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SA Competition Commission Forcing MTN & Vodacom to Cut Data Prices
South African operators MTN and Vodacom must reduce mobile data prices immediately or face prosecution from the country's Competition Commission (CompCom).
This is breaking news out of Pretoria as the CompCom on Monday afternoon released its final recommendations as part of its Data Services Market Inquiry, which began back in August 2017.
"Vodacom and MTN must independently reach agreement with the Commission on substantial and immediate reductions on tariff levels, especially prepaid monthly bundles, within two months of the release of the report. The preliminary evidence suggests that there is scope for price reductions in the region of 30% to 50%," the inquiry report reads.
Competition Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele then went even further, saying that a failure to reach an agreement with the commission, within two months, would lead the commission "to consider going ahead with prosecution for excessive pricing or other exclusionary abuse before the Competition Tribunal."
It's Official — South Africa Data Prices Are Too High.)
The CompCom maintains, as it did in the provisional report, that SA data prices are too high and believes that the market is dominated by Vodacom and MTN.
The Commission's final report also recommends that Vodacom and MTN must specifically reduce the headline prices of all sub-500 Mbytes 30-day prepaid data bundles so that they are in line with the per-Mbyte pricing of 500 Mbytes bundles that contract customers pay "as well as the cessation of partitioning strategies that contribute to anti-poor pricing and/or inferior service outcomes."
The CompCom said that price-based competition is inadequate in South Africa and "the challenger networks of Cell C and Telkom Mobile are unable to effectively constrain the two first-movers, and that Vodacom has substantial market power, with MTN to a lesser degree."
The Commission also believes that "poorer consumers in South Africa are being unduly exploited relative to wealthier consumers" and that current "pricing structures are anti-poor and lack transparency."
— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa


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Tuesday on AirTalk, we’ll hear from experts and listeners about the current FDA hearing into the new species of salmon that grows twice the natural rate. The agency has already determined that the modified salmon isn’t substantially different than conventional, meaning that approval for sale probably wouldn’t require special labeling for consumers.
I understand the “ick” factor associated with genetically modified food, although we’ve been doing it in agriculture for some time now. It’s hard not to conjure images of Frankenstein.
However, supporters of bioengineered food see it as similar to breeding animals for specific food characteristics, with the added advantage of dramatically increasing supplies.
What do you think about the fast-growing salmon? Would you purchase bio-engineered salmon? If engineered salmon doesn’t have to be identified, might that keep you from purchasing any salmon?

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DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “Rail Freight Transport Market – Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 – 2025)” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.
The global rail freight transport market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of about 2% during the forecast period 2020-2025
North America leads the global rail freight market and Asia-Pacific is expected to overtake North America during the forecast period. Moreover, the rise in global trade and various trade agreements are boosting the global trade flows. The non-containerized cargo and liquid bulk dominate the type of cargo transported by rail while the growth of Intermodal transport is boosting the transport of containerized cargo. Intermodal cargo is estimated to witness high growth over the forecast period.
Similarly, with the rise in international trade and the countries recognizing the benefits of rail freight transport, cross-border rail freight transport is gaining huge momentum across different parts of the world. In some regions of Central Asia, Eastern Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa characterized by groupings of many small countries, rail freight can increase economic integration by providing access to international and regional markets and connecting landlocked countries.
COVID-19 had a mixed impact on the global rail freight market as regions line North and South America saw a decline in the rail freight market while Asia and Europe saw a rise in the rail freight traffic. In the long term regional share of rail freight is expected to see a prominent increase. With this there is expected to be higher investment, further infrastructure development and technology implementation to digitize rail freight.
Key Market Trends
Low cost of transportation and modal shift drive the market
Rail freight companies continue to invest and reduce costs for customers. For instance, they have increased the payloads they can carry, with tonnage per train up by 80% in the last decade. When shipping by rail, the lower interest costs for the tied-up capital partly cover the higher transportation costs, making rail freight a very cost-efficient shipping alternative. Let me exemplify:
If a company ships 750 containers per year, with an average cargo value of 250 000 EUR per container, and a financial cost of 5% PA, the daily interest cost is 37.52 EUR per container. Shipping goods door-to-door from China to Europe by rail typically takes about 25 days, compared to the sea, which typically takes about 42 days. This means a saving in interest cost of 708 EUR per container or 531,165 EUR per year for all 750 containers. This is money that can be used to cover extra costs and create a more agile supply chain, which can also have an additional positive impact on cost parameters and capital binding.
Rail freight companies continue to invest and reduce costs for customers. For instance, they have increased the payloads they can carry, with tonnage per train up by 80% in the last decade. Railway transportation costs are lower. The cost of railway transportation is only one-tenth of the cost of automobile transportation; transportation fuel consumption is about one-twentieth of automobile transportation.
The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in the shortage of truck drivers, restriction on sea and air transport in many countries and regions. As a result, the cost of transportation through truck, sea, or air has sharply risen as compared to rail freight costs. This has made the shift to rail fright a supply chain advantage.
The rail freight transport market is moderately consolidated in nature, with a mix of global and local players. According to industry sources, the rail industry is facing huge competition from its similar service providers road and air transporters since last decade. Many countries are heavily investing in the railroad infrastructural developments, especially investments are huge in the Americas and Europe regions. International companies are holding a large amount of market share by acquiring or joining hands with local companies in many regions.
In-country level, most of the markets seems to be concentrated with the presence of one or two major players. Additionally, in some countries, state-run companies own a major share of the market. During the COVID-19 pandemic, rail freight is playing a key role during this critical time in connecting European economies and keeping freight moving.
- Current Market Scenario
- Technological Trends
- Government Regulations and Initiatives
- Insights into Transport Corridors in Key Regions
- Spotlight on the Effects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
- Review and Commentary on the Freight Transportation Costs by Rail
- Elaboration on Key Trade Agreements Related to Rail
- Impact of COVID-19 on the Market (Short-term and Long-term Impact on the Market and the Economy)
- Insights into Key End Users of the Rail Freight Sector
- Union Pacific Railroad
- Canadian National Railway
- CSX Transportation
- Norfolk Southern Railway
- BNSF Railway
- Swiss Federal Railways
- DB Cargo
- United Parcel Service (UPS)
- Canadian Pacific Railway
- Russian Railways (RZD)
- Geneese & Wyoming Inc.
- Indian Railways
- Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight)
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4rgx3p
Credit: Source link


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SHIFT’s biggest role will be regional media engagement, but the firm will also manage community initiatives and events which we hope will include local beer tastings (because everybody loves those).
New York’s Finn Partners added Green Festivals to its client portfolio; the organization runs the largest sustainability trade show in the U.S., which will tour from New York to San Francisco throughout 2014.
Finn will handle all traditional PR duties including media, corporate comms and sponsor/influencer relations. Green Festivals events are generally sponsored by brands and serve as spaces for up-and-coming ventures to connect with both potential customers and larger players in the green/sustainability sector.
In barely related news, you should really try grinding your own organic coffee beans. It really does make a big difference.
Diono USA chose 5WPR as its AOR. The firm’s chief goal will be to raise awareness of the brand’s newest product RadianRXT, an adjustable car seat for toddlers (insert your own tired Bieber joke here).
MyAssist signed Brandware PR as AOR. The Atlanta firm will promote the “global concierge service” provider by raising awareness of the company’s ability to use location awareness data and predictive intelligence to connect users with nearby medical/travel/leisure services via the soothing voice of a real-life human being. We feel confident that MyAssist can avoid all the terrible press earned by Uber by not being terrible.
Springboard PR will serve as AOR for five new tech clients:
- EasyVista, an IT service management provider for mid-sized businesses
- Wally World Media, a developer of an iPhone camera app that would (we presume) make Clark Griswold proud
- UXC Eclipse, an IT consulting firm specializing in mid-market and enterprise organizations
- InnoviMobile, another app developer
- ReferStar, a social recruitment and referral platform that will convince business owners and HR directors that their employees aren’t wasting time on social media—they’re meeting their newest co-workers!
The Susan Magrino Agency will serve as PR AOR for menswear brand Geoffrey Beene. The firm will, in part, be responsible for promoting the Beene company’s charity efforts in keeping with its tagline “making philanthropy fashionable.”
Beene sponsored its own cancer research center at New York’s Sloan Kettering, which we know from personal experience to be an incomparable institution. Best of luck to them.


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The hole was uncovered by security research firm Bluebox last week. The company said that it had reported the vulnerability, which affected all Android version since 1.6, to Google in February.
Each Android application has a cryptographic signature, which is supposed to ensure that the contents of an application have not been tampered with. However, the security hole means that attackers can modify the contents of an application but leave the signature intact.
This could mean that hackers could infect an Android device with all manner of malware. Bluebox went so far as to demonstrate the technique by modifying the system-level software information about an HTC device such that its name appeared in the baseband version string, which is normally controlled and configured by the system firmware.
Gina Scigliano, Google's Android Communications Manager confirmed that:
A patch has been provided to our partners -- some OEMs, like Samsung, are already shipping the fix to the Android devices.We'd expect that devices such as the Nexus 4, which run pure Android, will see the fix reach them faster than any other handsets.
While that aspect of Android fragmentation might worry owners of "regular" handsets with OEM specific loads, Scigliano added a confidence booster:
We have not seen any evidence of exploitation in Google Play or other app stores via our security scanning tools. Google Play scans for this issue -- and Verify Apps provides protection for Android users who download apps to their devices outside of Play.


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MotorTrend Group is celebrating HOT ROD’s 75th Anniversary by bringing HOT ROD Power Tour West back for the first time in nearly three decades. From December 15 to 17, America’s largest road trip is adding this West Coast tour, bringing thousands of classic and modern hot rods, muscle cars, and custom rides along for the journey as they cruise from the birthplace of hot rodding in Southern California to Las Vegas and back.
This three-day event will kick-off on Friday, December 15 at Irwindale Speedway, then head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, December 16 and reach its final destination on Sunday, December 17 at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
“In response to our fans’ enthusiastic wishes and overwhelming support for a West Coast tour, we’re thrilled to announce the return of HOT ROD Power Tour West after nearly three decades,” said HOT ROD’s Network Director Michael Galimi. “The tour promises an unforgettable journey through hot-rodding car culture, celebrating 75 years of HOT ROD and the vibrant West Coast hot-rodding community.”
Customized vehicles will drive hundreds of miles to each stop’s dragstrip to engage in daily events such as drag racing and autocross, with live entertainment for car fans of all ages. Each stop will feature on-site activities, offering something for everyone interested in the hot-rodding lifestyle, including dyno demonstrations, sponsor and vendor midway, drag racing, AutoCross, burnouts, live musical entertainment on the main stage, official event merchandise for sale, giveaways, and automotive talent appearances.
For information about tickets and registration for 2023 HOT ROD Power Tour West, please visit: hotrodpowertourwest.us.
Founded in 1948, HOT ROD is the most recognized brand in the world of high-performance cars. This year is a special year for the brand, with numerous events planned throughout the U.S. to honor 75 years of the HOT ROD brand and hot rodding in America. Now in its 29th year, the HOT ROD Power Tour is regarded as the world’s largest traveling car show. On the East Coast, these tours typically showcase more than 6,000 vehicles, visiting five cities in five days. HOT ROD Power Tour West will feature cars and trucks from all generations and attract thousands of fans to three cities over three days.


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Rivetz Acquires CyberDeadbolt
NEW YORK, March 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Rivetz, a pioneer in trusted computing and embedded cyber security, today announced it has acquired the assets of CyberDeadbolt, a Silicon Valley-based cyber security startup utilizing social encryption for the transfer and protection of digital assets. The acquisition enables Rivetz to bring the human touch to its hardware-based cyber security solutions and recovery models.
The CyberDeadbolt secure, scalable platform incorporates human factors to authenticate and authorize the exchange of sensitive information, employing phonetics-based voice identification and multi-person authentication to provide customizable levels of security depending on the user's needs. CyberDeadbolt provides a new paradigm for account recovery, recovered device unlocking and verified multi-user access intent. The app also allows users to enable a cyber 'deadbolt' to lock access to all or some of their devices. For example, a user may lock their home devices while away on vacation.
"The foundation of the Rivetz service relies on known devices in known conditions to protect digital assets like Bitcoin," said Steven Sprague, founder and CEO of Rivetz. "With CyberDeadbolt, we now have the ability to add secure user intent to access that user's collection of devices and incorporate known and verified multiple human access confirmations as well."
"Rivetz and CyberDeadbolt are a natural fit and yield a compelling combination," said Bradley Rotter, CyberDeadbolt cofounder and a crypto and blockchain pioneer. "The Rivetz model of provable controls benefits from the simple and easy-to-operate capabilities delivered by CyberDeadbolt to remotely lock a device or require multiple users to participate in the recovery of keys and secrets."
Pavan Mudanna, CyberDeadbolt cofounder, has joined the Rivetz team as vice president of shared services. Rotter is vice chairman of the Rivetz board.
Rivetz is focused on solving problems associated with consumer and machine-to-machine digital transactions. Rivetz technology and services aim to provide a safer and easier-to-use model for all users to protect their digital assets using hardware-based trusted execution technology. The device aims to play a critical role in automating security and enabling the controls that users need to benefit from modern services. Rivetz leverages state-of-the-art cyber security tools to develop a modern model for users and their devices to interact with services on the Internet. For more information, visit www.rivetz.com.
CyberDeadbolt focuses on harnessing the importance of the human factor in cyber security. Where humans have previously been considered the weakest link in security, CyberDeadbolt leverages human authenticators as dynamic, individualized and immutable. Its open infrastructure integrates and adapts to new technologies for applications in virtually any form of data protection.
All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies.
View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rivetz-acquires-cyberdeadbolt-300610084.html


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Internet giant Google has officially launched a new free messaging service that will link up with users’ SMS text messages.
The new platform, which has simply been called Chat, has started its global rollout and will be available to Android devices, with the operating system owned by Google running the vast majority of smartphones on the market away from Apple. Smartphone manufacturers such as LG, Huawei and Samsung will all integrate the app alongside each of their default messaging services.
Chat will be a rival service to Apple’s iMessage and Facebook-owned platform WhatsApp, and works similarly to the traditional SMS text message. However, like iMessage and WhatsApp, it will inform the user when the recipient of a message has read it and shows when they are typing something back.
The service will also be able to support high-quality pictures and will have group interaction features, similar to that of WhatsApp, and will also support GIFs.
Should users of Chat not have access to a Wi-Fi system, the service will take up some of data from their data plans. Furthermore, should a Chat user send a message to someone not using the service, the messages will be sent to their default SMS service.
According to the Verge, Google had not confirmed a specific launch date for Chat and has been working on this project on the downlow, liaising with smartphone manufacturers and mobile networks to ensure that all parties would be ready. It was also reported that over 50 mobile networks, including the likes of T-Mobile and Vodafone, had signed up to support the service.
At present, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging platforms available, with more than 1.5 billion monthly users. However, there are more than two billion devices that use the Android operating system, which could pose a problem to the Facebook-owned service. Unlike WhatsApp, Chat will not use end-to-end encryption, a form of protection that makes it almost impossible to intercept messages.
Prior to the launch of Chat, Google ‘paused’ its efforts on Allo, which it launched in September 2016. This was initially developed as a way to rival Facebook and its Messenger platform. However, Allo has not really taken off in the way that Google would have hoped as fewer than 50 million downloaded the app. As a result of this, most of Google’s designated Allo team are likely to move over to Chat.


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Janet Yellen, the current Treasury Secretary, has a lot of skeletons in her closet. One of which is that she was the one who caused the inflation in the 80s. *Cue flashback music*
Just kidding, she didn’t do it. But she did place blame on something else during her time as Treasury Secretary…us! Yes, that’s right. It’s all our fault. We’re to blame for the 40-year-high inflation rate. Why? We’ve been spending too much money, apparently.
Yellen argued the administration managed the COVID-19 pandemic so well that consumers felt comfortable to “splurge” on goods.
“So we had a rapid recovery from the pandemic,” she said, arguing Biden’s policies brought unemployment down from 7% to 3.7%.
“It turned out the pandemic had very special impacts on the economy. Remember, everybody stopped spending on services,” she pointed out, as businesses were shut down. Instead, people spent more money on “grills,” “technology” and office equipment as they were working from home.
“They were in their homes for a year or more, they wanted to buy grills and office furniture, they were working from home, they suddenly started splurging on goods, buying technology,” she claimed, which led to supply chain “bottlenecks.”
So, what does this mean for us? Well, if you were planning on buying a house or a car anytime soon, you might want to hold off for a bit. Prices on these big-ticket items are only going to go up as inflation continues to rise. And if you’re thinking about selling your house or car? You might want to do it sooner rather than later! Either way, it’s important to be aware of how rising inflation rates can impact both buyers and sellers in the market.
It looks like we can all add “inflation” to the long list of things that are our fault. From the climate to the housing problem, it seems like there’s nothing we can’t screw up.


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Nykaa , an online beauty products store, has raised a little above $9 million (Rs 60 crore) in funding led by TVS Capital with participation from... ...http://www.medianama.com/2015/10/223-nykaa-9million-funding/
FILE IMAGE: Virender Sehwag hits out. Photograph: Getty Images Virender Sehwag started the Ranji Trophy season for his new team Haryana in some... ...http://www.rediff.com/cricket/report/ranji-round-up-virender-sehwag-shines-for-new-team-haryana-on-day-1/20151001.htm
: ShopClues, India's first and largest managed marketplace announces the launch of its Diwali flea market. Buoyed by the success of its Sunday Flea... ...http://www.pocketnewsalert.com/2015/09/Shop-to-your-hearts-content-this-festive-season-with-the-ShopClues-Diwali-Flea-Market.html
It's a tribute to Karnataka's bench strength that despite missing three of their key players — two (Stuart Binny and S Arvind) due to their... ...http://www.deccanherald.com/content/503778/karnataka-eye-strong-start.html
NEW DELHI: While the stock market absorbed Tuesday's 50 basis points surprise rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with cautious optimism,... ...http://economictimes.feedsportal.com/c/33041/f/534022/s/4a46ca7d/sc/24/l/0Leconomictimes0Bindiatimes0N0Cmarkets0Cstocks0Cnews0Cq20Eearnings0Ewill0Ebe0Ebigger0Emarket0Edriver0Ethan0Erate0Ecut0Ebihar0Eelection0Carticleshow0C491640A10A0Bcms/story01.htm
"The company has efficiently launched...


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Why businesses must secure guest access and Internet of Things devices before it’s too late
The need to comply with data breach legislation means Australian companies must be aware of their obligations and must ensure their own networks are fully compliant, along with the devices and applications of contractors, third parties, and guests that plug into the network. Internet of Things (IoT) devices pose a particular risk and must be explicitly secured, according to Wavelink.
Eligible Australian businesses must now report notifiable data breaches (NDB) to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC’s first published quarterly report found 63 breach notifications were received in the first six weeks alone.(1) With the introduction of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May and other countries, including New Zealand, expected to introduce similar legislation, organisations need to comply with more regulations than ever. For example, GDPR affects companies in any country that does business with customers in Europe, which means many Australian companies could be subject to the legislation and some might not even know it.
Hugo Hutchinson, Wavelink’s national business development manager for Fortinet, said,
“Businesses can no longer remain stagnant and fail to act on security and compliance. Organisations of all sizes must ensure they’re in line with the new legislation changes and perform due diligence to ensure their networks are protected. Security breaches affect a company’s reputation and may result in significant consequences, with the cost and ramifications following a security breach potentially far more than the cost of initial investment in adequate protection measures.
“Organisations must also realise the value of the data they possess. Contractors, third parties, and guests plugging into the company’s Wi-Fi network must be limited to accessing only the data they require. Everyone, including third parties, must comply with company security policies and practices.”
The Internet of Things (IoT), which includes wearable technology, voice-activated devices, and smart appliances, present organisations with an additional level of concern. They don’t tend to come with built-in security and can present a backdoor for cybercriminals to access company networks either to take over the device itself or as part of a larger attack.
Hugo Hutchinson said,
“Schools and hospitals are subject to NDB requirements and they tend to be prolific users of IoT devices, as well as having hundreds of users, including guests, accessing their networks. These organisations must operate an appropriate security and compliance system otherwise they may held liable for any breaches that may occur.”
Closing the gap created by IoT devices requires a solution that delivers visibility, segmentation, and protection throughout the entire infrastructure. It’s essential to be able to see IoT devices on the network, then authenticate and classify them so they can be protected.
Hugo Hutchinson said,
“Businesses shouldn’t assume that IoT devices are inherently secure because they’re not. Before connecting any IoT device to the network, businesses must change the default usernames and passwords at a minimum. From there, it’s still crucial to implement a security solution that delivers visibility and control into what devices are connected and how they’re being used.”


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The most recent reports were saying that Apple has been working on a fix for the FaceTime eavesdropping bug that had been discovered not too long ago.
The fix was supposed to come by the end of this week in the form of an iOS 12.1.4 update.
Apple delays the fix
Now, iPhone users who are looking to use the Group FaceTime feature will sadly find out that they cannot do so yet.
The reason, as revealed by Huffington Post, is that Apple decided to delay the fix for the eavesdropping bug that allowed people to listen on calls and see through front-facing cameras.
The software update that was expected to roll out this week was pushed back according to 9to5Mac.
“We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple’s servers, and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week,” the tech giant said in a statement to the outlet.
They continued and said, “We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected and all who were concerned about this security issue.”
Apple revealed that it disabled Group FaceTime after the issue was reported.
The bug has affected both iPhones and iPads running 12.1.2, as well as Apple PCs with macOS Mojave, CNN reported.
iPhone users could exploit a privacy-invading flaw
This FaceTime bug allowed iPhone users to exploit a privacy-invading FaceTime flaw that allowed someone to connect to another person and hear their conversations, and even see videos in some cases without the other person ever having accepted that call.
Apple stopped this bug by disabling Group FaceTime leaving the feature unavailable.
This is one of the worst Apple-related privacy bugs that have been encountered recently and the fact that we have to wait for a solution for so long brings the company massive backlash.
After finishing Theatrical Journalism at the Faculty of Theatre and Television in Cluj-Napoca, Rada reviewed movies, books, theatre pieces and she also wrote articles from the IT niche as a content editor for software producers. At the moment, she is working with various online advertising firms.


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1. Drinking coffee may help your body fight diseases as you age.
A group of researchers at Stanford University found that caffeine may help our bodies fight inflammation, which can help fight multiple diseases as we grow older.
Apparently the more caffeine people consumed, the more protected they were against a chronic state of inflammation. Therefore, an extra cup of coffee a day may may help you as you age.
2. Melania Trump is expected to wear Ralph Lauren at Trump’s Inauguration tomorrow.
While Lauren himself was an outspoken Clinton supporter, even having made numerous suits for her, the US Brand is supposedly making a custom made gown for Melania.
Some have pointed out that the gown Ralph Lauren is making could also be for other different high profile events.
However, she did wear Ralph Lauren on election night, leading some to believe it may be her choice for inauguration day as well.
3. The fewer calories you have in your life as an adult could help you live up to 18 years longer.
Experts found that as an adult, eating less calories could help live a longer healthier life. This comes from analyzing the data of two different studies involving monkeys, as similar results should also apply to humans.
However, experts said that the real world impact may be less dramatic as it also depends on other lifestyle choices.
4. Brandi Glanville says she considered settling down with Cat Cora.
Brandi Glanville had apparently had a fling with Cat Cora, one of the judges on her cooking show “My Kitchen Rules”
On Tuesday’s Watch What Happens Live, Glanville said she considered settling down with Cora, however she realized how attracted she is to men.
Glanville had explained the relationship by saying: “She’s hot, she’s talented; why not?”
5. Ryan Lochte and fiancee Kayla Rae Reid are having a boy.
Lochte spoke of how excited he was to have a family, something he said he’s wanted for years.
He also seems excited to match his kid, saying:
“I’m excited to change diapers, to dress up my kid in the same outfits as me and this is going to be so much fun…It’s going to be awesome.”
6. Turns out The Wynn Las Vegas resort removed all Tom Ford products after the designer said he wouldn’t dress Melania Trump
Trump spoke out against designer Tom Ford in an interview yesterday after the designer said he wouldn’t dress Melania. Trump said his wife “Never asked Tom Ford, doesn’t like Tom Ford, doesn’t like his designs,’”
Trump went on to say that that Steve Wynn called him to say The Wynn threw out Tom Ford’s products from their hotel. The Wynn confirmed that they had removed Tom Ford’s products from their resort.
7. Trump has banned journalists from entering his Washington DC Hotel during inauguration week.
The Trump International Hotel in Washington DC has banned the media from its premises during inauguration week, saying it is out of respect to their guests.
A POLITICO reporter had attempted to enter the hotel Wednesday for a previously scheduled breakfast, but was stopped at the door and told that the media was not allowed.


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“My personal life, I’ve really kept pretty private,” the new mom and Greatness Wins apparel co-founder shares exclusively with PEOPLE Misty Copeland has taken some time off the stage to focus on two big projects in her life — a new baby and a fashion line.
As Copeland adapts to her new title of Mom, she’s also getting ready to embark on her son’s first travel experience.
Despite allowing cameras to follow her for her 2015 documentary, A Ballerina’s Tale, Copeland has kept much of her personal life, including her pregnancy news, out of the public eye.
While having her sights set high on performing again, the best-selling author and new mom is also going to be busy designing pieces for Greatness Wins’ women’s line in the spring.
I think ultimately it’s about creating functional, supportive, and beautiful products for women from all walks of life,” says Copeland.
Posted in: Culture


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Catholic Charities and ShopRite Supermarkets, Inc. Partner to Replenish Food Pantries and Feed Families
January 25, 2017
HUDSON VALLEY, NY - Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York (which includes Catholic Charities Community Services in Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan, Westchester, and Ulster Counties) and ShopRite Supermarkets, Inc. (SRS) are teaming up once again for the archdiocesan-wide Feeding Our Neighbors campaign.
ShopRite’s 28 stores in the Hudson Valley are participating in the annual mid-winter drive to raise food and funds to replenish food pantries throughout the Archdiocese of New York. Participating ShopRite stores will coordinate Point of Sale collections from Sunday, Jan. 22 through Sunday, Feb. 4. At checkout, shoppers will be asked to make donations of cash or non-perishable food to the annual food drive.
“We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support from ShopRite and their customers,” said Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. “The donations they make to Feeding Our Neighbors come at a time when food pantries are struggling to keep their shelves stocked and clients fed. Both the food collected and the funds raised will go a long way in helping local food pantries and soup kitchens replenish their inventory and feed our hungry neighbors.”
This is ShopRite’s third year participating in the Feeding Our Neighbors campaign. In the first two years, ShopRite collected more than $218,000 and 24,000 pounds of non-perishable food through the generosity of donations from ShopRite customers. Last year, Feeding Our Neighbors donations from throughout the Archdiocese of New York raised the equivalent of more than1.5 million meals. The donations were distributed to food pantries, soup kitchens, and other anti-poverty programs throughout the Archdiocese. This year, in recognition of their Centennial celebration, Catholic Charities hopes to raise the equivalent of two million meals through the annual Feeding Our Neighbors campaign.
“ShopRite is extremely fortunate to have both staff and customers that embrace our commitment to give back to the community,” said Tom Urtz, ShopRite’s Vice President of Operations. “After the holiday season, food pantry supplies are low and donations drop off significantly, but the need remains high. Feeding Our Neighbors helps restock the shelves at a critical time. Our stores get firmly behind this initiative and enjoy a little friendly competition to keep everyone on their toes and motivated to make this a successful campaign for the good of our friends and neighbors in need,” added Urtz.
The 2017 Feeding Our Neighbors campaign kicked-off with a press conference at ShopRite’s Greenway Plaza store in Yonkers Tuesday. Catholic Charities and ShopRite leadership joined with elected officials, including Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, Father Jose Felix Ortega of St. Peter’s Parish in Yonkers, as well as other local officials and clergy, store employees, and customers to launch the food drive and bring attention to issues of hunger throughout the region.
While the Feeding Our Neighbors campaign takes place just two weeks each year, the need to feed the hungry lasts all year long. For more information about making a donation of cash or food, contact your local food pantry, Catholic Charities office, or visit www.catholiccharitiesny.org.


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Chinese manufacturer, ZTE, has announced it is preparing a new software user interface for its Axon 7 smartphone, bringing the device to Android 8.0 Oreo.
We have exciting news for Essential PH-1 owners currently on the Android 8.0 Oreo beta track. Beta 2 is now being rolled out for download and installation. The build number is OPM1.170911.213, and it should include a handful of patches and bug fixes as you would expect.
Huawei’s CEO has confirmed to a source that two of the company’s year-old Honor devices will indeed be updated to Google’s Oreo software. We’re talking about the Honor 8 and Honor 8 Pro.
To close out the 2017 year, Google has shared Android’s latest distribution numbers as of December.
Last week, Google released Oreo for Android Wear. However, only LG’s Watch Sport and Watch Style saw the update arrive over-the-air. To give some clarification as to which Android Wear smartwatches will receive the latest Oreo update, Google confirmed a full list of those eligible and published it on one Google support page.
Smartwatches were the hype of 2016. Apple, Samsung and many others got heavily invested in the wearable market, trying to make it the next big thing in mobile tech. Even though the market for wearables now seems like it won’t be the next revolution in consumer electronics, Google is still updating its Android Wear operating system.
Google previewed Android Go for the first time earlier this year at Google I/O 2017. Now, the search giant has launched Android Oreo ‘Go Edition,’ with Android 8.1 Oreo.
Surprise! Just one week after releasing the second Android 8.1 Oreo developer preview, Google has gone ahead with the public release of the software, as promised back in October. The version is the first maintenance of Android 8.0 (Google’s major overhaul) to roll out publicly, and it’s arriving with Android Oreo ‘Go Edition.’ Here’s everything you need to know about it.


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United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNFI) witnessed an upward rally in the extended trading session on Wednesday after the quarterly results of the company overthrew the market expectations.
Shares of United Natural Foods reached $66.79 with a 5% increase in its share price while crossing Wall Street’s estimates on its earnings. United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNFI) reported net revenue of $1.76 billion for the fourth quarter 2014 with an increase of 7.4% against the net sales of $1.64 during the same period last year. Net income for the quarter was $33.4 million with an increase of 4.0% from the same quarter last year with diluted earnings per share of $0.67. The gross margins witnessed decline from 17.3% in the same quarter last year to 16.4% for this quarter.
Steven Spinner, CEO of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNFI), said,
“During fiscal 2014 UNFI continued to enhance its product offering through the acquisition of Tony’s Fine Foods while building out capacity and infrastructure. These initiatives will serve us well as consumers and retailers continue to demand our natural, organic, ethnic and specialty SKUs.”
The net sales for fiscal 2014 were $6.79 billion against the net sales of $6.06 billion in fiscal 2013. The company reported diluted earnings per share of $2.52 for the year.
Earlier, United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNFI) completed the acquisition of Tony’s Fine Foods for $195.3 million and Tony’s Fine is to work as a subsidiary of United Natural Foods. The primary consumer segments of Tony’s Fine Foods include retail and specialty grocers, food service industries and individual wholesale customers. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion with 100% institutional ownership.
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.


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Best answer: The beta is available in India and the Philippines at the moment. It'll soon expand to Indonesia, Peru, Colombia, Egypt, and Lebanon. It's expected to roll out to more countries later this year. Pre-register now: Apex Legends Mobile on the Google Play Store
Why you can't sign up for the Apex Legend mobile beta
Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment first announced their intentions to release Apex Legends Mobile not long after the game launched on consoles and PC. Respawn announced in April 2021 that it'd be opening regional betas for the game this year, intending to roll the beta out to different regions throughout the year.
At the moment, the beta is only available to some players in India and the Philippines. On June 23, Respawn announced that "in a few weeks," it'd be expanding the regional mobile beta to Indonesia, Peru, Colombia, Egypt, and Lebanon.
The Apex Legends mobile beta is currently available only on Android. Respawn promises in the mobile game's FAQ that it'll be offering the game in more regions and also on iOS in the future: "As we continue with testing, we'll expand the size of these tests, add new regions, and implement iOS support. When we're ready to go broader, we'll launch a page that allows you to pre-register for the game and sign up for news about the betas."
How to know if you can join the beta
According to Respawn, the easiest way to know whether the game is available in your region is to pre-register for it on the Google Play Store. Since the beta is closed, access is currently through invitation only, slots are limited, and those invited only have a limited amount of time to join the beta.
Note that if you do get into the closed beta, the game being tested is not the complete version of Apex Legends. According to the FAQ: "To start, only the World's Edge map and some of the original Legends from the game will be playable." It's available to play on phones running Android 6.0 or higher. While it has touchscreen controls, it might be best to play it with a mobile gaming controller.
Same Legends, different platform
EA is bringing its popular battle royale title to mobile, and it'll be opening betas around the world for the rest of the year.
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Rachel Kaser is an Android Central gaming contributor, who's been writing since 2013 and gaming since the age of five. She's covered everything from gaming news, reviews, and analysis -- if it exists in gaming, she knows about it. She also contributes to Future's other sites, iMore and Windows Central. If you want to hear her opinions on games, pop culture, tech, and everything in between, follow her on Twitter @rachelkaser


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Peer-to-peer lending platform Linked Finance has given out over €50m in loans to Irish SMEs since it was launched in 2013.
In the five years of its existence, Linked Finance has provided more than 1,400 loans to businesses across the country and in every sector of the economy.
Linked Finance uses technology to connect SMEs looking for finance with lenders keen to back Irish businesses while earning attractive returns.
Linked Finance gave out €832,000 across 45 loans during its first year of existence in 2013.
Since then the company's level of lending has more than doubled each year and it provided more than €24m in loans last year - almost 35 times the first year's performance.
Its users range from ordinary individuals looking to support businesses belonging to friends and families up to large international investment groups.
Companies that have raised funding with Linked Finance include Viking Splash Tours, The Rolling Donut, Big Red Cloud, Lolly & Cooks, Murphy's Ice Cream, Iconic Offices and the Irish Fairy Door Company.
A recent loan raised by Language Options Ireland Limited brought the platform to €50m in total lending.
"When I started the platform back in 2013, I wanted to make it easier for hard-working Irish business owners to access the funds needed to grow and drive the economy forward," commented the company's founder Peter O'Mahony.
"Five years later, it's brilliant to see the long list of great local businesses who have benefited," he added.
The company's chief executive Niall Dorrian said Linked Finance's ultimate goal is to make the company the biggest source of non-bank funding to SMEs in Ireland.
"That's what we will be working towards in the next five years," he added.


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Port Authority Board Unanimously Approves Flat Fare System
Members of the Port Authority of Allegheny County board unanimously approved a measure to adopt a flat fare system by doing away with the three-zone system Friday.
Getting rid of zone payment means the downtown free zone is eliminated and riders bussing to the suburbs – who now pay $1.25 more – will pay the same $2.50 fee charged in the city limits.
Port Authority CEO Ellen McLean said that will cost the port authority about $4 million. But she calls that an investment in riders and a more equitable system.
“The further out you are, (the bus system) has less service than we do in the city," she said. "They were paying a premium for actually less frequency of service."
The new system will go into effect Jan. 1, 2017, replacing the current multi-zone fare structure.
PAT will also start charging cash payers a quarter more per ride and charging $1 to purchase a ConnectCard. McLean said the authority wanted to incentivize using the card because cash payers take longer to board. Average cash ridership for the county system is 14 percent, she said.
In the coming months, PAT will target marketing campaigns in areas with a large amount of cash riders - urging them to use ConnectCards.
Riders will also always pay when boarding the bus, unlike the current system when riders sometimes pay while exiting.
McLean said the authority surveyed riders and drivers and found the most important change they wanted was for riders to pay when they board the bus.
That led to the removal of the free downtown zone.
“We don’t know if you’re getting off in one block or going all the way out to the East End," he said. "So it was part of the logistics of making pay enter work."
McLean said the free rail from Downtown to the North Shore will continue.


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When it comes to camera technology, camera sensors, and camera lens, there is no doubt that Sony is the prime leader in this category. Be it any kind of camera sensor, mobile, cameras, or anything else, the company has been able to provide some of the best devices in the market. Now the company has launched Alpha 7S III in the Indian market, which is their next best consumer camera for users. The Alpha series has always been one of the best in the market and the new Alpha 7S III (model ILCE-7SM3) is the latest offering in the series.
The camera comes with a new 12.1 MP back-illuminated full-frame image sensor with ultra-high ‘s’ series sensitivity and 15+ stop wide dynamic range. The camera can record 4K videos with 120ppi and has a new heat-dissipating system and dual-slot relay recording tech with an autofocus mechanism. The camera also comes with a flip LCD screen and has eight times more processing power than before. The camera gets a major improvement in low lighting conditions where you can get brighter images and videos without lighting.
Also, the back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensor will reduce the rolling shutter by up to three times. Even the new ISO settings have been lowered by 80 to 102,400. The camera will be made available for purchase from October 14 and has been priced at Rs, 3,34,000, along with the compatible CEA-G80T memory card, which is available for Rs 21,100. The camera has been specifically designed for new-age content creators and will definitely make a huge difference from the last generation.


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KL Scenarium is Malaysia’s first cocktail truck
Raising the bar
There was a time when food trucks started mushrooming around KL at the same speed cafes were opening everywhere in town. Food trucks are still around though the urgency to chase after them has dwindled down a bit. Two friends, however, have raised the bar by creating KL Scenarium, a mobile cocktail bar.
With the holiday season coming up, this is yet another timely introduction of a service that might interest party hosts. Just last week, Wowsome announced the launch of Prinker in Malaysia and now KL Scenarium aims to change the scene in their own way too.
They currently have a pretty decent bespoke menu of cocktails ranging from classics, such as Margaritas and Mojitos, to novelty concoctions such as Tealantro (their alcoholic version of teh o ais limau) and Bad Santa (a Christmas limited edition flavour). And what's a playful cocktails menu without a professional mixologist on board, and that's one aspect of your party sorted!


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The world is still in the process of getting used to face masks and social distancing.
The coronavirus pandemic had caused a lot of changes in the world. Many healthcare systems and economies were challenged with the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases.
The increasing number of coronavirus cases had resulted in many orders of lockdowns and stay-at-home rule. This had resulted in many businesses temporarily postponing their operations and many of the workforce being left unemployed during the lockdowns and quarantine orders.
Although, people were permitted to leave their homes only for essential reasons such as for purchasing medicines and grocery shopping. Many of the population were advised to wear facemasks. However, is there a possibility of suffocation from wearing face coverings?
Suffocation from Facemasks?
Leaving your home means you have to protect yourself from the novel coronavirus. They can do this by properly observing social distancing. Also, they can wear face masks. However, do these rules apply to children? Does wearing a face mask cause other risks to children? Is It worth the risk?
In the United Kingdom, the government advises the public to allow children under the age of 11 to not wear face masks. The reason for this order is the prevention of suffocation from wearing face coverings. Other individuals, regardless of their age, who have medical issues that would make breathing difficult with a face mask on can opt not to wear one.
Despite this advice from the government, there were still face masks made for children and babies that are being traded online. According to the government, choking and suffocation can occur among children who are made to wear face masks or any kind of face coverings.
Preventing Suffocation or COVID-19
Wearing a facemask is essential for preventing the transmission of tiny infected droplets from sick people. However, a struggle that everyone has to endure while wearing one is breathing. Also, there is a potential danger of consuming too much carbon dioxide.
The rule to allow children not to wear face masks can help prevent minors from getting their airways obstructed. However, if children who are showing COVID-19 symptoms are observed, they should get a test and remain at home until the result of the coronavirus test is provided.
Most face masks are designed to be worn by adults and not children. The thickness of many facemasks being made today can cause breathing difficulties among children, especially among infants.
Related Story: Parents, Listen to Experts: Don’t Put Face Mask on Your Baby


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The President of Fed’s Philadelphia, Patrick Harker, said the economy “may be close to meeting the inflation mandate set for raising rates”, in an interview with Reuters.
Harker mentioned that if the economy continues to improve, it could reach maximum employment and the inflation mandate as soon as 2023. He wants to start tapering the bond purchase program sooner rather than later.
The Fed will not be removing stimulus anytime soon, Harker explained. According to him, winding down QE soon could give the Fed more options in 2022 to curb inflation above the target.


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USAmeriBank Places Name on Branches
By David Zaslawsky
Photography by Robert Fouts
It’s official now with the name change on the buildings – Aliant Bank has been fully absorbed into USAmeriBank.
Aliant Bank, a 115-year-old firm based in Alexander City, had been a division of USAmeriBank since 2011.
“Now being one bank can make for an efficient process,” said Caryn Hughes, senior vice president and Montgomery Area executive for USAmeriBank. “We can have one website; one online banking (site) to provide our customers with a higher level of service.”
In a statement, Hughes said, “We want to assure our customers that nothing will change in how they do business with the bank.”
She said that USAmeriBank has improved its website and, according to a press release, will “keep customers better informed of the bank’s latest products and services while offering them new ways to contact the bank with questions.”
USAmeriBank, based in Clearwater, Fla., has $3 billion in total assets and about $2.5 billion in deposits. There are 28 branches with 15 in Alabama and the remainder in Florida.
Hughes oversees the credit administration in Alabama. She handles “anything involving credit,” she said in addition to portfolio management. Harlan Parrish, executive vice president and Alabama Area executive and retail banking director, oversees deposits, branches and different business lines for all the Alabama branches.
The company has four branches in Montgomery, including its local headquarters on Zelda Road. There are single branches in Millbrook and Wetumpka. The Auburn branch is also part of the Montgomery area, which has about 70 employees, according to Hughes.
She said that customers will not notice a change except the name change. They will have the same banker, but USAmeriBank can “provide all the products and services that a larger bank would offer,” Hughes said.
She said the name change “just makes sense.”


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Co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to drive company transformation around greater market segment focus; former CEO Steve Chang to stay on full time as Chairman
Tokyo, Japan, November 4, 2004 -- Trend Micro Inc (TSE: 4704; Nasdaq: TMIC), a leader in network antivirus and Internet content security software and services, said today that its board of directors has announced the appointment of Eva Chen as Chief Executive Officer and Representative Director. Former Chairman and CEO Steve Chang, who co-founded the company with Chen 16 years ago, will stay on full-time as Chairman of the Board. These changes will become effective from 1 January 1, 2005.
As part of this transition and in preparation for its future growth, Chen will drive the company towards a greater focus on the market segments that it serves and will strive to transform the organization around this sole purpose. Chang will continue to be a voice for the company to customers and industry partners, and will focus his energy on continuing to raise the visibility of the company worldwide. He will also be in charge of expanding the Consumer business in markets outside Japan.
"As Trend Micro’s first CEO, I am proud to have made a profound impact on the industry and the world up to this point, and believe that Trend Micro is poised to change the world of security again in the years to come,” said Steve Chang. "I leave this job in the capable hands of Eva Chen and the executive team that I have assembled over the years to make this transition. Together we have made Trend Micro what it is today. As Chairman I will dedicate my time to the more long-term, strategic issues facing us and will continue to elevate the level of Trend Micro’s visibility worldwide.”
Chen has served as CTO since 1996 and Executive Vice President since May 1988. As internet usage began to rise, she led the company and the industry to shift its thinking away from its narrow focus on client-based virus scanning. Her foresight and market focus led to the introduction of Trend Micro InterScan VirusWall™, the industry’s first internet gateway antivirus product.
"While we have earned our stripes in the industry for product innovation, we believe the key to Trend Micro’s future is in transferring this innovation to all parts of our organization,” said Eva Chen. "Our relationship with our customers must go beyond just supplying them with technology. Furthermore, this industry has changed dramatically since we began in 1988, but Trend Micro has had the foresight to adapt quickly to such changes and has grown dramatically over the years as a result. We believe this current transition is the right one to further our growth and again lead the industry in delivering the right solutions to the right people.”
Certain statements that we make in this release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon management’s current assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Many important factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. These factors include:
We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
For more details regarding risk factors relating to our future performance, please refer to our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Trend Micro Incorporated (TSE: 4704), a global cloud security leader, creates a world safe for exchanging digital information with its Internet content security and threat management solutions for businesses and consumers. A pioneer in server security with over 20 years' experience, we deliver top-ranked client, server and cloud-based security that fits our customers' and partners' needs, stops new threats faster, and protects data in physical, virtualized and cloud environments. Powered by the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ cloud security infrastructure, our industry-leading cloud-computing security technology, products and services stop threats where they emerge, on the Internet, and are supported by 1,000+ threat intelligence experts around the globe.
Additional information about Trend Micro Incorporated and the products and services are available at Trend Micro.com This Trend Micro news release and other announcements are available at http://trendmicro.mediaroom.com/ and as part of an RSS feed at www.trendmicro.com/rss Or follow our news on Twitter at @TrendMicro.
Mr. Mahendra Negi
Chief Operating Officer / Chief Financial Officer / IR Officer


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Beijing: If you are a OnePlus lover, get ready for OnePlus 5 soon. The Chinese phonemaker has confirmed that its next flagship smartphone OnePlus 5 with dual-camera setup and high-end specifications will be launched this summer.
According to The Verge, “the phone is called OnePlus 5 and not OnePlus 4 because the number four is considered unlucky in China”.
The name OnePlus 5 has been inspired by former NBA player Robert Horry.
OnePlus’s Shenzhen office sports two Horry’s paintings and his “number five” jersey inspired the smartphone’s name.
Its earlier devices OnePlus 3 and 3T have become a huge success in India.
OnePlus 3T, that costs Rs 34,999, comes with 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM and sports 16MP rear and front cameras.
It houses 3,400mAh battery — an increase of 13 per cent as compared to its predecessor.


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LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 28, 2019--
The global healthcare logistics market size is poised to grow by USD 30.93 billion during 2019-2023, according to a new report by Technavio, progressing at a CAGR of over 6% during the forecast period.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:
"Healthcare logistics Market Analysis Report by Service (Transportation and Warehousing), Product (Pharmaceutical products and Medical devices) and Geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America) 2019-2023"
Healthcare Logistics Market in North America 2019-2023| Evolving Opportunities with Deutsche Post AG and FedEx ...
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 2, 2019-- Technavio has been monitoring the healthcare logistics market in North America and the market is poised to grow by USD 8.39 billion...The Marshall News Messenger 2019-12-02
The African logistics market has seen a steady growth between 2013 and 2018 accounting to a single digit CAGR during this period, a report said. The report titled “Africa...Gulf Daily News 2019-11-28
Global Logistics Services Software Market 2020-2024 | Integration of Technologically Advanced Solutions to Boost Market ...
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 27, 2019-- The global logistics services software market size is expected to grow by USD 2.33 billion during 2020-2024, according to the latest...The Marshall News Messenger 2019-11-27


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FSF Raises Money for a Replicant
All-free Android fork longs to support more devices.
The Free Software Foundation has announced an effort to raise funds for the Replicant project. Replicant is a Free-software version of the Android mobile operating system. The name "Replicant" comes from the name for the extremely lifelike Androids in the classic science fiction film Blade Runner.
The Replicant project actually started in 2010, but the project has kept a low profile up to this point. The recent announcement could signal an effort by the FSF to raise awareness about this effort to create a mobile system that lives up to the FSF definition of free software. Although Android is based on Linux, and Linux uses a license that FSF classifies as free (GPL2), Google has come under fire recently for delaying the release of source code for Android. Also, certain surrounding components within the Android system, such as device drivers and codecs, as well as many end-user applications, do not meet FSF standards for free software.
Android is not alone is missing the mark: several other Linux distributions also do not meet the FSF Free Sofware definition. Free software proponents have a tradition of forking projects that are theoretically open source to create all-free versions. (The web browser Ice Weasel, for instance, is an all-free version of Mozilla's Firefox.)
According to the FSF, the fundraising effort will mostly raise money to buy new devices for development and testing, although some of the funds might be used for "infrastructure and promotion of the project." The system currently works on ten mobile devices, including "multiple phones from the Samsung Galaxy S line and tablets from the Galaxy Tab line, as well as the Google Nexus S." The project needs a working copy of any phone they want Replicant to support, which requires an expense of $400-$600 in hardware costs alone.
An important counterpart to Replicant is the F-Droid, an Android-compatible app repository with all-Free-Softare apps. The developers point out that you don't even need Replicant to access the F-Droid repository, and the FSF recommends F-Droid as a replacement for the Google Play store.
Although the FSF press release doesn't mention it, the Replicant fundraiser is interesting juxtaposed with Canonical's recent announcement of a crowd-funding effort to raise money for an Ubuntu phone. FSF chairman Richard Stallman has been critical Canonical in the past for sacrificing privacy and including non-Free components within Ubuntu. As the whole high-tech industry migrates into the mobile space, the FSF has served notice that it will continue to fight for its own definition of software freedom.
Kernel king admits his tone has alienated volunteers, but says the demands of the process require directness.
New flaw in an old encryption scheme leaves the experts scrambling to disable SSL 3
Lennart Poettering wants to change the way Linux developers talk to each other.
Enterprise giant frees itself from ink and home PCs (and visa versa).
Mozilla’s product think tank sinks silently into history.
TODO group will focus on open source tools in large-scale environments.
New tool will look like GParted but support a wider range of storage technologies.
New public key pinning feature will help prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
Carnegie Mellon researchers say 3 million pages could fall down the phishing hole in the next year.
The US government rolls new best-practice rules for protecting SSH.


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Heineken just opend a virtual brewery there, Tommy Hilfiger now holds his fashion shows and according to Marc Zuckerberg, the metaverse economy will be just as big as the physical economy as we know it today. Not a day goes by without another organization reporting that they have joine the metaverse. Many trendsetters say that 2022 is the year of the metaverse, but what can you concretely do with it as an organization? In this article an overview of the latest possibilities.
If you’ve never worn virtual reality goggles, you probably don’t understand much of all the commotion surrounding the metaverse. Immersing yourself and really feeling part of the virtual environment is what sets it apart from today’s virtual environments that we see on our flat screens. Today, the gaming industry is worth more than the global film and sports industry combind. Where the internet is built by web developers, the metaverse will be built by game developers.
High hopes for the metaverse
According to the researchers at Ark Invest (pdf), in 2021 we spent 38% of our free time digitally and this is expecte to be 52% by 2030. By 2026, according to Gartner , a quarter of people and a third of organizations will be active in the metaverse. According to Grayscale , the number of users has Australia School Email Lists already increase tenfold in the past year. By 2030, the metaverse economy could reach $13 trillion in size, according to investment bank Citi. According to research by Accenture, 71% of executives believe the metaverse will have a positive impact on organizations. 42% even think it will bring about a major transformation.We spent 38% of our free time digitally in 2021 and that is expectd to be 52% by 2030.
There are no physical constraints – such as real estate, supply chains and geographic reach – in the metaverse. This opens up many opportunities for companies of all sizes to earn money and get in touch with (potential) customers. We see the lines blurring between the physical and virtual worlds and companies are increasingly committe to creating experiences that engage consumers on a personal, deeper level. As humans, we are born and raisd in a 3D environment. Because of this, it is also very logical that we will find the metaverse more interesting than the ‘flat’ internet on which we now spend a lot of time.


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HostelBookers has launched 8 new languages on its website in an attempt to provide a better quality of service to its non-English speaking customers, after recent research revealed that it was attracting a large and ever growing audience from across Europe. LONDON, ENGLAND, November 10, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ — HostelBookers has launched 8 new languages on its website in an attempt to provide a better quality of service to its non-English speaking customers, after recent research revealed that it was attracting a large and ever growing audience from across Europe.
Together with the launch of the new languages, HostelBookers has also launched multi-lingual blogs in Italian, French, Spanish and German providing useful tips and advice to travelers from great places to stay to dos and don’ts when traveling.
The company already has a multi-lingual customer services department and this latest announcement comes on the back of the successful launch of the Spanish and German languages back in July.
Further changes are expected in the near future as the company continues to look to embrace its growing international following.
David Smith, chief operating officer at HostelBookers, said: "This is great news and is yet another step in the right direction for the company. The launch of the new languages will make the site more user-friendly and accessible for our ever growing international market. I am delighted with the progress we’ve made in 2009. It’s been a successful year and we have every reason to be optimistic going into 2010."
2009 has seen HostelBookers hold its first summer sale and in September be announced 5.1% cheaper on average than its nearest competitor, Hostelworld, after independent research carried out by Reed Business Insight.
The company currently features more than 16,000 hostels in over 3,000 destinations and is the only website in the industry not to charge a booking fee.
For further information please contact: Sonia on +44 (0)20 7406 1805 or email: firstname.lastname@example.org
NOTE TO EDITORS
About HostelBookers.com: Great Hostels. Free Booking. No Worries.
HostelBookers.com – launched in March 2004 – is a leading UK-based budget accommodation website. It offers a range of budget accommodation including youth hostels, hotels, guesthouses and apartments in over 2,500 destinations worldwide.
HostelBookers.com’s properties are reviewed and rated by customers and it remains the only major company in its sector to offer its services with no booking fees. HostelBookers.com also provides a range of free travel guides, plus travel news and information on worldwide events.
Press release service and press release distribution provided by http://www.24-7pressrelease.com


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- 21 Feb 2017 6:06 AM
The inspection will involve 100 products from all sectors of the food industry and include a comparison of ingredients and sensory tests, Róbert Zsigó told a press conference.
The first results of the inspection are expected to be made public by the middle of March, he said. Government office chief János Lázár told a weekly press briefing last week that the government must examine the issue of inferior quality products sold by multinationals in Hungary from the point of consumer protection and food safety.
He said he was appalled by a report by Nébih comparing 24 sample products sold in Austria and Hungary. The report confirmed allegations that the companies are trying to sell “food-industry rubbish” in Hungary, Lázár said.
Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.


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Sony eliminating 10,000 jobs as part of restructuring effort
The Nikkei is reporting that Sony will soon cut around 10,000 jobs from its global workforce, this will be the second time in recent years that Sony has had to make such job cuts. The previous reduction was back in December of 2008 when Sony cut 16,000 of its workers after the global financial crisis dealt a major blow to demand for its consumer electronics products, but those cuts must not of been enough as the Japanese company hasn’t been able to turn a profit in the last 4 years. Sony is currently expected to report a net loss of around US $2.7 Billion for its fiscal year that ended in March.
According to Nikkei, the job cuts will mostly be spread over management, development and manufacturing. The cuts come as part of a restructuring effort under Sony’s new president. The company is said to be refocusing on its core consumer electronics businesses such as video game consoles, computers, smartphones and tablets in an attempt to become profitable again.


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High-profile retail buildings in downtown come to market
A slew of commercial property in the heart of downtown Reno is up for grabs.
The Palladio’s 13,173 square feet of first-floor retail spasce, the 83,560-square-foot former Woolworth building at the corner of North Virginia and First streets and the 22,999 square-foot mixed-use building that houses Java Jungle and Sierra Tap House on the corner of First and Arlington streets all came on the market within the last month or so.
Bids for the $3.5 million Palladio were due at the end of June, but Mark Keyzers, senior vice president and principal in the retail properties group of NAI Alliance, the broker on the sale, says the deadline may be pushed out.
“It was well received and we’re still taking some additional offers so we may extend the deadline,” he says, although he declined to say how many offers were submitted.
The riverfront condominium property retail space is 93.5 percent occupied and features its most well-known tenant, Campo, arguably Reno’s most popular restaurant. The space is listed with a capitalization, or cap, rate of 7.3 percent, which is generally arrived at by dividing the property’s annual net operating income by its sale price. That works out to $255,500 in net operating income a year.
“The unique factor that this property benefits from is a percentage rental income generated from the sales of Campo. The receipt of this significant additional income has resulted in a hybrid valuation that takes into account both the rental income and the retail sales income. The additional income should allow investors to lower the risk/reward threshold providing for a cap rate premium on the rental income portion,” reads the listing.
The buildings other tenants are Old Bridge Pub, Subway, J.B. Mapes & Co., which is in the process of being re-launched as a Creole-style eatery by its owner, says Keyzers, and its latest tenant, Reef Sushi.
“The property has been stabilized with Reef Sushi, which put the property at fully occupied status,” says Keyzers. “It’s ready to sell now that it’s stabilized.”
The sale of the long-vacant, seven-story Woolworth building around the corner from the Palladio and across Virginia Street from City Hall includes the 7,000-square-foot adjacent two-story building for a total of about 90,000 square feet of office and ground-floor retail. The property is listed at $2.29 million or about $25 per square foot, well below other commercial space in the area.
“The property needs a fair amount of renovation to make it usable, depending on its use,” says Frank Gallagher, a principal in Commercial Partners of Nevada, the building’s representative.
Gallagher ticks off the 48-year-old building’s elevators, heating, ventilation and air conditioning and exterior glass as all in need of rehab.
The mixed-used building on First Street near West Street, which is 60 percent leased and includes retail, offices and apartments, is being represented by the Johnson Group.
“Technically, it’s been on the market for two months but the owner has been out of town for half of that,” says Richard Johnson, owner of the broker.
He says the 40 percent of unoccupied space in the building has been gutted and is ready for renovations by a new owner.
Johnson and the brokers for the other buildings say there has been interest in the properties from both local and regional investors. And despite all being within blocks of one another, the properties are significantly different from one another and not competing for the same buyers.
“It’s kind of like buying a car,” says Johnson. “We all have four wheels and we’re all made to drive.”
But that’s where the similarities end, he says.
Despite ongoing difficulties, Northern Nevada’s office real estate market will endure, experts predict
IGT’s decision to list its 1.2 million sq. ft. campus for lease this month and the recent $3.8 million sale of Harley Davidson’s 3-story financial services building in Carson City are the latest examples of companies no longer needing larger-scale office properties to maintain productivity levels and meet customer needs.


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The Economist magazine plans to sell its DeFi front cover as an NFT
October 21, 2021, 10:29AM EDT
1 min read
The Economist, the venerable British magazine, has announced a plan to auction off the front cover of its September 18 edition as a non-fungible token (or NFT).
The cover — which parodied a scene from Alice in Wonderland by placing Alice and the white rabbit on the verge of a rabbit hole filled with tokens — will be sold on October 25. It was converted into an NFT with the help of the platform Foundation.
The auction will be the first time The Economist has issued an NFT, but it isn’t the first time an NFT has been put up for grabs by a major news organization. A column in the New York Times was purchased for a whopping $560,000 in March. Historic posts on Twitter have also been minted and sold as NFTs for startlingly high sums.
The Economist said in a press release that its aim is to showcase the potential of decentralized technology.
Proceeds from the sale — minus fees, transactions costs and taxes — will go The Economist Educational Foundation (TEEF), an independent charity focused on news. The magazine will retain a 10% stake in the royalties generated by future secondary sales of the NFT, with proceeds also going to TEEF.
The artwork for the DeFi cover, which was entitled “Down the rabbit hole: The promise and perils of decentralised finance,” was produced by Justin Metz, a British artist, with help from The Economist’s cover designer Graeme James.
“By selling our ‘Down the rabbit hole’ cover as an NFT we are now, in our own small way, journeying down the rabbit hole ourselves, in a fun experiment that will hopefully also raise money for a worthwhile cause,” said Alice Fulwood, a finance correspondent at the magazine.
From the removal of many Russian banks from SWIFT to a seemingly constant flow of new sanctions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left many to wonder: Is the country likely to lurch towards cryptocurrencies? And if so, what does this mean for businesses that are holding and/or using crypto? Crypto and sanctions evasion Although crypto […]
Ethereum had a breakout year in 2021. It’s native asset, ETH’s, market capitalization surpassed $500 billion for the first time. Its network facilitated upwards of $7 trillion value transfer. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) emerged as another “killer application” that have put its technology on the global stage and caught the attention of the masses.


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Chinese electric car startup NextEV in November launched the new brand Nio whose first model, the 1,360-horsepower EP9 supercar, is already one of the fastest production cars in the world, having lapped the Nürburgring in just 7:05.12.
But the EP9 is a limited edition model for multimillionaires, which NextEV admits was primarily built to help draw attention to its new brand Nio and highlight the link with the company’s successful Formula E team. It will be sold exclusively in China.
In contrast, future models from Nio will compete in high-volume segments, and they will be sold in the United States.
Speaking with Automotive News (subscription required), NextEV co-founder Jack Cheng said the U.S. will be the first market outside of China that Nio cars will be sold in. And the first volume model due will be an electric SUV to rival the Tesla [NSDQ:TSLA] Model X and similar offerings due soon from Audi and Mercedes-Benz.
NextEV electric motor plant
The ace up NextEV’s sleeve will be sharp pricing, Cheng said.
“It'll be positioned at Audi and BMW but with a Toyota price,” Cheng said of the SUV. He also described its performance as being “as good as or better than the Tesla [Model X].”
The SUV is said to be launching with a 70-kilowatt-hour battery. The closest comparison is Tesla’s Model X 75D which has a 75-kwh battery and 237-mile EPA-rated range.
NextEV is hoping to start sales in the U.S. by late 2018 or early the following year. Production will take place in China.


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When Revant Optics, which sells replacement parts for name-brand glasses, ran into IP issues on Amazon earlier this year, CEO Jason Bolt decided to shell out a monthly fee of $2,000 for access to a dedicated Amazon account manager. After a nightmare episode where product listings were pulled from the site, he saw paying for an account manager as “insurance” if something were to go wrong again.
Several months later, it did: An IP snafu resulted in more than 1,000 of Revant Optics’ products being pulled. But when reached, Bolt found the account manager didn’t have the answers.
For those who sell on Amazon, account managers have been considered a lifeline — the real people on the other end who can cut through the black box of selling on Amazon to field questions and offer support for individual sellers’ needs
Despite this positioning, account manager programs are often confusing and inconsistent in where they fit into sellers’ strategies.
“We have a merchandiser that manages all of our products on Amazon to stay up to date, but they move very quickly,” said Bolt. “It moves even too fast for the Amazon account rep. That’s the most challenging part. We do the most we can to stay on top of the rules and new policies, we pay for an account manager for hope that we can comply and stay ahead, but in these instances that hasn’t worked, so it is challenging to stay ahead, even with all of the resources.”
Most third-party sellers have to pay a monthly percentage of their overall sales to have an account manager assigned to them, and several sellers reported paying several thousand dollars a month for the service. In some cases, Amazon will work with sellers around special initiatives, which include incentives like free access to an account manager. Some account managers specialize in optimizing sales, while others’ expertise is driving advertising revenue for the company by getting sellers more involved in Amazon’s advertising business. Sellers reported different experiences with account managers that boiled down to that particular person’s level of experience and insight.
The issues are more prevalent for sellers, not vendors, who have managers assigned automatically to manage orders and choose inventory, more like a traditional wholesale relationship.
For sellers who want more than the automated seller policy responses spit back through the Seller Central Support system, account managers are seen as a competitive advantage worth paying for.
But they’re not a magic bullet. When it comes to issues that can impact sellers’ businesses, like suspended accounts, pulled product listings, IP infringements or warehouse inventory disasters, all account managers is open a customer service ticket on a seller’s behalf.
The problem is that Amazon’s business is uniquely nuanced, compared to marketplaces like Walmart and eBay, neither of which are necessarily known for great seller support but are typically smaller parts of sellers’ revenue than Amazon. An entire external industry of Amazon-expertise agencies has risen up, often established by former Amazon employees, to help sellers and brands figure out their Amazon businesses. Amazon’s internal answer to that is its account managers, but that same nuance of the marketplace means that knowledge gets lost in silos across these account managers.
Account manager expertise
As the team on the front lines with third-party marketplace sellers, that’s increasingly apparent as that side of Amazon’s business grows faster than its retail business. The marketplace drives more volume than the first-party platform, and saw $160 billion in revenue in 2018. At the same time, Amazon is pushing that side of the business to be a more self-sufficient platform, as the retailer’s priority has been to maximize sellers’ sales while minimizing the heavy lifting Amazon has to do to make that happen.
Amazon’s built out its seller services to include more in-depth analytics and reports, for example, so it can be more hands-off. Account managers are an expensive resource, and Amazon has to consider where to spend the resources that will help drive its business overall.
“You have to be realistic. Account managers can push problems to the right team but they’re not solving the problem for you,” said Dan Brownsher, the founder of Amazon consultancy ChannelKey. “There are so many things that can affect an Amazon listing or the performance of it, and they’re not always the ones capable of solving the problem. Nothing on Amazon is black and white, it’s very gray.”
Additionally, Brownsher said that account managers’ expertise is most relevant to sellers getting off the ground. For more high-level account strategies, they’re not giving particularly nuanced advice.
“Amazon at times can be very helpful,” said Will Johnston, the founder of Grow and Make, a brand selling on Amazon’s third-party marketplace. “If it’s something that they can quickly solve, but it seems like bigger issues just get passed around. They don’t have responses for nuance.”
In job listings for Amazon’s account management team working for the third-party marketplace, the account manager’s goal is to improve selection, quality and convenience across the seller network.
“They know how to set up listings, run campaigns — it’s a good resource when you’re starting out. But when it comes to more technical aspects to accounts, the knowledge and expertise is not there,” said Michael Maher, the founder of the agency Cartology that works with Amazon sellers. “Amazon is just trying to provide a helping hand but not at the biggest cost. When you look at how it’s transitioning sellers away from Vendor Central that aren’t making as much, it’s apparent Amazon is focused on higher-profit brands, so they’re putting more resources towards that vs. the newer sellers.”
Sifting through the noise
Problems are arising as Amazon’s rules change. Part of Amazon’s new shift in its retail strategy includes pushing all sellers to register trademarks in Brand Registry, but some are finding rules have changed around certain IP violations, and how Brand Registry considers trademarks. According to one seller, a trademark may apply for a product when it’s listed under one category, but not if it’s listed under a second category, even though it’s the same product. That creates headaches for sellers, who can lose business as products are pulled to be reviewed for violations first.
According to Brownsher, Amazon isn’t misleading around what its account managers are there to do. But, he said, when things go wrong on Amazon, the stakes are big and tensions run high. It’s easy to blame the only person at the other end of the line.
“I don’t think they’re overpromising or there’s a bait and switch. It’s just how Amazon works — it’s a big business and there are a lot of sellers and a lot of products. Very few companies get that really high level of service where things get done quickly,” said Brownsher.
To make up for this lack of support, sellers often join networks and hire outside agencies to help them grow their business and work their way through troubleshooting issues. Some brands are also building out their own internal Amazon expertise to invest in learning the ropes themselves.
“We basically decided to get really good at Amazon ourselves,” said Ryan Williams, the director of special projects at Rise Brewing. “When you do that, you get their attention, and then you’re asked to join special initiatives because you’re serious about your Amazon business.” Williams said Rise got access to an account manager for the first time when it was selected as a brand to work with Amazon to launch business in Canada. “We’re realistic about our expectations. Until you’re Coca-Cola, you play by the rules of the trillion dollar companies and not by the rules of your startup.”


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A new online store purportedly owned by Harvey Norman has appeared on the web, providing daily deals on an eclectic range of consumer products.
The deals offered over the past few days have ranged from miniature garden beds to women’s cosmetics; which are not the typical Harvey Norman fare.
Curiously, the official Harvey Norman website makes no mention of the Big Buys site and the company has yet to issue a press release.
However, we can report that the domain name was registered by Harvey Norman Retailing Pty Ltd, which would seem to suggest it is legitimate.
The Harvey Norman 'Big Buys' web page.
“Harvey Norman BiG BUYS offers you a fantastic new deal online every day. We source the best products at fantastic prices, so we’re able to pass these bargains on to you,” the website explains.
Late last month, Gerry Harvey, executive chairman of Harvey Norman, announced his plans to enter the online retail space, promising that the online store would launch within a few weeks.
“By this time next year you'll see Harvey Norman with a pretty sizeable internet presence," Harvey stated.
At the time of writing, all products offered on the webpage are listed as sold out.


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Mafia III launch date announced
I have to admit, this is one announcement that I've personally been looking forward to. 2K and Hangar 13 have announced that Mafia III, the highly anticipated new title in the popular organized crime series, launches on October 7, 2016, and will be available for PS4, Xbox One and Windows PC.
2K and Hanger 13 also released the brand new Mafia III ďOne Way RoadĒ story trailer, which gives a glimpse of Vietnam veteran Lincoln Clay on his path to building a new family from the ashes of the old after his surrogate family, the black mob, is betrayed and wiped out by the Italian Mafia in New Bordeaux.
Mafia III is set in the open world of 1968 New Bordeaux, a reimagined version of New Orleans bustling with activity and complete with era-inspired cars, fashion and music. After years of combat in Vietnam, Lincoln Clay knows this truth: family isnít who youíre born with, itís who you die for. Now, back home in New Bordeaux, Lincoln is set on escaping his criminal past. But when his surrogate family, the black mob, is betrayed and wiped out by the Italian Mafia, Lincoln builds a new family from the ashes of the old and blazes a path of military-grade revenge through those responsible. Intense gun fights, visceral hand-to-hand combat, white-knuckle driving, hard choices and street smarts will all be required to survive the mean streets of New Bordeaux. But with the right crew, itís possible to make it to the top of the city's underworld.


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More and more couples are saving money and giving a boost to small businesses by having local food trucks cater their big day.
Food trucks will not be rolling through Virginia-Highland this year.
Food truck vendors thanked the councilman with hugs and handshakes, exclaiming their graditude in person
Food vendors, including two food trucks from Atlanta, will also participate in the festival
Atlanta City Council on Tuesday voted 15-0 to establish regulations for food vending trucks.
Howell Mill Food Park night is everything Street Food promised it would be


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Binance Coin (BNB) price surged in the past 24 hours, gaining over 14 percent despite the market-wide pullback. The move follows the successful launch of BitTorrent’s (BTT) ICO, and a release of a new testnet version of Binance Chain – the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX).
Binance Coin (BNB) Price On The Rise
Binance Coin (BNB) managed to enter the top 10 of the highest valued cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization.
This happened after BNB surged with more than 14 percent (at the time of this writing) amid an otherwise declining market.
According to CoinMarketCap, BNB’s price is currently $8.22. Moreover, it’s the only cryptocurrency besides stablecoin Tether (USDT), which is trading in the green.
What’s Behind BNB’s Price Surge?
There have been quite a few things happening on Binance’s front recently.
In late January BitTorrent completed its ICO exclusively on Binance’s ICO platform – the Launchpad. The sale was through in less than 15 minutes, selling 59.4 billion BitTorrent Tokens (BTT) for $7,128,000.
BTT’s price surged after that, now trading almost eight times higher than its ICO price.
Shortly before that, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange launched its OTC trading desk. While arriving a bit late to the party, Binance’s OTC trading is designated to carry out larger cryptocurrency transactions.
Just today, Binance’s CEO – Changpeng Zhao, announced that the team has released a new version of their DEX’s testnet.
While it is a holiday for some, our @binance_dex team continue to #BUIDL, and have released a new version of Binance Chain testnet to our partners, with @LedgerHQ support, along with docs (very draft). It is semi-publicly accessible, if you know where. Onwards!
Earlier in January, Zhao also revealed that Binance Chain will support hardware wallets from the get-go.
What do you think of BNB price going up? Share your thoughts down below!


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Manufacturers have expressed concern over the varying cost of electricity tariff across different states in the country.
In a statement issued by President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mansur Ahmed, on Friday, they said the disparity in electricity tariff had been observed to favour some regions of the country over others.
Ahmed noted that the tariff differences, which is about 25 per cent, was causing unfair competition among manufacturers.
“…most worrisome is the fact that manufacturers who are made to pay higher tariffs sell their products in the same market and cannot afford resultant effects of wider gap in the prices of products as competitors in the industry,” MAN president said.
The association therefore called on the Federal Government to prevail on the electricity distribution companies to regularise the varying cost of electricity tariff across different states in order to create a level playing ground for manufacturers.
According to Ahmed, the resultant effect of the tariff differential is that manufacturers under the Discos with higher tariff rate sell at a loss in order to sustain their market shares.
He warned that if action was not taken urgently, the affected manufacturers might be forced to close down with looming adverse effect on employment and the economy.
He recommended that in the event where the disparity had to be maintained due to the difference in commercial activities, the government could intervene.
Ahmed suggested the establishment of an equalisation fund as provided in the petroleum sector to support Discos with smaller number of customers in order to ensure uniformity in tariff across the country.
Ahmed noted that the inadequacy of electricity supply had been one of the major challenges hindering the competitiveness of manufacturing sector in the country.
This, according to him, is because manufacturers spent over 40 per cent of the production overhead on electricity leading to increase in cost of operation and prices of made-in-Nigeria goods when compared with prices of similar products from other countries.
“MAN therefore seizes this opportunity to commend the efforts of the Federal Government aimed at sustaining economic growth and the development of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria particularly the ongoing efforts at improving the quality of reliable and sustainable electricity supply in the country,” the statement read.
Ahmed noted that improvement in electricity supply in terms of quantity, quality, efficiency in service delivery and pricing was critical to the competitiveness, growth and development of the sector.
Improved supply, according to him, will help to sustain the employment of over 65 million direct and indirect workers in the manufacturing sector.