in the trillion dollar market cap club. File photo by Laura Cavanaugh/UPI | License Photo
May 30 (UPI) -- With shares flirting with $410 each on the tech-heavy NASDAQ on Tuesday, chipmaker Nvidia became the first company of its kind to reach the $1 trillion market cap.
Founder and CEO Jensen Huang said last week that his company had "a trillion dollars" in installed capacity across the global and was moving quickly in the "race to apply generative AI into every product, service and business process."
AI systems such as ChatGPT require thousands of chips to complete the machine learning required to prep the systems over extended periods of time. And competition in the industry is fierce - Internet giant Google in April said it was entering the race with its own AI supercomputer.
"There's a war going on out there in AI, and Nvidia today is the only arms dealer out there," Srini Pajjuri, a managing director at investment firm Raymond James, was quoted by Yahoo Finance as saying. "So as a result we're seeing this huge jump in revenues."
Nvidia is emerging as the clear leader, and becomes the first chip maker to reach the $1 trillion threshold. Huang said during the Computex forum in Taipei on Monday that faster computing and artificial intelligence represent the "reinvention" of the computer.
"We're now at the tipping point of a new computing era with accelerated computing and AI that's been embraced by almost every computing and cloud company in the world," he said.
Nvidia's ascent puts it in the same field as Apple, which in 2018 became the first company to reach the trillion-dollar market cap. It's since been joined by the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
Nvidia shares were up 5% as of 10:30 a.m. EDT to trade at $408.80.


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Facebook News Feed ads will change on Aug. 19, to benefit mobile users and advertisers who are trying to reach those consumers. The most important update for marketers is that visible text will drop from seven to three lines.
As is the current mode of news delivery, the information first came in tweets on July 17 from Susan Wenograd, VP of marketing strategy at aimClear, a digital marketing agency. The news later showed up on a Facebook Business Ads Help Center page.
🚨 1/ Changes to Post/Ad text lines & image sizes coming to mobile News Feed starting 8/19. Roll-out will continue through 9/2. Here are the changes:
— Susan Wenograd (@SusanEDub) July 17, 2019
“Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 93% of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2019, up from approximately 91% of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2018.”
And advertising revenue, overall, increased 26% YOY to $15 billion in Q1 2019, according to stats Facebook released on April 24.
Facebook’s help center page touts the change as a win-win for marketers and consumers:
“The changes to text, photos and videos are designed to simplify our formats and improve the consistency of our mobile experience. This will help drive increased ad effectiveness and make it easier to use the same assets on Facebook News Feed and Instagram feed.”
As many marketers know, Facebook owns Instagram, which is an image-based social media network. Making the ad formats more visual would make them more transferrable.
The Facebook help center page continues, regarding the changes arriving on Aug. 19:
- Fewer Lines of Primary Text Will Show on Mobile News Feed. Now only [three] lines of primary text will show on Facebook mobile News Feed, after which people will be prompted to click to view additional text.
- Maximum Media Height for Photos and Videos Will Reduce to 4:5 on Mobile News Feed. The tallest supported aspect ratio for images without links and for videos is now vertical (4:5). Media taller than 4:5 will be masked on Facebook mobile News Feed.
Digiday’s article on July 19 reads:
“These moves come as Facebook ads become more expensive, especially in the News Feed, and more advertisers join Facebook. The company recently touted its new milestone of supporting 7 million active advertisers. Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg stressed at Cannes that the success of the company is based on growing its small business accounts, not just ad dollars from big brands. The hope for these changes is that all advertisers will be forced to make more engaging Facebook ads, marketers said.”
Facebook’s mobile News Feed ad change makes no mention of any data privacy changes marketers may be expecting as a result of the company’s recent $5 billion fine from the FTC regarding the Cambridge Analytica situation. But Facebook’s Q1 earnings announcement did allude to the fallout from the now-defunct company using millions of Facebook users’ data to target them for ads to vote for now-President Donald Trump.
The Q1 earnings announcement reads:
"We had a good quarter and our business and community continue to grow," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook [co-]founder and CEO. "We are focused on building out our privacy-focused vision for the future of social networking, and working collaboratively to address important issues around the Internet."
Below the first table, listing billions flowing into the company, is this asterisk:
“ * Includes a $3.0 billion legal expense, accrued in the first quarter of 2019, related to the ongoing U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) matter, as discussed below. As this expense is not expected to be tax-deductible, it had no effect on our provision for income taxes. Excluding this expense, our operating margin would have been 20 percentage points higher, our effective tax rate would have been 14 percentage points lower and our diluted EPS would have been $1.04 higher.”
What do you think, marketers?
Please respond in the comments section below.
Related story: What the FTC Fining Facebook $5B May Mean for Marketers


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TOKYO -- Food prices are rising around the world due to the pandemic as laborers cannot migrate to other countries for harvest seasons. Employment in the agriculture sector declined 5.4% year-on-year in the July-September 2020 period, marking the biggest plunge in history. Climate change has also had an impact on maturing crops, with the two factors leading the international price index for food to reach a six-year high.
Pandemic travel ban triggers spike in global food prices
Shortage of labor for harvests causes key index to surge to six-year high


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Fujifilm Lens Roadmap 2014-2015 Shown
- News /
- Fujifilm Lens Roadmap 2014-2015 Shown
Fujifilm Lens Roadmap 2014-2015 Shown - Fujifilm has released an updated lens roadmap with details of 5 new X-Mount lenses, including new weather resistant lenses.
Fujifilm has released an updated lens roadmap showing several new lenses, including a number of Weather Resistant (WR) zoom lenses, these are the details available so far:
XF 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 R OIS WR - June 2014
XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R OIS WR - Winter 2014
XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R OIS WR - Winter 2014
High Speed Wide-angle lens
Super Telephoto zoom lens
The new weather resistant lenses are designed to go with the new weather-sealed Fujifilm X-T1
, also announced today.
Take a look at our hands-on Fujifilm X-T1 review here.
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A small Tasmanian distillery can expect a boost in local sales, after it snapped up a gold medal for one of its signature whiskies at the World Spirit Awards in Europe.
Nant Distilling Company, based in the Tasmanian central highlands, began commercial production in 2008 and was recognised for its 43% single malt whisky matured in American oak sherry wood. The business also picked up a silver medal for its French oak pinot noir variety.
Nant’s single malt whiskies have previously picked up international accolades. Just four years after launching, one of its single malt whiskies was given a score of 95.5 out of 100 by world renowned whisky expert Jim Murray – placing it among the top 50 whiskies in the world.
Stuart Gregor, president of the Australian Distillers Association, told SmartCompany international awards are great for local spirits producers when it comes to boosting exports, as well as attracting local drinkers.
“It’s great in the local market context because there’s a certain caution that people have around how good the local product is,” Gregor says.
“It gives you an extra piece in your arsenal if you like where you can say in a matter of fact we won the world spirit competition last year… and all the famous ones you know are in it and we topped it. It really does open some eyes.”
Gregor says now that Australia is seeing a home-grown spirits industry really take hold, the next step is to reform the tax regime that is hindering smaller gin, vodka and whisky distilleries.
“We’ve got a terrific opportunity in the distilled spirits industry to do something not dissimilar to what we’ve done in the wine industry, which is prove to the local market and the world that what we do is world class,” Gregor says.
“And I think the main impediment to us doing that is a domestic excise regime. We are the most highly taxed spirits system in the world. If you go to a bar and order a cocktail in Melbourne or Sydney it’s $20, but in New York it would be $10.”
One small business operator who knows how beneficial international recognition can be for a brand is Wendy Crowl, owner of Sydney’s Cow and Moon gelati bar. The popular business was recognised as having the best gelato in the world at last year’s Gelato World Tour Title.
Crowl previously told SmartCompany the business has been going strong for a while with the help of local awards, but things really kicked off after receiving international recognition.
“The concept of an Australian getting that award is what is behind the queues,” Crowl said.
Before winning the Gelato World Tour Title, Crowl says someone would do a day shift producing gelato and on top of that they would get someone to come in two or three times a week to do a night shift.
“Now we’re working from 4am to midnight producing gelato… There’s only four hours of the day when we’re not producing any.”


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In the dual golden ages of internet and snark, individuals and companies are offered many opportunities to decide how to deal with people using social media to have fun at their expense. In most cases, this goes exactly how you'd imagine: strong-arm tactics to shut down social media accounts, lawsuits to silence fake or parody accounts, and even entire government agencies getting upset over one of its own tweeting against the agency line. Missing in all of this, as you may have noticed, is any sense of humor or fun about this sort of thing.
But level heads do occasionally prevail. Such appears to be the case with the folks at Table Talk Pies, a century-old pie-slinging company that decided in the past few years to have a better online presence, but also recently discovered someone out there is impersonating the company on Twitter.
Take a quick glance at Table Talk Pies' Twitter account and at first, everything seems normal. The 95-year-old Worcester company often tweets out its “pie of the day” deals – three of a daily rotating flavor for the special price of $1 – posts photos from events around the city and gets mentioned by other local businesses like Wormtown Brewery.
But a closer look reveals some strange inconsistencies.
“the honorable, pumpkin is 3 for $1 today”
“as the sun shines regardless, may luck be ever on the side with you!! #StPatricksDay2018 #pies #lucky”
“have not only a lemon but i smile! #threeforonedollar”
So, someone appears to be having some rather nonsensical fun pretending to be Table Talk Pies online. It's all rather bizarre, with the impostor account mostly tweeting out entirely accurate information about Table Talk's daily promotions, or just pimping the company's pies as hard as possible. But often the tweets do take a turn towards the strange.
the pumpkin is big is me! 3 for $1 today
— Table Talk Pies (@tabletalkpies) December 13, 2018
It goes on like that. But what makes this somewhat unique is that the folks behind Table Talk Pies are both absolutely obsessed with finding out who this person is and with making sure everyone knows they're totally cool with the impostor account.
"It's very strange," Table Talk Pies retail store manager Caitlin Enck said. "We don't even want them to stop at this point, honestly, because everybody loves them."
After they discovered the strange messages, Enck contacted Twitter hoping to get information that could lead to the owner’s identity, but the company said it was unable to share the user’s IP address or email. Unless the account was posting derogatory tweets or slandering Table Talk, Enck was told nothing could be done.
“We could be super jerks about it and do the whole cease and desist thing, but why? They’re not doing anything wrong, they’re not hurting anybody,” she said. “All the things that would make us, as a company, be like, ‘This isn’t cool, we don’t want our name attached to it,’ they’re not doing. So their tweets are a little weird and don’t always make sense? They’re not hurting anybody.”
Which is the exact right filter through which to view all of this. Rather than trying to strong-arm whoever is behind the account, instead there's something of a following because it's an impostor account, leading to more coverage and information getting out about Table Talk's pies. And with this approach, the company comes off in a way that is earning it some public good will. Now, it's certainly occurred to us that this might be a big marketing ploy to have the company go viral. But if it is, it's extremely well done, and Enck comes off as genuinely obsessed with finding out who this is without being threatening about it.
“It has this cool mystique to it, it’s this really funny thing,” Nelson said. “We’ve known a little over a year now. It’s been crazy. I’ve gone through and tried to figure it out, we cannot figure it out to save our lives. I’ve become obsessed with it.”
"It's supposed to be a quirky, funny thing, and all of a sudden I'm detective Olivia Benson and this is a crime and I'm so far deep into it I can't get out," Enck added.
This is all to say that there are other options beyond being a jerk when these types of rogue accounts pop up. In this case, the account wasn't doing anything particularly negative as far as the "victim" company was concerned. But that's often the case elsewhere as well, where big corporate interests can't find their own sense of humor in dealing with it. In other words, there is potentially much to be gained by not going full protectionist, a lesson far too many companies need to learn.


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In spite of the NPD Group releasing yet another report showing weaker than expected retail sales for the video game industry during the month of September, a closer analysis shows some positive signs among the numbers.
According to the report released Thursday, the industry continued its downward trend in September with overall retail sales falling 6 percent from where they were during the same period last year to $1.16 billion.
Surprisingly, software sales actually rose 3 percent for the month to $630.2 million. However, some analysts tempered optimism over this increase by mentioning that September’s figures were helped tremendously by the release of two big-name franchises.
EA’s “Madden NFL 12” seems to have drawn the most scrutiny in this regard, as the annual refresh of the franchise came a little later than in previous years. The chief concern here is that the later than usual release of the popular football title will unfairly skew the results for September and October.
Nevertheless, this title secured the top spot in sales for the month, followed closely by Microsoft’s Xbox 360-exclusive “Gears of War 3.”
Rounding out the top five were “Dead Island,” “FIFA Soccer 12” and “NHL 12.”
Hardware sales were also mixed, as new console revenue fell 9 percent to $349 million in a year-over-year comparison, while overall sales rose slightly from the previous month.
Among the three major console makers, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 continued its seven-month hold of more than 40 percent of the market by selling more than 438,000 units during the month of September, according to a release by the company.
Sony lagged slightly behind its U.S. rival for the month, only selling between 364,000 and 374,000 units of the company’s PlayStation 3 system.
Meanwhile, in what has become an alarming trend for Nintendo, the company’s flagship Wii console finished well behind both its competitors during September with 240,000 units.
Most agree that this does not bode well for Nintendo, as both of the company’s chief rivals have systems that cost almost twice that of the Wii.
Regardless of Nintendo’s problems, many analysts remain optimistic about the holiday shopping season, which began this month for the video game industry.
Looking ahead, most point to the releases of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” as well as the release of “Battlefield 3,” as two of the bigger upcoming titles of the year.
There’s also the late December release of EA and BioWare’s “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” which is already being hyped as potentially the largest launch in video game history.


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The rate of late payments on credit card bills is expected to rise for the rest of the year, according to preliminary index readings from Fitch Ratings.
The company said credit card payments more than 60 days past due will end six straight months of declines in October, a seasonal trend it saw last year as well. The rate that consumers pay off their balances is expected to fall, too, after reaching an all-time high in September.
However, Fitch expects the percentage of accounts written off as uncollectible to decline for the sixth month in a row.
Store credit card performance also is expected to slip. The 60-day delinquency rate is estimated to increase for the fourth consecutive month, signaling a rise in charge-offs for the rest of the year. However, charge-offs likely will decline slightly in October from September.
The pace that consumers pay off their store credit card debt is anticipated to rise slightly in September.
To keep your credit card debt in check this holiday season, make sure to budget every holiday expense including presents, decorations, food and attire for parties.
If you sign up for a store credit card to get that 10 percent to 20 percent off, pay off the entire balance at the end of the month. If you don't, the interest charges will erase any savings you get for opening the card account.
How do you handle your credit card debt during the holidays?
Follow me on Twitter: @JannaHerron.


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George Andreas, a longtime developer at Microsoft-owned Rare, has left the company for a position as creative director of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, reports Eurogamer.
Andreas (above left) joined Rare in 1996, and is credited as creator, co-creator or creative adviser on many of the studio's games from Nintendo 64 through Xbox 360, including GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Tooie, Kameo: Elements of Power and Viva Piñata. He served as creative director of the studio from 2008 to 2011, during which he worked on the original Kinect hardware and launch titles like Kinect Sports.
Andreas started at Sony this month, working out of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's London office.
Other recent departures from Rare include Scott Henson and Lee Schuneman, although they left for Lionhead Studios and the newly created Lift London, respectively — both of which are also Microsoft-owned companies.
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Posted Fri Apr 8, 2016 at 08:45 AM PDT by Sophia Edwards
First time it'll ever be seen outside of Japan.
Square Enix has announced that 'Romancing SaGa 2', first released in Japan in 1993, but never seen in English, will finally make its way to the West this year on iOS and Android. Check out the first English screenshots below:
This version of the game updates the visuals of the original release, has a new control scheme specifically made for mobile, as well as a new dungeon and character class. While this version was also released on Vita in Japan, it seems that only the mobile version of this is getting brought over.
Source: Square Enix
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.


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Canada’s cannabis legalization endeavor turns one year old today, and it’s a great time to review the previous year’s activity as provincial retail regimes continue to ramp up, new companies emerge, and licensed producers — some of which were born out of the medical cannabis era — continue to evolve. This article is the first of a series of blog posts reviewing Canada’s newly emerging cannabis marketplace and the complexities Canada is facing.
Under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, Health Canada previously developed a licensing system that allowed for cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution: direct to patients by mail. In the run-up to C-45 (the Cannabis Act) taking effect, individual provinces and territories were permitted to set up their own schemes for home grow (personal cultivation), retail stores, and personal consumption in a manner similar to Canada’s regulations for alcohol distribution. We’ll take a more in-depth look at the country’s variety of retail sales programs in the coming weeks.
Canada’s federal government continues to handle all non-retail cannabis licensing, issuing licenses to businesses that cultivate and process cannabis. Those same companies are licensed to distribute cannabis and cannabis products to provincial wholesalers or ship directly to registered medical cannabis patients.
Additionally, Health Canada licenses testing laboratories, cannabis research, and import/export. According to Health Canada, as of early October 2019, there are nearly 240 companies that are Licensed Producers, undertaking one or more of the following activities:
While wholesale distribution isn’t an explicitly licensed activity, it is inherent as some license holders are authorized to sell directly to provincially or territorially authorized distributors/retailers. Other companies choose to only sell direct to medical patients.
When it comes to marijuana — both medical and adult-use — Canada’s current scheme is drastically different than the United States’. Federal legalization is the biggest difference between the two countries, but it’s only the beginning.
Across the United States, there are nearly 12,300 active cannabis cultivator licenses, and over 5,000 processors. Imagine if this week, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (or the Drug Enforcement Agency) began issuing licenses to all of these businesses. If they took over where the states left off, that would be over 17,000 licenses — but that wouldn’t even include every state.
At this point, seeing the federal government adopt Canada’s split federal-provincial licensing system seems unlikely, but federal requirements for safety and potency testing, and even distribution, do seem likely in the future. But first, major cannabis banking legislation will probably be subject to continued debate.
Multiple major operators have sites throughout the country. Top examples include Aurora Cannabis Enterprises, with six licensed sites nationwide, while Emerald Health Therapeutics Canada Inc., Maricann Inc., and Zenabis Ltd. each hold three licenses. Nearly two dozen entities have two sites throughout the country.
Having multiple sites could be a result of a variety of operating strategies and decisions, such as vertically integrated companies processing and growing cannabis in two different facilities or provinces, while other companies, such as Aurora, have numerous cultivation facilities nationwide to fulfill supply chain needs more broadly.
This summer, Canada’s nascent cannabis industry reached a milestone, albeit a bad one. Agrima Botanicals had both its medical and adult-use authorizations revoked by regulators after failing to comply with rules and for failing to remedy previous violations.
Since summer, four more licenses have been revoked by Canadian authorities, including Manitoba’s Bonify Holdings Corporation, Evergreen Medicinal Supply Inc. of British Columbia, and CannTrust.
The CannTrust story has slowly turned into a disaster for the industry with multiple executives exiting the firm. Earlier this week, the company announced its intent to destroy over $77 million worth of plants and inventory to once again become compliant and have its licenses restored. This includes product returned from distributors and retail locations.
Given the number of licenses, the rate of license suspensions for noncompliance seems low compared to Oregon or California in the US.
This spring, Marijuana Business Daily reported a backlog of over 750 applications in the queue. Health Canada continues to approve licensees, averaging between three and five new licensed producers per week. The total number of licensed producers has ticked up in past months, but the speed at which Health Canada reviews and approves new licenses is still uncertain.
At this point, some of these licenses are for companies to produce edibles and other infused products. Over the next few months, edibles producers will be able to send their new products for review according to the Toronto Star, with a limited number of new products expected to hit shelves in time for the holidays.
New licenses coming online should eventually alleviate nationwide supply shortages which have hampered retail rollouts in multiple provinces. We will cover provincial retail programs here on the Cannabiz Media blog in the coming weeks.
This article is Part 1 of Cannabiz Media’s Cannabis in Canada series. You can follow the link to read Part 2: Cannabis in Canada – Public Retail Operations and Part 3: Cannabis in Canada – Private Retail Operations.


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Flight attendant uniforms have changed quite a bit over the years. Fashion designers often collaborate with the airlines to supply stylish uniforms for the crew.
EasyJet cabin crew will soon be getting new, fashionable uniforms which will be incorporating technology. The idea seems pretty interesting but also a bit odd.
EasyJet will be collaborating with London fashion house CuteCircuit, bringing uniforms which feature LEDs and microphones, according to a video from CNET.
The LEDs will actually be functional, offering information to passengers. (LEDs will be placed on the uniform’s shoulders and hemlines.)
The microphones incorporated into the uniforms sound like a very smart idea as they will allow cabin crew to communicate more easily.
The ground crews will also get a makeover to their uniforms to help when there are dangerous weather conditions. The new hooded jackets will help pilots better see the ground crew during takeoff and landings.
News of the new technologically advanced EasyJet Cabin Crew uniforms was reported by CNET’s Tomorrow Daily.
Check out the CNET clip below:


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Sonos, a high-end, wireless speaker company based in Santa Barbara, is hitting the stock market. The company expects to raise more than $250 million dollars in its initial public offering - set for next week. But, Sonos faces some fierce competition. Smart technology has taken off in the past few years, with new voice-activated speaker products by big names like Amazon, Google, and Apple.
You can soon buy stock in Santa Barbara-based speaker company Sonos
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Darren Joint is the Managing Director of Viking Signs and Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP’s Manufacturing Board.
Since the start of the lockdown the business environment in the UK has changed radically, and leaders in the manufacturing sector have begun to think about what the future for the industry might look like.
Manufacturers have already stepped up to the challenge by adapting quickly and doing their bit to assist however they can in the crisis. In doing so they have reminded the general public of the importance of having a strong manufacturing base in the UK. Many companies have moved production overseas to reduce costs, but I hope everyone now realises there are some risks associated with that. Having the capacity to make things that you need is really useful for a nation. It may well be that the UK manufacturing sector comes through this crisis stronger, with wider public support and Government backing.
Looking to the future, the COVID-19 crisis has revealed an ability among manufacturers to pivot very quickly, repurpose products or systems and work flexibly to meet the challenge. This can be seen in businesses like Barbour, which has switched from making wax jackets to making gowns for frontline NHS staff. Similarly, at Viking Signs we’ve developed 1,000 new products in three weeks, and at present one in four products we’re selling is directly related to coronavirus, whether it be social distancing signs for supermarkets or NHS and healthcare infection control signage. This can only be a good sign for the future of manufacturing, but it’s important that after the crisis is over we recognise this strength and provide appropriate support for the UK’s manufacturing base.
The crisis has also highlighted weaknesses in the supply chain – in particular, how dependent we’ve become on external supply of raw materials like steel for ventilators and fabric for PPE, and how important it is for UK manufacturers to have a controlled local supply of raw materials. I hope that Government policy will reflect this concern in the future and that we remember the hard lessons we are learning at this time.
A very practical change that is affecting many people is working from home, and I suggest that now that this particular genie is out of the bottle it will be hard for employers to put it back inside. At Viking Signs we moved to remote working very quickly; our employees say it’s working well, and there’s a good chance we will continue to encourage remote working even after the lockdown is over. It’s good for work-life balance and good for the environment as it reduces the number of car journeys to and from work, and there’s no evidence that productivity suffers as a result.
Many observers are suggesting that we will never go back to the way things were; that the coronavirus will change our outlook permanently and that the positive outcomes of the lockdown – such as less pollution and a stronger community spirit – can be maintained in the future. I have similar aspirations for manufacturing: I hope that people will think more deeply about where the things they buy come from, how they’re made and who makes them. Before the crisis we relegated those factors in our buying choices, so I hope that there’ll be a shift in society and that people will consider the ethical and environmental sustainability of our consumer culture and make a positive change. I hope that in the future we will choose to buy what we need, and not always buy what we want.


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The Vitamin D Council evaluates a study that made headlines for concluding vitamin D supplementation does not protect the elderly against fractures.
Tag Archives: fractures
New research shows that vitamin D and calcium supplementation can cut healthcare costs in Europe significantly.
Dr. Cannell responds to a letter from a father whose son was born vitamin D deficient.
Dr Cannell provides a quiz to test your knowledge of vitamin D and expand your understanding of the subject.
Dr Bischoff-Ferrari’s recent publication reviews the relationship between vitamin D blood levels and muscle function. Dr Cannell discusses this as well as research on elderly fall rates.
Dr Cannell reviews Dr Robert Heaney’s latest publication which calls attention to the massive damage prolonged vitamin D deficiency may have.


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The Jim Butler Auto Group plans to hire 50 new employees at its Centralia facility, after its purchase of two Auffenberg dealerships in nearby Mexico.
Both of the dealerships have been relocated to Centralia. For now, the Ford and Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealerships are operating in a temporary facility, next to Jim Butler Centralia Chevrolet.
Jim Butler has started work on a $3-million project, which will include new showrooms and a state-of-the-art service expansion. They plan to hire about 50 new employees for sales, business development, service and administrative positions.
The company announced the plans in its newsletter.


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Best New Year's Day Sales In San FranciscoThe first day of January is a big shopping day, and there's more to celebrate in addition to the arrival of 2016. That is, parking meters are out of action in San Francisco on New Year's Day. Park for free if you're out for the day.
KCBS Animal Update: How Much Is That Doggie In The Holiday Window? It seems that the holidays come earlier and earlier every year, but it is an exciting time for the San Francisco ASPCA with their animals being the stars of Macy’s Holiday Windows in Union Square for its 27th year.
Animal Update: Macy's Holiday WindowsIt's an exciting time of year for the people who make up the San Francisco SPCA, who are embarking on an annual tradition: Macy's Holiday Windows at Union Square.
Animal Update: Macy's Holiday WindowMacy's holiday windows featuring adoptable animals from the San Francisco SPCA. That's today's topic on Animal Update with Dr. Jack Aldridge, Director of Veterinary Services at the San Francisco SPCA.


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Warning as hackers target Apple's iCloud
Cyber-thieves are exploiting the furore around iCloud by launching a phishing campaign that seeks to steal Apple IDs.
ICloud was at the centre of the stolen celebrity photo scandal last week as many of the images were grabbed by hackers that targeted the service.
Apple has responded by beefing up the security that notifies people when their iCloud account is accessed.
Attackers are now sending out bogus notification messages to trick people in to handing over login details.
The criminal gang behind the phishing email messages runs the Kelihos/Waledac botnet, said Symantec in a blogpost about the cyber-attack. A botnet is a large network of compromised computers used for a wide variety of cybercrimes, including sending out spam or mining victims' machines for saleable data.
The phishing campaign revolves around an email which appears to be from Apple and which claims that a song has been bought on iTunes via a person's Apple account. The message said the purchase was made from a device not previously used by that account and that the internet address used by whoever bought the track is in Volgograd, Russia.
Those receiving the bogus warning emails are asked to click on a link to verify their Apple ID. Clicking through to the page behind the link would put confidential data at risk, said the security firm.
"This page masquerades as an Apple website and asks the user to submit their Apple ID and password," it said. "If the victim does so, the attackers will presumably harvest their credentials for exploit or resale."
Symantec said users should be wary of any email claiming that online accounts need to be updated or changed. It also urged people to avoid clicking on links in messages and use security software that can spot or block phishing scams.
The campaign comes soon after Apple changed its iCloud notification system to do more to alert users about what is happening to their accounts. Alerts are now being sent when there is an attempt to change a password on iCloud accounts, when iCloud is used to download data to reset a device and when a login from a new device takes place.
In addition, noted the MacRumors website, Apple is now alerting people when iCloud accounts are accessed via a web browser.


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Table of Contents
Android 13, new Ubuntu updates and facial recognition conundrums in the roundup of our most-browse tales last week.
Much too hectic this 7 days to capture all of the most up-to-date tech information? Have no fear: We have compiled and summarized TechRepublic’s best stories for Aug. 11 – 18.
The conundrum of Android 13 and Pixel 6 facial recognition
Irrespective of getting the technological innovation and the hardware to help it, Google has still to publicly take a look at facial recognition guidance for any of its phones given that the Pixel 4. And though the pandemic made Pixel 5’s fingerprint unlock a fortuitous characteristic, the client base would nonetheless like the ease of use offered by Apple’s deal with unlock features.
TLDR: Jack Wallen thinks that if Google doesn’t roll out support for facial recognition soon, it will disappoint some end users and shed them for great.
How to return 1st and last moments from timestamps in Microsoft Excel
Contact centre records can be unnecessarily difficult when imported into Excel, but this tutorial by Susan Harkins and its complementary demo file can cut through the noise of repeat phone calls in your contact centre logs.
TLDR: Use the Excel references MIN() and MAX() together with a VLOOKUP to isolate the beginning and conclusion of the day’s calls.
What’s new with Ubuntu 22.04.1?
The very first level variation of Ubuntu Jammy Jellyfish would generally not garner a great deal interest, but Jack Wallen advises buyers to up grade now to activate protection attributes. The release also consists of a number of other updates which includes toolkits for significant programming languages and GNOME 42.
TLDR: This update also contains the capability for people to up grade from 20.04 via the command line, which cuts out various instructions if you’re all set to transfer to the most current variation.
Almost 2,000 info breaches noted for the very first 50 percent of 2022
Reports of data breaches are down for the initially 50 percent of 2022 when as opposed to the very first 50 % of 2021, according to the latest data from the Flashpoint Point out of Information Breach Intelligence: 2022 Midyear Version. But these quantities, and the report of the lowest amount of exposed data because 2015, may possibly be deceiving.
TLDR: Reporting is slow, so the real range of knowledge breaches and data uncovered might essentially capture up to or exceed past year’s quantities when absolutely tallied.
Google formally launches Android 13
Proprietors of Pixel 4, 5 and 6 telephones can update to the newest functioning procedure, Android 13, at any point from the settings menu. In addition to up-to-date new music controls, customizable icons and bedtime manner, the new functioning program model also arrives with enhanced privateness controls.
TLDR: Help for earlier Pixel phones is slated to roll out later this 12 months, but tablets jogging on Android can instantly update to entry split screen method and other updates.


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Samsung is exiting the laptop market and stopping sales of its Ativ Windows and Chromebook devices in Europe, following in the footsteps of Sony earlier this year. In a statement sent to V3, Samsung...
HP Inc's board of directors believe that Xerox's offer significantly undervalues the PC and printer maker
HP Inc is considering a 'business combination' proposal from Xerox
Micrososft's Secured-Core PCs intended to put a stop to UEFI rootkit shenanigans
Including one high-spec model exclusively for business customers
Intel results alleviate some fears about a global semiconductor sales slowdown and curbs on US sales to Huawei


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Will Facebook adapt to mobile or will mobile adapt to Facebook?
We all know Facebook needs to become a force in mobile advertising, but just how much of a force? If Facebook were to replicate the success of its desktop ad business on mobile it would account for a healthy chunk of the entire world’s current mobile ad spend. And if it sticks with its planned approach to mobile ads it would need to create a whole new mobile advertising sector from scratch.
If Facebook’s future is mobile, it may not be enough for it to merely secure a piece of the mobile ad market: It might need to make the mobile ad industry figure out how to work with Facebook.
Berg Insight calculated that global spending on mobile advertising was $3.4 billion in 2010. And while it’s growing at rate of 37 percent per year, Facebook’s total revenues in 2011 were $3.7 billion, of which $3.1 billion came from ads. Meanwhile of its 845 million monthly active users, more than half of them accessed the social network through mobile apps or its mobile website, which sport no ads.
Of course, most customers are using both platforms, not one or the other, so Facebook doesn’t need to build a $3 billion mobile ad business overnight. But even if Facebook were … Read the full story at Paidcontent.co.uk
- Facebook’s Mobile Plan: Carrier Billing, Analytics For Apps Via Bango Deal?
- Expect a 6 month freeze on Facebook’s Instagram acquisition
- Who Will Win Google vs Facebook?
- Why Only Fools Will Buy Shares In Facebook’s Overvalued IPO?
- Job: VP of Apps Marketing – Mobile Entertainment Digital Living Room Apps Co. – San Francisco


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In a world where marketing and advertising continues to up the level of creepiness on a regular basis (Thanks, Cambridge Analytica!), it’s refreshing to see a company that’s willing to stem the tide of distrust. And it’s even more awesome when it’s a Portland startup. That’s why it was great to see Lytics pushing for an industry standard around trust based marketing.
In the wake of consumer data misappropriation scandals, companies and brands that align with the values of Trust-Based Marketing will thrive, said Darren Guarnaccia, CMO of Lytics.
But embracing Trust-Based Marketing means more than just respectful gathering of data, Guarnaccia said. The concept also sets the expectation that marketers use personal data to serve the customer’s best interests. The end goal is to make customers feel both valued and understood.
“Digital marketing is at an operational and ethical crossroads,” said Lytics cofounder and CEO James McDermott in a press release. “We’re all tired of lazy marketing that is intrusive, inefficient and that leaves customers frustrated and burned. Digital marketers owe their customers more.”
For more information, read the Lytics press release.
[Full disclosure: Lytics is an alum of PIE. I am the cofounder and general manager of PIE.]


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UK: Thorntons suspends dividend as H1 profits drop
- Thorntons H1 pre-tax profit falls 92%
- Dividend suspended
- Pushing ahead with store closures
UK chocolate maker and retailer Thorntons has scrapped its half-year dividend after poor Christmas trading and charges related to loss-making stores hit first-half profits.
In the six months to 7 January, Thorntons witnessed a 61% decline in underlying profits, which dropped to GBP3.1m (US$4.9m) the company revealed today (15 February). Including exceptional items of GBP2.4m, mainly related to “onerous leases” on loss-making stores, pre-tax profits plunged to GBP618,000, compared with GBP8.3m in the first half of last year.
Like-for-like sales at the group-owned stores dropped 5.5% in the half, or 7.9% in total. The company added that margins were also hit as customers opted for its more deeply-promoted chocolate products sold through supermarkets and other retail outlets. Nevertheless, the discounting strategy meant that Thornton's was able to increase its market share of UK chocolate sales, which rose from 7.1% to 7.7% in Boxed and Seasonal chocolate.
According to Conlumino retail analyst Neil Saunders, the conflict between the divergent strategies pursued by Thorntons' two routes-to-market means Thorntons is "a company at war with itself".
"On the one hand its commercial arm – which supplies supermarkets with chocolates – is pursuing a low value, high volume model which depletes margins but helps to secure market share growth. On the other hand its retail arm is attempting to improve the customer and store based experience in an effort to secure a slice of the premium chocolate market. The two strategies do not make for good bedfellows," Saunders observed.
In light of this, Saunders said that the company's plan to axe up to 180 stores over the next three years and drive more business through supermarkets and commercial channels was "sensible".
During the six months, Thorntons closed 20 outlets as their leases expired. In its release this morning, the company reiterated that after additional closures, it envisions a retail estate comprising of between 180 and 200 stores in "sustainable" locations.
Commenting on the results, chief executive Jonathan Hart insisted that the wave of store closures was taking Thorntons in the right direction. "These results and the economic climate only reaffirm the need for change," he said.
Nevertheless, Hart added that the retail arm of the business would remain important to the company's strategy.
"Thorntons has a strong brand equity with a widespread consumer appeal. While our sales emphasis will develop through our commercial channel, our reduced retail estate will remain an important shop window for the brand," he said.
UK confectioner Thorntons today (11 July) insisted its focus on innovation and product development has driven gains both through its namesake stores and its commercial arm....
The price of milk dominated headlines in the UK this week, with farmers gathering at a summit to air their views on the implications of the cuts and discuss what can be done. Elsewhere, French retaile...
- Nestle on China, candy, nutrition - analysis
- Why Jet.com purchase could boost Wal-Mart online
- Interview, part 1: Emmi CEO Urs Riedener
- What lies ahead for Tyrrells and Amplify?
- Murray Goulburn's FY results - 7 things to learn
- Mondelez buys rest of Vietnam snacks business
- Australia launches dairy sector probe
- Smucker cuts forecast as sales decline
- Tyson faces investor scrutiny on ethical issues
- Emmi earnings grow but sales outlook lowered


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Posted Apr 23, 2013By
A hillside in the city of Grand Terrace gave way underneath a home on Vista Grande Way, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. According to San Bernardino County fire a ruptured water pipe was to blames for the hillside collapse, the house was red-tagged condemned for occupation.
Legendary Blues guitarist B.B. King comes to town with an appearance at San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino. Follow
Citrus grove workers, for Jacinto Farms, spray a “freeze guard” on trees along Crafton Avenue in Menton
San Bernardino police are searching for Edly Atherley, 33, of San Bernardino, for questioning in the stabbing and b
Salvation Army bell ringer Butch Soriano, 46 from San Diego, works for donations outside a Walmart in Colton Wednes
Amazon processed items purchased online during “Cyber Monday” at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in San B
Collin Lee McGlaughlin, of West Covina, charged in the abduction and fatal shootings of a teen-age couple in an aba


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Imperial, California (NAPSI) - There’s good news for consumers who want a neater, mess-free way for everyday sweetening.
El Centro, California (NAPSI) - Here’s a healthy idea: Let your feet help your heart and improve your well-being.
(Calexico Farmer’s Market)…It will be held Sunday at Crummett Park.
(The spotlight is on local cuisine tonight)…It the Taste of the Valley.
(April is Jazz appreciation month)…The genre is a truly American creation.
(Private Detention Facility almost ready to open)….Management and Training Corporation says they are beginning to accept job applications.
(Technology helps in capture of a fugitive)….30 year old Michael David Wilson had been indicted in July.
(Earth Day Event)….Coming up April 12th.
More Articles ...
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Coca-Cola launched Dreamworld, a limited-edition soda that is supposed to taste like dreams, in a bid to attract Gen Z. This is the fourth special edition flavor they’ve launched this year through Coca-Cola Creations.
Past specialty flavors this year have included space-flavored Starlight, pixel-flavored Byte, and Marshmello, which was developed with producer Marshmello.
We took a closer look at the ingredients list to see where the “dream” flavor comes from. The only difference is that phosphoric acid is listed above natural flavors in traditional Coke but below natural flavors in Dreamworld, so it turns out that dreams are made of a proportional increase in natural flavors. Go figure.
Regardless, we’re interested to see whether the campaign is successful with Gen Z. Revenue-wise, Coca-Cola has had a great year so far and continues to top expectations, so perhaps there is something to those naturally flavored dreams.
While we’re on the topic, check out this “Brown Sprite” sketch video by Sam Eidson, a local friend of ours.
players can now profit off highlights
Pac-12 football players can now get actual money—rather than just awareness—for their highlight videos posted on Twitter, according to ESPN.
The Netflix “look”
VICE published an article investigating why all Netflix shows have a similar look that makes them identifiable.
Per author Gita Jackson: “The image in general is dark, and the colors are extremely saturated; Especially in scenes at night, there tends to be a lot of colored lighting, making everything look like it’s washed in neon even if the characters are inside; Actors look like the makeup is caked on their faces, and details in their costumes like puckering seams are unusually visible.”
Maybe Netflix knows something we don’t. If anyone knows consumer content preferences, it should be Netflix.
“Most annoying to me, everything is also shot in an extremely conventional way, using the most conventional set ups to indicate mystery or intrigue as possible—to indicate that something weird is going on the framing always has a dutch angle, for example—or more often just having everyone shot in a medium close up.”
D2C Sales down
A consumer VC advisor posted this Twitter thread showing the financial numbers this quarter from popular direct-to-consumer companies, and they don’t look good.
Allbirds, Purple, Warby Parker, Bark, The Honest Company, and others are operating at an increased loss from last year. The one outlier was hair care company Olaplex.
These results seem to be a sign of the times with inflation, high D2C saturation, more retail sales, and fewer e-commerce sales since the peak of the pandemic. A good indicator of the D2C market at large is Shopify, which has seen a 78% decline in its stock price YTD.
Solo climbing scare
Last up, we wanted to share the wildest video we saw on Instagram this week.
Hold on tight, August is almost over, and we’re two-thirds through Q3.
That’s all for this week‘s Marketing Roundup. Check back next week for more news. And subscribe to our newsletter below for additional updates.


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Retail technology company Shopsense which has shifted Fynd, a nearby fashion shopping app, has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-Series A funding from Kae Capital, Snapdeal... Read More
LetsVenture, which helps startups raise early-stage investments... Read More
Snapdeal has launched ‘Janus’, an omni-channel platform for brands, that integrates offline and online retail channels to render a seamless shopping experience... Read More
Noida based startup Qustn Technologies which owned and operate software as a service ( SaaS) based training, recruitment and onboarding platform ... Read More
MoEngage, Indian mobile marketing automation platform, has raised $4.25 million in Series A funding. The funding is led by Helion Venture Partners with additional... Read More
Delhi-based travel planning portal, Routofy has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Snapdeal’s co-founders – Kunal Bahl and Rohit... Read More
Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal are planning to invest in Mumbai-based food ordering app TinyOwl.
As per a Business Standard report, the fresh... Read More
Mumbai-based online apparel startup, Bewakoof has raised an undisclosed amount from Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal. Along with Snapdeal founders, Former IDFC... Read More
It seems that besides the ongoing e-commerce war, there is going to be an investment competition between e-commerce’s founders as well. Three days back, Flipkart founders... Read More
In an interview with Aveek Datta, a Columnist associated with The Financial Express, Snapdeal’s CEO Kunal Bahl said that “We will surely be the first e-commerce... Read More
Mozilla has announced the launch of its first Cloud FX Firefox OS Smartphone this week, in India. Developed by Intex Technologies, Cloud FX comes with dual-SIM capabilities, ... Read More
Snapdeal.com, a daily deals website in the e-commerce market has acquired Delhi based eSportsbuy.com, an e-retailer of sports goods and fitness equipment.
eSportsBuy was started... Read More


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General Motors will start exporting vehicles from India in the second half of the year, aiming to ramp up local capacity utilization rates amid a slowdown in the domestic auto market.
The first export nameplate will be the left-hand-drive version of the Chevrolet Beat minicar, which is sold as the Spark in the United States. It will go on sale in Chile in the first quarter of 2015, GM India said in a statement on Tuesday.
GM’s Talegaon plant will produce the cars. The Beat was introduced to India in 2010 and is GM’s top-selling nameplate there.
The move to export reflects increased confidence in the quality of GM’s local supply base, GM India President Arvind Saxena said in the statement. But it also aims to offset sliding sales and pump up output at underused factories.
“The exports will create more employment opportunities within GM India and the supplier community while helping improve capacity utilization at the Talegaon plant,” Saxena said.
GM, like other international automakers, rushed into the world’s No. 6 auto market when the market was rapidly expanding. But carmakers have since been slammed by slowing growth in India.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, passenger vehicle sales in India fell 6 percent from the previous year to just more than 2.5 million vehicles, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. April sales slid another 10 percent year on year.
The result has been a capacity glut.
Overall, the industry used just 55 percent of its production capacity in India last year, according to India’s ETAuto.com, an online publication of The Economic Times.
GM’s capacity utilization rate is among the lowest in India.
The automaker has two factories in India, which have combined capacity of 282,000 vehicles. It used only 28 percent of that total, ETAuto.com reported, citing data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
Volkswagen’s capacity utilization rate was 43 percent, Toyota’s was 50 percent and Honda’s was 56 percent, while Ford came in at 67 percent and Hyundai topped the list with 91 percent. Domestic heavyweights Mahindra and Tata also suffered overcapacity. Mahindra’s utilization rate was 38 percent, while Tata’s was 33 percent.
GM’s sales tumbled 35 percent in April to 5,302 vehicles, from 8,196 units the year before, outpacing the market’s decline.
“Buoyancy in the market is completely missing,” GM India Vice President P. Balendran said. “Going by the market scenario, we expect the challenging times to continue as the general economic conditions continue to remain depressed.”
Looking for an outlet overseas is one solution.
India has rapidly developed as an auto export hub. Shipments more than doubled to 554,700 passenger vehicles in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, from 218,401 five years earlier.