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Los Angeles -- Will SunPower be the first large solar module maker to get gung-ho about concentrators?
The company -- a leader in high-efficiency solar cells -- has concocted a concentrator in its labs that can increase the sunlight striking a panel by a factor of 6 to 7, according to Howard Wenger, president of the utility business unit at SunPower. SunPower already has a version of the device running at Sandia National Labs.
“We want to drive it to [price] parity with existing technologies or better,” Wenger said during an interview at Solar Power International, which is now taking place in Los Angeles. With concentrators, SunPower could create solar parks “using one-seventh the PV material,” he said.
The concentrator -- a set of reflectors that directs sunlight to solar cells -- would effectively allow the company to increase the power output of its utility-scale solar plants at a time when gaining efficiency the old-fashioned way is becoming challenging. SunPower will soon mass produce monocrystalline solar cells with an efficiency rating of over 23 percent and has demonstrated new cells in the lab that can hit 24 percent. The achievable maximum for this type of solar cells is 25 percent, SunPower CEO Tom Werner told us earlier this year.
The concentrator could essentially act as a work-around, allowing solar cells already near the limits of physically possible efficiency to generate more power. Earlier this year, Werner indicated that the company was looking at concentrators as a way around this problem.
If SunPower goes forward with this plan, it would be a big boost for the fledging concentrator industry. Concentrators were developed in the middle part of the decade as a way to ameliorate the high price of silicon. When polysilicon prices dropped, investors lost interest, making concentrators another one of greentech’s zero-billion-dollar industries. Still, interest in the technology has recently begun to bloom again and concentrators are one of the big topics at the conference; Soliant, for example, debuted a 1000x concentrating module at the show.
Besides increasing the sunlight that hits a solar panel and thus increasing the energy output, the concentrator actually increases the efficiency of the company’s modules, Wenger said. Ironically, SunPower originally began as a concentrator company way back in the mists of time (1985).
The product, however, is still in the R&D phase, so no product rollouts are ready yet. In other SunPower news:
--The company is pushing Oasis, its solar-power-plant-in-a-box. Oasis units can generate one megawatt of power. More importantly, Oasis is produced in a factory, thereby cutting down costs related to work in the field, transportation and other logistics. The company estimates that Oasis can curb costs by 20 percent to 25 percent.
--SunPower wants to hit $1 per watt by 2014. Yes, First Solar is already at 76 cents per watt, but SunPower claims that its cells' far greater efficiency helps to reduce overall land and deployment costs.
--The company is working with Taiwan’s AU Optoelectronics on wringing out the costs of producing its solar modules in a venture in Kuala Lumpur. AU is an expert in mass manufacturing and SunPower says it has the solar part down pat.


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Featuring stunning holiday decorations in the building’s Fifth Avenue windows and Art Deco lobby, the Empire State Building (ESB) today announced the details of “ESB Unwrapped,” its annual gift to New Yorkers, tourists, and fans across the globe this holiday season.
You never know who you may run into during a visit to ESB. Throughout the months of November and December, the building will welcome notable celebrity guests to its world-famous 86th floor Observatory to enjoy the 360-degree views and say hello to fans.
ESB will continue the holiday festivities with tower lightings in celebration of Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. ESB will also partner with iHeartMedia for its annual holiday light and music show, synchronized to Gwen Stefani’s holiday hit “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” broadcast on iHeartMedia New York’s radio stations beginning December 19 through Christmas Eve. For the full lighting schedule, please visit http://www.esbnyc.com/explore/tower-lights/calendar.
From November 27 to December 29, Monday through Friday, a pianist will perform in ESB’s iconic Fifth Avenue lobby. Guests are invited to listen to holiday classics and a collection of seasonal favorites during the hours of 8-11 a.m., 12-3 p.m., and 4-7 p.m.
“New York City comes alive during this time of the year, and the Empire State Building is a magical and integral part of that transformation from the tip of our tower lights to our holiday Fifth Avenue lobby windows,” said Anthony E. Malkin, Chairman and CEO of Empire State Realty Trust. “Observatory visitors look forward to our annual festivities, and we can’t wait to share the holiday cheer this season.”

domain: news


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Fans of Fortnite could be at serious risk as more than 20% of Android apps claiming to be the game contain ways to spy on unwitting users by requiring them to agree to supremely invasive permissions before being able to install them, according to a new report by Virtual Private Network (VPN) comparison service Top10VPN.com.
Ahead of the official launch of the Android version of Fortnite at the end of September, tens of unofficial apps claiming to give early access to the game on your smartphone are now available to download from marketplaces such as Amazon and through searches on Google.
Worryingly, more than 20% of these apps ask users to accept excessive permissions before they can play the game – including allowing access to their contacts, dial a number without their knowledge, installing software silently in the background and monitor when they are making a call and who they are calling.
By assenting to these permissions, gamers are essentially handing a free pass to those who might want to spy on them – which will come as a big concern for parents of Fortnite players, claims the research. Allowing access to the camera, for example, could allow anyone watching to essentially collect images that the camera is seeing at any point, while consenting to location details allows mobile users to be tracked in the real world at any point.
By opting to save costs and not distribute the Android version of the incredibly popular online game on moderated marketplaces such as Google Play, publisher Epic is exposing users to fraudsters and off-brand markets which have created rogue versions of Fortnite, claims Top10VPN.com.
- More than 20% of Fortnite Android apps found through Google and Amazon are fake and require users to agree to invasive permissions that could spy on them
- This includes asking users to allow access to their phone camera, give permission for the game to install software silently in the background and monitor calls they make
- Another 30% of these apps are adware, whose only purpose is to trick Fortnite fans into viewing ads, while more sinisterly, a further 10% of these apps are malware or click scams
While some of these apps do allow gamers to play the game after accepting invasive permissions, Top10VPN’s research found that about 30% of Fortnite ‘apps’ through Google searches were just thinly veiled guides to the game that were actually adware with very little real content – the majority of which can be found on Amazon. More sinisterly, 10% were scams containing no game files or content at all, even raising multiple red flags for trojans and other malware during scans.
Says Simon Migliano, head of research at Top10VPN.com:
“Fortnite is a victim of its own success. It now reportedly has 125 million active users, and while this is great news for the publisher, its success has acted as a blazing beacon to unofficial developers and scammers.
“The long-awaited arrival of the Android version of the game has seen a number of bootleg versions of the game spring up in its absence from the Play store.
“While some of these unofficial apps are well-meaning and otherwise give non-Apple users access to the game on their handsets, a worrying number ask users to accept excessive permissions before they can play the game.
“This means gamers are unwittingly leaving the door open to hackers with more malicious ideas who might want to monitor your calls and even access your phone’s camera.
“With no real knowledge about the people behind these bootleg apps, it’s simply not worth the risk to install them on your device.
“By circumventing official Android marketplaces like Google Play, Epic might be saving itself about 30% a transaction. This discount for the publisher could well come at a cost for gamers who might think they are accessing a bona fide version of the game, but instead be opening themselves up to being spied on.
“As such a high proportion of Fortnite’s user base are children, there’s a real concern that these real-looking versions of the game could be convincing enough to persuade younger users of their authenticity.”


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The automotive division of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is driving serious profits for the San Diego-based company.
Qualcomm drove home the importance of its automotive business on Sept. 22 during its first ever Automotive Investor Day, where the company announced adoption of its Snapdragon Digital Chassis platform by auto makers and suppliers has grown to an estimated $30 billion – a more than $10 billion bump from the company’s Q3 earnings report in late July.
“Qualcomm is a leader in essential technologies for the connected intelligent edge. Our One Technology Roadmap scales across virtually every industry, including automotive,” said Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm. “The Snapdragon Digital Chassis, combined with our relationships with automakers, has resulted in a $30 billion design-win pipeline. We are winning the digital future of automotive.”
At the investor day, Qualcomm estimated that the future total addressable market for automotive business will expand to $100 billion by 2030. The company projects its revenue in the industry will grow from the $975 million reported in FY21 to approximately $1.3 billion by the end of FY22; to $4 billion by the end of FY26; and greater than $9 billion by the end of FY31.
Qualcomm’s expansion in automotive has accelerated this year with announced partnerships with leading automakers including BMW, Ferrari, Volvo, Volkswagen, Renault and Stellantis – providing tech across its 14 brands, starting with Maserati. Qualcomm technology is now in over 150 million vehicles on the road today.
At the investor day event, Qualcomm announced one of its long-standing technology partners, Mercedes-Benz AG, will expand their work to include integrating Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms for digital cockpits and Snapdragon Automotive Connectivity Platforms for telematics systems in upcoming Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
“For many years, Qualcomm Technologies has helped us deliver innovative solutions to our customers,” said Magnus Ostberg, chief software officer for Mercedes-Benz AG. “Our strong relationship is vital to guiding the automotive industry through a time of exceptional growth and technological disruption.”
Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms will enable Mercedes-Benz to build next-generation digital cockpits with AI-powered infotainment systems and virtual driver assistance. Snapdragon Automotive Connectivity Platforms will provide Mercedes-Benz vehicles ultra-fast connectivity, quick network response times and reliability for always connected experiences and safety.
“We are proud to bring our Snapdragon Digital Chassis solutions to Mercedes-Benz,” said Nakul Duggal, senior vice president & GM, automotive at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Our technology partnership is transforming Mercedes-Benz vehicles as we deliver unparalleled compute, performance, AI and safety experiences by providing premium solutions for their next generation of automobiles.”
In addition to announcing an expanded partnership with Mercedes, Qualcomm also announced a new collaboration with open-source solutions experts Red Hat to develop Linux-based operating systems for Snapdragon Digital Chassis platforms.
“It’s not only about hardware. It’s about hardware and software, especially in an industry like automotive,” Amon said. “What you will see today in our product roadmap is how software is becoming more and more relevant to our offering and our solution to the industry.”
The combination of Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating Systems and Snapdragon Digital Chassis Platforms will help automakers accelerate the deployment of new cloud connected digital services designed to be updateable throughout the lifetime of the vehicle via the cloud. Linux-based operating systems offer an increased layer of protection to meet cybersecurity requirements and certifications associated with privacy and software updates attached to automotive safety applications. Platforms utilizing on Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System will be able to conduct simpler and more efficient vehicle updates and maintain functional safety.
“The rise of open source, software-defined design and development methodologies for vehicle services and innovation is bolstered by advanced automotive platforms and the flexible Linux-based operating systems underpinning them. These advancements will help enable the latest in-vehicle, cloud-native, mixed-criticality applications while also driving sustainability and quicker development cycles,” said Francis Chow, vice president and general manager of In-Vehicle Operating System and Edge at Red Hat.
“We are pleased to be working with Qualcomm Technologies on Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System support for their latest Snapdragon Automotive chipsets and look forward to working together in ushering in the new era of software-defined vehicles.”
Bill Pinnell, vice president of product management for automotive at Qualcomm, said working with open-source communities will allow Qualcomm to advance its goals to provide customers the ability to upgrade functionalities and on-demand experiences, and new technologies and services.
“Software-defined vehicles bring an exciting opportunity for the entire automotive ecosystem to go beyond the current functions of the vehicle,” he said. “We are pleased to be working with Red Hat to help make this happen and look forward to working together to accelerate innovation for next generation vehicles.”
Initial versions of Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms and Snapdragon Ride Platforms with pre-integrated Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System are expected to be available for Qualcomm’s automotive partners to evaluate beginning in the second half of 2023.


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Nimble links system performance to customer experience to help shed pay day lender tag
“Micro lender” Nimble says correlating system performance to customer journeys is allowing it to improve the customer experience as the company seeks to become a fully-fledged digital bank and shed its payday lending tag.
The company tapped New Relic, a cloud-based service monitoring software provider, to help plug the holes in its customer funnel by correlating them to system events.
Nimble says improving the customer journey is vital if it is to join a host of new Australian neobanks which market themselves on seamless digital experiences.
Established in 2005 and now headed by Gavin Slater, the former NAB IT chief and one time head of the government’s Digital Transformation Agency, Nimble is trying to evolve from a small loan lender into a full-service digital bank.
The company is yet to be granted a banking licence, meaning it can not offer the larger financial products it wants to and is restricted to offering smaller loans, typically with higher interest rates and fees.
Nimble Chief Digital and Innovation Officer Jason Barry says the company has indeed pivoted since Slater’s arrival. In 2019 it began offering personal loans and car loans.
Nimble remains a microlender and still offers payday loans, Barry says it does so “at the highest end of responsible lending”.
“We do very much deal in the world of financial need, not financial wants,” Barry tells Which-50.
“I mean you look at sectors like buy now pay later. That’s certainly not as responsible as our own space. And it’s something that we take quite seriously, the way that we deal with our customers.”
Barry says the pay day loans tag Nimble is associated with is one of the drivers for pivoting the company towards digital banking and more “contemporary lending products”.
To read more, please click on the link below…


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The NFT explosion is among the most talked about occasions for crypto in 2021, with gross sales from a number of platforms breaking information on a weekly foundation.
NFTs had their greatest month ever in February, in response to a report by DApp statistics trackers at DappRadar. Gross sales quantity from the highest three platforms grew to $342 million in February, up nearly 400% from the $71 million recorded the month earlier than.
Sports activities memorabilia platform NBA High Shot dominated the sector and is now answerable for 67% of whole NFT transaction quantity. The opposite NFT DApps within the prime three are OpenSea, a normal crypto collectibles market and CryptoPunks, an Ethereum-based collectibles sequence. CryptoPunks generated all-time excessive gross sales of $79M with the ground value of punks rising from $10,000 to a mean of $32,000.
Preserve updated with the most recent trade tendencies.
Try our February ’21 Dapp Trade Report back to learn the way completely different #blockchains and particular person tasks have carried out⬇@ethereum @BinanceChain @Tronfoundation @flow_blockchain @WAX_io @0xPolygon https://t.co/8hxA1ATs0u
— DappRadar (@DappRadar) March 2, 2021
The DappRadar report additionally talked about the large rise within the reputation of generative artwork, which is artwork created at the least partially by autonomous programs.
Excessive gasoline charges on the Ethereum community noticed a number of DeFi and NFT tasks transfer off the platform in February, in favor of these with more cost effective transactions. Binance Chain not too long ago surpassed Ethereum when it comes to transaction quantity and distinctive energetic pockets rely and the report famous the speedy development of a number of copycat NFT tasks on Binance Chain, resembling Binance Punks and Bashmarks.
5) Transfer NFT platform to Binance chain to keep away from excessive gasoline charges
— Matthew ₿lack [340-342➞] (@matthewjablack) February 28, 2021
Regardless of excessive gasoline charges, statistics from CryptoSlam present that seven of final month’s prime 10 best-selling NFT merchandise are nonetheless hosted on Ethereum. NBA High Shot makes use of the Move blockchain and the remaining two arehosted on WAX.
The quickest rising model among the many prime 10 is CryptoKitties, which noticed a resurgence in reputation as month-over-month gross sales elevated over 1,300%. The latest entrant to position in CryptoSlam’s prime 10 gross sales checklist is Capcom’s Road Fighter II sequence, which is at the moment #8, with $1.26 M in gross sales since its Feb. 16 launch.
This weekend alone, @3LAU, @Grimezsz & Ozuna have generated $18.2M in NFT gross sales.
That is 80% of all music NFT gross sales within the *final 9 months*.
join @water_and_music’s free digest to get extra music NFT stats (and different music/tech evaluation) tomorrow: https://t.co/7xtKUkBoZO
— Cherie Hu (@cheriehu42) February 28, 2021
NFTs garnered a lot consideration within the first six weeks of the yr that CoinMarketCap added a devoted part for the sect on Feb. 15.
A file value for a single NFT sale was set on Feb. 26 when a Beeple Crossroads NFT bought for $6.6 million, greater than 100 occasions its authentic value.
On Mar. 2, a brand new NFT gross sales file was set when digital music artist 3LAU bought $11.6 M price of NFTs from his personal web site in a single night. Solely hours earlier, musician Grimes accomplished $5.8 M in NFT gross sales in 20 minutes.
Not everyone seems to be impressed by the speedy rise of NFTs. On Mar. 2, Litecoin creator Charlie Lee in contrast the surge in NFT reputation to the ICO craze that occurred by way of a lot of 2017. He believes their relative simplicity and low barrier to entry will encourage widespread adoption of cryptocurrency, however that finally “few (NFTs) will maintain and have worth.”


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The Black & Decker Lithium Vacuum is mediocre and tedious to use. It needs to be better than that to be worth its $300 price point.
The electronics titans square off in a tangled tale of mobile technology, centered on Apple's iPhone
The company is widely expected to release the newest version of its marquee metallic smartphone at the Mobile World Congress show. But will there be more?
From long-expected new products like the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 to surprises like the Huawei Watch and HTC Vive, here's everything you missed on the day before the Mobile World Congress officially opened.
Technically Incorrect: Seattle police, taking part in a pilot program to test the use of bodycams, creates a YouTube channel to release the footage. But it's heavily redacted.
Scientists have found a black hole 12 billion times more massive than the Sun that was formed so soon after the Big Bang it's challenging what we know about black holes.
The company will use Mobile World Congress next week as a coming-out party for its new identity as a consumer gadget and mobile-app maker. It may be the most important party it ever hosts.
"Oh man! Destruction Derby!" Seniors have fun stealing and wrecking cars, shooting random people and running from the police as they play Grand Theft Auto V in this Fine Brothers video.
Get around on two wheels? This safety-minded gadget makes it easy to record the antics of drivers behind you when you're on your bicycle.
The Dark Lord of the Sith invades Disney's animated series for its season finale "Fire Across the Galaxy" on March 2.
Visa's "tokenization" service substitutes your credit card data with random numbers when you pay for items with your phone, a move that could open the door for Apple Pay and its rivals.


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Overwatch – the hit game from Blizzard Entertainment – is, well, a hit!
Despite only having been released late May (24th), i.e 10 days ago, the title has more than 7 million registered players! The beta manage to draw in 9.7m players, but the beta didn’t cost a penny!
Blizzard noted that people have played a combined total of 119m hours of Overwatch since it came out.
Said Blizzard Entertainment co-founder and CEO Mike Morhaime.
“We poured a lot of effort into creating a game – and a new universe – that anyone could enjoy. We’re ecstatic to have had such a successful launch, and we’re looking forward to all of the fun, competition, and new content still to come.”
Following the titles launch Blizzard has promised that all new heroes, maps and modes will be completely free and all cosmetic items can be earned through play, with the only micro-transactions existing are to acquire cosmetic items earlier.


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We recently announced that Emergence client, Dosecann Inc. has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Cannabis Wheaton Income Corp. of Vancouver for $38 million. Dosecann is a late-stage “Licensed Dealer” applicant. You can read the full story here!
Dosecann is developing a suite of cannabis-based health and wellness products for the current medical and future adult use cannabis market. The company is planning construction of a 45,000ft² GMP pharmaceutical level production facility in Prince Edward Island and aiming to secure Licensed Dealer status by May 2018.
Dosecann’s purpose-built Charlottetown facility is intended to accommodate product development, extraction, formulation, filling and packaging. Dosecann is developing a suite of cannabis products across a variety of delivery methods for both the medical and adult use markets.
Dosecann is currently seeking to fill 11 new positions:
- Analytical Scientists (3),
- Formulation Scientists (2),
- Quality Assurance Specialist,
- Lab Manager,
- Extraction Technician,
- Packaging Technician,
- Financial Accountant,
- Office Administrator.
You can view the listing details by clicking here!


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A black 1987 Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 has sold for a staggering 114,750 pounds (approx. $148,000) at an auction in the UK.
For those who don’t know, the RS500 isn’t just any regular Sierra Cosworth. As its name implies, it was limited to just 500 units worldwide and for most part of the last 26 years, this car had been kept in storage and driven a mere 666 miles. If it hadn’t been driven 10,067 miles between 1987 and 1991, it would have sold for even more.
Silverstone Auctions asserts that the car was owned by one of the world’s wealthiest men and earlier this year, it underwent a comprehensive restoration courtesy of Cosworth specialist John Taylor.
Like other Sierra RS500’s, the two door is powered by a 2.0-liter Cosworth engine delivering 224 hp and 204 lb-ft of torque, allowing it to accelerate from 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in a respectable 6.2 seconds before running out of steam at 153 mph (246 km/h).


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In the era of global economic transition, Blockchain user interfaces will function as a crucial link in bridging the gap between the old and the new order. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertion at the G20 summit reveals that digital technology is an important aspect of global economic future.
New digital order
According to Vladimir Putin, the global economic transition to a new industrial order will be underpinned by the development of digital technology. He said this at the G20 summit that was held in Hamburg on July 7-8 2017.
“We believe that the G20 will take a leading role in shaping international regulations in this area, improving international financial systems so all economies can benefit from it, including in the developing world remains high on the G20 agenda.”
Although Putin’s comment on the development of digital technologies and the necessity of regulatory frameworks to facilitate the growth of the technology sector was quite general, his call for international regulations over the rapidly growing technology sector could be relevant to Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market.
Putin requested for unified international regulations on digital technologies that should include Bitcoin. The majority of countries participating in the G20 including China, Japan, the UK and the US have regulated Bitcoin, while Russia and India are yet to provide regulatory clarity on cryptocurrency trading and operations.
To achieve this goal, there has to be a meeting point for digital technology as designed and the traditional industrial systems. This would come in the form of user interfaces that will enable regular individuals without coding skills to adapt the emerging technology.
Blockchain expert, Previn Kutty describes the Blockchain as a technology enables immutable business transactions between two untrustable parties. Kutty notes that the transaction processes on the Blockchain are a series of steps that are performed based on the algorithm and rules of the contract and the Blockchain, regardless of the business verticals where it is done.
BPM-Based Blockchain frameworks are ready-made solutions that combine and automate various business processes in an organization, where business analysts can customize business rules to support decisions, can orchestrate with external services and can customize actions based on events and finally streamline these processes as a complete business solution.
According to Kutty, big organizations like IBM has initiated these BPM-based Blockchain products with pluggable architecture, but they are not yet fully developed and their production rollout is still far from near.
He, however, notes that the level of adoption by any organization will depend on their particular need and extent of application desired.
Kutty says: “Based on urgency and size of the organization, they will either look for a ready-made product that can automate/customize from vendors, or will work with their IT department to develop the technology internally. As always being the most urgent, the finance industry got an early start on Blockchain implementations, most of them have initiated the development, and few small organizations are skeptically watching the development of ready-made solutions hoping to kick off early with quick solution.”
Apparently, the realization of Putin’s vision depends largely on how soon the industry develops applications that will bridge the gap between tradition and innovation. The signs are already obvious as disruption keeps looking more and more inevitable.


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The sale of a 130-square-foot shop in Causeway Bay for a record HK$1.38 million per square foot surprised the market two weeks ago.
I received many inquiries regarding the deal after the reported on it. The most frequently asked question was why the acquisition was made when retail rents were peaking.
The shop on Matheson Street is leased to a seller of audiovisual products at a monthly rent of HK$180,000, which translates into a yield of just 1.5 per cent. Even if the rent could be raised to HK$300,000 when the lease expires this year, the yield would rise to a mere 2.3 per cent.
While such a return is not attractive, the buyer, Mico Chung Cho-yee, chairman of CSI Properties, said the yield was similar to that offered by properties in prime locations.
I believe the buyer is focused on capital growth in the long term as the shop is close to Times Square - a "must-go" destination for mainlanders. Nearby Russell Street has been the most expensive shopping street in the world since 2012. It costs at least HK$300 million to buy a shop there.
The Matheson Street shop cost more than HK$180 million, which is not a big amount to Chung. And there is a lack of retail properties in first-tier locations available for purchase.
That explains why an investor would be willing to pay a premium for the property, although there is not a great deal of shopper traffic and the pedestrian walkway is narrow.
In the short term, the potential investment return would be limited as growth in retail sales has slowed and mainland shoppers have changed their buying habits.
A survey by the Census and Statistics Department showed retail sales in Hong Kong grew 14.5 per cent year on year in January, when the Lunar New Year, traditionally a peak season for retail sales, began at the end of that month. That was lower than the 22.7 per cent growth recorded in February last year when the Lunar New Year fell in that month.
Jewellery, cosmetics and electrical goods have long been the most popular purchases among mainland tourists. But in January, sales of electrical goods and photographic equipment slipped 18.2 per cent year on year, compared with a 20.4 per cent gain in February last year.
Electrical goods and photographic equipment, motor vehicles and furniture - all high-priced goods - were the three product categories in which sales fell in January, whereas sales of mid-priced to low-end products such as clothes and cosmetics grew. By contrast, in February last year, high-priced goods saw an increase in sales.
Figures from the Tourism Board showed the spending of overnight visitors per head rose just 4.7 per cent for the year to March 2013, down from 11 per cent the previous year.
Without the support of retail sales, the rise in retail rents will not be as fast this year as in the past few years.


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The Committee on Small Business will meet for a hearing titled, The EMV Deadline and What it Means for Small Businesses: Part II. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 11:00 A.M. on October 21, 2015 in Room 2360 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
On October 7, 2015, the Committee heard from financial transaction providers on the Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) chip payment system and the ongoing nationwide implementation which began on October 1, 2015. The upgraded technology is designed to protect against cybercrime and fraud. Small businesses that have not installed the new technology will be more vulnerable to cyber threats and they will be held liable for certain incidents of fraud. According to a recent study, less than forty-nine percent of small businesses were aware of the October deadline and liability shift. This second hearing on the shift to EMV chip technology will allow the Committee to receive testimony from small businesses about the challenges and implications of the transition.


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Following the news of the launch of the device, Vodafone and Dell have announced that Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 netbook will be sold with built-in mobile broadband, exclusively through Vodafone stores and online, and directly from Dell, in key European markets.
Available from late September, the Inspiron Mini 9, featuring built-in mobile broadband from Vodafone, will deliver instant internet connectivity anywhere with no need for an external modem.
Andrew Sangster, director of PC Connectivity, Vodafone, says: "Today’s announcement marks the next step in the evolution of mobile broadband services bringing mobile broadband into the hands of many more customers".
Details of country availability and pricing will be made available in coming weeks. The basic version of the Mini 9 costs £299 direct from Dell.


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Dabur In Talks To Buy FEM Care For Rs 300 Cr
FMCG and pharma company Fem Care Pharma, famous for its Fem bleach, is on the radar of Dabur India to be acquired for Rs. 270-300 Cr. The deal is aimed at extending Dabur's consumer care portfolio. Dabur's last acquisition was Balsara in 2005.
ICICI Funds Danone Buy For Wadias : Groupe Danone's stake in biscuit major Britannia Industries is set to be acquired by Nusli Wadia Group as ICICI bank has committed $200 million funding for the same. Wadias will buy Danone's 50% equity in Associated Biscuits International Holding (ABIH), the UK incorporated holding company, backed by a five-year loan. The deal will end the two year old shareholder dispute between the Wadias and Danone.
Tuticorin Port Plans Rs 4,350cr Spread : India's third largest port in terms of cargo handled this year, Tuticorin Port Trust is contemplating to develop an outer harbour under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) at a cost of Rs 4,350 crore, which will increase its cargo handling capacities and also set up port-based industries. In- principal approval has been received. The funds are expected to come from Japan Bank Corp and private players.
Global Financial Crunch Defers Piramal Life's Fund-Raising Plans: The demerged R&D arm of pharmaceutical major Piramal Healthcare, Piramal Life Sciences (PLSL), has deferred its plans to raise funds through strategic stake sale forced by the global financial crunch. Formed as an independent research-driven company by demerging the new drug research assets of Nicholas Piramal, PLSL was listed on the stock exchanges in May this year.
Promoters' Stake In Himalya International Up 5% : Food processing firm, Himalya International said that promoters of the company have increased their holding to 20.9% of the post issue capital.
DLF Share Buyback News Rebounds Its Stock
DLF, the New Delhi based real estate firm, announced that board would meet on July 10 to consider and approve buyback of equity shares of the company to protect shareholders' interests. As a result its stock was up by 15% on bourses. The buyback proposal has been offered after seeing the share price plummeting to below the issue price of Rs 525, at which the company had sold shares to public about a year ago.
Datacom Solutions CEO Ravi Sharma Resigns : Ravi Sharma, CEO of Datacom Solutions, a joint venture (JV) between Dhoot-owned Videocon Group and industrialist Mahendra Nahata's Jumbo Techno Services has resigned. Though it may be pointed out that the JV partners were at loggerheads over investments in the company, Mr Sharma has cited personal reasons for his exit. Sharma was roped in from telecom infrastructure service provider Alcatel-Lucent, where he was the managing director for India and the head of South Asia region
PepsiCo to Lay Off 3,300 Globally As Profit Falls :After a 9.5% drop in Q3 profit and a bearish profit outlook, PepsiCo, India's second-largest drink maker after Coke, has announced plans to cut 3,300 jobs globally. It expects to generate pretax savings of $350 to $400 Million in 2009, with total savings being more than $1.2 billion over the next three years. Also the recent surge in the US dollar will hurt fourth-quarter profit, impact being about 4 cents to 5 cents per share.
RBI Opens Exclusive Forex Window For OilCos
To prevent the rupee from going further down, and rocking the market, the Reserve Bank of India has quietly opened a special foreign exchange window for oil companies. IOC, HPCL and BPCL have bought nearly $800-900 million over the last 7 days, using this special forex window.


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Routers sold as a $300 three-pack are meant to bring fast, reliable network access to all corners of the house. But first Eero will have to convince you your networks need fixing.
At CES, the Swedish company says it will release network gear this year that will boost today's LTE networks by drawing on wireless spectrum more often used by Wi-Fi.
Trendnet's new TEW-828DRU and TEW-827DRU will deliver up to 3,200Mbps and 2,600Mbps of Wi-Fi bandwidth, respectively.
D-Link showcases three all-new routers in its Ultra Performance Series at CES 2015, with angry-looking designs and top-notch Wi-Fi performance.
CNET editor Dong Ngo picks a handful of networking and storage products of 2014 he finds most interesting.
CNET editor Dong Ngo gives all his answers to questions about the basics of home networking.
How does a microwave oven heat without heat? Find out in the latest installment of Appliance Science, which delves into the physics of microwave ovens.
Though not as innovative as it should be, the Linksys AC2400 Dual Band Wi-Fi Router E8350 is still a very good router thanks to its fast 5Ghz Wi-Fi performance and comparatively friendly pricing.
Commentary: Intel aims to eliminate USB, HDMI and the power cable in its quest to create the wire-free PC. But the journey will be a long one, and uneven in terms of its challenges.
CNET editor Dong Ngo explains how Wi-Fi calling works with the latest smartphones, including the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and picks the top five routers that are best for this technology.


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- Apple will launch a array of Macbooks and Macs formed on a possess tradition ARM chip in 2021, says a devoted insider.
- A array of chips that energy a iPhone and iPad are already stronger than Intel’s chips in tests, a fact that stirred many people to assume that Apple would use identical chips in their computers.
- The new investigate note follows a news from a same insider that says a initial ARM MacBook could dump in a second half of 2021
- See BGR’s homepage for some-more stories.
With each new iPhone that Apple launches, it comes with a some-more powerful, energy-efficient, A-series chip. These iPhone CPUs have been outsourcing a Intel chips used on Macbooks for years. Then there’s a iPad Pro using on upgraded variants of a iPhone chips, that Apple advertises as a inscription faster than many laptops. This is since many people theoretically contend that an ARM MacBook is inevitable. Apple is forward of a foe in terms of mobile chips, and that foe has combined ARM chips ancillary new gen inclination for Microsoft as good as Windows 10 devices. Several leaks in a past few years have claimed that a Apple ARM MacBook is already in development, indicating to a 2020 launch for a initial devices. One of a many devoted Apple insiders has come behind with a news that says Apple will put mixed ARM-based Macs in stores subsequent year, including desktops.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently pronounced that a initial ARM MacBook could be launched in a second half of 2020. He now has a new investigate note (via MacRammers) claiming that Apple will recover additional notebooks and desktops formed on a possess tradition ARM processor. .
Kuo pronounced that there could be copiousness of reasons to pierce Apple’s Macs from Intel to ARM. By determining this specific element, Apple will be means to modernise Macs yet watchful for Intel to recover a new chips. According to spontaneous reports, this emanate has behind some MacBook modernise in a past. Also, a A-Series chips will be 40% to 60% cheaper than Intel and can assistance Apple offer rival pricing for arriving devices.
According to researcher sources, ARM Max will get another poignant ascent from 2022, a new USB 4 pier standard. Kuo says that Taiwan-based ASMedia Media will be a disdainful retailer of USB controllers for ARM Max.
Thunderbolt 3 and USB-based USB 4 and adult to 40 Gbps will yield send speeds, that translates to ancillary dual 4K displays or a 5K shade over a singular cable. USB4 is partial of a devise to make Thunderbolt accessible on a royalty-free basis, that can revoke a array of Thunderbolt accessories while shortening costs.
Kuo is generally accurate about Apple’s pipeline, yet it should still be deliberate a rumor. Needless to discuss that a coronavirus health crisis, that will have a outrageous impact on a economy, could significantly change Apple’s product recover report in a entrance months.
Image Source: Apple Inc.
Chris Smith started essay gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it he was pity his perspective of a tech things with readers around a world. Whenever he is not essay about gadgets, he fails to refrain from them, yet he desperately tries. However, this is not indispensably a bad thing.
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By the Caribbean Journal staff
The island of St Barth was pummeled by Hurricane Irma, but it’s making a strong recovery so far, according to initial reports.
One hotel calls it “St Barth 2.0.”
All roads have been cleared, while the commercial port and airport are already back to operations.
Bakeries and food shops are already open, while restaurants and bars are gradually reopening their doors, according to a newly-released statement from the St Barth Tourism committee.
Indeed, restaurants have made quick progress, according to Peg Walsh, who runs St Barth Properties villa company.
“Don’t worry, there will be plenty of choices when you are vacationing in St. Barth,” she said in a blog post, pointing out that the famous Le Select restaurant opened last week (that came a week after the island’s 25 Quarter bar opened its doors).
Other restaurants that have already reopened include Au Regal, L’Ardoise, Island Flavors, Bistro Josephine are open, while Black Ginger, L’Isola, Mayas, Le Tamarin and Orega are all targeting November reopenings.
Further, the island aims to begin welcoming cruise passengers as early as Oct. 30, the committee said.
And while the island’s gourmet festival has been postponed, the famous Les Voiles de St Barth regatta will go on as scheduled in early April.
“The island of St Barthelemy is in full effervescence,” the committee said. “With extraordinary solidary.”
The island’s flagship hotel, the Eden Rock St Barths, had another word for it: St Barth 2.0, with plans to welcome guests to its private villas in December and to its hotel in the summer of 2018.
“The best things in life are worth waiting for and St Barths 2.0 is underway,” the hotel said in a statement.
Another top St Barth resort, Le Guanahani, said in a statement that it would also be planning to reopen in the summer of 2018.
“We have come together to start rebuilding our beloved island home to welcome you all back to the Le Guanahani you know and love,” the property wrote.
Or as the island’s Le Toiny hotel said, “Paradise will be regained.”
Here’s hoping that happens very soon.


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Monday, July 9, 2012
Fashion Colorway 2012
Originally uploaded by Cielo Design
For the past three years, the talented and much admired bead artist Zoya Gutina has been posting a fashion color competition, encouraging beaders from around the world to challenge themselves, using one of three optional color combination.
From her blog, mylovelybeads:
"The International Fashion Colorworks Beading Contest is held by My Lovely Beads. Entries should be made using one of the color combinations made up of three colors announced by the Pantone Color Institute, the world-renowned authority on color and provider of color systems, as top 10 colors for spring's fashion"
This is the first year I entered a piece and I was delighted to discover that my necklace "Crimson Rapture" won the price for "Best Choice of Color". Congratulations to all the winners!! Let's continue to inspire each other! :)


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What kind of commitment does it take to adopt an exotic pet?
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Adopting a unique pet may seem like an exciting choice, but it’s a big commitment.
Four sugar gliders are currently available for adoption at the Humane Society of Chittenden County.
Though they may seem like a cute, easy pal to keep around the house, experts say that’s not necessarily the case.
Triana Kozak with the Humane Society says not all small animals are low-maintenance pets, and it’s important to know what you’re getting into before adopting.
“I think a lot of folks just don’t realize the amount of work that goes into small animals. I think folks do see a small animal as kind of like a starter pet or like a cat or a dog, but they’re definitely not. All ‘smallies’ are just as much of a commitment as a cat or a dog would be,” Kozak said.
The sugar gliders, named Han, Chewie, Lilo and Stitch, are a bonded group and come with their own giant enclosure and accessories upon adoption.
You can find more information about these exotic creatures here.
Copyright 2022 WCAX. All rights reserved.


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NEW YORK—Auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s reported yet another record year as the art market continues to shake off broader global economic woes.
Christie’s, a privately held company owned by billionaire art collector and luxury goods magnate François Pinault, said 2011 sales were £3.6 billion ($5.7 billion), marking a nine percent increase from 2010, when the house posted sales of £3 billion ($5 billion). The figure includes private sales of £502 million ($808.6 million), which were up 44 percent from 2010, when the house reported private sales of £369.3 million ($572.4 million).
Postwar and contemporary art was the top-selling category, realizing a total of £735.7 million ($1.2 billion), up 22 percent from the level realized in 2010. The second-strongest category was Asian art, which realized £552.9 million ($890.1 million), a 13 percent rise from 2010.
Christie’s said it saw increased buyer activity across a wide geographic range in the past year, reflecting the “international appetite for collecting.” U.S. and European clients accounted for 77 percent of sale registrations, with 13 percent from Greater China, an increase of 2 percent compared with 2010. Registered clients from Russia and the CIS increased 15 percent. Meanwhile, according to Christie’s, new clients represented 12 percent of the value of global sales.
Christie’s said it sold 719 works at auction for more than $1 million each in 2011, as compared with 607 in 2010. Of the top-ten selling works of the year, each sold for well over $20 million, including works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Maurice de Vlaminck and sporting artist George Stubbs. Seven of the ten-highest lots were sold in New York sales.
CEO Steven P. Murphy called the results “very encouraging,” adding, “there are many more collectors who are increasing their investment in their collections as the explosion of interest in art, fueled by globalization….meets the art that is coming to market.”
Christie’s has also continued investing in its online initiatives, particularly Christie’s LIVE, its interactive online bidding platform. Christie’s said LIVE drew 25 percent more bids than in its previous year. As part of its December sales series of the collection of the late Elizabeth Taylor, Christie’s held a two-week online-only sale that brought in $9.5 million.
Sotheby’s, a publicly held company, releases detailed quarterly and annual earnings reports. Fourth-quarter and full-year 2011 results will be released later this month.
Meanwhile, according to the results on Sotheby’s website, there has been a 12.2 percent rise in its worldwide auction sales, to $4.9 billion. Last year’s reported figure was $4.3 billion, while the result in 2009 was $2.3 billion. Additonal private-sales figures will be included in Sotheby’s upcoming report


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CAMPBELL, Texas —After President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum Thursday, one metal company his administration honored is telling WFAA that the move will cost them millions.
President Trump ordered 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and a 10 percent levy on imported aluminum from every country except for Canada and Mexico. It will take effect in 15 days.
The new tariffs are creating turmoil within the GOP.
US Rep. Pete Sessions of Dallas sounded off to WFAA saying, “While I understand the need to make sure we are engaged in trade deals that put Americans first, a broad set of tariffs on would roll back the progress we have made, make American businesses less competitive internationally, and raise prices on American consumers.”
And just outside of Rockwall in Campbell, Texas —QMF Steel isn’t too happy either.
“What’s in front of me right now, is a bit ugly,” co-owner Steve Lester said.
QMF has been in operation since 1994 and has 32 employees. It’s a custom metal fabrication business and a metal distributor.
The entire plant runs heavy on automation, and the company rolls deep when it comes to pricey contracts and projects across America.
According to Lester, QMF makes and builds metal products for the Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The company has also helped during the construction of major highways in Texas like I-635 and I-30.
Many reasons why Linda McMahon, the Administrator for the Small Business Association and a member of President Trump’s Cabinet, named QMF the 2017 National Prime Contractor of the Year.
Pundits say President Trump’s tariffs are a push to rejuvenate mills and get more companies to buy metal in America. But the move is creating major demand in the states and is making prices climb.
Steve’s wife Sherrill Lester runs QMF’s finances and has spent the last 24 hours buying as much steel as she can.
So far, she says the company has spent $1.5 million so future projects for the next year and a half can have supplies.
“In some places, prices have doubled,” she said. “You have to lock your price in while you can.”
And here’s why -- QMF has already negotiated pricing on a number of contracts and projects. With steel and aluminum prices going up, they’ll have to pay for any extra costs.
“The customer is going to pay based on what we agreed to in the contract, they’re not going to pay for more than what’s there,” she said. “We can’t renegotiate our price now that this has happened.”
She and her husband couldn't say how much but expect they’ll lose millions over the next two years because of that.
The company was going to hire five more employees, but Lester said that’s not going to happen now.
“I think Mr. Trump has wonderful intentions, but it’s sure not turning out beneficial to us,” Lester said.


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Eastman Kodak shoved its way into the tough world of desktop printing Tuesday by tipping a sacred cow of the segment: the overpriced inkjet cartridge.
For a decade, other printer makers relied on the model pioneered by Gillette, which gave away its razors but charged customers a premium to buy replacement blades. Printer companies, including market leader Hewlett-Packard, sell printers for less than cost but earn huge profits by substantially marking up the price of the ink cartridges.
Kodak’s only hope of competing in the space was to turn the model upside down, said Charles LeCompte, president of Lyra Research, which studies the printing segment. “We basically think this is a big deal,” LeCompte told the E-Commerce Times. “We essentially agree with Kodak that this is disruptive.”
In rolling out its new Easyshare All-in-One Printers, Kodak said it will “save consumers up to 50 percent on everything they print.” The new Kodak cartridges will cost about US$10 for black ink and $15 for a five-color unit.
“For every $15 spent on color ink and $10 spent on black ink, consumers can print the same number of pages at half the cost of other consumer inkjet printers,” stressed the company. “When the Kodak Photo Value Pack is purchased, a 4 x 6-inch photo costs as little as 10 cents per print.”
Kodak is addressing a pain point expressed by virtually every person ever surveyed by Lyra regarding personal printing, LeCompte explained. “They’re correct in pointing out that of all the things people complain about with inkjet printers, the No. 1 is the cartridges cost too much,” he added. “In our research studies, people complain bitterly about that.”
However, with suggested retail prices of about $150, $200 and $300 for its units, Kodak is charging substantially more than its competitors for printers. It will be interesting to see if consumers are willing to pay more up-front based on the promise of savings over the long-term, LeCompte noted.
“There are a lot of customers not savvy enough to absorb that future thinking,” he predicted.
Making a Splash
“It’s pretty interesting. They’re definitely entering a very mature space,” Ed Crowley, CEO and founding partner of Photizo Group, told the E-Commerce Times. “We’ve seen Dell, Lexmark, HP … all fighting for share and struggling with fairly unprofitable business models on the low end of the market. It’s really been a very tough market space.”
Kodak appears to be going after the higher end of that market by selling so-called “all-in-one units,” according to Crowley, “but they appear to be focusing on a very low-cost supply strategy which has some big potential ramifications for the industry.”
Costly cartridges net their makers profits of at least 60 percent per unit, LeCompte estimated. The companies, charging up to $40 per cartridge, note that the cartridges are much more than mere vessels for ink. They contain sophisticated electronics and hardware, equipment that does the actual printing.
The equipment is prone to wear, especially if consumers use substandard ink, LeCompte continued. Whether the new Kodak units — in which the printing electronics and hardware are permanently mounted within the printer instead of in the cartridges — will prove themselves durable is still up for debate.
Built to Last?
“They have to design the printhead to last the life of the machine,” LeCompte declared. “That’s one of the reasons HP didn’t [build their units in that fashion]. If you go to this permanent printhead design, there’s a lot tougher of a reliability standard to meet.”
The Kodak units will be tough enough, according to Crowley. “I don’t think it will be an issue,” he said. “It would surprise me if Kodak brought to market something that wasn’t robust because they understand the requirements to meet certain expectation levels in both print quality and reliability.”
The real question is whether people will be willing to pay more to save later, he explained, adding, “The razor blade model is very profitable.”


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In their pursoot to make a health-fueled comeback, Krispy Kreme plans to diversify its menu. Krispy Kreme, who is famous for their classic glazed doughnuts, hopes to boost sales with healthier treats and new products. It hopes to get into the coffee game which would put him in direct competition with Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and Second Cup.
Chief Executive Officer James Morgan plans to add oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit juice to the Krispy Kreme menu. The very prospect would have been laughable in the late 1990s when the chain’s “Original Glazed” doughnut became a national obsession.


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BidaskClub upgraded shares of Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Monday morning.
Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TheStreet upgraded Mondelez International from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Mondelez International from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a buy rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a buy rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Friday, October 13th. Finally, Buckingham Research cut their price objective on Mondelez International from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $50.82.
Mondelez International (MDLZ) opened at $44.05 on Monday. Mondelez International has a fifty-two week low of $39.19 and a fifty-two week high of $47.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $66,574.98, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.92.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 11th. Investors of record on Friday, December 29th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 28th. Mondelez International’s payout ratio is 46.07%.
Mondelez International announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 31st that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MDLZ. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. acquired a new position in Mondelez International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $113,000. Cerebellum GP LLC acquired a new position in Mondelez International in the 4th quarter valued at about $127,000. Acrospire Investment Management LLC grew its position in Mondelez International by 1,450.0% in the 2nd quarter. Acrospire Investment Management LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Mondelez International by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in Mondelez International by 232.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 4,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. 76.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Mondelez International
Mondelez International, Inc is a snack company. The Company manufactures and markets snack food and beverage products for consumers. It operates through four segments: Latin America, Asia, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA), Europe and North America. As of December 31, 2016, its brands spanned five product categories: Biscuits (including cookies, crackers and salted snacks); Chocolate; Gum and candy; Beverages (including coffee and powdered beverages), and Cheese and grocery.
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Almost two months ago, I went over GameStop’s Q1 earnings report. (link) It wasn’t good news, and their stock price had dropped by $3, roughly 35%, as a result. I’ve been loosely following the ongoing… situation… since then. Now that I’m posting again I’m going to run through some of the stuff that’s come up real quick so the topic will be “caught up.”
I vaguely remember them announcing a stock buyback program and apparently so many people signed up that they hit the cap and some people aren’t going to get what they expected. It ended a couple of weeks ago and the stock price has dropped another $1 and some change since, to around $4.11. Right around that time they announced a partnership with R/GA to “help reimagine the in-store experience.”
Among the things they’ve tossed around are the idea of in-store esports competitions, and purely retro-gaming oriented stores. I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever been inside a GameStop that had room for any manner of in-store competition, but I guess that’s the point of thinking outside the box, as it were.
The good news for GameStop is that the sales figures I quoted last time seem to be industry-wide. That is, hardware sales are down for the entire industry, not just GameStop, and they’re down roughly the same percentage. That suggests that GameStop isn’t entirely at fault. On the other hand, it reflects poorly on the industry as a whole, though I imagine there will be a large surge for the next console cycle.
It’s going to be a rough ride on the way there though. The first time I talked about GameStop was back in January when their stock price was close to $15 instead of $4. That means it’s dropped about $11 in six months, down roughly 70%.
They’ll more than likely be around for a good while yet, including the next console release. I would normally like to point out that businesses this size don’t tend to keel over quickly. They haven’t exactly rolled out mass store closings and/or layoffs yet, so it’s bad, but they aren’t exactly at death’s door. At least, they don’t appear to be.
I wouldn’t mind seeing one of their retro-focused stores myself. That might convince me to actually visit one of their stores again, so maybe they’re onto something.
Y’all take care, I’m sure you’ll hear about this again in a month or so when their Q2 earnings become available.


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Although Hurricane Harvey has passed and Hurricane Irma is weakening as it moves north, these catastrophic weather events are expected to wreak havoc on supply chains – especially pricing and deliveries – for weeks or even months, according to an Institute for Supply Management survey.
Two-thirds (67 percent) of survey respondents believe input materials pricing will be at least somewhat negatively impacted over the next three months, and more than one-fourth (27 percent) expect prices to be negatively or very negatively impacted, according to the survey, which focused on Harvey’s impact and was conducted before Irma hit the U.S.
More than half of respondents (56 percent) believe supplier deliveries will be at least somewhat negatively impacted over the next three months, with nearly one-fifth (19 percent) expecting deliveries to be negatively or very negatively impacted.
“Our hearts are with the individuals and businesses that have been affected by Hurricane Harvey. The human and corporate impact are significant,” ISM CEO Thomas Derry said. “Indeed, the results of our ISM Report On Business Survey indicate ongoing challenges for U.S. companies with pricing, supplier deliveries and certain commodities because of the storm. We are encouraged, however, by data indicating that the effect on production, new orders and employment will be relatively minimal.”
Production/business activity, new orders and inventory level will be only moderately impacted by the hurricanes, while employment is least likely to be negatively impacted by Harvey, according to survey respondents.
Other supply chain snafus are projected, including manufacturers shutting down operations and failing to meet deadlines for their products, according to a report in Supply Chain Drive. This could lead to legal battles over production goals for suppliers and customers, the report says.
The report also forecasts trucking rates to “spike nationwide, but especially in the Houston area as aid is shipped in.”
“There’s going to be heavy pressure on freight lines to keep product moving – Houston is a pretty well balanced port when it comes to volumes going in and out – so there’s going to be a heavy reliance on rail and road to move product and a heavy reliance on infrastructure,” Josh Brogan, a vice president at consulting firm A.T. Kearney, told Supply Chain Dive.


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Author: Julian Glenesk, Research assistant, RAND Europe
In London Airbnb listings have risen from 1,000 in 2013 to over 20,000 per week. By leveraging spare capacity in user’s homes, a surge in supply of short-term accommodation has emerged leading to numerous benefits for Airbnb guests, their hosts and the cities in which Airbnb operates. Guests previously confined to traditional hospitality services like hotels, guesthouses, hostels and traditional B&Bs now have increased opportunities to stay in non-tourist areas, increase personal contact with locals, and find cheaper accommodation which may otherwise have been a deterrent to travel. Hosts are able to take advantage of underutilized spare rooms in their homes and generate income with greater flexibility than that afforded by a traditional long-term tenant. This additional ability to generate income from personal properties increases the value of home ownership.
Hosts may also realize a social gain from personal interaction with guests from around the world, which is the driving force between similar (and older) services such as Couchsurfing – a non-commercialized network pairing travellers with hosts for no charge. Cities may be receiving greater tourism revenue more evenly distributed throughout the city as Airbnb research claims that users spend roughly twice as long and twice as much as traditional travellers, with 42% of that spending occurring in the local neighbourhood of the accommodation.
Despite the benefits of Airbnb’s success, there are a number of externalities – negative consequences borne by wider society and not the users of the system themselves – that receive widely varying degrees of attention depending on the locale. Three externalities in particular have received significant attention in recent years: impact on local housing supply, disproportionate economic benefits and discrimination.
Some city authorities suspect that increased use of Airbnb increases long-term housing rent prices
Several cities have imposed regulations of varying degrees on Airbnb listings in an attempt to curb rising rental costs in cities around the world. Berlin, Hamburg and Munich have taken the hardest stance with an outright ban on Airbnb listings. In contrast Dublin City Council ruled that only a single apartment in the popular Temple Bar neighbourhood would be required to apply for planning permission for commercial use when knowledge that the property earned €79,000 in a single year led to public protests. Moderate regulations are more widespread in cities such as Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam and San Francisco including restrictions on number of days one can rent their property in a year, fines for not officially registering with the city, and stricter rules on whole-property and commercial listings being among the policy regulations put into place.
The quantifiable impact on local housing remains unclear. One recent study found a 10% increase in Airbnb listings resulted in a 0.42% increase in rents and a 0.76% increase in house prices, with owner-occupied listings having the lowest impact. McGill University research estimates that 14,000 housing units in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver have been made unavailable to locals due to their use as Airbnb properties rather than traditional rental units. They also find that owner-occupied occasional listings have the lowest impact on rental unit availability. The rise and dominance of full-time commercial listings raises the biggest problem for local housing supply and the researchers suggest that regulators should focus on thwarting the ‘unholy trinity’ of Airbnb hosts (full-time, entire-home, multi-listings). Three suggestions are made to achieve this: one listing per host, no full-time or entire-home rentals, and platforms should be held responsible for regulatory enforcement.
The economic benefits of Airbnb are unbalanced across segments of the population
What began as a benefit primarily to home-owners and travellers is now shifting towards a benefit for full-fledged Airbnb businesses. This poses a social equity issue if economic gain from Airbnb comes at the expense of the lower-income renting class which appears likely as outlined above.
While homeowners of all income levels continue to benefit from Airbnb income, the disproportionate rise in total revenue claimed by commercial ventures compared to owner-occupied listings raises concerns that Airbnb is enabling a shift away from the traditional (and regulated) hospitality industry. Research on the impacts of Airbnb on the hotel industry shows that Airbnb has caused an 8-10% decrease in hotel revenues, largely as a result of less aggressive hotel pricing and reduction in peak prices. These results show that all travellers are benefitting from the emergence of Airbnb as a result of better accommodation resource allocation and surge capacity in times of high demand. However, benefits to the lowest-income groups are much more unclear. While those with lower income travel less than those with higher income and will therefore find greater benefit in lower accommodation prices, it may also be the case that lower accommodation costs are enabling lower income travellers.
Research on the correlation between Airbnb listings and socio-economic conditions in London shows that although listings were correlated with young, ethnically diverse and well-off neighbourhoods that are close to the city centre, temporal analysis of recent years shows that Airbnb is increasingly tied to well-off neighbourhoods and is no longer correlated with ethnic diversity as of 2015.
The personal nature of the sharing economy fosters discrimination not seen in the traditional hotel industry
The ability for hosts and guests alike to choose each other based largely on their profile picture and appearance of trustworthiness is prone to bias and discrimination. While proponents might argue that the rating system is a fair way of assessing the quality of a property and trust of the guest/host, the rating of one’s property was not found to be correlated with a difference in price or probability of booking. However, the more ‘trustworthy’ the host is perceived to be based on their profile picture corresponded with a higher listing price and chance of booking regardless of their rating. Harvard University research has found that in New York City non-black hosts charged 12% higher for the equivalent rental than black hosts while non-black guests were 16% more likely to be accepted than black guests. In conjunction with reports of discrimination against gender and sexual minorities (GSM) and incidents of neighbours reporting guests as suspected burglars, Airbnb released a comprehensive review [PDF] to combat bias and discrimination on the platform.
While Airbnb has brought many positive benefits to consumers, a number of externalities need to be recognized including the negative impacts on local housing availability, social equity concerns and discrimination. Security risks and bad neighbours are other potential areas of concern.


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Retail giant Debenhams has finally re-opened it's Hanley store today (June 26) after a three month closure.
The much-loved retailer was due to re-open on June 15, when other 'non-essential' stores were allowed to open for the first time in three months, following Government advice.
But the shutters remained closed until today, when customers were welcomed back to the flagship intu Potteries store.
It comes as Intu Properties - which owns the intu Potteries shopping centre - is facing administration.
As you would expect, the reopening of the department store is not without significant changes. Staff members are wearing visors, tills are separated and there are perspex screens at the till points.
There is no one way system, but only one entrance and exit point which are accessible via the intu Potteries middle mall.
The Debenhams cafe remains closed, as do the fitting rooms, and beauty services are temporarily unavailable.
Despite the changes, loyal Hanley shoppers were delighted to see Debenhams open again.
Hannah Taylor, 29, from Chell, said: "I didn't realise it was opening today but I was happy when I saw the doors open. I had a look around and it was very calm and peaceful, and looked very clean.
"They always have things on offer so I bought a few bits and will be coming back. It's nice to have it back."
Fellow customer Jackie Lacey, 44 from Newcastle, agreed that the store was clean and tidy - and was happy with the changes.
She said: "I think these big shops can put changes into place a lot more easily. There's a lot of space in Debenhams so I think it's easier to socially distance.
"It's always nice to have a look around Debenhams because they sell such a variety of things. I do a lot of shopping trips with my daughter and we always go in and have a look around."
The 4 gorgeous babies at Trentham Monkey Forest welcoming visitors as lockdown eases with 10% off tickets
Trentham Monkey Forest is celebrating the arrival of four new babies born safe and healthy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s an extra special delight for one family of monkeys who now have FIVE generations living at the Staffordshire attraction doing vital work to protect the endangered Barbary macaque species, which originate from Africa.
This summer Trentham Monkey Forest is also dedicated to keeping its visitors protected against coronavirus with a raft of safety measures, which include admittance by advance online bookings only - which are 10% cheaper.
The team are now ready to welcome visitors to meet the lockdown babies and wander through the lush green forest and help raise awareness of the endangered status of Barbary macaques.
Click here to book your discounted online ticket to Trentham Monkey Forest - £8.55 for adults and £6.75 for children. Tickets booked before the lockdown are still valid and members are welcome as usual.
Molly Stacey-Jones, 23, from Tunstall, thinks that the department store is 'part of Hanley' and is glad to see it open again.
She added: "If I'm in Hanley I'll always have a look in Debenhams. I would mostly visit for the make-up counters so it's a shame they're not offering services at the moment. I can completely understand why, but I'm definitely looking forward to being able to have my eyebrows done again at Benefit."
And Sue Wesley was looking forward to the reopening - and planned her city centre shopping trip accordingly.
The 54-year-old, of Bucknall, said: "I heard it was opening so I made a special trip. It's one of the only shops I make the journey to Hanley for. It's a shame the cafe isn't open because it's nice to have a little break during your shopping, but I can understand why, and I look forward to going in there again."


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Reliance JioFiber Vs Airtel, Tata Sky, Act Fibernet, And Hathway: Who's The Best
Reliance Jio is all set to launch its JioFiber, earlier known as the Jio GigaFiber, broadband services from September 5. It is expected that the company will provide high-quality services at affordable prices to give a tough fight to incumbents players like Airtel, Tata Sky, Act Fibernet, and Hathway. So before you switch to JioFiber, we are going to give you the whole list of broadband plans offered by different companies.
Here Are The Details
Hathway Rs. 399 Broadband Plan
The cable TV and internet service provider Hathway has been revising its plans ever since Reliance Jio announced the commercial launch date of JioFiber. Now, the company has launched a new plan where it offers 50Mbps connection for Rs. 399 per month. However, initially users will have to pay Rs. 1,999 to subscribe to this offer.
ACT Fibernet Rs. 749 Broadband Plans
Apart from the Rs. 999 plan, ACT Fibernet also offers a plan called ACT Silver Promo in Delhi where it ships 500GB data at 100Mbps speeds. While the ACT Platinum Promo plan offers 150Mbps speeds and 1000GB data along with free subscription of Netflix.
Airtel V-Fiber Rs. 799 Broadband Plan
Airtel recently announced that it is providing 1000GB data on its plans. The first plan starts at Rs. 799, where it ships 300GB data and up to 40Mbps speed along with unlimited local, STD calls, and Airtel Xstream benefit. Another broadband plan offers 500GB additional data and up to 100Mbps speed at Rs.1,099. Lastly, the Rs. 1,599 plan provides 1000GB data and up to 100Mbps speed for six months.
Tata Sky Rs. 999 Broadband Plan
Under this plan, Tata Sky users get 25 Mbps connection, unlimited data along with a free router. There is another plan which is priced at Rs. 1599, where users will get 100Mbps speed.
Reliance JioFiber Broadband Plans
Jio has not announced its plans yet, but as far as we know, the plans start with Rs. 700 and go up to Rs. 10,000 where it will offer a minimum speed of 100Mbps to 1Gpbs respectively. Apart from that, the company has announced that there will be Welcome Offer, where users will get set-top-box with their JioFiber connection.


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True to its history of rise, fall and rise again, Brazil’s auto industry has no intention of fading away, despite a stagnant economy that remains unaffected by the postponement of the government’s IPI tax increase on vehicles.
Global car companies count on exports to buoy their bottom line, and many build cars overseas where they sell them. But while some key markets appear to be thriving, outlooks are cautious for others that are forcing lowered expectations.
CEO Mark Fields tells reporters at Ford’s new Silicon Valley R&D facility that an autonomous vehicle or driverless car will fit within the company's century-old tradition of offering affordable transportation....More
Regulators are granting Volvo, Mitsubishi, Mazda, JLR and Subaru an added hybrid option and a later compliance date of Jan. 1, 2018, by which time each company will be expected to have an approved pure ZEV or hybrid transitional ZEV on the market....More
Some 55% of fatal accidents in the U.S. are caused by a vehicle leaving its lane and striking an object, pedestrian or another vehicle. Continental’s Road Departure Protection system is meant to prevent those collisions....More


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Updated on : 07-08-2019
Commerce Ministry announced $ 54 billion export target for the current fiscal year 2019-20, where product export would contribute $ 45.5 billion and service sector $ 8.5 billion.
“Growth at product export has been projected 12.25 percent and at service sector 34.1 percent,” said Senior Secretary of Commerce Ministry Md Mofizul Islam at a press briefing at the ministry conference room.
In the last fiscal, Bangladesh registered export earnings of $ 46.873 billion. Actual export earnings from product fetched $ 40.53 billion against the target of $ 39 billion which was 3.94 percent high. Besides, the export from service sector stood at $ 6.33 billion or 26.77 percent more than the target of $ 5 billion.
The senior secretary said achieving the target of export earnings would not be a tough job. “It is rather easily achievable if the exporters become sincere.”
He added that “our export earnings have been maintaining an upward trend, so it is possible to achieve the target.”
In the last fiscal, readymade garment registered 11.49 percent growth while agriculture products 34.92 percent, plastic products 21.65 percent and pharmaceuticals 25.60 percent. The average growth in product export was 10.55 percent.
Additional secretaries Tapan Kanti Ghosh and Md Shafiqul Islam, export promotion bureau Vice Chairman Fatima Yasmin, WTO director general Md Kamal Hossain and exporters of different sectors were present.
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Recent studies show saturated fat is not the cause of rising heart disease
Fat is not killing you. For years, fat was the villain of the diet-heart story. You ate excess fat, typically saturated fat, and it raised your 'bad' cholesterol levels or LDL, and gave you heart disease. Dietary guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) have for more than a decade told us to keep the total fat levels to 30 per cent of the total calorie intake. Within that, the standard advice is to keep the levels of saturated fat to less than 10 per cent, given the understanding about its link to heart disease.
That understanding is incorrect, as it turns out now. Saturated fat has been exonerated by several studies, complete with evidence suggesting that the association between saturated fat and heart disease is untrue. Some experts would even say that WHO was wrong, at least when it came to the subject of fat and its role in coronary heart disease (CHD). If fat was giving us heart trouble, then despite the efforts to reduce it all along—didn't we give up whole fat milk, butter and ghee?—why was the epidemic of heart disease and diabetes rising the world over, including India?
That story, experts say, is complex and needs careful assessment. The latest in the sequence of evidence exonerating fat came after the results of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study were published in the influential journal, Lancet. The PURE study, its authors claim, was a game-changer of sorts because nothing like this had ever been attempted before—a diet study with such a large sample across so many countries, including low- and middle-income countries. For the PURE study, the sample was diverse: researchers followed a large number (1,35,335) of young and old people (35-70 years) from 18 countries in five continents for ten years. Their dietary intake, incidence of total mortality (deaths) and major cardiovascular events (fatal cardiovascular disease, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure) were recorded. The association between consumption of carbohydrate, total fat and each type of fat with cardiovascular disease and total mortality were then studied.
Fat, as it turned out, was not the villain here.
Instead, it was found that a high carbohydrate intake was associated with a higher risk of total mortality, whereas total fat and individual types of fat were related to lower total mortality or lesser number of deaths. Moreover, they found no association between total fat and types of fat, with heart disease, myocardial infarction (heart attacks) and deaths due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Saturated fat, they found, actually had an inverse association with stroke.
Based on the evidence, the PURE study called for a revision of global dietary guidelines. However, in May, when WHO released its proposed revised dietary guidelines, it reiterated the same logic that had been circulating for the last 15 years —keep saturated fat to less than 10 per cent of total calorie intake, or less than 30 grams in a day. “Dietary saturated fatty acids and trans-fatty acids are of particular concern as high levels of intake are correlated with increased risk of CVDs. Saturated fatty acids are found in food from animal sources such as butter, milk, meat, salmon, and egg yolk, and some plant-derived products such as chocolate and cocoa butter, coconut, palm and palm kernel oils,” the proposed guidelines read.
The results of the PURE study, as one would have expected, did not seem to reflect in the guidelines. The growing evidence that redeemed fat against heart disease, or the real culprit—carbohydrates—did not find a place in the guidelines. “WHO is not a body that changes easily. It is not even a scientific body, it is a political body,” said Dr Salim Yusuf, professor of medicine, McMaster University, and senior author of the PURE study, in a scathing response to WHO's global guidelines. Yusuf, who is also the former president of the World Heart Federation, says that several countries such as Canada do not follow WHO guidelines, and instead have their own guidelines. The PURE study was not unique or isolated and was only building upon other studies that had shown that a low-fat diet was not a good idea, says Yusuf.
Until the PURE study, most of the studies on fats had been done on people from Europe and North America, where fat intake was high due to consumption of meat and cheese, he says. In India, for instance, the diet is heavy on carbohydrates with more than 50 per cent accounted by it, and low on fat and protein.
However, the confusion over the dietary advice—at times contradictory, too—raises several questions. First, why had fat been the villain for so long, if, clearly, there was not much of a case against it? Second, what does all the conflict over fat—to eat or not to eat—mean for Indians?
The dietary fat story is complex, and as experts say, needs to be assessed carefully. Though the theory became popular in the 1970s, after American physiologist Ancel Keys came out with his seminal Seven Countries Study in which he said that the incidence of CHD was directly related to serum cholesterol values, and that these values were related to the average consumption of saturated fatty acids (SFA). This led to a change in the way fat was viewed globally, with the USFDA and the American Heart Association (AHA) prescribing a lower fat intake. The AHA still prescribes saturated fat to be kept to seven per cent of the total calorie intake.
In India, fat was not much of a cause for debate. “Even though we follow WHO guidelines, the ones related to saturated fat does not mean much for us in India,” says Dr Indu Mani, visiting faculty at the division of nutrition at St John’s Research Institute, Bengaluru. In fact, fat has never been a problem for us, she says. “We have been eating less of it, especially in rural India. In urban areas too, on an average, fat would be about 20-25 per cent of the total calorie intake. This, as compared to the 35-40 per cent fat intake that people in the US, the UK and Australia would be eating, given their meat-heavy diet.” Mani is also a member of the committee working on India's dietary guidelines, due next year.
In an article published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research last February, Mani and Dr V. Anura Kurpad, professor and head of physiology and nutrition at St John’s Medical College, Bengaluru, wrote that the role of fat in the diet was never a part of nutrition debates in India, until the 1980s and 1990s, when the initial dietary guidelines and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) were published, for implementation on a national level. “At this point it was clear that the dietary patterns of Indians were vastly different from a typical western diet, with high carbs and low fat,” they wrote.
“Owing to a low fat intake in rural areas, India has always had a nuanced approach to fat intake, even when the clamour for reducing this was high,” said Kurpad, who is also the former president of the Nutrition Society of India. “That approach is correct as we are seeing that an overly high carbohydrate intake may be associated with a greater risk for mortality and major cardiovascular disease.”
But before fat is let off the hook for Indians, Mani and Kurpad say that a differentiation among fats needs to be accounted for. “We need to understand that there are different kinds of fats, and in India, we need a certain kind of fat more than others,” said Mani. Dietary fat is composed predominantly of triglycerides (98 per cent), and small amounts of phospholipids and sterols. Fatty acids in triglycerides are classified as saturated, mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated, the latter being further divided into omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids. Among all the fatty acids, only linoleic acid or polyunsaturated omega 6 fatty acid, and alpha-linolenic acid or polyunsaturated omega 3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids (EFAs) since these cannot be synthesised in the body.
Between these two fatty acids, it is the omega 3 that has a protective benefit, and in India we have started eating less of that, says Kurpad. The call to replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) actually ended up skewing the balance between the two omega fatty acids. “Within fats too, a balance is required,” said Kurpad. The WHO advice about keeping the energy contribution from saturated fats to a third of the total delivered by fats is a good thing, he says. “But more important is the balance between the n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids . We simply have too much of the latter in our diets, when benefits have been clearly ascribed to the former,” said Kurpad.
As early as the 1990s, researchers had cautioned against the recommendations to replace SFA with PUFA without distinguishing between the n-6 and n-3 families, Kurpad and Mani wrote in their article. But, the message got lost in the general clamour to reduce fat.
Indians, who were eating a high carbohydrate, cereal-pulse diet got their unsaturated fats mainly from cooking oils. Once the omega 6-high sunflower and safflower oils replaced saturated fats such as ghee and coconut oil, and sedentary lifestyles took over, there was a problem at hand. “Oils such as sunflower oil are really the worst,” said Mani. “Instead, one should use mustard oil, sesame and groundnut oils. Items in the traditional diet had that balance. For instance, the urad dal used in idli and dosa has relatively high amounts of omega 3. Studies conducted in animals have shown that high omega 6 diets, especially in combination with a low-fat diet, result in a pro-inflammatory condition resulting in an increased deposition of adipose tissue.”
Though the focus has definitely shifted from saturated fat, cardiologists say fats are not off the hook. Indians are eating too much of trans-fat as well as 'bad' or refined carbohydrates. “Whole milk, butter and eggs are good and do not arouse concern when had in moderation,” said Dr Viveka Kumar, senior director, cath lab, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket in Delhi. “The global advisory for fat intake has also shifted from 7 per cent to 10 per cent. But Indians are eating too much deep fried snacks, savoury items that are packaged and preserved, and have trans-fat in them. These snacks are fried, and the oil is reused several times to fry subsequent batches of food, leading to formation of trans-fat in them.”
Besides trans-fat, Kumar says he advises his patients to keep in mind the six 'S's—avoid sugar, salt, smoking, sedentary lifestyle and stress, and get enough sleep. “Smoking and tobacco [use] are the highest in India, and combined with a diet that has less fibre and fresh fruits and vegetables, the rates of cardiovascular diseases are bound to be high,” he said. “Besides, in cities such as Delhi, pollution is a major cause of heart disease, because breathing polluted air is akin to smoking 14-16 cigarettes a day. Each cigarette means a three per cent rise in risk of heart disease.”
Results from global studies have raised confusion about saturated fat, says Dr Ashok Seth, chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Delhi. “While saturated fat is not much of a concern, the evidence on the effect of trans-fat is clear,” says Seth. “So it is not the butter or meat for us, it is the fried food and snacks at the halwai, the fast food joints, basically all the stuff that is reheated, or packaged.”
Seth says that the emphasis has to be on a balanced diet, and at the same time, not replacing fats with the wrong kind of carbohydrates such as refined atta, or even low fat, sugary foods. “When it comes to heart disease, Indians are like loaded guns. They just need a trigger,” said Seth. Indians are three times more likely to have heart disease than those living in the west, and six times more likely to have it than the Chinese, given the same risk factors. Studies done on fourth generation Indians in Singapore, West Indies, Fiji and the UK found that despite them living in these countries for several generations, they were still more prone to heart disease than the natives, says Seth.
“Heart disease is a result of several factors such as race, lifestyle and diet,” he said. Both Seth and Kumar agree that the thrifty gene theory—genes that enable us to efficiently collect and process food to deposit fat during periods of food abundance in order to provide for food shortage—holds true for Indians and account for rising obesity.
Every dietary advice then must be taken up with caution, Seth says. “Studies such as PURE only show that there is no association between saturated fat and heart disease, but these are not cause and effect analysis. Which is why WHO has not changed its guidelines, too,” said Seth, an ardent advocate of a balanced diet and home-cooked food for good heart health. He also stresses on regular exercise for 40-45 minutes, at a pace where one can speak only a single sentence. “Anything over that time limit may help lose weight but does not have benefits for the heart,” he said.
If cardiologists stress on moderation in fats and avoiding junk, nutrition experts say that instead of a focus on a single nutrient, diversity and balance should be stressed. “People are eating a lot of carbohydrates, if we are to believe the daily intake of 400 grams of cereals and millets,” he said. “Once cooked, that is a lot of food on a plate, but unfortunately not balanced. It might assuage hunger, but not the needs of good health. A smaller amount of food on a plate, with a lot of diverse sources is what is needed. There are populations in the world that live long by eating less of a more varied diet.”
Fat is Fit