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Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has apologised after launching a foul-mouthed rant at Ofgem. Mr Lewis has admitted he 'lost his rag' during a background briefing with the Government regulator talking about their proposals for changes.
He has accused Ofgem of ignoring all asks for customers and listening to calls to scrap its proposed market stablisation charge. It comes as households could see energy price caps reviewed four times a year instead of two, which means bills could increase more frequently than they did before.
The price cap works by limiting how much the average home pays for power every year, if they pay by direct debit on a variable rate tariff. The price cap is currently reviewed once every six months. Ofgem is now consulting on doing this every four months.
Martin tweeted: "I'd like to formally apologise to the Ofgem staff for losing my rag in a background briefing just now and saying its changes are a "f****** disgrace that sells consumers down the river". I should've behaved better. My ire's institutional not individual, it was inappropriate.
"I lost it when getting a briefing about today's proposals, where it feels like at every turn, in these desperate times where lives are at risk, it has ignored all asks for consumers and instead kowtowed to the industry (I hope history proves me wrong. My breaking point was when hearing how instead of listening to calls to scrap its proposed market stabilization charge, it was making it harsher to really 'stop the harmful effects of competition'. I.e staggeringly its aims to effectively STOP firms undercutting the price cap.
"Its logic was this'd prevent other firms needing to 'exit the market'. For years I've been pushing it for better controls in who they allow to set up energy firms. Yet now its way to stop it (is) to lock in advantage to higher charging incumbent former monopoly firms. Combine that with meeting industry's demand for a new more frequent 'every 3mth' price cap change - Carefully calibrated for the first three months to include six months of wholesale prices (so the price factors in the highest wholesale rates in history) so firms don't miss out...
"I finished the call by asking it to at least consider cutting standard charges, which huge rates stop people really saving by cutting energy use. I have had good meetings with Ofgem for years, so I'm sorry this blew up (they were calm I wasn't). Please accept that was (and this is) an emotional rant, not a considered piece. I pray when I do further analysis I have to apologise again as I've got it very wrong (if not I worry about dire consequences for consumers - we must do more to make things better for them)."
An Ofgem statement said: "A more frequent price cap would reflect the most up to date and accurate energy prices and mean when prices fall from the current record highs, customers would see the benefit much sooner.
"This change would also help energy suppliers more accurately predict how much energy they need to purchase for their customers, reducing the risk of further supplier failures which ultimately push up costs for consumers." Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said: "Our top priority is to protect consumers by ensuring a fair and resilient energy market that works for everyone.
"Our retail reforms will ensure that consumers are paying a fair price for their energy while ensuring resilience across the sector. Today’s proposed change would mean the price cap is more reflective of current market prices and any price falls would be delivered more quickly to consumers.
"It would also help energy suppliers better predict how much energy they need to purchase for their customers, reducing the risk of further supplier failures, which ultimately pushes up costs for consumers. The last year has shown that we need to make changes to the price cap so that suppliers are better able to manage risks in these unprecedented market conditions.”
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Chinese retail stores are giving huge discounts on iPhone 11 Smartphones as the country is making rapid recovery from moths-long Covid-19 Pandemic.
The recent price drops come as the company is struggling to boost its sales after the spread of Covid-19 virus globally and number of Chinese tech companies have rolled out their 5G enabled devices in the market.
According to the news published in Reuter, Chinese stores are offering the 64Gb variant of iPhone 11 a discount of 500 Yuan’s from its listed price of 4,999 Yuan’s or $707.54.
In the same way, Chinese stores are also giving discounts on the 64GB variant of iPhone 11 Pro Max of 1600 Yuan’s from its listed price of 7499 Yuan’s or $1,061.38 in total.
The other popular eCommerce Vendors are also offering similar price cuts in different variants of iPhone 11.
Earlier in 2019, the company also offered major discounts on different variants and models of iPhones in Chinese Stores to face weak growing demands in China. Apple’s Boss Tim Cook confirmed that the price cuts help the company to cover its financial losses by boosting sales.
Earlier in February, the Apple Boss Cook warned potential investors that the company might not be able to meet its financial goal for the coming quarter due to the interruptions of the Chinese Consumer demand and supply chain.
According to China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), Us has shipped fewer than 500,000 units of smartphones in China that month.

domain: news


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OPINION: You'd be forgiven if your eyes were starting to glaze over reading yet another Brexit headline, but we seem to be getting to the sharp end of things now.
Meat consumption has dropped 20% in continental Europe and the UK in the last two-three months and it’s not all due to the summer heat, says the NZ red meat sector’s man in London, Jeff Grant.
If Britain crashes out of the EU at the end of October it will be unlikely to seriously affect the New Zealand meat industry.
The New Zealand and British agritech sectors have huge scope to work together, says Britain’s deputy high commissioner to NZ.
Sarah Wilson, New Zealand Winegrowers’ Senior Legal Counsel, has had a busy six months since she began, with Brexit being one of her focuses.
New Zealand cheesemakers fear that European proposals to protect names of many common foodstuffs may stifle local investment and innovation in cheesemaking, and limit choices for NZ consumers.
European Union and New Zealand trade officials are still hopeful that agreement on a free trade agreement (FTA) will be reached by the end of the year.
Negotiations this week in Wellington are expected to further advance a free trade agreement (FTA) between New Zealand and the European Union (EU).


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Period Covered: January 30 (Saturday) to February 5 (Friday)
1. 2015 was a game changer for Pakistan’s tech industry
Summary: Pakistan’s IT industry 5 years ago stands in stark contrast to the vibrancy and uplift it has experienced as the security situation and market opportunities managed to improve. Although many problems are still in existence, the industry has, of its own accord and especially through startup incubations, managed to sustain itself for slow but steady progress. Click here to read our assessment on this game-changing phenomenon.
2. Travel Bookings made easy with PlaceMe.pk
Summary: Looking for a comfortable yet affordable lodging in Pakistan during travels can be a cumbersome task. Especially when most of the available options are either partially correct as mentioned or not worth the risk. PlaceMe.pk is a Pakistani project which aims to solve these problems, interestingly modeled on the world-famous Airbnb platform. It was setup by young entrepreneurs Abdul Muqsit and Babar Khan Akhunzada. Absar Kazmi carried out a detailed review for PakWired, click here to read it. You may also click here to read out interview with PlaceMe co-founder Abdul Muqsit.
3. Sukoon.com, Pakistan’s highest valued online repair service
Summary: Sukoon.com is an online repair service which emerged during incubation at P@SHA’s The Nest I/O. It helps clients hire skilled laborers like carpenters, painters, plumbers, masons and electricians at the click of a button. Despite having tough competitors, the project has managed to secure investments from Crescent Venture, The Indus Entrepreneurs’ Islamabad Angel Fund and Dotzero Venture. The project was co-founded by Shoaib Iqbal and Qazi Umair. Mehreen Omer published a detailed report on Sukoon’s soaring success for PakWired, click here to read it.
4. Prospect of a Pakistani Computer Emergency Response Team
Summary: PakWired once again brings readers’ attention to a pressing issue; if Pakistan’s critical information networks are crippled through independent or state-sponsored cyber attacks, will it be able to recover its information and restore its infrastructure? Is there a federal government body which available on-call 24×7 to handle online emergencies which could drastically affect our national interests? Click here to read our editorial.
5. Pakistani entrepreneur Usman Riaz teams up with Apple!
Summary: Usman Riaz is a multi-talented artist whose interests include music and hand-drawn animation, to name a few. Not only is the young Karachiite famed for performing at TedX as a Ted Global Fellow, he recently set the foundations of Mano Animation Studios, which rightfully proclaims itself as Pakistan’s first hand-drawn animation studio. Usman and his team of young, talented artists are working on a mammoth project called “The Glassworker“, expected to be Pakistan’s first hand-drawn animation film. Usman is deeply inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli and his passion has been acknowledged by global tech giant Apple. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Apple is giving Usman Riaz the platform to present a live demo of his art works in front of a global audience. Click here for details.
6. Urdu mobile app launched for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
Summary: China and Pakistan took their strategic-cultural ties a step forward with the launch of an Urdu language app for Xinjiang-based ‘Watching Media’. Prominent attendees during the launching ceremony of the app include Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Mr Pervaiz Rasheed, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan HE Sun Weidong, Mr Ji Wenlin from Cyberspace Administration of China and Mr Luo Fuyong, Director General of Xinjiang Information Office. The app aims to strengthen people-to-people awareness and understanding in China and Pakistan and cement the bond of friendship to complement the ongoing projects which are part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
7. Instagram now let’s you switch between multiple accounts
Summary: It appears Instagram has silently introduced the ability to sync multiple accounts without the need to log out of any particular one. Instagram’s notifications will tell you which account is being interacted with. This facility will prove very helpful for brands or marketing agencies for hassle-free social media marketing.
8. Facebook can measure your global connectivity
Summary: According to a study published by Facebook, its more than 1.4 billion users are separated by approximately 3.57 connections. Basically, each person in the world is connected to every other person by around three or four other people. Facebook’s research corroborates suggestions that the world is getting smaller and more and more people connect with each other. An earlier research by two leading international universities in 2011 had suggested that people around the world were separated by around four degrees.
9. Apps and platforms with more than 1 billion users
Summary: According to a report by Rob Price for Business Insider, the following companies achieved 1,000,000,000+ (1 billion plus) users so far: WhatsApp, Facebook Groups, Gmail, Chrome, Play Store, Android OS, Microsoft Office, YouTube and Windows. Click here to read the detailed report.
10. Animated GIFs, now on Twitter!
Summary: A number of Twitter users noticed the presence of a new button sandwiched between the options for posting photos and creating polls. On clicking, the button presented ready-made animated GIFs for tweeting. The development comes after rivals like Facebook and Yahoo upgraded their own apps to include support for animated GIFs by partnering with third-party hosts such as Giphy and Tumblr.


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Spike in Retail Sales Supports Dairy Demand
March 24, 2020
In the most serious and widespread heath crisis the world has seen since the 1918 influenza pandemic, restaurants are temporarily closed across much of the nation and in Europe. Some of that lost food demand has been picked up by increases in retail sales as concerned consumers stock up on staples, including milk, ice cream, butter, yogurt, cheese, and frozen foods, including cheese-laden entrees such as frozen pizza. However, it will be weeks, if not months, until analysts know whether the current spike in retail sales will be enough to offset vast losses at foodservice, with restaurants and bars now closed in a majority of states.
“From a consumption standpoint, the nation’s response to Covid-19 mimics preparation for a hurricane or winter storm, while restaurant traffic echoes a severe economic downturn,” says Sarina Sharp, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report. “Both comparisons suggest stronger sales at retail, especially for fluid milk and frozen foods. Fluid milk sales have been on a steep downtrend for the past nine years, but year-over-year demand actually improved in both 2009 and 2010, when consumers were on a tight budget and eating more meals at home.”
With restaurants either restricted or closed in most states, the National restaurant association estimates that the industry will lose $225 billion, about 25% of its annual revenue, if it remains shuttered for three months to help stem the spread of Covid-19. More than 30 states have also closed schools and universities, sending students of all ages home for anywhere between two weeks and the rest of the academic school year. “School closures are likely to negatively impact fluid milk demand, but so far this has been more than offset by very strong at-home consumption,” Sharp notes. “Numerous grocery chains project increases of 50% for fluid milk, and sales of milks with extended shelf-lives are also likely to be especially strong.”
About 8% of annual milk sales are served by the nation’s schools, and nearly 22 million schoolchildren depend on free or price-reduced school lunches, according to the School Nutrition Association. Because many of these low-income students receive most of their daily nutrition from school meal programs, efforts are being made to provide them with much-needed nutrition. Several states have requested waivers under USDA’s Summer Food Service Programs, which allow schools faced with an unexpected closure to continue to provide meals to low-income students. To receive federal funding, these meals must contain milk, and schools across the country have set up grab-and-go meal stations for these students.
“While U.S. dairy exports slowed noticeably during the global recession in 2008 and 2009, domestic dairy consumption was more resilient,” notes Sharp. Domestic butter sales were up 6.1% year-over-year in 2008 and 0.5% in 2009. Milk powder consumption rose 4.9% in 2008 and 29.8% in 2009. “It’s likely that inexpensive nonfat dry milk and skim milk powder found its way into more ingredient lists for packaged foods in 2008 and 2009,” Sharp says. But in later years, “some of these long-lived products languished on shelves, as domestic disappearance for these products slumped 13.2% in 2010.”
According to Sara Dorland, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report and managing partner at Ceres Dairy Risk Management, milk powder prices have suffered more than any other dairy product category during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic because powders are primarily export products. “Their supply chains are most complicated by international freight, which has been entangled in a backup at Chinese ports since February, and global consumption has become difficult to predict,” Dorland says.
For dairy markets to hold up, Dorland says that “dairy demand at retail would need to offset the entirety of foodservice and exports to keep dairy markets on track, and that could be a tall order despite the recent run.” In a typical year, she adds that U.S. exports account for more than half of annual milk powder production. “Higher fluid consumption would be a small dent by comparison,” she says. Moreover, it appears demand is drying up for Italian cheeses and cream-based products once destined for foodservice. “Demand for these products appears to have slowed to a crawl, which could send milk back to commodity processors,” Dorland says.
Sharp notes that domestic consumption of American cheese improved in both 2008 and 2009, which could also occur during the Covid-19 pandemic. “This year, sliced cheese sales could accelerate earlier than usual, as grilling season is likely off to a blazing start due to mild weather and social distancing,” she says. However, Sharp cautions that sales of cheeses other than American, mostly Mozzarella and Italian-style cheeses, retreated in 2008, likely due to diminished pizza demand. Today, unless the economic fallout deepens, consumption patterns during the Covid-19 pandemic could favor pizza sales, with takeout and delivery now the only restaurant option in many states.


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Hosted at Amber in London, the event was a celebration of the latest additions to his exclusive Asda range.
Customers were chosen at random to attend the lunch with Gino alongside a guest.
The event included a five-course set tasting menu.
The menu showcased some of the products in Gino’s range, all paired with his new range of wine – Gino D'Acampo Pinot Grigio Rosé, Gino D'Acampo Pinot Grigio and Gino D'Acampo Piemonte Barbera – available now at Asda.
It was followed by a photo with Gino, a bouquet of flowers, a signed Gino Family Adventures book and a goody bag filled with Gino’s ambient products.
The event not only showcased our latest offerings from Gino but also gave customers the chance to have a special day out.
Asda customer Helen Bingham, pictured below, who joined the lunch with her daughter Samantha, said: "I just wanted to say on behalf of Samantha and myself a massive thank you for today!
"We had an absolutely fantastic day and one we will treasure for a long time. You certainly excelled in everything today – just what we needed after a not-so-great year for both of us.”
And Asda customer John Fowler said: “Dan and I had a fabulous time – a birthday to remember for him! Gino was a lovely welcoming host and the whole event was so well planned and organised - along with lovely food and wine.”


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Today: Apple CEO Steve Jobs show off his company’s new iPhone 4 at the Mac and “i” device maker’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Plus: More highlights from Jobs’ WWDC keynote.
Apple’s iPhone 4
In the market for a new phone?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs today took the stage in San Francisco at the Cupertino Mac and “i” device maker’s yearly Worldwide Developers Conference to introduce the new iPhone 4.
The phone itself wasn’t a huge surprise: After all, we saw photos of a rogue next-generation iPhone several weeks ago on the tech blog Gizmodo, so we knew the device would be much thinner than the current iPhone.
Jobs, however, demonstrated new features such as a high-resolution display and video calling over Wi-Fi. He described the device as “the biggest leap since the original iPhone,” according to a summary provided by Apple.
“FaceTime video calling sets a new standard for mobile communication, and our new Retina display is the highest resolution display ever in a phone, with text looking like it does on a fine printed page,” Jobs said. “We have been dreaming about both of these breakthroughs for decades.”
The new iPhone 4 will be available June 24. For eligible buyers who agree to a new two-year contract with wireless carrier AT&T, the phone will cost $199 for a 16-gigabyte model or $299 for 32GB. Apple’s 8GB iPhone 3GS now costs $99.
Other specs that might interest you, according to Apple’s website:
More from Jobs’ keynote
The fourth version of Apple’s iPhone operating system gets a new name, iOS4, reflecting that it also powers the iPad and iPod touch.
The new operating system includes features such as multitasking and folder organization of apps. (You can include all your sports apps in a folder, for example, and access them by touching an icon for that folder.)
Apple’s iBooks store — which was introduced for the iPad — is now available for the iPhone and iPod touch. It also can be used to read PDF documents.
The new iOS4 will be available as a free download for iPhone 3GS and iPod touch owners June 21.
A few new apps for the iPhone and other iOS devices were introduced at Jobs’ keynote. Among them:
The company’s shares closed at $250.04, down $5.02, or 2 percent, on another difficult day for tech stocks.
Silicon Valley tech stocks
Down, in addition to Apple: Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Gilead Sciences, eBay, VMware, Yahoo and nearly all Silicon Valley tech stocks were lower.
The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average: Down 115.48, or 1.16 percent, to 9,816.49.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index: Down 45.27, or 2.04 percent, to 2,173.90.
And the widely watched Standard & Poor’s 500 index: Down 14.41, or 1.35 percent, to 1,050.47.
Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, a summary of news from Mercury News staff writers, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and other wire services. Contact Frank Russell at 408-920-5876. Follow him at Twitter.com/mercspike.


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2:20 p.m. – Fairfax Hackley, personal trainer
Piloxing, a mix of pilates with boxing
Learn more: Piloxing
7:40 p.m. Paul Brandus, West Wing Reports
The latest on healthcare.gov
7:35 p.m. Bruce DePuyt, host of NewsTalk on NewsChannel 8
Mayor Gray wants a second term in office despite ongoing criminal investigation
7:20 p.m. CNET’s Dan Ackerman
Amazon developing drones to deliver packages, is it practical?
6:40 p.m. Mike Debonis, columnist for the Washington Post
Mayor Gray’s surprise announcement that he is running again
5:40 p.m. David Elfin, Longtime Redskins beat reporter and author of the book "The Washington Redskins: The Complete Illustrated History"
Redskins lose, the botched call and whether it mattered
5:10 p.m. – Jennifer Haberkorn, health care reporter, POLITICO
The health care website
3:50 p.m. – Peter W. Singer, director, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence
Amazon testing drones story
12:51 p.m. – Dave Ross, commentator
Which party gets to invoke god?
Park too closely to the streetcar and you’ll have to pay up
WTOP’s Ari Ashe
11:10 a.m. – Chris Hill, Motley Fool
Are retailers out to get you on Cyber Monday?
10:30 a.m. – Jill Schlesinger, CBS business analyst
Cyber Monday trends, sales and how apps are affecting the day.
9:10 a.m. – Dr. Kathleen Hall, founder and CEO of the Mindful Living Network and Stress Institute
Dealing with Season Affective Disorder and tips to overcome the winter blues.
Read more: Tips for fighting holiday depression
7:40 a.m. – Chuck Todd, NBC’s chief White House correspondent
How well did the fixes to the Obamacare website work?
7:10 a.m. – Retired General Barry McCaffrey
1 of 6 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars comes back with a substance-abuse problem. McCaffrey speaks with WTOP on the opening day of the first national conference on dealing with the problem.
6:40 a.m. – Anne D’Innocenzio, Associated Press retail writer
Store traffic was up over the Thanksgiving weekend, but overall spending was down
Holiday Survival Guide: Tips to keep in mind during office holiday party
WTOP’s Dick Uliano reports.
Tips to prevent fires during cold weather months
WTOP’s Alan Etter reports.
Todd and Ellen Gray’s cookbook offers modern Jewish recipes
WTOP’s Bob Madigan reports.
Follow @WTOP on Twitter.


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Participants may purchase groceries on Amazon, Walmart, ShopRite
WASHINGTON — For the first time, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants will be able to select and pay for their groceries online, during a two-year test (pilot) launched Thursday in New York State.
In making the announcement, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue highlighted online purchasing’s potential, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) commitment to program integrity by looking carefully at the pilot.
“People who receive SNAP benefits should have the opportunity to shop for food the same way more and more Americans shop for food – by ordering and paying for groceries online. As technology advances, it is important for SNAP to advance too, so we can ensure the same shopping options are available for both non-SNAP and SNAP recipients,” Secretary Perdue said. “We look forward to monitoring how these pilots increase food access and customer service to those we serve, specifically those who may experience challenges in visiting brick and mortar stores.”
The system is developed to allow online purchasing only by SNAP households with electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards issued by New York for this start of the online pilot project. Online retailers will be limited to delivery in the pilot areas in New York only. Information regarding expansion will be available after this launch is determined successful and other pilot states indicate their readiness to implement.
Amazon and Walmart will participate in the initial pilot launch, along with ShopRite, joining early next week. ShopRite and Amazon are providing service to the New York City area and Walmart is providing online service in upstate New York locations. Additional retailers are slated to participate in the pilot in coming months. The pilot will eventually expand to other areas of New York as well as Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington.
The pilot will test both online ordering and payment. SNAP participants will be able to use their benefits to purchase eligible food items, but will not be able to use SNAP benefits to pay for service or delivery charges. For more information, visit the SNAP Online Purchasing pilot webpage.
The 2014 Farm Bill authorized USDA to conduct and evaluate a pilot for online purchasing prior to national implementation.


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Huawei has launched the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro without Google Play Services at an event in Munich, Germany.
The Chinese smartphone giant has unveiled 4G and 5G versions of both models, but they're predicted to struggle in Europe without supporting Google's apps.
Due to the on-going trade ban placed upon it by Donald Trump's administration, Huawei can use Android 10, but it's a version that comes without the native apps or services, meaning it can't bundle in the Play Store, or YouTube and other popular services.
"We cannot use the Google Mobile Services core, we can use the Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) core," explained Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group. "Today that's because of a US ban that these phones cannot preinstall the GMS core, it has forced us to use the HMS Core running the Huawei app gallery on the Mate 30 series phones"
The Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro
Two models were launched at the event, the Mate 30 and the Mate 30 Pro, with both available in 5G and 4G.
The Mate 30 has a 6.62in OLED Horizon display, with an aspect ratio of 18.4:9, which curves round along the edges at an 88-degree angle. This has taken the space usually provided for volume buttons, replacing them with virtual keys. As with the P-Series, the Mate 30 will also have facial recognition and an in-screen fingerprint sensor. There's also a Kirin 990 5G chipset under the hood, matched with a 4,200mAh battery. Fitted around these parts are 21 antennas, with 14 of those for 5G.
Camera-wise, the trusted Leica partnership is still producing top specs, but this time with a circular window to house them in, called a 'Halo Ring' - this is a trend that is set to continue with other smartphone manufacturers, watch this space. The Mate 30 is equipped with a SuperSensing Triple Camera, comprising a 40MP SuperSensing Camera, 16MP Ultra Wide-angle Camera and an 8MP Telephoto Camera.
For the Pro, a 6.53in flex OLED display will be powered by the new Kirin 990 chip and will have a quad-camera system with the 40MP Cine camera, 40MP SuperSensing Camera, an 8MP Telephoto Camera and a 3D Depth Sensing Camera.
Huawei has gone beyond the norm for colours; the device comes in a nice range of hues, such as black, 'Space Silver', 'Cosmic Purple' and 'Emerald Green' but the extra here is the 'Vegan' range. These are 'skin-friendly' faux leather additions called 'Vegan Leather Orange' and 'Vegan Leather Forest Green'. There's a nice design perk on the non-vegan range in that they are matte to gloss finishes, where there is a matte feel from the bottom to the centre, reducing fingerprint smears, but it's hard to look beyond the crazy leather additions.
And so on to the burning question; what are these phones running on? Huawei EMUI 10 is the short answer, with the long, more detailed version half-explained. EMUI is the skin, or user interface the runs on top of Android, making a tailored version for Huawei. But with the ban still, very much in place, Huawei isn't allowed to use full-fat Android, so to speak. It can't have apps like Google Maps and Search bundled in.
Huawei did announce before the event that the Mate 30 would come without Google's apps and services, creating a bit of an issue in Europe as it won't have any Google Play services pre-installed. EMUI 10 is based on Android 10, but it's not the full version that comes with native Google apps. There is no HarmonyOS either, which was rumoured to be the replacement on the Mate 30, but if the Chinese giant can't get around the US trade ban, that may well be its future.
"The firm will struggle in Europe due to the lack of the Google Play Store," said Thomas Husson, VP and principal analyst Forrester. "If consumers can't easily access their favourite apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Google Maps and many more, retailers in some European countries may even be sceptical on the opportunity to distribute the devices.
"It will take time for Huawei to offer an alternative - not just to develop a smartphone-friendly version of Harmony OS but to foster a competitive ecosystem of brand and developer partners."
There's no official announcement regarding where the Mate 30 will be available, but IT Pro did receive pricing from the firm only in Euros (1199 for 5G version of the Pro) - read into that what you will.
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Bobby Hellard is ITPro's Reviews Editor and has worked on CloudPro and ChannelPro since 2018. In his time at ITPro, Bobby has covered stories for all the major technology companies, such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, and regularly attends industry-leading events such as AWS Re:Invent and Google Cloud Next.
Bobby mainly covers hardware reviews, but you will also recognise him as the face of many of our video reviews of laptops and smartphones.


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Aug. 10, 2015, Mississauga, ON – Lay’s Canada has announced the four finalist flavours for the company’s “Do Us A Flavour” contest.
Aug. 4, 2015, Preque Isle, Maine – Representatives from McCain Foods are excited about a new project under way in Maine that has some farmers planting their usual acreage of potatoes right on top of a bed of winter rye, barley or oats. The Bangor Daily News reports. | READ MORE
July 21, 2015, O’Leary, PEI – Fourth generation potato growers Christopher and Derek Smallman have been named the Prince Edward Island Potato Blossom Festival’s Potato Producers of the Year. The Journal Pioneer reports. | READ MORE
June 16, 2015, Limestone, ME — Canadian and Maine potato growers and McCain Foods executives travelled 12,000 miles south this winter to visit with their counterparts in Argentina to see what they could learn from each other. The group of 10 New Brunswick and six Maine growers, all of who…
June 2, 2015, Delta, BC – This year marks the earliest start ever of the New Nugget potato harvest, says Brian Faulkner with BC Fresh. “Harvest of this special potato variety signifies the start of the local open-field produce season as New Nuggets come prior to strawberries and basically anything…
By Loblaw Companies
March 16, 2015, Brampton, ON – Loblaw Companies has introduced a “Naturally Imperfect” line of potatoes and apples, featuring smaller misshapen produce.
By Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Feb. 2, 2015, Kennewick, WA – The J.R. Simplot Co. plans to keep its genetically modified potato in a "closed-loop" system while the company builds industry acceptance, ensuring the potatoes don't go outside controlled farms by accident. Capital Press reports. | READ MORE
Jan. 8, 2015, Summerside, PEI – Lab results in the RCMP's investigation of potato tampering will likely be delayed after even more potatoes were discovered to contain needles.
Jan. 5, 2015, Summerside, PEI – No one has come forward so far to claim the $100,000 reward for solving the mystery of who is sticking sewing needles into Prince Edward Island’s potatoes. The Globe and Mail reports. | READ MORE
By Brandi Cowen
As we get ready to ring in the New Year, Potatoes in Canada is counting down the top stories of 2014.
December 22, 2014, Summerside, PEI – Linkletter Farms is finally back up and running after two months of being at the centre of a large-scale food tampering incident that reached across the Atlantic region. Gary Linkletter says operations are still only slowly getting back into gear, but he is brimming…
By Brandi Cowen
Dec. 15, 2014, Ottawa – Peter VanderZaag, of SunRISE Potato, has been honoured with Farm Management Canada's prestigious Wilson Loree Award.
December 5, 2014 - In a news release issued in early December, the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) says it is pleased to see that agriculture is included in the newly released Science and Technology Strategy for Canada. The future success of this large and impactful industry, says the…
OYF National Winners: From left to right: Komie Hossini, Bayer CropScience, Jack Thomson, President Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers, Myron & Jill Krahn, National Winner from Carman, Manitoba, Heidi & Andrew Lawless, National Winner from Kinkora, PEI, Jan Kennema, John Deere Ltd., Darryl Worsley, CIBC. Dec. 2, 2014 - Canada's Outstanding…
By Brandi Cowen
Nov. 27, 2014, Simcoe, ON – Ramblin' Road Brewery's beer-dipped kettle chips and potato beer have won a Premier's Award for Agri-Innovation Excellence.
Sponsored: MicroVent Vision Works with Any Storage System Design
With a myriad of potato storage systems out there ...
Sponsored: MicroVent Vision Offers Flexibility in Potato Storage
When it comes to controlling your potato storage v...
The state of succession planning across CanadaPotatoes in Canada is joining with Annex Business Media’s other…
Ivan Noonan recognized for his efforts in P.E.I.’s potato industryThe former general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board, Ivan…
Deadline approaches for Excellence Award for ag studentsFarm Management Canada (FMC) and the Canadian Association of Diploma…
Alberta irrigation water quality information now available onlineThe Alberta Irrigation Districts Association (AIDA) announced the release of…
CPMA Convention and TradeshowTue Apr 02, 2019
Potato Association of America Annual Meeting Sun Jul 28, 2019
Alberta Potato Conference and TradeshowTue Nov 19, 2019


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Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal will be launching the revamped website of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Thursday at 12 noon with better features and facilities for passengers.
According to the information received from the Ministry of Railways, with the upgrade of the website, booking train tickets will become easier and faster.
Along with this, its capacity will also increase, due to which the pressure of booking in peak hours will not cause crashing of website. Now, passengers will be able to get more options for payment after ticket booking.
In addition, now passengers can book food for themselves during the journey via the new website.
Railways is trying to make IRCTC's website and app more user friendly, in order to eliminate the interference of fake agents in booking tickets.
At the same time, Railways will also give more space for advertisements on the new website.
It is important to note that as the influence of Digital India increases, the trend of online ticket booking has also increased. In such a situation, it became essential to upgrade IRCTC's website by the Indian Railways and add new features for the passengers.
Also Read: Delhi: Night curfew imposed, no new year celebrations at public places


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Interview with Olaf Horrenberger
In January 2014, Schubert-Pharma was launched as a specialist team in pharmaceutical final packaging. Olaf Horrenberger, Managing Director of SPS Schubert Packaging Systems, explains the added-value, this think-tank has already achieved for their customers.
Within competence teams, employees from Gerhard Schubert GmbH and SPS Schubert Packaging Systems GmbH work together on customer projects. Schubert-Pharma, as a new player in the market, already has several decades of experience in the pharmaceutical sector. Schubert brings its expertise on the highly flexible TLM packaging machines, as well as its long-standing business relationships with pharmaceutical companies. SPS contributes its extensive experience in project management and consulting of complex packaging systems.
Views & Voices
In this interview, Johannes Schubert, who has been responsible for the Flowmodul as product manager since January 2017, shares an interim assessment of the innovative flow-wrapping technology. next In this interview, Johannes Schubert, who has been... next


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The Mac had a birthday last Friday, and what's a birthday without a celebration? Apple employees at One Infinite Loop celebrated with a private concert by OneRepublic. But what about everyday Mac users? Many of them gathered at Cupertino's Flint Center last Saturday night to attend the Mac 30th Celebration, organized by All Planet Studios, the Computer History Museum, and Macworld/iWorld. [Editor's disclaimer: Macworld/iWorld is an event run by IDG World Expo, a sister company to IDG Consumer & SMB, Macworld's parent company.]
In a panel moderated by New York Times senior writer John Markoff, Daniel Kottke, Rod Holt, Marc LeBrun, Jerry Manock, and Larry Tesler talked about the very early days of the Mac development.
Holt, who designed the Apple II power supply and was a Mac engineer, talked about what made the Mac different from other computers. "The thing that drove the group was not just Steve Jobs with a whip outside the office, it was the fact that the Macintosh was becoming a computer that we wanted." Holt went on to talk about how the Apple II was also a computer that its makers wanted. "This process of invention is very unusual," he said. "I think the world could use a lot more of it."
Holt also made a point to recognize Burrell Smith, an engineer on the Mac team who designed the motherboard. "He was the closest we ever came to having another Steve Wozniak," Holt said. "He was indomitable. Steve [Jobs] would say, Let's not do it this way, let's do it that way,' and Burrell would scratch his head and say okay, and two days later it would be that way."
The second panel moderated by Wired's Steven Levy. It was filled with tales of the Mac from some of the people who made it: Bill Atkinson, Steve Capps, George Crow, Andy Hertzfeld, Bruce Horn, Caroline Rose, and Randy Wigginton.
Many of the stories told by the members of the second panel are familiar to die-hard Mac fans. Capps told the story of the pirate flag, Crow told the story behind the Mac's floppy disk drive, Hertzfeld talked about how Jobs didn't want cursor keys on the keyboard in order to force people to use the mouse.
When Levy asked the group how they knew if anything would actually work, Atkinson talked about how software designers have a "blind spot," where they don't see things that others do. "You may have a cool idea, but if you try it on people and they get confused and they feel stupid, find a different way," said Atkinson. "The Lisa and Mac user interfaces got debugged into existence, thousands and thousands of individual mistakes at a time."
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AJN Steelstock Limited, one of the UK’s leading steel stockholders, which has processing sites in Newmarket, Suffolk and Henstridge, Somerset, has announced the appointment of Lee Olson as Purchasing Director with immediate effect.
With over 22 years’ experience within the steel industry, Lee, who joined AJN Steelstock in 2007, will add further depth and knowledge to its operating board and will help drive the business forward as it continues with its rapid growth and expansion plans.
As a member of the board, Lee, whose previous roles include UK Sales Agent for ArcelorMittal, will be responsible for maintaining strategic relationships with steel manufacturers and developing business strategies to enhance the supply chain management process for the benefit of AJN’s customers and partners.
Courtney Bell, AJN Steelstock’s Finance Director, comments, “I’m delighted to welcome Lee to the operating board. His in-depth knowledge and experience within the industry, coupled with his strong relationships with the mills, will prove invaluable as we continue to grow and expand the business.
“The company continues to go from strength to strength and Lee will be a great addition to the leadership team as we enter another period of exciting times within the company.”
Employing over 400 people across its Newmarket and Henstridge sites, AJN Steelstock has seen its sales and turnover increase year-on-year for the last 16 years.
In addition to its comprehensive range of steel products, AJN Steelstock also provides full in-house processing and finishing services including saw cutting, drilling, shot-blasting and painting, and laser and high def plasma profiling.


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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) will adjudicate on all profiteering matters in GST from December 1 with the term of the National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) ending this month.
But analysts have questioned whether the CII, which handles competition matters, has the competency to handle GST issues even as what constitutes profiteering remains unresolved amid court cases in high courts on the constitutional validity of the anti-profiteering provisions.
A sunset clause that was envisaged for the NAA has been junked by the Centre, the analysts said.
As a market regulator, the CCI ensures the fair discovery of prices through market forces, whereas the NAA mandates the passing of tax benefits and input credits to consumers. There is a lack of synergy in their roles as also a lack of expertise in the CCI in handling tax matters.
In a notification, the finance ministry said: “The central government, on the recommendations of the Goods and Services Tax Council, empowers the Competition Commission of India to examine whether input tax credits availed by any registered person or the reduction in the tax rate have actually resulted in a commensurate reduction in the price of the goods or services or both supplied by him.” The ministry notification shall come into effect from December 1.
The NAA is a profiteering watchdog and was set up after the introduction of the GST, initially for two years, which was extended twice subsequently. In the Lucknow meeting of the GST Council last September, the tenure of the NAA was extended till November 30.
Sanjeev Sachdeva, partner of Luthra and Luthra Law Offices India, said: “The sunset clause that was envisaged for the authority to exist, is now removed. Consequently, anti-profiteering will continue to be around for an unspecified time.”
M.S. Mani, par tner, Deloitte India, said: “The industry would expect some guidelines to aid in the determination of profiteering or otherwise. Ideally, market forces should determine pricing, and a recourse to CCI should be made only in very exceptional cases.”


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New “Pineapple” Orange Coming for Florida GrowersBy Doris Stanley
April 3, 1997
Citrus is sometimes in short supply in stores in January and February. But a new pineapple orange--so new it hasn’t been named--could change that.
Scientists with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service say they expect to release the new citrus variety to nurseries in about three years. The new orange will be the eighth variety to emerge from the citrus breeding program carried out over the past 20 years at the agency’s U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory at Orlando, Fla.
The scientists say the new pineapple orange ripens in time to fill the market void that now occurs in January and February. It’s suitable for the fresh market or processing.
Of special interest to growers: The new variety is seedless and stays on the tree until picked. Growers have been reluctant to plant pineapple orange varieties in the past because the fruit has too many seeds and tends to fall off the trees before it is mature.
Other citrus varieties from the Orlando breeding program have included Ambersweet, Sunstar, Midsweet and Gardner oranges, Sunburst and Fallglo tangerines and Flame grapefruit. Florida growers have planted about 15 million trees of these varieties, which have superior traits for both the fresh and processing markets. In nursery sales alone, this totals about $60 million. Fruit production and value-added processing from these citrus varieties represent an annual retail value of about $334 million to the U.S. economy.
Scientific contact: Richard Mayer, USDA-ARS Horticultural Research Laboratory, Orlando, Fla.; phone (407) 897-7300, fax (407) 897-7309, firstname.lastname@example.org.


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New Forest District Council are warning their Appletree Careline community alarm customers to be aware of a telephone scam where the caller falsely claims the alarm service is being taken over before asking for bank details.
The Council is aware of four customers who have been approached by a company claiming to be taking over Appletree Careline.
One customer gave his bank details after being told by the caller that they were working with Appletree Careline.
He said he was caught by surprise and became very flustered during the call and gave out his bank details, when he knew full well it was something he shouldn’t have done.
The Council wishes to reassure customers that a takeover is not happening and everything is business as usual at Appletree Careline.
NFDC are working with Trading Standards and advise customers not to give any bank details or part with any money.
Anyone who is concerned or who feels they have been misled into buying a product or service, can contact Citizens Advice consumer service who provide free, confidential and impartial advice. citizensadvice.org.uk 03454 04 05 06


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By Charles King, Pund-IT, Inc. September 12, 2016
Pushing hard for competitive advantage is hardly unusual in business. In fact, it’s commonplace for many companies to attempt to advance their own interests by spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about their competitors’ strategies and efforts. Common or not, some of these exercises go to extremes.
A case in point: Ever since Dell announced its plan to buy EMC last October, HPE’s CEO Meg Whitman has tried to dump FUD onto the deal as if she were driving a manure spreader. Whitman decried the size and complexity of Dell’s plan, saying it would result in “chaos” and insinuated that financing the deal would “keep them from better serving their customers.”
Whitman also said that Dell is “getting bigger, leveraging up, and mostly doubling down on legacy technology. While our strategy is to get smaller.” In fact, Whitman claimed that HPE’s spin-offs and “spin-sales” of underperforming business units, including PCs, professional services and application software have placed it “two years ahead of the game.”
That’s strong stuff so it’s worth taking a look at organizations that literally aren’t buying it. Businesses, including HPE customers, aren’t just ignoring Whitman’s FUD. In many cases, they are actively purchasing solutions from Dell Technologies to replace their HPE data center gear.
The following is a profile of one such enterprise that I interviewed to discuss the business and technology challenges it faced, and why it decided to invest in Dell Technologies’ solutions. Please note that the representative I spoke with, a technical lead in the company’s IT organization, asked that its name and location not be disclosed for practical and competitive reasons. I’ve honored that request.
The customer, a Global 500 retailer with dozens of distribution centers and hundreds of stores, is facing numerous pressures. Those include managing increasingly complex IT and supply chain environments and contending with growing competition, especially from companies leveraging online, mobile and other non-traditional channels. As a result, the company has embraced a digital transformation effort to renew its IT infrastructure and related processes.
The technical challenges are significant. The company’s existing IT solutions were too big, cumbersome and slow to support the adaptive processes it envisioned. Expensive legacy systems comprised too large a part of the whole, and contributed to increasingly siloed compute, storage, networking and virtualization functions. Its IT infrastructure included a significant proportion of equipment from HPE, as well as other enterprise vendors.
Looking ahead, the company determined that a converged infrastructure platform would allow it to consolidate numerous applications and workloads. It also believes that converged infrastructure solutions would simplify its IT environment and management processes and measurably lower the overall impact and cost of potential risks to its business.
After initial study and research of four converged platforms, the company invited HPE and VCE (now Dell EMC) to a “bake-off” demonstrating the solutions they proposed. Following that process and some additional tire-kicking, it picked VCE’s Vblock as its converged platform of choice, then purchased and installed new systems in its primary data center.
Delivering the goods
Why choose Vblock? According to the customer, for both short and long term benefits. In the former case, the customer was impressed by VCE’s guarantee that the new pre-engineered, validated Vblock system would arrive at its facilities ready for commissioning and adding capacity within 6-7 weeks, far faster than what HPE could offer. That allowed the company to accelerate its digital transformation strategy.
The longer term benefits Vblocks offer are multi-dimensional. For one thing, they support numerous operational enhancements, including a simplified view of capacity and utilization that eases management tasks. The customer also cited the Release Certification Matrix (RCM) as a primary driver behind its choice. RCM is a service that automatically delivers documented, pre-tested, pre-validated firmware patches and other system updates to customers throughout a Vblock’s lifecycle.
Prior to working with VCE, the company’s update process was time consuming, inefficient and rarely up to date. RCM removes those problems and their associated risks, and updates are typically performed by junior admins who usually finish-up early. That frees senior administrators and system architects to focus on complex projects supporting digital transformation and core business processes.
Calculating the benefits
The new Vblocks have provided the customer notable material, scalable benefits. For example, since the systems were deployed, the company has increased the number of workloads it supports by over 10% and grown the number of virtual servers it employs by about 80%. The customer is also seeing significant savings on both smaller and larger workloads, resulting in TCO that is 25%+ lower than what HPE and other competitors projected.
Not surprisingly, the company’s Vblock experience sparked other engagements with VCE. In fact, it recently took possession of a new VxRack system to support its supply chain and distribution environment. The customer also believes that Dell brings “something new to the core of EMC” that will result in innovative hybrid cloud, and converged and hyperconverged solutions, along with opportunities to extend cost-effective compute and intelligence to the network edge.
Near the end of our discussion, the customer’s representative mentioned the critical role of IT in challenging, rapidly changing circumstances, and how important it is, “To make sure that whatever the business wants to do, IT will not be in the way.” The company’s adoption of Vblock and VxRack converged infrastructure solutions reflects the crucial, continuing role VCE, as part of Dell Technologies, will play in that process.
Actively spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt among competitors’ customers may qualify as common wisdom among some vendors. However, it can be easily overturned with superior offerings, negating any short term benefits FUD-happy executives and companies might capture.
It’s also a remarkably out-of-date mechanism to rely on in sophisticated, data-driven IT markets and among companies that need to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Instead, as the case study presented here suggests, vendors are best served by developing offerings that support the critical business, computing and financial goals of their customers.
Since its founding in 2009, VCE has pursued just these sorts of solutions and services. The engagement with the enterprise described here, along with the Vblock and VxRack systems the customer purchased are good examples of why VCE enjoyed remarkable success as part of EMC, and why that is likely to continue with Dell Technologies.
© 2016 Pund-IT, Inc. All rights reserved.


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Online food delivery service Deliveroo has appointed current CEO at Meridian Energy and Powershop Australia, Ed McManus, as CEO of its Australian business.
Online retailer Kogan is launching a new service under a new brand — Kogan Energy — in partnership with Powershop to offer what it claims will be competitive power and gas services to Australian households.
Microsoft have progressively become more and more bonkers. Remember their funeral parade for iPhone? Microsoft's phone later this year will[…]
Microsoft's Edge browser wasn't released until 2015. I guess they were preparing it as far back as 2013, but I[…]
If it does it will be final confirmation that a portion of the establishment is not fit for office, and[…]
Good to see that our friends in the UK are rejecting the USA "bully boy" tactics. It would be great[…]
Microsoft has such a great track record of forcing its own version of something and it working better, if at[…]


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Michael Saylor Says His Twitter Chat With Musk Might Have Contributed to Tesla’s Bitcoin Buy
Without disclosing any further details, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor said in a recent interview that his conversations with Tesla’s Elon Musk influenced the latter to buy $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in January.
Additionally, he also noted that BTC’s revolutionary technology had caught the world by surprise, which is why so many people outside the industry had issued accepting it.
Saylor Influenced Musk to Buy BTC?
News broke in February that the electric vehicle giant, Tesla, had used funds from its balance sheet to buy $1.5 billion worth of the primary cryptocurrency. That massive milestone in bitcoin’s adoption cycle came after a long and controversial history between BTC and Tesla’s CEO – Elon Musk.
Interestingly, though, just a few short weeks before the purchase was made, Musk had a brief Twitter conversation with the founder and CEO of MicroStrategy – Michael Saylor.
Saylor has become among the most prominent BTC advocates in recent history. He advised Musk about making a “$100 billion favor” to Tesla’s shareholders by converting TSLA balance sheet from the US dollar to bitcoin.
Musk asked if such large transactions are even possible, to which Saylor provided one of his billion-dollar worth BTC purchases as an example that they are.
During a more recent interview with Time, MicroStrategy’s CEO emphatically said that he believes that the Twitter conversation had impacted the decision made by Tesla and Musk.
Nevertheless, he refused to provide more details regarding any offline conversations as “it’s against business etiquette.”
Don’t Blame People for Dismissing Bitcoin
Being a relatively new and disruptive concept, bitcoin is prone to be dismissed by representatives of the traditional financial world. In the past, Warren Buffett called BTC “rat poison squared,” JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon said it was “fraud,” and even Michael Saylor was a skeptic.
While most have admitted they were wrong, and Dimon even publicly apologized, Saylor believes that such comments are somewhat expected.
“I just think it’s a paradigm shift, so you can’t blame smart people. They are all smart, and they were all successful. But if you go back and you look at electricity, not every smart, successful person immediately understood the implications of electricity in the first 24 months after they heard of it.
Thomas Kuhn said when you come up with a new paradigm, a completely utterly revolutionary way to see the world, the establishment doesn’t normally accept it. And you need a new generation to accept that unless there’s a war, unless you have an extreme experience that forces you to embrace a new idea.”


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A month after the launch of the OnePlus 5T, it is now being reported that OnePlus is set to launch the OnePlus 6 as its next flagship as early as March next year, complete with an under-display fingerprint sensor. Notably, the Shenzhen-based company has been offering one of the fastest fingerprint sensors on its flagships since the launch of the OnePlus 2 back in July 2015 and recently developed its Face Unlock feature to counter Apple's Face ID.
OnePlus is preparing the launch of the OnePlus 6 for sometime in the middle of March, while its availability will begin by the end of the month, reports GizmoChina, citing a source familiar with the development. The new smartphone is said to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip, which was unveiled earlier this month. It is worth noting that OnePlus' homegrown competitor Xiaomi already announced its Mi 7 as the first Snapdragon 845 device.
Apart from revealing the processor, the GizmoChina source, who is claimed to have a past record of unearthing upcoming developments, stated that OnePlus 6 would have an underglass fingerprint sensor - often called under-display fingerprint sensor. OnePlus shifted the position of the fingerprint sensor from front to back with the arrival of the OnePlus 5T to give enough room to its thin-bezel display. However, since it is more comfortable for users to have a front-facing fingerprint sensor, the company is now reportedly considering the advanced under-display fingerprint technology.
Qualcomm and Synaptics are already working on their native variants of under-display fingerprint technology by closely with some smartphone manufacturers. Synaptics even highlighted that 70 million units of in-display sensors will be available in the market in 2018. Moreover, Vivo recently demonstrated the Synaptics sensor that would be a part of its models in the coming future, and that it will reportedly be the first OEM with the technology. It makes sense for OnePlus to deploy the under-display fingerprint sensor on its next flagship as the company shares the same parent company of Vivo, which is BBK Electronics.
Some early instances of under-display fingerprint technology are likely to be showcased at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 in Las Vegas next month. However, the next OnePlus flagship would be among the first range of smartphones using the new development for mass availability.


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Comedian John Oliver recently dedicated a lengthy segment on his HBO show Last Week Tonight to Irving-based restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese, and the company already has a “special surprise” in store for him in response, Axios reported.
In what was announced as a brief segment to talk about the longtime pizza party spot, Oliver ended up talking for 25 minutes about the chain’s history.
Oliver made fun of several things about the restaurant, from the obsolete animatronics to the origin of its mascot and the viral videos of fights that have occurred in its facilities over the years.
“I believe there is a rot at the heart of Chuck E. Cheese,” Oliver said on his show.
In the segment, Oliver tells the story of how the restaurant chain was created by Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari. The restaurant was originally to be called Rick Rat’s Pizza, but it eventually became Chuck E. Cheese.
Oliver also recounts how the restaurant pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when media reported that Chuck E. Cheese was operating a ghost kitchen restaurant under a different name, but selling the same pizza.
“Chuck E. Cheese was a brand founded on darkness,” Oliver quipped.
David McKillips, CEO of CEC Entertainment, the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese, responded to Axios: “Thank you, John Oliver, for being a fan of Chuck E. Cheese, and we’re honored to be such an important entertainment icon.”
Axios noted that company representatives have said they are already preparing “a special surprise” for Oliver.


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New Delhi: Former US President Donald Trump has launched non-fungible Trump (NFT) card sets priced at $99 to buyers. These are limited edition digital trading cards. Interested customers can collect a rare Donald Trump digital trading card. They are of a different deck like a baseball card.
Read also | From OnePlus Nord to Realme 9; Best budget-friendly smartphones under Rs 2,022 launched in India in 2022, per PICS
You can purchase these rare digital trading cards at the official collecttrumpcards.com website.
How do you collect them?
You can collect them digitally on your computer or phone. You only need an email address and a credit card to start collecting 1, 10, 20 and 100 cards. You can instantly become part of a new university league.
Read also | Anand Mahindra shares snaps of football fans in India – watch the video
Moreover, each NFT is not only a rare collectible, it automatically enters you into a lucky draw with a chance to win amazing prizes and meet only the 45th card which means Donald Trump, as he was the 45th President of India.
All rare NFTs sold out in a matter of hours
If you are aspiring to buy one of the digital trading cards, then there is bad news for you. All rare cards have been sold at collecttrumpcard.com. They sold out within hours of their release.
Here’s how netizens react
Donald Trump after selling the NFT collection pic.twitter.com/dZ1hNgtGOk– marmuc (@marmuc96) December 15, 2022
Holy Molly. I just spent some time on the Donald Trump NFT collectible card site and it’s a journey inside the saddest psychosis I’ve ever seen. Oh my God, it’s Looney Tunes. I can’t stop laughing at him. pic.twitter.com/QwVkcrXxQ5– KGChief (KG_Chief) December 15, 2022
Here’s how netizens react.


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On Thursday, SoFi announced a merger with a SPAC named Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings V (IPOE), led by venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya. SoFi is a California- based online one-stop shop personal finance company founded in 2011 which aims to help people achieve financial independence.
Post-merger, SoFi will be valued at $8.65 billion and will have $2.64 billion available including $1.2 Bn PIPE investment and $805 million held at the trust. Shares of "IPOE" jumped 58% at the announcement.
The SoFi announcement comes after several high profile SPACs headed by Palihapitiya this year. So far, "IPOA" has merged with Virgin Galactic "SPCE", "IPOB" merged with the real-estate unicorn Opendoor "OPEN", and “IPOC” merged with Clover Health “CLOV” debuting on Friday.
Chamath has reserved additional names on the NYSE, preparing us for his future listings on the exchange which could attract investor interest.


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China is currently the global leader when it comes to electric two-wheeler manufacturing. They have a robust manufacturing ecosystem that produces these vehicles as they are no big deal, just another product for people to buy because they have a solid electric two-wheeler manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
But things are different in India. A domestic, made-in-India- electric two-wheeler that is not a Chinese import is rare to find. and we have a lot of Indian companies selling these electric two-wheelers with their own branding and logo, but these scooters are not actually designed or manufactured in India.
These Indian companies are acting as middlemen, importing from Chinese manufacturers and then assembling in India, which is why most of the electric vehicles currently available in India are similar in looks.
Problems with Chinese Electric Scooters?
Chinese products are everywhere in India!
We’ve got smartphones from companies like Vivo, and Chinese automobiles from brands like MG that are owned by SAIC Motor, but in electric two-wheelers, it’s a bit more subtle, as these scooters are not being sold directly by the Chinese but it sold by Indian companies which are wholly owned by Indians with Indian branding.
And it becomes problematic when companies don’t make it clear where their two-wheelers are coming from and being made, when they say their products are made in India, made for India, but then you Check out Chinese EV manufacturer websites, and you get to know that their electric scooters look very similar to those of the Indian company.
Read more: New Mahindra Scorpio-N All Variant Price?
right now there is a big part of this Indian electric two-wheeler industry that is being heavily supported by China, even if this support is indirect. And every Indian company that chooses to trust Chinese companies is missing out on a huge opportunity for India. They should slowly but surely build up their two-wheeler manufacturing capabilities in India. And as more and more startups start manufacturing their own electric two-wheelers, the collective industry strength in the country will grow.


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That number includes 77 store managers who are suspected of receiving money, holidays and gifts in return for illicitly helping suppliers to reach their sales targets. Fifteen people from at least three of Systembolaget’s supply companies are also being investigated for bribery.
On Monday Stockholm police handed over a weighty 5,300-page report to the public prosecutor. Some employees are alleged to have made 100,000 crowns each and the total sum of money involved is said to be 1.2 million crowns.
While Dagens Nyheter called it “one of the biggest cases of bribery in the country’s history”, the finer details of the document are being kept under wraps until legal proceedings begin “before the end of the year”.
Chief prosecutor Ewa Nyhult, who is leading the investigation, told Monday´s Svenska Dagbladet, “I do not wish to go in to what the suspects have done and what the charges are.”
“During the next three weeks, the suspects have the chance to submit their own views on the investigation. We will continue to investigate other supply companies and suspicions of bribery.”
So extensive is the report that police are using three fully loaded cars to transport it around the country. The cases are likely to be tried in a number of parallel hearings in district courts around Sweden.
According to Expressen, the investigation began in March 2003 and, for the last 11 months, seven full time investigators have been working on the case.
Suspicions were first aroused at the end of 2002 when a Systembolaget employee handed over three lists to company management. The lists revealed how much store managers could earn by helping suppliers to reach their sales targets.
After an internal investigation, it was established that some stores had unusually large amounts of certain brands from certain suppliers. In January 2003 ten store managers were dismissed.
They denied the allegations and said they were simply following the alcohol monopoly’s standard practice. One was reinstated and two others accepted an out-of-court settlement. The web of allegations and denials became even more tangled when the remaining seven took their case to the Swedish Labour Tribunal (Arbetsdomstolen), alleging unfair dismissal.
At the same time Systembolaget also reported seven store managers and three supply companies to the public prosecutor.
But now the scandal has escalated to a far greater magnitude than Systembolaget boss – and wife of Prime Minister Göran Persson – Anitra Steen would have wished for, and she reportedly appeared nervous on Monday when commenting on the latest revelations.
“As soon as the proceedings begin, some time in November or December, we will carry out internal enquiries into every suspected employee,” she said to Aftonbladet. “If the enquiry concludes they have taken money or goods from a company supplier, it will be difficult to keep them on.”
With 77 of her 420 store managers with bribery charges pending, a recruitment drive for new store managers has already begun.


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Blavod positive despite dip
The AIM-listed spirits firm Blavod Wines & Spirits is planning to introduce a number of new products in the spring and increase marketing support for its flagship vodka brand.
However, the company has issued a profits warning after sales “slowed abruptly” in the closing weeks of 2009.
Sales volumes for the last quarter of 2009 were only 1% ahead of the corresponding period in 2008 for the company – whose brands also include Blackwood’s gin and Jago’s cream liqueur.
It is predicting a break-even result for the full financial year, after making a £185,000 profit last time around.
A statement revealed off-trade sales had been hit by “higher retail prices on several key products which lost share to heavily promoted competitors”.
Sales in the first quarter of 2009 are expected to be better – but not enough to make up for the pre-Christmas shortcomings. “In addition, the company has suffered exchange losses and one-off costs not originally forecast,” said the statement. “As a result, profits will be severely affected.
“Blavod will regain UK distribution and new initiatives are in hand to support the Blavod brand. Moderately increased prices have been agreed on several brands which will improve margins and allow further advertising and promotion support.”


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Several experts have predicted that the Bitcoin price will surge past $2,000 on this year’s Christmas day, according to an interview conducted by CoinTelegraph.
Surveying 58 Bitcoin enthusiasts in attendance during the Bitcoin conference in Amsterdam held this month, the majority of them shared optimistic views in regard to the possible value of the virtual currency.
Based on the results, many believe that Bitcoin will post a value higher than $2,000 but not more than $5,000. In fact, Sam Cole of KnCMiner was among those who see a significant increase taking place before the year ends.
“Large financial players are entering the market this year,” he said. “I am talking to some of them [and] if they are to become involved, they need the coin to be valued at around $2,000 to $3,000.”
In agreement is Dr. Marco Krohn of Genesis Mining as well as Bitcoin investor Tracey Mayer, who maintained that Bitcoin price will head northward through the involvement of Wall Street via the current technological advancements and innovations of the digital currency.
Meanwhile, most experts were not as enthusiastic as the others, predicting that Bitcoin will only be priced more than $1,000 while some settled at the $800 mark. BTC China CEO Bobby Lee, on the other hand, played safe, calling the currency’s value to sit above $500.
However, other Bitcoin enthusiasts took a different take on the guessing game as they emphasized Bitcoin adoption, and not price, defines the currency’s success better in the global market.
“What is a measure of success is the mass consumer and merchant uptake,” said Jinyoung Lee Englund of Bitcoin Foundation.
Moreover, instead of focusing on exchange rates, the industry must give more attention on applications that give value to Bitcoin, said David Orban of Dotsub.
Regardless if the Bitcoin chart will or will not reflect the predicted value, experts agree that the digital currency will trade at a price higher than it is doing now—a positive telltale sign that Bitcoin users take as an advantage.
Among those who will benefit from the price increase are the Bitcoin gambling enthusiasts, who generally make up a massive percentage of the current total usage of the virtual currency.


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DATE: 03 July 2012
Holiday Villa Hotel & Suites, Subang Jaya, Selangor
Delta Perdana Sdn. Bhd. (DPSB) which is subsidiary of Damini Corporation Sdn. Bhd.(DMC) was the 42th company that awarded with the National Mark of Malaysian Brand by SME Corporation Malaysia and SIRIM QAS International Sdn Bhd. The Certificate was presented by Malaysian SME Corporation Chairman, Datuk Mohamed Al Amin Abdul Majid to Mr. Borhanuddin Ramli, Managing Director of DMC and DPSB. Receiving the certificate will hopefully ensure local brand longevity, in our hopes to achieve global demand.
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New Season of the Anime-Inspired Golf Title Playable Now
El Segundo, Calif.-October 5, 2007- OGPlanet, an innovative provider of multiplayer online games, today announced that the latest season of their fantasy role-playing online golf game - Albatross18 - has launched. Season 3 of the hit game includes new community features, characters, courses and an extensive new storyline, which delves into the darker side of the Albatross18 game world. Players looking to jump into the exciting world of Albatross18 should visit: http://www.albatross18.com.
"This is easily the biggest development for Albatross18 to date," said Jack Liu, Chief Creative Officer of OGPlanet. "Season 3 is what we have always envisioned our game to be. Not only from a feature-rich standpoint, but from the dark aesthetics that veer away from the one-dimensional cutesy feel of versions past. We've rocked the Albatross18 world just enough to call it Revolution."
Albatross18 Season 3 introduces all new community features that make trading, selling, and socializing even better than before. In addition to an enhanced user interface, the new 3D virtual lobby, the PSquare, facilitates trading and socializing, and Personal Shops allow players to create their own virtual storefronts to sell goods at prices they determine. Players will also be able to purchase mascots, each with its own specialty that boosts your golf game.
Season 3 also features new gameplay additions, characters and courses, including:
About OGPlanet [span style="font-size:7pt"]®[/span]
Based in El Segundo, California, OGPlanet focuses on bringing popular multiplayer PC games to U.S. gamers. Built on an innovative business model, our games allow anyone to play for free, but offer the opportunity to enhance their experience by purchasing game pieces, clothing, and accessories. These "Virtual Economy Games" have already attracted tens of millions of players in Asia and are building a large audience in the U.S. Co-founded by Jack Liu, Chief Creative Officer, and Sangchul Park, President, the company is funded by a team of experienced gaming and digital media executives. For more information, visit www.ogplanet.com.
Learn More: http://www.ogplanet.com
Michael Meyers PR


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US to get a taste of Bundaberg's lovely lychees
THERE has never been a better time to be a lychee farmer.
Bundaberg grower Derek Foley has had a bumper crop this year and is preparing to send his first shipment to the US and Canada.
The export deal has been years in the making, and also helps ensure prices stay competitive on the domestic market.
On his property Electra Farms near Pine Creek, where he grows eight varieties, Mr Foley expects to produce 100 tonnes this season - 25 up on last year.
The president of the Australian Lychee Growers Association said 60-70% of lychees grown in Australia are destined for overseas shelves.
Plenty of effort has gone into ensuring US export protocols are met by Australian growers, right down to the tiny holes in the bags that line each box of lychees.
"You have to have all your ducks lined up in a row," Mr Foley said.
Ideally it will take three to five days from Bundaberg tree to US supermarket shelf.
Growers in northern Queensland have already begun shipping to the states.
Right now the market price for lychees is around $45 for a 5kg box.
"It has been as high as $100 a box - you feel criminal taking it ... but you take it," he laughed.
Good prices mean reinvestment in the local industry.
"We never stand still here," Mr Foley said in his packing shed.
"We upgraded our packing gear this year, so with the same number of people, we're doing half as much again."
The lychee picking season runs for six or seven weeks each year, and this year will finish around January 25.


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The International Automotive Remarketing Alliance (IARA) Virtual Summer Roundtable will feature three concurrent webinars on topics that are vital to the vehicle remarketing industry: titling, logistics, and repossessions.
Hosted virtually on Aug. 20, 2020, the webinars will serve as virtual chat rooms that will allow attendees to learn from subject-matter experts on challenges and resources in today’s environment and share in an interactive dialogue.
The three concurrent webinars all feature discussion from key industry leaders.
The Titling webinar will be led by Stacey White, senior VP remarketing at PAR North America, and Keith Whetter, VP of sales at Liquid Motors.
The Logistics webinar will feature Joe Miller, VP of client experience at AutoIMS, as the group lead, along with a panel that includes Sean Cabin, chief compliance officer at RCG Auto Transport & Logistics; Dan Kennedy, SVP business development at Jack Cooper; Mike Trudeau, executive VP of business development at Montway Auto Transport; and Adam Laura, VP of business development at ACERTUS.
The Repossessions webinar will be led by Jeff Bescher, president of Strategic Remarketing Solutions, and will feature a panel that includes Paul Marquez, VP of asset recovery at Servicing Solutions; and Jessie Hedrich of PAR North America.
Originally posted on Vehicle Remarketing


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Senior curator of contemporary fashion at London’s V&A, Oriole Cullen, will host a panel discussion on Saturday, 16th November, from 2pm to 3.30pm in the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) with renowned fashion designer, Roland Mouret, and the acclaimed Irish-based visual artist, Dragana Jurišić, for the inaugural, RHA X.
The Royal Hibernian Academy, (RHA) presents the first RHA X this November. A collaboration between world renowned fashion designer, Roland Mouret, and the acclaimed Irish-based visual artist, Dragana Jurišić, RHA X is a ground-breaking international art and fashion experience, which will evolve year on year.
The first RHA X immersive installation will launch on Friday, 15th November, where it will be animated personally by the artists at a gala fundraising event, where Roland and Dragana will welcome the international art and fashion community to Dublin to experience this unique collaboration.
Sponsored by IPUT Real Estate Dublin, RHA X creates a third space; an intersection between cultures, perceptions, aesthetics and art forms, inviting the audience to connect through a shared immersive experience.


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24.46 +0.05 (0.23%)
Pre-Market: 8:30AM EST
|Bid||24.06 x 1400|
|Ask||24.46 x 1800|
|Day's Range||23.97 - 25.27|
|52 Week Range||19.63 - 39.54|
|Beta (3Y Monthly)||0.77|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||10.04|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||N/A (N/A)|
|1y Target Est||N/A|
Shares of Urban Outfitters plunged after the retailer missed quarterly earnings estimates on the top and bottom line. Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous and Jared Blikre discuss.
Urban Outfitters' shares plummeted, raining on a parade of otherwise upbeat retail earnings WEDNESDAY. Quarterly profit at the bohemian lifestyle retailer dropped 28%, missing Wall Street's target for the first time in nearly two years. Weak demand for women's clothing at its namesake chain drove the company to cut prices. That, along with higher labor costs, hurt the bottom line. Same-store sales at Urban Outfitters were flat, disappointing Wall Street which had expected a solid increase. What's more, the company's wholesale business suffered from increased markdowns from department stores. The company, which also owns the Anthropologie brand, said it's seeing positive sales in the current holiday quarter. But investors seemed unconvinced. Urban Outfitters shares fell more than 16% in early trading Tuesday - it's worst one-day performance in nearly 7 years. They've lost nearly a quarter of their value this year.
Baird analyst Mark Altschwager said he was encouraged by Urban Outfitters improved results fueled by a resurgence at Anthropologie and strength at Free People, but a cautious outlook in the fourth quarter is responsible for the drop in shares. The analyst trimmed his 2019/2020 EPS estimates to represent a more conservative view on fourth-quarter margins, but says in the long term, he believes with its differentiated brands/concepts and digital strength, Urban Outfitters is one of the better positioned specialty retailers in his coverage universe. Although the analyst is encouraged by the positive comps across the board for Urban Outfitters brands, Redding says third-quarter results are likely to weigh on the retail sector as a whole, particularly in teen apparel retailers.
Zacks.com featured highlights include: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Urban Outfitters, Hewlett Packard, Cardinal Health and British American Tobacco
Discount Store retailers' earnings results are likely to reflect gains from a unique business model as well as omni-channel, pricing and merchandising initiatives. High costs might have hurt margins.
Urban Outfitters' (URBN) bottom line declines year over year but top line improves from the year-ago period benefiting from favorable response to apparel assortments and growth in the digital channel.
Urban Outfitters shares plunged Wednesday after the clothing retailer posted weaker-than-expected third quarter earnings amid weakening sales for some of the nation's largest clothing-focused store chains.
Urban Outfitters (URBN) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of -1.75% and -1.35%, respectively, for the quarter ended October 2019. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
Urban Outfitters shares were tumbling in after-hours trading, after the company reported a decline in profit.
Shares of Urban Outfitters Inc. fell more than 11% in the extended session Tuesday after the retailer missed third-quarter profit and sales expectations. Urban said it earned $56 million, or 56 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $78 million, or 70 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose 1.4% to $987 million, from $974 million a year ago, Urban Outfitters said. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 57 cents a share on sales of $1 billion. Shares of Urban Outfitter ended the regular trading day down 4.5%.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN ) shares are falling despite reporting record third-quarter sales. Earnings came in at 56 cents per share, missing estimates by a penny. Sales came in at $987.469 million, ...
Despite several economic and geopolitical headwinds, third-quarter earnings results were not as weak as expected in the beginning of the reporting cycle.
Investing.com -- Stocks react positively to the U.S.'s decision to cut Huawei more slack, while it's a big day ahead for retail earnings: updates are due from Kohl's, (NYSE:TJX), Urban Outfitters and HomeDepot. There are also updates on U.S. housing starts and building permits, and a head-to-head debate in the U.K. between the leaders of the Conservative and Labour Parties. Here's what you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, 19th November.
Ben Rains breaks down what's going on in the retail world after Walmart impressed Wall Street last week. We then dive into what investors need to know about Home Depot, Target, and Macy's ahead of earnings...
Cyclical stocks have been market leaders in recent months, and seem poised for more outperformance in 2020, Goldman Sachs says.
Higher costs, promotions, adverse currency and tariffs are likely to have hurt Abercrombie's (ANF) Q3 performance. Digital efforts, store optimization and the Hollister brand might have aided it.
Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.


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The Mississippi Delta has no shortage of museums, historic attractions and clubs devoted to the blues, but visitors will find the region has many other stories to tell, too.
The upbeat Belfast of today looks and feels nothing like the high-security city that once captured world headlines for all the wrong reasons.
A personal journey through one of Portugal's most captivating cities.
Disney theme parks have a big summer ahead of them with major new attractions opening May 27
In Portugal's second city, everything cool seems to be right around the corner, or more likely, just up a hill.
For a correspondent back in Moscow for the first extended time since 1993, these symbols of luxury are particularly jarring.
Sand, surf and seriously sexy fun await in the Caribbean sun at Puerto Rico's Wyndham Grand Rio Mar.
Seeking more from life, Dinan quit her job, sold her stuff, and set out on an open-ended trip around the world.
The mayors of some of North Carolina's biggest cities are asking their colleagues across the country to end travel boycotts over a law critics say continues discrimination against LGBT people.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will celebrate 50 years of Rolling Stone magazine in a new exhibit set to open this spring in Cleveland.


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NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 27 – The Consumer Downtown Association (CDA) held demonstrations on Monday over the Finance Act, 2017, with their grievance being the recently assented Finance Act.
President Uhuru Kenyatta assented to the Finance Act 2017 this month with the betting and gambling industry being the biggest losers with a 35pc tax.
CDA has filed a petition to President Kenyatta asking him to review the newly uniform 35pc tax law, arguing that the bill was ill motivated and misinformed.
Consumer Downtown Executive Director, Japheth Okumu argued that the bill did not reflect the stakeholders’ input.
Okumu further said that the law will lead to a massive exit of investors who will in turn close shop and shift to other open markets out of the country.
“The 35pc tax across the betting industry is ill motivated aimed at killing the industry and above all it pushes the tax burden to ordinary consumers subscribed to the products and services in the sector,” Okumu complained.
“The Finance Act should not be misunderstood to maim and frustrate the sector that has greatly contributed to employment, corporate social responsibilities, charities and nurturing talent through sports,” said the agitated Okumu.
Earlier this year, the government had proposed to tax betting, lottery and gaming operators at 50pc, a move that drew condemnation from a broad array of the industry’s stakeholders.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Henry Rotich has in the past been quoted saying that the rapid growth of on-line gambling hurts the young and vulnerable.
Betting companies have been increasingly against the taxes citing that the business is a costly undertaking.


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People are now facing a new crisis amidst rising Corona cases. Let me tell you that many hotels and mandapos have been booked in Meerut due to the wedding a month ago but now due to the fast growing corona cases, the government has now cut the number of people invited to the wedding again. Where the number of guests in the first marriage was 200, now it has been reduced to 100 again. At the same time, hotel and pavilion operators are not cutting the money, despite the number of guests at the wedding, due to which the common people are facing a lot of problems. On one hand, the hotel and pavilion operator is not willing to lose money, on the other hand, another problem in front of the people is that the guests whom they have invited by giving the card for the wedding ceremony, now refuse to come.
Hotel guests are not cutting money even after the number of guests is reduced
According to the information, many people had made a hotel booking of 200 guests a month before the wedding, but in the midst of growing Corona cases, the government has now brought the number of people invited to the wedding again to 100. Since this order, people are now facing a lot of trouble because the hoteliers are now refusing to lose money. According to the hoteliers, whether the guest comes 50 or 100, the payment has to be made for booking 200 people. Let the hotel people also get scared due to this new order of the government. Hotel operator Abhijeet Dubey told that the booking will be informed about the new orders. With this government order, only 100 people will be booked.


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Earlier this month, the competition watchdog released its inquiry into digital services.
A generation ago, rules in some states governed when bakers could bake their bread.
Pharmaceutical company AbbVie make the world’s best-selling arthritis medication. They also specialise in causing pain for tax administrators.
Last year, academics from the University at Albany and the University of Missouri published a research paper arguing that company taxes should be abolished.
Among Australian economists, few public servants are as revered as Roland Wilson, who ran the Treasury, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Labour, serving both sides of polit
Imagine finding a dollar on the ground as you’re walking down the street. It might feel like a bit of luck, a little sign that today is a good day.
Productivity growth is the key driver of living standards over the long run. Yet over recent decades, productivity growth has slowed from a canter to a saunter.
Twelve dollars for an iceberg lettuce. Eleven dollars for a punnet of strawberries. Cooking oil prices boiling over. KFC putting cabbage in its burgers. After decades of stable food prices, suddenly inflation is on the front page of the paper.
In recent weeks, we’ve learned two troubling facts about young Australians: the prevalence of mental disorders has hit a new high, and the rate of volunteering has plumbed a new low.
The cleaning companies were multi‑billion‑dollar firms, but most of their customers were small businesses. So the big firms wrote contracts that allowed them to increase their prices.
With an area of around 700 square kilometres, Singapore is about 1/10,000th the size of Australia. Not surprisingly, it doesn’t have much of a mining industry.
At first blush, treaty shopping might sound like a fun excursion to the gift store with your primary schooler.
In the early years after European settlement, it wasn’t called a ‘Census’, it was called a ‘muster’.
The world’s first census took place in 3800 BCE. The Babylonians counted the number of people, animals, and stocks of valuable foodstuffs, such as butter, honey and wool.


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WHITESTONE, N.Y.— BodyArmor Sports Drink and Academy Award winner and number three BodyArmor shareholder, Kobe Bryant, has announced the launch of the brand’s latest ad campaign consisting of television, digital creative, out-of-home, radio and social executions. The campaign, which is BodyArmor’s largest campaign to-date, was created by Bryant and is the second installment of the successful “Thanks” campaign from 2018.
This campaign, launching in support of the brand’s official NCAA partnership, features BodyArmor partners, James Harden and Donovan Mitchell – and communicates the need for athletes to evolve all aspects of their game in order to compete, including their choice of sports drink. BodyArmor, with natural flavors and sweeteners, potassium-packed electrolytes, coconut water, vitamins and no colors from artificial sources, provides superior hydration for today’s athletes.
The TV campaign will debut during the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Thursday, March 21 and run through the National Championship game. BodyArmor is the Official Sports Drink of March Madness and will have a presence on the sidelines of all games during the Men’s and Women’s tournaments – with water bottles, cups and coolers – as well as in all locker rooms.
In addition to the advertising campaign, BodyArmor Sports Drink is kicking off the BodyArmor Bracket Challenge, where consumers will be invited to fill out a tournament bracket on NCAA.com to see how they stack up against the bracket’s of team BodyArmor athlete like James Harden, Donovan Mitchell and Mike Trout, among others. Fans can enter the Bracket Battle by visiting: bracketchallenge.ncaa.com/picks/group/bodyarmor
The launch of the campaign comes at a pivotal time in BodyArmor’s growth. In 2018, BodyArmor was a $400+ million retail brand. The BodyArmor brand consists of BodyArmor Sports Drink, BodyArmor Lyte, which is a low-calorie/low sugar Sports Drink and BodyArmor SportWater.
BodyArmor is the fastest growing sports drink in the category. The consumer demand for a better-for-you sports drink has made BodyArmor the third-largest sports drink in the U.S. Kobe Bryant is the number four shareholder in BodyArmor. Harden, Mitchell, Mike Trout, Andrew Luck, Dustin Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Anthony Rizzo, Skylar Diggins, Diana Taurasi and Megan Rapino are all shareholders in BodyArmor. BodyArmor is also the Official Sports Drink of UFC. For more information visit: drinkbodyarmor.com.


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Spring has sprung! The weather is getting warmer. It’s a great time of year, as neighbourhood comes alive with activity.
Spring market always generates a media buzz. Sure, in some areas there are sour headlines proclaiming fewer homes sold – but, they’re missing the key fact… there are fewer homes for sale in most markets and that’s having the larger effect on sales numbers, as well as confusing attitudes. There are neighbourhoods where multiple offers on one new listing in the first week.
At the same time, glowing headlines report that the average home price continues to move up. Yes, in some areas, tight supply and competition for properties continues to boost home prices. This market has momentum and Buyers continue to show excitement for competitively priced homes. When buying or selling, it all comes down to street-by-street and neighbourhood-to-neighbourhood knowledge. Especially in times like these, rely on me, the Realtor you know, for advice that matters.
If you or any of your friends and relatives would like to have the market trends of a certain neighbornood, please send me a message. Planning to sell or buying real estate, please feel free to contact Eva Li at anytime. Text or phone call are welcomed.