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The U.S. is due to ink the long awaited Phase 1 trade deal with China this week, which hopefully will allow the world’s two largest economies to move on from a trade war which has roiled financial markets and acted as a drag on global growth for the past 18 months. Fourth quarter earnings season is due to begin in earnest on Tuesday, with banks reporting. Meanwhile, investors will also tune into economic data, including Chinese and German GDP for updates on exactly how much global growth cooled in 2019. Here’s what you need to know to start your week.
U.S. and China to bury the trade hatchet
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit Washington to sign the Phase 1 trade deal with the U.S. on Wednesday, which will deescalate the trade war between the two sides. Under the terms of the interim deal China has pledged to increase imports from the U.S. in exchange for the suspension of the threatened December tariffs on Chinese imports to the U.S. and a partial rollback of the September tariffs.
But no deadline has been set for the next phase of talks to begin and if either side fails to abide by their commitments trade tensions could flare up again.
The extent of the fallout on China’s economy may be visible in upcoming data this week. Trade figures on Tuesday are expected to show an increase in both imports and exports. And December's GDP reading due on Friday is forecast to show growth of 6%.
Bank earnings in view
U.S. stock markets keep powering to record highs, shrugging off bad news, whether on politics or company earnings. And that's unlikely to change after the fourth-quarter earnings season, which U.S. banks will kick off from Tuesday.
Refinitiv analysis suggests S&P 500 companies had a dismal quarter, with earnings-per-share falling 0.6% -- the second straight quarterly decline. That's partly down to a strong quarter a year ago, but also to the drag from energy and industrials, which have borne the brunt of the trade war.
Banks may do better. JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) report in the next few days, and forecasts are for 11.2% earnings growth across the sector. Wall Street's bank index leapt 36% last year, even outgunning the gains by the underlying S&P 500.
U.S. data; Fedspeak
The latest U.S. inflation figures are expected to remain broadly in line with the 2% inflation target, while retail sales numbers from the holiday season will be closely watched after anecdotal evidence indicated that department stores had a tough holiday season period.
Investors will also have the opportunity to hear from a number of Federal Reserve officials after the quiet holiday period.
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and Atlanta Fed head Raphael Bostic will both discuss the economic outlook in appearances on Monday. Kansas City Fed President Esther George is due to deliver remarks on Tuesday, while Patrick Harker of the Philadelphia Fed and Robert Kaplan of the Dallas Fed are both due to make appearances on Wednesday.
Busy week For U.K. data
It will be a busy week on the U.K. economic calendar with figures on fourth-quarter growth, trade, industrial output, retail sales and inflation all due to be released. The data will be closely watched after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney last week promised a "relatively prompt response" if economic weakness persists.
Carney himself won't be overseeing any policy changes -- January's meeting is his last as BOE governor.
Britain is due to leave the European Union on Jan. 31 amid major uncertainty over whether 11 months will be long enough to reach strike a trade deal. Already dismissed by the EU as "impossible", the tight deadline may limit any rebound in economic growth and investment.
Germany is to release figures on 2019 GDP growth on Wednesday, after a year that saw the Euro Zone’s largest economy weighed down by a manufacturing recession. Economists are forecasting annual growth of 0.6%, which would be the slowest rate of growth by the German economy since 2013.
On Thursday, the European Central Bank is due to publish the minutes of its December monetary policy meeting -- the first one to be chaired by new President Christine Lagarde. (investing)


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Nutritional supplement company Ghost has eschewed traditional sports partnerships to better reach everyday consumers through esports.
During games, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce will aid his play by chewing supplement gummies. That led him to get connected with a company paving the way in […]
The all-organic meal delivery service acquired DMW Design Group, LLC to help continue their growth outside of just meals. Now more than ever, people are making their health and wellness a […]

domain: news


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Now 23 years after its reestablishment, Bac Ninh has basically become a modern industrial province, with many social and economic indicators ranked top in the country. Despite COVID-19’s worldwide impact, the province still attracted a handsome amount of foreign investment funding to achieve breakthrough and sustainable development on the path to become a high-tech industrial hub of the country.
Currently, the industry and trade sector of Bac Ninh province not only develops, preserves and scales up traditional industries, but also adopts and develops new ones, particularly electronics industry, boosted by many world-famous multinational corporations. The presence of these firms has given a total new facelift to the industry of Bac Ninh province.
Mr. Pham Khac Nam, Deputy Director of Bac Ninh Department of Industry and Trade, said, “In the past time, Bac Ninh conducted industrial restructuring, with the electronics made into a key industry that plays a leading role in local industrial development and makes Bac Ninh an electronics center of the country. Bac Ninh has successfully attracted many investors with modern advanced industrial manufacturing from other countries and territories in the world, such as Japan, South Korea, the European Union (EU) and the United States. The industry has affirmed its solid driving role in economic growth and development. In 2020, the value of industrial output was estimated at VND1,120 trillion (US$48 billion), 1.8 times as much as in 2015, representing an annualized growth of 12.3% in 2016 - 2020.
The share of high-tech industrial products of Bac Ninh province increased from 61.7% in 2015 to 82.6% in 2018 and was estimated at 86% in 2020. The electronics industry accounted for more than 80% of the industrial output value. In addition, the development of supporting industries has resulted in the formation of industrial zones and many local enterprises have become vendors for foreign-led electronics firms and joined global value chains.
In the coming time, Bac Ninh will review and assess the current reality and arrange the space and resources for industrial development, integrated into the Bac Ninh development planning in 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050; develop industrial zones; construct and implement investment support programs for technical infrastructure development in industrial zones. The province will focally facilitate foreign-invested companies to develop their operations, especially giant ones that generate motivation for economic development and lead small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); attract and improve the quality of domestic and foreign investment flows, attract high-tech projects, increase scientific content and large investment projects; reduce norms on land use, natural resources, energy and labor; increase the localization rate in products. Priority will be assigned to satellite projects at the top of the value chain of electronics, precision engineering and high-tech industries.
In addition, Bac Ninh province will have a support mechanism to link businesses in the value chain, and support domestic SMEs to improve their competitiveness, utilize opportunities to join the value chain through the formation and development of the Technical Industrial Support Center, the formation of supporting industry associations; the construction and execution of supporting industry development programs, and “business support program for delivery of products and services to foreign invested enterprises by 2025” project.
Source: Vietnam Business Forum


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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address Bill C-27, dealing with identity theft.
In May 2007, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics undertook a study on identity theft. At the time, we began to hear witnesses and look at this issue, because it is a serious problem. This issue directly affects individuals, but it also has an impact on our cities, our nation, our country, and even at the international level.
In fact, Canada is the only G-8 member that has not yet legislated against spams, which are often used for identity theft purposes. Some countries point to Canada as a haven for spammers. So, it was time to take action in this area.
It goes without saying that the Bloc supports the principle of the bill. As I just mentioned, identity theft is a very serious issue. We have to modernize the Criminal Code to reflect the reality of identity theft.
When she appeared before our committee, on May 8, Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said that, in her opinion, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, which was implemented six years ago “is not a tool that, alone, enables us to combat this phenomenon, even if this legislation imposes restrictions on the collection of data. The safeguard principle permits the secure and confidential holding of personal information. It also makes it possible to limit the time during which information may be kept, as well as the number of persons who have access to it.”
However, as Ms. Stoddart pointed out, this is not enough, and this is why an act on identity theft is a welcome initiative.
According to Ms. Stoddart, concerted action by the different levels of government is required. The Bloc Québécois is not alone to say so. Let me quote her again. She suggested that “the federal government has to work closely with the provinces, because a lot of what happens in terms of ID theft falls within provincial jurisdiction”.
Provincial jurisdiction does not mean only certain fields of responsibility. We are really talking about the jurisdiction of the provinces or that of the Quebec nation, because Quebeckers have jurisdiction over the management of their fields of responsibility. Ms. Stoddart gives the example of those people who have had their houses sold out from underneath them. That is something that falls entirely within the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces.
Generally speaking, this Conservative government appears to be incapable of working in cooperation with Quebec and the provinces. Examples of this would be the aid package for the manufacturing and forestry sectors and the implementation of the Kyoto protocol.
The Bloc Québécois recognizes that amending the Criminal Code will not be enough to eliminate identity theft. More measures will have to be put in place by governments, including: public information to reduce victimization; regulations to provide a better framework for the management, storage and disposal of information by companies; and measures to ensure greater standardization and security in the process for issuing and verifying identity documents. The federal government has a crummy track record in terms of the management of personal information. It will have to set an example, but I will come back to that later.
The purpose of this bill is to curb identity theft, that is the unauthorized use of personal information generally obtained for criminal purposes. Information such as someone's name, date of birth, address, credit card number, social insurance number or any other personal identification number can be used to open a bank account, apply for a credit card, get mail redirected, sign up for cellular phone services, rent a vehicle, equipment or premises, or even get a job.
Bill C-27 creates three new basic offences, and all of them carry a maximum penalty of five years.
The first one involves obtaining and possessing identity information with the intent to use it in a misleading, dishonest or fraudulent fashion to commit a crime.
The second offence, which involves trafficking in identity information, targets those who give or sell information to a third party, while being well aware that this information could be used for criminal purposes, or while not caring about it.
Finally, the third offence involves the unlawful possession or trafficking in government-issued identity documents that have the information pertaining to another person.
Some witnesses confirmed to the committee that, under the Criminal Code, a person who copies—in a convenience store, a grocery store or some other business—a credit card or an automated teller card, does not commit an offence. Right now, it is very difficult to charge such a person for using personal information.
Bill C-27 will correct this situation. From now on, individuals in a business who copy a credit card or an automated teller card when someone gives it to them for a few moments will be liable to prosecution under the provisions of Bill C-27.
Bill C-27 also includes other changes to the Criminal Code. It creates a new offence for directly or indirectly redirecting someone's mail, for possessing a copy of a Canada Post key, and also additional forgery related offences, such as the trafficking in and possession of forged documents with the intent of using them. The bill also redefines the offence of personation with the notion of “identity fraud”; by specifying the meaning of the expression “fraudulently personates any person”; by adding the offence of possessing instruments for copying credit card data, in addition to the existing offence of possessing instruments for forging credit cards.
As I was saying earlier in reference to those individuals working in businesses who might copy a credit card or an automated teller card, this will now be an offence.
In addition, the bill introduces a new power that would enable the tribunal to order the offender, as part of the sentence, to make restitution to a victim of identity theft or identity fraud for the expenses associated with rehabilitating their identity, such as the cost of replacement documents and cards and costs related to correcting their credit history. This is extremely important because many people come to our constituency offices and complain that they have been victims of identity theft and are having a hard time recovering their identity. Sometimes they complain that it costs them a lot of money to recover their identity.
Obviously, because the exception proves the rule, there are exceptions. The bill before us provides for two exemptions that would protect people who create false documents for secret government operations, as well as public servants—law enforcement officers—who create and use secret identities in carrying out their duties, from court action for identity fraud.
Identity theft is a very worrisome problem. According to Public Safety Canada, identity theft is now one of the fastest-growing crimes in Canada and the United States. In 2004, identity theft cost over $50 billion U.S. Identity theft costs consumers, banks and retailers a lot of money. In 2002, the Canadian Council of Better Business Bureaus estimated that consumers, banks, credit card companies, stores and other businesses lost $2.5 billion to identity theft.
In 2006, the Ontario Provincial Police's PhoneBusters program—an anti-fraud call centre created in January 1993 by the OPP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Competition Bureau—received 7,800 calls from victims of identity theft who declared personal and business losses amounting to over $16 million. However, PhoneBusters recognizes that these statistics do not provide a complete picture of the situation. The organization believes that the number of calls received represents but a small fraction—perhaps 5%—of the actual total. According to PhoneBusters, payment card fraud, which is a major element of identity theft, accounted for 42% of identity theft incidents reported in 2003. According to the RCMP, total losses due to credit card fraud amounted to $200 million in 2003.
In addition to these financial losses, victims of identity theft suffer damaged credit ratings and compromised personal and financial records.
In a 2003 study, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported that victims of identity theft spent an average of $500 million U.S. to recover their identity and restore their credit rating.
According to a 2006 Ipsos Reid poll, one Canadian adult in four—24%, in fact, or about 5.7 million Canadians—said he or she had been a victim of identity theft—4%—or knew someone who had been a victim—20%.
This Civil Code must be dusted off. The offences currently in the Criminal Code were defined for the most part at a time when the traditional concept of “property” applied. The problem with identity theft is that personal information is not considered property. In applying the provisions of the Criminal Code, if it is impossible to establish a direct causal link with an economic loss or another serious injury, it becomes very difficult to prove that someone committed a crime such as identity theft.
Roughly 40 provisions of the current Criminal Code could apply to identity theft. For example, subsection 342(3) of the Criminal Code makes it a criminal offence to possess and traffic in credit or debit cards and related data for the purpose of using them or obtaining services provided by the card issuer.
The provisions on forgery apply to people who knowingly make false documents in order to use them or pass them off as genuine documents.
A person who uses a false document, knowing that it is forged, in order to defraud another person, can be charged with fraud and uttering forged documents.
Offenders who assume a false identity for economic or other gain—for example, to avoid being linked to criminal offences—can be charged with identity theft.
Simple possession and collection of personal information are not crimes under the Criminal Code.
In a letter dated November 21, 2007 to the member for Hochelaga, the Minister of Justice stated that he intended to introduce a bill to amend the Criminal Code in order to solve the problem of identity theft. I stress the word “solve”.
The minister is a bit too enthusiastic. The bill is a step in the right direction. However, the Criminal Code is an unwieldy instrument for fighting identity theft: the rules of evidence are strict. Other measures will have to be put in place to effectively fight identity theft.
The Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, has on several occasions called for amendments to the Criminal Code in order to more effectively fight identity theft, and she also recognizes that this tool is not very effective. She stated,
I don't think it's just an issue of the Criminal Code. As you know, our law administrators hesitate to use the Criminal Code: the standards of proof are higher, and the charter may apply, and so very often you have to have a fairly clear-cut case to use the Criminal Code.
There is one requirement for Bill C-27: the federal government must work closely with Quebec and the provinces. Once again, the Privacy Commissioner maintains that the real solution to the problem of identity theft lies in civil procedures:
Civil sanctions that are very easy to prove and easy for citizens, for example, to take to small claims courts, which may provide a more easily accessible deterrent to the growing industry of ID theft. This means, of course, that I think the federal government has to work closely with the provinces, because a lot of what happens in terms of ID theft falls within provincial jurisdiction.
The Bloc Québécois recognizes that amending the Criminal Code will not be enough to solve the problem of identity theft. Other measures will have to be put in place by governments: education campaigns—I spoke of these earlier—to reduce victimization in particular; regulations to provide more stringent oversight of how businesses manage, store and dispose of information; and measures to promote greater uniformity and security in the process of issuing and verifying identification documents.
But this government is incapable of collaborating with the provinces. Some of the solutions for combating identity theft rest with the provinces under the constitutional powers in relation to property and civil rights.
This government seems to be extremely reluctant to collaborate. Examples of this abound. The present Conservative government refused to collaborate with Quebec and the provinces on bringing forward a real plan to assist the forestry and manufacturing industries. The Conservative government rejected a series of unanimous requests by the National Assembly out of hand, requests that included honouring the Kyoto protocol, abandoning its plan for a single securities commission, a plan rejected by all of the provinces except Ontario, abandoning its reform of Parliament and reversing its decision to scrap the court challenges program.
The Conservative government succeeded in upsetting all the provinces with its reform of how the seats in the House of Commons are allocated. Senate reform has upset a majority of provinces. Equalization payment reform has been a bitter pill for Quebec and Ontario and the provinces with offshore oil resources.
So the Conservative government, which should be working with the provinces to combat identity theft, has instead retreated to its corner and made a few changes that are necessary but that have a limited effect on the problem in question.
The government seems to be in more of a hurry to give the impression that it is doing something than in developing a coherent strategy for effectively combating this plague.
And then, before handing the provinces new responsibilities for enforcing the Criminal Code, did it so much as make sure that they had the resources to enforce the new identity theft provisions?
This is the federal government, which is supposed to set an example. Even though it has a sorry record when it comes to managing personal information, it will have to set an example. The federal government is proposing to penalize people who use identification documents such as social insurance cards fraudulently. This is the same government that is not doing enough to protect and strengthen the integrity of social insurance numbers. In June 2006, the Auditor General estimated that there were 2.9 million more social insurance numbers in circulation than the estimated number of Canadians aged 30 and over.
Bill C-27 makes it an offence to falsely represent one’s self to be a peace officer or public officer. In December 2004, the media revealed that the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority had lost control of its uniforms. From January to September 2004, CATSA issued about 75,000 uniform items to its 4,000 or so screeners. Of those items, a total of 1,127 were reported lost or stolen.
Examples of mismanagement of personal information by the federal government abound. The federal government wants the public to believe that it is taking the question of identity theft seriously, but in its own actions it ignores the problem.
The Bloc Québécois supports the amendments to the Criminal Code, but also calls on the federal government to adopt exemplary practices in this area.


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Xiaomi’s smartphone sub-brand has launched a gaming-centric smartphone Black Shark has been officially announced, packing a Snapdragon 845 chipset, up to 8GB RAM, up to 128GB storage, dual-rear cameras, and 4,000mAh battery.
Black Shark specs:
5.99-inch Full HD+ (1080 x 2160) IPS display, 403ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 2.8GHz octa-core CPU
Adreno 630 GPU
6GB RAM + 64GB UFS 2.1
8GB RAM + 128GB UFS 2.1
12MP f/1.8 + 20MP f/1.8 PDAF dual-pixel rear camera, 2x optical zoom, LED flash
20MP f/2.2 front camera
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
Android 8.0 Oreo w/ JOY UI
161.6 x 75.4 x 9.3 mm
The Black Shark will go on sale in China on April 20 for CNY 2,999 (~PHP25K) for the 6GB + 64GB and CNY 3,499 (~PHP29K) for the 8GB + 128GB.
In addition to the gaming smartphone, the company has also announced the Black Shark Gamepad that attaches to the phone. It comes with an analog stick, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 150mAh battery.
source: Black Shark


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Uche Usim, Abuja
Comptroller–General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ali, has been in the news since the closure of Nigeria’s land borders in August, to ensure thorough military and paramilitary drills aimed at strengthening security at the land frontiers to ward off smugglers.
Ali said there was no sense tolerating economic saboteurs who make fortunes by turning the country into a dumping ground for goods that can be produced locally.
However, battling sophisticated smuggling rings is not the only headache of Ali.
He is currently fighting to secure National Assembly’s buy-in for the urgent review of the Customs and Excise Management (CEMA) Act, which he describes as obsolete and retrogressive as it no longer captures current realities.
Ali, while speaking with journalists in Abuja, recently insists the review of CEMA Act will open a fresh window of opportunities for the Service to grow exponentially.
On the ongoing land border drills, he said 317 smugglers have so far been arrested, while 21,071 bags of 50kg parboiled rice were impounded.
Other items seized are; 190 vehicles, 891 drums of petrol, 2,665 Jerry cans of vegetable oil, 66,000 litre tanker of vegetable oil, 133 motorcycles, 131 bags of NPK fertilizers used for making explosives, among others.
He foreclosed any plans to reopen the borders anytime soon, adding that diplomatic engagements were ongoing with neighbouring countries on how to comply with established trade protocols to end the exercise.
He speaks more in this interview.
Suspension of fuel supply to border stations
We discovered that some fuel stations situated around the borders were diverting petrol to other countries and selling at exorbitant prices.
They get approval to discharge the product legitimately in the day, but at night, siphon it out. This has been going on for a long time.
Now, we have restricted supply to 20km before the border. Let’s monitor the outflow. We want to know where the outflow is coming from.
Petrol is sold at N395/litre in their domain but they buy from Nigeria at less than N145/litre.
With this border closure, it has jumped to N600/litre. Meaning, we are the one subsidising petrol for neighbouring countries. So, marketers are making a kill. It’s attractive to take petrol out and sell there.
CEMA Act review
The Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) long overdue for a review. So, we are looking at those laws and do a holistic review. It’s a 1958 law. Many things that were not captured as criminality acts are now unlawful acts.
Some laws are totally outdated and no longer reflect current realities. Some penalties of N600 as at that time was a lot but today, they mean nothing. N600 fine for an infraction today means nothing. So, punishment should be commensurate with current realities. That’s why we seek the CEMA Act.
2020 budget proposal
The revenue target for 2020 is based on the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) approved by the National Assembly and the revenue target set for the NCS is N1.679 trillion. It consists of N1.5 trillion for the federation and N178.62 billion for non-federation.
When compared to the 2019 revenue target, the 2020 figure is higher by N741.43 billion (44.17 per cent).
The 2020 budget leverages on Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools as a major driver in achieving the target, which he said was totally captured by the e-Customs project in line with the dictates of the World Customs Organization (WCO).
The Service’s strategy is anchored on computerization and other ICT tools for effective and efficient service delivery that guarantees robust revenue inflows to government coffers.
More so, the government should be advised to limit waivers and exemptions that would be granted within the fiscal year to priority sectors of the economy.
The e-Customs project is a modernised electronic business system which enables the NCS to perform its statutory duty and security functions by efficient interconnection of all relevant trade ecosystem partners, agencies, regulators for effective trade facilitation and revenue generation. It has already been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. We will roll it out soon.
Anyone or organization that wants to succeed in this fast-paced 21st century must deeply embrace ICT.
In the next one year or one and a half years, if you don’t have deep ICT knowledge, you would lose relevance in NCS.
Your performance record will be online and your bosses will assess you online. You will do all your operations online. The paper works will go. The processes of declaration and revenue collection will be fully automated using ICT. That’s where we are headed.
Secondly, with the introduction of biometric access modification with a definite drive towards strengthening the existing risk management structure, this development will reduce or eradicate the abuse and manipulation of system and thus increase revenue generation. The e-Customs is envisaged to automate excise and export platform which is aimed at enhancing revenue generation drive.
The use of e-Customs project for border surveillance through artificial intelligence instrument monitoring the border areas will effectively reduce smuggling and invariably enhance revenue collection.
The planned installation of scanners under the e-Customs project at various key Customs formations is to further fast-track the clearing of goods and avoid port congestion.
The use of e-Customs project for border surveillance through artificial intelligence instrument in monitoring the border areas will effectively reduce smuggling and invariably enhance revenue collection.
The use of e-commerce to address informal trade and electronic transactions will boost the revenue through electronic trade.
Proposed cut in vehicle tariff
We have forwarded a proposal for downward review of vehicle tariff to our supervising Ministry, which is the Finance Ministry for consideration so that Customs duty on imported vehicles remain 35per cent, while the levy be reduced from the current 35per cent to 5 or 10 per cent. This position, if approved, will encourage compliance and boost revenue because the 70 per cent duty and levy is encouraging smuggling of vehicles.
We could have done more in revenue generation but there are factors that made it difficult. We have government policies like 43 items that were banned from forex access by the CBN. It narrowed down imports due to forex restrictions. It reduced import and duties we collected. Secondly, most scanners are not working and it necessitated 100 per cent physical examination of cargo. It hampered electronic examination of containers, which is faster and ensures quicker vessel turnaround.
These scanners were procured in 1997. They came under a maintenance contract sort of arrangement but we introduced politics into it. We removed those foreigners hitherto handling them and put indigenous hands and they have died. We should not buy those type of scanner again. They keep requiring upgrade of software and systems and we can’t keep up with such rigours.
So, going forward, we have gone into PPP for the private sector to handle and maintain them. With that, Customs can focus on its core operations. This arrangement is encapsulated in the planned e-Customs project.
Again, only two commodities are excisable, which are cigarettes and alcohol drinks. We expect the expansion of excisable items to include carbonated drinks and this initiative will enhance excise revenue.
Another issue is the porous borders we have. Nigeria has 4,070 square kilometers of land border. Customs personnel cannot be everywhere at the same time. These are where smugglers use to ply their illegitimate trade. But the e-Customs will address this through use of drones to monitor and police the borders.
Again, the expected automation of all transit procedures from mother ports to bonded terminals or from command to command will drastically reduce several transit leakages occasioned by diversion of cargo, thereby safeguarding revenue, health and security of the nation. The Service will also leverage on capacity building for effective and efficient service delivery.
There will also be an intensive and deliberate anti-smuggling campaign beyond common boundary in order to curb trade irregularities and economic sabotage. There will be more stakeholder collaborations in various economic units. This will help bridge gaps and build confidence among players in the trade value chain and thus encourage meaningful level of compliance.
We will ensure every kobo we collect goes to the appropriate accounts. I have a screen that tells me what we collect. We cannot dip our hand in our coffers and spend. We have to follow due process to get funds to spend.
The concession given to the public by the Service, which enables the payment of Customs duty with penalty on all illegally imported vehicles will serve as a motivator. This will boost revenue collection.
The Service is advocating for the reintroduction of import taxes on petroleum products. The petroleum tax regime of 2004 before its suspension imposed N1.50k per litre of petroleum products. It is the considered opinion of the Service that this regime be reintroduced in line with international best practices as it’s currently operational in over 36 countries at an average of $2.24 per gallon”
Like I have said in many fora, there is the urgent need to review the CEMA Act because what we have now is obsolete.
Why borders were closed
The temporary closure of the nation’s borders is an ongoing border drill initiated by Customs in collaboration with other security agencies. It is intended to protect the nation’s economy from dumping, increase foreign direct investment in Nigeria, enhance imports through seaports and airports, discourage illicit activities along the trade chain and enforce and promote collaboration and compliance with neighbouring countries on international trade protocols.
We hope that by the time we get to the end of this exercise, we would have agreed with our neighbours on the type of goods that should enter and exit our country.
For now, all goods, whether illicit or licit, are banned from going out and coming into Nigeria. Let me add that for the avoidance of doubt that we included all goods because all goods can equally come through our seaports.
For that reason, we have deemed it necessary for now that importers of such goods should go through our controlled borders where we have scanners to verify the kind of goods and how healthy they are to our people. Despite the rights for movement of persons as contained in the enabling ECOWAS protocols, there must be the primacy of security over such rights. When it comes to security, all laws take back a seat.
We want to protect our nation, we want to make sure that our people are protected. You must be alive and well for you to begin to ask for your rights. Go and the people in Maiduguri when Boko Haram was harassing their lives, the only question was survival, there was no question of rights. This time Nigeria must survive first then before we begin to ask for our rights.
We have 15,992 personnel and planning for 3,200 additional intake. We got the approval for the fresh recruitment we’re carrying out.
We are also at the last stage. It’s a thorough process and when we are done, every local government area in Nigeria will have a representation.
2020 budget expenditure
The Service proposed a budget expenditure of N238.15 billion for the 2020 fiscal year which will be sourced from various quarters.
There is 7 per cent cost of collection is put at N112.42 billion; the 2 per cent VAT share of NCS is expected to be N7.5 billion, 60 per cent CISS is estimated to be N42.41 billion, expected share of 2019 target surplus of N9.4 billion, intervention of 2018 received in 2019 will be N17 billion and committed funds for ongoing capital projects will be N49.42 billion. These total N238.15 billion.
As regards our expenditure performance from January to October 2019, the Service has approved and expenditure budget of N145.48 billion. Out this figure, N102.58 billion (70.51 per cent) was the actual receipt of inflows for the period. An estimate of N32.85 billion is expected as inflow to the Service for November and December 2019 and thus brings the total receipt to N135.43 billion.
The receipts were utilised thus; personnel cost for January to October was N63.4 billion, while overhead cost was N6.14 billion. The capital cost from June to October is N3.03 billion, totaling N72.57 billion as total expenditure. The capital and recurrent expenditure for November and December 2019 is N20.91 billion.


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Original post: 16 May 2008
Those of us who regularly buy 48-roll packages of bathroom tissue (in some places known as “toilet paper”) at Costco recognize “Kirkland Signature”, the store-brand-name for many Costco products. “Kirkland Signature” takes its name from the location of Costco Headquarters, in Kirkland, suburb of Redmond (!) and Seattle, Washington State.
Another little company headquartered in Kirkland is Clearwire, founded by Craig McCaw, who made billions developing one of the world’s first cell phone networks, then selling it to AT&T. Craig’s trying to repeat that success today by rolling out Wi-Max – a wireless data network solution – with Clearwire.
There’s one minor problem: Clearwire’s losing money. Big time. $727 million last year.
Last week, however, a Smorgasboard of partners announced an initiative to deploy Clearwire’s Wi-Max nationwide. The Smorgasboard includes Clearwire, Sprint/Nextel and a whole set of others including cable providers (Comcast, Time Warner, Brighthouse) and Google (!).
But what a Smorgasboard! A wireless data provider – essentially an Internet Service provider (Clearwire), a cellular telephone company (Sprint), traditional cable providers, and an Internet content provider (Google). What’s up with this?
Perhaps this Smorgasboard sees the writing on the subway walls. And maybe that subway writing points to the demise of their business models: Verizon and AT&T are deploying a coordinated set of services nationwide – cellular phone, land-line phone, cable television service and (via all-fiber networks), really high speed internet service. Verizon, in particular, is pushing forward with its FIOS fiber-to-the-home network. I believe Verizon will eventually grab the market share from traditional cable providers who’ve enjoyed virtual monopolies in most of their markets for years.
Consumers will be faced with buying either a their services from bunch of different, uncoordinated, companies, or the same set services (and actually, because of the fiber, superior in speed and quality) from a single provider: AT&T or Verizon. And probably at a discount.
What does this mean for most consumers and most cities? If the Clearwire/Sprint-Nextel Smorgasboard works (and that may be problematical – read the Washington Post), most cities and consumers will at least have a choice of a duopoly: either Verizon or AT&T, and the Smorgasboard.
What does this mean for Seattle? We’re still stuck in monopolyland. Neither Verizon or AT&T operate here. Comcast has a virtual monopoly on cable service. Qwest is an outlier from all these equations. So Seattle’s consumers will continue to face high (and rising) prices for many of these services and will continue to be lost in the backwoods for innovation, because all these companies will make their investments and bring their new technology to other cities, where they actually have to compete for market share.


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27 year old actress/model Amanda Seyfried has landed her first big high fashion ad campaign with Givenchy. As the new face of – Very Irresistible , replacing Liv Tyler she will be appearing in print and TV adverts. The campaign that was shot by Glen Luchford and Cédric Klapisch is set to come out in Autumn 2013. Who’s excited ?
Givenchy’s Global President of perfumes said, “Amanda is a very talented actress with sparking beauty and effortless sense of elegance.”
What you see it what you get with Amanda, simple and classy… I think Givenchy thought a tad out the box for the new face…fab match though!


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The music streaming giant announced in a press release that it will let independent artists directly upload their music to the platform under their Spotify for Artists program. The new feature will allow users to "plan the perfect release date," glance at a preview of how their music will appear on the site, and be "in full control of your metadata with simple and quick edits." It will also allow users to receive money from streams on a monthly basis. They'll also have access to a report to show "how much your streams are earning." Spotify promises to not charge "any fees or commissions no matter how frequently [the user releases] music." The service also said uploading music will be free for "all artists."
"We worked with a handful of independent artists—like Noname, Michael Brun, VIAA, and Hot Shade—to make sure we kept your needs in mind," read a press statement on the feature. "Their feedback was instrumental in shaping the feature, and now we’re ready to see how a wider range of artists will put it to use."
At this time, the program, which is in a beta stage, is open to a "few hundred US-based independent artists" who have been tapped to participate in the program, but Spotify says they'll be opening the feature to more artists in the future. For those who want to get their foot in the Spotify door, the streaming platform urges users to sign up for their mailing list to be the first to hear about any new developments about the feature.


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News by Andrew Kameka on Friday June 21, 2013.
|Sponsored links, if any, appear in green.|
Airline passengers may soon get more freedom to use their mobile gadgets on planes. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FAA is likely to change current rules that require the shutdown of all electronic devices during takeoff. The FAA has yet to finalize exactly how the rules will change, but the regulatory agency is expected to institute new rules for airlines that will permit passengers to use ereaders during takeoff, and it may also extend those privileges to other electronic devices.
Current FAA regulations call for the unequivocal banning of all personal electronics during takeoff and landing. Flight attendants often surmise the rule by telling passengers "Anything with an on/off switch" must be turned off. However, the FAA may ease those restrictions. Mobile phones would continue to be banned under current guidelines and cellular phone calls would still be off limits. The FAA did not allow its panel to review guidelines on cell phone usage, but that could change in the future. The FCC bans cellular networks but the agency is considering changing those guidelines because consumers regularly ignore current rules and there are questions that if smartphone usage truly poses a risk to airline safety.source: Marketwatch
Andrew is based in Miami, Florida.


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Families of came out on January 31st to support the at the .
The pizzeria donated 15% of that night's sales to Cradles to Crayons. The total sales were $1500, so $230 was donated to the drive.
Cradles to Crayons is a non-profit organization that "collects new and like-new children's items through grassroots community drives and corporate donations," according to its website. "Donations are then processed and packaged by volunteers, and are distributed to disadvantaged children across the state through a collaborative network of social service agencies and school partners."
"We have been shopping the sales and estimate this money will enable to get about 70 pairs of warm fleece pajamas for kids in need," said parent Amy Alessi.
And the rumor is that Mrs. Houston, Holy Name's physical education teacher, did a great job as a guest pizza maker.
On Jan. 21 the with students wearing their bedtime apparel, and collected pajamas.
Can anyone confirm that Mrs. Houston makes good pizza? Should she give up her day job and make pizza for a living?!


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As brand-owners worldwide brainstorm to figure out how to leverage social media to their advantage, Tasti D-Lite thinks it has its answer: Put a bounty on brand-promoting Tweets.
The potential flaw in the brand’s scheme? It involves math. [more]
Just kidding. It does involve math but it’s easy. The MyTasti program allows consumers to tether their Tasti D-Lite loyalty cards to their Twitter and Foursquare accounts by signing up at the brand’s Mytasti.com site. Every time a consumer employs his or her loyalty card to make a delicious purchase, the Foursquare and Twitter accounts are automatically updated with specific geographic information. Each update earns points and 50 points earns a free Tasti D-Lite treat.
Tasti D-Lite is testing the campaign in 10 cities with plans to take it to the brand’s full 47 stores later in the year.
Tasti D-Lite’s director of information and social technologies laid out the basic upside of the campaign:
“Clearly you can see if someone has 1,000 followers and visits Tasti D-Lite once a week that message will get out there…They’re sharing their Tasti D-Lite experience and earning points for something they may be doing already.”
Tasti D-Lite is no stranger to leveraging geo-targeting campaigns using the Foursquare social network to build its brand. In New York, the brand has offered 99-cent servings to Foursquare users whose “check in” at a Tasti D-Lite location. This use of social media as currency, and geo-targeting real-time promotions, is the future. Tasti D-Lite appears to be one of the happy test monkeys.
The campaign’s only potential “flaw” does have to do with math. Foursquare, the mobile social network on which the updates rely, currently has fewer than 200,000 users. But that’s just a matter of scale, certain to change as GPS-enabled social networks become more popular. In the meantime, other brands should take note of Tasti D-Lite’s lead.


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BMW (NASDAQOTH:BAMXF) has seen strong growth all over the world in recent months. But China is proving to be especially fertile ground for the German luxury-car maker: Through September, BMW's sales growth in China has far outpaced the overall market's gain.
What's driving those gains? As usual, BMW has executed very well in the Middle Kingdom -- but China's immense, and still-growing, appetite for Western luxury goods is a tailor-made opportunity for the German firm. In this video, Fool.com contributor John Rosevear looks at BMW's recent results in the context of China's luxury boom -- and at the numbers that suggest that this could be just the beginning of a golden run for companies like BMW in China.
Fool contributor John Rosevear owns shares of General Motors. You can connect with him on Twitter at @jrosevear. The Motley Fool recommends BMW and General Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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As many of the community are aware (and eagerly anticipating!), Alosra will shortly be opening a store just across the road from the St Chris Saar Campus, in the Nakheel Centre. Whilst they work on getting the store ready, they asked for the help of our Infant and Junior students with decorating the boarding which will cover the storefront until the official opening – scheduled for later this month.
The students were provided with A4 foam board “tiles”, and were asked to decorate them with pictures of what they would like to see sold in-store – plenty of scope for young imaginations! Seven hundred boards were distributed in total, and a team of student volunteers went over to help put the boards up. Principal Ed Goodwin, Head of Juniors Wendy Bataineh, Head of Infants Ian Fellows and Junior School teacher Rob Stevenson also took the chance to take part in the activity!
A lot of great ideas had been carefully thought through and illustrated beautifully – pink light bulbs, peppermint cream chocolate and an octopus to name a few – some students had even opted for 3D creations using clay and cardboard!
According to the store management team, the activity was aimed at realising the impact a community can have on local business – and now that all the boards are up, the Alosra management team intend on going through each and every one, with the hopes of ensuring (wherever possible!) that all the illustrated products are available in the store!


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The year 2020 started with usual promises of technological advancements and a global economic rally that showed no signs of slowing down. Little did we know that, in a matter of weeks, our usual lifestyle and established habits were to be completely disrupted and we had to re-think the way we live and work together.
COVID-19 had a truly dramatic domino effect since its global outbreaks in 2020. As business models were disrupted and businesses closed around the world, we will see how leaders had to step-up and use technology as a mean to re-think their operations from the ground-up. Indeed, digital technologies permeate all aspects of modern life: mobility, health, education, work, communication, and so on.
Led by Adrian Kuah and Roberto Dillon of the Cairns Institute and James Cook University in Singapore, a new book - Digital Transformation in a Post Covid World – is being published by Taylor and Francis LLC in October this year. The book included substantive contributions from industry leaders such as KPMG, Accenture, Deloitte, Vigamus Foundation and the Singapore International Chambers of Commerce amongst others. It aims to capture how giants in different fields across geographical regions around the world faced this time of crisis, how these leaders analysed the new fast-evolving scenarios around them and found the right inspiration to move forward.
To best capture the effects of the pandemic in politics, society and businesses, industry thought leaders, such as Michael Tomczyk and Victor Mills, reflect on trends, leadership and challenges arising from the crisis, particularly in the United States and Singapore. Christopher Warren of Accenture navigates how different companies have pivot their businesses in the post pandemic economy by discussing a technology roadmap. David J. Calkins of Gensler discusses the dramatic challenges his global company had to focus the dramatic shift to the home office not from a technical perspective but from a more holistic one, as he introduces the concept of the ‘20 Minute City’, which may rise as important business centres in a not too far future.
From James Cook University, Roberto Dillon joined a team of leading experts from KPMG - Lothian, Grewal and Pereira - to assess the increased exposure of companies to a variety of cyber security threats as a result of the pandemic. Caryn West et al., examine the importance of telehealth mobilised by the COVID-19, arguing why COVID-19 has the potential to negatively impact mental health and wellbeing. Abhishek Bhati et al., discuss how disruption can lead to innovation in the ways learners engage with digital content, as he sees the education sector experiencing dramatic changes.
COVID-19 also triggered considerations on how prosperity can be achieved through sustainable consumption and production. Adrian Kuah and Jayden Kim propose incorporating digital technologies using a reverse logistics system and then creating new values with digitized service strategies such as smart remanufacturing. Stewart Lockie discusses barriers along with opportunities to develop physical, regulatory and institutional infrastructures that support socially and environmentally responsible innovation in agriculture and the future of food.
With diverse contributions from public health, technology strategies, urban planning, and sociology to sustainable management, the new book comprised 16 chapters and is divided into four sections of People, Process, Planet, and Prosperity. The Hardback, Paperback and eBook is currently available for pre-order with discount at https://www.routledge.com/Digital-Transformation-in-a-Post-Covid-World-Sustainable-Innovation-Disruption/Kuah-Dillon/p/book/9780367709587


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Raunchy adverts always cause some controversy, but it is a
sad state of affairs when innocuous ads have the same effect.
In April, Fox News went apoplectic over the J Crew advert
that featured the company’s president and creative director, Jenna Lyons, painting
the toenails of her son Beckett.
I am not sure whether the problem was that she was painting his
toenails or that they were painted pink — Beckett’s favourite colour — but for the conservative nuts, the advert’s
hidden agenda was to convert kids to being either gay or transgender.
Yep, that’s right. That little guy in the ad is going to
grow up “gender confused” because his mother subjected him to pink nail
Fox News was not alone in its horror at such an “outrageous”
Media Research Center’s Erin Brown wrote in his opinion
page, “Not only is Beckett likely to change his favorite color as early as
tomorrow, Jenna’s indulgence (or encouragement) could make life hard for the
boy in the future. J Crew, known for its tasteful and modest clothing,
apparently does not mind exploiting Beckett behind the façade of liberal,
transgendered identity politics. One has to wonder what young boys in pink nail
polish has to do with selling women’s clothing.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, the latest ad to be banned is one
of an androgynous male model on the cover of fashion magazine Dossier
The United States mega bookstore Borders refuses to sell
the magazine because the 19-year-old model, Andrej Pejic, appears shirtless on the
cover, looking “too much like a woman."
and creative director, Skye Parrott, told The Huffington Post that “it’s not a coincidence that it’s only the
giant US chain stores that are asking us to do this… It’s only the American
copies that are being censored."
I wonder how fab’s
covers would go down?


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Mothercare has announced there has ”inevitably been some delays” with its UK franchise deal with Boots due to coronavirus.
Its UK franchise arrangement with Boots has seen some delays due to Covid-19 but its due to be finalised in late spring, with a wider Mothercare product offer available online and in Boots stores from late summer 2020.
Mothercare said the impact of coronavirus on its franchise partners will “have a material impact on [its] short-term revenues”, however, it said it’s drawing on the experience of entering administration last November.
On 5 November, Mothercare appointed Zelf Hussain, Toby Banfield, and David Baxendale of PWC as administrators for Mothercare UK and Mothercare Business Services (MBS), which is responsible for Mothercare UK’s back-office functions, including finance, HR, property and IT.
Mothercare said it would strengthen its global brand, and improve the product design, marketing and distribution of Mothercare products around the world to its franchisees.
In December, Mothercare signed an exclusive franchise deal with pharmacy and beauty retailer Boots UK, which will stock Mothercare-branded clothing, and home and travel products, including pushchairs and car seats.
The retailer also announced it remained in discussions with a number of debt providers regarding entering into new debt facilities.
This includes conversations with US advisory, lending and investment firm Gordon Brothers to progress a £20m secured term loan.
It has announced a “substantial reduction in bank debt” since November 2019. This includes an initial distribution of £10m from its administrators.
Its total secured debt, which at the time of the administration included the group’s £24m revolving credit facility, has been reduced to £18.5m.
Another distribution is expected from the administrators to reduce this further.
Clive Whiley, chairman of Mothercare, said: ”In the current circumstances, we have activated our contingency plans to deal with the challenges that we and others are facing in the current global crisis, focusing on the well-being of our colleagues alongside our ongoing business and corporate liquidity. We continue to enjoy the support of our key stakeholders and financing partners and we are very grateful to them at this unprecedented time.”
”We believe that the intrinsic value of our brand, the close contact fostered with our key stakeholders over the last two years and our seamless, deep understanding of the group’s new trading cash flow dynamics, honed over the last six months, will prove to be extremely valuable.
“At this time we believe that our efforts should be focused on helping to preserve the businesses of our franchise and manufacturing partners through even more collaborative ways of working, to ensure both the short term liquidity of our business together with our return to longer-term profitability. We are already seeing the benefits of this approach being brought to bear.”


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Dainikbhaskar.com launches ‘Janiye Abhi’ anthem
The anthem was sung by Siddharth Shankar Mahadevan, of Zinda fame, son of the renowned artist Shankar Mahadevan and was launched by actors Irrfan Khan and Konkona Sen
Dainikbhaskar.com launched its brand anthem as an audio-visual extension of its brand campaign ‘Janiye Abhi’.
The anthem highlights the campaign's tagline, ‘Abhi’ that sets to create brand connectivity. The anthem describes the gamut of news that dainikbhaskar.com serves to its readers covering politics, sports, finance, religion, fashion and entertainment.
The piece was sung by Siddharth Shankar Mahadevan, of Zinda fame, son of the renowned artist Shankar Mahadevan. The singer said, “It was a great experience singing the song. The lyrics are very motivational. The word ‘Abhi’ will make you do something instantly. I think everyone will connect with the song especially the youth. I love the song personally because it's rock.”
The anthem was launched by actors Irrfan Khan and Konkona Sen on October 03, and is being promoted across all social and online platforms of the brand. The anthem will soon be available as a ring tone across various mobile operators.
Talking about the launch of the brand anthem, Gyan Gupta, CEO, DB Digital, said, “This is probably the first time that any news website has come up with a brand anthem like this. Dainikbhaskar.com, as the No. 1 Hindi online player has always believed in leading by example. Now, with this brand anthem, we are set to create another benchmark in the industry.”
Adding to this, Kunaal Bhardwaj, Marketing Head, DB Digital, said, “Music is in the DNA of this country. Whether we want to express happiness, or love, or sadness or motivate someone, music plays an intrinsic role in influencing our moods and actions. To take our core brand thought, Janiye Abhi to a wider audience, making them aware of the power of digital to quench their thirst of knowledge, we decided to create this anthem. The final outcome has been great. Now, we are eagerly looking forward to seeing the response from our readers and hoping for an overwhelming response.”For more updates, be socially connected with us on
WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & Youtube


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A group of investors known as Telesto Ventures has put forward a serious proposal to purchase Saturn from General Motors and turn it into a network of retailers selling vehicles from foreign manufactures.
The business plan would have the Saturn continue selling GM-sourced products until 2011 at which point the dealer network would act more like a chain of retail stores, selling different economical and environmentally-friendly vehicles that would keep their distinct brand names.
John Pappanastos, a spokesman for Telesto, a group which includes private equity firm Black Oak Partners LLC, described the business model as being similar to the Best Buy electronics chain. “Customers deal with Best Buy because of the customer experience not because they are the only place to buy a Samsung or a Sony TV,” he said.
As that statement implied, the Telesto business model would permit these vehicles to be sold by other retailers as well.
Currently Pappanastos says Telesto is in talks with several foreign manufacturers.
As far fetched and unconventional as the proposal sounds, Telesto is quite serious and General Motors generally interested. GM spokesman Steve Janisse described the proposal as “very interesting and told Automotive News that, “I can tell you this is one of the interested parties with Saturn and we have been working with them throughout this process. There are other interested parties as well who we’re working with. But I can’t speculate on where all this will go.”
This news comes at a particularly interesting time as today a Saturn task force was scheduled to present a select group of Saturn dealers will a proposal to spin Saturn off as a separate company.
[Source: Automotive News]


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Here comes yet another budget smartphone, called Intex Aqua Young. Priced at Rs 5,090, the new Mobile device is now available to purchase online and offline in India.
The Aqua Young is a dual-SIM smartphone and runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box. It features a 5-inch (480×854 pixels) FWVGA IPS display. The handset also sports Corning Gorilla Glass. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core Spreadtrum (SC7731) processor coupled with 1GB of DDR2 RAM.
It sports a 5MP fixed-focus rear camera with LED flash and has a 0.3MP front-facing shooter. On the connectivity front, the Intex’s Aqua Young is so young it only offers 3G GPRS/ EDGE, GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth options. It packs a 2500mAh battery, which according to the official listing is rated to deliver up to 10 hours of talk time, and up to 250 hours of standby time.
- 1.3 GHz SC7731 Quad Core Processor
- 1GB RAM With 8GB ROM
- 5 Inch HD Touchscreen Display With 293 PPI
- Dual SIM
- 5MP Rear Camera With LED Flash
- VGA Front Camera
- 2500 MAh Battery.
It comes in Champagne, Dark Grey, and White colours.
Now that Truecaller and Intex Technologies both in partnership has announced a new Phonebook Directory and Caller ID app, which will be equipped inside the Intex Aqua Young. Users will be able to identify more than 2 billion numbers on incoming and outgoing calls, block unwanted calls or hidden numbers, as well as protect themselves from known spammers with a community-built database.


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A consumer Web site for finding coupons to buy a digital converter TV box saw the largest spike in traffic in January, according to measurement service compete.com.
The five sites that soared in visits last month, according to data at compete, were:
•Dtv2009.gov (4.2 million visitors, up 4,754 percent)
•Taxactonline.com (7.3 million visitors, up 1,640 percent)
•Taxact.com (3.6 million visitors, up 895 percent)
•HRBlock.com (5.4 million visitors, up 382 percent)
•Intuit.com (9.8 million visitors, up 364 percent)
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The policy also speaks about the need to boost R&D in India in the auto domain instead of importing cutting edge technologies.
Industries like banking are set for a disruption even more fundamental than those industries where there is a need for a culminating physical delivery.
Recruiters are happy with the move as it would give them access to a larger talent pool from in areas like artificial intelligence & Internet of things.
Under this partnership, the company will mentor talented women engineering students to acquire the knowledge and skills required to build software technology products.
The group is allocating over 30% of its Rs 500 crore capex towards development of electric and hybrid vehicle solutions.
The state has attracted investment proposals of ₹1,000 crore plus in EV and battery storage sector in the two months following the policy was notified, the minister said.
Lithium's plan is to expand to cities like Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai and put close to 500 additional fast electric chargers in these cities.
The 50:50 joint venture will enable Homa to expand its global reach, and EKKI will gain access to the Homa brand and "cutting-egde" waste-water pumping systems.
This acquisition will continue GroupM’s growth strategy in India, one of the world’s most dynamic emerging economies, and offer clients access to a wide portfolio of digital marketing services.
The maximum price that patients should pay for drug eluting, bioresorbable vascular and biodegradable coronary stents was reduced to Rs 27,890, excluding goods and service tax
"The intent is to develop the capability to supply the aerospace standard parts in India," said a senior business development manager at Tritech.
“Digitising education has been an imperative, keeping in mind the affordability, accessibility [and] inclusiveness," said deputy director of IIIT, Kharagpur.
"Japanese component for the project is estimated to be about 18.6 per cent of the total project cost. Make in India is an integral part of the project," govt said.
Senco will leverage three flagship products of Capillary Technologies namely Insights+, Engage+ and Loyalty+ to provide its customers a seamless experience across 87 stores pan-India.
100 per cent scholarships to students would be available for pursuing Master's degree in nuclear technology, based on a science olympiad test.
With the ecosystem for hybrid already in place, Ayukawa said that it can start working for Maruti Suzuki immediately until the market for electric vehicles matures fully.
The company also showcased its Formula One car R.S. 17, the first car put together from scratch by the Renault Sport Formula One Team, Renault India said.
TVS as a company has always put the customer first and we will continue to do this in the aspirational manner in the context of today.
"It is a fantastic achievement that India now has 42 universities in the Asia rankings and that the country has improved on 12 of the 13 metrics," Times Higher Education' ranking said.
Government incentives must be directed towards full EVs only, as the industry would have to develop other technologies such as hybrids in order to meet regulatory requirements going ahead.
The technology will be adapted on the 9-metre long bus. It will have a capability to regenerate 36% energy, which will lead to less than 0.8 unit electricity per km.
Maruti Suzuki India could tie up with new-age technology firms to gear up for a future in which EVs, alternative fuels and other innovations shape the industry.
There’s no easy fix. The good news is that scientists have identified the risk in time, before humans have started relying too much on artificial intelligence.
This follows a directive from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) sent to NITs and the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur.
The survey also revealed that 74 per cent Indian marketers plan to increase their budget for 2018, much higher than Australia (19 per cent), Singapore (25 per cent) and Hong Kong (33 per cent).
Only about 14.8 billion digital transactions were undertaken across India from April 1 to January 28, show data sourced from the ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY).
The new centre, which is 125,000 square feet, will employ 1000 skilled people and will serve as the remittance payment company’s innovation and engineering hub in the region, it said in a statement.
To keep the cost per shuttle low, the team also plans to leverage state-of-the-art computational techniques that enables reducing the cost of sensing hardware needed for each of these vechiles.
The company wants to achieve scale and trigger revenue streams which will be largely from our suppliers’ commission, commission from banks and other financial institutions.
The classrooms will be equipped with laptops, multimedia projectors, whiteboards and sound systems, and connected to a central server that hosts educational content.
Angioplasty cost at corporate hospital chains came down by 8-12% to ₹2.05 lakh-2.20 lakh from ₹2.10 lakh-2.20 lakh, the study showed.
An alumnus of the Indian Institutes of Technology at Kanpur and Mumbai, Shevgaonkar was previously vice chancellor of the University of Pune and director of IIT-Delhi.
With the global industrial valve market all set to touch USD 88.4 billion by 2021, there was huge potential for Indian manufacturers to cross USD three billion by 2023.
IIT-Kharagpur’s solution is a browser extension named ‘Stop Clickbait’ that can detect and block clickbaits with more than 90 per cent accuracy.
Information Commissioner has directed to provide information on reasons for delay, expected date of completion of the project, and additional expenditure.
According to latest estimates, in 2014, the US awarded the largest number of S&E doctoral degrees (40,000) of any country, followed by China (34,000), Russia (19,000), Germany (15,000), the United Kingdom (14,000) and India (13,000).
Phinergy of Israel has developed solutions for the use of Aluminium Air Batteries for Electric Vehciles and other applications.
The Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has permitted Eco Green Fuels, a private firm, to see if it can convert waste into feedstock for biodiesel.
Reliance, in a presentation to India's Center for High Technology, said it wanted to raise the capacity of its Jamnagar complex to 100 million tonnes a year by 2030, sources last year told Reuters.
Firm has received the sum from multiple sources and plans to use it in scaling business operations in Asia and Africa.


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Another day, another article discussing Samsung’s woes. Yesterday, Samsung released another poor earnings report that highlighted their profits down 27%, which brings something of a conclusion to their tough 2014. Samsung blamed the fall on slowing smartphone sales; their mobile business has faced competition from all sides. Apple has invented the large screen iPhone, so now competes with the large screened Samsung devices on a more level playing field. Meanwhile a number of Chinese manufacturers have been building devices of at least comparable quality, both hardware and software, for around half the price of Samsung’s Android devices. And it’s true that other Android device manufacturers are also suffering from these inexpensive flagship-breaking devices, but Samsung as the market leader has the most to lose. And lose they appear to be doing so, as smartphone sales between Apple and Samsung were very similar for the last quarter of 2014 (but let’s not forget that Apple sells more of the iPhone following the launch of a new product and I expect Samsung will claw back a little market after their next flagship device is launched in March).
Writing of the Samsung Galaxy S6, we’ve seen rumors that this device is a redesigned device from the ground up, made out of metal, with advanced new generation processors, curved glass and other new features, which some believe is designed to justify the Samsung device cost premium. And as I wrote earlier in the week, new hardware and software features are fine to a point, but lead to “gimmick creep.” Ultimately, the customer has to pay for these features. We’ve seen Samsung claim that they are to consolidate their product line up and reduce the devices released by 25% or so, but almost in the same week we’ve seen two new device ranges, the E-Series and the J-Series. That brings the Samsung Galaxy range to four, the high-end Galaxy S, the “design focused” Galaxy A plus the two newer, more budget focused ranges. I cannot help but feel it will something closer to a disaster for Samsung to realise that consolidation might mean, say, dropping the Android product family down to two; one high end and one mid-range.
We need to give Samsung more time. I like the Galaxy Alpha for its beautiful design and focus on design rather than boasting bleeding edge specification, but would argue that Samsung over designed it by incorporating a too-thin design and a correspondingly too-small battery. If the Galaxy S6 can mimic the same quality of design as the A-Series but incorporate a large-sized battery and, critically, drop the gimmicks, it may be enough to capture the imagination again. However, I suspect that the reforms they’ve implemented are too little to make a big enough difference for 2015 and we’ll have to wait until 2016 before we see something inspirational from the Samsung stable.


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CIMS unveils free mobile app
CIMS Inc., the world’s largest independent tire registration group, has released its mobile app for iPad, iPhone and iPod users.
The app will allow CIMS’ tire dealer clients the ability to access their E-Tire Registration online accounts from their mobile devices.
“CIMS always has strived to make the tire registration process as convenient and economical as possible for the tire dealers,” says Susan Kruder, president of CIMS. “We believe a mobile app was a fast and efficient way to enable tire dealers to streamline the tire registration process.”
CIMS tire dealer clients can download the mobile app for free at the Apple iTunes store. By utilizing their mobile devices to register every tire sold, tire dealers no longer will have to manually write down the DOT serial numbers, take them to a computer terminal and then enter them on the E-Tire Registration site. With the app, dealers will be able to minimize the number of times the DOT serial numbers are recorded. This not only saves time, but also helps reduce the chances of errors and eliminates duplication in the tire registration process.
For additional information, visit the CIMS website at www.cimstireregistration.com.


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From a marketing perspective, Doritos Locos Tacos are among the most successful of a new generation of what some food critics call “Frankensnacks” — foods formed from the (apparently unholy) mashing-together of various different products.
In their first year-and-a-half or so on sale, Doritos Locos Tacos racked up US$1 billion in revenue south of the border, prompting the U.S. edition of HuffPost to declare that “the stoner economy is in full gear” (and also, “we’re all doomed”).
Now the “frankensnack” that brings Doritos flavour to Taco Bell’s taco shells will be a permanent fixture in Canada, Taco Bell has announced.
The product first came to Canada last summer as one of those “while supplies last” deals, and Taco Bell locations ran out over the fall.
“Taco Bell Canada fans loved [Doritos Locos] so much, we had to take action to make DLT a permanent menu item,” Taco Bell Canada marketing manager Veronica Castillo said in a statement, though we at HuffPost suspect it was always the plan to bring the product to Canada. (Nothing gets sales up like that old “while limited supplies last” adage.)
As part of the marketing for the product, Taco Bell Canada released a video showing a Toronto-area Doritos Locos fan getting a Taco Bell tattoo — in exchange for a free lifetime supply of the tacos. The video is below.
Here’s hoping the guy never gets sick of those tacos (or the tattoo).
Also on HuffPost


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Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) published third-quarter results Wednesday after the closing bell, reporting higher earnings and revenues that topped the Street view.
Adjusted earnings rose to $0.83 per share from $0.79 per share in the third quarter of 2020. Experts had predicted a slightly slower growth. Unadjusted net income, including special items, was $2.9 billion or $0.68 per share, up from last year’s profit of $2.8 billion or $0.65 per share.
Driving the bottom-line growth, third-quarter revenues moved up 7% to $12.8 billion and topped expectations.
After gaining about 17% in the past twelve months, Cisco’s shares closed Wednesday’s session lower. The stock lost further during extended trading soon after the announcement.
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Shares of FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) were up 1% on Tuesday. The stock has dropped 44% year-to-date and 34% over the past 12 months. The company delivered mixed results for
After a soft start to the year, the IPO market has witnessed muted activity so far though a few big companies entered the stock market. On the heels of AIG
After a prolonged slowdown, the restaurant industry is returning to normal patterns but macroeconomic uncertainties and high inflation are currently playing spoilsport for it. While the pandemic-related slump forced many


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Microsoft usually holds a free concert for a few lucky fans to celebrate the opening of a new Microsoft retail store. The opening of the massive flagship store on October 26 in New York City will be no exception, as it will include a free concert featuring pop music artist and rapper Pitbull, best known for songs like "Timber", "Don't Stop The Party" and more.
Microsoft says at least the first 1,000 people in line for the opening of the store at 677 Fifth Avenue in New York City will receive two free tickets for the Pitbull concert on October 26. Here's how the schedule will work:
- 6:00 AM ET: Line up for a chance to get concert tickets and win a meet and greet with Pitbull
- 11:30 AM ET: Grand Opening ceremonies begin
- 12:00 PM ET: Microsoft on Fifth Ave. and 53rd St. opens
- 6:00 PM ET: Customer line opens for the Pitbull concert at Rockefeller Center, South Plaza (Plaza Street between 48th Street and 50th Street)
- 7:00 PM ET: Gates open
- 8:00 PM ET: Concert begins
The Microsoft Store will also be holding a launch event later that night for the Xbox One shooter Halo 5: Guardians, with more details to be revealed later. By the way, if you happen to be in New York City today, Microsoft has set up some food trucks around Manhattan with free food that will be served from now until 2 pm. Here are the locations:
- Chelsea, 23rd St. and 10th Ave.
- Midtown, 33rd St. and 5th Ave.
- SoHo, Broadway between Houston and Broome
- East Village, Union Square West and 17th St.
- Upper West Side, Columbus Circle
Source: Microsoft Store (Facebook)
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According to the Chicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index (h/t WSJ’s Sudeep Reddy), only 23% of Americans trust the financial system. And 62% are either “angry” or very “angry” about the state of the economy.
Trust in the financial system hasn’t been this low and anger in the economic situation hasn’t been this high since March 2009. And March 2009 was when the S&P 500 hit that horrific low of 666.
“In an election year, this certainly indicates the importance of the economy to the political agenda,” wrote Paolo Sapienza. Sapienza co-authored the index with Professor Luigi Zingales.
Then again, March 2009 turned out to be an amazing time to buy stocks.
- Nassim Taleb: ‘The Only Candidate I Trust Is Ron Paul’
- This Is The Best Explanation Of Davos By The Numbers We’ve Seen
- President Obama Mentions An Energy Company In His Big Speech And It Goes Bankrupt Instantly
Vint Cerf, one of the inventors of the Internet and now a Google evangelist, still thinks open standards will win in the end.
He just finished speaking on stage at Atmosphere, the company’s cloud computing event at its headquarters in Mountain View.
The host presented a hypothetical scenario in which a young genius discovers the replacement for the Internet. Does she publish the spec immediately or call a patent lawyer?
“Shoot the patent lawyer,” he replied.
“Bob [Kahn] and I knew we would not succeed if we tried to protect the Internet’s design.” The only way they could be sure it would get widespread adoption was by publishing the technical standards it was based on. “I still think that’s good advice.”
His point echoes Google’s stand on the patent wars happening in the mobile space, but Google plays the patent game as well for key inventions like its search algorithms.
Cerf also talked about the importance of Internet governance, moving to IPv6 as the original IPv4 addresses are used up, and explained that idea of Internet-connected devices like refrigerators and lightbulbs used to be a joke, but is now becoming real.
- THE MICROSOFT INVESTOR: Microsoft Needs A Wake Up Call
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Marketers who spend more than 50% of their lead generation budget on inbound marketing channels report a significantly lower cost per sales lead than those who spend 50% or more their budgets on outbound marketing channels, according to the “State of Inbound Marketing Report” [pdf] from internet marketing firm Hubspot.
Average Cost Per Lead $200 Less
The average cost per lead by inbound marketing-dominated firms in 2010 is $134. This is $198, or 60%, less than the $332 average cost per lead at outbound marketing-dominated firms. This percentage differential has remained consistent from a 61% higher average lead generation expense reported by outbound-marketing-dominated firms in 2009.
3 of 4 Major Inbound Channels Cost Less
When asked to rank each lead generation category as “below average cost,” “near average cost,” or “above average cost,” businesses consistently ranked inbound marketing channels as having lower cost than outbound channels. Only PPC (pay-per-click search) had overall cost rankings comparable to those given outbound channels.
Social media and blogs had the highest “below average cost” rankings for both 2009 and 2010 (55% as a combined category in 2009 and 63% separately in 2010).
Trade shows, with their requirements for travel and expenses, as well as space rental and booth setup/removal for companies who exhibit, had the worst cost rankings in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, 55% of companies said trade show costs were above average and only 18% said they were below average. These figures improved moderately in 2010 (48% and 22%, respectively), but still left trade shows as clearly the least cost-effective marketing channel.
Inbound Marketing Grows in Importance
Inbound marketing is continuing to grow in importance at the expense of outbound marketing, according to other findings from the State of Inbound Marketing Report.
As a percentage of the overall lead generation budget, inbound marketing expanded slightly from 2009 to 2010 (38% to 39%), while outbound marketing contracted more significantly (29% to 24%). The net effect is that the gap widened from inbound marketing, which had a 9% greater share of the overall marketing budget than outbound marketing in 2009, to a 15% greater share in 2010. Roughly one-third of the lead generation budget is considered “not classified.”
A raid on suspected militants in the West Bank was cancelled yesterday after an Israeli soldier updated his Facebook status to read “On Wednesday we clean up Qatanah, and on Thursday, god willing, we come home.” The solider has since, unsurprisingly, been relieved of combat duty for being a moron. He’ll also spend 10 days in prison for his update.
Trying to educate soldiers on the importance of not leaking classified info to Facebook, the Israel Defense Forces have started putting up new posters in bases:
In posters placed on military bases, a mock Facebook page shows the images of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. Below their pictures – and Facebook “friend requests” – reads the slogan: “You think that everyone is your friend?”
I really want to see one of those posters. Anyone in the IDF want to send us a picture? My email address is below. I won’t post it on Facebook, promise. [NY Times]
Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.
Collaborators – Digital Profs
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The Plastic Bank is using open innovation to expand plastic waste collection in countries with limited traditional waste management. This has the potential to improve livelihoods among the poorest citizens of the world's poorest countries and reduce the flow of plastic into the ocean.
IBM is trying to use Blockchain to save the food supply chain billions in costs and also it's own legacy in the technology service industry.
It’s hard to tell whether the lack of innovation in the healthcare industry has been driven by heightened regulation or risk-adverse corporations, but one thing is certain: Industry leaders like Pfizer must start to embrace digitalization or risk losing some of their competitive advantages.
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has announced a blockchain collaboration with IBM to improve the way food is tracked, transported, and sold to consumers.
Walmart is one of the largest retailers in the world with one of the most complex global supply chains. How are they using blockchain to revolutionize their ability to track food and drive value across multiple dimensions?
The digitalization of healthcare has added greater complexity and costs, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center believes artificial intelligence may be the solution.
How the "Internet of Things" is impacting the pharma industry
Proponents of blockchain call it the next big thing. IBM is taking the lead on the supply chain blockchainization. Is its technology ready to transform the global supply chain?
Will doctors— one of the most highly trained professionals— become obsolete?
“Students today depend on paper too much. They don’t know how to write on a slate without getting chalk dust all over themselves. They can’t clean a slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper?” From a principal’s publication, 1815.


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If you ever wondered how long Twinkies snack cakes would survive, now you know they'll outlast the company that makes them.
When news broke about the Hostess Brands Inc. closing its doors, those who will have to find an alternative for their cake fix lined up Friday for their final haul.
Gilberts resident Dave Scurto stopped by the Wonder Hostess Thrift Shop in Elgin Friday afternoon to pick up some treats after he heard the store would be closing.
"I remember them from when I was a kid," Scurto said. He added that Ding Dongs and CupCakes were his favorites. He was too late to pick up any Ding Dongs Friday, but did manage to find a box of CupCakes.
But for employees of Hostess's many shops around the suburbs, unemployment loomed even larger.
When Mary Richardson of Bartlett showed up to work at the Elgin store Friday morning, she found a line waiting to get in. She called fellow employee Kathy Lipprandt of Elgin, who wasn't scheduled to work until Friday afternoon, but Richardson was swamped with customers emptying the shelves of boxes of cakes and snacks.
"Twinkies, Ho Ho's, CupCakes -- all that was pretty much gone right away," said Richardson, a three-year employee at the store.
Lipprandt said there had been rumors swirling for weeks about the company closing down.
"My co-worker called me at 6:30 this morning," Lipprandt said, "She called and said, 'It's closed, Kathy. We just have to go in and take care of the final product,'"
As more and more customers filed into the tiny store along Airport Road, Lipprandt knew nearly every one of them. Most offered words of encouragement and got a hug from Lipprandt, who teared up as she recalled getting to know them over eight years working there.
"I guess I'm going to have to get more black Magic Markers to cover the gray in my hair," she said, "get through Thanksgiving and be thankful for what we do have, and be thankful for all the customers and friends that I made here. I may not know all of their names, but it's like a little family."
Known by the nickname of "Wonder Woman" to some customers who see her on the street, Lipprandt said she'll be OK.
"We just have to make a new routine for ourselves," she said, "We'll be fine. Wrong time of the year for this to happen, but we'll be fine."


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A few years after a first encounter at Cafe Milano, Rebecca Grunfeld, an attorney, and Ryan Samuel, a real-estate developer, bumped into one another at a Wizards game (her dad is team general manager Ernie Grunfeld). A few weeks later, Ryan called Rebecca to ask her out for coffee, which turned into watching the US men’s soccer team in a World Cup game at Logan Tavern, followed by an early bite at Le Diplomate. On Rebecca’s grandparents’ wedding anniversary a few years later, Ryan proposed in the home he and Rebecca had bought and renovated.
They married in an intimate ceremony at Rebecca’s parents’ house, where Rebecca’s sister-in-law officiated and Ryan’s two children (Rebecca’s “bonus babies”) read a book they made for the bride entitled Ten Things We Love About Becky. In the pool, inflatable swans adorned with floral wreaths added a whimsical touch, and reception decor included embroidered napkins, Chinese statues representing good health and happiness, and Rebecca’s mother’s china. For dinner: a family recipe for Caesar salad, beef tenderloin, penne alla vodka, and mushroom risotto. Dessert included mini cupcakes, Rice Krispie treats, and brownies à la mode, plus a vanilla funfetti wedding cake with strawberry buttercream.
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There is a fight brewing between Samsung and Huawei on who will come out on top to launch the first smartphone with a punch hole display. Previously, it was expected that the Galaxy A8s would launch in January, leaving Huawei in the clear to launch the Nova 4 in December. It now seems Samsung wants to get out in front by announcing the Galaxy A8s on December 10, a full week earlier than the Nova 4.
Huawei sent out invites for the launch of the rumoured Nova 4 with a display hole on December 17. Some fresh reports have now spotted a Samsung invite for a launch event on December 10. The invite shows an outline of what is likely the Galaxy A8s with the much talked about Infinity-O display and a tagline that reads “Realm Galaxy”. The invite clearly shows the small punch hole-style hole on the top left corner that will house a selfie camera.
The Infinity-O display that Samsung is working on will offer a hole within the display rather than a traditional notch on the top of the display. This Infinity-O display will first come to the Galaxy A8s before it shows up on the Galaxy S10 flagship. Meanwhile, Huawei is also working on a similar display panel with a hole for the selfie camera, although we are unsure what the company is calling this display. Notably, the LCD panels on both the Galaxy A8s and the Nova 4 are made by BOE.
As per past reports, the Galaxy A8s will get a 6.39-inch screen and will be powered by a Snapdragon 710 chipset coupled with up to 6GB of RAM. The Galaxy A8s is also tipped to house a 3,400mAh battery. The Galaxy A8s is also expected to be the second Samsung phone after Galaxy A7 to sport a triple rear camera system. This system is said to include a 25MP + 5MP + 10MP configuration, but the nature of the sensors are still unknown.