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Kai Ryssdal: One of the great things about listener e-mails is that they really give you a sense of what resonates. Which stories strike a nerve. Clearly, being asked to give to charity as you buy your groceries bugs a very good many of you.
We ran a story last week about being hit up for a dollar donation to one cause or another in the checkout line. Most of you gave the practice a big thumbs down. Marlene Athie of Rockville, Md., feels just the opposite, though. She says it helps her avoid weekly petitions for more.
MARLENE ATHIE: The organization cannot trace your gift!
A note about a story we ran a couple of weeks ago. We were telling you about urban farming in Detroit and said there are no grocery stores in the city. Our listeners there beg to differ. They say although there are no major chains, there are still plenty of great places to buy food.
I talked to designer Nanette Lepore a couple of weeks ago about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plans to re-zone New York’s Garment District and open it up for restaurants and hotels.
Fashion industry blogger Brandon Graham of Brooklyn says people ought to vote with their wallets.
BRANDON GRAHAM: When the consumer buys from a designer that keeps their supplier and dollar in the U.S. or New York City that is sending a powerful “vote” in what will happen to the district.
We had The RZA on the show last week. He’s the founder of the hip hop group Wu Tang Clan. We didn’t talk so much about his music, even though a lot of hip hop is about money and the good life. Mostly we explored his thoughts on how to live a good life. A lot of people were apparently surprised to hear the RZA on our show, among them Ken Reed, who works at the United States Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, Japan.
KEN REED: Pieces like this are definitely needed to make people understand that money isn’t the tool to happiness — the mind is.
Finally, shock advertising and a story we ran last week highlighting New York City’s latest public health campaign. The city’s trying to cut back on the consumption of sugary drinks, so it has put up posters showing soda being poured into a glass and then turning into globs of veiny, disgusting fat.
Julie Feldman is a dietician from Farmington Hills, Mich. She says what shocks her is the attempt to solve obesity with an ad campaign alone.
JULIE FELDMAN: These ads may convince some people to give up their favorite sweetened beverages, but that doesn’t mean they will make healthier food choices or balance their caloric intake with adequate physical activity.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.


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Amazon undertakes to create 25,000 permanent jobs in Spain by end of 2025
It plans to train 50,000 SMEs to go digital, and to increase the number of logistics centres to 40
To mark its tenth anniversary in Spain and the opening of its new robotic centre in Illescas (Toledo), Amazon has announced its intention to take a major step forward in creating jobs, digitalising SMEs and sustainability. The American company employs more than 12,000 people in Spain and has undertaken to increase this to 25,000 permanent jobs in Spain, and to train 50,000 SMEs and entrepreneurs in online selling by the end of 2025. In addition to these goals, the company is globally committed to operating solely with renewable energy by 2030, although it is on track to achieve this goal by 2025.
The company is looking to recruit a wide variety of profiles and skills levels, from operations employees to software developers and engineers, business managers and data scientists, as well as cloud computing experts and solution architects for Amazon Web Services. "It is not only large urban areas that are benefiting from the economic impact of Amazon, but smaller cities and towns in different areas of Spain are also seeing a fall in unemployment rates and the positive effect generated by the company in the community", explains Mariangela Marseglia, vice president and general manager of Amazon in Spain and Italy. Amazon also offers new opportunities for many young people who are struggling to find work. "In addition to our direct investments, Amazon has contributed 8.3 billion euros to Spain's GDP in the last ten years", she adds.
Products sold by SMEs today represent 60% of all the units sold in Spain. Over 12,000 Spanish SMEs currently sell on Amazon, about half of which export their products worldwide, earning more than 650 million euros in international sales in 2020. Spanish SMEs selling on Amazon have created 30,000 jobs in the country to date. In 2020, Amazon invested 2.8 billion euros in logistics, tools, services, programs and training in Europe to help SMEs succeed with their businesses. More than 5,500 SMEs used Amazon's logistics in Spain during the past year and were able to boost their sales by 30%.

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For a growing number of young people, a wallet full of cash and cards is as out of fashion as the millennial bag, no-show socks and skinny jeans. Carrying only a smartphone is the solution. Iykyk — it’s “if you know, you know,” for those who don’t know.
I, Brian Chen, an aging 39-year-old technology columnist, am not one of those in the know. It is inconceivable for me to part with my wallet, which contains crucial items like my driver’s license. So, in an effort to get hip again, I recruited my colleague Yiwen Lu, 23, to ask young people how they live like this, and then took the plunge myself.
In giving up my physical wallet, I join young people like Ruby Hegab, a 19-year-old student in Fremont, California. As soon as she got her first credit card last year, she said, she went all out to use her iPhone. to pay for groceries, parking meters and restaurant meals, as well as to carry insurance cards.
“If a store doesn’t accept Tap to Pay, I won’t give them business,” Ms. Hegab said. But that rarely happens, because the overwhelming majority of merchants she visits, including big box and mom-and-pop stores, now accept some form of mobile payment from services like Apple Pay and Venmo.
In a survey asking just over 2,500 Americans about digital payments, about 80% of Gen Z respondents said they use mobile wallets, and of those, half were eager to use their phones for more than just that. paying for things, according to recent data from Pymnts Intelligence, a research firm that studies commerce.
Young people are increasingly using their phones for purposes that older people would use a traditional wallet for, such as carrying documents such as a driver’s license, boarding passes and event tickets. Some of these digital items can be added to Apple and Google wallet apps, while others, like insurance cards, can be downloaded through third-party apps.
The change in behavior reflects how far mobile wallets have come. About ten years ago, when I talked about new mobile payment apps, most people shrugged their shoulders at the technology, because tapping a phone on a scanner was no more convenient than swiping a card credit. In recent years, amid a global pandemic that has pushed people toward contactless payments, Apple and Google have expanded their software to support digitized driver’s licenses and transit cards, a perfect storm that has made more useful mobile wallets.
Braving it without a wallet for a week, I used only my phone to do my shopping; going to bars, going out to dinner and going to the movies; and even buy crab from a fisherman’s boat. The phone sufficed in almost all of these situations, although paying for dinner was trickier and using a digital driver’s license to buy wine at a grocery store was a no-go.
If you’re hoping to ditch your wallet or just want to reduce your pocket size, here’s what you need to know.
In many stores, Android and iPhone users can use Google Pay and Apple Pay by tapping their phones on the readers next to the cash register. Many small businesses such as food trucks accept payments through third-party apps like Venmo, which let you scan a barcode to send money.
Still, there is an inherent risk when relying entirely on a mobile wallet. Abi Hoyer, 21, of Punta Gorda, Fla., said she doesn’t carry a wallet for security reasons: In the event of an assault, a thief would only get her phone. However, thieves could potentially make payments and withdraw money from your account if they forced you to share your password.
That’s why it’s important for iPhone users to enable a new security feature in Settings called Protecting Stolen Devices, which prevents password access to data such as stored passwords and credit cards when the device is in an unknown location. And Android users should be aware of the steps to lock and purge data of the device in the event of theft.
Additionally, not all businesses accept mobile payments. Hoyer learned this the hard way at Walmart when she discovered she was unable to pay for her items and did not have her full credit card number to sign up for the wallet from the store, Walmart Pay. A workaround: Password manager apps like 1Password and Bitwarden can securely store sensitive data, including credit card numbers, in case you need to look it up.
Jillian Gillespie, 27, of Chicago, switched to Apple Pay after losing her wallet more than a year ago, she said. This works well for fast-casual restaurants where you pay at the counter, but in sit-down restaurants where servers drop off a bill and expect to use a credit card, she sometimes has to rely on friends to pay. In these cases, she usually uses Venmo to pay back her friends.
“I don’t really carry my wallet with me, which can bite me in the butt sometimes,” Ms. Gillespie said.
I encountered similar problems. Out of three restaurants, only one brought me a reader so I could pay on my phone, while the others asked for a credit card, requiring my wife to pay.
Insurance cards and other documents
Digital scans or photos of important documents such as health and auto insurance cards are now widely accepted as substitutes for actual documents. Some insurers, like State Farm, Aetna, and Anthem, make their digital cards available through their apps, which can be added to your mobile wallet. However, not all insurance cards work this way and it can be difficult to find these cards at all times. You don’t want to have to sift through photos or find the right app to charge your insurance card after a car accident. , For example.
I’ve found that the easiest way to make insurance cards easier to find is to attach images of each to a digital note stored on your phone. On iPhones, you open your insurance card photo, tap the button in the lower left corner and select the Notes app to save the image as a new note. Then rename the note “Insurance Cards”.
Likewise, Android users can use the Google Keep note-taking app. In Keep, at the bottom, tap “Add Image.” Then choose your insurance card photo and label the note.
Other types of cards and documents, like my Clipper card for public transportation, movie tickets, and gift cards, were all pretty simple to scan: tapping the Add to Apple Wallet button loaded them in my Apple Wallet app.
Digitized versions of driving licenses are still relatively new and currently being tested in various states, including California, Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland and Utah. This is where the mobile wallet fails.
Here in California, for example, you register for the digital driver’s license through the California Department of Motor Vehicles app. The app generates a temporary barcode that can be scanned to verify your age and identity. Airports in some states now post signs saying they will accept digital ID from those who have enrolled in the Transportation Security Agency’s PreCheck program — but many states have not yet participated in this experimentwhich makes it impractical to leave your driver’s license at home.
Digital ID is also not an acceptable substitute for a physical driver’s license. The California DMV says law enforcement officers cannot accept the mobile driver’s license if you are stopped, and the Arizona Division of Motor Vehicles says people must always carry a valid ID. physical identity.
For alcohol purchases at several grocery stores last week, cashiers were unfamiliar with the California digital driver’s license and did not have a scanner to check the barcode. And at a cocktail bar, a bouncer rejected digital ID cards and demanded physical ones.
In an emergency, someone may also have difficulty identifying you. Apples Medical ID card and that of Google Personal security Features can be set up to show people your name, age and emergency contacts by pressing a shortcut on the phone – but first responders need to know how to use this feature.
It is therefore preferable to continue to have a physical ID. To do this without carrying a wallet, you can do what some young people do and place the ID between your phone and its case. I found this to be an imperfect solution because the card raises the phone closer to the edges of the case, making the screen more susceptible to damage if dropped.
After a week, I opted for what seemed to me to be the best solution: a magnetic wallet that attaches to the back of my phone and holds only two cards: my ID card and a credit card. credit.
It felt like cheating. But Ms Hegab, 19, admits she uses a similar card holder to carry only her driving license.
As soon as digital driver’s licenses work everywhere, she said, she will get rid of them.


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FX & CFD trading involves significant risk
U.S. stocks were poised to open lower Thursday as commodity prices sold off for a second day and investors digested reports on the labor market and retail sales.
Stocks fell sharply Wednesday, as energy and materials stocks got slammed by a sell-off in oil and gasoline futures. That selling continued early Thursday, with oil prices down 2.6% to $95.62 a barrel.
Other commodities were also selling off in early trading, with silver futures down 5.5% to $33.58 an ounce, and gold futures dropping to 0.9% to $1488.90 an ounce.
Oil executives from Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500), Shell (RDSA), BP (BP), Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) and ConocoPhillips (COP, Fortune 500) are headed to Washington to testify before Congress.
Economy: The number of people who filed for first-time unemployment benefits in the most recent week fell to 434,000, down from the previous week but worse than economists' expectations. Initial unemployment claims have been stuck above the key 400,000 level for four weeks.
Offsetting that bad news was retail sales, which rose 0.5% in April, according to the Commerce Department. But the bulk of the gains came from increasing gas and food prices so the optimism may fade.
Companies: Companies scheduled to report quarterly results on Thursday include department store chains Kohl's (KSS, Fortune 500) and Nordstrom (JWN, Fortune 500).
|remaining time till the new event being published|
All posted material is a marketing communication solely for informational purposes and reliance on this may lead to loss. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Please read our full disclaimer.


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Due to COVID-19, Area15 postponed its opening date from February to Sept. 17. The development will feature retail, eateries, and art installations, including Art Island—a free, open-air gallery of festival-style art by artists around the globe.
Art Island features an eclectic array of sculptures like a massive owl, a half-buried robot, and an archway of iridescent lights. Potential clients can purchase the artwork or commission original artwork from the artists.
In anticipation of the new development, I spoke with its chief creative officer, Michael Beneville, about the artwork selection process, what he hopes people get out of Area15, and what he’s most excited about.
Selecting the artwork
“I want people to feel and know that they don’t always have to read about the art that was made in history,” said Beneville. “Sometimes they should know that they’re living in an explosion of art.”
When selecting the artwork, Beneville and team didn’t stick to an “algorithmic, scientific selection process.” Instead, they selected what made them feel something immediately. The informal process included middle-of-the-night text messages and numerous conversations.
“A group of us was just affected by something and affected by something in the most basic and primal way,” said Beneville. “Does this really touch us? Does this knock us out when we see it? That’s the first blink moment. The first time I met this piece of art, did it make me feel better?”
The visitor experience
Though Beneville appreciates art from the past, he also hopes that Area15 displays what’s happening now. Some of the pieces were created only months ago, something that Beneville finds amazing.
He wants to showcase feel-good and optimistic pieces. Beneville believes we’re currently living in a vibrant and dynamic time for the arts—and believes this will be evident at Area15.
“[We’re] taking a stand towards optimism and hope and the fact that we can make a beautiful world,” said Beneville. “I think that’s something we feel at Area15—that it’s something we really need at this moment in time.”
Besides Art Island, Beneville pointed out other Area15 experiences, including Birdly Virtual Reality, a bird’s-eye view-themed racing game, Gallerie 360 in The Portal, an immersive audio and visual experience, and Haley’s Comet, an indoor suspension ride.
Meow Wolf—a group that created an immersive multimedia experience with music, sculpture, and more—is scheduled to open inside Area15 early in 2021.
Area15 and Art Island are located at 3215 S. Rancho Drive, two miles from the Las Vegas strip. Masks and social distancing are required. For more info, visit area15.com.


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This week's Small Talk breaks down the details of Paris haute couture week
Retro Canadian carnival mascot Conko the Clown gets a 21st century style update, and it's Made in Canada
Casual dressing and summer dressing are not interchangeable — for the office (any office at which you ride an elevator with strangers), the look must be deliberate, as intentioned as wearing a jacket and pressed trousers
Canadian designer wins lucrative LVMH award
Yoko Ono is rocking hot pants at 80. At 50, Michelle Obama has no fear of baring arms. And 68-year-old Helen Mirren outshines starlets a third her age on the red carpet
A fashion historian, a fashion journalist and three fashion designers walk into a museum. They discuss the future of style. This is their conversation.
In 2011, three twentysomethings with the combined age of one Ralph Lauren set out to forever alter their province’s fashion presence
From Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2 to Ryan Gosling's scorpion in Drive, the dressed-up baseball jacket is the shine of the times
If only it were as easy as buying into the right magazine
Some U.S. schools have taken a contentious stand: If you wear leggings, you need to have a shirt or skirt over them that reaches at least down to your fingertips
The phone offers new ways to navigate, discover and, of course, shop — all enabled by new features from the world’s largest online retailer
Xiaomi launched its flagship Mi 4 smartphone at a glitzy event in Beijing, where the Chinese budget handset maker’s chief executive sought to challenge larger U.S. rival Apple Inc.
Apple Inc has asked suppliers to manufacture up to 80 million of its two forthcoming large-screen iPhones by the end of the year, its largest initial production run of iPhones, the Wall Street Journal reported


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David Savastano, Editor || July 30, 2013 Metallics are one of the primary means to capture the attention of the consumer, and metallic pigment manufacturers are developing new eye-catching technologies.
David Savastano, Ink World Editor || March 13, 2012 For pigment manufacturers, 2011 brought some growth in the printing ink market, and they remain optimistic for 2012 in spite of concerns over the economy and raw materials.
David Savastano, Ink World Editor || July 26, 2011 Metallics can help make products stand out on the shelf, and metallic ink and pigment manufacturers are enjoying growth. However, raw materials costs are a major concern.
David Savastano, Ink World Editor || August 7, 2008 Drupa 2008 was another huge show, with nearly 391,000 visitors from 138 countries checking out the 1,971 exhibits, and leading international ink manufacturers were well represented, showcasing innovative new products and services.


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Just Eat extends grocery delivery in UK with One Stop partnership
Just Eat has announced a partnership with One Stop, the retail convenience store, expanding its grocery offering with 40 stores across the UK, with a view to further expand.
Just Eat partners with Asda to launch grocery partnership in the UK
Just Eat’s first tie up with a major grocer in the UK and builds on Just Eat Takeaway.com’s global grocery strategy.
SkipTheDishes announces national rollout of Skip Express Lane in Canada
SkipTheDishes, Canada's largest and most trusted food delivery network, today announced the nation-wide expansion of Skip Express Lane, its innovative grocery and household item delivery service.
Just Eat Takeaway.com's response to EU Commission’s platform work initiative
As Europe's largest food delivery platform, Just Eat Takeaway.com welcomes and fully supports the EU Commission's proposals to improve conditions for workers and help them access social protections.


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Sweden Central Bank Governor Issues Blunt Verdict on Bitcoin
Bitcoin: It’s Like Trading in Stamps
That’s the verdict handed down by Stefan Ingves, governor of Sweden central bank aka Sveriges Riksbank at a recent banking conference in Stockholm. “Private money usually collapses sooner or later,” he said. Ingves also expressed concern about money laundering issues that seem to go hand in hand with bitcoin and other digital currencies and the potential that efforts by central banks to establish regulatory oversight will not be successful. His comments may have been responsible for the September 10 broad dip in cryptocurrency values across the board.
Ingves Is Not Alone in His Views
Concerns about the collapse of crypto are not exclusive to the central bank governor in Sweden. Andrew Bailey, Ingves’ counterpart with the Bank of England has expressed equal skepticism. “Buy them only if you’re prepared to lose all your money,” he has said.
Ireland’s central bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf has likewise shared similar views. Makhlouf compared crypto to people putting money into tulips centuries ago because they believed it to be a good investment.
What About in the U.S.?
Even the United States Federal Reserve is wary of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They may be assets, but when you throw the words “highly speculative” in front of the term, they tend to lose economic clout. “They’re really vehicles for speculation,” said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in an April 2021 interview with The Economic Club of New York. “No one is using them for payments, for example, like the dollar,” he said.
Then Why Are Central Banks Coming Out With Their Own Digital Currencies?
It’s a good question. Despite crypto’s negative reviews by many central banks, most recognize there are some very positive qualities. For example, digital currencies promote inclusion by allowing the unbanked greater participation in the economy.
Presently at least 80 countries are investigating establishing their own Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), basically digital forms of their countries’ fiat currencies. There are, however, several differences between cryptocurrencies and CBDCs.
For starters, bitcoin and other altcoins are decentralized currencies which run on their own public blockchains, while CBDCs are run on a centralized, permissioned blockchain network. Additionally, cryptocurrency users remain anonymous while the identities of CBDC users are known. And perhaps most importantly, the electronic coins behind CBDCs are completely government backed. As various countries move forward in their investigations, that last difference will provide an important guardrail for more cautious investors.


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TOKYO • Japan’s core machine orders unexpectedly rose in November, driven by demand from the nation’s non-manufacturing sector, the latest sign of strengthening capital investment.
Japan’s core machine orders rose 5.7% from a month earlier, beating estimates of a 1.4% fall, according to figures released by the Cabinet Office yesterday. From a year earlier, orders rose 4.1%, beating estimates of a 1% decline.
Orders from the non-manufacturing sector rose 9.8% from the previous month, while orders from the manufacturing sector declined 0.2%. Within non-manufacturing, transport and postal services and the wholesale, retail and construction sectors boosted the numbers the most.
A recovery in goods exports has driven corporate profits and business investment, and the latest core machine orders suggest that non-manufacturing firms are also becoming more confident about the business outlook. Core machine orders are an indicator of future capital spending, and exclude volatile orders for ships and orders from electrical power companies.
Surprising strength in Japan’s November machine orders points to a clear increase in the fourth quarter — probably surpassing corporate projections, Yuki Masujima of Bloomberg Economics wrote. Domestic demand, particularly in the non-manufacturing sector, drove the gains. — Bloomberg


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Last week, according to the latest figures from the Nielsen BookScan, Ben Carson‘s memoir “One Nation” outsold Hillary Clinton‘s book Hard Choices by a whopping 60%.
Figures provided to The Daily Caller indicated that Carson’s book, which was released a week before Hard Choices, sold roughly 16,000 copies to Clinton’s 10,000. At this point, total sales of Carson’s book trail Hillary’s by only 9,000 copies — which is not that much, considering Hard Choices shipped a million books to stores in the first place.
Both authors are widely viewed to be possible presidential contenders in 2016, which will undoubtedly lead to pundit-class questions about Hillary. On MSNBC this morning, the panelists debated whether people were “fatigued” by Hillary, and whether this book battle could be seen as a proxy war between two potential presidential candidates.
“A book tour is like a presidential campaign,” said Donny Deutsch. “You package the product and try to get people excited about it. [And] the book tour and the book’s failure to sell as many copies as a publisher, suggests she needs a different repackaging. Still the front-runner for the White House, but you’ve got to be about the future and about being forward-looking and she is not right now.”
UPDATE — 1:19 PM EST: Readers are pointing out that the people buying Carson’s book are, in fact, a massive Super PAC placing bulk orders. So…no one wins?
Watch that below, via MSNBC:
[h/t The Daily Caller]
[Image via screenshot/MSNBC]
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PlayStation VR is almost upon us. At its Game Developers Conference 2016 keynote, Sony announced that its virtual reality headset will debut in October 2016 for $399.
According to Sony, over 50 virtual reality titles will be available between October and early 2017. Aside from previously-announced VR titles such as Rigs, Eve: Valkyrie and Job Simulator, fans can also look forward to a special, VR-optimized version of Star Wars: Battlefront. This is an exclusive for Sony's system.
Hardware-wise, the final PlayStation VR features a 5.7-inch, 1920 x RGB x 1080 OLED display, a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and 360-degree positional tracking. The headset provides a 100-degree field of view, and promises less than 18 milliseconds of latency for extra-smooth VR experiences. Sony's VR device also supports 3D audio, allowing developers to program immersive soundscapes into their games.
Even if you're not playing VR games, you can still use PlayStation VR to experience standard games, movies and streaming apps in a virtual theater view. Sony's PlayStation Video app and Playroom game will be optimized for virtual reality.
While October may seem like a long time to wait, there are more than 36 million PS4 owners and counting who will be able to tap into Sony's affordable VR headset. And $399 is a lot cheaper than the $599 Oculus Rift and $799 HTC Vive.


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It looks like Apple wants to cut ties with one of the main suppliers of the iPhone 14 series OLED display due to a mistake it made.
Xiaomi just released its revenue for the first quarter of this year, which shows that the average price of the company's handsets has increased by about 14%. The question now is, why has the company,
Xiaomi, which is currently one of the largest phone manufacturers in the world, apparently intends to eliminate the possibility of extracting apk files on Android devices. Fortunately, Google opposes
Microsoft is one of the largest companies in the field of technology, which earns most of its revenue through software. Of course, the Redmondians tried several times to enter the world of hardware, b
It seems that Microsoft does not want to go out of its way to install Android apps on Windows 11. In the latest news on this issue, we found out that the American company is trying to run version 12.1
In this article, we are going to introduce you to the top 6 free tools to solve Windows 10 problems so that you can use them alone and without reference. Solve problems with your system to specific pe
In general, one of the problems with the success of a discussion device is its sequence. Does the next item that is offered have the necessary quality? We saw a lot of cases where the sequels did not
Some phone brands are more popular among users than other phones and experience better sales. In this weekly article, we will introduce you to the most popular phones among the users of BingMag online
In this article, we will examine the performance of Snapdragon 8 Plus 1st generation in different benchmarks to see if the overheating problem is solved or not.
Again smartphone sales statistics and again a recurring lead; According to IDC, the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro Max were the best-selling phones of the first three months.
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It seems that Xiaomi wants to unveil its new wristband, Band 7, in four days, on May 24. In this regard, we decided to deal with all the rumors and news about this product and to say what we expect fr
As we expected, Qualcomm unveiled two chipsets just hours ago called Snapdragon 8 Plus 1st Generation and Snapdragon 7 Generation 1. From the name of the first chip, it is clear that it is an improved
Following the process of releasing the Android 12 update for its mid-range phones, Samsung yesterday updated two popular Galaxy A41 and A22 phones to this new operating system.
Samsung was also fined after Apple for not putting the charger in the box of its phones, so this is the second time in 2022 that we are witnessing this happening.
Different technology companies file different patents for ideas for different products. Samsung's new inventions are an embodiment of the future of flexible devices. Samsung is also working on a varie
It looks like the new Samsung Galaxy F Flip 4 clamshell smartphone will be introduced to users interested in this type of phone this summer. Samsung will launch the smartphone in global markets as a r
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Poco is one of the brands It is a subsidiary of Xiaomi, which has been able to attract many users by producing high-quality smartphones at reasonable prices. The Chinese company, like other companies
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Following the introduction of the WH-1000XM5 headset as the successor to the XM4 headset, Sony has now decided to unveil a powerful Airbus called the LinkBuds S.>
Apex Legends is one of the most popular Battle Royale style titles. Now this game will be released for the mobile platform soon. According to the game developers, the mobile version of Apex Legends is
It does not matter what browser you use; As you spend part of your day surfing the web, you need to clear your browser cache and cookies from time to time. In this article, we will teach you how to do


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Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India
India’s retail market value was estimated at $520 billion in 2013, and is expected to grow to $950 billion by 2018. With a CAGR currently pegged at 13%, the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow the fastest within the Asia-Pacific Region – with its market size doubling every 2-2.5 years. This certainly gives us reason for deep introspection. While the global growth rate of online shoppers is estimated at 8-10%, India currently has more than 10 million online shoppers.
Though 70% of India’s e-commerce market is related to travel (flights, hotel bookings, etc.), electronics and apparels are by far the most important categories in terms of sales. The key driver Indian e-commerce is the rapid increase of broadband internet penetration, which is growing at a whopping 20% every year. The rising standards of the mushrooming middle-class with high disposable incomes, coupled with the urban influence on rural aspirations, have led to an exponential growth of the internet culture in India.
This is very pertinent to the Indian retail sector. The internet has given Indian consumers access to a wide spectrum of products and services, even in places where brick-and-mortar shopping complexes have not reached. Also, the availability of a much wider range of products when compared to physical retail stores, coupled with relatively lower prices, is driving demand for online retail. With the evolution of the online marketplace, sites like Flipkart, Snapdeal, OLX and Jabong are thriving and more and more Indians are buying goods online.
E-commerce in India took off with a deluge of portals, including many focused on travel, media and jobs. The governments’ drive to open the sector for FDI in B2B business via the automatic route and bring e-commerce to the centre stage has caused a number of major players to venture into India. Today, Ebay, Amazon, Expedia and some serious Indian players are giving these physical retailers a run for their money.
Flipkart and Snapdeal’s recent fund-raising exercise put paid to the argument that investors are moving away from Indian e-commerce. The change in government and the stride of positive sentiment across the nation has led to growing faith in India and Indian business models. The governments’ initiative to simplify regulations and make India a business-friendly nation is definitely benefiting e-commerce.
Today, manufacturers and retailers running brick-and-mortar stores are anxiously asking the government to intervene with the creation of a regulatory body to stop e-retailers from undercutting prices. Physical retailers are definitely feeling the heat by the marketing blitz of their online counterparts, and the question of whether e-commerce is pushing out brick-and-mortar retailers looms large.
Many big companies are rising to the challenge and adopting smarter strategies to guard their turf. The likes of Tata, Future Group and Reliance are expanding their reach by foraying into e-commerce via alliances with leading online players. Indian retailers have clearly read the writing on the wall. As the competition grows, an omni-channel approach to delivering a unified and consistent customer experience is the new watchword.
Improving the overall experience is the avenue to success. Regardless of whether we’re talking about e-retailing, traditional brick-and-mortar retailing or a combination of both, the winners in this new steeplechase will have to evolve their offering to meet the needs, wants and desires of consumers. Retailers will increasingly have to offer services through various mediums.
However, e-commerce is still unlikely to completely replace or even seriously dent physical retail in this country. For Indians, malls are more than just shopping destinations – they are getaways from the humdrum and constraints of their day-to-day life, and mall developers have been catering to this dynamic by creating shopping complexes that offer retail, entertainment and dine-out option under a single roof. This is not a combination of offerings that even the slickest e-commerce operator can hope to compete with. ‘Experiential Retail’ is the holy mantra of the Indian shopper, and in the years to come, every mall across the country will do everything it can to turn the whole shopping experience into an entertainment experience.


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Too bad I won’t be able to attend the 1st ICIS European Surfactants conference this month as Belgium-based Ecover is one of the presenter in the conference. But I’m betting that there will be questions coming up about the company’s recent acquisition of US green cleaning product company Method.
Oh well, I guess I will have to wait for Neil Burns, the co-producer of the Surfactants conference, to give us an update coming from the conference.
According to Ecover, both companies are deeply rooted in the use of plant-based ingredients. Ecover and Method will continue as separate brands but combined, will create “the world’s most dynamic and visionary green cleaning company,” said Ecover CEO Philip Malmberg.
The companies collectively have sales of $200m and a combined staff of 300.
|Photo Source: Method|
I first encountered Ecover back in 2010 when I attended the American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS) annual conference and heard about these fermentation-based glycolipids called sophorolipids and rhamnolipids that can be used to produce surfactants via fermentation process.
Ecover has been developing biotechnology-based surfactants particularly sophorolipids for use in cleaning products and cosmetics for years. Sophorolipids is produced from the fermentation of glycerol, soy molasses or vegetable oils using the yeast Candida bombicola, according to researchers from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) who also presented about glycolipids back then.
Rhamnolipids, meanwhile, can be produced by fermenting C18 fatty acid source such as oleic or esters, and linoleic acid using certain bacteria from the Pseudomonas family.
My last interview with Ecover was in a bio-surfactant article I wrote on September 2010 on ICIS Chemical Business. According to Dirk Develter, Ecover R&D manager back then, the company has already launched products such as all-purpose cleaner, interior cleaning spray, window spray, heavy-duty power cleaner and a car wash and wax cleaner containing sophorolipids.
The biosurfactant ‘s main beneficial properties are its mild nature, very low aquatic toxicity, and comparable surface activity compared with alkylpolyglucosides (APGs). Sophorolipids are also said to be well-suited in low-foaming applications such as hard surface and auto-dish cleaning products.
Germany-based consumer products company Henkel has actually been also using sophorolipids surfactant in some of its regional branded glass cleaning products. Back then I listed down sophorolipids developer such as France-based Soliance/WheatOleo, Japan-based Saraya, and South Korea-based MG Intobio.
Later on, I discovered US-based Synthezyme, which according to the company, has developed intellectual property for the modification of sophorolipids. The company is looking into the applications of sophorolipids as biodispersants and bioemulsifiers, and as antimicrobials. You can check out some of the company’s literature on biosurfactant and antimicrobials in these links.
And before this post gets too long, the blog would just like to mention a new study from Transparency Market Research citing that the global biosurfactants market is expected to reach $2.2bn in 2018 with a growth rate of 3.5% from 2011 (where the market is worth $1.74bn) to 2018.
Market volume for global biosurfactants will reportedly reach 476,512 tonnes by 2018. Out of this total, 21% of volume consumption will come from developing regions such as Asia, Africa and Latin America.
BASF (with its Cognis acquisition) occupies over 20% share of the market in 2011. Other producers include Ecover, Urumqi Unite, Saraya and MG Intobio. The top 3 biosurfactants vendors accounted for more than 60% of the market.
Meanwhile, according to US market research firm Packaged Facts, the US green cleaning products market (that includes household surface cleaners and laundry products) has a total retail sales last year of $640m, up from $303m in 2007 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20%.


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According to the official Mobileye, the Israel-based autonomous propulsion unit of Intel Corp. has signed an agreement to supply 8 million cars to a European automaker with its automated driving technology.
The details related to the finance of the agreement and the automaker’s name wasn’t disclosed.
The agreement, one of Mobileye’s biggest ever, is a sign of how automakers and suppliers are pacing the rollout of features that automate specific driving tasks such as emergency braking and road driving. However, there is still more time for the technology to allow fully automated driving in all the conditions and to enter the mass market.
“The agreement for systems supported by advanced controllers will be initiated in 2021 when Intel designed EyeQ5 chip, which was developed specifically for fully autonomous driving, will be launched as an update to EyeQ4 in the upcoming weeks,” said Mobileye’s senior vice president, advanced development, and strategy, Erez Dagan.
Intel and Mobileye are competing with several competing manufacturers of chips and vision systems, including Nvidia Corp., to supply the heads and eyes of automated automobiles.
The future system will be available in a variety of vehicle models, some of which will be automated, with the car being automatically powered but the driver having to remain alert, as well as models integrating a more advanced conditional automation system.
Mobileye, which was bought by Intel last year for $ 15.3 billion, says there are approximately 27 Million cars available to 25 automakers using some type of driver assistance system, with Mobileye having a market share of more than 70%.
Mobileye says that while Level 4 systems will start production in 2021, many of their technologies are relevant to creating systems that consumers can soon buy.
Shashua said that based on the automakers’ obligations, self-driving taxis, known as rob-taxis, should are expected to take the streets by 2021.


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“Pop Art is forever,” said Simon Doonan at a party celebrating a new collaboration between Barneys New York, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, and the Art Production Fund last night. The trio teamed up to create a line of Lichtenstein-printed home goods, including water bottles, beach towels, place mats, and dishware, all of which were on display at the cocktail event on the ninth floor of the department store. “It’s a happy, happy thing. Everybody looks at Pop Art, and they smile,” said designer Lisa Perry, who outfitted many of the guests in colorful and cartoon-like dresses.
“We wanted to reissue Lichtenstein’s ubiquitous 1969 Paper Plate,” explained Yvonne Force Villareal of the Art Production Fund. Cofounder Doreen Remen continued, “Roy used his art on everyday, functional products. A paper plate is a quintessential example of that. It’s something so democratic, so utilitarian. That was the icon that we wanted to emulate.”
And what would one serve on these black-and-white plates? “You have to go back to pigs in a blanket, little grilled cheese sandwiches dipped in tomato soup, and tater tots,” said Perry. In fact, that’s just the kind of food the waiters were offering guests, things like hot dogs and a deconstructed take on a BLT. Dorothy Lichtenstein, Natalie Joos, Derek Lam, Kimberly Chandler, and Amy Astley ate up the all-American hors d’oeuvres along with mini raspberry ice cream cones, tiny cherry pies, and cucumber-mint lemonade cocktails, served out of Lichtenstein-decorated paper cups. “I’m a vegetarian, so I would serve greens, or anything colorful,” said Remen. “I specifically see asparagus.” Doonan went a decidedly different route. “Brisket,” he said confidently. “A nice juicy brisket.”


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He neither confirmed nor denied anything, which means there’s something out there that he’s not willing to confirm, yet. According to MarketWatch, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas asked Musk about a self-driving service. Musk thought it was an insightful question and said, “I don’t think I should answer it.
An outright “no” would indicate that this wasn’t in the cards at all, but not answering the question means there’s something going on with the idea. Perhaps it isn’t a fully self-driving vehicle, but one that incorporates only some autonomous features. It’s a reasonable guess given Tesla’s plans to include advanced autonomous driving features in their cars this quarter.
What Musk did confirm was a delivery date for the long-awaited Model X. According to Cnet, Musk stated deliveries to customers would happen by September 30th. There are over 20,000 existing orders for the car with people putting down $5,000 to reserve one. Despite a delivery date, pricing still hasn’t been announced although it’s expected to be close to the $50K range of the Model S.


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Amazon has officially launched in the Netherlands. Instead of selling only e-books and e-readers, the ecommerce giant now offers all kinds of products. With product categories such as consumer electronics, toys, fashion, DIY and foodstuff it’s going to compete with local players Bol.com, Coolblue and Wehkamp.
The Netherlands - archive
Below you’ll find all the articles we’ve written about Dutch ecommerce, online retailers, acquisitions, cross-border initiatives and more. If you want to know more about the Dutch online retail industry, check out our information page on ecommerceRead more about The Netherlands
Coolblue has generated total sales of 1.48 billion euros last year, which is an increase of 10 percent compared to the situation one year before. Its adjusted EBITDA increased by 28 percent to 34.5 million euros.
De Bijenkorf, a major omnichannel retailer from the Netherlands, might be looking for further expansion across Europe. The retailer has posted job offers, in which it’s looking for native French speakers.
Moteefe, a Dutch platform for on-demand production of merchandise, has raised 5 million dollars (4.54 million euros) in a Series A round led by Gresham House and Force Over Mass Capital. The money will be used for further expansion across the globe, launching new products for large retailers and scaling its operations.
Girav, a Dutch startup specialized in extra long T-shirts for men, is going abroad. The ecommerce company has opened an online store in Germany.
Bol.com, the biggest online store in the Netherlands, is opening its platform for external vendors that sell men’s and women’s clothing. The move follows one week after Amazon announced it will open its platform in the Netherlands for third party sellers.
Charlie Temple, an optical online retailer from the Netherlands, has expanded to Belgium and Austria. For the fast-growing ecommerce scale-up in prescription glasses these are the second and third new market, after it also expanded to Germany last year.
Amazon has officially announced it will launch an online store in the Netherlands. That’s why it is now opening its doors to external vendors. Both Dutch and foreign sellers can now register if they want to sell their products on Amazon.nl.
Takeaway has finally acquired Just Eat. For months, the Dutch company had been trying to take over its competitor. But Naspers was also trying to acquire Just Eat. Now, the stakeholders have accepted the offer from Takeaway.
Consumers in the Netherlands have the dubious honor to be the ones that send most online purchases back. Again. In the Netherlands, there’s a return rate of 13 percent, which is more than in countries such as Germany, Poland and Switzerland.
Fashion brand Chiquelle is moving its warehouse operations. Currently these are located in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, but after the Christmas holidays, the Swedish company will move its warehouse to the Netherlands.
Gadero, an online shop for wood and wooden furniture, has expanded its ecommerce activities to the French-speaking market in Western Europe. The Dutch retailer will now deliver wood to Wallonia, Luxembourg and some northern parts of France.
European countries hold eight of the top ten spots on the B2C E-commerce Index of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. This list ranks countries on their reading to engage in ecommerce. Europe remains, by far, the most prepared region for ecommerce.
Online supermarket Picnic has raised 250 million euros in a new investment round. The Dutch company wants to use this money to build a robotized distribution center of 42,000 square meters.
Omoda, a Dutch omnichannel shoe retailer, is expanding in Europe. After it opened online stores in countries nearby, the company is now ready to expand to Scandinavia. This year, an online store in Denmark will open and next year, Sweden, Norway and Finland are next.


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New light was shed on IBM's deployment of Apple hardware at the annual JAMF Nation User Conference on Wednesday, revealing the 100,000 Mac user milestone expected to be crossed at Big Blue right around the start of the new year.
According to data provided by IBM, and collated by JAMF, IBM has deployed over 90,000 Macs since June 1, 2015. In the same time frame, it also has distributed over 48,000 iPads, and more than 81,000 iPhones to employees.
The entire worldwide macOS and iOS support staff is only 50 employees. While no firm numbers of tech calls were given, 27 percent of the PC tickets generated by employees required a desk-side visit by IT staff, and only 5 percent of the Mac tickets needed personal assistance.
As the Apple deployments continue to increase, the percentage of tickets needed by the Mac using population continues to fall. At the start of the effort, 7.6 percent of 8,758 users needed assistance from tech support. In September, with 85,000 Macs in the field, only 3.2 percent needed help.
The numbers are similar to those reported in 2015 by JAMF and IBM. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has also noted that IBM saves $270 per Mac in support costs, over support for Windows-based computers.
As part of the deal, IBM continues to deploy 1,300 Macs per week. This puts the company on pace to exceed 100,000 right around the start of 2017.
Apple and IBM forged a deal in July 2014, to promote the use of iOS and IBM-developer apps in enterprise. As part of the new partnership, an extension of IBM's MobileFirst initiative dubbed "IBM MobileFirst for iOS," IBM has developed more than 100 native iOS apps and services tailored to the needs of multiple industries.
IBM's new computer installation work-flow allows for employees to receive a shrink-wrapped, brand new Mac and quickly and easily set it up on their own, without involving IT staff to assist. Apple's Device Enrollment Program and JAMF Software's Casper Suite are utilized in tandem, with installation of and licensing of IT-approved apps, download of documents, and custom configurations being performed automatically.


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Subscribing to HBO without an expensive cable bundle just got a lot easier, with the arrival of HBO Now on Android and Amazon Fire devices.
The $15 per month standalone streaming service is available now on Amazon Fire tablets, and will land on Android phones and tablets later today. Support for Chromecast, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Fire TV Stick will arrive “soon.”
HBO Now includes the network’s full catalog of original series, along with movies, comedy specials, sports programming, and documentaries. While there’s no live feed of HBO’s cable channel, shows like Game of Thrones are available on-demand as soon as they air on TV.
Previously, the only ways to watch HBO Now were through an Apple device or a desktop web browser. Either way, you needed an Apple device or a subscription to Cablevision Internet just to sign up. A separate streaming version of HBO is also available through Sling TV, but as a $15 per month add-on to Sling’s $20 per month channel bundle.
For cable subscribers who already get HBO, the channel offers a separate app called HBO Go. A version for Android TV is also coming soon. There’s still no word on when HBO Now will arrive on other platforms, such as smart TVs and Roku media streamers. In the meantime, rival Showtime has just launched its own standalone streaming service.
The story behind the story: Apple’s exclusivity deal with HBO lasted for three months, and the splashy marketing around it was likely an attempt to make traditional pay TV providers nervous. As Recode reported back in March, HBO wants wider distribution and more favorable deals with cable TV providers, and the streaming service is one way to exact leverage. That strategy seems to have paid off, as Comcast just announced a streaming service with broadcast channels and HBO, and Cablevision now offers a “cord cutter” package that bundles HBO Now with an over-the-air antenna.


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Five years ago, Charles B. Wang, the chairman and chief executive of Computer Associates International, watched in disbelief as the technology world read the last rites over the mainframe computer. Now Mr. Wang is having the last laugh.
Yesterday his company, which gets the bulk of its revenues from selling software for mainframe computers, reported strong earnings for the three months ending March 31, it's 18th consecutive quarter of double-digit sales growth.
Revenue for its fiscal year, which also ended in March, exceeded $3.5 billion, solidifying the company's position as the second-largest independent software company behind the Microsoft Corporation.
But compared with the often-told story of Microsoft and its co-founder and chairman, William H. Gates, the rise of Computer Associates, which is based in Islandia, L.I., is a little-known tale.Continue reading the main story
"It's been the quiet giant," said Charles Phillips, a software analyst at Morgan Stanley & Company in New York. "Nobody has heard of it but they keep printing money."
For its latest quarter, the company's net income rose 24.5 percent, to $265.1 million, or $1.05 a share, compared with $213 million, or 85 cents a share, in the fourth quarter a year earlier. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of $1.03 a shares, according to a consensus estimate of analysts compiled by First Call.
Revenue for the quarter jumped more than 38 percent, to $1.1 billion, compared with $802 million a year earlier.
Nevertheless, after rising more than 15 percent in the last two weeks in anticipation of yesterday's results, the company's shares fell more than 6 percent yesterday, closing at $76, down $5.125 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Analysts attributed the decline to a warning from Computer Associates' president, Sanjay Kumar, that the current quarter, usually the company's weakest, would provide a "tough comparison" with last year's quarter because of higher amortization charges related to the company's $1.8 billion acquisition of the Legent Corporation in 1995.
The company said later that Mr. Kumar's comments had been misunderstood. "We are optimistic about the next quarter," Mr. Wang said in an interview. "Business is good."
Several analysts agreed and even raised their earnings estimates for the current fiscal year, saying that the higher charges had already been figured into their forecasts.
"This is deja vu all over again," said Terence M. Quinn, an analyst at Furman Selz in New York. "The same thing happened last year," he added, when Mr. Kumar tried to dampen expectations, causing the company's stock price to plunge.
Under the leadership of Mr. Wang, 51, who immigrated to Queens from China with his parents in the early 1950's, Computer Associates has aggressively acquired competitors to become one of the few powers left in the multibillion-dollar market for mainframe software.
In the early 1990's, the mainframe market was widely seen as declining because of the rise of cheaper computers known as servers that link desktop personal computers. But it has seen a resurgence in recent years as the older mainframes have also been connected to networks.
With little competition and a large customer base dependent on its programs, Computer Associates has been able to maintain high prices for its software, even as the cost of mainframe hardware has plunged.
"I feel vindicated now," Mr. Wang said, referring to those who predicted the demise of the mainframe. "Ten years from now, we will be running on mainframes and we will be selling mainframe software."
But Mr. Wang is hardly turning his back on the future. Taking advantage of his company's expertise selling programs that help companies manage their many mainframes, Computer Associates introduced in 1993 a product that helps companies manage all of their computer hardware and software, including servers and personal computers.
Such systems management software is now one of the hottest-growing software markets and Computer Associates is a leader. Revenue from so-called client-server software has grown to $1 billion from zero four years ago, Mr. Wang said. It now accounts for about a third of the company's sales, compared with only 20 percent last year, he added. His goal is to have 50 percent of sales from the slower-growing mainframe software market and the 50 percent from client-server software.
The blunt-spoken Mr. Wang owns only about 5 percent of Computer Associates but he casts as large a shadow over the company's Islandia headquarters as Mr. Gates does over Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Wash.
"It's not a democracy," Mr. Phillips of Morgan Stanley said.
When Computer Associates' acquisition of Legent ran into trouble with the antitrust division of the Justice Department last year, Mr. Wang at first refused to compromise. In an unusual attempt to pressure the Justice Department, he distributed form letters supporting the deal to the company's customers at its annual users convention in New Orleans and asked them to send the letters to Washington.
In the end, Mr. Wang agreed to license four of Legent's nearly obsolete products to potential competitors, though Computer Associates also retained the right to sell them. Both the Justice Department and Mr. Wang declared victory.
Following the company's precedent over more than a dozen acquisitions, Mr. Wang went on to lay off about half of Legent's staff and quickly integrated the company's products into the Computer Associates portfolio. The new revenue was partly responsible for the 34 percent increase in mainframe revenues during the most recent quarter.
Since the Legent takeover, several analysts have said that Mr. Wang and by extension, Computer Associates, have adopted a more conciliatory approach, a contention that Mr. Wang rejected.
"I don't think I was ever as bad as people thought I was, and I don't think I am kinder and gentler today," he said.
But then he quickly reconsidered. "O.K., fine, I'm kinder and gentler," he admitted with a laugh. "I'm 20 years older since I started this company."Continue reading the main story


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- 5 min read
Clash of Titans: How Bajaj Finance, Jio Financial Services stack up against each other
With Bajaj Finance just having less than 2% share of India's credit market despite assets of Rs 3 lakh crore, there remains immense scope for challengers like Jio Financial Services to grow in the market.
Jio Financial Services (JFS), a unit of Reliance Industries which was recently demerged, is set to create ripples in the financial services space in India, but how would it impact Bajaj Finance, the top non-banking finance company focused on the consumer lending space?
Recently Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman of Bajaj Finserv, the holding company for various financial services of the Bajaj Group, said the market is large enough and despite its huge size, the company still had less than 2% of India's credit market. India needs ten more Bajaj Finances and ten more HDFC Banks, he said.
So, how do the two compare and what are the prospects for them ahead?
Bajaj Finance's strengths
Bajaj Finance's confidence stems from its substantial network effect, boasting 72.98 million customers, which it plans to take to 100 million. In Q1FY24 alone, the company added a record 3.84 million new customers, further solidifying its position. While Reliance possesses financial might, history shows that conglomerates entering financial services have struggled to match Bajaj's scale.
The revenue of Bajaj Finance grew at a compound annual growth rate of 19.5% in the last five years, driven by growth across segments, including mortgages, home loans, SME loans, and rural financing.
Bajaj Finance, with a price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 8.2x, significantly outpaces HDFC Bank's modest 3.2x, underscoring the market's affinity for non-banking institutions.
Bajaj Finance's core team has remained intact for over a decade. This stability partly accounts for the company's outstanding performance over the years. Bajaj Finance has created scale through strategic investments in distribution, technology, and processes, meticulously tracking over 1,850 key performance indicators (KPIs) across its app. The company has expanded its product lines from a couple at the start to 46 variants across 22 product lines, serving a staggering 73 million customers.
Its consumer financing business has moved on from India's top 100 cities which is where the major competition is and the expansion will continue. In the next three years, from 4,000 towns and cities, it plans to go to 5,000 towns and cities. It has 20 businesses and 47 products right now and plans to enter four-wheeler financing, tractor financing and micro-financing in the next two to three years.
The Jio Financial advantage
Jio Financial Services hasn't started earning revenue from its core services. Hence, it is difficult to assess the company's revenue growth.
Despite this, with a net worth of Rs 1.20 lakh crore and leveraging Reliance's extensive network of 18,446 stores and a subscriber base of 448.5 million via Reliance Jio, JFS has already made a significant impact. Its market valuation, despite not having lent a rupee yet, stands at Rs 1.34 lakh crore ($16.3 billion), making JFS the second-largest non-bank entity by market capitalisation, surpassing Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company (over Rs 92,000 crore). Bajaj Finance maintains its position as the leader with a market cap of Rs 4.3 lakh crore.
JFS brings an overnight advantage to the industry, a feat that took NBFCs years to accomplish. Even the market leader, Bajaj Finance, doesn't possess the customer network that JFS intends to capitalize on. With a net worth of Rs 1.2 lakh crore, more than double that of Bajaj Finance, and a debt rating two notches higher than the sovereign, JFS is well-equipped with access to ample funds. Reliance Retail, with its extensive digital and new commerce channels, further enhances JFS's capabilities. This conglomerate's debt financing costs are notably lower than those of Bajaj Finance. Reliance Retail, with over 500 stores, stands as India's largest consumer electronics retailer.
The competition extends to various sectors, from consumer lending to merchant financing. JFS is poised to make an impact in durables lending, given its extensive merchant network and the presence of Reliance Digital, a major contributor to Bajaj Finance's durable lending business. The merchant financing segment, which includes fintech companies like Paytm, is ripe for disruption. With over 2 million merchants affiliated with Reliance's new commerce platforms, JFS aims to scale this network by up to 10 million in the next five years.
JFS's access to vast amounts of data, derived from non-financial relationships, positions it to process and analyze data in real time, potentially offering financial services comparable to industry giants like Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Additionally, JFS possesses a large balance sheet, granting it a significant competitive edge.
As JFS and fintech companies vie in some areas and collaborate in others, competition in the financial services sector is poised to intensify. Unlike the telecom industry, which has reached saturation levels, credit, insurance (with just a 4% penetration rate), and mutual funds (with an assets-to-GDP ratio of 16% versus the global average of 74%) offer ample room for growth. JFS is expected to expand into life, general, and health insurance, utilising predictive data analytics to co-create tailored products. While regulatory scrutiny and licensing restrictions may limit JFS's expansion, the financial services landscape is evolving, and new avenues may emerge for digital banks focused on consumer credit.
How they compare
Bajaj Finance stands out as a sterling example among NBFCs, solidifying its position as one of the largest NBFCs with assets under management (AUM) totalling Rs 1,99,579 crore as of June 30, 2023.
The company boasts an extensive geographical footprint, operating from more than 3,800 offices nationwide, complemented by a robust distribution network counting over 1.6 million distributors.
Bajaj Finance continues to impress with its remarkable revenue and profit growth, outperforming Jio Financial Services in this regard. Additionally, it consistently rewards its shareholders with dividends and maintains a high Return on Equity (RoE).
In contrast, Jio Financial Services is still in its infancy, making it challenging to predict whether it can achieve the lofty expectations set for it. Furthermore, the company's shares command a substantial premium compared to Bajaj Finance's shares.
While Jio Financial Services harbours ambitious expansion plans, competing with established NBFC giants like Bajaj Finance poses a formidable challenge for newcomers in the sector.
Nevertheless, considering Reliance's track record of success, it could carve a niche for itself in the financial services industry in the future.


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For Immediate Release
Benjamin Twiggs celebrates five years under current ownership.
Traverse City, MI – Becoming owner of Benjamin Twiggs wasn’t in Julie Millen’s plans several years ago. However, when a friend invited Millen to work alongside her at her Traverse City store, Millen jumped at the chance.
“I was looking for something to be passionate about,” explains Millen. “I wanted a new challenge in life.”
That opportunity presented itself when her friend decided to put Benjamin Twiggs up for sale. After some careful consideration, Millen decided to take over the business. In so doing, she was buying more than a retail store. Millen was inheriting a local legacy.
Opened in 1966, Benjamin Twiggs is the original purveyor of cherry products. Generations of loyal food lovers and gifts givers have enjoyed and shared the store’s popular gourmet cherry foods including jams, jellies, preserves, dessert toppings, cherry snacks, and many more. Such quality and customer loyalty were part of what encouraged Millen to take over the business. But something was missing.
“To be honest, the Benjamin Twiggs brand had faded a bit over the years,” Millen says. “It needed to be “freshened up” to appeal to a new and broader audience.”
Millen started by expanding her product line, adding new items that customers could “taste test” at the store’s sampling station. Many items quickly became new customer favorites. She focused on local food and ingredients as well as cherry themed products. Millen also embraced the community, becoming an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and local business community. She also participated in local events and activities, especially those that were focused on giving back to the people who live and work in Traverse City.
Today, under Millen’s leadership, Benjamin Twiggs has re-emerged as a retail leader of local cherry gourmet foods. Sales have doubled and the business is in a new and larger location.
“It has been an incredibly exciting time for the company and for myself personally,” Millen states. “We’ve formed many strong relationships in the community as a result of our team’s hard work. I’m definitely looking forward to many more years of serving our customers and community”.
To celebrate Millen’s fifth anniversary of ownership, Benjamin Twiggs is offering its popular Cherry Salsa for just $5 from August 26th through Labor Day. Purchases can be made in store and online at benjamintwiggs.com
For more information:


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New playbook on the circular economy targets construction
The built environment has a major role to play in shifting to a more circular economy and avoiding climate catastrophe, according to a new guide from the World Green Building Council
The World Green Building Council and its global network of more than 75 Green Building Councils have launched a guide for the building and construction sector to accelerate the adoption of circular economy and resource efficiency principles.
The principles of the circular economy support the achievement of global climate targets: from minimising the extraction of materials and using more efficient designs, to optimising nature-based solutions and closing material loops at the end of a building’s lifecycle.
Called the ‘Circular Built Environment Playbook’, the new guide presents strategies for the built environment to reduce its resource consumption and features market leadership and solutions from across the World Green Building Council’s network.
According to the Council, use and waste of materials and products is trending in a dangerously unsustainable direction, with latest estimates showing that the world is only 7.2 per cent circular; this means that more than 90 per cent of everything we make is discarded after use.
In 2022, a year’s worth of biological resources was used in just seven months – that means currently, we consume 75 per cent more than the planet can replenish each year. With cities producing an estimated 70 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and consuming almost half the resources extracted globally, the built environment sector has a massive role to play in shifting to a more circular economy.
Cristina Gamboa, chief executive of the World Green Building Council, said: ‘It’s clear that if we want to secure a future for our planet and people, then we cannot keep going on this path of consumption and waste. That’s why our network is taking action to increase awareness and accessibility of circular economy solutions, by guiding all stakeholders towards sustainable, circular decision-making.’
The Playbook acknowledges the essential role of the circular economy in tackling the global environmental crisis. It also underlines that there is now ‘an unparalleled opportunity’ to regenerate resources and accelerate socio-economic development. More than 20 strategies are explored to implement circular design approaches across all building stages, and the report also presents best practice case studies from across the global built environment.
Every player in the building and construction supply chain should be ‘circular ready’. Taking action and supporting the transition will require cross-sector collaboration and be key to overcome barriers.
According to Chris Trott, head of sustainability at architects Foster + Partners, one of the Council’s global programme partners, ‘Adopting circularity in the built environment is essential to achieve a regenerative balance, by facilitating the decarbonisation of the industry, limiting finite raw materials extraction and waste production, all while staying within planetary boundaries.’
WORKTECH Academy readers can access the ‘Circular Built Environment Playbook’ here.


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LONDON (MarketWatch) -- British media buying firm Aegis uk:ags said Tuesday that its first-half profit grew 27% to 33.2 million pounds ($63.1 million), after revenue rose 19% to 463.2 million pounds. On an underlying basis, profit rose 9% to 38 million pounds, above a consensus forecast of 37 million pounds. Aegis said that trading remains in line with its expectations. Record new business orders of $1.3 billion, a healthy order book at its Synovate operations and its digital capacity underpin prospects for good results in 2006, it said.
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Two classic Ferrari roadsters and the original Batmobile were among the star lots during a week of car auctions in Arizona that raised more than $100 million.
The Batmobile sold for $4.62 million as Batman fans and automobile collectors joined the Scottsdale events.
The vehicle from the 1960s Adam West TV show ("Pow!" "Zap!" "Kaboom!") was joined onstage at the Barrett-Jackson sale by its creator, George Barris, who had previously vowed never to sell it.
Earlier, the two Ferraris sold for more than $8 million each, leading auctions that also included Lamborghinis, Porsches, Bugattis and Aston Martins.
"This is the second-most important series of classic-car auctions in the U.S. after Pebble Beach in August," Dietrich Hatlapa, founder and managing director of Historic Automobile Group International (HAGI), a London-based independent research company, said in an interview.
The Batmobile was adapted by Barris in 1966 from a Ford concept car called the Lincoln Futura, a bubble-windowed coupe handbuilt in Italy. Though it didn't carry a formal estimate, dealers said that it might fetch as much as $5 million in a Jan. 19 sale of more than 1,400 cars.
The 500-horsepower custom car has a fake jet exhaust in the back (a painted 10-gallon bucket), a Batphone and two packed parachutes that actually work, used to effect a "Bat turn."
The Caped Crusader's cruiser is almost 20 feet (6 meters) long and has controls for various imaginary James Bond-like gadgets on the dash. They include oil slicks, an ejector, rockets, nails and an anti-theft system.
During the TV show, which ran from 1966 to 1968, molds were made from the original and some half dozen fiberglass replicas were created for stunt work and promotional events. In 2007, one sold at auction for $233,000.
Barris calls himself the "King of the Kustomizers" and has made innumerable TV and movie cars, including the "Back to the Future" DeLorean, "The A-Team" van and KITT Trans Am.
A metallic-blue 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider led Gooding & Co.'s Jan. 18-19 event with a price of $8.25 million, just beating the $8.1 million paid for a dark-red 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta "Competizione" at RM Auctions.
Russo & Steele and Bonhams also held sales.
The HAGI index of exceptional classic-car prices advanced 16.1 percent in 2012, said www.historicautogroup.com.
Rising values for the most desirable Ferraris of the 1950s and 1960s was one of the key trends of the market last year, along with a surge in demand for collectable Porsches following the 40th anniversary of the 911 RS model, Hatlapa said.
The Ferrari sold at Gooding was an early production model with Scaglietti coachwork. It was one of only 23 examples with covered headlights and had been estimated to sell for between $5.5 million and $7 million, based on hammer prices.
In August, at the bellwether series of auctions in California, Gooding sold a 1960 "competition" 250 GT California Spyder, formerly owned by the late New England collector Sherman M. Wolf, for $11.3 million against a presale valuation of $7 million to $9 million.
Gooding's Scottsdale sale raised more than $52.5 million, a record for the company at that venue, with 12 cars breaking the million-dollar barrier. The total was 31 percent up on last year from a slightly smaller 104-lot auction, with 97 percent sold.
Prices continue to strengthen for the rarest cars by the most desirable marques, said dealers.
At Gooding's, a silver 1959 Porsche 718 RSK racer sold for $3.1 million and 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500 K Cabriolet A for $2.75 million. Both results were auction records for those models.
"The macro-economic environment still favors tangible assets," Hatlapa said. "Though the market dipped a little at the end of last year, demand for classic cars was strong in 2012." The indexes for both Ferrari and Porsche were up.
The Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta sold by RM Auctions was one of just 74 Competizione-specification SWB examples produced, retained its original engine and chassis, and featured desirable alloy coachwork. It had passed through the hands of only four owners, said the Canadian-based auction house.
RM's sale raised more than $36.2 million from 84 lots, 88 percent of which were successful, said the auction house. The equivalent event last year tallied $25.5 million.
In all, eight cars fetched more than $1 million at RM. A 1967 Shelby 427 "Semi-Competition" Cobra sold for $2 million and a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 reached $1.8 million.
A 1965 Ford GT40, the first production road version of the Le Mans racer delivered to the U.K., was one of the week's few high-profile failures. Bidding at the RM auction stopped at $2.15 million, below the $2.4 million low estimate.
Bonhams raised $12.8 million at Scottsdale on Jan. 17 from 387 lots, 78 percent of which were successful. The top performer was a ruby-red 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV that sold for $1.2 million, against an estimate of $900,000 to $1.1 million.
Muse highlights include Warwick Thompson on London theater, Erika Lederman on London going out and Shaun Walker on the Bolshoi ballet.
--Editors: Mark Beech, Richard Vines.
To contact the writer on the story: Scott Reyburn at sreyburnhotmail.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoffbloomberg.net.


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“Different markets have different demands during the holidays,” said Bill Litvin, vice president of sales and national account manager for Giorgio Fresh, headquartered in Temple, PA, a leading producer, packer, shipper and marketer of fresh mushrooms and mushroom products. “We find that the metro New York market focuses on stuffer-size mushrooms.”
Alternatively, Litvin noted that other markets look for sliced product to assist in holiday cooking.
“White and brown mushrooms are always in high demand for the holidays, with brown mushrooms capturing an increasing share,” he added.
He pointed out that the Thanksgiving rush on mushrooms begins the weekend prior to the holiday and continues through the Thanksgiving weekend.
“Christmas is more spaced out with many holiday entertainment events throughout December into January,” he said. “In addition to our holiday crunch, we continue to see the mushroom category growing [year-round] as consumers become more aware of the very positive nutritional profile of mushrooms.”
Giorgio’s new line of stuffed Portabella mushrooms is a perfect fit for holiday meals. The line includes Portabella mushrooms stuffed with cheese and imitation bacon bits; Portabella mushrooms stuffed with imitation flavored crab; and Portabella mushrooms stuffed with Parmesan cheese, artichokes and spinach.
He said that now more than ever consumers are looking for healthy ways to eat during the hectic, event-filled holiday season.
The blendability of mushrooms makes everything from appetizers to meals healthier and more economical.
“At giorgiofresh.com, consumers can find a wide variety of recipes that meet all their holiday needs,” said Litvin. “Giorgio’s recipe selection includes creamy sausage-stuffed mushrooms that party guests will love, and grilled Portabella quesadillas that make fast and delicious family meals.”
Food safety and traceability are very high on Giorgio’s list of important details, and it has its initiatives and certifications in place perfectly.
“The Safe Quality Food Institute certified Giorgio for Safe Quality Food Level 3, the highest level attainable,” said Litvin. “SQFI is the leader in providing the world’s most widely trusted food safety and quality certification program. It is part of the Food Marketing Institute, an association that conducts programs in food safety, research, education and industry relations on behalf of its 1,500 member companies around the world. Our farms are all MGAP certified. In fact, we grow 99 percent of all the fresh mushrooms that we sell.”
He added that when it comes to food safety, Giorgio does a good job of educating its customers about its state-of-the-art facilities and procedures. It also encourages its customers to visit its facilities to see how the company operates.
Giorgio’s tradition of excellence has continued every decade since its founding in the 1920s. Today as it continues to grow it is investing considerable time and energy into the innovative management philosophy called Kaizen. This program stresses the value of seeking “continuous improvement” in everything the company undertakes, from growing and processing to service and delivery.
The company claims that it is its obsession with detail and perfection that has led it to set the industry standard for quality and reliability.
In addition to its internal growth, Giorgio has made acquisitions, including Franklin Farms, Creekside Mushrooms, Gaspari Farms Inc. and Modern Mushroom Co.


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The device will follow Samsung's popular Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, which were unveiled in March of last year.
Samsung typically takes the wraps off of its new Galaxy S devices during the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, which runs between February 26 and March 1 this year, though it decided to launch its Galaxy S8 devices at a separate event in New York City in 2017. It's unclear where it will announce the phones this year, but the timing lines up with its traditional launches.
Bloomberg said Samsung is planning to sell the phones beginning in March. Launch timelines can vary by country, however, and plans can shift down to the last minute. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus launched in April of last year.
Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


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A bundle of protests came in last month when Rogers and Yahoo started posting ads on customers' web-based email access.
"I already pay a considerable amount of money to use Rogers' email," said Blair Capes. "I should not be forced to pay to watch advertisements and to have the ads take up space that could otherwise be used for composing messages and managing mail folders."
Rogers provides high-speed Internet service to 1.6 million Canadian households. A large number use email accounts with rogers. com addresses.
"We've heard from less than 1 per cent of our customers about this," said spokesperson Nancy Cottenden.
At the On Your Side blog, readers started sending suggestions on how to complain effectively to Rogers. One said he had contacted the president's office and received a $5 monthly reduction on his Internet bill.
Another said he had upgraded to Yahoo Mail Plus at $19.99 (U.S.) a month to remove the ads. He had been offered discounts on his Internet service and high-definition TV channels that offset the cost of the upgrade in the first year.
I've also been hearing from people who own the Samsung Instinct smart phone, which is billed as the "iPhone killer."
They say it is unreliable for surfing the web and other data applications. Moreover, they have to pay extra for features they thought were free.
Michael Rese bought the Instinct last August from Bell Mobility. It was replaced, but still has a number of problems, he says.
He can't sync contacts and calendars, open attachments or send pictures or video by Bluetooth.
"Most of the features are pay per use," he says, referring to music, GPS (global positioning system), emails, Instant Messenger, radio, TV and the backup manager.
In the U.S., customers have had several updates from their wireless provider (Sprint) to address problems with the Instinct.
A software upgrade will be made available to customers next week, Bell spokesperson Julie Smithers told me.
Finally, I received a couple of complaints about lamps burning out on Toshiba high-definition television sets after the first year, when no longer covered by the warranty.
Kenan Celik lost the picture on his 50-inch TV just eight weeks after the warranty expired. Neither Sears (the retailer) nor Toshiba would help. "I have been quoted anywhere between $400 to $600 to have the lamp replaced by a service technician," he said.
Shadi Khandan had two lamps replaced on his Toshiba TV while it was still under warranty. A year after the warranty expired, a lamp burned out for the third time.
Sherry Lyons, a spokesperson for Toshiba Canada, said customers don't realize that the lamp is a consumable item that requires frequent replacement. She offered a free one-time lamp replacement to both Celik and Khandan.
It's not worth buying an extended warranty for a big-screen LCD or plasma TV set, says Consumer Reports magazine.
Its surveys of thousands of TV buyers show that most major brands have had a low rate of repairs for the first three years of use.
If you're concerned about bulb life for a new high-definition TV, use a premium credit card that doubles your manufacturer's warranty. Or shop at a retailer such as Costco, which extends the manufacturer's warranty on TVs to two years from the purchase date.


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A memorial was held for former Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs at Stanford Memorial Church. Hundreds of politicians, celebrities, and tech industry leaders attended the private service Sunday.
Former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Google CEO Larry Page were just a few of the big names in attendance.
Apple CEO Tom Cook and Apple Senior Vice President of iOS Scott Forstall were also there.
Jobs battled pancreatic cancer for years and is the genius behind some of Apple's revolutionary products, including the iMac, the iPod and Apple's iTunes music store. Jobs brought the company from near bankruptcy in 1996 to being the world's highest valued technology company.
The memorial was held just two days after the release of Apple's newest product, the iPhone 4S.
The phone was released on Friday and sold over 4 million copies over the weekend.
The 4S is aesthetically identical to its predecessor, but is loaded with new features.
One of those new features is Siri, a voice-command system built into the phone that responds to natural-language requests. The iPhone 4S also has the iCloud feature, which allows users to transfer iTunes music to all their devices.
Another new feature on the phone is a much-improved 8MP camera.
“For the iPhone 4S, we set our sights on competing not with other phones, but with point and shoot cameras," Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller said at a media event earlier this month.
"So we’ve added an 8 megapixel sensor that shoots 3264x2448 … we’ve also added backside illumination with a sensor that gathers 72 percent more light."
Schiller also said the iPhone 4S should offer CPU performance twice as fast the iPhone4, and has seven times faster graphics performance.
Apple has described the 4S as "the most amazing iPhone yet."


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What does Reliance and Future Group deal mean for India
In a major move, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has announced the decision to buy businesses of Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group for Rs. 24,713 crore. The deal has been made on a slump sale basis and will contribute towards boosting Reliance's e-commerce play to take on Jeff Bezos-led Amazon India. Here's all you need to know about it.
Retail, wholesale, logistics, and warehousing businesses to be acquired
Under the deal, announced last night, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, will be taking over Future Group's retail, wholesale, logistics, and warehousing businesses for Rs. 24,713 crore. The retail and wholesale businesses will go under Reliance Retail and Fashion Lifestyle Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RRVL, while logistics and warehousing will be transferred directly to RRVL.
1,800 Future Group stores to be owned by Reliance
Further, the latest slump sale means Reliance Retail will now own as many as 1,800 Future Group stores spread across Big Bazaar, FBB, Easyday, Central, Foodhall formats in 420 Indian cities. To note, a sale is given the title of 'slump' when a company is sold for a lump sum consideration without individual values being assigned to its individual assets and liabilities.
Pleased to provide home to Future Group's renowned brands
"We are pleased to provide a home to the renowned formats and brands of Future Group as well as preserve its business ecosystem," said RRVL Director Isha Ambani. She added, "We hope to continue the growth momentum of the retail industry with our unique model of active collaboration with small merchants and kiranas as well as large consumer brands."
Certain Future Group businesses merging into Future Enterprises
As part of this agreement, 5 listed Future Group units involved in the aforementioned businesses will be merged into Future Enterprises Limited. RRFLL has proposed to invest Rs. 1,200cr in the preferential issue of FEL equity shares to acquire 6.09% of the post-merger holding, and Rs. 400cr in a preferential issue of equity warrants, which will result in RRFLL acquiring further 7.05% of FEL.
Which business units are being retained under FEL?
FEL is retaining manufacturing-distribution of FMCG goods, integrated fashion sourcing and manufacturing business, and joint ventures with Generali and NTC Mills. Reliance said, "This deal will also enable FEL to focus on the creation of new-age brands in the FMCG and fashion space and expand its reach. The transaction will help FEL to expand with a focussed business model and a stronger balance sheet."
Here's what Future Group's Kishore Biyani said on the deal
"As a result of this reorganization and transaction, Future Group will achieve a holistic solution to the challenges that have been caused by COVID-19 and the macroeconomic environment. This transaction takes into account the interest of all stakeholders including lenders, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, and employees."
Things will be heating up in e-commerce space
Using Future Group's businesses, Reliance will be able to accelerate its e-commerce play with JioMart and take on Amazon and Flipkart in India. JioMart currently delivers groceries to 200 cities and has already announced plans to expand to more categories. Not to mention, Reliance has also acquired e-pharmacy Netmeds and is discussing deals with Urban Ladder and Milkbasket to further push JioMart.
Amazon and Flipkart are gearing up for Reliance
Meanwhile, to brace for Reliance, Amazon and Flipkart are also making moves in the e-commerce category. Flipkart recently bought Walmart India, foraying into online wholesale, while Amazon has invested over $6.5 billion in India and expanding to newer categories, including pharmacy and food. Amazon had also bought a 49% stake in Future Group's Coupons entity a year ago and was in talks to increase stakes.
India's retail market expected to balloon to $1.3 trillion
In the coming years, India's retail sector, the largest open market globally by users, is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate of 9-11% and reach $1.3 trillion by 2025, up from $700 billion in 2019.Share this timeline


text: China has increased restrictions on internet game cafes. They've clamped down on anti-government slogans or displays and are now barring teenagers from them completely. Gamasutra reports: "'With the development of the Internet, there has been some harmful and illegal content,' said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao. 'The Chinese government has adopted some management measures so as to limit the immoral and harmful content, especially for young people.' Chinese regulation of Internet content has become controversial in recent weeks due to popular search engine Google's acquiescence to Chinese censorship of its results in exchange for official license to operate in the country."


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Last corvette GM aucitoned for charity brought $1 million
GM has announced that it will be auctioning off the very first 2015 Corvette Z06 and all the proceeds will go to charity. The charity receiving the money is the Karmanos Cancer institute. The auction will happen during the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car auction in Palm Beach, Florida on April 12.
GM auctioned off the first 2014 Stingray convertible and the car fetched about $1 million. I would think the Z06 would go for more money than that.
“Chevrolet’s donation of the first 2015 Corvette Z06 produced is yet another way that we are showing our continued support of the Karmanos Cancer Institute,” said Dan Ammann. “The funds raised from the auction will help further the exceptional patient care that Karmanos is known for in our community and across the country.”
The Z06 is one of the best performing Corvette street cars ever made. It has a supercharged 6.2L LT4 V8 and a lot of aerodynamic tidbits on the outside of the car. The z06 also has a version with even more aerodynamic bits called the Z07.
— NewDay 1 year 17 weeks ago.
“When it comes to corporate citizenship and philanthropy, General Motors and its employees set the example,” said Gerold Bepler, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO, Karmanos Cancer Institute. “Their generosity goes a long way toward improving the lives of cancer patients and supporting cancer research. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to GM, the GM Foundation, Chevrolet and Barrett-Jackson for their ongoing commitment to help end this disease.”
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Manufacturing Indaba 2022 saw, Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone seize the opportunity to position the province of KwaZulu-Natal as a sound location for South Africa’s manufacturing sector.
The industry-driven event provided Dube TradePort with a unique opportunity to build business connections with manufacturers and industrial property developers, as well as showcase the expansion of its light industrial precinct.
Dube TradeZone 2, which is a 38 hectare, fully serviced precinct open to general manufacturers, is already projected to attract some R5 billion in private investment over the next five years.
Mr. Andile Mnguni Acting Chief Operations Officer, Dube TradePort said: “We have found that the current economic uncertainties are still prominent in the minds of the key players in the manufacturing sector.
“The continued supply chain disruptions initially brought on by the pandemic and now exacerbated by the rising costs of logistics are making manufacturers think about their location in relation to the seaport where they receive most of their raw materials.
“This presents an enormous opportunity for Dube TradePort. As we begin to talk to manufacturers in other centres in South Africa, it also opens the conversation around attracting manufacturing capacity from elsewhere around the world,” he said.
Mr Mnguni further noted that people outside KwaZulu-Natal had only heard of the successive incidents of the looting that took place last year, and the recent floods which damaged infrastructure and hampered the manufacturing sector.
In the aftermath of both these disasters, Mnguni and his investment team have been fielding enquires on the available facilities and land within Dube TradePort.
All from manufacturers and logistics providers within KwaZulu-Natal, wishing to relocate there, as they had observed that operators located within the Dube TradePort precinct had come through these disasters unscathed.
“Whether it has been the public unrest or the recent floods our location and infrastructure has proven to be resilient. That is what manufactures are looking for; a secure location which affords them business continuity, cushioning the impact of such disasters and making them more manageable for their businesses,” he continued.
With this year’s Indaba theme Reigniting economic growth through manufacturing, Dube TradePort was able to showcase its track record – of more than a decade – in developing infrastructure and driving sustainable investment.


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Reliance Communications will reportedly soon launch dedicated 3G data plans for iPad customers, and become the first private operator for those who till now have had only state-owned providers to choose from.
With the new service, customers will be able to buy the iPad and Reliance 3G iPad SIM separately, without contract-based plans or activation charges.
According to the Business Standard report, there are many plans expected, ranging from as low as Rs. 200 per GB a day, to Rs. 1,200 a month unlimited – competitive with other private operators on non-dedicated plans, but a fair bit higher than BSNL’s current iPad 3G plans.


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In the first quarter of 2022, the Homag Group was able to further improve order intake, sales and earnings. The company was particularly successful in China and North America.
In the first three months of 2022, the Homag Group’s incoming orders increased by 30 percent to EUR 574 million (previous year: EUR 440 million), thereby setting a new quarterly record.
Sales improved by 21 percent to EUR 367 million (previous year: EUR 303 million) and the order backlog rose to a new record level of EUR 1,213 million as of March 31, 2022 (March 31, 2021: EUR 718 million). The Homag Group was able to roughly double its EBIT before special items to EUR 26.8 million (previous year: EUR 13.5 million).
“We were able to exceed our high order intake figure from the previous year and set a new record for a quarter,” emphasizes CEO Daniel Smith. “Our business with individual machines developed very well. We were particularly successful in the Chinese and North American markets.”
“It is not easy to make a forecast for further developments in the current financial year, as there are many economic and geopolitical uncertainties,” says Daniel Smith. “Nevertheless, we are confident that we can continue to improve sales and earnings. This is supported by the high order backlog and the good first quarter, which has shown that customers have a great need for investment. The high material prices and the recent corona lockdowns in China present us with challenges that we can master.”