text:
- Smokers’ Immune Genetic Feature Found to Lower Lung Cancer Risk
- Study of 27 Million People: Cardiovascular Disease Patients May Be More Prone to Cancer
- Unlocking the Mystery of Fatigue: Acetylcholine Therapy for Post-COVID-19 Syndrome
- Study Finds Closing Toilet Lid Does Not Reduce Virus Spread
- The century-old BCG vaccine may be the nemesis of stubborn liver cancer
- New developments in kidney cancer treatment
Top 10 drugs that lost U.S. patents in 2021
Top 10 drugs that lost U.S. patents in 2021. When drugmakers are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing vaccines, drugs, and biologics, many drugmakers are losing patent protection for once profitable drugs.
Every year, many of the leading products of the pharmaceutical industry take the lead in the market, which provides many opportunities for generic drug manufacturers so that they can seize market share with cheaper generic drugs.
The expected loss of products that are about to expire in the United States this year includes Roche’s macular degeneration drug Lucentis, AbbVie’s two drugs, and Pfizer’s anticancer drug.
Roche, Pfizer, AbbVie and other drugs will lose their exclusive agency rights in the US market this year.
Not all products are guaranteed to face generic competition in 2021. Due to the development of regulations, the supervision of generic drug companies or other unforeseen events, some products may avoid these patent protections, while some are already facing competitors. But this list is based on the ranking of U.S. sales in 2020 to determine those top drugs that may face new generics or biosimilars this year.
- U.S. sales in 2020: $1.61 billion
- Diseases: age-related wet macular degeneration, macular edema after retinal vein occlusion, diabetic macular edema and diabetic retinopathy
- Expected time to market for imitation products: the second half of 2021
Roche’s Lucentis faces competition from Novartis’ biosimilars.
When Novartis launched Beovu in October 2019, Roche’s age-related wet macular degeneration (AMD) wet medicine Lucentis faced new competition. But this year, such drugs may face a whole new challenge: biosimilars.
In November last year, Samsung Bioepis stated that the FDA agreed to review the biosimilar license application for SB11, which is a biosimilar product that references Lucentis. Samsung Bioepis executive Hee Kyung Kim said at the time that this acceptance “brings us closer to the goal of providing affordable treatment options for patients with retinal vascular diseases.”
A Samsung Bioepis spokesperson said the drug will be reviewed within 12 months.
The company stated in a recent investor presentation that Biogen owns 49.9% of Samsung Bioepis and will commercialize biosimilars in the United States and other major markets. Although this is unlikely to happen this year, Biogen will also sell biosimilars to Regeneron’s Eylea.
In its annual report, Roche stated that “the expiration date of a patent for Lucentis in the United States is approaching, which may affect the sales of the product in 2021.” Due to COVID-19, patients delayed or cancelled treatment. The drug last year 1.44 billion Swiss francs (1.61 billion U.S. dollars) were generated in the United States, a decrease of 16% from 2019.
Other experts have also seen biosimilars that may be launched in 2021. OptumRx said that the introduction of generic drugs in the second half of the year is reasonable, and Piper Sandler analyst Christopher Raymond predicted in a report last October that Lucentis biosimilars may be launched in 2021.
- Sales in the U.S. in 2020: Undisclosed ($600 million in sales in 2019)
- Disease: Hypertension
- The imitation product is expected to go on the market: September 17
AbbVie acquired Bystolic through the Allergan merger.
When AbbVie signed a major Allergan acquisition plan in 2019, the company tried to consolidate its future after the Humira patent. Although Humira’s loss of exclusivity is putting pressure on the drugmaker, the Allergan drug selected by the company in this acquisition will face generic drugs this fall.
Bystolic, approved for the treatment of hypertension, lost the protection of its last patent on December 17. According to the settlement agreement reached with many generic drug manufacturers in 2013, generic products will be able to be launched three months before the expiration of the patent (September 17). One of the original developers of Bytstolic reached a patent agreement before reaching a series of mergers and acquisitions to bring the drug to AbbVie.
According to the Bystolic patent settlement agreement, Actavis, Alkem, Amerigen, Glenmark, Hetero, Indchemie, and Torrent will be licensed to sell their generic drugs, provided their imitators can win FDA approval. According to agency records, Hetero Labs has received preliminary approval from the FDA for its generic drugs.
For drug giant AbbVie, losing part of Bystolic’s annual US sales to generic drugs is not a big problem. In fact, the company’s annual report submitted to the SEC in 2020 did not exceed Bystolic’s sales. The statement pointed out that “except for Humira-related patents, licenses, and trademarks, there is no single patent, license, or trademark.” The company’s business is of great significance. Overall. “The drug generated US$600 million in revenue for Allergan in the United States in 2019.
- 2020 sales in the U.S.: $598 million
- Diseases: hypertriglyceridemia and cardiovascular disease
- Expected time to market for imitation products: November 2020
Vascepa lost its U.S. exclusive rights in November 2020.
Amarin’s cardiac drug Vascepa has made it one of the hottest players in the biopharmaceutical industry. Then, when the drug was used in combination with statins, impressive data was released in 2018, showing that patients with abnormally high triglyceride levels have a significantly reduced cardiovascular risk.
Amarin executives believe that if the FDA adds data to the label, the company can greatly increase sales, and in 2019, the agency did just that. But the patent loss in court in 2020 poses a challenge for the drug maker in 2021.
Amarin’s Vascepa’s U.S. sales in 2020 was 598 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 40% over the previous year. Following the court’s decision in March 2020 that the Amarin patent was lost and the appeal failed in September, Hikma launched its generic drug in November. This launch will threaten Amarin’s Vascepa growth plan, which received the original FDA approval in 2012.
After the listing of generic drugs, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen told customers in a report in February that her team heard: “Some retail pharmacy chains have slowed down purchases of the brand Vascepa because generic drugs are already on the market.”
- 2020 sales in the U.S.: $416 million
- Disease: Neurogenic postural hypotension
- Expected time to market for imitation products: February 2021
As Northera lost its patent protection, Lundbeck is busy marketing its migraine prevention drug Vyepti.
While driving sales growth of the new migraine prevention drug Vyepti, Lundbeck is facing its
Northera raises concerns about the fate of neurogenic orthostatic hypotension drugs. Lundbeck stated in its annual report that the drug was approved in 2014 and is expected to lose its exclusive rights in February 2021.
Northera is approved for the treatment of dizziness, dizziness, or “feeling that you are about to pass out” in adult patients with symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension. Lundbeck said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, by 2020, the drug “still achieved solid sales growth.”
But this growth is coming to an end. Lundbeck predicts that with the introduction of multiple generic drugs in 2021, sales will fall by 50%.
Last year, Northera received $416 million in revenue in North America, an increase of 10% over the previous year. This is 14% of the company’s total revenue, which makes generic drugs a huge threat to the company’s performance in 2021.
- 2020 sales in the U.S.: $311 million
- Disease: Opioid overdose
- Expected time to market for imitation products: the second half of 2021
Emergent Biosolutios has become an active manufacturing partner for COVID-19 vaccine and drug manufacturers.
It is often impossible to accurately predict when generics of top-brand drugs will enter the market. But signs indicate that Emergent Biosolutions’ opioid generic drug Narcan may appear in 2021.
The generic drug giant Teva was nominated by the FDA for its Narcan generic drug as early as 2019, but the patent protection of this drug has prevented the generic drug from being put on the market since then. In June last year, Teva won the court, when a New Jersey federal judge ruled that the claims against multiple Narcan patents were invalid.
In order to protect Narcan’s US$311 million in sales in the United States, Emergent and its partner Opiant Pharmaceuticals filed an appeal, and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to rule on the issue in the second half of 2021. Wells Fargo analyst Jacob Hughes and Emergent CEO Bob Kramer wrote a letter stating that it is “very unlikely” that Teva will launch a generic drug while the lawsuit is pending.
Nevertheless, the Wells Fargo team does not want to win the case in an emergency “based on the opinions of two patent experts.”
The executives of emerging companies seem to be realistic about their chances of winning in patent disputes. In a conference call with analysts in mid-February, Kramer stated that Emergent expects that “after the appeal process is complete, a generic product will enter the market.” CFO Rich Lindahl added that nonetheless , The company “still has a strong appeal, and we are doing everything we can to reverse this situation.”
- U.S. sales forecast for 2020: approximately $275 million
- Disease: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- Expected time to market for imitation products: the second half of 2021
Brovana generics will compete for market share later this year.
Sunovion’s maintenance COPD drug, Brovana, has always stood the test of many competitors, but by 2021, competition will likely be further intensified by generic drugs.
All Brovana patents will expire in 2021, and some generic drug manufacturers have obtained provisional approval from the FDA. According to the FDA, they include Teva, Cipla and Lupin.
GoodRx believes that it is possible to launch generic generic drugs in September 2021, while OptumRx believes that the competition may start in November.
Although there are many competitors in the crowded COPD market, Sunovion’s parent company Sumitomo Dainippon expects Brovana’s revenue in North America to be $275 million in 2020. The company has not announced its full-year results.
- 2020 US sales: 2.23 million
- Diseases: gastrointestinal stromal tumors, advanced renal cell carcinoma and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors
- Expected time for imitation products to be on the market: August 2021
Pfizer’s anti-cancer drug Sutent will lose patent protection this summer, and it is not clear whether a generic drug will be available immediately.
When Pfizer won the headlines of the COVID-19 vaccine competition in 2020, investors did not focus on the company’s core research focus (including oncology). But with people’s attention to COVID treatments, it is difficult to ignore a major patent loss that Pfizer has faced this year in cancer.
Sutent was approved in 2006 for the treatment of certain patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors, advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and certain pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. According to the agency’s records, although all patents for the drug expire in 2021, it is vulnerable to generic competitors, although no generic products have been approved by the FDA so far.
Glenmark has just launched a generic Sutent drug in India. Mylan submitted its Sutent generic drug to the FDA in 2010, prompting Pfizer to file a lawsuit against patent infringement. After a four-day trial in 2014, the court upheld Sutent’s 2021 patent.
Douglas Lankler, Pfizer’s general counsel, said at the time: “The defense of our intellectual property is critical to our ability to discover and develop innovative new drugs, and this is at the core of what we do.”
Many years after the patent dispute, Mylan and Pfizer joined forces to merge Pfizer’s Upjohn department with Mylan to form a new company, Viatris. The transaction was completed in November last year.
- 2020 sales in the U.S.: Undisclosed (IQVIA estimates the market size to be 217 million U.S. dollars)
- Disease: Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder I
- The imitation product is expected to go on the market: December 11, 2020
AbbVie (AbbVie) acquired Saphris in the Allergan acquisition.
In addition to the high-blooded Bystolic generic drug competition later this year and the upcoming loss of exclusive rights to the $16 billion annual Humira, AbbVie will also see products imitating its antipsychotic Saphris in 2021.
Sabbris is inherited from AbbVie’s acquisition of Allergan and is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder in some patients. OptumRX reports that Breckenridge, Alembic and Sigmapharm launched their generic drugs in mid-December. Alembic is “one of the first people to apply for generic drugs”, stating that it and other companies are eligible for 180 days of exclusive rights to share generic drugs.
AbbVie did not announce Saphris’ sales in its financial report, but Alembic cited data from IQVIA to estimate that in the 12 months ending in September 2020, the market was valued at $217 million.
Merck had previously sold it on Saphris, and then sold the ownership of the drug to Forest Laboratories for $240 million in December 2013. Forest eventually entered AbbVie through a series of biopharmaceutical M&A transactions.
- 2020 sales in the U.S.: approximately $180 million (estimated)
- Disease: Constipation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- The imitation product is expected to be on the market: January 4
With the progress of Mallinckrodt’s bankruptcy proceedings, its IBS drug Amitiza faces generic competition.
The troubled drugmaker Mallinckrodt has been in trouble due to opioid and Acthar lawsuits, but its constipation and irritable bowel syndrome drug Amitiza usually does not make headlines. This year, as the company faced bankruptcy proceedings, the drug succumbed to generic competition.
According to an agreement reached by Sucampo, the former owner of Amitiza, Par Pharmaceutical was allowed to launch its licensed generic drugs in the United States starting in early 2021. Mallinckrodt acquired Sucampo in 2018.
Par announced the launch of its imitation products on January 4. The generic label of Par is similar to that of Amitiza, which is approved for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation in adults, irritable bowel syndrome in women with constipation, and constipation caused by opioids.
- 2020 sales in the U.S.: (estimated) approximately $150 million
- Disease: Iron deficiency anemia
- Expected time to market for imitation products: July 2021
According to a patent settlement agreement, Novartis’ Sandoz may launch a generic Feraheme drug this summer.
When Covis Group acquired Amag Pharmaceuticals in November last year, it purchased Feraheme, a drug used to treat iron deficiency anemia. But before the merger, Amag and Sandoz reached a deal that may allow the generic drug manufacturer to launch its generic version of Feraheme this summer.
The transaction was reached after Amag reached a settlement with Sandoz in a patent infringement lawsuit in March 2018. The settlement allows Sandoz to obtain the FDA-approved generic Feraheme for its “generic drug” in July 2021. This date has not been publicly disclosed, but Sandoz scored in January the FDA approved its imitation.
The settlement also includes a provision that Sandoz can “initiate a settlement agreement of this nature earlier in certain circumstances.” The generic drug manufacturer agreed to pay Amag royalties until the last patent for the drug expires. According to FDA records, this will happen on June 30, 2023.
If Santos’ approval under the confidential settlement agreement is too late, the transaction will include a clause allowing the company to launch authorized generic drugs provided by Amag in July 2022.
(source:internet, reference only)


text:
Alberta’s wine boycott is economically puny. It threatens to deprive B.C. companies of only $70 million, compared to $1.5 billion a year denied to Alberta by the B.C. government’s stalling.
How about a boycott that really stings?
Alex Macdonald, once the top aide to the late Alberta Liberal leader Laurence Decore, has an idea that could make B.C. Premier John Horgan collapse in a faint.
Oilsands companies, Macdonald says, should stop buying supplies and services from firms in British Columbia.
Now, that would hurt.
There are 738 such suppliers in B.C. They bill oilsands outfits for $1.3 billion a year, according to figures updated to early 2017 by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
More than 400 companies in Fort St. John send their bills to Alberta. There are 141 suppliers in Vancouver and even, if you can believe it, 78 in Burnaby, the terminus city and heart of pipeline resistance.
CAPP said in early 2017: “B.C. companies provide environmental technology, engineering equipment services, camps and catering, parts supply, corporate services, technology and transportation, and others.”
CAPP CEO Tim McMillan added then that “British Columbia is (a) leading partner in Canada’s oilsands — a partnership that creates jobs and prosperity to support communities across B.C.”
He said more pipeline capacity via Kinder Morgan’s expansion would “create even more jobs and prosperity for communities across British Columbia.”
If Horgan has his way, that will never happen. So, maybe the payments from Alberta shouldn’t happen either.
A commercial boycott like this wouldn’t depend on the Alberta government to implement. It would impact the industry in question, not bystanders like wineries.
Nor would it violate trade agreements. Companies can buy, or not buy, wherever they like in Canada.
Why not send that B.C. work to Saskatchewan or even Ontario? Or simply create more supply capacity in Alberta?
CAPP staff told me Thursday that McMillan wouldn’t answer questions about a possible shift of oilsands spending to other provinces.
It’s no surprise. On Wednesday, McMillan said the industry doesn’t want more “politicization” because that ends up hurting business. He counts on governments to sort all this out.
But Alex Macdonald made the boycott suggestion precisely because he’s annoyed at oilsands producers for failing to step up.
He calls the companies wimpy and PR-challenged. The industry “should threaten to find alternate suppliers. That’ll get Horgan’s attention!”
For the past decade, Alberta premiers and the producers have tried countless times to make Canadians aware of the incredible spending generated all over Canada by the oilsands.
Last year, for instance, $7.6 billion in national spending was spread across every province, all the way to little Prince Edward Island.
Six P.E.I. suppliers were paid $6.4 million. That’s not negligible in a province of 152,000 people.
Ontario is by far the largest beneficiary outside Alberta itself, with 1,570 companies providing $3.9 billion worth of goods and services.
In Quebec, 385 companies billed for $1.2 billion. Forty-five suppliers in Newfoundland and Labrador made $333 million. Oilsands firms paid $479 million to 460 companies in Saskatchewan.
There’s never been much evidence that repeating those statistics changed minds among politicians or the general public.
Quebec rose up against Energy East despite the oilsands bonanza for companies there. The B.C. NDP seems willfully blind to anything except environmental alarmism.
Telling people what they’ve already got just puts them to sleep. But they wake up fast when it’s being taken away.
If oilsands producers suddenly started shifting their supply contracts elsewhere, B.C. would be in an uproar. Even John Horgan would have to count the cost.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald

domain: news


text:
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has barred airlines from carrying Apple Macbook Pro on their flights.
The regulator said the product model: RETINA, 15 MID 2015 had been recalled by the manufacturer due to battery problem.
According to the NCAA, the computer can become a risk to aviation safety due to overheating.
The warning, contained in a circular dated September 25 and signed by the Director of Operations and Training, NCAA, Capt. Abdullahi Sidi, on behalf of the Director General, Capt. Muhtar Usman, was made available to our correspondent on Sunday.
“This is to inform all operators and service providers that the carriage of Macbook Pro Model: RETINA, 15 MID 2015 with immediate effect is hereby barred on all flights,” the circular read in part.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]


text:
Carbon Offsetting Benefits $664 Per Credit, Study Says
Offsetting 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide brings an additional $664 in benefits to the communities where carbon reduction projects are based, according to research by Imperial College London in partnership with the International Carbon Reduction and Offsetting Alliance.
This meaning that businesses that are voluntarily offsetting their emissions are having a bigger impact than perceived, the authors say.
The study also says that businesses with carbon offsetting programs report corporate benefits such as enhanced brand image, engaged employees and market differentiation.
The research demonstrates how purchasing carbon credits creates economic development opportunities, aids environmental conservation, helps deliver health benefits and improves water resources, among other benefits.
In July, United Airlines launched a business tool for corporate cargo customers to track and offset the emissions associated with their air freight accounts.
Energy Manager News
- Data Center Energy Savings: Start with the Servers
- Toyota Plant in Kentucky Rolls Out Bioenergy
- GE Launches Wind- and Turbine-Focused Business Unit
- ERC: Electricity Price Trends for the Week Ending November 13
- NEMA: CT Retailers Should Charge Monthly Market-Based Rates
- MPUC to Issue Advisory Ruling on Two-Segment Fixed Rate Contracts
- MidAmerican Proposes to Recoup Costs by Billing Iowa Customers
- SCOTUS Asked to Nix All Extraterritorial State Energy Laws (Not Just Pricing)


text:
TOKYO – The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has tapped Nissan Motor Co. to supply electric cars for its taxis and government fleet, hoping to reduce reliance on imported oil.
Under the agreement announced Friday, Nissan will supply its Leaf electric car and set up charging stations in Bhutan.
Bhutan, with a population of 720,000, produces and exports hydro-electricity. But it’s eager to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels shipped in from abroad.
The tiny landlocked country was long known for measuring “gross national happiness” instead of traditional indicators of prosperity such as GDP. But since 2013, a new government under Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay has downplayed it as a distraction from problems of poverty and corruption.
The Leaf is the world’s bestselling electric car, selling a cumulative 100,000 so far since going on sale in late 2010, comprising 45 per cent of the global electric vehicle market.
The car has struggled to reach a critical mass in sales, especially when compared to hybrid models, for instance, but the Leaf remains the symbol of Nissan’s commitment to the environment and shows off its engineering prowess.
Nissan has agreements with more than 100 nations, states and cities globally to promote electric cars, including the Spanish city of Barcelona and Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Most deals in electric cars tend to be with developed nations, making Bhutan a relatively unusual case. Nissan wants to study how its electric vehicle business fits with a developing nation that has substantial clean energy resources.
Nissan declined to disclose the number of electric cars involved or the monetary value for the Bhutan deal. Feasibility studies are planned for how they can co-operate more on the green technology, both sides said.
“Nissan’s global experience will be invaluable as we make progress towards an electrified national transport infrastructure,” Tobgay said.
Sandwiched between Asian giants China and India, Bhutan was long closed to the rest of the world before starting to open up in the 1960s. Foreigners and the international media were first admitted in 1974, and television arrived only in 1999.
Tobgay, who has a master’s in public administration from Harvard University, has pushed for more power to regular people.
Ghosn is Friday presenting two Leaf vehicles to Bhutan, which is also the birthday of Bhutan’s king.
Ghosn said Nissan is supporting Bhutan’s vision for meeting its transport needs in the future.
Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at twitter.com/yurikageyama


text:
#NAHBAMC kicks off this week and the GrowthZone team is looking forward to connecting with HBA professionals in Denver!
Be sure to stop by the GrowthZone booth in the Resource Pavilion. Take our 5-question survey and we’ll give you a $5 Starbucks card. Plus, be sure to drop off your business card to be entered to win a retro-look Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 Instant Film Camera. Drawings will take place at the Sponsor Fair Luncheon on Friday.
The cutting-edge training will undoubtedly contribute to the success of HBAs as their leaders deliver new ideas and solutions back to their boards, committees, and members.


text:
Accessing the domestic Chinese payments market is the holy grail for a foreign payment services provider and PayPal has been trying for the past four years.
According to a published report by the Chinese online website The Paper, PayPal has not given up and has been actively communicating with regulators to secure a license in China.
Securing a payment license is still a rather complicated process for foreign-funded companies said Lu Liuliu, General Manager of the Merchant Business Unit of PayPal China.
However, “PayPal headquarter and PayPal China is taking this task very seriously. We are very determined,” he added.
Without a business license, PayPal is unable to conduct local transactions in China and until it can gain approval has instead focused on providing services for cross-border eCommerce between China and other countries it serves.
Even with this current restriction, with over 21 percent of PayPal’s transactions involving cross-border trade, the Chinese market is very important for PayPal’s global success.
Race To Be First
PayPal may be the largest, but it is not the only foreign payments provider wanting to enter the Chinese domestic payments market.
In June, London-based payment services provider WorldFirst applied for a license to operate in China’s domestic market. And similar to PayPal, the status of their application is still pending approval from China’s regulators.
With an increasingly growing middle class in China, the large potential of the domestic consumer market could become a significant boost for a foreign payment services provider.
READ MORE: China’s exploding eCommerce market is real
Currently, Chinese companies such as AliPay and Wechat Pay dominate domestic eCommerce and retail payments as Chinese regulations provide a lot of protection from foreign firms.
However, with both Chinese companies already working outside of China to attract more non-China business, there is political pressure, especially from the Trump administration, for China to open up its domestic market to foreign businesses.
What do you think about PayPal trying to expand into China? Do you think it could help your business if more Chinese customers would adopt PayPal as an alternative payment method?
Drop us a line below in the comments section or head over to our Global Seller Facebook Group.


text:
The rupee declined slightly in terms of the dollar on the local money market on Thursday in the process of trading, dealers said.
INTER-BANK MARKET RATES: RATES: The rupee shed six paisas versus the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 154.26 and Rs 154.29 respectively, they said.
OPEN MARKET RATES: The rupee maintained overnight levels in terms of the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 154.00 and Rs 154.30 respectively, they said. The rupee depreciated by 20 paisas against the euro for buying and selling at Rs 170.50 and Rs 172.20 respectively.
In the fourth Asian trade, the dollar found its footing on Thursday as upbeat jobs data helped it recoup a little of its slide against the euro and it steadied on the yen after the US Federal Reserve's surprise rate cut.
The safe-haven yen also handed back a fraction of recent gains, as the resurgence of moderate Joe Biden in the Democratic Party primaries lifted investors' risk appetite.
Strong US labour-market data overnight, with February private payrolls beating expectations, helped the greenback 0.3% higher on the euro to $1.137 per euro.
A dollar last bought 107.61 yen. An emergency 50 basis point interest rate cut by the Fed on Tuesday had sent the dollar to a five-month low of 106.84 yen.
The dollar was available against the Indian rupee at Rs 73.420, the greenback was at 4.164 versus the Malaysian ringgit and the US dollar was at 6.937 versus the Chinese yuan.
Open Bid Rs 154.00
Open Offer Rs 154.30
Interbank Closing Rates: Interbank Closing Rates For Dollar on Thursday.
Bid Rate Rs 154.26
Offer Rate Rs 154.29
RUPEE IN LAHORE: The Pak rupee-greenback parity stayed unchanged amid sluggish trading activity in the local currency market on Thursday.
According to currency dealers, the greenback did not observe any change in its demand and supply situation throughout the trading session as it firmly sustained its opening trend for buying and selling at Rs 154.00 and Rs 154.50 respectively, local currency dealers said.
Furthermore, the local currency maintained downward trend for the second consecutive day versus the pound sterling. Consequently, the pound's buying and selling rates further rose from the Wednesday's closing of Rs 195.40 and Rs 197.00 to Rs 197.20 and Rs 198.80 respectively, they added.
RUPEE IN ISLAMABAD AND RAWALPINDI: The dollar gained 5 paisas against the rupee at the open currency markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi here on Thursday.
The dollar opened at Rs 154.45(buying) and Rs 154.50(selling) against last rate of Rs 154.40(buying) and Rs 154.45(selling).
It closed at Rs 154.45(buying) and Rs 154.50(selling).
The buying and selling rates of one tola of gold were Rs Rs. 94,900 (selling) and Rs 94,500(buying) in the local Sarafa (gold) markets of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.


text:
--Exchange company seen holding off on IPO until acquisition cleared by regulators
--Deal to buy Chi-X Europe would elevate BATS' presence in Europe
--U.S. stock-options trading strategy retracted after consulting with customers
BATS Global Markets is seen delaying its planned flotation until the first quarter of 2012 to complete its acquisition of a rival share-trading platform in Europe, according to a person close to the matter.
The Kansas City-based electronic exchange company in May filed plans to list shares on its own market. No timetable was set for the public offering, but a float was anticipated to coincide with BATS' launch of a listings market, slated for the fourth quarter of 2011.
A spokesman for BATS on Tuesday confirmed that the exchange still intends to launch BATS Listings in the fourth quarter. He declined to comment on the IPO plan.
BATS in February agreed to buy pan-European stock-trading platform Chi-X Europe in a $330 million deal that would make the combined entity one of the biggest forces in the region. U.K. authorities last month referred the deal to the country's Competition Commission, putting off approval of the deal by five months or more.
The company on Tuesday separately told customers it would retract a contentious new stock-options trading strategy after customers raised concerns that the plan could create "potential risks," according to BATS Chief Executive Joe Ratterman.
In late June regulators approved a program that would let investors decide which trading firms received their options orders on the electronic platform run by BATS, prompting protests from rival exchanges that the idea would make U.S. options markets less transparent.
In a letter to customers Tuesday, Ratterman said the exchange would retool the so-called "directed order" program in consultation with traders and investors.
"We are working closely with our customers and are listening to their feedback," Ratterman wrote. "The rule has many elements that are broadly seen as positive, but when taken as a whole, there may be a few concerns that could be better addressed."
The scheme aims to allow market makers to identify preferred customers that could receive more competitive prices on trades than what the market maker offers to other participants on the exchange. The better prices could only come if the market-making firm already has the best price going for the options contract in question.
The plan drew heavy criticism from rival exchange companies, warning that market makers in the program would sidestep competition from other traders. After regulators approved the rule, other exchanges joined to protest the decision.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, representing brokers, last month aired concerns that the BATS plan would ultimately see market makers making fewer and smaller trades, harming liquidity in the U.S. options market.


text:
Chapainawabganj and Rajshahi districts have been recognized as Fazli mango producing areas. From now on, the district will be able to use two Fazli Mango Geographical Indication (GI) rights. As a result, farmers will be able to brand this popular mango more at home and abroad.
The announcement was made by the registrar’s office of the patent, design and trademark department of the industry ministry after a hearing on GI rights on Tuesday.
A senior official in the Patent, Design and Trademarks (DPDT) department said Chapainawabganj and Rajshahi districts would now be able to use GI rights as Fazli mango producing areas. ”
It has been decided that from now on, both the districts will be able to use the GI rights of Fazli Mango,” said the official, who did not want to be named.
The verdict came after a DPDT-formed tribunal heard a petition filed by a group of farmers in Chapainawabganj in early October 2021 after the DPDT acquired the rights to Fazli Amer GI in Rajshahi.
Chapainawabganj Krishi Samiti Mango filed a petition claiming Chapainawabganj and opposed the GI rights granted to Rajshahi.


text:
China’s World Internet Conference attracted the heads of Google and Apple for the primary time to pay attention to China vow to open up its net
just as long as it can protect cyberspace in an equal manner, it guards its borders.
Top executives at Apple Inc and Facebook Inc managed to locate something to reward Beijing for at a web conference in China this week, whilst Communist Party rulers ban Western social media and stamp on online dissent.
China’s World Internet Conference attracted the heads of Google and Apple for the first time to pay attention to China’s vow to open up its net – simply as long as it may defend our online world in the same way it guards its borders.
Amid Internet Clamp
The tacit endorsement of the event with top US tech executives’ aid comes as China introduces strict new regulations on censorship and records garage, inflicting complications for foreign tech corporations authorized to do enterprise in China and signaling that restrictions banning others are unlikely to be lifted any time quickly.
“I’d compliment the Chinese authorities in terms of management on using information,” Facebook Vice President Vaughan Smith said on Tuesday, mentioning government bodies, which include the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
“The Chinese government, the CAC, and MIIT are doing an excellent task on that.”
Facebook and Google are not handy in China in the back of the united states’ Great Firewall, together with principal Western information shops and social media websites, whilst Apple is difficult with strict censorship. The US firm removed dozens of famous messaging and digital personal community (VPN) apps from its China App Store this 12 months to comply with authorities’ requests.
“The subject matter of this conference, growing a digital economy for openness and shared blessings, is a vision we at Apple proportion,” Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook stated on Sunday. The target audience cheered him twice – as soon as he reached the rostrum and again when he bowed.
His feedback, however, drew criticism within the United States from Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who has previously condemned Apple for removing VPN apps from its China App Store.
“Global innovation leaders, like Apple, have each an opportunity and a moral duty to promote free expression and other simple human rights in nations that robotically deny those rights,” Leahy said in an assertion to CNBC on Tuesday.
“It and different tech groups must continue to keep off on Chinese suppression of free expression.”
Facebook Vice President Vaughan Smith complimented the Chinese government in phrases of management on the use of statistics.
China cracks down on any sign of online complaint of the government, which it sees as a hazard to social balance and one-party rule.
Some embassies, commercial enterprise companies, and overseas companies steer clear of the highly choreographed net event, analysts say, due to the perceived propaganda. But international relations were regarded to rule the day on the conference held within the ancient scenic town of Wuzhen inside the jap province of Zhejiang, and neither Smith nor Cook addressed problems of censorship or cyber-regulation.
Cook has made frequent trips to China during the last 12 months because the company has looked to revive income within the marketplace and push into offerings that require working with local partners on statistics garage.
“Companies that have despatched high-degree delegations to this convention in Wuzhen inside the past have regularly performed so because there’s some massive trouble with their get admission to the market,” said an industry supply acquainted with the occasion who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the problem.
At the event itself, conference visitors have been dealt with to a bubble of the uncensored internet in lodges, including getting entry to Google, Facebook, and foreign news shops with specialized codes passed out to visitors.
In discussions on subjects that include artificial intelligence and tech innovation, remote place executives commonly skirted the subject of regulation, even though it surfaced in instances.
“More humans come to Facebook that is in China,” said Facebook’s Smith at a speech on the virtual economy on Tuesday. “(But) I recognize now not absolutely everyone within the room is acquainted with Facebook.”
Jack Ma, chairman of China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, which owns Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, said that foreign tech firms wishing to enter the China marketplace must abide via its legal guidelines.
What Exactly is The Internet?
The internet is a dynamic technique that entails the relationship of a particular laptop or cellular tool to different computers scattered throughout the globe to communicate among people to arise. This is easy to understand! There is a kind of connection that makes it possible for computer systems to form an international extensive community through which messages can be exchanged over long distances so long as humans are inclined to sign up for the network as subscribers.
The internet is like organized chaos, which exists to extend your everyday offline experiences by linking you to messages different folks that may also live very ways from you’ve got made to be had thru the web pages of websites. We deliberately noted the net as organized chaos due to the dimensions and complexity of the connections it includes. However, despite its complicated nature, internet connections are made possible via the observance of strict regulations popularly referred to as Internet Protocol (IP) with internet techies’ aid.
How Does The Internet Work?
The networks like the normal cellphone communications you are making, in which you use one phone tool to connect with another smartphone tool through a community issuer’s services. In a comparable vein, the internet, the use of a computer or a cellular device, connects to some other pc through a web service provider (ISP).
How Do People Use The Internet?
Based on your non-public studies, you will without problems consider me that humans use the internet in the following methods:
To get Information: in recent times, people use the net to discover unique data they choice which may be in the shape of news updates, blog posts, studies findings, pix, biographies, How-to-do articles, and many others.
To Find Entertainment: There are thousands and thousands of cool and humorous stuff, inspirational messages, music, films, and different interesting substances on the internet that assist relax, refresh, and stimulate the human mind. Through the internet, these substances may be cost-effectively received.
To Stay In Touch With Friends, Relatives, Clients, and Associates: The internet defies the restrictions of area and time to preserve humans, who can be separated via distance, near non-public communique with every different.
To Make Money: The internet has the capability to function as an advertising and marketing device for bringing together product and provider vendors and their target customers (i.E folks who need their market offerings) so as for change techniques to arise. In this manner, the net can help marketers interact with their target consumers so that money can be exchanged for the leisure of unique products and services that fulfill human desires.
Websites make contents of all sorts to be had to be used, over the net, via those who want it.


text:
If you haven’t seen the 3D printed StarCraft Battlecruiser model made by Byoungyoung Choi yet, this interview is the best opportunity to get to know the maker and the production of the Battlecruiser from StarCraft video game that turned into a StarCraft diorama.
We contacted Byoungyoung Choi and asked several questions about his hobby – 3D printing and the making process of the Hyperion battlecruiser model. And this is what we found out.
April roundup is not as rich in 3D printing models as the previous months were. Nevertheless, the second month of spring has brought other surprises for our entire community in the shape of 3D printed models that we will showcase in the second part of this post. Keep reading to discover them all.


text:
Some of the finding from this survey:
Most American consumers don't realise Internet merchants and even traditional retailers sometimes charge different prices to different customers for the same products, according to a new survey.
First-time buyers at a retailer could see higher prices than a firm's repeat customers, and retailers may not offer discounts to consumers who buy the same brands regularly without even looking at alternative products on the same site.
The Internet empowers careful shoppers to conveniently compare prices and features across thousands of stores. But it also enables businesses to quietly collect detailed records about a customer's behavior and preferences and set prices accordingly. Changing prices is generally lawful unless doing so discriminates against a consumer's race or gender or violates antitrust or price-fixing laws.


text:
The level of investment in mobile media was raised another notch last week, when Nokia bought mobile advertising firm Enpocket in a deal understood to be worth £75m.
Nokia's move into mobile content and advertising is just one of a series of events that have raised the hype around mobile media yet again. But now it appears there is a huge amount of money behind it.
Industry executives have said in the past that mobile would only become mainstream when companies such as DoubleClick entered the space - and now it has.
Not only that, but Google has invested hugely in mobile, launching a new and improved mobile search engine last year, and last week rolling out AdSense for Mobile, enabling publishers to run on-site ads relevant to their content.
Meanwhile, companies from WPP to Aegis to Nokia have all spent millions buying into the emerging medium.
Jon Carney is managing director of Marvellous Mobile, which was bought by Aegis for a rumoured £10m in June this year - another sign, he believes, of the medium's growing importance.
"I forget where we are in the hype cycle," says Carney. "But for us, we genuinely believe that we're at a tipping point.
"There are now lots of great opportunities that weren't there before, and there is decent content for people to interact with. Click-through rates are very high, money is moving into mobile and mobile media is definitely coming of age."
A few years ago, people may not have believed that the nation's biggest selling daily newspaper would include mobile in its strapline.
The Sun's "paper, online, mobile" branding exercise is part of owner News Group Newspapers' huge investment in mobile. The latest deal has seen The Sun join up with Sky to deliver Premier League goals to mobiles for 50p each, or £5 for a month's subscription.
Mike Gordon, deputy managing director of NGN, remains unconvinced, however, that mobile is at a tipping point.
"There is a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm for mobile advertising at the moment, but it's not right to say that mobile is at a tipping point," he says. "We've had a very clear strategy for more than a year that we'll push three platforms: paper, online and mobile.
"Mobile is a long-term strategic distribution platform for us, and the thing about mobile is that it's a radically different platform from anything else around.
"You've got five major network operators as gateways and media owners going direct to consumer, so it's more complex than most."
NGN has started trialling video advertising on content hosted by mobile network 3.
Gordon sees this as a route with major potential, but for media owners to embrace video and banner ads on a large scale on mobile, they need companies that can provide the required ad serving technology and reliable tracking.
That's where companies such as Google and DoubleClick come in. Google is currently in the process of taking over DoubleClick, but both companies have been ramping up their mobile focus in their separate ways in recent months.
DoubleClick Mobile launched this week (page 13), bringing one of the world's biggest internet ad-serving firms to mobile.
Ari Paparo, vice-president of rich media and emerging technology at DoubleClick, says: "Media firms are starting to develop the ability to sell across mobile and we can provide the reliability of reporting and tracking to the medium.
"Accuracy has so far been a problem in mobile reporting, as no one else has invested in it."
One barrier Paparo sees in the development of mobile media, however, is the difficulty in tracking video ads on mobile.
The Sun has started trialling video ads with its content on 3's portal, but Paparo sees difficulties in calling them to account.
He says: "It's closer to linear TV than online advertising, in that it's difficult to put smart technology into it to get accurate reporting."
Last week saw the latest mobile investment from Google, when it launched AdSense for Mobile, part of a series of mobile products being rolled out by the search giant.
David Zucker, group product director at Google, says: "Every year you hear that it's going to be the tipping point for mobile, but it's a more gradual process than that. Companies are certainly moving in the right direction. They're creating more things for users to do on mobile and we're seeing stronger and stronger adoption."
The commitment of these companies, along with Nokia and the launch of the iPhone and a Google phone, will make it easier for publishers to make money and bring mobile into the mainstream.
As Tom Henriksson, director of Nokia Ad Service, says: "Many companies are looking at mobile advertising at the moment, proving our hypothesis that now is the right time to invest."
MOBILE'S TIPPING POINT?
17 September: Nokia moves into the advertising market by buying mobile advertising agency Enpocket, in a deal understood to be worth $150m (£74m)
17 September: Google launches AdSense for Mobile, enabling mobile publishers to make money out of traffic by running contextual ads on their mobile properties
18 September: Apple announces an exclusive deal to partner with O2 for the UK launch of the iPhone on November 9
25 September: DoubleClick launches DoubleClick Mobile, making it easier for advertisers and agencies to initiate and manage mobile advertising campaigns.


text:
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Willis Group reported a 37% drop in second-quarter net income late Wednesday, but said that a closely watched revenue measure grew 10% in the period.
Net income came in at $72 million, or 45 cents a share, vs. $114 million, or 70 cents a share, a year earlier, the insurance broker said.
Organic revenue, which excludes the effects of recent acquisitions, sales and currency fluctuations, grew by 10% in the period, with double-digit growth from the company's reinsurance brokerage business. During the first quarter of this year, Willis generated 6% growth in organic revenue.
Sliding prices in several parts of the insurance and reinsurance markets have dented revenue growth at brokers serving the industry. Brokers are usually paid based on a percentage of the premiums on policies they help clients purchase. When rates fall, they get less commission.
Regulatory scrutiny of the industry has made commissions more transparent and sparked competition among insurance brokers for business and talent. That's also weighed on revenue growth.
However, last year's record hurricane season has increased the price of catastrophe-exposed risks and made some types of reinsurance in storm-prone regions hard to purchase. That may have lifted demand for broker services and given a boost to some commissions.
Smaller insurance brokers, including Arthur J. Gallagher
After scandals rocked the insurance brokerage business, Willis began hiring talent away from rivals. That's helped the company generate more new business, boosting organic revenue growth, but it's also increased costs.
"Our 10% organic revenue growth in the second quarter is a clear demonstration of the effectiveness of our sales culture," Joe Plumeri, chief executive of Willis, said in a statement. "We see traction and accretion from the new hires that we made over the last few years."
Willis said it expects continued organic revenue growth for the full year 2006 and sees salaries and benefits expense taking up less than 59% of total revenue.
The company also forecast modest expansion in its adjusted operating profit margin during 2006. The second-quarter operating margin was 20.1%, more then two percentage points better than a year earlier, Willis said.
Willis also said its board of directors authorized a new, $1 billion share buy back program. This replaces the company's previously announced $500 million buy back plan and its remaining $140 million authorization.


text:
Samsung really wants you to know that the Galaxy S21 Ultra has, in its opinion, the best camera you can buy on a smartphone today. These days, it's not enough for the phone's photography capabilities to be praised in reviews. You have to meet with consumers on their level, and in 2021, what do ordinary people love more than an overabundance of streaming services? That's why Samsung is teaming up with Hulu to produce an original reality show called Exposure, in which competitors will be given photography challenges focused around shooting with — you guessed it — a Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Once-popular RSS aggregator gReader just got its first update in almost four years. The new v5 release claims improved support for video and podcast playback, dark mode support in article view, and some miscellaneous bug fixes. We've also spotted Inoreader support. But unfortunately, reports also claim the app's ads are especially obnoxious now, and the ad-free "Pro" version of the app many customers purchased years ago is still missing from the Play Store.
Google's fourth quarter earnings are in, and you might almost be convinced that Covid had no effect on the company, looking at the numbers. Revenue is up 23% year over year, itself an increase compared to our now blissful memories of 2019. Total income is also up almost 70% compared to Q4 2019, at $15.6 billion. The bulk of that growth came from Google's bread-and-butter: Search and YouTube.
Ads are the worst, yet we see them everywhere. They fund the content we consume, for free, on a daily basis. It's one thing to receive ads on a website you are going to for free, but it's quite another when an OEM goes out of its way to force an app onto your phone in order to serve you more ads. Sadly, that is exactly what Samsung just did with its new Samsung Visit In update through the Galaxy Store.
If you chuck original videos onto YouTube to share just with your friends, brace for advertisements: the platform's terms of service for U.S. users has been revised so that videos produced outside of the YouTube Partner Program can be monetized by YouTube.
If you browse YouTube to take in the visceral spectacle of music videos or just like to cruise control through randomly autoplaying tunes, you may come across more sensical commercials than in times before. Marketers are getting beta access to two new ad verticals right now which focus on audio, not video.
We didn't ask for a film exploring the idea of a society split apart by their immunity (or lack thereof) to a disease undergoing pandemic spread, but hey, we're getting one from Adam Mason and Michael Bay next year called "Songbird." It imagines a Los Angeles of the near future with mass quarantine camps, the privileged few with immunity bracelets, and a mutated SARS-CoV-2 dominating the storyline. It also has quite a bit of product placement for the very old (at least by that point) LG Wing.
Old hat: Ryan Reynolds is a wunderkind actor/investor who sold his stake in Aviation Gin for more than $600 million and currently has an ownership stake in MVNO Mint Mobile. New hat: he has apparently recruited '80s movie icon and fellow Canadian Rick Moranis to promote the carrier's new unlimited data plan.
Android Police maintains a giant list of apps that are participating or have participated in Google's Play Pass program — where users pay a low subscription fee to remove ads and access premium features from said apps. But it's a finicky list to maintain because every addition is manual and it's extremely difficult to track any subtractions without a public database. Well, we can report on at least one departure that will take effect soon: AccuWeather is leaving Play Pass on September 20. If you use the weather app, you might not like the reason why.
If you have a Windows PC, you're probably familiar with Microsoft's aggressive marketing tactics when it comes to its browser. The company automatically adds Edge to your taskbar after some updates, and it even sends you popups when you still won't use its Internet Explorer successor. It looks like Google is considering to introduce a similarly aggravating "feature" to Chrome for Android, as 9to5Google found out. It's working on push notifications that encourage you to use its browser when you haven't opened it in a while.


text:
If you have a 3D printer at home, you know that though 3D printing is fun and convenient, it is not hassle-free. One of the big issues that those who use 3D printers at home routinely face, is having to use glue or tape to get parts to stick to their print bed.
This “fix” can be frustrating because you have to reapply the tape or glue every couple of prints, and sometimes the adhesion strength can cause objects to warp or break during printing.
GeckoTek, a company founded by science geeks—a couple of the founders have backgrounds in Polymer Science and Nanotechnology– have come up with a solution to the glue-tape-print bed conundrum.
Yesterday, the company announced its answer—the GeckoTek build plate–the world’s first 3D printer build plate developed with a permanent coating specifically designed for 3D printing.
The creators of the 12-by-12 inch build plate say that it’s high performance, versatile, cost-effective, and super simple to use. You can use the build plate over and over again without replacing it, and it is formulated to work with a variety of filaments including ABS, HIPS, and nylon.
The magic behind the build plate lies in its coating. It allows for just the right level of adhesion and is extremely durable to boot. The company also offers a variety of specialized magnetic bases for the following popular 3D printers:
- RepRaps (any printer that uses a MK1 or MK2 214 x 214mm heated bed)
- Makerbot Replicator 2 and 2X
- PrinterBot simple
- Solidoodle 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Gen
- Ultimaker 1 and 2
The GeckoTek build plate is available exclusively on Kickstarter for $39 at the moment. The developers made working prototypes and have gone the crowdfunding route to scale up production and reduce manufacturing costs.
“We are fresh out of graduate school and very low on funds. We have spent everything we had on the development of GeckoTek,” the guys behind GeckoTek said on their Kickstarter page. “We need your support to collect the necessary funds to scale up our production. If we meet our funding goal we will be able to buy materials in bulk and invest in automated equipment to do the production.”
The campaign has already reached its $15,000 goal. The company plans on introducing several stretch goals, asking those who backed the project to let them know what they’d like to see offered.
Have you backed the GeckoTek build plate? Let us know at the GeckoTek forum thread on 3DPB.com. Also check out the Kickstarter pitch video below:
Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and recieve information and offers from thrid party vendors.
You May Also Like
BEAMIT Expands Metal 3D Printing Fleet with GE Additive’s M Line
Already a customer of GE Additive, BEAMIT Group (BEAMIT), partly owned by SANDVIK, has taken on another metal 3D printer from the manufacturing giant. The latest is a Concept Laser M...
5 Ways Biden’s AM Forward Strategy Will Grow 3D Printing in the US
On May 6, 2022, President Joe Biden paid a visit to United Performance Metals in Hamilton, Ohio, where he announced the launch of a new federal 3D printing program dubbed...
6K Raises $102M in Series D Round Led by Koch Strategic Platforms
6K has just announced that it has closed the first tranche of its Series D round of financing, for $102 million. In all, the company expects to raise a total...
How Intelligent Automation and Networking of 3D Printing and Post-processing Increase Productivity
The market for Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes continues to grow and will even fivefold by 2030, according to SmarTech Analysis. More and more companies are taking a step towards the...


text:
'Gluten-Free:' FDA May Be Closer to Definition
Standard would be 20 parts per million, same as Europe's.
Aug. 2, 2011— -- "Gluten-free" has become a popular, and profitable, label. But what does it mean?
The Food and Drug Administration may be getting closer to answering this question. On Wednesday, the FDA is expected to announce that it is resuming its finalization of a standard defining what foods are gluten-free. The standard would be that foods carrying a "gluten-free" label must have no more than 20 parts per million gluten. This mirrors Europe's standard.
Congress ordered the FDA to produce a standard seven years ago. A major reason was to protect people with celiac disease, a genetic disorder that causes an intolerance to gluten. The National Institutes of Health and Center for Disease Control estimate between 1.5 million and 3 million Americans suffer from this disease.
Grocery shelves are stacked with "gluten-free" food. Sales are approaching $3 billion per year. A few months ago, Kellogg's launched Rice Krispies Gluten Free. It's now one of the company's top sellers.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye barley and other grains, as well as many processed foods, soups, salad dressings and sauces.
Victoria Beckham, Rachel Weisz and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the celebrities who have publicly promoted gluten-free eating. Weight loss, better sleep and clearer skin are among the benefits proponents tout. Chelsea Clinton's wedding cake was baked with gluten-free flour.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, one of the co-hosts of "The View," has written a book called "The G-Free Diet." She has celiac disease. A gluten-free diet is not restrictive, she said, adding that popular foods like pizza and pasta have gluten-free versions.
"I grew up in an Italian household -- pasta was at our table like another family member," she said.
She said she recommends it for everyone, even those without the disease. But many doctors say there's no scientific evidence supporting all the hype about gluten-free diets. Moreover, it can even be bad for you to cut out all gluten. Only those with celiac disease should do it, they say.
"A gluten-free diet is not entirely healthy," said Dr. Peter Green of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. "Often it lacks fiber, and the manufacturers of wheat flour fortify wheat flour with vitamins and minerals."


text:
: E-commerce giant Amazon is likely to occupy prime commercial space
which has been vacated by nearly all the brands in Inorbit mall
on the Pune-Ahmednagar road, according to sources.
It was not known how much of the available 5.5 lakh sq ft in the mall Amazon was likely to take. It was also not clear whether Amazon would take up space on lease or buy into the property. The property could be worth Rs 400 crore.
Though Amazon did not officially confirm or deny the development, it is believed that it will use the space to expand its IT and customer service operations. The rear part of the building is an IT park, which has already been leased to Amazon for its customer service centre (back office).
All brands in the mall, barring three, have already either relocated or shut down operations. Of the three that are still operating, Shoppers Stop and Hypercity are inhouse brands of K Raheja Corp, the entity that owns Inorbit. They will also move out within a month. The third one, apparel store Max, will relocate by the end of next week, it is learnt. The four-screen multiplex, PVR Cinemas, and the food court on the third floor will continue operations for now.
K Raheja Corp reasoned that it is shutting down operations due to an oversupply of malls in the area. Areawise, Inorbit was among the largest malls in the city.
"The city has witnessed an oversupply of retail real estate space in one micro-catchment (eastern corridor) wherein 74% out of the current 7 million retail real estate space of the city is located. This has resulted in an oversupply leading to a division in consumption and hence making stores unviable," said Rajneesh Mahajan, executive director, Inorbit Malls.
Mahajan said the plot has two independent buildings - the front one being the mall and the rear one the IT park that has been leased to Amazon. "There is no transaction with them (Amazon) for the mall building," he claimed.
"We do not comment on what we may or may not do in the future," said an Amazon India
spokesperson in response to a query if the e-commerce giant was planning to expand operations in Pune and set up base in the mall.
A senior analyst with a leading real estate firm said, "Inorbit will soon be converted into commercial office space. Amazon might be evaluating this option like few other clients. However, as per market information, they have not yet signed anything with Inorbit. The average commercial rate in the vicinity will be in the range of Rs 7,500-8,000/sqft."
Shops selling different brands were first told that they might have to move out in the first week of September, but many actually moved out in the last fortnight to a month. Even the ones in the food court at the mall seemed uncertain about their future.
Sources said that in the case of Inorbit, the mall occupancy did not reach even 75% since it began operations in 2011. Experts say even a 75% occupancy might not help malls such as Inorbit in an area where there is an over-concentration of such establishments.
"Our team has put in a lot of efforts in the last five years to achieve a growth rate that has now put us in a good position," said Rajiv Malla, director, Phoenix Marketcity
. The Phoenix mall is located just opposite Inorbit and is believed to be doing better than most peers.


text:
What do Google and the U.S. Postal Service have in common? Not a lot, you might say.
But next week, tech geeks will gather in a hotel conference room in Crystal City to discuss what icons of the digital age like Google can do to save the outmoded and unprofitable — but essential — business of snail mail.
Story Continued Below
“We have this behemoth that is absolutely bound by all these regulations and an embedded culture and a mentality that is incapable of thinking itself out of this box,” said John Callan, a mail industry consultant, who is organizing the June 15 event.
“So I felt we needed to bring together some radical thinking from the world that is really causing this disruptive innovation,” Callan said.
The Postal Service has been on a collision course with insolvency, and Congress is debating what to do about it. The Postal Service lost $2.2 billion in its past fiscal quarter and is on pace to lose more than $8 billion in the current fiscal year.
Last month, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe warned a Senate subcommittee that making a mandated $5.4 billion payment this summer for future retiree health care costs will mean the Postal Service will default on payments to employees and suppliers.
Dubbed “Postal Vision 2020,” next week’s event at Arlington’s Crystal Gateway Marriott isn’t designed to douse those immediate fires. Instead, it’s something of a brainstorming session. The central question is painfully familiar to the newspaper and book publishing industries: How can an anachronistic, paper-based service remake itself in a digital world?
Delivering the keynote address will be Vint Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Web and chief Internet evangelist for Google. Jeff Jarvis, author of the book “What Would Google Do?” will open the daylong conference with a talk on “The Age of Digital Disruption.”
One topic that participants are expected to discuss is digital mail delivery. Under such a system, every U.S. resident would be given an “eMailbox,” the Postal Service Office of Inspector General wrote in a recent report, which would serve as a “digital counterpart” to a physical mailbox.


text:
It is not related to technology, unlike the first two billionaires.
The richest man in Europe – the owner of the fashion house Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), a Frenchman Bernard Arnaud, became the third person in the world whose fortune reached $ 100 billion. It is reported by Bloomberg.
According to the newspaper, since the beginning of 2019, 70-year-old Arno’s assets have grown by $ 32 billion. This is due to a 43% increase in the value of LVMH shares.
Journalists noted that Arno’s condition is equal to 3% of France’s GDP. The businessman is in third place in the list of the richest people according to Bloomberg. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos comes first with $ 119 billion, and the second is former head of Microsoft Bill Gates with 106 billion.
At the moment, Forbes experts estimate the state of Arno at 97.3 billion dollars. He also ranks third on the list.


text:
UPDATE: Priceline refuses refund; resort steps upPosted: Updated:
PHOENIX -- Valerie Hill is much happier these days.
"I was surprised. Actually, really surprised," Hill tells 3 On Your Side after learning her $200 debacle had been resolved.
You may remember Hill from a 3 On Your Side report last week when she was downright frustrated. In that report, Hill explained how she was out $200 after using Priceline.com to book a girls' weekend out with her sister.
At the time she explained, "Two sisters, hanging out. Eating, drinking. We're best friends. Laying out by the pool. Maybe a massage."
Hill used Priceline's "name your own price," where consumers can bid on a resort and after locking in a credit card number, the name of the resort is revealed.
But, for Hill, naming her price backfired because Priceline put Hill and her sister at the luxurious Loews Ventana in Tucson.
That was a big problem because Hill's sister works at the resort, which has a strict policy about employees not vacationing where they work.
Rather than risk her sister's job, Hill tried to explain the unusual situation to Priceline, which refused to move them to another resort or refund their $200.
A frustrated Hill said, "They must just be proving a point that they don't care about their customers."
However, Loews Ventana saw 3 On Your Side's report and decided to step up when Priceline wouldn't.
The resort felt so bad, that they're giving Hill and her sister a full weekend at the resort absolutely free.
In an email to me, a resort spokesperson writes they would be happy to "bend their policy and give Hill and her sister a wonderful vacation experience."
Hill says it's a pleasant surprise and believes it says a lot about Loews Ventana. "We're excited and very happy. It is nice to see a company that cares like that still."
3 On Your Side would also like to thank Loews Ventana for resolving this issue. This was a problem that they were not responsible for, yet they took the initiative to make things right for Hill and their employee.


text:
Saturday's attack is the biggest on Saudi oil infrastructure since Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.Energyread more
Saudi Aramco is aiming to restore by Monday about a third of its crude output that was disrupted after drone attacks on two key oil facilities, The Wall Street Journal...Marketsread more
"Blaming Iran won't end disaster. Accepting our April '15 proposal to end war & begin talks may," Zarif said on Twitter.Energyread more
Oil prices are expected to jump as much as $10 per barrel after a coordinated drone strike hit Saudi Arabia's largest oil field, forcing the kingdom to cut its oil output in...Marketsread more
Apple's new iPhones can still send texts, download apps, and make video calls, but the company spends a lot of time and effort marketing its new phones as powerful photography...Technologyread more
The trucking industry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars per year. Uber is going after this market with Uber Freight, an online platform that matches truckers with...Technologyread more
Some U.S. manufacturers say tariffs, if targeted, will help address longstanding unfair trade practices like intellectual property theft.Traderead more
Supporters of a $15 minimum wage ballot initiative in Florida argue the state's inflation-tied pay hikes have not gone far enough.2020 Electionsread more
Saudi Arabia shut down half its oil production Saturday after drone strikes hit the world's largest oil processing facility in an attack claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels.Politicsread more
Trusii's hydrogen water machines were supposed to help users with their health problems, but customers claim the company is involved in a giant scam.Technologyread more
The decoupling of the world's two weightiest economies seems as inescapable as its extent and global impact remains incalculable.Politicsread more
Halloween isn't only a favorite time of year for kids. Many retail landlords with vacant stores also have something to look forward to.
"Because national retailers take a long time to sign leases — easily six months — tenants like Spirit Halloween tend to be a great filler in the interim," said Ami Ziff, a director of Time Equities' National Retail division.
Spirit Halloween, which first popped up in 1983, is considered one of America's first "pop-up shops." The retailer, which operates a year-round e-commerce business, has a physical retail presence for only about two months a year.
And for the past 15 years, Spirit Halloween has been expanding its physical footprint, adding roughly 50 to 100 shops throughout the U.S. and Canada per year. In 2017, Spirit will have a whopping 1,300 temporary locations across North America.
"There is always turnover in the real estate market," CEO Steven Silverstein told CNBC about his company's annual search for short-term leases. "This year there has been availability in quality real estate."
Spirit has been more "flexible" in where it is willing to open, he said. This year, Spirit Halloween will be in more malls, in addition to open-air strip centers.
"There are opportunities in all kinds of real estate that you have to consider, but the most important thing is that we are easy to find," Silverstein said. "Good locations are in highly concentrated populations."
Consumer spending around Halloween is expected to hit a record $9.1 billion this year.
More mall landlords have opened their doors in recent years to pop-up concepts, especially because a growing number of tenants are closing stores or going out of business.
Pennsylvania REIT, which owns malls and shopping centers across the East Coast, has three Spirit Halloween shops, one Halloween City and the first Christmas-themed Balsam Hill pop-up location in its portfolio this fall.
"We think there's a need for newness and uniqueness to continue to excite our customers as the days of cookie-cutter malls are long gone," PREIT spokeswoman Heather Crowell told CNBC.
"We always like pop-up, seasonally relevant tenants when we have the space, as it gives customers another reason to visit us."
According to Ziff, who has worked with Spirit Halloween, the costume and candy retailer offers landlords a "welcome" tenant who keeps the space clean, "pays on time" and "leaves on time."
"It's 100 percent a Band-Aid, but there's also an interesting parallel between Spirit's growth and the rapid rise of big-box availability," Ziff said.
As big-box tenants like JCPenney trim their store counts, landlords are seeking replacements. And the holidays tend to offer a slew of temporary options.
Throughout 2016, Cushman & Wakefield tracked over 4,000 major retail chain closures, surpassing 2015's roughly 3,600 closures. The firm has forecast that number in 2017 to increase by at least 25 percent, reaching 5,000 closures at a minimum.
So far, 19 retailers have filed for bankruptcy in 2017 — many of them apparel companies within malls, where pop-up concepts like Toys R Us Express have been temporarily filling gaps.


text:
We’ve heard a lot about Uber’s plans to create its own self-driving vehicle, but we’ve always been curious to see what it would look like. Today, Uber gave us a glimpse of its current self-driving car.
Announced in a blog post, the car is essentially a Ford Fusion equipped with laser scanners, radar, and high resolution cameras to photograph all the places it’ll go.The sensors are all aligned almost like speakers (or missiles) – unlike Google’s street view car with a 360-degree globe-like camera up top.
Uber says it will be driving in Pittsburgh to collect mapping data and test its self-driving mode. A human driver will be sitting in the car to prevent accidents should the car steer in the wrong path.
“1.3 million people die every year in car accidents — 94 percent of those accidents involve human error,” Uber said. “In the future we believe this technology will mean less congestion, more affordable and accessible transportation, and far fewer lives lost in car accidents.”
The test is still in its early days so it will be a while until a self-driving Uber arrives to take you to your destinations, but expect to see the car show up in other cities soon as Uber grows its efforts.


text:
A dorset yacht broker who charged £210,000 VAT on the sale of 6 luxury boats but failed to pay HMRC has been jailed for 3 years.
James Williams, 51, was found guilty on false accounting and cheating the public revenue.
Officers say he used the money to fund a luxury lifestyle and to renovate a luxury 44 foot yacht called 'Siri'.
The boat has since been sold has the tax inspectors try to reclaim the missing VAT.
More top news
12 years in prison for smuggling 8 kilos of cocaine and 7 kilos of heroin
Friday Evening's Pollen Forecast
Young sufferers of Duchenne muscular dystrophy will now have to wait months to find out if Translarna will be available to them on the NHS.


text:
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — Thanks to a new collaboration between Amazon and Purdue University, students there have the chance to save $6 million a year on textbooks.
The university and Amazon announced on Wednesday the launch of Purdue Student Store on Amazon where students can purchase lower-cost textbooks and other college essentials. It launched on Tuesday.
Amazon will also bring order pick-up and drop-off locations to Purdue’s campus while also bringing in expedited shipping benefits over the course of the 2014-2015 school year. The first pick-up location on campus should be open in early 2015, a release said.
Purdue President Mitch Daniels noted that books are the third biggest expense for college students. Through the Purdue Student Store on Amazon, students can rent new and used books and also rent or buy Kindle eTextbooks. Amazon says a percentage of sales through the student store will be returned to the university, which Purdue will use for its student affordability and accessibility initiatives.


text:
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI)
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) Articles
Smart food-labelling project to reduce food waste in 2020
CPI, a UK-based technology innovation centre and a founding member of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, has supported the development of a next generation smart labelling technology aimed at dramatically cutting food waste and health risks across the perishable goods industry.
Printed sensors project aims to reduce cost of EV batteries
CPI has announced that it is involved in a collaborative project which aims to develop novel printed sensors for electric vehicle (EV) battery current density imaging. This could increase battery life, reduce charging times and help to improve consumer safety, confidence and uptake of EVs.
Project to accelerate commercialisation of lightweight nanomaterials
CPI is contributing its facilities and capabilities to a Horizon 2020 project focused on creating an open-innovation test bed for the development and production of lightweight nanomaterials and embedded electronics. The ‘LEE-BED’ project will run for four years with a consortium funding value of over €10 million.
Smart vest asthma treatment for children
It has been announced that CPI is working alongside ItoM Medical BV and Blumorpho to support the development of a wearable medical device focused upon improving treatment for children with uncontrolled asthma. The device, a next generation smart vest prototype, will benefit from CPI’s expertise in the printable electronics sector.
Project to develop next generation skin and oral cancer therapy
CPI is collaborating on a photonics project to advance the development of next generation cancer treatment using phototherapeutic methods. The project, a collaboration between CPI and North East-based company, LightOx, is focused on light-based treatments to target removal of skin and oral cancer cells. CPI is supporting LightOx to develop a range of molecular tools for use in imaging, therapeutics and assay development.
Project to develop next-generation of batteries and sensors
CPI is part of a project focused on next generation battery and sensor work. Operating alongside partners on the BatterySense programme, CPI is supporting work to reduce the size of existing wireless sensing form factors by exploiting additive manufacture. This allows for the intimate integration of batteries into the substrates of ultrathin label-like sensors fabricated by roll-to-roll processes.
Printable electronics centre helps objects to communicate
CPI has welcomed new resident clients to its new facility, just months after opening. The printable electronics centre, based at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has welcomed Silent Sensors, Datatecnics Corporation and HP1 as tenants, along with Wootzano and PST Sensors at its original site on NETPark, in Sedgefield, also County Durham.
Project to develop next generation electric vehicle batteries
Working alongside LiNa Energy and Lancaster University, The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is supporting the development of a robust, low-cost and high performance energy storage battery to replace existing lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, as part of a collaboration aiming to accelerate the introduction of next generation automotive batteries.
New healthcare photonics facility nears completion
Construction work on CPI’s new healthcare photonics facility is being finalised. The centre, based at NETPark in Sedgefield, County Durham, will help develop next-generation light-based treatments for the healthcare industry.
Project to develop battery cells for niche EVs
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is working in a collaboration, funded under the Government’s Faraday Challenge initiative, to develop UK-made battery cells for niche electric vehicles. The project aims to design and deliver a range of battery cells to suit suppliers’ individual technical challenges for a range of niche vehicles including buses, emergency vehicles and marine craft amid amplifying demand for environmentally...
Running entrepreneur takes a big step forward
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has supported an entrepreneur’s vision to help runners find the most appropriate type of footwear.
CPI Collaborates with Pireta Limited on Smart Clothing Project
The Centre for Process Innovation is collaborating on a project to support the development of next-generation smart clothing.
The development of next-gen smart clothing
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has announced that it is collaborating on a project to support the development of next-generation smart clothing. Working with Pireta, CPI is using its industry expertise in the printed electronics sector to aid scale-up of wearable technology in textiles.
Lithium innovations for future electric vehicles
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has set to help develop the next generation of batteries capable of extending electric vehicles’ mileage range. CPI is collaborating on the Lithium Innovations for Future Electric vehicles (LIFE) project with lead-partner OXIS Energy, a company that is focused on the development of Lithium-Sulfur battery chemistry.
Improving airtight bonding in OLED lighting
It has been announced that the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is working as part of a consortium to improve airtight bonding in OLED lighting for aerospace and defence applications. CPI is working on the project with lead partner Oxford Lasers, alongside Glass Technology Services, Coherent Scotland, Heriot Watt University, Gooch & Housego, and Leonardo MW.
National Printable Electronics Centre exploits opportunities for IoT
UK-based innovation centre that enables the commercialisation of new processes and products, the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has successfully expanded the capabilities of its National Printable Electronics Centre to assist companies in exploiting the commercial opportunities offered by the IoT. Expected to be worth £3.8-£10.8 trillion per year by 2025, the IoT’s ability to connect mainstream products ...
Antenna systems division awarded contract by CALTEC
Corporación de Alta Tecnologia SAC (CALTEC), a systems integrator serving the South American telecommunications market, has selected the Antenna Systems Division of Communications & Power Industries LLC (CPI) to provide a fully integrated 9.4m Ka-band gateway antenna system from its ASC Signal product line at the Lurin Teleport in Lima, Peru.
Seven satellite antenna systems provided for new teleport
Provider of satellite and terrestrial communications services to numerous industries, Roberts Communications Network (Roberts), has selected the ASC Signal Division of Communications & Power Industries (CPI) to provide seven satellite antenna systems for its new teleport in Las Vegas, Nevada. Roberts has provided communications services to the pari-mutuel industry for more than 30 years, pioneering the creation of simulcasting for the horse r...
Collaboration designs tyres that reduce carbon emissions
The UK’s technology innovation provider for process manufacturing, the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), has announced that it is collaborating with Bath University and Silent Sensors to develop a key component for the future of intelligent tyres, using piezoelectric energy harvesting, which converts mechanical motion into electrical energy. This component will be part of the innovative Silent Sensors Tyre Management System (TMS) for veh...
New facility encourages more opportunities in IoT
The start of a new project that will address manufacturing challenges and exploit the commercial opportunities offered to industry by the ‘internet of things’ (IoT), a market predicted to be worth an estimated $253bn by 2021 has been announced by CPI. The European Regional Development Fund has announced £2.6m of funding for CPI to establish and run a new national technology centre in County Durham.


text:
This account is pending registration confirmation. Please click on the link within the confirmation email previously sent you to complete registration. Need a new registration confirmation email? Click here
MORRISVILLE, N.C., March 14, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:OXBT) (SIX Swiss Exchange:OXBT) today announced that the Company plans to report third quarter fiscal year 2011 financial results on Form 10-Q on Monday, March 21, 2011. Oxygen's Chairman and CEO Chris Stern and Chief Financial Officer Michael Jebsen will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss the results on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, at 11 a.m. EDT.
To access the live teleconference dial (866) 578-5784 (U.S. and Canada) or (617) 213-8056 (international.) The participant passcode is 93886225. A live webcast will be available on our web site
A replay of the webcast will be available on the Oxygen website, or by phone for a limited time. To access the replay by phone, call (888) 286-8010 (U.S. and Canada) or (617) 801-6888 (international). The passcode for the replay is 38473378.
About Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. is developing medical and cosmetic products that efficiently deliver oxygen to tissues in the body. The company has developed a proprietary perfluorocarbon (PFC) therapeutic oxygen carrier called Oxycyte
® that is being formulated for both intravenous and topical delivery. This year, the company launched its DERMACYTE
® line of oxygen-rich skin care products. In addition, the company is focused on perfluorocarbon-based oxygen carriers for use in traumatic brain injury, topical wound healing, dermatology and decompression sickness.
The Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. logo is available at
CONTACT: Ellen Corliss
& Investor Relations


text:
Security software vendor ESET has appointed Ingram Micro as its newest distributor for Australia.
ESET is known for its antivirus and firewall products for both consumer and business customers, including NOD32, ESET Internet Security and more. Ingram and ESET will be providing resellers with marketing support and training opportunities.
Ingram Micro executive director of cloud services Lee Welch said the new partnership with ESET will ensure Australian resellers have access to an even greater range of security solutions.
“Security is always top of mind for responsible Australian organisations and ESET invests in research and development globally to ensure it is ahead of the curve. Its products are both effective and unobtrusive, so that people can get on with their jobs safe in the knowledge that their systems and data are well protected,” Welch said.
“Partnering with ESET means we can ensure our channel community has access to some of the best security products available in the Australian market. In addition, ESET is contributing to our expanding security ecosystem by joining a growing number of world-class cyber security offerings that are available across our greater business, including Marketplace.”
ESET Australian country manager Kelly Johnson said the vendor is excited to be working with Ingram Micro to assist the channel community in providing security solutions for their end-user customers.
“Ingram Mico’s extensive partner network, combined with its proven channel expertise, will provide ESET with the opportunity to extend its offering throughout Australia. We are excited to be working with them on a range of initiatives that will help ensure the reseller community is well supported,” Johnson said.


text:
Japanese Told To Beat The Heat With Hawaiian Shirts
Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 11:46 am
At Japan's Environment Ministry, the atmosphere is almost preppy; it's full of fresh-faced young people in polo shirts, Crocs and even the odd Hawaiian shirt. This is the birthplace of Super Cool Biz, an energy-saving dress code designed to help ease power shortages following Japan's nuclear crisis, which could just lead to a revolution in Japanese office wear.
Elsewhere in the building, only half of the elevators are working. The corridors are murkily dark, with overhead lights switched off to save electricity. The air conditioning is off and the windows are open — both unusual in Japanese offices.
Japan is struggling with power shortages following the nuclear crisis that has crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant and led to another nuclear plant also being closed down. To save electricity, several measures are being put in place, including making government employees in Tokyo start work an hour earlier.
Shedding Layers For Summer
Masahiro Sato, the father of Super Cool Biz, goes through the rules of this sartorial revolution intended to lighten up traditional office wear for the summer months: no neckties, no jackets, yes to polo shirts, yes to Hawaiian shirts, yes to sandals — but no flip-flops. This, it's hoped, will be the new summer dress code of Japan's salarymen, designed to help the country through this year's power crunch.
"We're limiting air conditioners to 82 degrees to save energy," Sato says. "So we have to loosen up clothing guidelines, so people can be more comfy. As a target, we're looking at saving 10 percent of office electricity expenditure."
Koji Nakamura appears to be the office poster-boy for Super Cool Biz in the Environment Ministry. He's wearing what he calls a "fake Hawaiian" shirt, with brown diamonds, panels of peacock and royal blue, and white-and-black hatching. Grinning, he also points out his bright pink socks.
Before Super Cool Biz, such office attire might have gotten him fired, he guesses, though he points out that the question is academic, since he would never have dared wear such flamboyant clothing to work.
At a swanky department store in Ginza, salesman Ryusaku Noguchi says there has been a "Super Cool Biz effect" on Hawaiian shirts, or "Aloha" shirts as they're called in Japan.
He's hugely enthusiastic about the whole campaign. "I'd love to wear that to work," he says of a particularly bright pink-and-white flowered shirt. "I'd prefer it to this," he says, tugging at his necktie.
Will It Catch On?
So, would you wear a flowery Hawaiian shirt to work to save energy and help Japan's recovery from the disaster? Standing outside the House of Representatives at the Japanese equivalent of Congress, consultant Katsuji Kasashima seems horrified at the question.
He flinches in distaste at the pink-and-white flowered shirt. "I'd just take off my jacket and tie," he says, flashing the label of his fancy Italian suit. "We Japanese are better than you people at dealing with heat."
"It's all propaganda," says Internet worker Nao Isamori, ignoring the pink and white flowers altogether. "There's not enough electricity, and this just distracts us from the real issues," he says.
Office worker Shimamoto Takafume says he'd probably have to change into a suit if he was dealing with clients. "If a first-time customer walked in and saw me wearing that, they probably wouldn't trust me," he admits.
So, for all its common sense, Super Cool Biz could face an uphill struggle, especially among the more conservative industries. Its earlier, less ambitious precursor, Cool Biz, was adopted by fewer than half of Japan's office workers.
This year, Super Cool Biz was launched at a glitzy fashion show depicting a world where salarymen go to work in skintight black pedal pushers. And if that could happen, who knows? Maybe the ministry's next energy-saving target could be Japan's ubiquitous heated toilet seats.
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
And let's travel next to Japan, which has been struggling with power shortages since the earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant. To save electricity, the government is doing things like making employees in Tokyo start work and hour early. Another ambitious government scheme might just lead to a revolution in Japanese office wear, as NPR's Louisa Lim found out on a recent visit to Tokyo.
(Soundbite of beeping)
Unidentified Woman: (Japanese language spoken)
LOUISA LIM: Here in Japan's Environment Ministry, the elevators are still talking, but only half of them are working. The corridors are murkily dark, with overhead lights switched off to save electricity. The air conditioning is off, the windows open, both unusual in Japanese offices.
The atmosphere in the office is almost preppy. It's full of fresh-faced young people in polo shirts, Crocs and even the odd Hawaiian shirt. Welcome to the birthplace of Super Cool Biz.
Mr. MASAHIRO SATO (Deputy Director, Quality-of-Life Policy Bureau, Ministry of Environment): No necktie, okay. No jacket, okay.
LIM: Masahiro Sato is the father of Super Cool Biz. Hes talking me through the rules of this sartorial revolution: no neckties, no jackets, yes to polo shirts, yes to Hawaiian shirts, yes to sandals, but no flip-flops. This, its hoped, will be the new summer dress code of Japans salary men, designed to help the country through this years power crunch.
Masahiro Sato lays out the thinking.
Mr. SATO: (Through Translator) Were limiting air conditioners to 82 degrees to save energy. So we have to loosen up clothing guidelines so people can be more comfy. As a target, were looking at saving 10 percent of our office electricity expenditure.
LIM: So Koji Nakamura has got the best shirt in the office. Its kind of brown, with squares, and black and blue and turquoise. Hes just pointed out his socks, as well. Hes wearing bright pink socks. So before Super Cool Biz, for example, if you wore this shirt to work last year, what would people have said?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. KOJI NAKAMURA (Salary man): Maybe Ill get fired.
(Soundbite of laughter)
LIM: So hes saying that before now, if you worn a Hawaiian shirt to work, in a government ministry, you might even have got fired. In fact, nobody even knows, because it just wasnt the done thing to do.
(Soundbite of conversations)
LIM: Im now come to a swanky department store in Ginza and I want to see whether this Super Cool Biz campaign is really making a dent on the sales of Hawaiian shirts. Ive just been talking to a very nice salesman. And he tells me that it is making a difference.
Mr. RYUSAKU NOGUCHI (Clothing Salesman): (Japanese language spoken)
LIM: More people have been looking at Hawaiian shirts this year, says Ryusaku Noguchi. Hes in charge of the special offers on Aloha shirts, as theyre called here. Hes hugely enthusiastic. Id love to wear that to work, he says, as I wave a particularly bright pink-and-white flowered Hawaiian shirt at him. Id prefer it to this, he says, tugging at his necktie.
LIM: So Im just wondering how the famously buttoned-up Japanese will respond to the Aloha shirt challenge. So Ive come to the equivalent of Japans Congress. Im just standing outside the House of Representatives, and I want to know what people here think about the whole Super Cool Biz campaign.
Mr. KATSUJI KASASHIMA (Consultant): (Japanese language spoken)
LIM: Consultant Katsuji Kasashima seems horrified at the pink-and-white flowered shirt, and flinches in distaste. Id just take off my jacket and tie, he says, flashing the label of his fancy Italian suit. We Japanese are better than you people at dealing with heat.
Mr. NAO ISAMORI (Internet Worker): (Japanese language spoken)
LIM: Its all propaganda says internet worker, Nao Isamori, ignoring the pink and white flowers altogether. Theres not enough electricity and this just distracts us from the real issues.
Unidentified Woman: (Japanese language spoken)
LIM: So for all its common sense, Super Cool Biz could face an uphill struggle. It was launched at a glitzy fashion show depicting a world where salary men go to work in skintight black pedal-pushers. '
(Soundbite of applause)
LIM: And if that could happen, who knows, maybe the ministrys next energy-saving target could be Japans ubiquitous heated toilet seats.
Louisa Lim, NPR News.
INSKEEP: And go to NPR.org to see Japans salary men and the pink-and-white flowery Aloha shirt.
(Soundbite of Hawaiian music)
INSKEEP: This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.