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Kochi-based V-Guard Industries Ltd in Kerala state, is India’s leading consumer electrical and electronics major. It has evolved into a renowned consumer brand with market-leading products in select segments.
Mithun K. Chittilappilly, Managing Director of V-Guard Industries foresaw the need for market expansion beyond South of India, and consistently increased the footprint in other parts of the country. In 2012, the company established presence in Guwahati, and introduced new products, like solar inverters, switch gears and mixer grinders. His vision is to elevate V-Guard to the next level through long-term growth plans.
Chittilappilly said: “I joined the business in 2006. We have since grown. We had almost 50 percent revenue coming from voltage stabilisers. The revenue for voltage stabilizers has come down from 50 percent to 18 percent. Now, we are present pan India. We are also looking to diversify.
“We have entered inverters and batteries, kitchen appliances, and switchgears. We have since become strong players in these segments, especially, water heaters. Today, the new categories are contributing 10-15 percent to the overall revenue. The wires and cables business is doing Rs 60 crore EBIDTA year-on-year. There was also a good boom in the construction industry from 2006-12. For water heaters, we have been doing business worth Rs. 8 crores.”
How did this come about? He added: “We changed the structure to several categories of business. Today, we have 2,000+ people on roll. We are fairly comfortable. We have two to three channels, such as electrical, battery, etc.
“We have DSIR-approved labs in Kochi. In Gurgaon, we have development teams for switchgear. We also have a separate team on industrial designs. We also have a team working on smart products, such as IoT.”
Elaborating, he added: “We are working on products that communicate with consumers. We have products that are connected, controlled and M2M capable. We are bringing capabilities like machine learning as well. We are also in the battery segment. The battery will be an expensive part of an electric car in the future.
“We are also building in auto diagnostics into devices. For instance, the next-gen water heater can communicate to the other water heater as well. In rural areas, farmers need to know when a pump should be switched on/off. We have automated that. We also need to ensure that the products are protected from natural disasters.”
Isn’t there competition from the MNCs? He noted that MNCs don’t bother much about Indian-based products. “Our retail is distributed. We have a great talent pool in India and we develop products. We are in the consumer electrical business and continue to do that well.”
“We have looked at automation, and find that robots prices are declining. We have distribution boards, where intelligent management is built in. We are looking at smart products that can make some difference to consumers. We are thinking of getting into modular switches, and smart home solutions. In kitchen appliances, if you have a mixer grinder, it can control speed.
“We are also working on a digital strategy for the company that includes looking at the predictive maintenance in plants, where AI comes in. AI may help reduce headcounts. We have to wait and see what happens.”
India continues to remain cautiously optimistic on business performance as far as the business outlook is concerned. The graying of salary increases in India is a reflection on how India Inc. is coming of age. The macro question remains: if this represents a blip or a trend! These are among the findings of the 21st Annual India Salary Increase Survey by AON Hewitt.
The survey projects a drop in pay increases to an average of 9.5 percent across industries. While the inequity of pay remains a concern, the key reasons cited by the various employees across 1,000+ firms for voluntary attrition are role stagnation and limited growth opportunities.
For almost a decade, manufacturing firms in India are budgeting higher salary Increases than services firms. A lower base and higher expectations has driven this behavior. Although, with increasing pressures on margins and improved salary base, the difference in the budgets has been gradually declining since 2013. Along with high performance – high potential and hot skills remuneration are now gaining acceptance.
The gradual slowing of pay increases and higher emphasis on productivity and performance indicates the ‘graying’ of salary budgets for India. Some industries are impacted more than others – and AON Hewitt sees faster moderation of pay increases in industries such as technology, telecom, consumer etc.
Inspite of lower salary increase budgets, top performers will continue to get lucrative hikes as companies focus on performance and criticality. While attrition was contained at a broader level, key talent attrition takes a hit. Differentiated people and pay practices slowly taking the edge away from compensation for Key Talent Management.
Projections for 2017 include salary increase projections across consumer Internet companies, life sciences, professional services, chemicals, entertainment media, automotive/vehicle manufacturing, and consumer products.
The study, the largest and the most comprehensive of its kind in India, analysed data across 1,000+ companies.
Anandorup Ghose, partner at Aon Hewitt India, said: “Political changes and economic headwinds have had an impact on business performance. However, the trend this year reflects a gradual slowing of pay increases and higher emphasis on productivity and performance – quite literally a ‘graying’ of salary budgets for India.
“The last year has shown organizations take a strong view towards performance differentiation and not only have bell curves become sharper, the pay differentiation between top and average performers has also increased.”
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and MasterCard have announced a 90-day ‘Digital Apnao Vyapar Bhadao’ campaign to accelerate the adoption of digital payments among traders in India.
In this campaign, CAIT and MasterCard will organize 500 camps across 50 cities in India over the next 90 days. It aims to on-board 5 lakh merchants and traders by bringing together financial institutions and other payments facilitators under one roof.
The camps will follow a three-step process of completing KYC documents, opening merchant accounts and helping them adopt the right digital payments solutions for their businesses.
Ravi Aurora, senior VP, Global Policy Affairs and Community Relations, MasterCard, said that the stress is on trade, As of now, around 10,000+ merchants have been asking for PoS devices daily. There is a need for more incentives across SMEs and consumers, so that they do not go back to cash-based commerce.
This step is in line with the Indian government’s multiple objectives of combating tax evasion, drive electronification, and prevent circulation of counterfeit currency. As of now, India has 1.5 million PoS locations and 0.2 million ATM locations. MasterCard is committed to a ‘less-cash society.’
Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, CAIT, said that digital payments are very important for traders. It is also a pre-condition to embrace GST. He added that the first camp will be held today, Feb. 7, in Nagpur, followed by other cities, including, the metros.
Canon, the world imaging leader, marked its 20th anniversary in India with a plan across its enterprise, commercial, consumer and social initiatives.
Celebrating two glorious decades in the country, Canon re-affirmed its commitment to India with the announcement of its ‘Vision 2020’, by Ms. Noriko Gunji, president and CEO, Canon Singapore and Kazutada Kobayashi, president and CEO, Canon India.
Canon India’s Vision 2020 charts its next phase of growth in India. The company in the next three years, aims to penetrate further in the country with its offerings, augment the photography culture in India and introduce technological advancements across business and consumer products.
Vision 2020 also sets a growth target of Rs. 3,500 crore for Canon India, to be achieved by consistently attaining a year on year double digit growth. The company kick-starts its year-long celebrations to commemorate the 20 years with its business partners, vendors, consumers and employees. For 2016, Canon registered a growth of 9 percent, with the revenue aggregating to Rs 2,348.6 crore.
Ms. Noriko Gunji, president and CEO, Canon Singapore, said that India had established itself as one of Canon’s key markets. “We have brand loyalty in India. India will be a major contributor in our future.”
Kazutada Kobayashi, president and CEO, Canon India, added that twenty years’ progress cannot be made without partnerships. “Our CSR will be continuous as well. We are focusing on eye care, education, environment and empowerment.”
The recently-held SAP Spotlight Tour in Surajkund, India, emphasized heavily on the consumerization of enterprise business applications.
As we all know, all enterprises have applications that they have to manage. They also have data residing on the cloud as well as in the premises. Now, the SAP digital boardroom has been changing data into insights, said N. Sekhar, VP Engineering, SAP Labs India. There was a demonstration of SAP’s innovations regarding how customers can shop.
Sonam Wangchuk, founder, Students Educational & Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), spoke about how students in the far flung area of Ladakh are enjoying playing with the sun, earth, fire and ice.
Three years ago, SECMOL came up with the idea of the ice stupa artificial glaciers. A pilot ice stupa stores approximately 1.5 million liters of water, and is used to water about 5,000 trees.
Now, SECMOL is said to be using siphon technology at the Lhonak lake, that resultantly, also helps water overflow to some other lakes. The ice stupa technology has since gone to Switzerland, near St. Moritz.
Deb Deep Sengupta, president and MD, SAP India Subcontinent, said the organization had now completed 20 years in India. “We are digitally enabling businesses to embrace a cloud mindset,” he added. “Technology is now driving innovation, efficiency and growth.”
On day 2, there was a session titled ‘Impacting one billion lives’. Dr. Ramesh Nimmagadda, managing trustee, Ramesh Nimmagadda Cancer Foundation (RNCF) said there have been disruptions in healthcare. There is a constant growing need to collect data, and then see what best can be done using that data.
According to him, the connected healthcare was growing in importance. RNCF has developed a data collection software. The next step would involve predictive analysis. “We must go digital. There is also a need to develop simple and cheap systems.”
Rajandeep Singh, co-founder, Kivi Technologies added that writing electronic medical records (EMR) would become much easier over the next two to three years. There is also a need to develop techniques to get different data to ‘talk’ to each other. Cloud is definitely the way forward.
The Weather Company, an IBM Business, talks about the analytics tools they use to help energy companies predict electricity consumption and traders understand expected changes in the weather. They also talk about how load forecasting is rapidly becoming all about handling Big Data, and how it’s going way beyond the spreadsheet systems of yesterday.
I caught up with Ed Cuoco, director, Data Science and Analytics at The Weather Company.
First, what’s the current status of advanced new data analytics tools and data scientists to improve forecasts for electricity consumption?
Cuoco said: “The sophistication and refinement in demand forecasting has increased by leaps and bounds over the last 5 years. The near-real time forward demand curve has become omnipresent within the demand, generation and merchant worlds. Today, the value of forward analytics lies in improving marginal accuracy and timeliness as well as including more diverse and volatile data sources (weather, renewable generation, etc) and applying the insight into more complex business problems where increased speed, accuracy and precision become ever more important.
“Indeed, forecasts have moved beyond capital planning, pricing auctions and energy to become critical across the energy infrastructure, from portfolio management and risk mitigation through demand management and even near-real time operational efficiency.”
So, why is there so much interest in data scientists?
He added that load data and related data sets are seen as core business assets; extracting the value of this data has become a critical task across energy-related businesses. This increased use also increases the criticality of contextual data quality (i.e., is load data that was good enough for thinking about yearly capital spend also good enough for near-real time trading?).
The role of the data scientist lies in the nexus of these two tasks; unlocking more value from diverse data sets (load data, customer data, operational data) while also helping utilities, ISOs, traders and other stake holders understand and overcome limitations in the data themselves to continue to drive more refined understanding and action.
Next, we need to know what sort of analytics tools does The Weather Company work on/with, and what can those do?
Cuoco said: “We use most of the common analytical tools in the market, but what differentiates us is our underlying data platform and its ability to handle huge amounts of weather and load data. Every day The Weather Company maps 62 vertical miles of the atmosphere, all around the globe, to deliver 35+ billion forecasts along with 100+ terabytes of data.
“Four years ago, The Weather Company went through a transformation to a new cloud-based, cloud-agnostic, data-driven infrastructure. That “SUN” platform is an efficient Data as a Service (DaaS) platform that reliably handles these incredible workloads, leveraging 249 different open source tools with proprietary capabilities.
“Most of the platform was written in Scala, and a few of the technologies it leverages include Cassandra, Spark, Riak, and Redis. This platform allows us to turn Big Data into better decision making and provide demand forecasts to energy traders and utilities.
Finally, how is load forecasting now becoming all about handling Big Data?
The robustness, availability and quality of data sets varies tremendously from firm to firm and geography to geography, so there’s a lack of standardization and maturity. In some cases, load data is flowing in near real time at the meter level, in others, only at the grid level, and some in between.
With the implication that all the analytics are the same in principal, the real value to the industry is unlocking the value in the data sets as they exist now, not simply saying “when everything is robust, pristine and perfect, then you’ll see the value.”
What questions can be answered and how confident can one be in that answer is the crux of the big data question in this space. At the same time, load forecasting plays a central role across the energy and utility space, helping drive everything — from real-time demand response to optimizing the use of existing grid infrastructure and preventing catastrophic failures.
These predictions look minutes ahead for traders and days ahead for an ISO or utility, and the business needs to switch seamlessly between geographic and temporal filters. As the questions become more complex, interval meter data is critical but insufficient. Complex weather data, sensor data and customer behavior data all play a role in truly forecasting load and then applying that forecast to finance, operations and customer service.
And, how is it going beyond the spreadsheet systems of yesterday?
Cuoco concluded: “As analytics begin driving ongoing operations as well as strategic planning, the need to handle volume, speed and complexity dwarfs what even the most complex set of spreadsheets can accomplish while also pushing the limits on the underlying products used to create them.
“Further, when this increased business relevance is combined with the more robust, complex, and diverse data, the constant need to revisit and update even the best models becomes critical; analysis is no longer sufficient and, even now, we’re seeing the combination of advanced statistics and machine learning evolve.
“Soon, companies will need solutions that truly learn, interact and reason. Spreadsheets can’t keep up with the load or the complexity and, when pushed to their limits, increase the chances of critical failures in key analytical processes.”
GENBAND is a global leader in real time communications software solutions for service providers, enterprises, independent software vendors, systems integrators and developers in over 80 countries. It recently released the Kandy cloud communications solution.
How does Kandy enhance software applications with cloud-based features?
Carlos Aragon, director Kandy/UC Solutions Marketing at GENBAND, said: “The key term is not ‘cloud-based features’, but ‘cloud-based real-time communications’. Kandy is a communications platform-as-a-service (cPaaS) that provides APIs and SDKs to allow communication service providers (CSPs), enterprises and independent software vendors (ISVs) to embed communications within their applications and business processes. Kandy allows these players to make communications an integral part of their applications.
“For example, if you are working on your CRM platform and you need to contact a customer, typically, you would have to find the phone number and call the customer from your phone or softphone. Wouldn’t it be better to just click on the customer name in the screen and have that call happen automatically from within the CRM application? That’s exactly what Kandy enables, your applications can now trigger voice or video calls, messaging, co-browsing, collaboration and many other communication related activities, and you don’t need to be a communications engineer to make that happen or have an expensive communications network to terminate the calls.
Hasn’t it been long claimed that real-time communications will revolutionize the telecoms and technology worlds? Is this any closer to that?
He agreed that the the term revolution is very frequently abused. “We prefer to use evolution. For us, it is the natural step in ICT, first the integration of information technology and communications happened on the network level, by migrating voice and video to IP and using the same transport network to deliver them. We moved from dedicated telephone wiring in our offices to sharing the same Ethernet cables to connect our phones and computers and the analogue and PRI trunks have given way to SIP trunks over an IP link.
“The next step on this evolution was to have the integration at the application level. Real-time communications have already been consumed as applications for years (Skype, WhatsApp, Yahoo Messenger, MSN. Google Talk, and the plethora of Unified Communications Soft Clients in the market), but true integration of those components into business flows and applications never happened.
“Kandy bring us closer to that world, where communication is a natural part of our everyday applications. where a phone line is not tied to a physical telephone, where one can start a conversation with anyone, no matter which device (old and new) they are using from the device or application we choose. That’s what Kandy enables.”
SaaS and PaaS are also related. How is Kandy really different?
He noted that SaaS, PaaS and Kandy are related indeed. “Kandy is PaaS, more specifically, cPaaS (communications platform-as-a-service). With SaaS you obtain a fully functional application that you consume from the cloud (Salesforce.com, Workday, SAP C4C, even Facebook can be qualified as SaaS). With PaaS you use a cloud service as building material to build your final application.
“You can’t just start using PaaS because it doesn’t provide you with an application to consumer directly, instead, it provides you with an API and/or SDK to allow you to use its services within your application. But you have to develop on top of it. In the end, the difference between SaaS, PaaS, IaaS and on premise solutions is who is responsible for each part of the solution.”


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OpenAI will release an API that provides access to the research lab’s new AI models. It is the first time that the organisation will be offering paid services.
Companies can access the AI models at enterprise level through monthly payments. The API is released free of charge as a private beta for companies to try out the new service for two months. According to OpenAI, the company will keep an eye out to make sure that that the AI models will not be exploited in any way.
Advanced text generator
OpenAI’s best-known AI model is GPT-3, a comprehensive ‘text generator’ that can answer questions and solve math equations, improve English grammar, and even write poems. Companies can integrate the AI model into chatbots to generate answers to customer questions or even write automated news articles. OpenAI previously indicated that they would not sell this service because they were afraid it could easily be abused, such as spreading misinformation.
Other examples of AI models released as part of the API are AI Dungeon 2, a text-based adventure game that automatically creates new storylines as you play the game, and Talk to Transformer, an interactive version of the predecessor of the GPT-3 text generator. Reddit is one of the first customers of the new API. The company wants to use the API to help moderators manage the posts on the website.
No more nonprofit
The fact that OpenAI is now coming on with a subscription is remarkable since the organisation was initially founded as a nonprofit organisation for research into machine learning and AI. Last year, the organisation added a profit component to the company in order r to fund research. Because of this, it will be easier for the company to raise capital to accelerate the development of AI technology. Last year, Microsoft invested 1 billion dollars (889 million euros) in the company.

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On October 8, the Guangdong Provincial Food and Drug Administration released the “List of Approved Products for the Pilot Program of the Guangdong Medical Device Registrant System (as of 2021-10-8)”, and Huawei’s wrist single-lead ECG collector was officially approved for production. The number is: Guangdong Machinery Note 20202071705, the trustees are Goertek Co., Ltd. and Weifang Jingwei Hi-Tech Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., the approval date is September 10, 2021, and the validity period is October 22, 2025.
In addition to the single-lead ECG collector on the wrist, as early as August 23, the Guangdong Provincial Drug Administration issued the “Announcement of the Application for Priority Approval of Class II Medical Devices in Guangdong Province (Issue 49)”, showing that, Huawei also has three medical devices that have entered the priority approval process. They are wrist ECG blood pressure recorder (MLY-B10, MLY-B11), ECG analysis system (ECG-1), and arrhythmia analysis system (PPG-1).
It has already been deployed on relevant medical testing patents
As early as May 2021, He Gang, president of Huawei’s consumer business mobile phone product line, revealed that Huawei is developing wearable blood pressure measurement devices, and will launch research on hypertension management with well-known domestic institutions to explore blood pressure innovations from screening to early intervention. Active health management. Among them, the first smart watch that can measure blood pressure has passed the medical device registration inspection.
At the end of August, Goertek said in an institutional survey that in recent years, the concept of health has been used more and more on smart watches, and monitoring functions such as ECG and blood oxygen have continued to appear. In the next two or three years, there may be blood sugar, blood pressure, etc. Functional breakthrough. With breakthroughs in technology and applications, product profit models may also change, not only in hardware sales, but also in services. Goertek also has a good layout in this field, and will actively seize opportunities and serve customers well.
The Tianyancha APP shows that Huawei Terminal Co., Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. have published a number of medical-related patents, such as “a heart rate detection method and device” and “heart rate detection method and system” applied for in 2016. At the same time, Huawei companies such as Patents for “An ECG Detection Device” that can reduce the difficulty of designing and manufacturing ECG detection devices, patents for “ECG Detection Device, Circuit and Method” that can improve the accuracy of ECG detection, etc. At present, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. has applied for over 100 trademark registrations under the international classification of “medical devices”, and 44 of them have been registered.
In February of this year, Huawei’s patent information on “device and method for electrocardiographic measurement” was authorized to be disclosed. Embodiments of the present invention relate to the technical field of medical devices, and more particularly, to a device and method for electrocardiographic measurement.
The old rivals in the mobile phone industry, the battlefield has shifted
It is worth noting that on June 25, the website of the State Drug Administration released the information to be received for medical device approval documents (import), the first of which is the mobile electrocardiogram atrial fibrillation reminder software from Apple Inc. The registration certificate number is “National Machinery Injection 20212210223”.
Source: State Drug Administration website
Huatai Securities analyzed that in recent years, in addition to the first-generation heart rate monitoring, Apple has gradually added key physiological data such as electrocardiogram and blood oxygen to the watch. This approval will help the “electrocardiogram” function to be approved in mainland China and help Apple Watch sales increase.
Huatai Securities said that since the release of the first Apple Watch in September 2014, the company has maintained the launch progress of at least one smart watch every year, except for no new products released in 2015. From the product function point of view, the feature richness of Apple Watch has been continuously improved, which has driven the continuous increase in product shipments. Data shows that Apple’s smartwatch shipments have increased from 14.7 million in 2017 to 32.04 million in 2020, making it the world’s largest smartwatch supplier.
Huawei and Apple’s wearable medical products have been approved one after another, which also shows a problem, that is, consumer electronics manufacturers have seen opportunities in medical products and have made great efforts, and obtaining medical device certification is no longer a new thing.
Taking Apple as an example, as early as 2018, its ECG APP and arrhythmia reminder function obtained FDA approval through the De Novo channel; in October 2020, it obtained FDA 510(k) Class II medical device certification; 2021 On June 21, it officially obtained the medical device registration certificate from the my country Food and Drug Administration.
Domestic companies are not behind. On September 24, 2020, OPPO announced the world premiere of OPPO Watch ECG, and announced that this smart watch with ECG continuous monitoring function has obtained the NMPA medical device class II certificate, which is the first certificate in China. Smart watch; On October 23, 2020, the wrist single-lead ECG collector applied by Huawei Terminal Co., Ltd. obtained the medical device product registration certificate. On October 30, the HUAWEI WATCH equipped with this technology was officially released, becoming Huawei’s first certified smart wearable medical device.
Huawei’s first smart wearable medical device to obtain a Class II medical device registration certificate from the State Drug Administration
Common “skills” for wearable medical products
However, although major mobile phone manufacturers have added health functions to smartwatches and are developing towards medical devices with more accurate test results, there are currently only four ECG smartwatches that have obtained the second-class medical device certificate in China, namely Huawei and OPPO. , Apple, Huami. Device House introduced some common medical terms in wearable medicine and Huawei’s layout in the medical industry, and took stock of these products.
Accurate measurement of ECG
ECG is short for electrocardiogram, which means electrocardiogram. Each time the human heart beats, the contraction and relaxation will send out corresponding electrical signals. The electrocardiogram records the electrical signals of the heart through the wires placed in various positions of the body. Due to the different electrical signal strengths of different parts of the body, the more points are usually arranged, the more accurate the measurement will be. When we do a physical examination in the hospital, doctors usually use 12 leads with 10 collection points for ECG monitoring, that is, stick electrodes on 6 points on both wrists, ankles and chest. When measuring with a Huawei watch, users only need to wear the watch correctly and touch the newly added electrode on the side of the Huawei Watch GT2 Pro ECG watch with their fingers, and the result report can be quickly generated in 30 seconds.
Many people often have ECG collection in their daily physical examinations, but it is difficult for ordinary people to understand the complex radio signals. In addition to the choice of AI algorithms to interpret ECGs, Huawei has joined forces with “National Telemedicine and Internet”. The medical center is an authoritative national-level medical center. Professional doctors from selected top three hospitals provide artificial ECG interpretation services, and give out the doctor’s signature. Report, give ECG interpretation results, help users to detect high risk of arrhythmia early, and manage heart health independently. The feedback results can be sent out within 1-2 minutes at the earliest on working days.
Huawei cooperated with 301 Hospital to launch a heart health research project. Since 2018, the innovative team of Professors Chen Yundai and Guo Yutao from the Cardiology Department of 301 Hospital has used the photoplethysmography (PPG) technology of Huawei smart wearable devices to screen for atrial fibrillation. The screened people with atrial fibrillation have supported atrial fibrillation through a multidisciplinary team. The integrated management strategy provided by the management platform (mobile Atrial Fibrillation Application, mAFA) realizes the self-management of primary and secondary prevention of atrial fibrillation management and patient participation.
Photoplethysmography (PPG) detects heart rate by detecting the amount of visible light, such as green light, reflected in human tissue. Usually there are two or three green LEDs that emit visible light to the wrist, and then there is a photoelectric sensor in the middle to receive and process the reflected light. heart rate.
Medical Grade Blood Glucose Monitoring Software
According to Huawei’s official website, after HUAWEI WATCH is connected to the minimally invasive sensor, you can view the current blood sugar in real time on the watch through medical-grade blood sugar monitoring software, and it will vibrate to remind you if there is an abnormality. Currently, it only supports the use of the Miqi blood glucose meter (device Model: RGMS-III). The blood glucose meter needs to be purchased separately by the user, and the user needs to download and configure the relevant Miqi blood glucose monitoring software on the watch. In addition, the device also supports blood oxygen saturation measurement, fall alarm, sleep monitoring, and exercise recording functions.
Not only equipment, Huawei has also deployed telemedicine
With its 5G technology advantages and huge R&D investment, Huawei will not only maintain the top shipments of smartwatches, but also take the lead in the number of medical device certifications, as well as take a lead in medical layout. At present, Huawei’s entry point into medical devices is only wearable devices, but it is difficult to speculate whether it will expand to other fields in the future. However, no one doubts Huawei’s ability to expand into other medical device fields.
Of course, Huawei’s ambitions in the medical industry go far beyond medical devices. As early as 2016, Huawei released the “White Paper on the Application Directions of Five 5G Industries”. One of them is the application of 5G in the medical industry, including remote monitoring of wearable medicine, remote surgery, remote imaging consultation, telemedicine, and asset supervision.
In March 2019, Huawei changed the company’s business scope and added businesses such as the sale of medical devices (Class II medical devices). Glory Terminal Co., Ltd., established on April 1, 2020, is also involved in the field of medical devices again, further expanding the medical field. At the end of November 2019, the business of Shensi Artificial Intelligence Robot Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. invested by Hubble Technology Investment Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huawei, changed its business and sold medical devices I and II, computers, software and replication equipment.
Relying on related technologies and equipment such as big data and cloud computing technology, Huawei has established cooperation with a number of large general hospitals in the field of digital hospital construction.
Smart watch as a stepping stone to enter the ECG track
OPPO Watch ECG version The OPPO Watch ECG version adopts a single-lead design, has medical-grade measurement accuracy, and has passed the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) certification. It is very convenient to use OPPO Watch ECG version to measure ECG: in wearing state, click the “ECG” APP on the watch side, use the finger pulp of the other hand to press and hold the navigation key, keep still and wait for the 30s measurement countdown to complete to obtain the ECG data. The mobile terminal bound to the watch will also receive the synchronous push.
OPPO Watch ECG also provides two ECG analysis methods.
The AI analysis algorithm can produce a complete analysis report within 3 seconds of analysis, and can also output a full range of answers from indicator analysis to health advice. The algorithm itself is supported by the National Center for Telemedicine and Internet Medicine, and has passed more than 100 hospitals across the country. Verified by millions of users. The expert interpretation is to analyze the ECG data online by real doctors. The data submitted from 08:00 to 17:00 every day will be interpreted in about 2 hours, and the data submitted outside the working hours will be submitted at 12:00 the next day. The interpretation is completed around 00, and each interpretation will be charged according to the business level of the selected doctor.
In fact, since the Apple Watch 4, the ECG function has become standard. As early as 2018, Apple launched the ECG electrocardiogram detection function on the Apple Watch Series 4 and obtained FDA approval. However, because this function is a medical device attribute, Apple failed to pass the medical device certification of the Chinese Food and Drug Administration, so Apple Watch Series 4 did not support this function in China at first. On June 21, 2021, it officially obtained the medical device registration certificate of the my country Food and Drug Administration.
According to Apple’s official website, the currently launched Apple Watch Series 6 can monitor the heart. Once the heart rate is found to be too high or too low, the heart rate app will issue an early warning reminder. The ECG electrocardiogram function only takes 30 seconds to distinguish whether the sinus rhythm is normal, irregular or accompanied by sinus atrial fibrillation, and draws a heart rate map with detailed data in the iOS Health APP, which can be saved in PDF format .
Huami AMAZFIT Meter Health Watch
The AMAZFIT health watch adopts the high-precision bio-tracking optical sensor independently developed by Huami Technology – BioTracker? PPG sensor, which can continuously collect heart rate data at a sampling rate of 50 Hz for 24 hours. The detection interval is short, and the monitoring data is accurate. higher.
The AMAZFIT health watch is also equipped with an ECG electrocardiogram sensor. It innovatively adopts a four-sided surrounding push-type design. There are metal sheets around the watch frame. Users can measure with a more free posture, while also increasing the metal contact area. , lower impedance and make ECG signal more accurate.
In a test study conducted by Huami Technology and the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine of Peking University First Hospital on 290 cases, compared with the gold standard 12-lead ECG detection results of medical heart rate measurement, the accuracy rate of ECG atrial fibrillation judgment of RealBeats? AI biological data engine is as high as 97.24% , PPG atrial fibrillation judgment accuracy rate also reached 95.52%.
AMAZFIT is equipped with the “Huangshan No. 1” chip independently developed by Huami Technology. Huangshan No. 1 is based on the RISC-V open source instruction set and has three important features: high performance, AI migration, and scalability. In terms of high performance, its computing efficiency is 38% higher than that of the ARM architecture; AI migration refers to it Integrated AI biological data engine, the monitoring of heart rate, ECG, and arrhythmia can be quickly calculated locally; and scalability means that it can be used as the main processor or work in conjunction with the main chip, such as Huami and The combination of Qualcomm Snapdragon processors makes it capable of local health monitoring.
Smart wearable devices rise as a national strategy
Tech giants have entered this track because China has a large and rapidly growing wearable device market and strong policy support.
According to the “2021 China Smart Wearable Device Industry Research Report”, China’s smart wearable device industry will maintain a rapid growth trend. With the rapid development of smart wearable devices in the domestic and foreign markets, the standardization of the smart wearable device industry has also been included in the policy list. At the same time, the implementation of the “Internet + health care” strategy is also accelerating the development of the industry.
In 2014, the Chinese Academy of Engineering launched the “China National Health and Medical and Health Development Strategy Research” project, and took “Development Strategy Research on Medical Devices and New Wearable Medical Devices” as a key research topic. With the increasingly prominent advantages of smart wearable devices in the medical field, the government has gradually paid more attention to medical-grade smart wearable devices. In 2015, the State Council issued “Made in China 2025”, emphasizing the need to improve the innovation ability and industrialization level of medical devices, promote breakthroughs in the field of intelligent manufacturing in technologies such as mobile Internet, cloud computing, and big data, and focus on the development of mobile wearables, remote diagnosis and treatment, etc. Medical products, smart wearable devices are rising as national strategies.


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Since London bars have been closed for what feels like forever, some have changed up their offering during the lockdown.
One such award-winning bar doing just that is Dalston's Three Sheets. Unable to open to serve up their normal cracking cocktails, they've been operating as a coffee and sandwich bar. And it's the latter part of that offering which has us interested.
They've started teaming up with guest chefs and restaurants, and have already worked with Mangal 2 and Ikoyi. Upcoming collabs sound just as interesting.
This week, the guest lunchtime sarnie is courtesy of their neighbour Angelina - there's a fried chicken focaccia sandwich with yuzu mayo and an aubergine katsu sandwich with curry sauce.
Future guest sarnie slingers promised include Top Cuveé, El Pastor, Perilla and Rochelle Canteen, so you should keep an eye on their Insta feed for news.
More about Three Sheets
Where is it? 510b Kingsland Rd, Dalston, London E8 4AB
When? Wed-Sun from 12pm. Collection-only.
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Through the second season of Sparks, DBS aims to galvanise change around key sustainability challenges
Unicorns such as Byju’s, Policybazaar among others support anywhere between two and 12 regional languages
India likely to gain $1 billion in pay TV revenue to take its total to $6.32 billion
Awarded the integrated communication duties for redBus in Indonesia
The company said the acquisition is both PAT and free cash accretive from day one.
But before going global, Instamojo is planning to go big on the mobile space and is gearing up to launch its mobile app by the end of this quarter as it finds a rapid rise in mobile usage by its customers (micro merchants).
After recently closing $1 billion fund-raise by SoftBank, Oyo has stepped on the gas in terms of expansion on foreign soil
The company is adding 70 hotels every month to its chain in Indonesia and is looking at closing 2019 with presence in 100 cities in the Southeast Asian country.
The company which ships its products to over 51 countries from India would be setting up a subsidiary to manage operations in Thailand, Royal Enfield, Head-India Business, Shaji Koshy
Almost 90% of all digital minutes spent by Indians in 2017 were spent on a mobile phone, the highest among any other country, reiterating the fact that India has become a mobile-first country
As part of the transaction, Uber will take a 27.5 percent stake in the Southeast Asian company and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab's board
According to App Annie, the mobile app data and insights company maturing markets will see strong growth in gross app store spend per device and increases in in-app subscriptions
UCWeb will invest Rs. 200 crore over the period of 2 years in India and Indonesia to push content like blogs, short videos, non-conventional news feeds
A third of smartphone users assess smartphone experience by video load time and buffering effects on streaming apps
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Since the uncertainties occasioned by COVID-19 have become increasingly overwhelming, certainty is now recognised as a product, a very rare and expensive one as such. No doubt, the global pandemic caught the world off guard, exposing the vulnerabilities of different countries and now, gradually pushing the world into a global recession. Travel, tourism, and international trade have been severely disrupted, and businesses across many industries have already shut down (Mark Z., Ryan S., Cristian d., Steven C., Adam K., Petr Z., 2020). Insecurities have increased as hunger crisis has made it largely impracticable to enforce the lockdown regulations in most developing countries.
In Nigeria, like every other developing economy in Africa, this public health crisis is crippling the informal sector – which “contributes about 65% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)” (International Monetary Fund, IMF, 2017). Although governments across different levels have responded to the situation and whether or not these responses are substantially sufficient are good topics for debate on some other days. However, the current stance and response is with the ongoing work led by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN in the Economic Sustainability Committee, the focus of which is to contain the economic contagion created by this virus and build a sustainable and resilient economy thereafter.
Notwithstanding the economic policy response underway, there is a need for a “more profound rethinking of decision making – in public policy, business and civil society” (Dennis J., 2020).
Now that the prices of oil have crashed (Opinion, 2020) and the value of Naira has depreciated even more (Chike, 2020). Revenue from taxes are currently not a viable option as most tax authorities across Africa including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have extended tax filing and payment deadlines in light of the corona-virus pandemic (Aimée D., 2020). The situation on ground reiterates the already overemphasised need for the Nigerian economy to be diversified. The role of the telecommunication industry in enhancing online business transactions and sustaining social relationships by keeping most people connected during this pandemic cannot be undermined. Therefore, the government must seek to further facilitate development of this sector while leveraging technology more in order to benefit from the growth-pole potentials of the digital economy, as the realities of the 4th Industrial Revolution are now with us.
More than ever before, attention must be re-directed to supporting the informal sector – agriculture and other social entrepreneurial activities should be prioritized, difficulties in accessing funds and capital should become a thing of the past. More importantly, the ‘no longer fit for purpose’ Export (Prohibition) Act of 1989 which not only prohibits, absolutely, but also penalises the exportation of certain goods – beans, cassava tuber, maize, rice, yam tuber as well as all their products or derivatives should be immediately repealed if we are truly determined to build a resilient and globally competitive economy.
No one wants to suffer the double-jeopardies of uncertainty. Therefore, building a smooth economic recovery plan for the Nigerian business environment post-COVID will mean eliminating all other uncertainties that may reduce or diminish investors’ confidence in our economy. Improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria has never been more important as this will not only make Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) more attractive but will also provide an enabling and friendly environment, which is already long overdue, for our Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to thrive.
Truly, the tides have changed and as we continue to witness the emergence of a “new normal”, it is important for businesses and individuals alike to begin to reinvent their realities. There is no gain saying that the pandemic has generated a Great Economic Mismatch (GEM) characterised by deficient demand for things requiring close physical contact or interaction among people and deficient supply of things compatible with social distancing (Dennis J., 2020). Although this may be the status quo for a while, taking full advantage of technology offers an escape route of this GEM. Therefore, building an online infrastructure and improving on the existing one will be a smart investment and response for many industries and organisations to scale up activities during this crisis and beyond.
The thriving industries and sectors during this pandemic – Data Science and Analytics, Financial Technology, Insurance, Medical Research and Public Health, Logistics etc. – are springing up new priorities and competencies that will become much more relevant and demanding after this crisis. To this end, individuals must begin to develop capacities that will best fit into these top priority areas and other emerging markets.
Essentially, young people clamouring for inclusion in society and leadership must take advantage of this zeitgeist – the spirit of the times – optimising technology and the abundant internet resources to provide digital solutions capable of addressing the emerging challenges of the world post-COVID.
Although a challenge in this regard may be lack of access to broadband internet connectivity. However, in the meantime, young people must make the best use of the internet (maximising online opportunities for upskilling and career development) through their mobile phones, personal computers, etc., bearing in mind that the competition on the global level recognises no such obstacle.
Moving forward, through smart public-private-partnerships, we can take a cue from private technological companies in Kenya (with full support and timely approval from the government) deploying balloons to deliver internet connectivity to the country’s most inaccessible regions during this pandemic (Alison, B. 2020). When this is done, digital inclusion and the government’s financial inclusion policy will become seamless. In the same way, the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 –Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure – in Nigeria will be fast-tracked.
As much as we continue to mobilise our forces and resources in the fight against this virus, we cannot afford to simply win the battle now and lose sight of the war ahead (the aftermath of this crisis). Thus, we must prepare the foundation for a robust recovery, bearing in mind the future possibilities and implications post-COVID, while we continue to act decisively in light of our present realities. The government must be determined to implement its policy responses as businesses continue to reinvent their realities and individuals, especially the youth, begin to develop skills for the new economy.
Now that our times are changing, there is a need for re-adaptation of our governmental policy and individual strategies, as our stories too have now changed.
Aimée, D. (2020, April 21). Rethinking Tax in Africa to Respond to COVID-19. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/rethinking-tax-in-africa-to-respond-to-covid-19/
Alison, B. (2020, May). Balloons to Deliver Emergency Internet Across Kenya. International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group. Retrieved from https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/news_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/news+and+events/news/insights/telkom-kenya
Chike, O. (2020, April 22). Naira crashes further at the parallel market due to dollar scarcity, lowest since 2017. Nairametrics. Retrieved from https://nairametrics.com/2020/04/22/naira-crashes-further-at-the-parallel-market-due-to-dollar-scarcity-lowest-since-2017/
Dennis J., (2020, April 22). The Socioeconomics of Pandemics Policy. Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-socioeconomics-of-pandemics-policy/
International Monetary Fund. (2017, August 8). Nigeria’s Informal Economy Accounts for 65% of GDP – IMF. Business a.m. Retrieved from https://www.businessamlive.com/nigerias-informal-economy-accounts-65-gdp-imf/
Opinion (2020, April 30). Nigeria’s COVID-19, Oil Price Crash and Fiscal Crisis Calls for a More Fundamental Response. Business Day. Retrieved from https://businessday.ng/opinion/article/nigerias-covid-19-oil-price-crash-and-fiscal-crisis-calls-for-a-more-fundamental-response/
Mark, Z., Ryan, S., Cristian, d., Steven, C., Adam, K., & Petr, Z. (2020, March). COVID-19: Global Recession. Moody’s Analytics. Retrieved from https://www.moodysanalytics.com/webinars-on-demand/2020/covid19-global-recession
Damilola Oguntade is a recent Law Graduate from the University of Lagos and a Bar II Candidate at the Nigerian Law School, Abuja.
He is an emerging Policy and Thought Leader with the mindset of a global shaper. His competencies in Global Sustainability, Research, Policy and Advocacy have been recognised and awarded at the Model United Nations Conference in Washington DC, 2017, the Nigerian Economic Summit in Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, 2019 and other Symposia during his undergraduate studies.
He is currently co-anchoring an ideation project with the Director of Communication, Public Affairs and Sustainable Development at LafargeHilcom Ltd, Lagos, Nigeria.


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Welch’s unveiled its new, Zero Sugar Fruity Bites at Sweets & Snacks Expo which ran from 23-25 May in Chicago, Illinois, as the company presented its latest innovation from PIM Brands, makers of Welch’s Fruit Snacks.
The new Fruity Bites are chewy, delicious and 100% sugar free, according to the company, with 25% fewer calories than the original Fruit Snacks. They are also fat-free, gluten-free, aspartame-free and contain no preservatives.
As increasing numbers of consumers are looking for low and/or sugar-free products – with 4% greater consumers looking compared with a year ago according to FMCG Gurus – the zero sugar bites are designed to meet consumer preference for sugar-free snacks as the sugar-free snack market is growing.
“We’re excited to expand our product offerings with Welch’s Zero Sugar Fruity Bites,” said Nicole Luisi, Senior Brand Manager, Welch’s Fruit Snacks. “With this new innovation, fans of our iconic fruit snacks with specific dietary preferences or restrictions can again enjoy that same delicious taste and texture they have grown to love, giving them a deliciously fruity snack without any compromise.”
Consumers can find Welch’s Zero Sugar Fruit Snacks at their favourite retailers and online at Amazon in mixed fruit, berries and cherries and island fruits varieties, retailing for US$3.99 for 3 ounce bags.
Stay up-to-date on the latest industry news and exclusives in our magazine.


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With at-home rapid COVID-19 tests hard to come by and many stores limiting purchases, the White House on Friday acknowledged the current supply crunch, promising to double the number of rapid tests available for sale within the next two months.
“You’re right that the at-home rapid test is under a lot of demand,” White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said, emphasizing that “overall, testing capacity across the country remains robust.”
“The manufacturing is scaling up significantly, doubling across the next couple of months, and we’re just going to keep at it to encourage those manufacturers to increase capacity and to drive down the cost of those tests.”
The White House has touted the effectiveness of its new vaccine mandates and employee testing requirements, and it has committed to shoring up testing by investing billions of dollars.
Yet the U.S. has struggled since the start of the pandemic to meet demand for tests. As he began his tenure, President Joe Biden pledged a World War II-style production push to ramp up supply. But while PCR tests, which rely on labs to process them and take longer to produce results, are now widely available, the at-home rapid tests are hard to find.
Demand for testing generally has soared some 300% to 650% in some areas of the country, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told senators Thursday, making the case that while “sufficient supply” remains, the issue becomes “getting [it] to the right places.”
Senators on both sides of the aisle grilled Becerra on the testing shortage they’re seeing in their states, saying that even though the federal government has supplied billions of dollars for schools and businesses to acquire tests, actually securing them has become a challenge.
“You need to know that right now there is a real crush to be able to get the testing that can get the results back in a timely enough manner to make a difference,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said, adding that schools and businesses have told her “there’s no place to get the testing, or certainly not to get the rapid test.”
Consumers have felt that crush at checkout.
“Due to high demand, deliveries may be delayed,” reads a banner across the CVS at-home testing page. “We appreciate your understanding as our associates work around the clock to support you.”
“We may experience intermittent delays in supply in some locations and are working with all of our testing partners to meet patient demand,” Walgreens corporate spokesperson Erin Loverher told ABC News.
Following the doubling of testing volume in June to July, with much of the heightened consumption coming from the southern surge states, Walgreens is seeing “incredible demand,” the Loverher said. As such, a cap has been placed on over-the-counter at-home COVID testing products “in an effort to help improve inventory,” while the company continues to “work diligently with our partners to best meet demand.”
CVS spokesperson Matthew Blanchette told ABC News the company has also begun to ration rapid test-kit purchases.
In order to preserve the straining supplies of point-of-care and over-the-counter rapid tests, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked labs in September to use laboratory-based tests over rapid ones whenever possible to “meet the current test demand” despite what it called a “temporary shortage.”
In late September, the Biden administration struck a new $1.2 billion deal for millions more rapid COVID-19 tests from Abbott and Celltrion, part of the $2 billion already announced by the White House to expand testing.
Abbott spokesperson John Koval told ABC News that the company would be ramping up production significantly, and by the end of October it aims to produce “as many or more” rapid tests as at the height of their production — surging capacity up to at least 50 million tests a month.
The company is restarting production at its Illinois plant and rehiring in Maine after laying off several hundred workers when demand was down, Koval said.
“Overall, we’ll continue to pull every lever we can to further expand the manufacturing and the production of these tests in order to make them more widely available and to drive down the cost per test,” Zients said Friday.


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The campaign goes on to celebrate the spirit of a changing India where UV owners are fueling discoveries of their inner selves & making a difference to the world around them.
In India since 1998, the company has invested more than US$ 2 billion and remains committed to building a sustainable, profitable business in one of the world's fastest-growing auto markets.
This change is happening thanks to GST (goods and services tax) being in place, which has eliminated various and varied state levies such as excise duty, VAT (value-added tax), infrastructure cess, octroi etc.
In Chennai, Ford has already appointed 800-1,000 employees including engineers who have worked on Figo Sports and EcoSport Platinum editions.
The petrol variant starts from Rs 509,000, while the diesel variant starts from Rs 609,000.
The Freestyle can now be booked for Rs 11,000 from the Ford dealerships.
The offer is open for 24-hours starting 2:00 PM on April 14 with a booking amount of Rs 10,000.
The carmaker has placed the Freestyle between the Figo hatchback and the compact utility vehicle Ecosport.
The company’s domestic wholesales stood at 9,016 vehicles in March, up from 8,700 vehicles in the same month last year.
Battling against well-entrenched players, for Ford Freestyle it will now be a survival of the fittest
The company’s domestic wholesales stood at 9,450 vehicles in January, up from 7,995 vehicles in the same month last year.
Ford Freestyle to have commercial rollout in the second quarter of the calendar year 2018
India will be amongst the first across the globe, where the all-new Freestyle will go on sale in the second quarter of 2018.


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In Italy, in 2023, the Toyota group recorded a sales record in the B-SUV segment. The Toyota and Lexus brands, together, exceeded 102,000 registrations, achieving a market share of over 6.5%.
There are several factors that have led to this success: from the delivery of electric vehicles to innovative solutions regarding financing, leasing, insurance and connectivity.
I wrote the numbers of Toyota, Lexus and Kinto
In 2023, Toyota he closed 98,000 for registration in Italy, in place of third place in the list of best selling brands and a share of 6.3%. A share exceeding 8% if we consider sales to individuals only. As already mentioned, this result is due to the example Yaris crossoverwhich represented about 23% of the market, followed by compacts Ayo X.
Lexusinstead he reached 3,700 registrations it is 1.3% market share. More than 50% of the registrants were among individuals. The model was very successful SUV NX, with approximately 2,000 registered units. It should be noted that half of the buyers preferred the hybrid version of the plug.
Also KintoToyota brand focused mobility services, has recorded significant growth. In particular, a long-term rental service with an all-inclusive formula, called One, has seen a increase in fleet by 80% compared to 2022, and around 16,000 cars. Sharing services, medium-term rentals and car pooling have also recorded growth.
Toyota news for 2024
Mauro Caruccio, CEO and chairman of Kinto Italia, and Alberto Santilli, CEO of Toyota Motor Italia, commented on the achievements, shared data, information and hopes for the new year. Republic.
The first announced that in 2024 the brand will be “you can increasingly interrupts the emerging demand for mobility and connecting the region with the goal of completing the implementation of all 5 Kinto mobility services on 100% of the network.».
The second, however, gives 2024 as «a whole year of information», when Toyota will strengthen”multi-technology approach». In fact, it will introduce «important information Yaris and Yaris CrossPlugin Hybrid variant on the new C-HR and there will also be news related to the world Gazoo CompetitionFinally, through Lexus2024 will be a very important year thanks to New LbxA premium hybrid SUV capable of delivering great driving pleasure».


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|2 June 2016|
The number of consumers and businesses using Virtual Reality (VR) technology is increasing rapidly, according to a new report.
Worldwide adoption of this type of groundbreaking technology, being spearheaded by companies like Sony and HTC, is skyrocketing according to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Hardware Forecast, 2016–2020.
“VR is an increasingly hot topic at technology events, government meetings and consumer entertainment events, injecting a boost of much needed excitement into consumer IT and business applications markets,” says Neo Zheng, Research Manager, Client System Research, IDC China.
Neo added:“What started as a great concept, VR is quickly becoming reality for consumer and business applications. With the participation of major global manufacturers, the VR market is set to enjoy rapid growth in the second half of 2016. This results in upstream and downstream benefits, with VR chip/screen suppliers providing more specially designed components and video game developers offering more VR content. We expect the VR ecosystem and user demands to dramatically change in the coming years.”


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Everyday goods used in Europe, from components in smartphones, to the cotton used for clothing, may contain materials manufactured with slave labour. According to experts, it is now more than likely that the average European regularly uses goods containing materials made from slave labour.
Forced labour is defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily.”
In a modern context, this can take many forms, from indentured servitude, child slavery, human trafficking, domestic servitude, and other forms of involuntary working conditions. The problem is a global issue. As of 2016, there were believed to be around 40.3 million subject to forced labour across the globe.
Forced labour is still rampant in Europe, where undocumented migrants are forced to work in the EU’s agricultural sector. Around 100,000 people are also working in forced conditions in the UK, mostly as a result of punitive immigration laws.
Most troubling is the export of slave-produced goods in China, where authorities are systematically persecuting the country's Muslim Uyghur minority, in what the United Nations now states may constitute “crimes against humanity.”
Members of China’s Muslim community are regularly rounded up under false charges of extremism and sent to camps, where they are subjected to a social “re-education” and forced to produce goods for companies and local authorities.
According to data from the Coalition to end Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region, one in five cotton garments in the global apparel market now contain materials tainted by forced labour from the Uyghur region of China.
There is also evidence that the West’s growing need for electric components needed for the transition away from fossil-energy. 45% of the world’s solar-grade polysilicon, used in the production of solar panels, comes from the Uyghur Region, where the use of Muslim slave-labour is rife.
Slavery deeply routed in modern commerce
Chloe Cranston, Business and Human Rights Manager at Anti-Slavery International and member of the Coalition to end Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region says that the use of slave labour is now widespread, and risk becoming critical.
“The unfortunate situation is that a huge amount of products and service we use every day could be made with modern slavery at some point,” Chloe told The Brussels Times. In total, over 17 global industries from agriculture to toys, are implicated in Uyghur forced labour.
Due to the complex nature of international logistical supply chains, it can be extremely difficult to track exactly where components originate from and how suppliers are sourcing materials. Within China, regional suppliers often lack transparency about where they source their products, increasing the risk that goods made from slave labour end up within the European Union.
“It really can be at various layers of the supply chain. Unfortunately, it’s in a huge amount of what we use daily and the reason for that is the way that global supply chains have been built– to put profit before people,” the slavery expert noted.
Cranston argued that the cost of employing basic due diligence for companies would ultimately have a negligible impact on companies.
Indeed, a February 2020 report on due diligence requirements and the supply chain conducted by the Europe Commission revealed that heightened checks on supply chains would not significantly impact the economic model of international corporations.
Existing measures to attempt to combat the use of unethically sourced materials have been largely unsuccessful. Despite improved and more stringent use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies, regulations for the sector remain unbinding, prompting some companies to shirk responsibility and cut corners.
“CSR are voluntary efforts and tend to be a tick box…decades of voluntary corporate social responsibility efforts have failed people and they have not had any of the changes they said they would bring,” Cranston lamented.
Europe risks becoming a 'dumping ground' for slave labour goods
While official estimates from the ILO on the extent of the scale of global slave labour has yet to be published, the Coalition to end Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region believes that the levels of slave labour has only increase since the publication of the last statistics in 2017.
Across the Atlantic, Cranston's coalition has hailed legislation which they say shows that curbing market access to slave labour goods was both feasible and workable.
Implemented by U.S President Joseph Biden on 23 December, 2021 the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) banned goods, materials, and components made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China from entering the U.S, requiring companies to perform due diligence on goods coming from China and turning away slave labour goods from American ports.
While the stringent legislation has been praised by campaigners as an important first step in standing up to facilitation of slave labour in China, the move poses a problem for the European Union, which could turn into a “dumping ground” for slave labour goods, due to the single market’s lack of legislation on Uyghur products.
“The issue is that other countries do not have comparable legislation and as long as that’s the case, other countries may become dumping grounds for Uyghur or forced labour goods…Any company could bifurcate their supply chain so they have on so-called ‘clean’ supply chain for the U.S and one ‘not-clean’ supply chain for elsewhere,” Cranston explained.
Calls for the EU to get tough on products from slavery
With the practical application of anti-slave labour good policies in the U.S, the coalition is calling on the European Union to implement new tough policies to enact overarching bans on products made using forced labour.
On the EU agenda this month, the European Commission is set to publish its proposal for a “forced labour instrument” to effectively ban products “produced, extracted or harvested with forced labour.” The instrument would concern both goods produced inside and outside the EU.
The coalition is concerned that the proposed legislation will not go far enough, as no impact assessment on the proposed measure had been carried out. The final proposal is anticipated for 13 September, one day before this year’s State of the Union address.
“We are calling for new laws that actually require companies to take meaningful steps to prevent modern slavery, other human rights abuses and environmental harm… We need to see a toll or an instrument that can be used to produce a regional ban, all products made with cotton or partly made from cotton from the region,” the member of the coalition said.
Cranston is unsure if these comprehensive measures will ultimately be included, as the Directorate General for Trade may want to avoid damaging political and trade relations with China.
Also on the EU agenda are renewed talks on a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, a major proposal which would force individual companies to police their global supply chains for environmental and human rights abuses.
The coalition wants new EU legislation to force companies to go beyond CSR, working closely with each step of the supply chain to stamp out materials made from slave labour.
“It can’t be an excuse that ‘we don’t know where our cotton comes from.’ Companies need to change their supply chain so they know where their cotton comes from so they can guarantee their products are not made with crimes against humanity against the Uyghur people,” Cranston affirmed.
Due to the vast web of international companies, suppliers, and distributors used in the creation and export of goods from China, new EU legislation on CSR would make it necessary for companies to analyse their supply chains at every step of the way, or even simplify and shorten it.
“The burden of proof needs to be placed on the importer…the company needs to be able to say our supply chain constitutes these products from these suppliers. Then that can be cross-checked against red flag lists…that’s what the U.S law has done,” Cranston said.
In the absence of comprehensive European legislation, the coalition is calling on companies to disengage from certain regions of China, especially the XUAR, where individual companies are not able to control the origin of materials.
Holding companies to account
As technology develops, it may soon become harder for companies to plausibly deny that their products include cotton processed with forced labour.
An investigation conducted by German researchers in May, which utilised isotopic testing, a type of advanced forensic technology, scientifically proved that major clothing brands Adidas and Hugo Boss had sourced cotton from Uyghur Region, contradicting German companies promises to review their supply chains.
- Modern slavery: 55 victims of human trafficking on Antwerp construction site
- Masks produced by slave labour in China on sale in Belgium
- Belgian Parliament calls for harder stance on China
As part of new UFLPA rules, U.S customs authorities are also turning to isotopic testing to determine whether shipments of goods have been made using cotton from Muslim-minority areas under Chinese oppression.
As the pressure on companies mounts to be completely slavery-free, isotopic testing has even made it to private sector, allowing companies to effectively ensure that suppliers have told the truth about the origin of their materials.
But how can Belgian customers avoid using products made from slave labour? It all comes down to advocacy, Cranston says.
Mounting pressure to answer questions on where they source their materials and components forces individual companies to improve how they collect data on sourcing and supply chains.
“Write to your favourite brands, you can get answers from companies…Write to them and ask ‘where does your cotton come from? Are you sourcing from the Uyghur Region? Ask your phone company, how are you making sure there’s no forced labour in my phone?,” she said.
The coalition is urging Belgians, and other Europeans, to sign a petition by “Justice is Everybody’s Business”, an alliance of over 100 NGOs campaigning for stronger EU legislation to hold businesses to account and to protect human rights and sustainable development.


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Netflix shares fell more than seven percent on Wednesday as the streamer faced more bad news about its subscriber outlook, including a new study showing that long-term Netflix customers are abandoning it in significantly larger numbers.
Another study found that consumer interest in Netflix’s original content is lagging behind the competition.
Shares of the far left-wing Netflix dropped more than seven percent Wednesday and slid further in after-hours trading amid a widespread market sell-off that hammered other technology and entertainment stocks including Amazon and the Walt Disney Co.
Wednesday’s losses mean Netflix shares are off a staggering 70 percent for the year so far.
As Breitbart News reported, Netflix is seeing a sharp rise in the number of long-term customers cancelling their subscriptions, signaling a new threat to the left-wing streamer’s financial stability.
The woke mutiny at Netflix is escalating, with the streamer reportedly firing an unidentified employee for leaking confidential data on comedian Dave Chappelle to a news organization. https://t.co/g7OmHF23Ws
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) October 16, 2021
The data, from the research firm Antenna, showed that consumers who had been Netflix subscribers for more than three years accounted for just 5 percent of total cancelations at the start of 2022, but that figure jumped to 13 percent in the first quarter of 2022.
A separate study found waning consumer enthusiasm for original Netflix content.
As reported by Business Insider, Parrot Analytics said in its quarterly streaming report that global demand growth for Netflix’s original series plateaued over the last year as competitors upped their game.
“As demand for Netflix originals and the entire catalog continues to fall domestically and globally while demand for originals on other services grows, Netflix has to refocus its content strategy to extract the most value from every series ordered,” the Parrot Analytics report said.
Netflix is now facing a shareholder lawsuit accusing executives of misleading the public about the company’s subscriber growth.


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July 7, 2022
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Much like humans, honeybees are vulnerable to drought and disease, but in the past 40 years, the issues have only grown.
“Because of an invasive parasite called the viral mite which came in the late 1980s and we’re still battling that because it’s a tick-like parasite and like ticks they transmit viruses,” said Pat Bono, the President of New York Bee Wellness.
Outside of the growing issues of disease within the hives, the loss of local plants and flora has been adding to the stress, according to local beekeepers Jacob and Jason Wyland.
“[The] Issue [is] that there’s a lot of mono-crops corn and other things like that which wipe out a lot of natural flora,” said Wyland.
The brothers rely on wildflower and native plant populations for their 100% wildflower honey, most of which they use to make mead at Fairport Brewing Company, the first farm brewery in Monroe County according to Fairport’s Brew Guru, Ian Maloney.
“A farm brewery is required to use somewhere around 80% of New York State ingredients so the hops, the honey, the juice, the fruits, and other things that we put into the mead will have to come from New York State,” elaborated Maloney.
Relying on mainly local goods and agriculture for the brewery means they feel the impacts of long dry stretches like the one we’re in now and have faced in the past, especially when it comes to honey.
“Last year was the worst honey season on record within the last 40 to 80 years. We estimated that 50% less honey was produced,” said Wyland.
While the impacts of this year’s dry weather have yet to be felt, the Wyland brothers said it is something they are concerned about moving forward. Thankfully, they acknowledged they got off to a good start in the spring.


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KOTA KINABALU, Dec 20 -- Sabah-owned POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd is set to ink a Framework Agreement, which entails POIC’s port, to become a member of the World Logistics Passport (WLP), thus linking it to an expanding membership of global companies and leaders in logistics.
POIC Sabah chief executive officer Datuk Fredian Gan (rpt: Fredian) said the signing will take place on Dec 23 at the Malaysia Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai during Sabah delegation’s visit to the expo in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
"WLP’s intentions in increasing trade between emerging markets is the kind of global alliance that fits into our plan of developing POIC Lahad Datu as a regional processing and logistics hub in the eastern region," he said in a statement here today.
POIC Lahad Datu was developed since 2005 to leverage its strategic location within BIMP-EAGA, the Lombok-Makassar Shipping Route, deep harbour, and a comprehensive set of port infrastructure to grow as a regional aggregation hub for raw materials and downstream value addition.
Gan said WLP also aims to combine the strengths of national trade organisations, logistics leaders and multi-nationals to form a close knit alliance that focused on trade growth.
“It hopes to supercharge supply chain development and bridge the gaps between manufacturing hubs that are expanding across emerging markets, particularly in Southeast Asia and Africa," he said.
Gan believes BIMP EAGA’s global reputation as a ‘Global Basin of Natural Resources’ comprising, among others as palm oil, petroleum, as well as minerals would make it a subject of interest in the WLP network.
He said WLP is part of the Dubai Silk Road strategy which, according to its ruler, is an initiative reflecting UAE’s vision to shape a brighter future for the world through innovative programmes to foster global trade cooperation
Themed “Connecting Minds, and Creating the Future,” Dubai Expo 2020 opened in the UAE on Oct 1 and will continue until March 31 next year.
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Young Americans aged 18 to 34 (also known as millennials) apparently love the idea of being entrepreneurs. Since many are burdened with massive student debt, they can’t afford to launch startups. So a new survey shows they’ll grudgingly join America’s corporate workforce.
More than 55 percent of them think their generation is more entrepreneurial than were Generation X, or even baby boomers. In reality, not only are there fewer entrepreneurs among millennials, they’re moving in the opposite direction: More view rising through the ranks of existing companies as the best route to success.
Sixty-two percent of millennials have considered starting their own businesses, and 72 percent think startups are “essential for new innovation and jobs,” according to The Millennial Economy (PDF), a survey of 1,200 18- to 34-year-olds commissioned by EY (formerly Ernst & Young LLP) and the Economic Innovation Group (EIG). At the same time, a total of 42 percent said that they don’t have the means to be entrepreneurs, in part due to student debt, which 48 percent believe has limited their career prospects.
By: Suzanne Woolley, Bloomberg
Read the full article here.


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Over the past few years, owners of cars with keyless start systems have learned to worry about so-called relay attacks, in which hackers exploit radio-enabled keys to steal vehicles without leaving a trace. Now it turns out that many millions of other cars that use chip-enabled mechanical keys are also vulnerable to high-tech theft. A few cryptographic flaws combined with a little old-fashioned hot-wiring—or even a well-placed screwdriver—lets hackers clone those keys and drive away in seconds.
Earlier this week, researchers from KU Leuven in Belgium and the University of Birmingham in the UK revealed new vulnerabilities they found in the encryption systems used by immobilizers, the radio-enabled devices inside of cars that communicate at close range with a key fob to unlock the car’s ignition and allow it to start. Specifically, they found problems in how Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia implement a Texas Instruments encryption system called DST80. A hacker who swipes a relatively inexpensive Proxmark RFID reader/transmitter device near the key fob of any car with DST80 inside, can gain enough information to derive its secret cryptographic value. That, in turn, would allow the attacker to use the same Proxmark device to impersonate the key inside the car, disabling the immobilizer and letting them start the engine.
The researchers say the affected car models include the Toyota Camry, Corolla, and RAV4; the Kia Optima, Soul, and Rio; and the Hyundai I10, I20, and I40. Below is the full list of vehicles that the researchers found to have the cryptographic flaws in their immobilizers:
Though the list also includes the Tesla S, the researchers reported the DST80 vulnerability to Tesla last year, responding to which the company had pushed out a firmware update that blocked the attack.
The trick is done by reverse-engineering the cipher that Texas Instruments is keeping a secret since the release of the DST80. The problem is that car manufacturers simplified the otherwise robust anti-theft system for their convenience. For example, Toyota is using the vehicle serial number in the cryptographic key that’s transmitted. This significantly reduces the number of random bits that potential attackers would have to guess in order to reconstruct it. As for Kia and Hyundai, those two decided to use only 24 bits of randomness, essentially making it possible for someone with a mediocre laptop to be able to brute-force the key in a few milliseconds.
Researchers note that a thief could simply turn the barrel with a screwdriver or hot-wire the car’s ignition switch, just as car thieves did before the introduction of immobilizers neutered those techniques. “You’re downgrading the security to what it was in the ’80s,” says University of Birmingham computer science professor Flavio Garcia. And unlike relay attacks, which work only when within range of the original key, once a thief has derived the cryptographic value of a fob, they can start and drive the targeted car repeatedly.
Related: Nokia and FAW Signed MoU to Use 5G
Hyundai responded by saying that no cars with low-entropy keys were sold in the United States, so I guess they were meaning to say that such systems are only deployed in countries where crime rates are low? Toyota responded by stating that the vulnerability applies to older models and that their newer cars are using a different system. Contrary to Tesla, neither Toyota nor Hyundai can do anything about the vulnerability, as a firmware update wouldn’t fix the flaw. The only thing that they could do is to offer replacements for the immobilizers or the key fobs, but so far, they haven’t offered anything like that to their customers.
Even so, the researchers say that they decided to publish their findings to reveal the real state of immobilizer security and allow car owners to decide for themselves if it’s enough. Protective car owners with hackable immobilizers might decide, for instance, to use a steering wheel lock. “It’s better to be in a place where we know what kind of security we’re getting from our security devices,” Garcia says. “Otherwise, only the criminals know.”
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com


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On 26th February, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Transport, Maksat Kaliakparov reported that the railway administrations of Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan are planning a joint venture to improve services and reduce cargo delivery time along the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
The North–South Transport Corridor is a key element of the Eurasian transport network, expanding opportunities for logistics and supply chains between Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The INSTC has three routes: the Western route (via Azerbaijan), the Eastern route (via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan), and the Trans-Caspian route (via Caspian seaports).
The Eastern route runs through Kazakhstan’s western Mangystau region and connects the Kazakh port of Aktau and the northern ports of Iran.
According to Kaliakparov, in 2023, the volume of cargo transported by rail along the North-South corridor alone amounted to 2.1 million tons, 4% more than the previous year. By 2027, the transport potential of the entire corridor will be increased from 6 million to 10 million tons per year.
In an effort to become a regional transit hub and avoid geopolitical bottlenecks associated with transit through Russia and Iran, Kazakhstan is now actively engaged in the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route – also known as the Middle Corridor – that will ensure a flow of transport between Europe, Central Asia, and China, without passing through Russia.


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By Jim Taylor, Editor MACS ACTION Magazine
Shaping up: It’s looking like a strong year for auto sales in North America. At the end of the first quarter of 2012, reported new car sales were up across the board with the three main U.S. nameplates showing a substantial increase over the same period last year.
It appears that a rising tide lifts all boats; GM has stated that it now sells more cars outside North America (notably in China) than on this continent.
Elsewhere: Maybe not so much. New car sales in Europe dropped precipitously, due in part to the financial troubles afflicting many governments and European Community as a whole. One standout was Germany, where sales actually increased by over 2 percent. Audi and BMW’s competition for the top slot rivals anything seen during the Ford vs. Chevrolet sales battles of the 1960s and ‘70s.
Asia countries reported mixed results with some providing increased sales and others falling a few points. Japan saw a hard drop in new car sales, and some famous-name makers are actually finding it too expensive to manufacture in the home country. For one, Toyota has said it will move some manufacturing out of the country and import vehicles to keep costs down.
It’s on, but slowly: Although they still provide less than 3 percent of the total market, hybrids and pluggable electric vehicles show continued growth. Overall sales in the class grew in the first quarter. Sales of the Prius family of cars has exceeded even the factory’s expectations and dealers are clamoring for more cars as soon as possible.
Chevy’s Volt is younger than some others and still establishing its market, but it also showed gains in sales and buyer interest. Ford has just begun taking orders for the upcoming C-Max hybrid and is targeting Prius in the sales race.
Surprise! From the “Different strokes for different folks” file, we note first that Ferrari recently let slip that the news that the new limited-edition Enzo will contain the company’s first hybrid drive system, coupling electric drive to a new V-12 engine. Rumors price the car somewhere north of $800,000.
And in the U.K, Mazda has produced commercials mocking the “range anxiety” of EV owners and touting its own high mileage gas-engined vehicles. The company has said it wants to increase its overall fuel efficiency by roughly 30 percent within three years through both engine technology and lightweight construction methods.
Not dead yet? SAAB has long since crashed and closed, yet attempts to save the company by finding a buyer continue. Several potential players have shown interest but backed off before writing any checks. One reason is that although GM backed out of SAAB a few years ago, the Detroit company still owns a variety of patents and intellectual property that they will not release or license to a new buyer—and particularly not to a buyer from China.
Now, representatives of one of SAAB’s largest trade unions, IF Metall, have written to President Obama asking him to intervene with GM and untie some knots so the Swedish company can pass to a new owner and perhaps reopen. No word from the White House on the matter.
The Mobile Air Conditioning Society’s blog has been honored as the best business to business blog in the Automotive Aftermarket by the Automotive Communications Awards and the Car Care Council Women’s Board!
When having your mobile A/C system professionally serviced, insist on proper repair procedures and quality replacement parts. Insist on recovery and recycling so that refrigerant can be reused and not released into the atmosphere.
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The 33rd annual Mobile Air Conditioning Society (MACS) Worldwide Training Conference and Trade Show, Be the Best of the Best will take place February 7-9, 2013 at the Caribe Royale, Orlando, FL.


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After releasing the all-new Leaf at the start of 2018, Nissan has announced that the all-electric hatch has maintained its position at the top of Europe’s battery-powered sales charts.
Nissan delivered 40,699 units of the hatchback last year across Europe and even ranked as Norway’s most popular car of 2018.
Drivers of the Scandinavian country purchased 12,303 units last year – with the country leading the world in terms of incentives for drivers of environmentally-friendly and low-emission vehicles.
British drivers also liked the new Leaf a lot, as between April and December it was the best-selling electric vehicle on the UK car market and contributed to the best year for alternatively-fuelled vehicles in the country.
Ken Ramirez, Nissan Europe’s senior vice president for sales and marketing, said: “This latest announcement marks the start of a very optimistic 2019 for our EV range. The fact that the Nissan Leaf is still the default choice for EV buyers in Europe is a testament to its all-round capability as the icon of Nissan Intelligent Mobility - especially with the ever-growing range of competitors.See Available LEAF deals
“We can celebrate standout sales success with Norway as an example, as it highlights how the Nissan electric ecosystem has established itself as a sustainable lifestyle choice in a relatively short space of time. With the range now stronger than ever, we look forward to welcoming more customers to EV ownership in the coming months.”
Since launching back in 2010, more 380,000 Leafs have been sold worldwide.
Prices for the current Leaf start from £26,690.


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Philadelphia-based restaurant delivery service Black and Mobile makes its Atlanta debut this week, delivering food exclusively from Black-owned restaurants to neighborhoods around the city. A glitch with the Black and Mobile app delayed the July 18 launch, which is currently rescheduled for Tuesday, July 21.
Founded by 25-year-old Philadelphia native David Cabello in 2017 and launched last year, Black and Mobile aims to partner with and highlight Black-owned restaurants within the communities and cities in which it serves. Once Atlanta is up and running smoothly, Cabello and his twin brother Aaron plan to expand Black and Mobile to Los Angeles. The company’s Detroit operation launched earlier this year.
“I was going to college for business. After dropping out in 2016, I was delivering food for services like Postmates and Caviar. One day, I made $1,100 in about 30 hours delivering food on a bike and wondered how much money I could make if I owned my own company,” says Cabello of founding Black and Mobile. “I went home and researched how to start my own delivery business because what I really wanted to do was help Black-owned restaurants and businesses in my community.”
Black and Mobile is partnering with five Atlanta-area restaurants for this week’s launch, including Wadada, Tastebuddz ATL, D Cafe and Catering, Fin and Feathers, and Fireside Jamaican Restaurant. Cabello says he’s also in talks with fellow Philadelphia native Derrick Hayes of Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, and hopes to add other notable Atlanta restaurants to the service like Slutty Vegan and Bankhead Seafood. The company has already hired over 20 of the 120 planned driver positions in Atlanta, most living within communities in Black and Mobile delivery zones.
For now, Black and Mobile is only delivering from restaurants inside the Perimeter and within the city of Atlanta. Food is ordered using the company’s smartphone app. Like other delivery companies, Black and Mobile charges a service fee of 20 percent. Drivers can earn up to $20 an hour and keep 100 percent of their tips.
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This will be our radius in ATL to start! Yes we will be expanding the radius within the first month! There will be a 6 mile radius from the restaurant for the first week or two for testing purposes then that will increase as well. We only have about 5-6 restaurants partnering with us for launch at the moment, if you want to see any of your favorite Black owned restaurants on our platform for next weeks launch @ them below and @ us on their pages
“I love the vibe in Atlanta. I’ve always wanted to expand to this city. I like how the Black community really thrives here, and there are so many Black-owned restaurants,” Cabello tells Eater of the Atlanta expansion. “We hire and deliver to everyone, but we just deliver food from Black-owned restaurants because those are the restaurants that are overlooked, underrepresented, and need our help. That’s our mission — the culture delivered.”
Black and Mobile continues to hire drivers (or “messengers”) in Atlanta, including people delivering food via bicycle. Those interested in applying are asked to fill out an application online. Atlanta restaurants interested in being added to the service can also register online. Restaurants utilize the delivery service using either a tablet device or smartphone.
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We currently have over 120 in Atlanta, over 130 in Philadelphia, and over 75 in Detroit. Yes WE ARE STILL HIRING. If you or anyone you know is looking for an easy side hustle click the link in our bio and apply to the messenger application. We hire people with records as well it just depends on the situation. We are a second chance company ✊
Update, July 20, 8:30 a.m.: This story was updated with new information regarding the rescheduled Atlanta launch date.


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Any short-term market trends are certainly not unexpected after such a painful start to the year. For the year to date, the TSX composite and the Dow Jones industrial average are both down about 1%
Sears Canada announced that it would close all 118 of its remaining stores in January 2018. The news took some of the wind out of HBC’s sails.
Sears Canada has filed for creditor protection, putting 1,500 jobs at risk. The move followed Sears Holdings Corp’s filing for bankruptcy protection. Sears Holdings has 128 stores, down from more than 460 a decade ago.
Market jitters over US-China trade dispute
The US and China released tariffs on $34bn worth of each other’s goods in March. Investors fear a trade war could take a bite out of the world’s largest economies.
In the third quarter of last year, the US accounted for 25% of China’s exports, while China accounted for only 1% of US imports.
Eurasian Natural Resources (ERRC.L) has relied on China for most of its revenue, with 70% of the steelmaker’s output sold into the country. The company, which is involved in the oil and gas sector, also holds significant mineral exploration rights in Siberia.
OPEC member, Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL), is a key supplier of aluminium to China, which accounted for 34% of the shares’ top line in 2017.
Oil futures have fallen 20% in 2018. Last month, OPEC and other oil producers including Russia agreed to reduce oil output in a bid to lift prices.
Industrial metals miner Sherritt International (S.TO) is down nearly 27% so far this year after production was disrupted at its Ambatovy nickel and cobalt joint venture in Madagascar in November.
Sherritt said a fire that destroyed a sulphuric acid plant caused it to miss its 2017 production target by several million pounds.