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MALAYSIAN International Furniture Fair (MIFF) had treated their loyal exhibitors to a sumptuous gala dinner to honour their loyalty to the annual trade show.
THE Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre’s (Mitec) strategic growth in the country’s business events landscape is making great strides for a relatively new industry player.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian furniture industry is doing well despite stiff competition globally, says Teresa Kok.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) is stepping up the game in the construction industry by eyeing to introduce the country’s first volumetric building system by year end.
MALAYSIA’S largest event dedicated to metalworking and machine tools, Metaltech, alongside automation and technology exhibition Automex, is ready to break the record books this month as it celebrates its 25th anniversary with a much anticipated move to the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec) in Kuala Lumpur.
BUSINESSES eager to make a progressive shift toward the fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0) and move up the value chain will not want to miss the highly anticipated Metaltech 2019, Malaysia’s largest manufacturing exhibition for metalworking, machinery, robotics and automation.


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29 Nov 2017
Heavyweight backing has energised Wellington-based firm Collect which aims to be a leading provider of marketing to help small retailers build better relationships with customers.
Collect have in excess of 15,000 retailers globally – more than 70 per cent are based in North America. There are more than 15 million consumers on their database.
Collect’s suite of services include loyalty schemes, sales campaigns, customer feedback collection and direct messaging to customers, for both physical retail and online stores.
Collect’s services integrate with big e-commerce platforms including Shopify, BigCommerce, Vend and Kounta. They are also a foundation partner of 9Spokes, the NZ/ASX listed company.
A strategic agreement with Australia’s newest bank, Tyro, has just been signed which will fuel further growth.
They have also launched a project to leverage Amazon Web Services (AWS) artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to completely automate marketing for small businesses. An ex-Palantir data scientist has been employed to lead the project and they have just received a Callaghan Grant to help fund the project.
Staff levels are expected to grow from the 11 they have today to over 30 in Wellington and another 12 globally by the end of 2018. Expansion comes after they successfully closed on ongoing Series-A funding of $2.5 million.
Collect Co-Founder Brent Spicer says the market that the SaaS [software-as-a-service] company operates in is huge with US$22 trillion spent in retail in 2016, 91 per cent in brick-and-mortar stores, of which 98 per cent are small to medium-sized.
“There is no incumbent in our space and our new investors believe that our approach can make us number one, globally.”
The Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA) guided Collect through the process of obtaining capability grants from the Callaghan Institute.
WREDA’s Business Growth and Innovation General Manager David Jones says Collect are helping shine the light on Wellington’s innovative tech sector.
“They identified a hole in the market and had the talent and drive to make global inroads. It’s satisfying to know that WREDA has played a small role in their success.”
Collect are also establishing an office in San Francisco led by Mr Spicer who has relinquished his role of CEO role to his co-founder Brady Thomas.
“We’re growing quickly, have lots of partnership agreements to activate and are starting to hire,” Mr Thomas says. “The board agreed to appoint me to keep continuity of management and to allow Spice to focus on nailing the North American opportunity”.
Matt Thomas, the third co-founder and brother of Brady, remains in the role of Chief Product Officer.
Collect recently won the Wellington chapter of the AWS Aussie VC (Venture Capitalist) Tour against 128 other companies.

domain: news


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Is New Zealand Dairy in danger of being milked out of existence?
10,054 views |
Danielle Appleton |
• June 2019
The era of New Zealand’s safe economic reliance on its dairy industry is over. Disruptive technology is here and we’re staring down the barrel of crisis if our economy doesn’t adapt to survive. Danielle paints us a quantitative and qualitative picture and argues a case for kiwi ingenuity to stay ahead of the inevitable change that is coming. Danielle Appleton, MBA and Masters in Dairy Science and Technology, spent a decade working on improving Fonterra’s large-scale dairy manufacturing processes. She then went on to co-found a dairy and an alternative-dairy startup in New Zealand and is passionate about the Future of Food. @appleseleven | LinkedIn Learn more: LinkedIn Article: Why the New Zealand Dairy Industry could be in serious trouble https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-new-zealand-dairy-industry-could-serious-trouble-appleton/ Confessions of a dairy industry insider: https://medium.com/@danielleappleton/confessions-of-a-dairy-industry-insider-2cdc1a1b3fef?source=friends_link&sk=029e89eb6715c2ab84d388a2052c4870


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Law firm Ballard Spahr is preparing for an increase in consumer lawsuits in New York prompted by new state and federal regulations.
The firm, which already has a large consumer financial services practice, said Tuesday that is has hired litigator Justin Angelo for its New York office. Angelo previously worked for law firm Greenberg Traurig in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he defended banks and nonbanks in cases brought under the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
"We expect to handle a high volume of consumer financial services litigation in New York as a result of the avalanche of rulemaking by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the aggressive posture of the New York State Department of Financial Services and attorney general," Alan Kaplinsky, head of Ballard's consumer financial services practice, said in a press release.
Ballard Spahr's consumer financial services group currently has more than 90 attorneys in its 14 U.S. offices. It opened its New York office on July 1 after acquiring boutique litigation firm Stillman & Friedman.


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French Billionaire Returns Looted Gold Antiquities
Gold antiquities looted from China were returned by a French billionaire after a long effort by Beijing to recoup pillaged art. The antiquities were purchased by billionaire luxury tycoon François Pinault. The four gold heads of prey birds are worth €1 million (£710,000). Mr Pinault, owner of brands from Gucci to Saint Laurent, donated the 7th century BC solid gold works to Paris’s Guimet museum of Asian art 15 years ago.
It was soon discovered the antiquities were stolen in 1992 from the tomb of a noble of the Zhou dynasty in Gansu province. China says the birds of prey were pillaged amid a wave of thefts in the early-to-mid nineties by farmers in the western state of Qins. A corrupt civil servant apparently smuggled the antiques out of China and Mr Pinault bought the birds of prey unsuspectingly.
Chinese authorities filed a complaint 10 years ago, but discreetly maintained they wanted a diplomatic restitution. Art Newspaper reported in April that Mr Pinault handed the four birds of prey heads to the Chinese embassy in Paris and did not ask for compensation.
Another collector, Christian Deydier, returned 28 other artefacts. China promotes the repatriation of pillaged works, putting pressure on auction houses to cancel sales of items and even buying them via a corporate offshoot of the people’s Liberation Army, the China Poly Group. China has a big thirst for gold as the world’s largest consumer of gold.
Photo: Rex Features.


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Aerial view of Taicang port container terminal in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China, Oct. 4, 2021 Barcroft Media
According to Wednesday's data from the customs agency, China showed a disappointing increase in its imports in September. However, exports exceeded expectations. The value of imports in U.S. dollars increased 17.6% to $240 billion last month, compared to a year earlier. This is less than the 20% estimate by Reuters analysts. China's exports of goods to other countries were a bright spot in the economy. In U.S. dollars, exports jumped 28.1% in September to $305.74 Billion. This was higher than the expected 21% growth rate according to the Reuters poll.
China's trade surplus rose to $42 billion, a record monthly figure. This is a 30% increase in exports over a year ago. Imports increased by just 17%. China's single largest trade partner was the U.S. The U.S. remains China's largest trade partner on a single-country basis, with a 30% decrease in soybean imports in September compared to a year ago. However, the value in U.S. dollars terms increased by approximately 10%.
Coal prices are rising
China's coal imports and related products increased 76% in September from a year earlier to 32.9 Million Tons, the highest monthly level since December. These coal imports amounted to $3.91 billion, more than three times the value of the previous year. According to the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, prices for thermal coal, which is the primary fuel for electricity production have more than doubled in the past year. Due to a shortage of coal, factories have been forced to shut down. Authorities are now calling for increased coal imports from Russia. Chinese natural gas imports increased 21.8% in September to 10.6 Million Tons, an increase that was more than twice the annual average to $5.19 Billion.


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Oly McKiernan has a business — “Just the Joe, Jack.”
“It’s a coffee cart — I started three years ago,” McKiernan explained at an event promoting businesses owned by people with disabilities, held at the Veterans’ Memorial Center in Davis several weeks ago.
“My cart is in the lobby of an office building over by Sunrise Mall (in Citrus Heights),” McKiernan said. “I got a loan from Lending Works to get it started — $2,000. And I’m in the process of paying it back.”
McKeirnan brews the coffee himself, and sells it by the cup to office workers, along with some light refreshments. “I like having my own business. I keep busy, dealing with customers and making change. It makes me feel good about myself that I know how to do things and interact with people. I like working,” he said.
Dave Crawford was another exhibitor. He started a landscaping business in 2008, and went through Lending Works to get a loan. What started as a sole proprietorship became a partnership this year, when Joe Downing joined the company. They do business as Crawford and Downing Leaf Lawn and Landscaping, based in Citrus Heights. “You grow it, we can mow it” is their motto.
Lending Works, Inc. gives interest-free loans of up to $3,000 to individuals with disabilities who want to start or expand their own micro business. Loan recipients have started a variety of business including jewelry, landscaping and costume design businesses.
The president of the volunteer board for Lending Works, Inc, Jackson Murtha, is a micro business owner himself. Murtha, who lives in Davis, designs products for “Buttons ‘n Bears, oh my!” — a Davis-based business that has created custom buttons, pins and magnets for political campaigns, schools, businesses, sororities, fraternities and other groups.
“Jackson is very, very good with Photoshop and that’s part of what he brings to the business,” said micro enterprise coordinator Judy Odipo. She works for Community and Employment Services, and Progressive Employment Concepts, publicly funded services that help people with disabilities find and maintain jobs that match their skill sets and interests.
Murtha does the graphic design, giving each project a special look. Then business partner Anna Hoban makes the buttons. The business has a website, www.buttonsandbears.com, and a Facebook page as well. Hoban also gives presentations at elementary schools, telling young students what it’s like to have a disability, and a job.
Lending Works, Inc. is based in the PEC office in Davis. The non-profit organization was created by a $20,000 grant from Alta Regional Center, and a $10,000 grant from a private donor. Originally, loans were restricted to clients of the Alta Regional Center, but recently the applicant pool has expanded to include any individual with a disability living in Northern California.
In order to get a loan, an individual must have a valid ID, be at least 18 years old and have a business plan. They also have to demonstrate that they have the appropriate support to successfully run their business.
Lending Works, Inc. held a micro business fair at the Veteran’s Memorial Center on September 20. “The fair was an opportunity to get the word out for what Lending Works is doing” and encourage other people with disabilities to consider taking out a microloan to establish a business of their own, said Support Facilitator Steve Sweeney.
For more info go to http://www.lendingworksinc.com/.


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— -- If you've got $680,000 to spare, you could be the new owner of part of a town featured on "The Walking Dead" and other movies.
Nine buildings in downtown Grantville, Georgia, 35 miles outside of Atlanta, are now collectively on auction on eBay.
The historic area has been a set for several recent movies -- including "Lawless" with Shia LaBeouf and Jessica Chastain, "The War" with Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood and "Dumb and Dumber To" with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, former Grantsville mayor Jim Sells told ABC News today.
Sells bought the commercial properties when they were in foreclosure, he said.
"Scouts from the entertainment industry love the brick, 'old-town-square-type' buildings," he said. "Downtown Grantville has an historic appeal. A lot of the buildings were built in the 1880s, and we have a railroad runs right through the heart of town."
"I would love to see a movie studio or a commercial developer buy it and get everything rented out," Sells said. "It's dirt cheap at about $30 per square foot, and we've done all the dirty work by renovating everything."
The town died down after after the textile mills closed during the recession, Sells said.
Now, most of downtown Grantville's revenue comes from tourists from all over the globe to tour the site that's been popular with the entertainment industry, he added.
"There is so much potential for revenue with buses of tourists coming in and our commuter residents who'd like to see more local business," Sells said.
The nine buildings up for sale, which include about 20,000 to 25,000 square feet of usable space in total, can developed into retail areas, loft apartments, bars or pubs, restaurants, pharmacies or office spaces, Sells said. Property tours are held everyday at 2 p.m., he added.
As of this morning, 194 eBay users had the listing on their watch list, though none have made an offer yet for the vacant commercial lot on auction for the starting price of $680,000.
"We've gotten several curious calls, but we're still hoping for a serious buyer," Sells said. "This is a huge opportunity for someone to own a piece of history and revitalize a town with great potential."


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The newly launched portal will host a 45-day all-India online home-buying festival for ready-to-move-in homes, with around 1,000 projects to be listed.
The new portal, which was launched by Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) -- looks to connect stakeholders with prospective homebuyers in a credible manner.
At present there are about 1 lakh ready-to-move-in homes available in the market and nearly 2.75 lakh new ready-to-move-in homes are expected to be added to the market over the next one year.
This inventory of ready-to-move-in flats will be available for sale through Naredco's e-commerce portal.
The move to launch the online portal comes following an announcement made by Hardeep Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), MoHUA during the first National RERA Conclave held in Lucknow November.
During the event, the 'Real Estate Sentiment Index Q4 2019' was also launched by Knight Frank–FICCI–NAREDCO. The objective of the index is to show the current sentiment of real estate stakeholders in India.
According to the survey, sentiment stood at 53, which falls under the optimistic zone. A score of over 50 signifies ‘optimism’ in sentiment, a score of 50 means that the sentiment is ‘Same’ or ‘Neutral’, while a score of below 50 shows ‘Pessimism’.


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That year, a massive earthquake in the Pacific Ocean led to a tsunami of biblical proportions. Much of Japan’s semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industry was taken offline for nearly two months.
About 12 months later, it was Thailand’s turn in the wringer. The so-called 100-year floods swamped most of the country, causing nearly $50 billion in damage. In doing so, they took out major assembly operations at Fabrinet, Benchmark Electronics, Kimball and SVI, among others, upsetting a major link in the auto electronics and optical component supply chains.
Covid-19 has hit the electronics supply chain with all the force of those two natural disasters. The industry response will be fascinating.
This is the ultimate stress test. Coming on the heels of the Chinese New Year, where employees had not yet returned to work, the shutdown lasted four to six weeks in China. It’s a double whammy.
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Honda adds 437,000 cars to global air bag recall
Honda Motor Co is adding 437,000 vehicles to its 15-month old global recall for faulty airbags in the latest quality problem to hit a Japanese automaker.autos Updated: Feb 10, 2010 14:48 IST
Honda Motor Co is adding 437,000 vehicles to its 15-month old global recall for faulty airbags in the latest quality problem to hit a Japanese automaker.
The company will replace the driver's side air bag inflator on the cars because they can deploy with too much pressure, causing the inflator to rupture and injure or kill the driver.
Japan's No 2 automaker originally announced the recall to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in November 2008 and the total of number vehicles recalled since then is approaching 1 million.
The latest expansion of the airbag recall includes 378,000 cars in the US, some 41,000 cars in Canada and 17,000 cars in Japan, Australia and elsewhere in Asia. The North American recall was announced on Tuesday and followed on Wednesday by the recall in Asia.
Honda's announcement comes at a time of increased attention on automotive recalls. Though the problems are unrelated, rival Toyota Motor Corp is in the process of recalling more than 8 million cars and trucks due to faulty gas pedals.
On Tuesday, Toyota said it would recall more than 440,000 of its flagship 2010 Prius and other hybrids due to a braking glitch.


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The Voynich Manuscript—an illustrated book written in inscrutable, curlicue code—has been stumping the world’s top codebreakers for over a century. Now, amateur cryptologists will have a chance to take a crack at solving the mystery at home. A small, Spanish publisher is releasing 898 replicas of the world’s most secretive book to the public, AFP reports.
The original manuscript is believed to be about 600 years old, but it didn’t gain its notorious reputation until the early 20th century. In 1912, a book dealer named Wilfrid Voynich purchased the rare treasure from a Jesuit College in Italy. Since then it’s been examined by experts across the spectrum, including the man responsible for translating Japan’s “unbreakable” Purple cipher in World War II. So far, no one has succeeded in penetrating its contents. The only person to come close was applied linguistics professor Stephen Bax, who claimed to have decoded nine words in 2014 using the book’s colorful illustrations.
Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain
Hopefully the owners of the 898 new copies will have better luck. “Touching the Voynich is an experience,” Juan Jose Garcia, editor of the Spanish publishing house Siloe, told AFP. “It’s a book that has such an aura of mystery that when you see it for the first time ... it fills you with an emotion that is very hard to describe.”
Getting the rights to replicate the book wasn’t easy. Siloe petitioned Yale for 10 years before they finally agreed to let them produce the facsimiles. The manuscript is currently secured in a vault at the university’s Beinecke Library and is rarely seen by the public. Using photographs captured of each page, it will take Siloe about 18 months to recreate the book down to the stains and tears. When they're finally ready to hit the market, the copies will sell for between $7900 and $9000. If that doesn't fit your rare book budget, you can keep an eye out for copies appearing in libraries and museums.
[h/t The Guardian]
Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Blu-ray Disc Sales Surpass HD DVD
Data from Nielsen indicates that sales of Blu-ray media for the first time has outpaced that of HD DVD; however, as expected, both camps in the high-definition format war have different ways of interpreting the data.
For the week of February 18, Blu-ray sold 100 units for every 98.71 units of HD DVD. That culminates a several week period where sales of the disc format began to catch up to HD DVD after nearly a year of slow sales.
Analysts credit the launch of the PlayStation 3, which includes a Blu-ray drive, as helping to boost sales. The resurgent format also seems to have a five-to-one advantage over HD DVD in actual player sales.
However, this is where supporters of HD DVD step in to defend their own format.
"Given that the life to date title sales ratios are close to 1:1, and given that Blu-ray has a 5:1 ratio right now on the hardware side due to the PS3, it poses an interesting question for the Blu-ray studios of why Blu-ray software sales are not outpacing HD DVD by a similar ratio?" Universal's HD DVD chief Ken Graffeo told BetaNews.
He noted that while sales are now basically even, HD DVD players still sport an attach rate than is five times higher than Blu-ray's. Furthermore, the #1 selling title across either format is Batman Begins, available only on HD DVD. The #2 title Superman Returns, while available in both formats, shows higher sales for HD DVD copies than the Blu-ray version, the HD DVD Promotional Group noted.
Representatives for Sony's Blu-ray format sing a different song, saying that surpassing HD DVD in disc sales was no big surprise. Chief among its newfound dominance, they claim, are the technical superiority of the format, the launch of the PS3, and better availability of titles and players.
It should be noted that so far this year, Blu-ray titles have outpaced HD DVD releases by a 2-to-1 margin.


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will all open at Potomac Mills mall in November.
Mall management made the announcement Wednesday that Bahama Breeze would complete the trio of freestanding exterior restaurants.
“We are very excited to announce this third restaurant addition as part of our much anticipated property expansion and exterior renovation project,” said Mike Sullivan, general manager of Potomac Mills, in a prepared statement. “Adding this delicious assortment of restaurants to our growing fashionable retail mix will solidify Potomac Mills’ status as a leading shopping destination.”
“Construction has already begun on this revitalization project, which will feature earthy design treatments such as River stone and decorative wood,” said mall management Wednesday. “New landscaping, lighting features and updated signage will contribute to its welcoming ambience.”
, Potomac Mills said that the Cheesecake Factory and Bobby’s Burger Palace would be joining the area.
The mall commuter , in anticipation of these expansions.


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September and October are always jam-packed with back-to-back smartphone and gadget launches, and this year is no exception. Last week, we saw the launch of the Apple iPhone 13 lineup, new range of iPads and the new Mi 11T lineup from Xiaomi.
Now ahead of the Flipkart’s Big Billion Days 2021, the e-commerce platform has revealed a list of smartphone brands that will be launching their smartphones in the second half of September.
POCO'S upcoming phone (and vivo X70 series) to launch on September 30.
Something from Micromax on September 22 😌
Samsung to launch one on September 29.
OPPO on 27 (likely A55)
Realme on 28 (GT Neo2 is coming up soon)
Moto on Oct 1 (Edge 20 Pro it seems)
Feel free to retweet 😍 pic.twitter.com/eksB0fY79h
— Mukul Sharma (@stufflistings) September 20, 2021
These include Motorola, Micromax, Oppo, Realme, Vivo, Samsung, and more. Let’s look at all the upcoming smartphones launching in the last 10 days of September.
Upcoming smartphones in September 2021
Poco’s upcoming launch
According to Flipkart, Poco will be launching a new smartphone on the last day of September i.e September 30th.
Currently, there is no information about the upcoming phone from Poco or its specifications. But a Poco smartphone codenamed 211033MI recently received the Indian BIS certificate. Leaks indicate that it will be a mid-range phone, so either Poco X4 or Poco M4.
Vivo X70 series
The Vivo X70 series is set to launch on September 30th. The launch date is also shared by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer on their official website.
The X70 was launched in China on September 9th and includes three models – Vivo X70, Vivo X70 Pro, and Vivo X70 Pro+.
The baseline model comes with a 6.56-inch full-HD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC and a 4000 mAh battery. It features a triple camera setup on the rear that holds a 40MP wide camera, a 12 MP telephoto and another 12 MP ultrawide camera. It comes in three storage options – 128GB+8GB RAM, 256GB+8GB RAM and 256GB+12GB RAM.
The Vivo X70 Pro also has the same specifications except for some changes in the camera, and the processor. It comes with an Exynos 1080 and a quad-camera setup with a 50MP wide camera and an 8MP periscope telephoto. The other two are a telephoto and ultrawide cameras, both taken from the vanilla model.
The Vivo X70+ has some big changes such as featuring a bigger 6.78-inch ultra-HD 120Hz AMOLED display, Snapdragon 888+ SoC and a bigger 48MP ultra wide camera. The Pro model also has a bigger 5000 mAh battery and storage goes up to 512 GB.
Samsung M52 5G
Samsung will likely bring its upcoming M52 5G on Flipkart on September 29th. According to a teaser page from Amazon, the phone is expected to launch on September 28th at 12 noon.
From the previous leaks and rumors, the smartphone comes with a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. It’s a punch-hole panel, however, the highlight of the smartphone is that it’s 7.4mm sleek.
Under the hood, it’s powered by a Snapdragon 778G with 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage. The phone will come with a 5000 mAh battery and a triple-camera setup that includes a 64MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide and a 5MP depth sensor.
Realme GT Neo2
The Realme GT Neo2 is launching on September 22nd, and will likely arrive on Flipkart on September 28th, during the Big Billion days sale.
According to the recent leaks, the GT Neo 2 will come in two variants – One will feature 6.43″ FullHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display coupled with Snapdragon 870 SoC while the other one will feature 6.43″ FullHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display coupled with a Dimensity 1200 chipset.
The powerful chip will be supported by a 5000 mAh battery. The Realme GT Neo2 will house a triple camera setup with a 64 MP primary lens. Meanwhile, there will be a 16MP punch hole camera for selfies.
Oppo will likely bring the Oppo A55 to Flipkart on September 27th. The Oppo phone was launched in China earlier this year.
The device touts a 6.5-inch HD+ punch-hole display. It is powered by a Dimensity 700 SoC that is supported with a 5000 mAh battery. Oppo A55 features a triple camera setup with a 13MP primary lens and two 2MP macro and depth sensors
Motorola Edge 20 Pro
Motorola launched Edge 20 and Edge 20 Fusion last month, however they missed the Edge 20 Pro. It will now likely arrive on Flipkart on October 1st.
The device specifications include a 6.7-inch 144Hz OLED display, Snapdragon 870 and a 4500 mAh battery. The rear camera includes a 108MP primary lens, an 8MP periscope telephone and a 16MP ultra-wide.
Micromax In Note 1 Pro
Micromax might bring the In Note 1 Pro on September 22 on Flipkart. Based on previous leaks, the phone is expected to launch by the end of September.
The exact specifications of the device are yet to be determined. But from what we know so far, it will be a mid-range smartphone probably powered by a MediaTek Helio G90 SoC coupled with 4GB RAM.
Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite NE 5G
While we don’t know when the Mi 11T and Mi 11T Pro will arrive in India, the Mi 11 Lite NE 5G is coming soon. The device is set to launch on September 29th and will be available on Mi store and Amazon.
Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite NE 5G features a 6.55-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. It is powered by a Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G and packs a 4,250mAh battery. On the camera’s end, it comes with a triple-camera setup with a 64-MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide and a 5MP telephoto shooter.
The baseline model will come with 6GB of RAM along with 128GB of storage while the higher end will have 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Realme Narzo 50 series
Relme is preparing to launch the Narzo 50 series on September 24th, which will include the Narzo 50 and the Narzo 50A. The company might also launch another Narzo 50i which will be the cheapest Narzo phone yet.
From what we know so far, the Narzo 50 will come with MediaTek Helio G85 supported with a 6,000mAh battery. It will feature a triple camera setup with a 50MP primary lens and two 2MP lenses for portrait and macro photography.
Asus 8z and Asus 8z Flip might launch are also coming near. The smartphones go by the name Asus ZenFone 8 and were launched globally back in May.
The Asus 8z sports a 5.9-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate while the Flip version comes with a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, both devices are powered by Snapdragon 888 with 8GB RAM and 128GB and 256GB storage options. The Asus 8z also comes with a 12GB+256GB option. On the battery end, the Asus 8z has a 4000 mAh battery while the 8z Flip holds a 5000 mAh battery.
For photography, the Asus 8z has a dual camera setup with a 64 MP primary sensor and a 12MP ultrawide. On the other hand, the Flip model comes with an extra 8MP telephoto lens.
These were some of the smartphones set to launch in September 2021.


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Shares in financial services company Poonawalla Fincorp rose more than 6% in early trade on Tuesday after the company reported an increase in third-quarter net profit.
The stock was up 6.27% at Rs 308.55 in morning trade on the BSE. On the NSE, it rose 6.17% to Rs 308.75.
In a regulatory filing on Monday, Poonawalla Fincorp reported an 88-fold jump in net profit to Rs 150 crore for the third quarter ending December 2022.
The non-banking financial company (NBFC), which focuses on consumer and MSME finance, reported a net profit of Rs 80 crore in the same period last year.
The company said total revenue rose to Rs 519 crore in the quarter, compared with Rs 394 crore a year ago.
The company’s net interest margin rose to 10.7%, improving 94 basis points.


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April has been designated Alcohol Awareness Month to help remind people to drink safely. Follow these tips to ensure you are consuming alcohol responsibly:
- Never drink alcohol and drive, and do not get into a car with a driver who has been consuming alcohol
- Monitor your alcohol consumption, and make sure you do not have more than one glass of alcohol per hour
- Have a glass of water after every alcoholic drink to prevent dehydration and lessen the effects of intoxication
- Eat food throughout events where you're also drinking alcohol
For more health-related information, visit mountnittany.org.


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LONDON — Television advertising in Russia is beginning to bounce back after sharp falls last year.
Figures for the first two months of 2010 released by Video International, the country’s biggest media advertising group, show television ads up by 4% in rouble terms to 14.6 billion roubles ($497 million) compared with the same two months last year.
Television advertising in Russia in rouble terms fell overall by 18% last year compared with 2008 with sharper falls for press (down 43%), outdoor (down 41%) and radio advertising (down 36%). Internet advertising, however, was up 8%.
The recovering — of a market that leapt from 20th biggest in Europe in 2003 to sixth place in 2008 when it was worth $5.5 billion — is being lead by advertising for financial services, mobile telephones, household appliances and cleaning products, VI’s analysis shows.
The company is predicting double-digit growth of between 10% and 15% in the second sector and foresees a return next year to the buoyant advertising market experienced in 2008 before the financial crisis.
“The collapse of the media advertising market in 2009 was not as deep as thought,” Anton Charkin, a spokesman for VI said.
“Television advertising should return next year to levels last seen in 2008 — its best year ever in Russia.”
The figures are beginning to be reflected in financial returns from Russian television networks.
CTC Media, Russia’s leading commercial broadcaster, saw advertising revenue grow in the first quarter by 18% from $99 million last year to nearly $117 million this year.
The company said that 90% of advertising inventory for 2010 was already booked.
Profits for the first quarter up 8% from $23 million to $25 million.
Revenue was up 18% to $123 million for the quarter but increased operating expenses of $87 million (up 27% from $68 million) cut into that.
Anton Kudryashov, CTC’s CEO said: “The Russian TV advertising market has stabilized and is growing again, which reflects the increasing demand from domestic and international advertisers.”


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The market for the foldable phone is expected to grow. As several new models are scheduled to be revealed from among the big players.
The world’s three biggest phone companies, Samsung Electronics, Apple and Huawei, are getting ready to introduce their new foldable phones.
Huawei Foldable phone
Huawei will soon introduce its third foldable phone, the Mate X2, at the opening of the Mobile World Congress Shanghai. Although, Mate X2 has already been revealed through a teaser.
Like the Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series, Huawei will be introducing its first smartphone that can be folded inwardly. This gives a clue that Huawei is making a major change in its foldable phone line in order to beat its failures over the two previous models, Mate X and Mate Xs. These two previous models exhibit an outward-folding display.
Rumors are circulating that the specifications of the upcoming Huawei Mate X2 is anticipated to feature an 8.01-inch foldable organic LED display that is supplied by BOE for its main screen. It boasts of its high-resolution 2480 x 2200 pixel with 120Hz refresh rate. When it is folded, the cover display is about 6.45 inches.
On its cover display, there is a dual selfie camera in punch hole cutout. On the other side, the device is rumored to have a protruding quad-camera setup with a telephoto lens, having a 50MP main camera.
Huawei’s upcoming announcement of its new foldable phone shows that the company is committed to move forward in spite of the challenges brought about by the US sanctions. In a recent time, Huawei’s CEO Ren Zhenfei dismissed the rumors circulating that Huawei may discontinue its smartphone business.
Samsung Galaxy Foldable phone
Samsung, the indisputable leader of the foldable phone segment, tries to maintain its leadership by rolling out several new foldable designs this year. Samsung is expected to introduce Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 this coming summer time.
Although there haven’t been any official words yet about the upcoming Samsung foldables, rumors have it that several upgrades will be included into the new models. Galaxy Z Fold 3 is anticipated to come out with an S pen stylus.
When Samsung launched its first inward-folding in the world, Galaxy Z Fold, Samsung became the pioneer of the foldable phone market. It launched its first foldable phone last 2019. And in 2020, the Korean Giant tech company introduced the clamshell-type Galaxy Z Flip.
The Counterpoint Research, the market researcher, says that the market pie of the foldable phone is anticipated to double from 2.8 million units last year to 5.6 million units projected this year.
Apple will participate in Foldable iPhone
Rumors are circulating that Apple too is preparing to roll-out its clamshell-type foldable iPhone that can be folded vertically, like that of the Galaxy Z Flip. Bloomberg says that Apple is still in the early stage of its development of foldable iPhone.
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Sixty-nine percent of brands have taken their programmatic advertising in-house, according to an international report conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Accenture Interactive.
The report analyzes how programmatic’s role in the digital media ecosystem is evolving in companies in the US, Europe and Latin America amid heightened data privacy regulations and concerns.
Programmatic’s share of digital ad spend worldwide is poised to grow to 68 percent this year, according to Zenith. That number is likely to further increase as mobile and digital consumption rates soar during the pandemic. In the last five years, programmatic’s share of digital ad spend worldwide has increased 54 percent, with more than two of every three display ad dollars being spent on programmatic.
Programmatic advertising represents 89 percent of digital ad spend in the UK, nearly 85 percent in the US, 80 percent in Europe and 63 percent in Latin America.
Due to programmatic’s scale and efficiency in targeting and placing digital ads, at a time when digital consumption is at an all-time high, more and more brands are in-housing some or all of their programmatic, the survey reveals.
Twenty-one percent of brands have completely brought programmatic in-house while 48 percent have partially done so.
Europe has displayed the strongest desire to move the function in-house. In fact, 74 percent of European organizations have completely or partially shifted programmatic in-house, which is more than organizations in either the US and Latin America.
Thirty-one percent of brands in Europe have fully moved programmatic in-house while 43 percent have partially done so. Whereas 16 percent of brands in Latin America have completely moved programmatic in-house and almost half have partially done so.
In 2018, the European Union issued the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The US followed when in 2020 it debuted the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). While stricter data regulations reduce the number of consumers who can be targeted, those that can be targeted are more interested and relevant, which results in more effective ad spend and a great sense of trust between brand and consumer.
With the demise of cookies looming, a brand’s ability to effectively control programmatic in-house will depend on its ability to obtain and manage its own first-party data.
“It’s an issue of transparency. We had a contract through our agency, but they didn’t have a transparent programmatic offering. Without transparency, we can’t improve ad effectiveness.” one consumer packaged goods executive told IAB.
Bringing the capability in-house has its challenges, including getting buy-in across the company and flexibility in making the shift. Hence why the companies that have taken all or some of their programmatic operations in-house are utilizing a hybrid approach by seeking external support.
The survey also found that digital video ad spend share worldwide is estimated to be 75 percent this year, an eight percent increase from 2019.


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With CES now wrapped up and the announcement that Warner have decided to go Blu-ray exclusive, all eyes were on sales figures for the coming week. Well, the numbers are in over at High Def Digest and it looks good for supporters of the Blu side.
While the Blu team has not only been able to achieve 85% of HD sales last week, they also managed to keep the competition HD-DVD out of the top 10. The top title last week came in the form of the newly released "3:10 to Yuma", a Blu-ray exclusive while "The Kingdom" was the number one selling HD-DVD managing only 10% of what Blu-ray's number one title achieved.
While there is no denying that both formats are small in comparison to DVD, Blu-ray or HD-DVD is the next logical step in improving your movie experience and it seems like it's only a matter of time till a winner is crowned and we're all enjoying 1080P movies.


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TORONTO – At the Ingram Micro Canada Partner Experience event Dave Mason, the vice president of sales informed the audience of about 250 channel partners that the distributor would be entering into a unique partnership with sports apparel manufacturer Under Armour.
The Baltimore-based Under Armour has already spent more than US$710 million acquiring MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal, and Endomondo three digital app vendors to spruce up its focus on big data and the Internet of Things. And it followed those deals up with an alliance with smartphone maker HTC. The two companies have developed connected fitness hardware called UA HealthBox. This offering is a package consisting of three new devices from Under Armour. UA Band is wrist worn activity tracker designed for athletes, UA Heart Rate is a chest strap heart monitor to measure workout intensity and estimate calories burned, and UA Scale is a Wi-Fi weight scale that also measures body fat percentage.
Mason said that Ingram Micro is going into non-traditional areas such as wearables and ruggedized products.
“You may see these products pop-up at Loews, Home Depot and Mark’s Work Warehouse,” he said.
“Brands such as Dewalt and Caterpillar resonate with people who buy power tools and they may want a ruggedized Dewalt branded smartphone,” he added.
Recently Ingram Micro acquired Greenville, S.C.-based NETXUSA, Inc. This company offers unified communications and collaboration (UCC) product distributor focused on VoIP and IP phones.
Mason said the company plans to bring this functionality to the Canadian market in a managed UCC approach.
“This is UCC-as-a-Service or hosted UCC that will be managed for the partners. This is what we are going to market with. There will be new vendors that we will be onboarding such as Cisco and Polycom that will add to the line card,” he said.
Ingram Micro Canada is also going to improve its insurance coverage for lost or stolen smartphones as well as warranty coverage. The company has also been named the only distributor to repair Apple products with authorized Apple parts.


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By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States faces "unacceptable levels of inflation" and an appropriate budgetary stance is needed to help dampen inflationary pressures without undermining the economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told senators on Tuesday.
At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Yellen pushed back against Republican assertions that the highest inflation in 40 years was caused by Democratic President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) COVID-19 spending legislation last year.
"We're seeing high inflation in almost all of the developed countries around the world. And they have very different fiscal policies," Yellen said. "So it can't be the case that the bulk of the inflation that we're experiencing reflects the impact of the ARP."
Yellen said she saw the bulk of inflation being caused by supply and demand mismatches, including excessive demand for goods over services during the pandemic and severe supply chain disruptions. High energy and food prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine also have pushed inflation higher, she said.
She insisted that addressing inflation was Biden's top priority and said that elements of the president's proposed social and climate legislation could help lower costs for Americans, including for prescription drugs and clean energy initiatives.
"We currently face macroeconomic challenges, including unacceptable levels of inflation as well as the headwinds associated with the disruptions caused by the pandemic’s effect on supply chains, and the effects of supply side disturbances to oil and food markets resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine," Yellen said in prepared remarks.
GRILLING IN CONGRESS
Yellen had come under fire from Republicans after admitting she was "wrong" last year in forecasting that inflation would be transitory and quickly subside. She is facing tough questions on the issue from the Senate panel and from the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.
"Well, when I said that inflation would be transitory, what I was not anticipating was a scenario in which we would end up contending with multiple variants of COVID that would be scrambling our economy and global supply chains, and I was not envisioning impacts on food and energy prices we've seen from Russia's invasion of Ukraine," Yellen said.
She has said that the Federal Reserve has primary responsibility for bringing down inflation and that she respects the Fed's independence in setting monetary policy.
"To dampen inflationary pressures without undermining the strength of the labor market, an appropriate budgetary stance is needed to complement monetary policy actions by the Federal Reserve," she said.
The Biden administration is still pushing for a scaled-back version of its stalled climate and social spending agenda, which would offer tax credits for clean energy technologies and reform prescription drug pricing.
Yellen said that even though the United States is a major energy producer and exporter it was "virtually impossible" for the United States to insulate itself from oil market price shocks and needed to press ahead with a transition to renewable energy sources.
Regarding efforts to increase economic pressure on Russia, she said the United States was "extremely active" in discussing with European countries ways to limit Moscow's oil revenues.
TAX DEAL PLANS
Yellen also said she was "keenly focused" on proceeding with a global tax reform deal among 137 countries, including a 15% global minimum tax.
"I am hopeful that Congress will also implement this global minimum tax as part of its legislative agenda."
She said that another part of the tax deal, a reallocation of taxing rights to market countries, could have a slight impact on U.S. tax revenues


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In what might signal the closing chapter in the CardSystem credit-card security breach saga, CyberSource Friday announced its intent to acquire all of CardSystem’s assets for an undisclosed amount.
In May, CardSystems Inc. reported its role in the nation’s largest known data security breach, when it revealed that someone had broken into its systems and stolen the details of as many as 40 million payment cards, including names, account numbers and expiration dates.
CardSystems might have been considered the victim in the incident had it not admitted to having violated its contracts with Visa, American Express and others by failing to encrypt credit card transaction data and by keeping on file card verification numbers that are never supposed to be stored.
The day before testifying before a U.S. House subcommittee, both Visa and American Express announced they were terminating their relationships with CardSystems. MasterCard said it would continue if CardSystems met various criteria.
Friday’s statement from CyberSource confirmed that it had signed on Sept. 20 a non-binding letter of intent to acquire the assets of CardSystems.
Those assets, the statement said, include “CardSystems advanced payment processing platform with direct connections to major credit card association networks and banks, contracts to process credit card transactions on behalf of more than 120,000 merchants representing more than $18 billion in annual processing volume and a network of Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs).”
The distinction between wanting to purchase the assets of CardSystems and purchasing the company itself is significant, said Colin Gillis, the equity research analyst who tracks CyberSource for the Adams Harkness Inc. investment firm.
Given the substantial liability from various potential lawsuits and government investigations, purchasing the company would bring those liabilities to CyberSource.
By purchasing just the assets, CyberSource would, in theory, not be accepting those liabilities, Gillis said.
When both American Express and Visa announced they were terminating their CardSystems contracts, many industry observers questioned whether the processing firm could survive.
During testimony before a Congressional investigative committee, even CardSystems CEO John Perry raised the issue of whether his company could survive without those credit card giants’ support.
That background suggests that CyberSource could be picking up CardSystems’ assets at a substantial discount.
“For CardSystems, this seems like it was something they had to do because of the tremendous bad publicity and security problems,” said IHL Services President Greg Buzek said. “That’s a shame because people spend so much time building something and because of this mistake and criminals, they are basically forced to sell.”
As for the pricing, he added: “I’m sure CyberSource will get the assets at a greatly discounted rate compared with what it would have been a year ago.”
Bruce Frymire, the director of corporate communications and investor relations for CyberSource, wouldn’t comment on the price his company has offered to pay, but he did challenge the premise that it would be a huge discount.
“We do not feel like we paid anything like a fire sale price,” Frymire said.
Next Page: Is CyberSource really getting a deal?


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Celebrity News April 24, 2018
Star Style! The Hottest Sunglasses for Summer
Festival season has arrived and it’s setting the stage for all the summertime fashion trends!
“Extra’s” Mario Lopez teamed up with Lara Eurdolian, Sunglass Hut style expert and the blogger behind PrettyConnected.com, to break down the hottest star sunglass styles!
From colored frames to classic aviators, there is something for everyone. Watch!


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Media brand Minute Media has snapped up The Players‚Äô Tribune for an undisclosed sum.
Minute Media said its company will provide technology capabilities and unprecedented global reach to the unique sports brand which gives a voice to athletes. It will accompany 12up, 90min and DBLTAP, Mental Floss and The Big Lead in the Minute Media family.
Derek Jeter, founder of The Players‚Äô Tribune in a first-person editorial on The Players‚Äô Tribune website, said: “When we led this category of athlete-driven stories five years ago, we couldn‚Äôt imagine The Players‚Äô Tribune would transform the landscape the way it did.
‚ÄúOur vision was to give athletes the tools they needed to speak in their own voice and bring fans closer to the game. Over the last few years, The Players‚Äô Tribune has become a real force, bringing attention to issues and stories in a way we‚Äôve never seen before. We‚Äôre looking forward to continuing to give athletes a voice ‚Äì around the world.‚Äù
Asaf Peled, founder and chief executive of Minute Media, added: “The Players‚Äô Tribune represents one of the most dynamic sports digital media brands in the world.
‚ÄúAdding the brand‚Äôs athlete community, authentic storytelling and premium content offering to our portfolio is an incredible asset. Our goal at Minute Media is to strengthen this established brand position and accelerate the vision of becoming the world‚Äôs leading global athlete-driven platform. While we continue to seek out premium content brands across sports and lifestyle, we‚Äôve identified those with potential to scale globally and those that have developed significant loyalty and trust in their audience, of which the Player‚Äôs Tribune is a premier example.‚Äù
The deal will be finalised by the end of the year. It is the brand’s third acquisition to date. Jeter will remain involved in the company and joins Minute Media‚Äôs board of directors.


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The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors yesterday voted unanimously to call for establishment of a foreign trade zone near Dulles International Airport, a move that they said should improve the facility's sagging fortunes and bring millions of dollars into the county.
If approved by the federal government, the decision would allow businesses in the zone to avoid paying import duties on the materials used in products made in the zone but exported. They would have to pay the duties on any products sold in the United States.
The 25-acre site to be located south of Herndon would be the second such trade zone to serve metropolitan Washington. A Prince George's County facility is scheduled for completion late this year.
Fairfax officials said a foreign trade zone could attract between $5 million and $7 million in business to the county in its first five years of operations, luring trading firms thst wish to simplify their customs review process.
"Our thrust is getting this done as soon as possible," said County Board Chairman John F. Herrity, a Republican. "This could encourge not only foreign trade but local trade, as well."
In the same meeting, Fairfax supervisors voted to send Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis a sternly worded message threatening a lawsuit if Lewis does not withdraw his decision to postpone the effective date of proposed limits on air traffic to Washington National Airport.
County officials said a Belgium-Based corporation called Gestinvest Limited has been chosen to manage the trade zone after a nationwide search turned up no other applicants. Construction of the facility would begin next spring.
A foreign trade zone is a secured area under U.S. Customs supervision which is designated as international territory for customs purposes. International traders may bring goods into such zone for manufacturing, warehousing, exhibiting, processing and assembly, with duties being paid only when the goods are removed from the zone for consumption in the domestic market.


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Speaking exclusively to Packaging News, Ball Europe Packaging Europe president Colin Gillis said: “The London Metal Exchange [LME] sets the price for aluminium. The parties who set the premiums for shipping and warehousing have raised the prices at a high level over the last two years.
“This is a significant and extraordinary cost increase for us and we are left with no choice but to renegotiate contracts and to pass these costs on when we negotiate new contracts.”
Current prices on the LME show prices for aluminium are $ 1,792.50 a tonne at the moment.
‘Consumers like cans’
Gillis added: “These prices have risen to historical highs and it is not reflective of the true cost. Europe is a challenging place right now. However, people are still drinking. Consumers like cans and we have seen a resurgence in places in Germany. ”
He said in general the situation in Europe had been “cool” for the first few months of the year. In general, there has been a 2-3% growth per year in Europe for. Gillis said: “It is steady growth which in turn prompts us to have more of a measured investment plan.”
Asia Pacific and South America
Elsewhere, Gillis said: “The last few years have been really kind to the can especially in our Asia Pacific and South American regions.
” There will be two events that will keep consumption growing. The world will be coming to Brazil’s door in the next few years with the World Cup and Olympics.
“North America is a mature market and the development of speciality cans is really taking off. Our Alumi-Tek 16oz bottle is doing very well and has been a great success story.
“People are looking for something different and our customers are driven by our consumer’s needs. Our impact extruded bottles are also doing well.
“We are working with our customers on a range of new different shapes, textures and finishings. There are a bunch of things going on.
“Digital printing is moving forward. Personalisation is also a big thing. Consumers like it when you de-commoditise a product, making it personal and fun. ”


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Apple: "we plan to have an iPhone SDK in developers' hands in February"
October 18, 2007 1 Comment
Third Party Applications on the iPhone
Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users. With our revolutionary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architecture, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers.
It will take until February to release an SDK because we’re trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once—provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc. This is no easy task. Some claim that viruses and malware are not a problem on mobile phones—this is simply not true. There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network. As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous. And since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target.
Some companies are already taking action. Nokia, for example, is not allowing any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer. While this makes such a phone less than “totally open,” we believe it is a step in the right direction. We are working on an advanced system which will offer developers broad access to natively program the iPhone’s amazing software platform while at the same time protecting users from malicious programs.
There’s a lot of speculation about whether or not the dedicated iPhone hackers forced Apples’ hand on this. Looking at the Springboard breakdown, some amount of support for additional apps has been there since the beginning. The latest 1.1.1 release seems to have increased that. The question is: with the PR beating it was taking, why didn’t Apple announce this when the iPhone was initially released, and what took them so long? Only Jobs knows for sure, but announcing it from the very beginning would likely have caused some people to hold off on their purchase. As for what’s taking so long, it could be a variety of things. The latest firmware release clearly shows that the iPhone platform is still a rapidly moving target. Apple may just want things to stabilize a bit before letting others in. It will be interesting to see how Apple rolls this out. Will apps have to be digitally signed by Apple? Will the only installation mechanism be iTunes? We’ll have to wait and see. While I’m glad to see this announcement (although they really didn’t have much of a choice in the end if they wanted a truly successful product long term), it’s probably not enough for me not to switch to an OpenMoko device in December.


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A new report has warned parents that fast food can contain half of a child's daily calorie intake in just one meal.
Consumer watchdog Which? has found that children consume an average 947 calories at Burger King, 912 at KFC and 868 at McDonalds.
The calories weren't the only concern for Which?, who also discovered that children who went to KFC ate two thirds of their guideline daily salt intake, and 11 to 14-year-olds consumed half of their guideline daily amount of sugar at McDonalds and Burger King.
The watchdog also said that one in four children surveyed in the UK as part of the Consumers International survey on fast food marketing said they went to a chain at least once a week.
Martyn Hocking, editor of Which? magazine, said: 'It's really positive that fast food chains have made their children's meals healthier and added options like fruit and veg to the menu, but all too often kids go for options that are high in calories, fat, sugar and salt, particularly when they visit with their friends.
'We'd like to see all fast food restaurants providing nutritional information at the counter so that parents and older children know what they're eating.'
The research showed that a quarter of children who said they visited fast food outlets for a 'snack' actually ate a whole meal which, when added to their daily meal intake, would take them above the recommended calorie, fat, salt and sugar levels.
Which? also said they had concerns about the use of toys to promote fast food, noting: 'Both McDonalds and Burger King use toys and film promotions to market meals to children, which could encourage more frequent visits.
'Four in ten children aged eight to 11 said that McDonalds was their favourite fast food chain because of the toys and Happy Meals.'


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As new technology is perfected and the cost of producing component parts decreases, the amount we pay for the latest and greatest technologies tends to decrease as well. You can get a new TV for a few hundred dollars, when people were lining up to pay $5,000+ for the first generation of flat-panels. Similarly, as ... Read More »
Are you ready for the upcoming wave of next-generation Android devices? After many months of waiting, NVIDIA has officially announced their Tegra 3 processor, previously known as Project Kal-El. We first learned of this quad-core beast back in February and were expecting devices by summer, but unknown delays pushed that back to the ... Read More »
ASUS already told us about their Transformer Prime launch event on November 9, but many of us are still waiting to find out exactly when the world’s first quad-core Android tablet will go on sale in the US. According to the latest rumor from Fuad Abazovic of Fudzilla, we should expect ... Read More »
Most Tweeted This Week
Remember those rumors that Qualcomm was losing their grip on HTC and we might see future phones with NVIDIA processors? According to the latest leak from Evan Blass of PocketNow, HTC is working on a new handset called the Edge, which could be the world’s first Android phone to feature the quad-core Tegra ... Read More »
Want even more proof that the quad-core processor inside the Transformer Prime is the long-awaited Tegra 3? The guys from Wireless Goodness spotted a full teardown from a recent FCC filing that confirms NVIDIA will provide the processor for ASUS’s next flagship Android tablet. Not many official hardware details have leaked, but ... Read More »
Which company will deliver the first quad-core Tegra 3 Android smartphone and when will it be available? I originally predicted it would happen this year, and it looked to be on track when NVIDIA unveiled Tegra 3, saying it would arrive in tablets by August with smartphones to follow by Christmas. Unfortunately that ... Read More »
The world’s first quad-core Android tablet could go on sale as early as next week, but don’t expect it to ship with Android 4.0. We were already expecting the Transformer Prime to be announced on November 9, and ASUS CEO Jonney Shih hinted that Ice Cream Sandwich would be coming to the EeePad ... Read More »
We already knew that Grand Theft Auto III was coming to select Android devices, but today we learned it will support USB controllers, come in an optimized version for Tegra 3 devices and launch this year. Adam Rosenberg of Digital Trends paid a visit to Rockstar’s New York offices this week and reported ... Read More »
We’ve seen the Transformer Prime in a flashy teaser trailer and under the harsh lights of a stage, but until now we hadn’t gotten a chance to see what the Transformer Prime looks like at home with its hair dock down.
No new revelations from these images, but the ... Read More »
How do you measure success in the mobile application processor business? NVIDIA recently revealed that their Tegra 2 processor accounts for 70% of the non-iPad tablet market, but it cost them $2 billion dollars to get there and Android tablets haven’t been exactly flying off the shelves yet (until recently).
Company CEO Jen-Hsun Huang ... Read More »


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Recently, Truth Labs, the team behind Goblintown, Grumpls, and the Illuminati NFT Collections have announced that they have officially launched their very own NFT marketplace.
Truth Co-founder Alexander Taub, tweeted the announcement through his Twitter, explaining that the marketplace itself was built in collaboration with Snag Solutions.
About The Marketplace
The Truth Marketplace, as its being referred as, will be a place for holders of all of Truth Labs’ NFT collections to buy or sell their NFTs.
In the Truth Marketplace, you’ll be able to purchase any Truth related collections.
— Alexander Taub (🔺👁🔺) (@ajt) September 22, 2022
The marketplace will also have a 5 percent royalty fee, which it claims will go towards continuing to build both the project as well as further develop the marketplace.
Taub also claims that unlike other marketplaces like OpenSea which has been dealing with a lot of issues surrounding locked NFTs, the Truth marketplace will have high requirements in order to mark an NFT as “suspicious” or “stolen”, meaning that holders will most likely not have their NFTs randomly locked and unable to be sold.
“This marketplace launch kicks off an exciting second chapter for Truth Labs that will bring characters from both the GoblinTown and Illuminati ecosystems together, starting with a single marketplace experience.” the Truth Labs team says.
The Rise Of Individual Marketplaces
There are a number of other NFT collections with large ecosystems have also been in talks of reportedly launching their own marketplace for their NFT collections.
One of the most famous ones being Yuga Labs, which has announced plans to make its own NFT marketplace for people to buy and sell their NFTs, starting from Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), CryptoPunks, Meebits, Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), and more. This reported marketplace plans to also allow users to buy and sell their NFTs using ApeCoin.
Aside from this, Snag Solutions, which has worked on Truth Labs marketplace, claims that it is currently in talks with around 15 NFT projects in creating their very own marketplace tailored for their NFTs.


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The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) are sponsoring the Colts Biggest Fan Contest – a coloring competition in partnership with the Indianapolis Colts and “Blue,” the football team’s official mascot. From now until Feb. 7, kids are encouraged to go to Colts.com to color the ISA and ICMC branded pages featuring Blue in a soybean and corn field, respectively. Participants then return the sheets online for a chance to win.
“ISA is proud to continue its partnership with the Indianapolis Colts to tell the farm sustainability story through soybean uses like soy crayons and soy-based turf to consumers around the state,” said Angie Steinbarger, Indiana Soybean Alliance Sustainability and Value Creation Committee Chairwoman and farmer from Edinburgh, Ind. “We are constantly trying to identify new and creative ways to communicate this message, and our partnership with them has allowed that message to resonate even more.”
ISA and ICMC have been proud corporate sponsors of Indianapolis Colts programs and initiatives since 2012, reaching thousands of consumers through the years. The outreach the Colts have with the community has been a great fit for the two Indiana checkoff organizations and a compelling way for them to amplify the message of Hoosier corn and soybean farming across the state. In the past, the organizations have teamed up to sponsor tailgate cookoffs, “Colts in the Community” events and more.
As part of the current partnership along with the coloring contest, the Colts will promote soy and corn based products and the sustainable corn and soybean story through schools and events across the state over this next year and football season. Voting for the coloring contest begins following the conclusion of the NFL championship game on Feb. 7, with the winner of the Colts Biggest Fan Contest receiving a personal visit from Blue and a Colts gift package. Finalists will be notified when voting is complete, and the grand-prize winner will be selected soon after.
To learn more and to enter, go to Colts.com/biggestfan. And if you need materials to color the sheets, ISA has you covered. Just go to glassbarn.org/material-request and order your free soybean-based crayons.


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IN CASED YOU MISSED OUR NEWS
As you may have heard, WOTSO WorkSpace will spin off from parent company BlackWall.
This exciting news comes as the WOTSO business grows, with a number of spaces around Australia and one in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is time for the growing business to continue its expansion as a stand-alone operation.
We are looking forward to continually building the WOTSO network, growing the community of members and creating spaces that are vibrant, exciting and focused on collaboration and innovation.
“We are excited for this new chapter in the story of WOTSO”
– Stuart Brown, CEO, WOTSO WorkSpace
Read more here.
CELEBRATING MILESTONES AT WOTSO CHERMSIDE
To mark our first birthday, the team at WOTSO Chermside hosted a celebratory evening on July 25th to say a special thank you to our WOTSO members, the Westfield team and our fellow centre retailers for supporting our growing community over the last 12 months.
Delicious food and drinks meant our guests could relax into their evening, with catering by My Alter Ego and pop up bar by Gathering Events. WOTSO Chermside is the first of its kind to be located in a Westfield centre – an exciting lifestyle hub, where work and play intersect so our members can really enjoy the perfect work-life balance. However, WOTSO Chermside is set to become one of two WOTSO spaces located in a Westfield centre – WOTSO Woden coming soon to Canberra!
OUR GO-TO SPOTS IN NORTH STRATHFIELD
Settling into WOTSO North Strathfield? Here’s a quick 101 on where to grab your early AM coffee, where to celebrate team milestones and where you can enjoy a hearty, but healthy lunch in between meetings! Our North Strathfield Space Leader, Courtney, gives us her recommendations all located right around the corner from WOTSO!
For when that 3PM slump hits?
Number 5 cafe for great coffee, or a hot chocolate.
When the team has cause for a celebration lunch?
Look no further than Cookies Lounge Bar.
Lunch on the run?
Pasikato – for fresh & delicious sandwiches and salad bowls.
Want to impress at a client meeting?
Touch base with the Pasikato team about catering!
Need to run off some steam?
Hit up Anytime Fitness or Fitness First for a midday sweat session.
Take up a few lanes at Kingpin Bowling and enjoy the surrounds of this newly refurbished, yet retro bowling alley.
Thinking about setting up your operation in North Strathfield? Touch base with our team today to find out about options suitable for your business!
WOTSO IN THE PRESS
WOTSO CEO, Stuart Brown, sat down with the team at Generation Entrepreneur to talk about the world of co-working in 2019 and why this work setup could be an exciting next step for a new business operation!


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Iran pistachios export has fallen in 2021
Pistachio exports in the first nine months of 2021 fell by 19 percent for a variety of reasons.
Mizan News Agency – Pistachio is one of the advantageous products of our country that has always had a special place in the export basket of Iranian agricultural products.
Iran is one of the largest producers of pistachios in the world and in 2021 it exported pistachios to about 70 countries.
Sayed Ruhollah Latifi, the spokesman of the customs, in a conversation with Mizan about the export of pistachios and its situation in the first 9 months of 2021-2022, said: in the first 9 months of this year, more than 111,112 tons of pistachios worth 738 million 456 thousand 417 dollars were exported. There were 96,771 tons of pistachios with skin, 13,745 tons of pistachio kernels, 275 tons of sliced pistachios and 358 tons of other types of pistachios.
Latifi further explained: Pistachio with skin weighing 96 thousand 771 tons and worth 581 million 401 thousand 885 dollars has been exported to 67 countries, while China bought 32 thousand 713 tons worth 188 million 785 thousand dollars. $ 271, India with 10 thousand 859 tons worth 71 million 693 thousand 312 dollars, Russia with 6 thousand 710 tons worth 39 million 292 thousand 850 dollars, Iraq with 6 thousand 233 tons The value of 37 million 464 thousand 887 dollars and Kyrgyzstan with the purchase of 6 thousand 150 tons worth 37 million 457 thousand 848 dollars, were the first five countries to buy pistachios with skin from Iran.
He stated: 54 countries also bought 13 thousand 745 tons of pistachio kernels from Iran worth 152 million 393 thousand 311 dollars, while India bought 3,171 tons worth 34 million 298 thousand 782 dollars, Germany with Buy 2,902 tons worth 33 million 860 thousand 777 dollars, UAE buy 1,826 tons worth 19 million 944 thousand 610 dollars, Iraq buy 1,780 tons worth 19 million 94 dollars $ 1,553 and Turkey, with the purchase of 960 tons worth $ 10,370,353, were the five destinations for Iranian pistachio kernel exports during this period.
Regarding the export of sliced pistachios, the customs spokesman said: “More than 275 tons of pistachios without second skin or sliced worth 3 million 358 thousand 332 dollars were exported to 18 countries in 9 months, while the UAE with 99 tons worth one million.” 409,771 dollars, Qatar with more than 45 tons worth 540,297 dollars, Iraq with 32 tons worth 357,134 dollars, Turkey with 23.6 tons worth 304,554 dollars and Germany With 22.3 tons worth $ 241,056, the top five destinations for pistachio slices were from Iran.
Latifi said: “Other pistachios and related products with 358 tons and worth $ 1,451,536 have been exported to 13 countries during this period, of which Iraq, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Armenia were the top five export destinations.” .
He stressed: “Unfortunately, in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period last year, we saw a 19 percent decrease in both weight and value of pistachio exports.”
In an interview with Mizan, Mohammad Salehi, referring to the production and export of pistachios, said: “Pistachio production has decreased by 70,000 tons compared to last year, and this amount of production is related to initial estimates, and an estimate will be made in November, after which The exact amount of pistachio production is determined.
Regarding the reason for the decrease in pistachio production, he said: “Cold and heat have both been factors in reducing pistachio production.” About 20% of pistachios are consumed domestically and the rest of the production is exported to East Asia, Europe, Russia, Arab countries, India, etc.
Regarding the main challenge in pistachio production, the head of the Pistachio Association said: “The biggest problem is in water production, which unfortunately is not done in this regard. Also, farmers’ raw materials such as pesticides, fertilizers, etc. are usually imported.”Salehi said: “The problem with pistachio exports is the foreign exchange commitment that the government receives to return the currency to the exporter, but despite the sanctions, it is not possible for this currency to be returned and this issue will affect exports.”


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Alibaba Group’s logistics platform, Cainiao Network, has issued its inaugural social responsibility report to engage consumers and business partners in sustainable practices, as part of World Environment Day celebrations on June 5.
In the report, Cainiao highlights the development of its end-to-end green logistics system from purchase to delivery, including paperless shipping labels, smart route planning, recycling and solar-powered warehouses. These measures are part of a promise made by Alibaba to reach carbon neutrality and halve carbon intensity in its supply chain by 2030.
Delivery services accounted for 29% of carbon emissions generated by China’s e-commerce industry in 2021, according to Beijing-based consultancy CarbonStop, while packaging made up another 18%. At the fulfillment end of the world’s largest global e-commerce network, Cainiao is well-placed to effect positive change from within.
“To be sure, going green is not cheap and switching to green packaging can double or even triple costs for merchants and logistics companies,” Cainiao’s public relations director Zhijing Niu told Alizila, the news hub for Alibaba Group. “We invest a lot at this stage but it will make us a stronger competitor in the future – both in domestic Chinese markets and globally.”
The alternative is grim: if nothing changes, the domestic logistics industry will deliver 150 billion parcels in 2025, which will make up 1.1% of China’s total emissions, per CarbonStop estimates.
Cainiao also highlighted several of its sustainability firsts over the last year, including the launch of China’s first green-delivery-themed online interactive community in March, where consumers shop green and take part in offline activities to earn credits worth platform incentives.
A similar reward scheme encouraged four million Alibaba platform users to recycle their boxes during last year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival and helped save 53,000 tons of carbon emissions.
Outside of significant promotion periods, Cainiao also enables participants to monitor their own carbon footprints by seeing how many eco-friendly packages they receive and how many recycled boxes they use.
As for merchants, the platform has developed a carbon asset management system that forecasts carbon emissions and offers carbon rating reports and carbon accounting statistics.
Cainiao shares these sustainable logistics practices throughout China’s rural areas via a comprehensive delivery network. Cainiao is investing in smart logistics service stations, agricultural product warehouses, and agricultural supply chains in these areas.
Read more about Cainiao’s rooftop solar installations powering its warehouses in China here.


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Birmingham Airport has announced the introduction of its new flight update service – Flight Smart – for departing passengers via Facebook messenger.
The Flight Smart flight update service was originally offered via Twitter, having launched in summer 2017. Following the success of the programme, Birmingham Airport will now add Flight Smart to Facebook messenger as well. Passengers can send their flight number to the Flight smart messenger page and instantly receive live flight updates direct to their mobile and tablet devices.
Jo Lloyd, Business Development Director – Birmingham Airport said: ‘In this digital age we live by our mobiles, so to be able to see where to check in, what gate to use and which restaurant to choose from, all from your phone or tablet, takes the stress out of travelling. The twitter Flight Smart has been heavily used by our passengers since its inauguration, but we were conscious that not everyone uses twitter, with the addition of Facebook messenger Flight Smart all passengers can have up to date information on their journey at their fingertips.
Paul Brugger, C.E.O of TIC said: ‘Birmingham Airport has been running BizTweet under the Flight Smart brand for eighteen months, due to its phenomenal success they will be launching our complementary Facebook Messenger service. At a touch of a button the airport will be able to provide even more passengers with real-time, high personalised operational and customer service messages directly to passengers via these two platforms.’
Facebook messenger also offers more detailed content, allowing passengers to access maps and directions, information about restaurants and contact details, enabling them to plan ahead of their trip. Flight Smart was developed in collaboration with Cork -based technology company, TIC for Facebook Messenger.
Passengers using Flight Smart on Facebook messenger may type @flybhx into the search tab on the Facebook app or the Birmingham Airport facebook page to get live updates. This service helps passengers get constant flight updates until departure and also allows family and friends to track the flight, the airport said.


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18 February 2020
Uganda has taken major steps to prevent the use of counterfeit phones by installing a central equipment identity registry.
The move by Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) came on the back of an increased influx of fake mobile handsets into Ugandan market in late 2019.
Ibrahim Bbosa, director of public and corporate affairs at UCC, said the central equipment identity registry is to be linked to in each of the telecoms operator systems.
“As I speak the system is analysing to see how many phones in our market are genuine and those that are counterfeit” he added.
Local media also reported that while the machine will not stop counterfeit phones already in use, it will be able to prevent operation of new fake handsets.
UCC said the system will cluster mobile users under the three separate lists—the white list which will have genuine phones, a grey list that will have phones that are either roaming and a black list that will not allow a counterfeit handset to operate on any network.


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After launching a new travel center in New Jersey, New York’s Bolla Oil is now eyeing a dozen new-to-industry sites in the Garden State.
By John Lofstock, Editor
Bolla Oil has never been afraid to take a gamble on a unique opportunity, so when the chance to enter the New Jersey market presented itself, the company went all in.
Bolla Oil, based in Garden City, N.Y., has traditionally focused on adding company-operated and dealer sites around New York City, one of the most complex and expensive markets in the country. But just across the Hudson River lies New Jersey. The focal point of timeless mafia jokes and the search for Jimmy Hoffa, the Garden State is also a rapidly emerging market for upscale convenience stores. Prime retail real estate, however, is very hard to find, and when it does become available, it comes with a hefty price point.
Still, this is the perfect scenario for Harry Singh. When a two-acre truckstop along the border of New York and New Jersey hit the market in 2015, the president and CEO of Bolla Oil jumped at the opportunity.
“The property was is in distress,” Singh said. “There was quite a bit of contamination that scared off a lot of potential investors, but I saw this as a one-shot opportunity to get into New Jersey in a location that offered endless possibilities.”
The site is located on Route 17 in a corridor just off the New York State Thruway, which serves as one of the two main conduits off the thruway into New Jersey. It’s a destination for both truckers and local commuters. Additionally, the travel center is situated in such a way that it is accessible from Route 17 and the interstate connecting New York and New Jersey.
“These sites don’t become available very often,” Singh said. “Going into the bidding process early on we knew the cost of the clean up would be extensive, we knew the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would be heavily involved and we knew it wouldn’t be cheap. But we also knew it wasn’t an opportunity we were going to let get by us.”
What Singh had in his corner was vertical integration. Bolla Oil is not your tradition oil company. In addition to owning a real estate company, a transportation business and operating convenience stores, the company owns a construction company, which is licensed to do site cleanups in New York and New Jersey.
After purchasing the property, Bolla spent $18,000-$20,000 per month on the site just to keep it going as it prepared plans for the cleanup with the state and for a full raze and rebuild of the existing building. The state and the Bergen County DEP had been running the clean up under the previous owner.
“From the state’s standpoint, I think they were a little relieved to have us purchase the property and show them a plan to clean up the site and develop a property we all could be proud of,” Singh said.
But that came with a cost. Singh estimated the cleanup cost alone totaled a whopping $1.4 million to dig up the property, remove the contaminated soil and dispose of it properly. Combined with the cost to raze the existing structure and fill in the site with clean soil, Bolla Oil was facing a hefty investment.
“For us, the big question was about efficiency and ensuring we could get the most out of the money we were investing,” Singh said. “When it comes to investing millions, you have to ask the question, ‘Can this business generate a return and be profitable?’ If the answer is no, you have to have the discipline to walk away, no matter the location.”
But when the answer is yes, the possibilities seem endless. The site opened its doors in July, and within one month it began averaging about 70,000 gallons per day and more than two million gallons per month, with virtually no promotions. Business has been so good that the store is getting about nine fuel deliveries per day.
“Our fuel volume is three times more than our busiest New York stores,” Singh said.
Growing Store Sales
But while Bolla Oil is shrewd when it comes to the fuel business, thanks to owning its own tankers and having drivers on the payroll, it’s even better when it comes to growing convenience store sales.
Still, New Jersey presented new challenges to Bolla Oil. For starters, most c-stores in the Garden State cannot obtain a license to sell alcohol, which limits customer trips. Plus, the convenience market for years was dominated by unbranded sites and single-store owners, thanks in large part to New Jersey’s stubborn full-service fuel laws, which increase labor costs. Customers were not conditioned to get out of the car to shop the convenience store.
But the need for quick, upscale meals and snacks has had a transformative impact on the marketplace. Over the past decade, major players have made tremendous inroads with upscale convenience store models, beginning with New Jersey-based QuickChek, who is building full-service c-stores with upscale features like self-checkout to enhance speed of service.
Wawa began making a push into the market about four years ago and Speedway’s acquisition—and subsequent rebranding—of Hess has elevated the Ohio marketer’s presence significantly.
Enter Bolla Oil.
“New Jersey customers are used to QuickChek and Wawa, so they understand that convenience stores can be a destination for high-quality foods,” Singh said. “So when we introduced our upscale food program, we didn’t have to convince them to come in and try something new. Our challenge was showing them how good we could be and getting them to come back.”
To put his best foot forward, Singh opened the 10,000-square-foot store, which includes an expansive 1,500-square-feet of seating, with Brooklyn-trained chefs who prepared everything made to order. This included sandwiches, wraps, panini and entrees. In the first month, the store grossed about $350,000, including about $105,000 alone in foodservice sales.
“Our strategy is pretty simple. It is to be consistent in everything we do. To offer great food, great service and great prices every single day. To offer consistent high standards and never overlook the little things,” Singh said. “That means having employees in clean uniforms, greeting everyone that comes through the door and going the extra mile to exceed customers’ expectations. Our standards are high and we want customers to expect this from us every day.”
Singh has been precisely charting Bolla Oil’s growth for 27 years. He began as an auto mechanic with one Mobil station on Houston St. in New York City. Today, he has grown the company into a network of 105 retail sites, which includes 65 company-operated stores. The company has 20 new stores in the pipeline, including a dozen in New Jersey.
In 2012, Bolla expanded its core business with the development of its fuel trucking fleet, Bolla Transport LLC. The company invested nearly $2 million in equipment including a fleet of 11 tankers, each of which holds 8,200 gallons to 12,000 gallons of fuel. It hired more than 30 drivers, plus a crew of mechanics to maintain the vehicles out of its warehouse in Brooklyn.
Among the keys to Bolla Oil’s success has been its ability to control key points of the business that have traditionally tripped up other operators. Bolla is the parent of six distinct affiliate companies: Bolla Realty, Bolla Market, Bolla Wholesale, Bolla Retail, Bolla Transport and Bolla Construction. By doing so, Bolla has driven down costs associated with building sites and procuring products/services to well below industry averages.
“Tomorrow’s success begins today. Whether it’s finding a piece of real estate you want or visiting some other stores to learn where you can improve, you have to prepare and set goals for yourself and the business,” Singh said. “The quickest way to fail is by not planning effectively.”
For example, where many operators have to lease properties, Bolla is a landlord on dozens of lots throughout New York City—a market where real estate and property taxes are among the highest in the world. This helps to insulate the company from fluctuating costs.
“To make your mark you are either growing the business, or waiting for the industry to pass you by,” Singh said. “Our strategy is relatively simple. We are looking for top quality stores that will help us expand in our markets of operation and present opportunities in new markets that will enhance our scalability.”
To get to this point, Singh had to endure some tough lean years. While he is enjoying success, he rarely takes a day off, let alone a vacation, and he’s always ready to talk business.
Singh founded Bolla in 1989, just five years after he emigrated to the U.S. from India. Newly married, he soon began building his network of stations and stores. The company is a family affair that extends beyond Singh’s wife and two children. Several of Singh’s first employees still work at Bolla.
It is the memory of those early days that continues to drive Singh. He took classes to become an auto mechanic to ensure that he had a discernable skill so he could provide for his growing family. Then he worked the overnight shift in the convenience store to drive additional revenues.
“I remember back to a lot of nights when I first started this business with just a couple of stores in terrible neighborhoods. I used to keep a baseball bat next to me at all times because the locations were just that bad,” Singh recalled. “On the one hand, you’re trying to provide great service to the customers that appreciated you being there, but on the other hand you had to worry about some bad people.”
After all of his hard work, Singh takes pride in providing an income for more than 500 employees and their families. To that end, Bolla also gives back to the community in many ways, such as making regular contributions to local community groups, churches and temples, and giving educational grants to local schools each year.
“Success and profits are not bad words,” Singh said. “It took years of hard work to get to this point. I’m so pleased to be able to have great employees that believe in what we are doing and that are sharing in our success.”


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Visa-free Africa by 2018: Where does Rwanda lie?
In 2013, the African Union adopted Agenda 63, as a blueprint to propel the continent to prosperity within the next 50 years.
As part of the agenda, African countries committed to abolishing visa requirements for all African citizens travelling within the continent by 2018.
According to the second Africa Visa Openness Index, released mid this year, 75 per cent of the countries in the top 20 most visa-open countries are in either Eastern or West Africa, while 20 per cent are in Southern Africa.
Only one country in the top 20 most open to visas is in North Africa (Mauritania), while no countries in Central Africa appear in the top 20.
On January 1, 2013, Rwanda eased visa requirements for African nationals.
All holders of African passports travelling to or transiting through the country are issued an entry visa upon arrival at any Rwandan entry point. And, some countries do not require visas at all.
For Rwandans, however, of the 53 African countries, only 29 allow holders of the Rwandan passport to enter without a visa or issue it on arrival.
Reaping from open borders
The Chief Executive of Rwanda Convention Bureau (RCB), Frank Murangwa, said opening borders to Africans has contributed to the growth of the economy, especially in terms of increasing in-bound delegate numbers.
“It has helped facilitate both local businesses and employment opportunities. This year alone, RCB has hosted big events like YouthConnekt Africa (1,000 delegates) and Transform Africa Summit (1,500 delegates), both bringing in delegates, most of whom were visiting the country for the first time. The delegates have a positive economic impact,” he said.
Murangwa said that African delegates are a growing target audience hailing the country’s decision to open its borders, thus easing the process of acquiring African Conferences, Events and Exhibitions.
Dr Frederick Golooba-Mutebi is a researcher and analyst. He told The New Times that travelling through Africa is hard for Africans because some of the countries on the continent sometimes make it even more difficult to obtain a visa than one to Europe or the US.
“I will give you an example. I wanted to go to Cameroon and I had to apply two months prior because that is the condition. Getting a British visa takes 15 working days, why should it take me that long to go to Cameroon?” he asked.
“As a Ugandan, when I apply for a visa to South Africa, I rarely get multiple entry visas that last more than two months. For Africans, it is relatively easier to travel to Europe or to the Americas than it is in some African countries and I think that is ridiculous,” Golooba-Mutebi added.
He said that while applying for a visa to Canada could get one a 10-year multiple entry visa, five to 10 years for the UK, 10 for the US, it is virtually impossible to get a 10-year visa to any African country.
Golooba-Mutebi said relaxing visa requirements like Ghana and Rwanda have done on can only be a good thing for Africans wishing to travel within the continent whether for work or tourism since it is easy to enter and easy to leave.
Indeed, North Americans need a visa to travel to only 45 per cent of African countries. They do not need a visa in 20 per cent of the countries and can get a visa on arrival 35 per cent.
The Africa Visa Openness index shows that to travel to other African countries, Africans need visas to enter 55 per cent of states within the continent.
“Only 20 per cent of nations allow Africans to enter without visas, with 25 per cent offering visas on arrival,” adds the report commissioned by the African Development Bank.
Lucy Mbabazi, a financial technology expert, said that though more was still needed to fine-tune the entire travelling process, the continued increase in the number of countries that Rwandans can visit now visa-free is great news.
“Hustle-free travel is everything. Being able to avoid having to go through the process of applying, paying, waiting is something great. There are definitely some improvements from a visa perspective though we still have a long way to go when it comes to flight connecting side. It should be affordable to buy a ticket, it should be easy to check in online and for Africa, it is still very manual but hopefully that too will change,” she said.
Justus Mucyo, the head of African Retail Operation at BBOXX, a local company providing affordable solar solutions, said the scrapping of entry visas is invaluable to a company that has plans to expand beyond the borders.
“I am looking forward to travelling the continent for professional reasons. I work for a company that has a vision of operating in as many African countries as possible so if I can travel without requiring a visa, then that is invaluable,” Mucyo says.
One of the arguments against opening up borders is security-related risks.
However, the head of communication and customer care at the Rwanda Immigration and Emigration, Yves Butera, said the benefits outweigh the challenges.
“If all parties collaborate in putting in place infrastructure to address the challenges, all citizens will benefit,” he said.
According to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), in 2008, Africans comprised, on average 88 per cent of the world’s population to apply for a traditional visa. This decreased to 57 per cent in 2015 because many African countries have introduced travel facilitation measures such as visa on arrival and e-Visa.
The idea of easing travel for Africans within the continent is gaining momentum as African leaders are increasingly becoming open to integration.
The leaders believe the opportunities of trading with each other are under-exploited and, by easing travel, trade, tourism and cooperation will bring immense benefits for the African people.
According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 2017 Economic Report on African Tourism, the fastest growing tourism in Africa is intra-African tourism which happens all year through.
UNCTAD secretary-general Mukhisa Kituyi recently told participants at the 41st Annual World Tourism Conference in Kigali that, for African tourism to thrive, there was need to change Africa’s image perception. He emphasised the importance of peace and security.
“The most startling and interesting discovery in our study is that, by far, the fastest growing tourism in Africa is intra-African tourism, which happens 12 months a year. Over the last 10 years, intra-African tourism has grown from 34 per cent to 44 per cent of total African tourism revenues and is projected to be more than 50 per cent in the next 10 years,” Kituyi said.