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Sep 20, 2016
Luxury goods purchases bounce back strongly in London
Sep 20, 2016
Purchases by international tourists, which account for nearly one third of world luxury goods sales, continued to slump in August, though at a slower rate than before thanks to a massive rebound in the UK.
According to figures by Global Blue, a tax-free sales specialist, tourists have flocked to the UK to profit from the weak pound and buy luxury goods. Their purchases last month jumped up by 36% compared to the same period last year.
France, the top tourist destination in Europe, has conversely been heavily affected by the string of terrorist attacks. Foreign tourist purchases there have continued to plummet in August (-20%, after -23% in July and -15% in June), while the decline was less strong in Italy (-11%, after -23% in July).
Purchases by Chinese customers, who account for approximately 40% of the world luxury goods market, have once again decreased, falling by 14.6% in August after a -25.6% in July.
The Chinese are very sensitive about security issues and have increased their domestic expenditure, but not enough to make up for the decline in purchases abroad. They have also been encouraged by the lower domestic price differential compared to Europe, and by taxes and increased constraints adopted last April by the Chinese government to fight against the 'daigu' parallel market: Chinese buyers who sell off cheaply authentic luxury products bought in Europe.
The figures published by Global Blue do not take into account purchases made in the USA, Hong Kong and Dubai, where tax-free operations do not exist
According to the analysts' estimates, the decrease is still above 10% in Hong Kong, once the most profitable city for luxury goods. The Chinese are now rushing to South Korea (+31% in August), which they regard as especially attractive in terms of shopping experience and range of brands, and they are turning their backs on Japan (-36%) owing to the yen's appreciation.
Overall, duty-free tourist purchases in August have limited their decline to 5.2%, after a 16% downturn in July and June, also thanks to increased expenditure by US customers (+7.2%), after five negative months in a row.
© Thomson Reuters 2023 All rights reserved.


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How Total is supporting the growth of the distributed generation of solar power across Southeast Asia
(Norwich, UK, 10/12/2019)
“Rather than building a big solar plant in the middle of the desert and then arranging transmission and distribution before retail to a customer, you can put solar right on top of somebody's roof, and get rid of all of the grid problems.” In an interview with Business Chief Asia magazine, Total Solar Distributed Generation’s Southeast Asia CEO Gavin Adda, talks about bringing the independence of solar energy to thousands of new customers by investing in people, processes and platforms.
Innovation has played a big part in Adda’s journey developing a solar offering in Southeast Asia. “When I was joining the business, major companies such as BP, Shell and ourselves were taking a good look at renewables,” he reveals. With the core elements of businesses like these changing, it was important for Total to add new capabilities and become nimble in its approach. “I'd seen the same thing happening in the US with companies that had been very successful at selling power to a utility or to a government,” he explains. “If you're going to sell power in places like Indonesia and Vietnam, you've got just one choice, sell to that one entity. And you've got hundreds of different developers trying to sell to that company, so that company gets to push everybody's price down. But what's happening with solar, especially on the rooftop side of the business, is that we're flipping the model round. That disruption is the revolution that's happening in power.”
To learn more about how the sun is rising for Total with solar in Southeast Asia, the full feature can be found in the December issue of Business Chief Asia.

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Encouraging news, Stanford researchers pairing Google Glasses with a smartphone app to improve social skills for children with autism.
As the child interacts…the app identifies and names their emotions through the Google Glass speaker or screen.
After a few months regular use…parents reported their children were making more eye contact and relating better to others.
This technology could fill a major gap in autism care. A shortage of therapists means some children wait up to 18-months before beginning treatment.
Facebook is expanding its fact checking to include photos and videos.
Until now, human fact-checkers focused on text articles.
A machine learning model will flag photos and videos for potential inaccuracies. A human will verify
Spotify upping the number of songs you can download for off-line listening.
The old limit, three-thousand-three-hundred-thirty-three songs on up to three devices. Now, ten-thousand per device and up to five devices.
Wowsers! That’s 50-thousand different songs.
New phones are increasing storage, so good timing Spotify.
The goal is stop companies from turning cookie data files into broader trackers.
Trackers can note what your read, watch and research on other sites.
Apple says some popular websites are embedded with more than 70 trackers.
Safari making these protections automatic in upcoming updates for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.
Firefox automatic only on Apple’s mobile devices, not Android or pc’s. So turn it on or use a private browsing mode.


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McDonald’s settles suit over claim on Muslim dietary law
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DEARBORN, Mich. — McDonald’s and one of its franchise owners agreed to pay $700,000 to members
of the Muslim community to settle allegations that a Detroit-area restaurant falsely advertised its
food as being prepared according to Islamic dietary law.
McDonald’s and Finley’s Management Co. agreed on Friday to the settlement, to be shared by Dearborn Heights resident Ahmed Ahmed, a Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers.
The lawsuit alleged that Ahmed bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at a Dearborn McDonald’s but found it wasn’t halal. Islam forbids consumption of pork, and God’s name must be invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered.
Ahmed’s attorney, Kassem Daklallah, said the only two McDonald’s in the United States that sell halal products are in Dearborn.
The locations advertise that they exclusively sell halal Chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches. Daklallah said that the Dearborn location on Ford Road sold nonhalal products when it ran out of halal.


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This was according to Alan Winde, the Western Cape MEC for economic development, who was the opening speaker at the recent Africa Agribusiness Forum in Somerset West. “At least six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa, and we’re currently trading with one or two of them, but this isn’t enough. South Africa needs to improve its trade links in Africa to take full advantage of economic growth on the continent,” he said.
Winde’s statement was supported by the statistics quoted by some of the other speakers, all of which pointed to the fact that purchasing power and demand in Africa is growing and SA is ideally placed to supply this demand. According to Dirk Troskie, the director of business planning and strategy at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, the gross domestic product (GDP) in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow from R6,7 trillion in 2009 to more than R14,2 trillion in 2016. During this time the per capita GDP in the region is likely to increase from around R17 500 to almost R25 000.
The economies of Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique and Nigeria are expected to increase by between 80% and 140% during the next five years, said Troskie. “Meanwhile South Africa’s economy is expected to increase by only 40% over this period.” Troskie added that agricultural production in Angola, Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana and Mozambique increased by between 100% and 140% from 1990 to 2009, while agricultural production in SA only increased by about 30%.
The value of agricultural production on the continent increased from about R660 billion in 1990 to just over R1,16 trillion in 2009, but the per capita index declined, which means that the amount of food being produced per person has declined, explained Troskie. “Some economies in Africa will double in size during the next five years and individual purchasing power is also increasing, but production is not keeping up with demand.”


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Chicago was one of three locations Chipotle chose to test out its triad of new restaurant designs, which includes a walk-off window for online orders, among other cool features. The fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain is a favorite of the Chicagoland area, and we’re eager to see what Wrigleyville’s “Chipotlane” will do for online orders.
With the goal of increasing digital sales and speeding up customer lines, Chipotle is building new restaurants as well as updating the old models with brand-new features. Chicago’s new Addison & Clark Chipotle near Wrigley Field in Wrigleyville saw the first of these alterations when it opened last Wednesday, including a walk-up window for passing pedestrians.
Chipotle restaurants aim to expand into more urban areas with altered designs that allow customers to walk directly to an open window and secure their online orders. The new suburban designs include drive-thru windows for orders made through the Chipotle app and online to quicken the time it takes to get your food at this already fast-casual concept. Chipotle promises updated walk-off and drive-thru lanes in 150 to 165 locations by next year.
With 35 locations in Chicago already, Chipotle restaurants are only getting stronger. Enjoy the new “Chipotlane” at the Wrigleyville Chipotle, now open at 1027 W. Addison Street.
At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.
Tell us what you think matters in the Lakeview neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!
Featured Image Credit: Chicago Eater


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Bengaluru: Leading e-commerce major Flipkart on Monday tied-up with global software major Microsoft to use its Azure cloud platform to boost its e-tail sales.
The strategic partnership was announced by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadela on his maiden visit to this tech hub after he took over the reins of the world's largest software firm in February 2014.
Flipkart co-founder and its group CEO Binny Bansal and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani were also present on the occasion.
Photos: 'Dangal' girls Sanya Malhotra, Fatima Sana Shaikh's dinner outing
Photos: Salman Khan, Daisy Shah spotted at the Mumbai airport
Photos: Rakhi Sawant to play Honeypreet in Ram Rahim biopic
Photos: Arvind Kejriwal asks Kamal Haasan to join politics
Photos: TV actress who played goddesses on the small screen


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Zombie Army attacks – are your devices safe?….
This week hundreds of thousands of webcams and digital recorders have been infected by a ‘botnet’, aka a ‘zombie army’. This infection was completed in order to overwhelm online services with traffic from multiple sources, consequently crashing the service. Millions of internet addresses were targeted causing major disruption to websites such as Twitter, PayPal, CNN, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Allison Nixon, director of research at the security firm Flashpoint, said its web-enabled CCTV cameras and digital video recorders were forcibly networked together using the sophisticated malware program Mirai. “It’s remarkable that virtually an entire company’s product line has just been turned into a botnet that is now attacking the United States,” she told security researcher Brian Krebs.
Leading up to the attack cyber experts issued a warning of the creation of increasingly sophisticated botnets. These sophisticated botnets are able to rotate IP addresses (likely to avoid detection) three times more often as other botnets previously.
The attacks and devices used to create these attacks are extending everyday. Household and everyday devices –e.g. cameras and now, even kettles, which have been connected to the internet, (through a concept of ‘connectivity’,) are making the complexity of attacks increasingly challenging.
If these attacks cannot be prevented by the worlds largest cyber security firms and, US Homeland Security are struggling with identifying the source during their investigations, how can businesses and individuals ensure they are cyber safe in this increasingly dangerous, Zombie Army world?
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As a new decade approaches, the way tire buying has changed and how everyone in the industry has adapted will be one of the key takeaways to note.
The convenience of consumers completing transactions online has evolved and reached a point where it’s becoming common to do so daily. The act of completing a transaction online is called e-commerce. eBay and Amazon are the notable marketplaces where many have experienced their first online transactions.
During 2013, Amazon Prime saw its subscribers surge from 7 million subscribers to 20 million. After 4 years of steady growth, Prime subscribers surged 54% to top 100 million subscribers. The success of Amazon Prime falls in line with the growth of U.S. e-commerce sales as a percent of total retail sales. Recent Internet Retailer analysis of U.S. Commerce Department figures show e-commerce represents 14.3% of total retails sales in 2018. Amazon accounted for 40% of U.S. online retail.
If you’re wondering why I’m referring to Amazon Prime and the growth of e-commerce sales, it is because this has become part of many consumers shopping habit. We need to understand these consumers have all adapted to convenience. Online shoppers buy through the internet for many reasons including product variation, customer reviews, and price comparison to say the least.
Over the last five years the buying of tires online by end users has increased for several reasons including online ads, product variations, lack of availability at local tire shops, ship to installer options, and plus sizing through vehicle configuration on websites which minimizes the need for a tire experts support.
With that said, tire shops have already begun adapting by signing up to become preferred “ship to installers” and also by eliminating the inventory they keep in stock which has increased their dependency on local wholesalers.
Distributor wholesalers like TGI have adapted in more ways than one would think. One of the biggest changes in the last decade is SKU proliferation. At the start of the millennium, the industry needed 267 passenger/light truck SKUs to ensure 80-percent market coverage. Today, the number of SKUs needed to cover passenger/light truck has more than doubled to 625 SKU. In addition, distributors have adapted to recent trends by partnering up with online tire retailers and fulfilling orders for them via drop shipping.
Let’s not forget how manufacturers like Goodyear and Michelin decided to go direct to consumers online. The reason they did this was in response to the buying behavior of consumers.
As this decade comes to an end the size of global ecommerce at the end of 2019 is expected to reach $3.5 trillion following a growth of 20 percent from the previous year. China will be responsible for $1.9 trillion in sales, followed by United States with $586.9 billion, and the United Kingdom totaling $141.9 billion. Global ecommerce sales account for 16% of global retail sales which will total $21 trillion by the end of 2019.
So, if you thought for a second buying tires online wasn’t cool, think again! -Danny
While Tire Group International, LLC. (“TGI”), makes every effort to present accurate and reliable information on this Web Site and Blog, TGI does not endorse, approve, or certify such information, including any opinions presented, nor does it guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficacy, or timeliness of such information or opinions. Except as expressly stated, all information on this Web Site is provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied. You are solely responsible for the appropriateness of this Web Site, its content, and the products and services offered by TGI.


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Fresh off a disappointing month of sales for the industry, automakers are trying to drum up excitement by showing off their newest models at the New York International Auto Show.
This year's show had a high-powered twist. As consumer appetite for crossovers and other gas-guzzlers refuses to relent, the fuel-efficiency focus that consumed auto shows only a few years ago has given way to a more broad showcase of vehicles, including high-performance cars and SUVs.
Here are some of the highlights from the show, which opens to the public Friday.
Nowhere was the shift to high-power vehicles more apparent than at Dodge. The automaker unleashed the long-awaited Challenger SRT Demon, which will replace the Viper as the brand's flagship offering. It's a lighter, more powerful version of the popular Challenger SRT Hellcat.
The Demon will be the first car to come from the factory with drag radials, or tires specifically designed for drag racing. The car can also be ordered with a toolbox that allows customers to make last-minute modifications at the drag strip to eke out extra speed, along with a specialized engine computer that can be optimized for racing fuel.
The price has yet to be announced, but expect the Demon to ring in above the Hellcat's $64,195 starting price. Regardless of price, Dodge says no stock production car will beat the Demon in a quarter-mile drag race. Also, it does wheelies.
Shortly after launching the original Clarity, which is powered by hydrogen fuel cells, the carmaker has added full-electric and plug-in hybrid versions. In doing so, it's the first time an automaker has offered a vehicle with all three options, Honda said.
The full-electric version offers 80 miles of range on a charge and rings in at around $35,000. Honda claims the Clarity is the first affordable, midsize, five-passenger electric car in the United States.
The Clarity plug-in offers 40 miles of electric range before its gasoline power is called in for active duty.
Acura took the auto show as an opportunity to launch a refreshed version of its midsize TLX sedan. The biggest news is the updated grille, which features the diamond shape first seen on the MDX crossover that came out last year. It replaces Acura's long-serving beak-shaped design as the company's corporate face.
Also on offer is a new performance trim, the TLX A-Spec, which promises better handling and a more fun driving experience. While visual cues like upgraded wheels and spoilers differentiate the car, its powertrain is the same as other TLX models: either a naturally aspirated 4-cylinder or a 3.5-liter V6.
Making its first appearance on American soil since its European debut, Volvo's new XC60 replaces a model that hasn't seen a total redesign since its 2008 debut. The vehicle offers similar styling and interior design to the Volvo XC90 SUV and S90 sedan, but brings it to a more competitive and potentially lucrative segment.
Like the XC90 and S90, the new car is built on Volvo's Scalable Product Architecture. It allows the automaker to build a handful of cars on the same platform, making it significantly cheaper to develop new models. That architecture will also underpin the new S60 sedan, which will be the first model built at Volvo's new factory in South Carolina.
Also fresh off a transcontinental voyage, the Land Rover Range Rover Velar bowed for the first time in America at the New York Auto Show. The SUV is meant to fill the white space between the pint-sized Range Rover Evoque and the larger Range Rover Sport.
The British SUV offers six different engine options, from four-cylinder diesels to a supercharged V6. The company claims it hasn't lost its roots, as the Velar will be able to trudge through two feet of water without issue.
Lincoln brought a new Navigator to the show, in the SUV's first big redesign in more than a decade. The new model has an all-aluminum body, a turbocharged engine and an entirely new interior.
The company will include eight hours of its new chauffeur service with every new Navigator. The program, which is still in pilot phase, allows Lincoln customers to hire a personal, vetted driver for any occasion.
The company is still fine-tuning the details, but brand President Kumar Galhotra told CNBC that after the initial credit is used up, customers can pay $30 an hour for the service.
Alfa Romeo's new Stelvio Ti SUV made its first appearance at the New York Auto Show. The model slots below the high-performance Stelvio Quadrofiglio that Alfa has shown off at previous auto shows. Power comes from a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine making 280 horsepower.
This is Alfa Romeo's third model since its reintroduction in the U.S., following the 4C sports car and Giulia performance sedan. It's expected to be Alfa's highest-volume seller.
Mercedes' new AMG GLC 63 and GLC 63 Coupe offer a sportier take on its SUV. Power comes from the same twin-turbo V8 engine found in the C63 AMG, and it's got enough grunt to get to 60 miles per hour in less than four seconds.
The GLC 63 is the only vehicle in its class to offer a biturbo V8 engine, according to Mercedes. Customers can also opt for a GLC 63 S, which bumps up the horsepower from 469 to 503.
Hyundai is trying to inject some life back into the shrinking midsize sedan segment with its refreshed Sonata. The company stressed the car's new design, which it hopes will bring consumers back to the segment.
This isn't a full redesign, so the vehicle's platform and powertrain are mostly unchanged. Hyundai did, however, make features like blind-spot monitoring with cross-traffic alert standard, as the company works to prevent collisions.
Toyota introduced a new concept SUV, called the FT4X. The name means "Future Toyota Four-Wheel Drive," and the car is designed as a lifestyle vehicle for customers who like spontaneous adventure.
Toyota claims the vehicle is small enough for the city while capable enough for adventure. Though there are no plans to put the vehicle into production, some of the ideas may trickle into Toyota's lineup.


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Despite all market developments, KRAIBURG Austria has been able to register pleasing sales figures for the business year 2018, achieving a turnover of 75 million Euro.
Kraiburg Bucks the Trend in Competitive Market
This corresponds to an increase of about twelve per cent in comparison with the previous year. The company puts the growth down mainly to the increased demand for premium compounds for mould cure retreads. At the same time, sales figures for the company’s K_plus, K_base and K_tech precured products was able to be maintained.
Whilst the Austrian company invested millions including the installation of a new mixing line in 2017, in 2018 they concentrated on optimising internal processes as well as customer service.
“Retreaders need all the support they can get,” explained Stefan Mayrhofer, deputy CEO of KRAIBURG Austria. “That is why we are doing all we can to serve our partners optimally and are very pleased to have been able to intensify existing customer relations as well as activate new ones.” KRAIBURG has representatives in all European and some overseas markets. Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden and Poland are the company’s key markets.
According to Sales Manager, Holger Düx, KRAIBURG Austria is now looking confidently at business developments for 2019. “We are convinced that the anti-dumping measures, which the EU took last November against the import of cheap new tyres from China, will come into full effect in the coming months, especially in spring with the opening of the construction site season. The import statistics show a decline of 50 per cent for 2018 which corresponds to a potential of more than two million tyres. We assume that retreads, which suffered massively from the supply of cheap new tyres in recent years, especially in the construction site sector, will recover a considerable percentage of these.”
KRAIBURG sees major challenges for 2019 in the ongoing drama of Brexit and its associated legal uncertainties. On the other hand, the company sees positive developments in Turkey – a market that has great strategic importance for KRAIBURG and in which the company has a strong presence thanks to the long-standing partnership with its distribution partner Tatko-Lastik.
Also still on the sales agenda is the growth market in Spain, the potential of which KRAIBURG is successively expanding. The REDIGAL company, for example, has been using KRAIBURG designs for almost two years. The retreader, based in Galicia and the neighbouring provinces of Asturias, León and Zamora has quite deliberately and very successfully extended its premium segment with KRAIBURG. They have also included winter designs with the 3PMSF symbol in their programme to satisfy the demands of the cold season.


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Bigger than Facebook? Investors hunger for US float of Chinese web retailer Alibaba
Investors are licking their lips in anticipation of a feast of new information about Chinese web retailer Alibaba, due to be released ahead of its US float.
Alibaba’s banks, thought to be picking up £240million in fees between them for working on the offer, are expected to file listing documents as early as this week.
The float is expected to value Alibaba at anything from £50billion to £100billion, with money raised by selling shares expected to match or outstrip the £9billion Facebook raised in 2012.
Share debut: The move is expected to value the company at anything from £50billion to £100billion
The firm is yet to say how much of itself it wants to sell, but reports have suggested it could look to float about 12 per cent of the company.
At the upper end of value estimates, that would mean £12billion of shares up for grabs, easily beating Facebook’s offer.
Billed as a Chinese answer to eBay, Alibaba sells anything and everything online, from clothes and accessories to cars and building materials.
It spurned Hong Kong for its float in a dispute over its governance structure, plumping for the US instead.
But it has yet to decide on an exchange, with the New York Stock Exchange thought to be the front-runner, ahead of Nasdaq.
While technology floats have not performed well of late, Alibaba’s sheer size – it controls 80 per cent of web retail in China by some estimates – is likely to set it apart.
Figures released earlier this month showed that Alibaba’s profits more than doubled in the fourth quarter to £770million, on revenues of just £1.8billion, indicating a huge profit margin.
The float could also trigger a big payday for tech giant Yahoo, which owns 24 per cent of Alibaba and has already made gains of £4.5billion by selling shares.
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Mukesh Ambani may bring Hollywood’s favourite jeweller Tiffany & Co to India
Reliance Retailhas reportedly signed a deal with American jewellery brand Tiffany & co.
- The store could be a part of the luxury mall in Jio World Centre in Mumbai that will open next year, according to reports.
- This won’t be the first time the 182-year old Tiffany & co will try to find an audience in India.
An ET report cited sources to say that Reliance has signed a deal with Tiffany & co. to bring the jewellery brand to Mumbai. The brand could be housed in the luxury mall Ambani is planning to open next year in the Jio World Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.
The brand known worldwide for its diamond rings and was also iconized by legendary actress in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
With a legendary list of Hollywood celebrities and royalty opting for the brand at several occasions, India’s elite too have been making their buys from the brand during the trips abroad. Reportedly, Nick Jonas too had shut down a Tiffany store in London to shop for his now wife actress and global star Priyanka Chopra.
However, this is not the first time that the 182-year old brand is planning to make its entry into the Indian retail market. Years ago, the brand had opened a store in Oberoi Hotel but shut down after it didn’t meet with any success. Later there were also reports about Dubai-based Tarz Lifestyle bringing the brand to India.
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Flood-hit Kerala has witnessed an unprecedented amount of rainfall in the past couple of days disrupting life in the southern state. At least 97 people in the state are reported to have succumbed to the effects of the heavy downpour. Several people in the state have been displaced from their homes and surroundings. In a bid to assist the flood-hit victims of Kerala, telecom operators such as Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Jio and BSNL have offered assistance in the form of talk time credit, data and in some cases extension of bill payments.
Bharti Airtel is offering talk time credit of up to Rs. 30 for all its prepaid subscribers which is auto-approved. In addition, the telecom operator will offer 1GB mobile data for prepaid users for a period of seven days. For postpaid subscribers and broadband users, Airtel will extend bill payment dates and will also ensure uninterrupted access to services. Finally, Airtel will reportedly deploy VSAT which will provide free WiFi and calling at five major relief centres in the state. People in Kerala can also charge their mobile phones and make free calls at select Airtel stores across Thrissur, Calicut, Malappuram, Kannur, Kottayam, Trivandrum and Ernakulam.
Kerala Floods: Idea offers free talk time credit and mobile data
Idea Cellular has committed to providing connectivity to the people of Kerala and has announced several initiatives to support customers during the flood conditions. The telecom operator is offering Emergency Talktime credit of Rs. 10 for its prepaid customers. To receive the talk time, customers can dial *150*150#. In addition, all prepaid customers will receive 1GB data which a validity of seven data and will be automatically credit to customers. For postpaid customers, Idea will extend the due date for bill payments for all postpaid customers to ensure continuity of services. Finally, Ideal will equip its company stores in the flood-hit areas to allow customers to charge their mobile phones.
Vodafone telecom operator is offering its prepaid users talk time up to Rs 30 and 1GB mobile data similar to Airtel. To activate the complimentary 1GB data, customers need to send a message with the text 'CREDIT' to 144 or dialling *130*1#. Postpaid customers will receive an extension of bill payment due date and will try to ensure continuity of services.
State-owned telecom operator BSNL will allow its subscribers to make free calls to both BSNL and other operators. However, this is limited to 20 minutes of calls per day. BSNL customers can also make use of free SMS and mobile data for the next seven days.
Reliance Jio will provide free voice calling and data to its subscribers in flood-hit Kerala for a period of one week. Several Jio plans include free voice calling over VoLTE and include data and SMS benefits.
To extend support and make donations for flood-ravaged Kerala, please click here


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USD 376 in Sterling KS. Now LIVE with EZSchoolPay.com for Online Lunch Payments!
Harris School Nutrition Solutions is proud to announce that USD 376 in Sterling, KS. has chosen to start using EzSchoolPay, our online payment system. The districts’ parents will now be able to view children’s balances, transaction history, and make payments easily online or on the EZSchoolPay app for Android or iPhone!
Learn more about EZSchoolPay.com ►


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LONDON – May 30, 2019 – Couchbase, Inc. today announced that BT TV, provider of broadcasting services to millions of UK homes, is using Couchbase to power its on-demand TV services. BT TV chose Couchbase for its caching capabilities, which ensures high performance, and for its underlying architecture that maintains this performance on workloads at significant scale. BT TV provides a personal, simple, and brilliant experience to its customers, on any device, in real-time– from resuming a paused TV show on a different device, to recommending content based on viewing habits and service packages. With Couchbase, BT TV can reliably provide a perfectly-tailored experience to its customers, who often generate more than 50 interactions each time they change a screen.
“Quite simply, Couchbase is business-critical for us,” said Jérôme Tassel, Director of TV & Broadband Services Engineering at BT. “As a NoSQL database, its ability to manage the vast number of interactions we process centrally, and share that with all relevant devices in real-time, means it can guarantee the best experience for our customers. The fact that it also supports enterprise-level availability, including full replication, means we can be sure we’re doing everything possible to ensure nothing disrupts our customers’ viewing experiences.”
“The digital age has transformed how consumers view television,” said Huw Owen, Head of EMEA & APJ at Couchbase. “Expectations are high, and the market is highly competitive; from paid-for, commercial, and free-to-air broadcasters, to on-demand streaming services. Being able to offer a consistent, personalised experience across any device is a must for any business – making this a great step for BT TV and its customers.”
In addition, BT TV is exploring more ways to use Couchbase to provide an even better viewer experience. You can read the case study on how BT TV is using Couchbase here.
See BT TV & Couchbase at the Gartner Enterprise Architecture & Technology Summit
BT TV and Couchbase will be at the Gartner Enterprise Architecture & Technology Innovation Summit 2019 in London, from 3–4th June. Mritunjay Singh, Systems Architect at BT, will explain how the company built its award-winning customer experience platform using Couchbase NoSQL, as opposed to a legacy relational database, in his talk entitled ‘Breaking bad – changing the rules for a better customer experience,’ which will take place at 12:50 p.m. on Monday 3rd June, in Booth #S7.


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The headline awards at the T3 Awards 2021 are the culmination of a year of innovation. They celebrate the best products, brands, companies and initiatives we've seen over the past 12 months and put the icing on top of the cake of a year that has seen some remarkable, unprecedented challenges overcome.
These winners have been chosen for different reasons, but one thing that unites them is that they have all made a huge difference to people's lives and the world around us over the past year. They've sparked joy, improved how society works, got people through difficult times, and pushed the envelope in what is thought possible, pioneering innovation and change in the best possible ways.
Most crucially, though, they've made the world a better place, and for that they must be congratulated. Let's jump into the big winners.
Gadget Of The Year: Sony PlayStation 5
Probably the most anticipated launch of the past year, and still (thanks to stock sniping, retailer issues and a worldwide semiconductor shortage) a highly anticipated console for the millions that haven't yet been able to get their hands on one, the Sony PlayStation 5 is just incredible.
The PS5 didn't win this award simply for its properly futuristic design language, or its brilliant upgraded controller. Nor is it here just for its games, a mixture of remastered classics, multi-platform favourites and (at least thus far) only a few high-end exclusives. And it's not our Gadget of the Year only for its power, which drops true high-end gaming to a price point well below the second mortgage PC market, or its backwards compatibility, which effectively upgrades games from previous PlayStation generations to make them crisper and slicker.
It's the impact of the PlayStation 5 elsewhere that gives it real Gadget of the Year credibility. It - and, to some extent, the marginally less popular Xbox Series X - has ushered in the acceleration of TV tech, pushing features like VRR, 120Hz refresh rates and automatic low latency to even the mid-range TV market. This isn't just a console, it's a benchmark, a statement, a kick in the pants to the entire industry. That's exactly what next-generation hardware is supposed to be.
It's also wonder-filled portal to another world of entertainment and escapism, and one that brings a smile to the face of gamers every time they use it. Simply put, the PS5 sparks joy and makes people's lives better and for that reason as well as all those mentioned above, we're very proud to announce that the Sony PlayStation 5 has won the T3 Awards 2021 hyper-prestigious Best Gadget Of The Year award.
The gadget of the year shortlist
Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2021)
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
Bowers & Wilkins PI7
DJI Air 2S
Insta360 GO 2
OnePlus 9 Pro
Sony PlayStation 5
Brand Of The Year: Apple
2021 is already an extraordinary year for Apple. The move from Intel processors to Apple silicon has given the Mac range a new lease of life and a new playfulness too: the new coloured iMacs may be an homage to the candy-coloured iMacs of the late 1990s, but they’re a very modern proposition thanks to their superbly quick M1 processors and the Big Sur operating system. Even more devices are coming: improved iPads, more Macs and of course, the iPhone 13. But Apple’s legacy may not just be measured in terms of its devices, as wonderful as they are. It also uses its considerable power to promote and demonstrate diversity in tech and to advocate for user privacy.
The brand of the year shortlist
Disney (Highly commended)
Retailer Of The Year: Amazon
What other company has seen us through the past year-and-a-bit like Amazon has? Realistically, what other company possibly could? Amazon's infrastructure is unparalleled, its already massive network ramping up significantly in the past 12 months. If you live close enough to a distribution centre there's nothing quite like placing an order for just about anything at 10AM and having that product land on your doorstep at 6PM - and Amazon's range of distribution options, from Amazon Hub points to its ubiquitous locker system, makes getting what you ordered an absolute cinch. Let's not ignore Amazon's own (excellent) product range, or the huge fringe benefits (including one of the best streaming services around) attached to Prime membership; everything's coming up Amazon.
The retailer of the year shortlist
Tech Innovation Award: Samsung MICRO LED
MicroLED is the future of television, and Samsung is leading the way in making that future happen. Its panels use thousands of tiny LEDs to deliver per-pixel illumination for exceptional image quality, contrast and responsiveness, and unlike OLED it doesn’t suffer from screen burn or the ageing that reduces OLED’s colour fidelity over the life of a display. According to Samsung, its microLED displays will run for over 100,000 hours with no significant loss of performance. It isn’t exactly affordable right now – Samsung’s first consumer MicroLED TV is a 110-inch, 4K display that will set you back around £114,000 – but MicroLEDs will get smaller and more affordable fast, just as LED TVs and OLED TVs did before them.
The tech innovation shortlist
AirPop Active+ Smart Facemask
Apple M1 chip
Bowflex SelectTech 2080 barbell
DJI FPV drone
Insta360 GO 2
Sony PlayStation 5
Samsung MICRO LED
Best Gadget Under $100 / £100: Fitbit Ace 3
Since we gave Fitbit Ace 3 trackers to our kids, we’ve barely seen them: dinners are rushed so they can run around the garden to get more steps, our mornings are quieter as they try to increase their sleep score and our smartphone app shows ever-increasing amounts of activity. Fitbit’s kids’ fitness tracker is perfectly pitched for its target audience: it looks good, it’s comfortable to wear, it lasts for a week between charges and it has lots of fun watch faces. The app track steps, sleep and activity without encouraging calorie counting, and it’s easy to set and track activity goals. We’ve also found that the strap doesn’t irritate sensitive skin like some kids’ watch straps do. It's the best smartwatch for kids and the winner of T3's Best Gadget Under $100 / £100 award.
The best gadget under $100 / £100 shortlist
Amazon Echo 4th gen
Fitbit Ace 3
Huawei Band 4
JBL Tune 660NC
Razer Blackshark V2
Ring Video Doorbell (2nd gen)
Roku Express 4K
QP6650/30 NEW Philips OneBlade Pro Face + Body
Sustainability Award: IKEA
Many large companies have pledged to become climate neutral in the coming decade, but IKEA goes further: it has vowed to be not just climate neutral but climate positive by 2030, leaving the planet in better shape than it found it. To do that it’s working on multiple fronts ranging from the introduction of meat-free, plant-based alternatives such as HUVUDROLL meatballs in its restaurants; making spare parts easier to obtain to prolong the life of furniture; introducing buy-back schemes; and investing heavily in environmental initiatives and sustainable forestry. IKEA now operates what it calls “circular design”, with consideration of every stage of over 9,500 products from the materials they’re made of to how they will be recycled.
The sustainability award shortlist
Fjällräven Samlaren collection
Gillette for ditching plastic packaging
GoPro (reusable/plastic free packaging)
Tado Smart Radiator Thermostat V3+
Vango Earth Collection
- See all the T3 Awards 2021 winners


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Apple’s operations are now using 100% renewable energy sources. The company announced Monday that its global facilities are now 100-percent run by renewable energy.
Two years ago, it was 93 percent but now Apple’s operations are now using 100% renewable energy from Apple Park to its data centers to worldwide fleet of Apple retail stores.
It’s a huge success for the company as the iPhone maker has been working toward for years with the purchase of green energy bonds and other renewable sources.
The victory is in line with the company’s 2015 plan to achieve 100-percent renewable energy project and now it adds retail stores, offices and co-located facilities to that list, and covered 43 countries, including the US, China, UK, and India.
Apple has been working for years in its supply chain and physical infrastructure and purchases Renewable Energy Certificates, or RECs, which promises the cleanliness of an energy source. The company also invests in solar, wind, and other renewable energy resources worldwide.
The move includes some innovative facilities such as 300 solar rooftops in Japan and 800 in Singapore as well as Apple says it has currently 25 renewable energy globally running projects with 15 more are under development.
“We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish new creative and forward-looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.


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Caffe Nero has become the latest hospitality giant to seek rent cuts from landlords as the high street struggles to recover from lockdown. The coffee chain, which operates 660 stores across the UK, has appointed KPMG to review its store estate. Around 90% of the chain’s outlets have reopened since the coronavirus lockdown ended in June, however 30 stores remain closed with no reopening date. The chain is understood to have hired KPMG to review a range of options including rent cuts and possible store closures. Caffe Nero, which has around 5,000 employees in the UK, is owned by businessman Gerry Ford. The company was founded in 1997, and last year recorded profits of more than £23million. One source told Sky News that Caffe Nero executives had been engaged in “constructive dialogue” with landlords but needed to intensify talks as the company seeks to address its fixed cost base. When approached by Mirror Money, the company refused to comment on store closures. Caffe Nero has 5,000 employees in the UK ( Image: Getty) A spokesperson for Caffe Nero said: “It has been a difficult period since lockdown measures were introduced by the government and we’re working incredibly hard to navigate… Read full this story
- Coronavirus: Poundstretcher kicks off review of finances
- HALF of UK retailers face closure if coronavirus lockdown continues until August
- John Lewis's outgoing chief was paid nearly £1million to go as department store chain admits sales have plunged by a third with locked-down shoppers 'buying more Scrabble but fewer sofas'
- The Death of the Department Store: 'Very Few Are Likely to Survive'
- Retail sales suffer biggest monthly drop since records began as sales volumes slump by 5.1 per cent from February to March - even as panic-buying boosted food stores by 10 per cent and alcohol buying soared 31 per cent
- How you CAN keep calm and carry on shopping: Yes, your favourite stores are struggling, but here’s our guide to the online outlets that can still feed your fashion habit
- GameStop CEO takes 50% pay cut as some stores begin to reopen
- Cath Kidston confirms its 60 UK stores will not reopen after coronavirus crisis putting 740 jobs at risk as Primark owner furloughs 68,000 workers across Europe with chain's sales plunging from £650m a month to zero
- BrightHouse and other rent-to-own firms must give customers three month payment break and items will not be repossessed
- Does coronavirus mean your boss can make you take a pay cut, do a different role or work more hours?
Caffe Nero hires KPMG 'to review options' including rent cuts and store closures have 400 words, post on www.mirror.co.uk at September 14, 2020. This is cached page on CuBird. If you want remove this page, please contact us.


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Credibility comes not just from offering products that generate clean electricity, but also from the way in which those products are manufactured, says SMA Solar Technology CEO Jürgen Reinert. Here, transparency and sustainability are key. That’s why one of the world’s largest PV inverter producers has partnered with pv magazine’s UP sustainability initiative. In the following Q&A, Reinert lays out what SMA is doing to step UP its green game.
With market penetration exceeding expectations in 2018, bifacial technology is set to account for one third of global solar module production by 2022, writes Edurne Zoco, Research Director at IHS Markit. Bifacial and half-cell technologies are rapidly gaining momentum due to their improvements in power output, along with their low implementation barriers and minimal capex requirements
Dustin Mulvaney is a solar industry veteran. Associate professor at the Department of Environmental Studies, San José State University, in the United States, he recently published a new book this April, “Solar Power, Innovation, Sustainability, Environmental Justice”, which looks at creating a “more sustainable and just solar industry for the future.” A part of this is the creation of a new global sustainability module standard. He spoke with pv magazine as part of the launch of our new UP initiative.
Following the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On the Electricity Market” (the Electricity Market Law) in 2017, which set out the legal framework for the new electricity market design and the role of renewables within it, the renewable energy sector has been developing rapidly in Ukraine.
In the coming weeks, months, and years, pv magazine will be digging deeper and expanding our sustainability horizons, defining – with your help – the most effective courses of action. What follows is an overview of current sustainability initiatives in the solar and, to a lesser extent, storage industries.
The notion of a circular economy is gaining traction, both in and out of the solar and storage industries. Recently, the European Commission wrote, “The circular economy is now an irreversible global trend,” and there are many initiatives taking place around the world to build a more circular society. As part of our new UP campaign, pv magazine spoke with material solutions provider DSM Advanced Solar to see what it is doing in this area.
In 2017, JinkoSolar was the first Chinese company, and the second solar company, to achieve cradle to cradle certification – a pioneering initiative aimed at designing products in an environmentally and socially positive way. pv magazine spoke to Radu Roman, Product & Business Development Manager – Europe at JinkoSolar about the process, why it is so important to the company, and what’s in store for the future.
This year, pv magazine is setting a new editorial agenda. Via our program, UP, we will be diving deep into the topic of what it means to be truly sustainable, looking at what is already being done, and discussing areas for improvement. Over the coming weeks, months, and years, we will share our findings across our various digital platforms, in our print magazines, and via our roundtable events and webinars. Are you UP for it?
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Apple, Samsung to Settle Patent Disputes Out of Court
Apple and Samsung, which have been embroiled in patent lawsuits for more than a year, have agreed to meet in an attempt to resolve their disputes outside of litigation, after a U.S. judge ordered the two companies to participate in a settlement conference. Both Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Gee-Sung Choi have agreed to enter into a settlement conference.
Apple and Samsung have sued each other in 10 countries over alleged patent infringements involving each company’s respective smartphones and tablets. Apple alleges that Samsung copied the iPad and iPhone’s design and packaging, while Samsung claims Apple is infringing on certain cellular data-related technical patents. The two currently have 20 standing lawsuits in 10 countries worldwide, including South Korea, Australia and Japan in the Asia-Pacific.
The earliest court hearings are scheduled for July this year, and the International Trade Commission will likewise hear a parallel case this June. However, California district court Judge Lucy Koh has recommended that Apple and Samsung first look into Alternative Dispute Resolution, and the two companies have agreed, offering representation by each corporation’s CEO.
As directed by the Court, Apple and Samsung are both willing to participate in a Magistrate Judge Settlement Conference with Judge Spero as mediator. At Apple, the chief executive officer and general counsel are the appropriate decision-makers, and they will represent Apple during the upcoming settlement discussions. At Samsung, the chief executive officer and general counsel are also the appropriate decision-makers, and they will represent Samsung during these settlement discussions.
According to Florian Mueller of the FOSS Patents blog, this carries significant weight, given that both chief executives have been cooperative. “[I]f only one of them had made the CEO available, the other one would have appeared to be less than constructive,” believes Mueller, who has been observing the case since the start.
Both Apple and Samsung stand to gain from a possible out-of-court resolution and settlement of the issue, given that both are major business partners. Apple sources a good number of its touchscreen panels and flash memory from Samsung. Apple is also Samsung’s biggest customer. Both have kept their legal battles separate from business, although Apple is reportedly planning to shift sourcing supply to another firm, in case its relationship with Samsung goes south.
The two companies could potentially strike a cross patent licensing deal, which is common among technology companies. Apple actually has cross-licensing deals with Nokia, in which the Cupertino, CA company is paying a lump sum plus annual payments to Nokia for the use of certain technologies. Microsoft likewise earns a hefty sum annually from licenses paid by Android smartphone manufacturers.
There is no assurance, though, that the two companies will agree to terms, although Apple has started softening its stance against Samsung and Android when Tim Cook took over as CEO from the late Steve Jobs.
- Semiconductor: Chip nationalism is a ‘blessing,’ SEMI CEO says
- Red Hat’s revolution: Speeding generative AI adoption in hybrid clouds
- How 5G can enhance agriculture and fisheries in Southeast Asia
- Navigating the intersection of sustainability and technology in Singapore
- Why the US should be concerned about China’s quantum developments


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June 2, 2010
From the workroom to the runway, a local fabric store is looking for designers.
Contestants will put their sewing machines to the test this week. Les Fabriques is hosting a series of challenges.
The first involves taking cast-off bits of clothing and making something totally new and unique. The next involves making a reversible garment.
The final challenge is to make a retro Hollywood garment.
The owner of Les Fabriques said shows like Project Runway are inspiring a new generation of future designers to take lessons.
Contestants will shoo off their work in a September fashion show. The prize is the same sewing machines used in Project Runway


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Downtown vendors at Waco Farmers Market see firsthand the effects of the drought in central Texas
WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Every Saturday, downtown Waco is bustling with fresh produce, produce and vendors, but as of recently, the Waco Downtown Farmers’ Market has seen a dwindling supply of produce available as well as sellers ready to sell their products.
When asked which crops were struggling to grow, Christina Barta of World Hunger Relief said, “Many of our plants, especially solanaceous crops like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, drop all their flowers when it’s hot outside and we’re not getting fruit said.”
Along with eggplants and peppers, blueberries and peaches are among the most sought-after market items in season, but have all fallen victim to the harsh temperatures.
The abnormally hot season caused other sellers to pull some produce from the farmers’ market because they were not seeing enough growth to last the whole season.
“Some crops just didn’t survive, either because of their water or the amount of water they actually needed to produce. Or the heat killed it, all the plants too soon,” said WDFM Director Bethel Erickson.
With Waco experiencing more than 40 triple-digit hot days for 2022, some produce hasn’t even made it past the planting stage.
“We lost all the cucumbers and the eggplants didn’t set foot like they were supposed to. We didn’t have peppers because it was too hot and too sunny,” Barta said.
The lack of available products caused some vendors to withdraw their stalls altogether.
This leads to double the loss for the farmer as he loses produce and the ability to profit from it.
“Unfortunately our farmer’s market stall suffered for a few weeks because we weren’t even there because we had nothing to sell,” Barta said.
As of now, blueberries are out due to increasing difficulty and peaches will soon follow.
Melons, which can thrive in dry temperatures, are available now and expect a bountiful season.
Copyright 2022 KWTX. All rights reserved.


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VMware: Apple Watch In the Wearables Lead & Windows 10 S
Sorry, Fitbit, there’s a new sheriff in town.
With nearly 60% growth in shipments in Q1 this year, Apple Watch officially became the king of the consumer wearables castle, according to CNBC. Fitbit, which was the long-time market leader, dropped to second after a 35% decline in Q1.
Get the mobile news in your inbox FREE every Friday. Just enter your email to the right.
This is not the password you’re looking for.
A little post-Star Wars Day reference to lighten what is a painful, soul-sucking experience for mobile workers everywhere. You know it. We know it. Juggling passwords and jumping through log-in hoops is a pain. Thankfully, the force is with us.
A new survey revealed the top 10 identity and access management challenges for IT—and a new way forward for easier and more secure access from anywhere.
Read the entire article here, Apple Watch In the Wearables Lead & Windows 10 S
via the fine folks at VMware!


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Nipsey Hussle's 'Victory Lap' has officially re-entered the chart at No. 2 after previously peaking at No. 4 when it released in Feb. 2018, trailing behind Billie Eilish's debut album.
Album sales for 'Victory Lap' rose 7,205% over the previous week, following the rapper's murder outside his Marathon Clothing store on March 31st.
Four of Nipsey's previously released mixtapes have made their debut on the chart: 2013's 'Crenshaw', 2016's 'Slauson Boy 2', 2010's 'The Marathon', and 2014's 'Mailbox Money' hit No. 63, 109, 179, and 192 respectively.
Eric Holder, the 29-year-old man believed to be responsible for the rapper's murder, has been arrested and charged with the murder, however he has pled not guilty.


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LAS VEGAS — The more social networks across which brands attempt real-time marketing, the more channels they have to monitor for resonance. One Canadian startup, DIVE Networks, wants to help out with that.
“The landscape for brands is very complex. it’ so hard to keep up with real-time marketing,” CEO Deborah Hall, who previously founded mobile marketing company web2mobile, tells Beet.TV in this video interview.
“We do the work for marketers … bring leading insights from Google, Twitter, all of our partners, and then surface them for the brands.
“Imagine like a Bloomberg for brands – a 24-hour show about your brand. We allow brands and marketers to watch their data like they would watch a news program.”
She was interviewed for Beet.TV at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Beet.TV coverage of CES 2015 is sponsored by Adobe Primetime. Find all the coverage here.


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News & Events
Viet Nam earns rice export contract for the Philippines
Vietnam News, March 1, 2004
HA NOI — Vietnamese rice exporters have won contracts to export 410,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines, the Viet Nam Food Association (Vietfood) said.
The Philippines’ National Food Authority announced the winners of the rice contracts last Wednesday. The authority said it would buy 460,000 tonnes of rice from abroad, of which 410,000 tonnes would come from Viet Nam and 50,000 tonnes from Thailand.
Vietfood said Viet Nam’s South Food Corporation would ship 200,000 tonnes of rice. Six other domestic rice exporters would provide the remaining 210,000 tonnes.
Last year, the Philippines imported 875,000 tonnes of rice from Viet Nam and Thailand. This year, the country expects to import 810,000 tonnes from them.
Viet Nam expected to export from 3.3 to 3.5 million tonnes of rice in total this year, less than the 3.9 million tonnes it exported last year, the Ministry of Trade said.
The ministry warned that competition between leading global rice exporters was increasing.
Vietnamese rice exporters should therefore focus on key markets, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Iraq, Malaysia and Singapore. They should also promote expansion markets in Africa and South America, the ministry said. — VNS


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A two-wheeled delivery robot designed to tackle tight European streets will take centre stage at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
YAPE, the acronym of Your Autonomous Pony Express, is the first autonomous electric vehicle designed for urban delivery in difficult European streets.
Its maker, Milan–based accelerator e-Novia, will demonstrate the robot and five other of its entrepreneurial ventures during the world-renowned technology event.
“With over 50 million euros accrued and 26 entrepreneurial ventures launched, in just three years e-Novia has become one of the most enterprising and dynamic players in the Italian hi-tech sector,” said chief executive Vincenzo Russi.
“Italy can be a player on a global level, including the production of high-technology.”
Founded in 2012, e-Novia describes itself as an ‘Enterprises Factory’, taking research and intellectual property for new products to market. The Italian group has filed more than 30 international patents for new products and reported growth of 90 per cent from 2016 to 2017.
The company’s YAPE robot has a two-wheeled design which allows it to rotate on the spot and overcome obstacles such as kerbs or tram lines.
Users can summon the robot to their house via an accompanying app, place a package into its package holder, and send to a recipient.
The collection and the delivery of the package are certified by a system of credentials in the sender’s and recipient’s smartphones, allowing the package holder to be opened only by people authorised users.
The products will be demonstrated during CES, which takes place from 8th to the 11th of January.


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The Bank of America has underlined some of the advantages of allowing bitcoin to be used as legal cash in El Salvador. Low-cost remittances, financial digitization, more options, and increased foreign investment are all possibilities.
Bank of America emphasises the benefits of Bitcoin as a legal tender in El Salvador.
In research released last week, Bank of America (BOA) underlined some of the potential benefits of El Salvador adopting bitcoin as legal cash.
The market has been too gloomy about it and is overlooking any argument in favour, even if those benefits are admittedly more uncertain,” said the analysts, including Latin American specialist Claudio Irigoyen.
Bitcoin could be used as an intermediary for cross-border transfer … Using bitcoin for remittances could potentially reduce transaction costs compared to traditional remittance channels.
Bitcoin’s volatility might be minimised, according to Bank of America experts, if exchanges between BTC and USD “happen automatically.”
Remittance fees would be reduced for financial intermediaries, providing receivers with greater spare income. “It is unknown how the bitcoin transaction fees will compare to existing remittance channels,” Bank of America said.
Second, according to the Bank of America analysis, “financial digitalization” might be a benefit because “more than 70% of the adult population in El Salvador does not have a bank account.” The analysts added, “democratising access to electronic payments through bitcoin has a progressive tou.”
Furthermore, adopting bitcoin as legal tender “gives consumers more choice,” according to Bank of America analysts, who added: “We disagree with the notion that it is coercive that businesses will be legally bound to accept bitcoin as a form of payment as long as they have the necessary technological infrastructure.”
They went on to say that payments can be converted to dollars automatically utilising Chivo, the government’s electronic wallet.
Finally, the report stated that bitcoin adoption might bring FDI into El Salvador from companies including Strike, bitcoin miners, and ATM manufacturers. At least two crypto ATM companies have already stated their intention to install crypt ATMs.
Despite some advantages, Bank of America feels that accepting bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador will be detrimental in the long run, owing to the cryptocurrency’s significant volatility. Allowing people to pay taxes with a highly volatile asset is particularly concerning, according to the analysts, who warn that if the price falls, it could result in a sharp drop in revenue.


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Thanks to the Guardian for this story:
As the world grows and the climate changes, there’s been fresh interest in seaweed – and a new breed of farmers are exploring how best to harness the humble plant’s benefits
by Katie Fehrenbacher
Michael Graham reaches into a bright blue tub of bubbling water and pulls out a handful of a dark brown curly substance. It’s slippery to the touch, smells like the sea, and tastes a bit like salty kale.
It’s live seaweed, and Graham – a kelp biologist and the creator of Monterey Bay Seaweeds – has been farming the stuff on a small scale in these big tanks in Moss Landing on the central coast of California for close to two years. Using more than a dozen of these big tubs and a couple of larger tanks, he produces between 50 and 100lbs of seaweed per week.
Graham, along with his wife and seven children, grow and sell their seaweed to upscale restaurants in Monterey and the San Francisco Bay Area, such as Farallon and Hog Island Oyster Company. He routinely walks into the back of these restaurants in shorts and flip-flops and hands over the live seaweed in bags of seawater to his chef customers, who use it to accompany shellfish dishes or as a sprig in a bloody mary.
Graham is part of a growing group of entrepreneurs looking to build businesses around farming seaweed, long-prized in Asian countries for its nutritional value, high-protein content and health benefits. But in contrast to many of the sprawling farms in China, these entrepreneurs are looking to create new business models, farming methods, technologies and designs that incorporate environmental sustainability and ocean biodiversity.
“This is like a backyard farm where you can sell your goods at a farmer’s market,” says Graham, gesturing to his farm a few feet from the sea and next to the Moss Landing Marine Labs, where he’s a professor in the California State University system. The only things that go into the tubs are seaweed, seawater and sunlight.
Much of the world’s seaweed is produced in large sea-based farms off the coasts of China, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan. This seaweed is largely dried (or sometimes blanched) and used for food, animal feed and industrial applications such as thickeners for making toothpaste. Those sushi wraps on your California roll? They most likely come from farms in Asia…
Read the whole story here.


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Few data center providers build bigger than Switch. Today the Las Vegas company unveiled plans for its largest project yet, a $1 billion, 3 million square foot SUPERNAP data center campus on 1,000 acres of land near Reno, Nevada.
E-commerce giant eBay Inc. will be the anchor tenant for the SUPERNAP Reno, which will connect to the main SUPERNAP campus in Las Vegas via a new fiber loop, which will also extend to Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. The massive project was announced tonight by Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval.
“This will make Nevada the most digitally connected state in the United States,” Sandoval said in his annual State of the State address.
The SUPERNAP project brings another major hyperscale data center to Reno, which is already home to a large cloud computing facility for Apple. The first phase will feature an 800,000 square foot data center, and is scheduled to open in early 2016. The Reno data centers will be designed to meet the Uptime Institute’s Tier IV Gold rating for both facility and operations, a standard currently met only by the Switch SUPERNAP 8 in Las Vegas.
Switch has built a major cloud computing hub in Las Vegas, including two huge SUPERNAP data centers, with a third nearing completion. When the new SUPERNAP 9 opens, the colocation provider will have nearly 1.5 million square feet of capacity in Las Vegas.
Switch said today that it will also expand the scope of its Las Vegas campus, where it will develop data centers on an additional 200 acres of land, which land could support more than 1 million square feet of new capacity, Switch said.
Looking Beyond Las Vegas
As it scales up in its core market, Switch has extended its gaze beyond Vegas, announcing plans for an international expansion as well as the project in Reno, which lies about 500 miles north of Las Vegas.
“Offering our clients the ability to locate their infrastructure safely in two cities, over 500 miles apart and yet only 7 milliseconds away is critical for both redundancy and scalability,” said Switch CEO and Founder Rob Roy. “The construction of SUPERNAP Reno will create the need for Switch to expand its Las Vegas footprint and Nevada will remain Switch’s global anchor location.”
The Reno project is welcome news for the state of Nevada, which has been touting data centers as a growth sector as it seeks to diversify its economy beyond tourism and casino gambling. It comes on the heels of an announcement that automaker Tesla will open a “gigafactory” battery plant near Reno.
Switch has become a major economic force in Las Vegas, where its construction projects have created hundreds of jobs.
Switch’s expansion is an incredible win for the entire State of Nevada,” said Steve Hill, Executive Director for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “Not only does it provide a massive economic boost for northern and southern Nevada but also through construction of the SUPERLOOP it will provide high-speed connectivity access to rural Nevada, a key for education and economic development.”
Switch now has more than 1,000 customers, including more than 40 cloud computing companies and a dense concentration of network carriers. The company’s roster of clients includes tech industry heavyweights like eBay, Google, Cisco, VMware and Microsoft’s Xbox One.
The 350,000 square foot SuperNAP 8 is the latest design from Rob Roy, the CEO and founder of Switch, as well as the company’s principal inventor and chief engineer. It sits adjacent to SuperNAP 7, the 400,000 square foot center that put Switch on the map. Roy has patented many of the design innovations at the facilities, including an advanced cooling system which can switch between six different cooling modes, and the T-SCIF heat containment system.


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In a Financial Times report, it was revealed that Apple is likely to face a fine from the EU commission, expected to be around €500 million. The penalty is part of a complaint that Spotify filed in 2019 claiming that Apple’s policies for the App Store violated the EU’s competition laws.
What is the complaint?
The European Union claims that Apple broke competition legislation by including anti-switching restrictions to apps such as Spotify. The terms of this can not permit employees to advertise to their end users about the alternative subscription process outside the App Store, which would help to avoid the apple commission charges. While the investigation targets the broader impact of these policies, it primarily focuses on their effect on the music streaming sector. The EU argues that Apple’s practices unfairly favor its own Apple Music service over third-party competitors.
The forthcoming ruling won’t mandate Apple to allow alternative in-app payment methods but will require music streaming apps to link users to external websites for subscription, where they may avoid Apple’s commission fees. Apple made concessions in 2022, relaxing anti-steering provisions for “reader apps” like Netflix and Kindle, allowing them to include a single link to their websites. However, Spotify seeks broader freedom to promote its subscription tiers, beyond the limits of the reader app rule. The EU’s investigation also examines Apple’s conduct before these rule changes, with implications for Spotify’s case.
The Digital Markets Act
With the impending introduction of the Digital Markets Act, Apple will permit Spotify to use alternative payment methods in the EU. However, it will still charge a 17% commission and a base fee per app install. Spotify’s CEO deems these terms impractical. The EU’s ruling is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, shedding light on the full extent of Apple’s violations and the repercussions for its App Store policies.


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U.S. stock futures rose strongly Wednesday after banking giant J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
European stock markets gained ground Wednesday, led higher by Alcatel-Lucent SA
Asian stock markets rose Wednesday, with Tokyo finding support from bargain hunters a day after the country’s nuclear crisis was upgraded in severity. Read about Asian markets.
- U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% in March, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Sales rose by an upwardly revised 1.1% in February. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected total sales to rise 0.5%.
- Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and other banking stocks rose in premarket activity after the financial giant said first-quarter profit jumped 67%. The bank also boosted its quarterly dividend to 25 cents a share from 5 cents, and set plans to buy back $8 billion in stock as part of a $15 billion share-repurchase program.
- Shares of Tyco International Inc. TYC fell in premarket activity after France’s Schneider Electric SA (SU) said it is currently not in talks with the firm. Tyco shares rallied more than 7% on Tuesday following reports of a possible takeover bid by Schneider.
Silgan Holdings Inc.
+0.36%on Wednesday said it will buy rival Graham Packaging Co. GRM, -1.65%in a deal worth $4.1 billion including debt.
- Before the Bell is a daily emailed newsletter. You can subscribe here.


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Royal Enfield REunion North heads to Manali, Himachal Pradesh on the weekend of August 01, 2014. More than 100 riders from Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh, Amritsar and other North India cities and towns are expected to join in.
In May 2014, Jaguar India began local production of its 2014 XJ 3.0L Diesel Premium Luxury and Portfolio variants at its Pune, India plant.
At San Diego Comic-Con last weekend, it was announced Harley’ Davidson’s 1st electric motorcycle will grace teh big screen in Avengers: Age of Ultron, alongside new Street 750.
2014 India VDS Rankings studied 70 models across 12 vehicle segments from 16 automakers: entry compact car; compact car ; upper compact car; premium compact car; entry midsize car; midsize car; premium midsize car; entry luxury car; luxury car; multi-utility/ multi-purpose vehicle (MUV/ MPV); sport-utility vehicle (SUV); and van. The study was fielded from January through April 2014 in 30 cities across India.
Long-Term Vehicle Dependability in India improves as owners have reported fewer problems in their cars. Toyota and Maruti Suzuki have received 2 model-level awards
Mid way through 2014, Mercedes-Benz India reports healthy Q1 and Q2 sales, totaling 25% growth for the year thus far. For sustainable growth, manufacturing capacity and number of dealerships is being increased.
Mercedes-Benz India sales through Jan-June 2014 stand at 4717 units sold, equating to 25% YOY sales growth for H1 2014 over 3758 units sold in Jan-June 2013. On the back of 7 launches in H1 2014, Mercedes-Benz is geared up for more launches through 2014.
Globally, India is the largest consumer and exporter of three wheelers, having registered growth in both domestic sales and exports in the last decade.


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- The new store will house hundreds of brands for shoppers to choose from.
- Each dressing room will have a touchscreen to place requests for items so that customers will no longer need to leave the area.
- Amazon managing director Simoina Vasen dubbed this cool feature a "magic closet".
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) will open its first apparel store near Los Angeles this year, managing director Simoina Vasen said on Thursday. It will be smaller than a typical departmental store but will have unique virtual features to guide the customers.
Vasen said visitors would need to scan a code from the model items on the racks to select the color and size through Amazon's mobile app. After which, they will enter a virtual queue for a fitting room.
She dubbed the cool feature as a "magic closet".
The Washington-based online retailer plans to foray into the physical retail space by launching its first store in Los Angeles. Vasen said the store would provide a better customer experience.
She said each dressing room would have a touchscreen to request more items so that customers would no longer need to leave the area. Staff will deliver the items through the secure, two-sided closet.
Amazon to open first physical store near Los Angeles?
With the help of algorithms, touchscreens will provide personalized clothing recommendations to shoppers too. The size of the store is expected to be around 30,000 square feet.
According to research cited by Reuters, Amazon has surpassed Walmart as the most-shopped clothing retailer in the US. Still, Amazon has a long way to go in the brick-and-mortar retail space.
It will face competition from other smaller-format stores like Macy's and Nordstrom.
Vasen said the new store would house hundreds of brands for shoppers to choose from. And customers would be able to pay through Amazon's biometric system, Amazon One, with a swipe of their palm.
Also Read: Top defense stocks to explore in 2022
Amazon’s quarterly performance
In the third quarter ended September 2021, Amazon’s net sales rose by 15% to US$110.8 billion, compared with US$96.1 billion a year ago. However, its net income decreased to US$3.2 billion, or US$6.12 per diluted share, against US$6.3 billion, or US$12.37 per diluted share, in Q3 2020.
Commenting on the results, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had said that when confronted with the choice between short-term profits and customers’ interest, Amazon will choose the latter.
In December last year, Amazon had announced plans to create more than 2,000 corporate and technology jobs in its Austin Tech Hub over the next few years.


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Magnesita sells Oberhausen carbon bricks operation
Published: Tuesday, 12 September 2017
The company’s magnesia carbon bricks facility in Germany is being acquired by Intocast, the group that is also taking over RHI’s dolomite operation in Italy and refractory plant in Spain.
Brazilian refractory supplier Magnesita Refratários
SA will sell its magnesia carbon bricks business at Oberhausen
to Germany’s Intocast AG for a €20.3m tag
price ($24.4m), the company announced...


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Business conditions in Dubai improved at the strongest pace in five months during January, according to the latest Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index.
The index is designed to provide an indicator of operating conditions in Dubai’s non-oil, private-sector economy. Overall, this segment of the economy rose to 56.0 on the index in January.
A reading of below 50.0 indicates the economy is generally declining, while a reading of above 50.0 signals growth, while a reading of 50.0 suggests no change at all. And according to Emirates NBD, wholesale and retail, travel and tourism, and construction, all grew faster than they had in December.
“The rise in the Dubai Economy Tracker Index signals a strong start to 2018, despite the introduction of VAT putting upward pressure on both input and output prices. The construction sector had a particularly strong month in January, and this supports our view that construction will be a key driver of Dubai’s growth this year,” said Khatija Haque, Head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD.
So what does this mean for you as a consumer? Well, non-oil, private-sector companies reported the fastest growth in business activity seen since July 2017, and the rate of expansion was bigger than average. That bodes well for job creation.
Indeed, on that, Emirates NBD said that job creation was stronger in January than it had been since November 2015. So, if you’re looking for a job in Dubai, there should be plenty of opportunity.
In terms of the strongest industries of the moment, Emirates NBD said that wholesale and retail performed best in January, registering on the index at 56.1. Travel and tourism registered at 55.7, while construction was rated at 55.2.


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Megamorph eyes market push
Megamorph Marketing, the young Bengaluru-based cleaning solutions firm, has devised a multi-pronged expansion strategy for the next couple of years — seeking to foray into more segments and new markets, apart from establishing a new facility.
The company will be investing over Rs 4 crore over the next two years to realise its vision, for which it is exploring several funding means including debt and equity.
Presently, Megamorph, as part of its brand Care Clean, manufactures 22 chemical agents in the industrial cleaning space, while six products split across 13 SKUs are sold under the retail cleaning umbrella. These products include cleaning chemicals for floors, kitchens, glass, toilets, dishes, bathrooms, and so on.
In April, the company — which is expecting Rs 5 crore in turnover this year, growing at a robust 150% — will be entering the cleaning tools category, and launching green pad-sponge, sponge-wipe, scrubbers, and dishwash bars, among others, which will be sourced through contract manufacturing in Pune.
“Today, people are not looking at cheap alternatives, especially in terms of cleanliness. While MNCs are more focused on bigger opportunities, they’ve not stressed on the value-for-money mass market. It is here that we step in,” Megamorph Managing Director Ashwin Suresh told DH.
Megamorph’s plant in the city houses an R&D centre and boasts a daily capacity of 5,000 litres, which would be hiked to 12,000 litres by the end of this year.
“We have the capability for in-house development of new chemicals on demand with consistency, through heavy automation at the plant. Solutions from here are shipped to markets across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Goa. We are now eyeing markets in the North and East regions over the next two quarters,” Megamorph Chief Executive Officer Niyati Purohit said.
In order to provide cleaning solutions for its new markets, Megamorph is opening a new (pharma-grade certified) plant at Indore in the first quarter of 2018, from where, it also plans to supply its wares to hospitals.
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Less than a month after launching its private label line offering customers custom ratios of CBD and other minor cannabinoids, Socati is targeting the hot beverage market with a line of CBD-infused coffee additive products.
CONACADO cocoa cooperative: 'This could destroy businesses like ours'
The European Union’s proposed organic regulation will break up organic, Fairtrade, and small-scale farmers’ cooperatives, meaning they will struggle to survive in the global market, says Fairtrade International.
Marfrig Global Foods finished 2019 with record returns, posting R$14.2 billion in fourth quarter revenue, a 23.5% increase year-on-year. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was R$1.6 billion, up 70.2% from the same period last year.
New data shows women could be struggling on just 23p (29c) a day, well below the extreme poverty line of £1.40 ($1.81) and organisation calls on government and chocolate companies to join the Alliance on Living Incomes in Cocoa, a new international initiative.
Certified sustainable palm oil supplier Agropalma's investment in a specialty ingredients refinery has allowed Brazilian manufacturers to source key ingredients, such as cocoa butter substitute, domestically, it says.
Cutting edge artificial intelligence technology is promising to disrupt environmental monitoring in the food and drink processing sector by dramatically improving efficiency in the way pathogen monitoring programs are managed.


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Apple in Comcast talks about streaming TV: report
March 24, 2014 , 10 : 26 am GST
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Apple's has previously tried to reach into people's living rooms with Apple TV, first unveiled in 2007. Photo - AFP
Apple is in talks with US cable and Internet giant Comcast about a streaming-television service that would use an Apple set-top box, a report said Sunday.
Talks are in their early stages but any deal would allow Apple to get special treatment on Comcast's cables to ensure it bypasses congestion on the web, The Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
"But the deal, if sealed, would mark a new level of cooperation and integration between a technology company and a cable provider to modernize TV viewing," the WSJ said.
"Apple's intention is to allow users to stream live and on-demand TV programming and digital-video recordings stored in the 'cloud,' effectively taking the place of a traditional cable set-top box."
Apple hopes the tie-up will mean viewers will not have to contend with frustrating buffering that can take place while streaming web video.
The report stressed that a deal was some way off, and would require Comcast "to make significant investments in network equipment and other back-office technology."
Last month, Netflix and Comcast said they had reached an agreement so that the US video-streaming service's programming could be viewed more smoothly.
Netflix and its heavy traffic flow had been reaching Comcast's network via bandwidth intermediaries, sometimes resulting in non-fluid streaming, or buffering.
Also in February, Comcast unveiled plans to swallow rival Time Warner Cable in a $45.2 billion mega-deal that triggered debate on the creation of a cable-Internet behemoth.
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Cannabis-derived medicinal products are now available on prescription in England, Wales and Scotland. When he made the announcement, UK home secretary Sajid Javid said the changes to regulations would make obtaining cannabis-derived products easier for patients who needed it.
The change came into effect on 1 November, following a number of high-profile cases, including those of Alfie Dingley and Billy Caldwell, who each had epilepsy and whose conditions seemed to improve with use of cannabis oil.
But what does this mean for others who could benefit from its medical use.
Here’s what you need to know about medicinal cannabis, how it works, and how it will be prescribed on the NHS.
Who Is Medicinal Cannabis For?
The new law means there isn’t a limit on the types of conditions that can be considered for treatment with cannabis oil. However, in the US, where many states have legalised the medical use of cannabis, some conditions that commonly crop up as benefitting from its use include:
How Does It Work?
An initial review by Dame Sally Davies, chief medical adviser for England, found evidence that suggested medicinal cannabis-derived products can have therapeutic benefits.
Two of the active ingredients in cannabis are CBD and THC.
THC is the chemical that is known to produce a ‘high’ when cannabis is consumed by some recreational methods. CBD cannot produce a high. But as part of pharmaceutical products, it’s been shown to be effective in treating some types of epilepsy in clinical trials, and there’s also evidence that it has anti-pain, anti-inflammatory and anti-psychotic properties.
It’s been suggested THC may affect brain development, leading research and doctors to focus primarily on the medical use of products containing CBD.
Medicinal cannabis-derived products can be administered in a range of ways, including vaporising, topical application and consuming oils orally.
How Is It Prescribed?
Medicinal cannabis can only be prescribed by specialist doctors, not GPs, and only when other treatment options have been exhausted.
Prescription is on a case-by-case basis.
What About Cannabis And Cannabis-Derived Products That Aren’t Prescribed?
The Royal College Of Paediatrics And Child Health advises that parents don’t give their kids CBD oil products they have bought online or over the counter – there’s currently no evidence that these products make for effective treatment.
You can find further guidance on this on its website.
The recreational use of cannabis is still illegal in the UK, and the government has said this change in law is not a step towards recreational legalisation.


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Scarecrow Communications bags creative duties for Rasna for 2017
The agency has worked upon a new ad campaign for the brand called ‘Pyarelal Ka Bachpan ka Pyar’ for the brand, which will be launched tomorrow
Ahmadabad based soft drink concentrate brand Rasna has signed up with Scarecrow Communications for all its creative communications for 2017.
“ Working with the iconic brand Rasna and Piruz Khambatta, (Chairman & MD, Rasna) has been amazing, he has been one of the best clients, who was very specific and clear in terms of their brief, at the same time respecting the creative agency’s perspective and giving them full liberty “ said Manish Bhatt Founder Director at Scarecrow Communications. The agency has worked upon a new ad campaign for the brand called ‘Pyarelal Ka Bachpan ka Pyar’ for the brand, which will be launched tomorrowFor more updates, be socially connected with us on
WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & Youtube


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Samsung Galaxy S8: Making iPhone 7, Galaxy S7 Edge Look Dull
Because most smartphones no longer fall between 4.0 to 5.0 inches, their screen-to-body ratios have become more important than ever. As such, bezels are considered sin to the extent that folks are willing to give up front-facing speakers.
More than ever, folks want large screens, but they also want to be able to fit their devices into their pockets and wrap them with protective covers without adding too much bulk.
Samsung knows this, which is why the upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship is going to sport what is known as the Infinity Display. What that basically means is that would practically be bezel-less.
At this point, anyone who’s been following the latest mobile news would know that, but what they don’t know is how the Galaxy S8 would look alongside Samsung’s current flagship, the Galaxy S7 Edge and its closest rival iPhone 7.
Well, thanks to a new leak out of China courtesy of Slash Leaks, we can see that the Galaxy S8 would make its predecessor and Apple’s current flagship look like old news.
And the best part of this leak is that it shows the three devices in their most mundane, so we get a realistic picture of how they would appear side-by-side right in front of out eyes.
We think the bezel-less design of the Galaxy S8 works really well. What do you think? Do you think its new look is a visual downgrade?


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August 11, 2022
3 min learn
- Jarlsberg cheese has a big stimulatory impact on serum osteocalcin.
- After 6 weeks, members assigned to Jarlsberg cheese had a big discount in HbA1c, whereas these assigned to Camembert cheese had a big improve.
- Consuming 57 g of Jarlsberg cheese on daily basis may gain advantage sufferers’ bone well being, in keeping with researchers.
A small Norwegian research revealed in BMJ Diet Prevention and Well being revealed that the semi-soft, “nutty-flavored cheese” would possibly assist stop bone thinning like osteoporosis with out adversely effecting ldl cholesterol.
Vitamin Ok is important for bone well being, the researchers wrote, and supplementation with calcium, vitamin D and vitamin Ok2 — also called menaquinone (MK) — is a really useful osteoporosis remedy. Earlier analysis has advised that Jarlsberg would possibly increase osteocalcin, which is a hormone related to sturdy bones and enamel, but it surely was unclear if the results have been prolonged to all cheese varieties, in keeping with a press launch that accompanied the research.
Now, researchers have discovered that, not like different cheeses, every day consumption of Jarlsberg will increase s-osteocalcin ranges. It incorporates DHNA and vitamin Ok2, which improve R0, cOC, tOC, a peptide concerned in bone turnover referred to as PINP, and reduce HbA1c, Ca++ and Mg++.
“These results mirror elevated bone anabolism and a attainable decreased danger of adversarial metabolic outcomes,” research writer Helge Einar Lundberg, MD, of the Skjetten Medical Middle in Skjetten, Norway, and colleagues wrote.
The researchers recruited 66 wholesome feminine volunteers for the research. For six weeks, 41 members have been randomly assigned to eat 57 g of Jarlsberg on daily basis and 25 have been assigned to eat 50 g of Camembert cheese after which change to Jarlsberg for an extra 6 weeks. At common intervals, the researchers took blood samples from all members to verify for osteocalcin, proteins, PINP, vitamin Ok2 ranges and blood fats ranges.
Cheese normally has been related to vitamin Ok2-related advantages, in keeping with the press launch, although an important Ok2 vitamer within the dairy product is MK-9, and the “quantity varies significantly” relying on the kind of cheese.
Jarlsberg cheese particularly is a “good candidate” for the research due to its excessive vitamin Ok2 content material, Lundberg and colleagues wrote. The cheese is particularly wealthy in each Ok2 and MK-9, in addition to MK-9(4H), they discovered. Camembert has comparable fats and protein contents, however much less of the important thing parts.
For many who ate Jarlsberg, Lundberg and colleagues reported that PINP, tOC, cOC, R0 and vitamin Ok2 elevated considerably after 6 weeks. For the Camembert customers, PINP remained unchanged. The opposite variables decreased initially, however then jumped after the change to Jarlsberg.
“This research exhibits that, whereas calcium and vitamin D are identified to be extraordinarily necessary for bone well being, there are different key components at play, resembling vitamin Ok2, which is maybe not as well-known,” Sumantra Ray, MD, PGCME, MPhil, the chief director of NNEdPro International Centre for Diet and Well being, stated within the launch.
After the Jarlsberg group’s preliminary 6 weeks, the researchers discovered that vitamin Ok2 vitamers elevated considerably, from 0.38 ng/mL (95% CI; 0.30-0.45) to 0.72 ng/mL (95% CI; 0.64-0.81). Within the Camembert group, “a big discount … was detected,” the researchers wrote.
After the members within the Camembert group switched to Jarlsberg, quantity of vitamin Ok2 elevated considerably, from 0.41 ng/mL (95% CI; 0.34-0.48) to 0.65 ng/mL (95% CI; 0.53-0.79).
The totally different cheeses additionally had markedly totally different results on HbA1c. After 6 weeks, members within the Jarlsberg group had considerably decreased ranges, however the ranges within the Camembert group have been considerably elevated, in keeping with the researchers. As soon as once more, after the change, there was a big lower in imply HbA1c.
“Switching from Camembert cheese to Jarlsberg led to a big improve in tOC and cOC. This helps that Jarlsberg has a big stimulatory impact on serum osteocalcin,” the researchers wrote.
Nonetheless, Ray stated this research mustn’t “be taken as a suggestion to eat a selected kind of cheese.”
“As it is a small research in younger and wholesome folks designed to discover novel pathways linking weight loss plan and bone well being, the outcomes have to be interpreted with nice warning because the research members won’t essentially be consultant of different teams,” he stated.