text:
The “Walmart in India” continues in the parliament – the other day, the government gave the go ahead for the likes of “Walmart” & “Tesco” to open stores in India.
The government’s coalition partners, however, had other ideas.
See the selection of articles from “The Telegraph” (UK) & “Wall Street Journal” below:
Indian government dealt blow by partner resignation
India's Congress-led coalition has been shaked by the resignation of its second largest partner in protest over diesel price increases and the decision to allow Western supermarkets like Tesco to set up shop.
The chief Minister of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal and the leader of the political party Trinamool Congress, Mamta Banerjee Photo: AFP
By Dean Nelson, New Delhi
5:35PM BST 18 Sep 2012
The withdrawal of the Trinamool Congress, a largely West Bengal-based party, has cut the Indian government's majority down to 16 MPs and left it at the mercy of Mayawati, the controversial 'untouchable' leader from Uttar Pradesh, whose Bahujan Samaj Party has 21 seats.
The withdrawal from the party led by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Bannerjee, has fuelled new speculation of early elections - 18 months before they are due in 2014.
Her six ministers in the United Progressive Alliance government will hand in their resignations on Friday, shortly after Dr Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, unveils his expected cabinet reshuffle. There is speculation that Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Congress dynasty and son of the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, could take a cabinet position in advance of his eventual appointment as party leader.
Ms Bannerjee, who has regularly threatened to withdraw her party from the ruling coalition in the last year, said her party had not been consulted over major reforms and had not been shown any "respect."
"We are withdrawing our support. Our ministers will go to Delhi, meet [the] PM and tender their resignations," she said after a meeting her party's leaders.
Congress leaders are confident they can hold their coalition together despite the setback.
They believe their opponents have little stomach and insufficient funds for a general election contest.
"Nobody wants an election, that's what MPs are saying across party lines, even the BJP.
There will be the usual political manoeuvring and give and take but the government will not crash. You need money for elections and a snap poll nobody wants," said a source close to the Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi.
Indian ministers to resign over Tesco plan, raising fears over coalition
A key partner in India's ruling coalition has withdrawn support from the government and said its ministers would resign in protest over a plan to allow foreign retailers such as Tesco into the country.
4:40PM BST 18 Sep 2012
"Our ministers will go to Delhi to resign. We will not stay in UPA II," the head of the regional Trinamool Congress party, Mamata Banerjee, told reporters, referring to the ruling coalition led by the Indian National Congress party.
The withdrawal of Trinamool, which is staunchly opposed to a move to allow foreign supermarkets into the retail sector, leaves the government weakened and dependent on outside support to pass legislation, AFP reported.
The reforms unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week include allowing in foreign retail giants such as Walmart and Tesco, as well foreign airlines, and included a 12pc hike in the price of subsidised diesel.
Banerjee, a mercurial politician who has forced the government into a series of policy U-turns, swept to power in the state of West Bengal in May last year.
"My party's six ministers have decided to resign. It is time to fight the battle alone," said Mr Banerjee after a meeting of Trinamool leaders in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal.
Tesco and Walmart get green light to move into India
International supermarket chains such as Tesco and Walmart are to be allowed to set up shop in India as the government bids to revolutionise the country's ailing agricultural sector.
Foreign retailers would be able to take majority stakes in joint ventures, following a decision by Cabinet ministers Photo: Bloomberg News
By Dean Nelson, in New Delhi
5:58PM BST 14 Sep 2012
Foreign retailers would be able to take majority stakes in joint ventures, following a decision by Cabinet ministers. It is hoped the retailers will bring their expertise in logistics and cold-chain warehousing to modernise Indian farming and cut food prices.
The government in New Delhi said last November that it would allow 51pc foreign direct investment in "multi-brand retail" only days later to be forced into a humiliating U-turn as key coalition parties threatened to veto it.
Since then the suspended reform has become a symbol of the Congress-led government's paralysis. It has been mired in corruption controversies over the allocation of coal blocks and 2G mobile phone operator licences, while key economic reforms were put on the back burner.
Its new determination to push through economic reforms and reassure investors follows the appointment of former home minister P Chidambaram as finance minister. Since he was hired, the government has suspended plans to levy vast tax bills retroactively on foreign investors like Vodafone.
Friday's cabinet meeting also voted to increase foreign direct investment levels in domestic airlines to 49pc in an attempt to revive its ailing airline industry and allow foreign airlines to take a stake in Kingfisher, the heavily-indebted carrier owned by the flamboyant drinks billionaire Vijay Mallya. British Airways, Emirates and Singapore Airlines are believed to have indicated an interest in his airline in the past year.
The decision to open the doors to supermarket chains like Tesco, Walmart and Carrefour will be left to individual state governments but ministers expect all the Congress-led states and several other progressive states, like Punjab and Gujurat, which is governed by the BJP, to follow suit.
Although ministers hope the move will reassure international investors the government is committed to reform, its priority is the overhaul of its farming and food infrastructure and to speed up the journey of its produce from farm to market. Tiny farm plots, poor roads and the lack of refrigerated transport and warehousing means 40pc of Indian food rots en route, causing billions of pounds in losses every year and sharp price increases.
The produce usually passes through as many as five different agents before reaching shops.
Gokul Patnaik, a former civil servant who pioneered the entry of Pepsi into Indian agriculture in the early 1990s and is now one of the country's leading players in agriculture, said he welcomed the decision, and expected to see Tesco and other supermarket giants on Indian high streets and in shopping malls before the 2014 elections.
"It means there will be long-term investment in the supply chain, which is the weakest link in Indian agriculture. I expect there will be some serious reaction in some quarters, there will be strikes and all that and most investors will wait until the reaction dies down.
But it will come up in a year or so," he said.
His firm, Global Agrisystems, is one of India's largest logistics and contract farming operators and is likely to be a major beneficiary of the announcement.
Tesco has long voiced interest in India's under-developed market and has been in a joint venture with Tata, one of India's largest multi-national corporations, to develop supermarket logistics and warehousing.
- Updated September 18, 2012, 4:14 p.m. ET
Party's Exit Imperils India Government
Activists in New Delhi protest foreign investment on Tuesday.
KOLKATA—India's plans for economic overhauls were thrown into disarray, along with its government's prospects for survival, as a crucial ally of the ruling coalition said it would withdraw over plans to let foreign supermarkets operate in the country.
The Trinamool Congress has decided to leave the government over plans unveiled last week, said Mamata Banerjee, the party's head and the chief minister of India's West Bengal state. An entrance of big foreign supermarkets, she said, would hurt small-time Indian retailers.
"Our ministers will go to New Delhi on Friday and submit their resignations," Ms. Banerjee said Tuesday. "We are sorry, but we had to take this hard decision."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's governing United Progressive Alliance, which relies on Trinamool's 19 seats to form its Parliamentary majority, isn't likely to fall immediately. Parliament isn't in session and won't meet again until December. His Congress party, which forms the core of the UPA, may be able to rely on independent parties to stay in power even if the opposition calls for a no-confidence vote in December, analysts say.
Still, Trinamool's defection adds to political turmoil in India and could imperil the economic measures taken by the government last week, which also include allowing greater overseas participation in India's airline and broadcasting sectors, as well as boosting diesel-fuel prices to lower subsidies. The measures are being closely watched not only by foreign firms, but also by global investors who see a vital India as an important factor in spurring global growth.
Last year, under pressure from Ms. Banerjee, the government suspended an earlier decision to let foreign supermarkets such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Carrefour SA open in India.
Investors fear the government could again change direction, although Mr. Singh vowed over the weekend not to do so. Calling the overhauls crucial for India to reverse a bleak economic outlook—the country's growth rate is below 6%, its lowest in nearly a decade—he cautioned that failure to adopt the measures could cause a "collapse" of growth to around 5% annually.
The government doesn't need Parliament's approval for the latest measures. But getting other legislation through Parliament without Ms. Banerjee's support is likely to be even trickier. The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and smaller regional parties also have opposed the reforms, threatening a nationwide strike Thursday.
Any government backtracking, meanwhile, is likely to draw criticism from investors and ratings agencies, who say the measures are crucial to attract foreign capital and restore growth.
"If the Congress party succumbs to the blackmail, it'll give out a very wrong signal," said B.G. Verghese, a political analyst at the Center for Policy Research, a New Delhi-based think tank. "It'll just show that if enough pressure is mounted, the party can be forced to go back on their reform agenda."
A Congress party spokesman, Rashid Alvi, wouldn't comment on whether the government would reconsider its position. But he said it had "respect" for Trinamool and would discuss the overhauls further with the party in the days ahead.
For foreign retailers, India may present even greater longer-term challenges, however. Even if measures to open India's retail sector become reality, firms are likely to face other impediments to investment—including archaic laws, rickety infrastructure and difficulty in buying land, industry participants say.
Added to that, the government last week gave India's 29 states the power to opt out of the retail measure, and a number of states have accepted that offer. Only nine states—with fewer than half of the country's 1.2 billion people—have so far said they will permit investments. Foreign retailers are further restricted to opening only in cities with more than one million people, a rule aimed at protecting smaller Indian retailers.
"There are a lot of challenges," said Thomas Verghese, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's national committee on marketing. "You will see real results only over a period of four to five years."
Another obstacle to building up retail stores, experts say, will be the difficulty of acquiring land in India, where companies often have to get multiple permits from various government agencies, and different states have different laws on land acquisition and zoning. The poor quality of roads, warehouses and cold storage facilities could eat into foreign operators' profit margins.
A maze of taxation—such as local road taxes, sales taxes and others levies—could further add to costs, other observers said. "It all adds up to a whole lot of documentation and taxes, and adds up to the challenges," said Vasant Nangia, managing director of Fossil India Ltd., a unit of the global retailer. He said the lack of availability of trained manpower could also slow investments.
India's current political instability comes after a difficult few months for Mr. Singh's Congress. The government has faced increasing calls from the opposition BJP to resign amid allegations that its process of allocating coal blocks to private companies was corrupt. Mr. Singh has denied wrongdoing and blamed the BJP for causing disturbances.
To regain the initiative, the government last week unveiled its economic measures, among the most significant overhauls since India opened its economy in 1991. Since then, parties from across the political spectrum, including Ms. Banerjee's, have protested.
Ms. Banerjee's party has opposed the move to open retail to foreigners since last year, arguing it will drive local Indian retailers out of business.
"The livelihoods of about 500 million people in India are tied to the retail sector. If we don't oppose foreign direct investment in retail, where will these people go? How will they survive?" Ms. Banerjee said Tuesday. She added that she wouldn't be held responsible if her actions caused early elections. The UPA government, whose second term began in 2009, must hold national polls in 2014.
Trinamool has one federal cabinet member, Railway Minister Mukul Roy, and five junior ministers, who Ms. Banerjee said will be leaving their positions Friday.
Congress is likely hoping to draw on the support of the Samajwadi Party in the event of a no-confidence vote, said Sanjay Kumar, a fellow at the India-based Center for Study of Developing Societies, a think tank.
The Samajwadi Party isn't formally part of the Congress's United Progressive Alliance coalition government but it often backs the government.
A spokesan for the Samajwadi Party, Ram Gopal Yadav, refused to say what role it would play. "The Congress should not take our support for granted," he told NDTV, an Indian cable news channel.
—Biman Mukherji and R. Jai Krishna contributed to this article.
A version of this article appeared September 19, 2012, on page A9 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Party's Exit Imperils India Government.
Copyright 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
- September 18, 2012, 11:45 AM IST
India’s First Foreign Supermarket May Be in …
By Margherita Stancati
The Indian government’s decision to allow foreign investment in multi-brand retail could allow big international supermarkets to enter the country.
But the cabinet’s plan, which lets foreign companies own up to 51% of local retailers, comes with conditions attached that limit where the likes of Wal-Mart WMT -0.05%Stores Inc Carrefour SA CA.FR +0.03%and Tesco PLC TSCO.LN 0.00%could set up shop in India if they wanted to.
For a start, it’s up to individual states to take the final call on whether to allow foreign supermarkets in their territory. So far, the only states in favor of this policy are the Congress party-led governments of Maharashtra, the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur and Assam.
Most other states already said they will not allow foreign investment in multi-brand retail. The retail reform, aimed at speeding up India’s economic growth, is politically sensitive, with critics saying big supermarkets would put the country’s many small traders out of business.
And the central government can’t even count on all its states for support: Kerala, a Congress-run state, said it will not implement the retail reform. According to a senior local government official, this has to do with fears of a political backlash against Congress, which only narrowly won the latest local elections there. Trade unions – which are historically influential in Kerala, a state with a strong Communist presence – have sharply opposed the proposal.
Another condition is that foreign supermarkets can only be set up in towns with a population of one million or more. There are just 53 towns or cities in India that meet this requirement, according to 2011 census figures. Of these, only 16 cities are in states that said yes to FDI in retail. They are: New Delhi; Chandigarh; Faridabad in Haryana; Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota in Rajasthan; Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir; Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh; and the following cities in Maharashtra: Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Vasai Virar and Aurangabad.
There is an exception: States that have no towns with one million inhabitants or more – like Uttarakhand, Manipur and Assam – can still choose to allow FDI in retail if they want to.
All states run by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party – including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat – have opposed foreign investment in multi-brand retail on the grounds that the move as anti-poor. This may taint the pro-business reputation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal spoke of how he would fix the country’s economy.
“If you look at the map of India, you’ll see that the majority of states is opposed to FDI in retail,” says Nalin Kohli, a senior BJP official.
There’s also West Bengal, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a rally against allowing FDI in retail over the weekend. The central government relies on the support of Ms. Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress party for its parliamentary majority. Ms. Banerjee, who last year forced the central government to withdraw an earlier plan to liberalize the retail sector, warned of “hard decisions” unless Congress reconsidered the move by late Tuesday.
Other states ruled by regional parties have opposed the proposed retail reform. They include Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state. The state’s chief minister, the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, at a televised press conference over the weekend, said “we will not allow FDI in retail,” saying small traders will suffer. This means we’re unlikely to see foreign supermarkets in major Indian cities like Agra and Varanasi anytime soon.
This position was echoed elsewhere, including in Orissa and Bihar. In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in a statement said she would “never” implement FDI in multi-brand retail, a policy she described as “anti-people.”
After initial uncertainty, even Punjab is opposing opening up the retail sector. “The party’s stand is that it’s against FDI in retail,” said Narej Gujral of the state’s ruling Shiromani Akali Dal party. “We are not against reforms but we want more clarifications on such policies,” he added.
– Preetika Rana contributed to this post.
Follow India Real Time on Twitter @indiarealtime.


text:
Irvine BMW Confirms, BMW Group Achieves Record Sales For September
The BMW Group Continued its Successful Course in September With Another Record Month in Sales with a 11.4% Increase
October 11, 2011 – Irvine, Calif. – Irvine BMW is excited to confirm, BMW Group achieved record sales for the month of September.
With 159,214 (prev. yr. 142,953) BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand automobiles delivered worldwide, sales were 11.4% higher than in the same month last year.
“BMW Group made solid gains across the globe and once again accomplished record sales,” said Darren Richie, General Manager. “That is something to be extremely proud of.”
The BMW brand reported worldwide sales of 128,446 vehicles in the month under review – exceeding last September’s figure (117,471) by 9.3%. The strongest gains were made once again by the BMW X3, with sales of 11.345 vehicles in September – an increase of 260.6% (prev. yr. 3,146). The BMW X1 also continues to perform strongly, with a total of more than 200,000 units delivered since its market launch nearly two years ago. 12,535 of these were sold in September, an increase of 24.7% over last year (prev. yr. 10,051). The BMW 5 Series remains the clear segment leader with strong sales once again in September – 27,811 vehicles were delivered which was an increase of 29.7% compared to last year (prev. yr. 21,445). The BMW 7 Series also achieved impressive growth of 15.1% (6,321 vehicles / prev. yr. 5,491) in September. Year-to-date, the brand BMW has delivered 1,021,927 vehicles, an increase of 14.5% over the previous year (892,729 vehicles).
It was also the most successful third quarter for the company ever, with sales reaching 399.218 vehicles from July through September, an increase of 9.0% over 2010. Furthermore, it has been the best first nine months for the company, with sales up 16.0% compared to the same period last year. A total of 1,232,584 BMW Group vehicles were delivered during this time (prev. yr. 1,062,209).
Irvine BMW’s helpful and knowledgeable staff, expert factory-trained technicians, state-of-the-art service department, comprehensive parts department and one of the nation’s largest selections of new, used and certified pre-owned BMWs have made Irvine BMW a landmark in Southern California’s automotive landscape. For more information about Irvine BMW, visit the dealership at 9881 Research Drive in Irvine, Calif., or online at irvinebmw.com.
As a proud member of the Shelly Automotive Group and one of the largest BMW centers on the West Coast, Irvine BMW has loyally served Orange County - including Lake Elsinore, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, El Toro, Foothill Ranch, Capistrano Beach, Dana Point, Lake Forest, Laguna Woods, East Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Silverado, Trabuco Canyon, Rancho Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo and Ladera Ranch - for nearly a decade.
- Contact Information
- Alyse Feltman
- Account Coordinator
- Feltman and Associates
- Contact via E-mail
This news content may be integrated into any legitimate news gathering and publishing effort. Linking is permitted.
News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.

domain: news


text:
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Thousands of tourists will head out of town after a long holiday weekend, and they came with their wallets ready to spend. WGNO’s Kenny Lopez takes a look at the economic impact for New Orleans.
Thousands of visitors were in NOLA this weekend for the Fourth of July. Hotel occupancy was up dramatically from last year during the height of the pandemic.
“We saw that the French Quarter, Warehouse District, and Downtown were running at 80 percent plus for hotel occupancy,” Mark Romig with New Orleans & Co. said.
Romig went on to say, “This is good for the economy and great for the men and women who work in the industry.
Braxton Humphrey over at N’awlins Cafe and Spice Emporium in the French Markest says they needed this past weekend.
“It was a great relief after not having business for 6 or 7 months. We put a lot of hard work into this. We are a small business and everything counts,” he said.
Artist/Photographer, Gamal Sabla, another vendor in the French Market says that he hasn’t seen this much business since before the pandemic.
“This weekend I was just happy. It meant that I could pay my rent on time. In one weekend, rent was paid so that’s not normal,” he said.
As for visitors, all good things must come to an end, but memories were certainly made.
“The atmosphere, the culture, the food, the friendliness, just amazing to me,” Tommy Bradley from Oregon said.
“All I can say is that the food is good. Spent lots of money on food,” Michael Woods from Atlanta said.
It was money well spent that will leave a lasting positive effect on New Orleans’ struggling tourism industry.


text:
Korean pop star PSY, who recently hit a billion views on YouTube, is being featured by Japanese chat application ‘Line’ in a fun promotional video. The clip only runs for about a minute in length, but it’s really well done, and features all Line characters that you’re likely familiar with if you use the up-and-coming application. Check it out below:
While PSY long-surpassed the status of global phenomenon, NHN Japan’s Line application has been a phenomenon in its own right in Japan and around Asia — but clearly its intention is to become something bigger. It has about 89 million users right now, and is pushing pretty hard to grab more. Hooking its wagon to PSY’s infectious Gangnam Style is certainly not a bad idea .
Meanwhile in Taiwan, the company has gone so far as to advertise on a local train. And by that, I mean that NHN has literally plastered an entire train green and covered it with Line characters (pictured below). On the inside of the train, passengers can use their smartphones to scan QR codes and read/receive events from the application.
Meanwhile, More Games
NHN Japan has also continued to roll out more games via its chat platform, with three new titles including the new Line Bubble (iOS/Android). That title is currently ranked as the number one free iOS app here in Japan, and on Google Play, it’s ranked fourth. The games are all casual titles like previously released Line games, and all will likely do very well thanks to quick and easy distribution via the Line chat application.


text:
By BUSINESS TIMES
Hatten Group, a local property developer, plans to turn the Bandar Hilir area in Malacca into a commercial district the likes of Ginza, Tokyo’s classiest commercial centre.
It is developing “Hatten Square”, an upmarket commercial project located in the vicinity of Melaka Tengah and Melaka Raya. It features a four-star hotel with 260 rooms, 490 suites and 1,500 parking bays, and a mall with 200 retail units.
Construction has begun on the RM150 million project, with full completion scheduled for the third quarter of 2011. However, the 1,500 parking bays and the 200 retail units will be ready by December this year.
Hatten Group executive director Collin Tan said the successful completion of Phase 1 and 2 of Dataran Pahlawan, a new retail, entertainment and gourmet centre in Bandar Hilir, had resulted in the constitution of Hatten Group as a holding company for a group of companies with a unified vision to continue expanding in the area.
“To be located near Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall and Mahkota Parade, the proposed shopping mall will carry exclusive luxury brands targeted at the upper- and middle-income group together with sidewalk cafes and alfresco dining.
“We hope that this new mall would turn this area into the ‘Bukit Bintang’ of Malacca,” he said, referring to the famous shopping and entertainment strip in Kuala Lumpur.
Occupying 6.25ha , Hatten Square Suites & Shoppes will contain the hallmark of quality and innovation that buyers whom have long been associated with Hatten Group will recognise.
“Apart from the retail units, the 22-storey building will comprise 270 hotel rooms and 490 premier suites with common hotel facilities such as an extensively designed swimming pool, a spa, a gym, a ballroom and 1,500 parking bays built with the intention to cater to business travellers and families on vacation,” he said.
Hatten Group plans to sell 40 per cent of the retail units at prices starting from RM180,000 per unit, and keep the rest as investment, implementing a similar development strategy practised in Dataran Pahlawan Megamall.
“Upon completion of the project, the value of the properties is expected to appreciate by 20 per cent per year,” said Tan.
He added that Hatten Square will further complement the Bandar Hilir area by being the tallest building in Malacca, with good visibility of the historical city.
Other factors going for the proposed project are that the area has a ready population of 400,000 people and is easily accessible from Jalan Laksamana, Coastal Highway and Jalan Tun Razak (Lebuhraya AMJ).
“To ensure that all patrons to Malacca are able to enjoy and experience a comfortable and hassle-free shopping atmosphere, we are building a 17m wide air-conditioned two-tiered link bridge to connect the Square to Dataran Pahlawan Megamall and Mahkota Parade.
“This has been designed to add vibrancy and colour to the Bandar Hilir area, commonly known for its busloads of tourist arrival to the neighbouring historical sites and shopping malls,” said Tan.


text:
ARM signs up MIPS loyalist Toshiba
Sales and profits up
ARM, the Cambridge-based chip design house, has rounded off a good Q4 with its first licence from Toshiba -- for the entry-level ARM7TDMI. In an interview with UK trade magazine Electronics Weekly Gordon Fairley, Toshiba Asic manager, said: "We were a solid MIPS company but we've got customers asking us for ARM -- it's the de facto standard in Europe." Toshiba joins Matsushita, Seiko Epson and Hewlett-Packard among six new licencees signed up in Q4. Two of the new recruits wish to remain anonymous for the time being –- ARM says only that one is based in the US and the other is in Europe. ARM revenues for Q4 ending December 31, 1999. climbed 52 per cent to £12.5 million and pre-tax profits jumped 133 per cent to £3 million. For the full year, sales jumped 59 per cent to £42.3 million (1997: £26.6 million) and profits were up 108 per cent to £9.4 million. ARM is a deceptively small company, with its revenue representing a lucrative -- but small -- slice of the ARM platform market worldwide. In 1998, semiconductor licencees pumped out 50 million units based on the ARM architecture, a fivefold leap on 1997. ®
Sponsored: RAID: End of an era?


text:
Reselling your kid’s used clothing could soon violate federal law. Come February 10, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act will prevent retailers from selling children’s products that haven’t been certified as lead free. Old hand-me-downs, of course, haven’t been certified for anything more than running around the yard. Parents are worried, petitions are being drawn up, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission isn’t doing much to clarify the law.
Consumers Union, along with a half dozen other public interest groups, has urged federal regulators to immediately provide additional guidance and clarity to help address those concerns. In a letter sent to Acting CPSC Chairwoman Nancy Nord, the groups have pushed the CPSC to inform manufacturers and retailers how to comply with the new legal requirements and to outline what the true cost of testing will be. And we’ve asked the agency to work with secondhand sellers to keep dangerous products off their shelves while also presenting commonsense solutions for those stores. The CPSC tried to do that in a press release issued last week, but unfortunately we’re not sure the “clarifications” make the new law any clearer.
The CPSC has proposed exempting certain products and materials from their regulations. But many in industry are calling for even broader exemptions that may undermine the goals of the new legislation. While it’s easy to understand the difficulties small businesses face in this time of economic uncertainty, the risk is that the goals of the new legislation will be weakened. Let’s not forget what led to the new regulations in the first place: Almost 30 million unsafe children’s products were recalled last year, and even more the year before that.
The CPSC’s January 8 press release said:
Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.
In a sign of just how much confusion that statement caused, Snopes, the internet’s arbiter of truth, declared “vendors will not have to have [children’s clothes] tested and certified;” by contrast, the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops responded: “NO… NO… No… The law remains UNALTERED! Please read it VERY CAREFULLY! This is NOT a ruling, exemption or exception to the CPSIA… it is a Press Release. It is NOT definitive!”
The CPSC clearly doesn’t want to criminalize the used clothing trade, but as with most public policy decisions, striking a workable balance isn’t exactly easy. Though the protections enshrined in the Act are long overdue, no parent should have to worry about a federal indictment when trying to sell little Jimmy’s slightly worn pants for $5.
Toymakers and resellers raise concerns over new safety regulations [Consumer Reports]
New safety rules for children’s clothes have stores in a fit [The Los Angeles Times]
Claim: Regulations taking effect 10 February 2009 will prohibit the resale of used children’s products that have not been tested for lead and phthalates. [Snopes]


text:
Whatever your classification, we have some great ways to stay updated on CFCA news and stories. Continue reading
Roofs leak, the ground begins to wash away, roads become blocked by landslides and rivers flood, but the people of Guatemala stand strong.
They rebuild, and together they prosper in love, hope, community and courage.
The rainy season, or winter, as many Guatemalans call this time of year, has now settled in. Continue reading
By Emily Soetaert, CFCA correspondent
If you’re aware of healthy eating trends or are environmentally conscious, chances are you’ve heard of (and may have eaten) quinoa.
Pronounced “keen-WAH,” this South American grain has recently taken the western world by storm. Its unusual taste and high nutrition value (particularly in the protein area) give many a reason to love it.
What we may not know, however, is that increased demand for quinoa has created some unintended consequences.
Before quinoa’s spike in popularity, the crop could be purchased in Bolivia for less than $4 a pound. That price has more than doubled to $8 a pound.
Many South American families who previously relied on quinoa for daily nourishment can no longer afford to purchase it.
According to a column in The Guardian, for many people living in Peru and Bolivia, quinoa now costs more than chicken because of rising costs and overseas demands.
Adelio, who helps cultivate quinoa and is the father of a sponsored child, Pamela, in Bolivia, said quinoa is an important food in the local diet.
“Families in rural areas usually eat what they produce, and quinoa is part of their diets,” Adelio said. “Quinoa is a very fragile crop to produce, and it takes about six months before picking the crop.”
Fortunately, families in the CFCA program in Bolivia still have access to this dietary staple.
“We still have families who work farming the quinoa as well as other crops to be able to feed their families,” Adelio said. “They help each other by trading crops that they produce over the years.”
Through sponsorship support and their own ingenuity, families in the CFCA program are able to cope with economic challenges such as rising food prices.
Besides its nutritional value, quinoa has the added benefit of being an environmentally friendly crop.
“The demand for quinoa is large because it is a natural product, which does not require chemicals to enhance it,” Adelio said. “For this reason, it is less harmful for the environment.”
CFCA sponsors never cease to amaze us with the creative ways they support our work. Mary Arling is a great example of a sponsor using her time and interests in support of young people and families served by CFCA.
When Mary Arling began her Christmas shopping buying sweaters and candles for family and friends, she didn’t know that her holiday shopping would also benefit CFCA sponsored friends around the world.
One day while shopping at Town Center Plaza in Leawood, Kan., Mary found out about a special contest, in which the center would donate $5,000 to one lucky winner’s favorite charity.
To participate, shoppers had to go to the administrative office after each shopping trip and make copies of their receipts, which counted as entries into the contest. Read more
Weíve had a number of great blog posts and news articles featuring us recently. Thanks to all for their support!
- The Intermountain Catholic News, from the Diocese of Salt Lake City, wrote a report about†two sponsors traveling to India to meet their sponsored children.
- The Kansas Mom blog featured a lovely testimonial about one sponsor’s experience of our Hope for a Family program.
- The story about Liberty Sementelli, an 8-year-old who raised $1,500 for a Guatemalan mothers group making chocolate, is getting amazing reception in all her local news outlets! Check out our report.
There’s a great report from Fox 4 KC about Matthew Garr, 11, from Lenexa, Kan.
He contributed $375 in birthday money to his family’s sponsored child, Magdalena, in Guatemala. Magdalena is also 11 years old.
What you may not know is that Matthew has done this three years in a row!
We have followed the progress of this remarkable young man in two previous blog posts as he donated money to CFCA from his ninth, tenth and now 11th birthdays.
We received this message from our CFCA project in Antipolo, Philippines:
“We are thinking at this moment of the people, particularly our sponsors, in Texas. We have seen in the news the huge tornado that hit the state of Texas. We hope and pray our sponsors are safe.
Please know we keep them in our thoughts and prayers for their recovery as we understand how one feels when affected by calamity.
CFCA Antipolo Family


text:
One might think having the year’s biggest viral marketing hit would be any business’s dream come true. Unfortunately, though, not all Web traffic is equal, and popularity contests don’t pay the bills.
According to Advertising Age, 26.4 million people spent a total of 2,600 years at ElfYourself.com, turning themselves and unsuspecting family members and coworkers into virtual dancing elves. But chances are that unless you’re a marketer, blogger, or anyone else who might have bothered to notice in the first place, you’ve likely forgotten that OfficeMax was behind the “Elf Yourself” campaign.
Don’t take my word for it. Ask anyone who’s aware of Elf Yourself — and pronounce it carefully when you do — whether they can recall who sponsored the campaign.
Most of the answers I’ve gotten thus far (“Starbucks?”; “Barnes & Noble?”; “Wasn’t that Staples?”) have been guesses.
As OfficeMax VP of Marketing and Advertising, Bob Thacker, sold it to AdAge,
“We were looking to build the brand, warm up our image. We weren’t looking for sales. We are third-place players in our industry, so we are trying to differentiate ourselves through humor and humanization.”
Really? Not even looking for sales? Wow. If that’s the case, why even bother linking the campaign’s site to OfficeMax.com?
The article goes on to suggest that since many of those who searched for Elf Yourself around the time used the phrase “OfficeMax,” that must somehow mean their branding effort paid off. And that makes sense — so long as you ignore that it seems most people discovered the dancing elves via email and instant messenger, not search.
Get Elastic‘s Linda Bustos sparked some debate about all of this, asserting that,
“Brand awareness is extremely valuable and important, especially in OfficeMax’ competitive industry. It might not result in immediate sales, but it should impact long term market position. Social media marketing (including blogging, podcasting and interactive viral campaigns) is a long-term strategy. It’s not a newspaper circular, it’s not PPC advertising, it’s not email marketing. Like celebrity endorsement or a Super Bowl ad, it won’t necessarily drive sales during a specific time period.”
Absolutely. But should the successful use of cute gimmickry — so long as it attracts a large, albeit random, audience of people who aren’t in buying mode, to a site that links to homepage, for a business that sells office supplies — be considered an automatic win?
So, millions of people go to a site that has little (no offense, elves) to do with the brand. No attempt is even made to engage would-be customers in a buying scenario (“Elf Yourself and save 10% on last-minute holiday treats when at OfficeMax.com”). No… nothing? That’s branding!?
One of the folks who commented on Linda’s post makes a telling point about the SEO logistics at play:
[...] this is search engine dynamite! The domain elfyourself.com (which is linked to by nearly 30,000 other websites) links directly (and only) to the officemax.com homepage. Conventional internet marketing dictates that this will have a huge impact on officemax.com’s ability to rank in Google on competitive terms. I’d love to see their stats – I bet it’s a big win.
Rank well on “competitive terms” — for whom? Elves? In a lot of other circumstances, this would be a great point, but in this case, it’s yet another example of why “conventional internet marketing” wisdom is misleading. Getting the extra traffic feels nice — and often impresses the boss — but there’s one thing that always feels better: Money.
Still, let’s see how much traffic Elf Yourself is driving to OfficeMax.com:
Not much of a traffic boost, is it?
But, hey, this wasn’t about traffic or revenue — it was about fun, right? Not for Toy New York, the agency that developed Elf Yourself. Nope. As Linda pointed out to me in the comments on her post, they’re the ones who are probably benefiting the most from this.
Looks like she’s got a pretty good point…
How about shareholder value? Kevin Horne points out that this is the second year in a row that the elves stuffed coal in the OMX stock price:
[...] in 2006, the company actually reported a decline of some $7 million in retail sales in its fourth quarter, 11 million “elf visitors” notwithstanding. Or notwithclicking either, apparently. Talk about squandering an opportunity. Two years in a row.
Oh well, at least OfficeMax got some national press coverage out of this. Let’s see what happens in this clip from Good Morning America:
Don’t get me wrong. I like the elves. It just seems that, since they’re already such hard workers, why not put them to work? (Even Santa’s got that figured out.)
Before you elf yourself out of millions in missed revenue from a viral marketing campaign, ask yourself: What good are millions of visitors if they don’t buy millions in goods?
Sometimes it takes better planning.


text:
One in ten 'miss out on holidays'
One in 10 workers will not have their full holiday entitlement this year, with some failing to take two weeks of their annual leave, new research has revealed.
A survey of 2,000 adults by the Post Office showed that one in four of those missing out on their full holidays will lose almost a week, while 6% will fail to take two weeks.
Workers who do not take all their holiday leave in 2010 will not be able to carry any days over to next year, the study found.
The Post Office calculated that the UK's workers will lose 179 million days of holiday this year.
The industries where employees were least likely to take all their holidays included construction, media and marketing, agriculture and leisure.
The research also showed that more than one in four people will work over the festive period and a further one in six will work from home.
Some of those on duty over Christmas admitted they had not booked a holiday off in time or had to go to the office because colleagues were off.
Sarah Munro, head of Post Office Travel Services, said: "Booking a holiday can be stressful and busy lifestyles mean it often drops down the priority list, but if you forward plan you're less likely to miss out on being able to take holidays at key times like Christmas.
"Employers often prioritise staff that had to work at Christmas the previous year so next year you could be in with a good chance of getting that time off - but you need to get in there quickly."


text:
Amid a skidding economy and the prospect of a prolonged war on terrorism, a majority of Utahns believe they are not at risk of losing their jobs, according to a new Deseret News/KSL poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates.
Of 400 people surveyed last week, 62 percent of respondents said their current job was "very secure." In addition, 30 percent said their job was "somewhat secure."
Contributing to the state's optimism is a jobless rate that continues to trail the national average.
"Your unemployment last month was 3.8 percent. Nationally it was 4.9 percent. Here (in Oregon) it is 6.3 percent, one of the highest in the country," said John Mitchell, an economist for U.S. Bank's Western region, from his Portland office.
"Utah has been so strong for so long. The last actual decline in employment (growth) in Utah was in the mid-'60s. Other places don't have that kind of experience," Mitchell said. "Obviously you've seen the closure at Gateway and weakness in the technology sector that you see in other places, but (Utah's) overall labor market seems to be relatively tight."
Yet not everyone agrees the state's current job climate is secure.
"My feeling is that we are showing a substantial increase in the number of layoffs occurring," said Allan Ayoub, a labor liaison for the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
Nationally, more people may agree with Ayoub than Mitchell, according to new data released Tuesday.
Figures from the Conference Board, a New York-based business group, showed that consumer confidence toppled in September as the Consumer Confidence Index sank to its lowest level in 5 1/2 years — to 97.6 from a revised 114.0 in August.
The new figure was based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households surveyed before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
In the survey, fewer consumers rated business conditions as "favorable." And the percent of consumers anticipating business conditions to worsen increased from 10.7 percent to 15.0 percent.
Mitchell said the terrorist attacks were enough to push the already teetering U.S. economy into a recession, but he predicted the slump would likely be short-lived.
"We've already got the monetary and fiscal policies in place that are likely going to end it. People have been reducing inventories for a while. The things that were going to make growth pick up were already here," he said. "The short-run implications are very negative in the sense of the disruptions associated with what is going on in the airline business, hotel, travel and tourism."
Much of the current downturn had its beginnings in spring 2000, when financial markets began to lose ground followed by a downturn in business investment, which has fallen now for three consecutive quarters.
Yet the recent terrorist attacks and massive airline industry layoffs have done little to alter Utahns' notions of personal income growth.
Twenty-six percent of Utahns polled by Dan Jones & Associates last week said their income would "definitely grow" in the next year. Another 21 percent said it would "probably grow."
Only 13 percent said their income would "probably" or "definitely" decline, with 37 percent saying their income would "stay about the same."
The poll has an error rate of plus or minus 5 percent.
Nationally, 21.1 percent of Americans expected an increase in their families' income, down from 23.2 percent in August, according to the Consumer Confidence Index.
But as consumer confidence wanes and the consumer debt service burden (fraction of income that goes to pay mortgage and installment debt) reaches a 12-year high, a slowdown in spending may send the economy keeling over.
"As the economic ramifications of Sept. 11 continue to reverberate in the coming weeks and months, and the number of layoffs continues to rise, the economy faces tougher times ahead. While consumers have managed to keep the U.S. out of a recession for several years now, that soon may no longer be the case," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, in a news release.
Despite the darkening clouds overhead, Mitchell predicts stronger growth in 2002 than this year.
"We are going through a bubble," he said. "We had this major run-up in equity prices without earnings, and now we've got disappointed expectations. But over time the production capacity of the U.S. economy is still intact. Technology continues to march on, and ultimately there will be more investment, but we have to work through the excesses of the last few years."


text:
A popular talking point for the e-cigarette industry is that vaping helps cigarette addicts quit smoking. But that doesn’t appear to be what e-cigarettes are actually designed to do.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that its own research found that vaping has increased by 80 percent in high schoolers and by 50 percent in middle schoolers, suggesting once again that non-smokers are an important target market to the vaping industry.
Those teens are then more likely to turn to traditional cigarettes -- some of which are sold by the same business interests that have entered the vaping market.
“The data show that kids using e-cigarettes are going to be more likely to try combustible cigarettes later,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a lengthy statement Thursday about his agency’s plans for an industry-wide crackdown. “This is a large pool of future risk.”
While some proponents have claimed that cracking down on vaping will be a boon to Big Tobacco, the cigarette industry has actually invested heavily in e-cigarettes. Philip Morris is currently aggressively lobbying Australian regulators to overturn a country-wide ban on vaping.
The United States approach to regulating vaping would be less stringent.
To combat what they say is an “astonishing” rise in teen vaping, the FDA is pursuing a ban on selling flavored e-cigarettes at any stores where people under the age of 18 are allowed.
Such a policy would ban flavored products from convenience stores and gas stations, though tobacco and vape shops would still be able to sell flavored pods.
The FDA will also make an exception to those rules for mint, menthol, and tobacco flavors because they say that people trying to quit traditional cigarettes have found those flavors helpful.
The agency is, however, following through on plans to crackdown on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
Juul, a vaping brand that has gained a cult-like following among teens, said it has agreed to stop selling its Mango, Fruit, Cream, and Cucumber flavored pods at 90,000 retail stores, though the company claims it was never trying to get kids hooked.
“We launched flavors like Mango, Fruit, Creme, and Cucumber as effective tools to help adult smokers switch from combustible cigarettes, and we do not sell flavors like Gummy Bear or Cotton Candy, which are clearly targeted to kids,” the company said online.
But research has suggested otherwise. In 2016, researchers at the UCSF School of Medicine found that vaping actually made people 28 percent less likely to quit cigarettes. Experts say that cigarette addicts should stick to e-cigarettes with large cartridges if they are vaping to quit.
The FDA’s announcement appears to be sending chills through the vaping industry.
The Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association, one of the vaping industry lobbying groups, is planning a meeting in December with other vaping trade groups to organize against “the many issues facing the vaping industry at the Federal level.”
“It's time for us all to stop viewing each other as the enemy and start working together -- or we will face dire consequences as an industry,” the group’s Executive Director Mark Anton wrote today on Facebook.


text:
Meet the 2017 grand prize winner
We’re proud to announce that Sword & Plough is the grand prize winner of the 5th annual FedEx Small Business Grant Contest. Through their unique business model, Sword & Plough works with American manufacturers who employ veterans to make wearable goods out of recycled materials from the U.S. military that would otherwise be thrown away.
“With the grant money, we plan to further our mission by hiring a military veteran with logistics experience to help us expand our production and improve our supply chain and inventory management.” – Emily Núñez Cavness and Betsy Núñez
Featured Video: Ginjan Bros
"We’re living the American dream right now": Watch last year’s FedEx Small Business Grant Contest winner, the Ginjan Bros, share how hard work and passion helped them launch a specialty beverage business in their new country.
Make the most of your brand story
"Share your inspiration — everyone has a reason for starting a business," says Liz Powers, FedEx Small Business Grant Contest winner and co-founder of ArtLifting. Get inspired with Liz's tips on how to tell a compelling brand story.
Speed up your global growth with peer insights
"Athletes were counting on us to deliver products to keep them competing the next day," explains Anne Hed, owner of Hed Cycling. Hear the company's tips on how you can stay competitive in the fast-pace global market.
New year, new opportunity
The new year brings new possibilities for small-business owners — and you can start the year off strong with tips to help beat the competition. Find out how you can turn last year’s insights into new opportunities, and how we can help you attract more customers year-round.
Set your business up for success with tools that can help you save time and money. We’ve got solutions to make shipping seamless and efficient — for you and your customers.


text:
This is the new 150bhp 1290cc KTM Super Duke that was recently spied testing on the roads near the KTM factory in Mattighofen, Austria.
The Super Duke will be getting a more powerful version of the 1290cc motor which KTM has been working on for the past three years. The bikes will be seen in finished form in the Autumn of 2012 to go on sale in early 2013.
The latest spy shots come after a prototype machine was pictured strapped to a trailer in Tenerife in January, along with the new 1290cc KTM Adventure.
Share and comment on this article ...


text:
Top 3 Best-Selling Apps 2019
Mobile phone applications are becoming more and more popular and consequently indispensable in our routine. The variety of applications we can find in the app store or play store are no longer countable. Market competition is increasingly fierce, market entry is becoming more complicated and revenue generation through paid or freemium apps are as well.
However, the great applications we all know about are growing more and more. In the third quarter of 2019, revenue from selling apps and services through the Google Play Store on Android and the Apple App Store on iOS increased by 22.9%.
It was also disclosed the applications that earn the most money from its developers. In the following list, we have several apps that are associated with services. The top is led by Tinder, followed by Netflix and YouTube. Check out the top 3 best-selling apps today.
For those who don’t know what it is, or want to pretend they don’t, I’ll explain. Tinder is a dating application. Dating doesn’t necessarily have to be love or sexual – in some countries you can find people on Tinder who simply want to hang up with, literally.
Unbeatable online dating giant Match Group, a subsidiary of InterActiveCorp holding, has acquired so many dating sites that some critics wonder why the company is not facing antitrust lawsuits. But the crown jewel in their empire is really the Tinder app. Last year, it gained 1.2 million subscribers and raised nearly as much money as its other subsidiaries combined, including Match.com and OkCupid, according to Q4 2018 results.
In total, Match Group earned about $ 1.73 billion in 2018 from $ 1.33 billion in 2017, and net profit attributable to its shareholders was $ 478 million in 2018, up from $ 350 million in 2017.
You can access it via your TV or any internet-enabled device through which you can access the Netflix application: computers, tablets, smartphones, smart TV, video game consoles, DVD players, or even the vendor set top box via TV channels that make Netflix available.
This year’s third quarter, Netflix was driven by new seasons of shows like “Stranger Things” and “13 Reasons Why.” The company added 6.77 million subscribers worldwide, exceeding the average analyst expectation of nearly 6.7 million, according to Refinitiv’s IBES data.
Netflix said it was on track to reach 13% operating margin by the end of the year and was aiming for another 300 bp expansion by 2020. The total number of subscribers reached 158 million. Still, the company faces challenges and upcoming rivals are entering the streaming world.
Social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram are moving to offer better video platforms, but we all know who is in charge: YouTube. According to Alexa rankings, YouTube is the second most visited website in the world, second only to Google, which owns the platform.
Given its level of popularity as a video sharing platform – where users upload, watch, comment, and share content – it’s no surprise that people use YouTube to watch everything: from a guy going crazy stunts, to seeing a double rainbow, up to the latest Nicki Minaj clip.
YouTube is available in more than 90 countries and supports 80 languages, which is not surprising, as there are more than 1.9 billion monthly active users, according to July’s 2018 numbers. That is about a third from all internet users.
Note that the apps with the most revenue are not the most downloaded. In the list of the most downloaded, WhatsApp is the undisputed leader and the hegemony of Facebook services are notorious. However, TikTok is entering this list of most popular apps faster than a horse escalating into the Kentucky Derby betting odds. The tendency is to increase in the future. How popular will it turn out in 2020?


text:
Sep. 15, 2014, 2:20 AM
- Danaher (NYSE:DHR) has agreed to buy Nobel Biocare (OTCPK:NBHGY) in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $2.2B, including debt.
- Danaher says the acquisition would widen its market presence and make it the largest consumable and equipment player in the dental industry with sales approaching $3B.
- The deal is expected to be completed in late 2014 or early 2015, after which Nobel Biocare will continue to operate as a standalone company.
Apr. 15, 2013, 3:57 AM
Citi upgrades Dentsply (XRAY) to Buy from Neutral: "We believe that Dentsply is an attractive investment opportunity at its current price. We see upside to consensus through the restructuring of the implant manufacturing and potential for further acquisitions as the balance sheet improves." Citi advocates buying Straumann (SAUHF.PK, SAUHY.PK) and selling Noble (NBHGY.PK, NBHGF.PK), saying XRAY and Straumann are position to adopt a dual-brand model, Noble less so.| Apr. 15, 2013, 3:57 AM


text:
id Software just announced during a QuakeCon live presentation that Rage
will be hitting store shelves on September 13, 2011 in the US and September 15, 2011 in Europe. Kotaku reports on the release date via its liveblog
, highlighting one of the reasons the game still has another year of development time -- the Xbox 360 version crashed during the presentation.
If you're really itching to jump into Rage
's universe, the iPhone/iPad version of the game
will launch sometime this year. That could help tide you over until the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC versions arrive next September.


text:
With the pandemic almost in the rear-view mirror, 2022 was a year of recovery in Alabama business.
And considering the fluctuating stock market, continued workforce problems and other woes, it was, to paraphrase a classic song, a pretty good year.
Yes, Sodexo in Birmingham, Parkdale Mills in Alexander City and others closed up shop, and highly visible Landing laid off a hundred workers, but there was a lot of good on the positive side of the ledger, too.
Here’s a look at some of the major projects, expansions and other business news in Alabama in 2022.
Big New Projects
Novelis, an aluminum producer, in May announced a $2.5 billion recycling and rolling plant in Baldwin County. The project is expected to create 1,000 jobs.
At the end of 2021, the J.M. Smucker Co. announced it’s building a $1.1 billion facility in McCalla, where it plans to make its popular Uncrustables line.
Mercedes-Benz, in March, opened an electric vehicle battery plant in Bibb County, just a few miles away from its Vance auto production facility. The battery plant, logistics centers and upgrades to its production line made for a $1 billion investment. In the fall, Hyundai Mobis announced it too would build a battery plant, a $205 million investment in Montgomery. Anovion is also on the EV battery bandwagon, announcing plans for a $117 million battery materials plant in Colbert County.
Montgomery will be the site of a $600 million beverage park planned by Manna Beverages & Ventures.
Canfor, the Canadian forest product company, announced in August plans for a $210 million mill near Mobile.
Tyson Foods announced in May a new $208 million plant near Hanceville.
California-based Niagara Bottling said in March it would build a production facility in Opelika to the tune of $112 million.
RCP Companies announced plans in September for Huntsville’s Anthem House, a $110 million mixed-use project.
Cerrowire said in May it is investing $100 million in a plant for metal-clad wire production in Hartselle.
Drax Group opened a $100 million pellet plant in Demopolis in April.
Some other new projects that top the $50 million mark: Linde announced an $83 million hydrogen plant in Washington County; UAB broke ground on the $78 million Altec/Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences building; Koch Foods began building a $60 million feed mill in Attalla; FedEx Ground announced a $57 million distribution center in Dothan; SmartLam North America announced a $50 million facility in Houston County; and ISA Corp. said it would open a plant in Geneva County to make nitrile and latex gloves.
Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, announced in June a major expansion in Huntsville, bringing its total investment there to $1.5 billion.
United Launch Alliance, the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture producing rockets in Decatur, announced a $300 million expansion in August, quickly followed by plans for an expansion at Beyond Gravity, on the ULA campus.
Toyota announced in April that it would invest $222 million to expand its manufacturing facility in Huntsville to create a new production line for four-cylinder engines, including a hybrid electric version.
Westwater Resources broke ground on its $202 million graphite processing plant in Kellyton in May.
Evonik, a European chemical maker, said in February it would invest $176 million to expand its Mobile-area manufacturing facility.
The $120 million AUBix data center opened in Auburn in March.
Austal USA opened its $100 million steel shipbuilding factory in Mobile in April.
Though it didn’t put a number on it, in May, Airbus USA announced an expansion that would double the company’s Mobile footprint and create 1,000 jobs.
Shinwha announced a $78 million expansion in Auburn, and FedEx broke ground on a $52 million expansion in Montgomery.
Samford University received a $100 million gift from Lexmark founder Marvin Mann, the school’s largest gift ever from a single donor.
J. Frank Barefield gave $10 million to the University of Alabama at Birmingham to support the criminal justice and entrepreneurship programs. It’s UAB’s largest gift ever from an alumnus.
Major Defense Contracts
$5.2 billion for Boeing Co. in Huntsville for work related to the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System.
$3.3 billion for Northrop Grumman Corp. in Huntsville for work on the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System.
$3.3 billion for Austal USA in Mobile to build steel ships for the U.S. Coast Guard.
$1.4 billion for Northrop Grumman for production of the Integrated Battle Command System for the U.S. Army.
$950 million for Radiance Technologies in Huntsville for software, hardware and tech support for the U.S. Air Force. Five companies shared this contract.
$699 million for BAE Systems in Huntsville for computing services for the U.S. Army.
$596 million for Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville to provide services for Marshall Space Flight Center.
$402 million for Madison’s Griffon Aerospace to manufacture various items for the U.S. Army.
$280 million for Huntsville’s Radiance Technologies for geospatial intelligence research and development for the national Air and Space Intelligence Center.
$266 million for Five Stones Research, which has a presence in Huntsville, to provide weapons systems cybersecurity for the Department of Defense.
$207 million for KBR for work in Huntsville on the Patriot missile program.
$156 million for Austal USA in Mobile to construct two ships for the U.S. Navy plus $128 million to build a dry dock for the U.S. Navy.
A study by the Alabama State Port Authority estimated the economic impact of the Port of Mobile on Alabama at $85 billion in 2021.
Alabama’s tourism industry was expected to bring in a record $24 billion in revenue by the end of 2022.
Boeing Co. in Huntsville was credited with a $2.7 billion annual economic impact on Alabama.
Other Bits of Business
The first Mazda CX-50 rolled off the line in January at the new $2.3 billion Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant in Huntsville.
President Joe Biden visited Lockheed Martin’s facility in Troy in May to thank the team making Javelin missiles being sent to the Ukraine.
The James Webb Space Telescope sent stunning images of outer space back to Earth in July with the help of a number of Alabama entities: Marshall Space Flight Center, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, NeXolve in Huntsville, General Dynamics in Cullman and Southern Research, which was succeeded on the project by Kratos Space & Defense.
Longtime political writer Bessie Ford, who wrote Inside Alabama Politics for PMT Publishing, which also publishes Business Alabama magazine, died in September.
National Security Group, an Elba-based insurance firm and one of Alabama’s few public companies, was acquired by VR Insurance Holdings.
The planned move of U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville jumped a few other major hoops, including OKs from the General Accountability Office and the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General.
Sen. Richard Shelby in March announced that the FBI’s investment in Huntsville has topped $2.48 billion.
Alec Harvey is executive editor of Business Alabama.
This article appears in the December 2022 issue of Business Alabama.


text:
CALUMET CITY | The operators of the River Oaks West shopping center say they are pleased that the facility southwest of Torrence Avenue and River Oaks Drive is filled nearly to capacity.
But they also used a special City Council meeting Tuesday to explain that in many cases they have to offer discounted rent in order to keep retailers in the center, which is across the street from the River Oaks Shopping Center, and that even then retailers continue to come and go.
Rob Nadler, a regional president for Kimco Realty Inc., told aldermen the company is doing everything it can to keep River Oaks West as an economically viable shopping center. However, he acknowledged it is not likely Kimco will recoup the $11 million it invested in the facility in the early 2000s to upgrade it.
“We never would have invested the $11 million if we had known what the economy would be like,” Nadler said. “We’re not placing blame. We’re just stating a fact.”
When Kimco decided to pay for a remodeling of River Oaks West, company officials negotiated an agreement with Calumet City by which the city’s portion of sales tax revenue would be shared with the developer.
That agreement has paid about $140,000 per year to Kimco, Nadler said. Payments are made four times a year.
Aldermen expressed concerns about what they said seems like a flow of stores coming and going from the shopping center, including most prominently an Old Navy franchise.
But Nadler said the fact that replacement businesses are found is a good sign. He also said that in the case of Old Navy, his company gave the retailer a rent discount that kept it in Calumet City two years longer than it otherwise would have stayed.
“There’s nothing anyone could have done to keep Old Navy here,” Nadler said.
Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush said she thinks River Oaks West is better now than it was when she became mayor in 2003.
“When I came, River Oaks West was like a ghost town,” she said.
Nadler said bad news will come in the next few months — one of the major stores in River Oaks West will announce it is leaving. Nadler would not identify the retailer, but said his company is working to find a replacement.
Nadler said the troubles confronting River Oaks West are the same that affect retail throughout the Chicago area. He said he thinks city officials should be more concerned about the loss of Sears and Carson, Pirie, Scott stores in River Oaks mall than what is happening in River Oaks West.
He also said Cook County property taxes are an obstacle that all area businesses have to deal with.
First Ward Alderman Eric Schneider was sympathetic, citing Calumet City’s proximity to lower tax rates in Indiana.
“There are major malls in Orland (Park) and Merrillville, and we happen to be in the middle,” he said. “And worse yet, the tax line is right there,” he added, motioning out a window to the state line two blocks east of City Hall.


text:
We call Gameplay the way in which players interact with a video game.
Gameplay is the model composed by the game rules, Players connection with the game, challenges and missions, story and the way a player is connected with it. Gameplay is not graphics and audio elements.
Microsoft is all set to launch its next big update, Windows 10 version 1809 in October. While that should be a nice piece of news […]
The Windows 10 October 2018 Update (otherwise 18H2) rollout might now be two to three weeks away. For the last few months, new build previews […]


text:
Worker safety in supplier factories has never been more critical. The tragedy at the Tazreen factory in Bangladesh has already prompted calls for new legislation to ensure supply chain transparency and worker safety. Companies including Wal-Mart, Li & Fung and many others are under intense scrutiny, since goods they sold were manufactured in the Tazreen factory.
As a result, NGC believes that factory safety and vendor compliance will be the number one supply chain initiative in 2013. Read on »


text:
Japanese manufacturer RS Taichi has released a new race glove to their range called the NXT046 GP Evo Racing glove.
The glove is made from genuine kangaroo leather and polyester has has TPU plastic protectors backed up by an EVA foam for cushioning.
The hard knuckle armour in the back of the hand is split for better ease of movement and it comes with Knox’s SPS scaphoid protectors on the underside of the thumbs.
They’re available in white, red, blue or black but prices have yet to be confirmed for the UK market.
Share and comment on this article ...


text:
Government scraps new motorhome tax
The Government has scrapped a recent change to the way new motorhomes are taxed.
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, confirmed in his recent budget that the rise in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), which was imposed on new motorhomes, has been reversed with immediate effect. All new motorhomes registered from 12 March 2020 onwards will be taxed under the previous system, which ended at the end of August 2019.
During those six-and-a-half months, buyers of new motorhomes fitted with the new generation, greener, more energy efficient engines were hit with a tax increase of up to 705 per cent. This meant buyers of most new motorhomes and campervans first registered between 1 September 2019 and 12 March 2020 paid up to £2,135 in the first year instead of just £265.
Now, (from 12 March 2020) buyers of almost all new motorhomes will pay a flat VED rate of £265 in year one. The NCC is currently discussing with the DVLA over the detail but MMM magazine understands that new motorhomes powered by the latest Euro 6D/2 engines that have had the graduated VED band already applied to them will continue to pay VED in year two at £145 plus the luxury vehicle tax of £320 (if the list price at purchase was over £40,000). This makes a total of £465 for years two to six and then £145 every year after that.
Because the Chancellor’s decision was effectively immediately, it means thousands of buyers who ordered their new motorhomes last year to be delivered and registered in time for the traditional start of the season in April will now have an extra £1,870 in their pockets. However, those whose new motorhomes were registered during the six months that the overturned VED rate was in force will not be able to claim back the extra they have paid in tax.
The National Caravan Council's fight against VED increase
As soon as the 2019 change to VED was first suggested, the National Caravan Council (NCC) immediately began work to stop it. For nearly a year, the trade association for the leisure vehicle industry highlighted the issue, met with Treasury, briefed dozens of MPs, researched possible impacts and liaised with the industry to try to get the rise reversed, with other companies in turn joining the campaign.
When the tax change was subsequently introduced on 1 September 2019, the NCC began its #fairmotorhometax campaign. By March 2020, the campaign had the backing of 85 cross-party MPs, including the current Chancellor. Now the campaign has been successful.
“We have had extraordinary support from parliamentarians – too many to mention them all — but in particular Richard Holden MP, Sir David Amess MP, Emma Hardy MP, Karl Turner MP and David Davis MP. Rishi Sunak MP – prior to becoming Chancellor – had also indicated support,” said NCC Director General, John Lally.
“Alongside the NCC, its members and the wider industry, these MPs worked tirelessly to reverse this increase, knowing the impact it would have on British manufacturing, on jobs and, potentially, on UK tourism. We offer our thanks to all of them and to the media, who highlighted how unfair the tax was.”
The campaign focussed on two main points – that the tax was counter to the Government’s policy of reducing carbon emissions as it penalised buyers of motorhomes powered by the cleanest and most-efficient engines. It also argued successfully that the tax would have a major negative impact on British manufacturing.
“The steady growth the motorhome industry had seen up to the time of the tax hike was almost instantly halted,” explained John. “We are delighted that our new Chancellor has so quickly understood that motorhomes and campervans should not be taxed as cars, that he has shown concern about the threats to our industry and taken this action to preserve jobs.”
As a result of the Chancellor’s decision, motorhomes will now return to being taxed as vans, as the vast majority are based on a commercial vehicle chassis. The move, understandably has been greeted with joy by the industry who were concerned the new VED tax system combined with other negative influences on the market may dissuade people from buying a motorhome, as Erwin Hymer Group UK Ltd, Managing Director, Rob Quine, explained: “Ours is a highly innovative, inventive and competitive industry, but these tax hikes threatened its stability. I would like to thank the NCC and our new MP, Richard Holden, for all they did.”
James Turner Managing Director, Swift Group Ltd added: “This is an incredibly important result for our industry, it will without doubt resonate with our loyal customers, which in turn will give all businesses within the entire supply chain the opportunity and the confidence they need. Our gratitude extends to all those involved for their support, with special thanks to the NCC and our local MP David Davis.”


text:
The Public Health Agency Canada says there are 25 cases of E. coli O121 across Canada linked to 10-kg bags of Robin Hood All Purpose flour.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has recalled the Robin Hood brand of all-purpose flour sold in due to possible E. coli contamination. The flour comes in 10-kilogram bags with the best before date of April 17, 2018. It says the flour was sold in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
In a release PHAC says the cases happened in four provinces including 12 in BC, four in both Alberta and Saskatchewan, and five in Newfoundland and Labrador between November 2016 and late last month. Six people needed to be hospitalized, but everyone has since recovered.
CFIA says the recalled product should be thrown out or returned to the store where it was purchased. The food contaminated with E. coli may not look or smell spoiled, but can still make people sick.
Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, mild to severe abdominal cramps and watery to bloody diarrhea.


text:
Leaving Lake Geneva (and fear of Coronavirus) behind, Morgan has decided to proceed with the debut of its new four-cylinder car. Only they have to make it back home to England first. Behind the wheel.
One of the debuts we were most excited to see at Geneva was Morgan’s new roadster. Based on the company’s new aluminum CX architecture, the new car will have four-cylinder power and a manual option and will bring much needed technological updates to a design that will likely remain close to the traditional 1930s shape the brand is known for.
But with the motor show canceled, Morgan was in a rut. Would it be worth it to debut the car online? Maybe wait for another show once the virus scare dies down? Neither of those options was going to do for a company that prides itself on doing things its own way.
With head of design Jon Wells behind the wheel, the brand new Morgan is currently en route between Switzerland and Malvern, the town in Worcestershire where the marque was born. Rather than being shown to the public for the first time on a stand in a Swiss convention center, the new Morgan will have its debut in the original 1914 shed where so much of the brand’s history began.
For a company trying its damned to bridge the gap between its wood-framed heritage and contemporary driving, it’s hard to find a better setting for a debut and when you consider the hundreds of miles between Geneva and a small town not far from Birmingham, I have to think that this is a lot more interesting than your usual press conference format.
As Morgan’s team drives the. car back to England, they’re sharing updates from the road. Driving a pre-production aluminum-and-wood roadster across Europe is a lot different than a bolt across the continent in an S-Class or even an A3 so there’s actually a lot to learn. They’re giving little teases of the new car’s bodywork and interior along the way as well, carefully saving the full view for the full reveal later this week on Tuesday (and anyone that happens to come. across the car as it makes its way back home, I guess).
As of press time, the Morgan team had made it to Calais and were on their way across the channel, making excellent time as they finish their journey home with one final stretch across England to go. We’ll have the full scoop on the new Morgan on Tuesday, but until then, enjoy what Morgan has been posting to its Twitter account here. I’m sure there’ll be a bunch more teases of the new car there before its official reveal.


text:
China’s smartphone market will experience a massive growth spurt over the next year – one that bodes well for all handset makers that cater to it, but particularly for Apple.
Research firm IDC expects Apple’s share of the smartphone market in China to double from this year to the next. The reason: The debut of the company’s latest iPhones and the expected signing of a long-rumored deal with China Mobile, the country’s largest mobile carrier, with its 700 million subscribers.
As I’ve noted before, China Mobile is the largest wireless carrier in the world and, as such, one of the few remaining carriers that can really move the needle on iPhone sales.
Approximately 180 million China Mobile customers use the company’s 3G network, and, according to ISI analyst Brian Marshall, that’s a decent proxy for assessing the new addressable market that a deal with the carrier would bring to Apple. Said Marshall, “In our view, this potential subscriber base could eventually be almost as large (in unit terms) as the opportunity from AT&T and Verizon in the U.S. combined.”
Hardly a surprise, then, that IDC has concluded that adding China Mobile as a carrier might double Apple’s iPhone sales in China within a year. The only question that remains now is when Apple and China Mobile will announce the deal. Soon, perhaps. As AllThingsD reported earlier this month, China’s Telecom Equipment Certification Center has issued a network-access license for a handset resembling the iPhone that runs on China Mobile’s network, and Apple is said to be preparing to ship iPhones to the carrier.


text:
Over 34 of the country’s top designers will present collections in 15 shows over three days, with the final collections being revealed on Saturday. Big names like Marianne Fassler, David Tlale, Stefania Morland, and Leigh Schubert, as well as many newcomers have been included in the 2014 line-up.
Menswear will also receive a substantial showing in the form of collections from ten leading labels such as Fabiani, Augustine, Ruald Rheeder, Laduma and Viyella, as well as the four emerging menswear designers featured in the African Fashion International (AFI) Next Generation incubation programme.
The emergence of the “metrosexual” male has sparked a new era in menswear, with many men becoming increasingly enthusiastic about fashion and their personal brands, fuelling the growth of this market – and the entire fashion industry as a result.
“Each of these collections will present a fresh, innovative take on men’s clothing preferences and the masculine form,” says AFI spokesperson Nicholas Maweni.
“The exceptional talent of the 10 menswear designers showing at MBFWJ 2014 is proof that the quality of local fashion is on par with that which is being produced internationally.
“After all, clothes maketh the man…”
Other elite labels showcasing in Joburg include Abigail Betz, Morphe and Avant Apparel from Johannesburg; Shana, Selfi and Tart from Cape Town; and Pretoria’s Irmgard and Tsotetsi KL.
“Each year, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg offers a national opportunity for established and up-and-coming local designers to showcase their new autumn/winter collections. The unprecedented talent lined up this year proves South Africa’s fashion industry is growing from strength to strength,” says AFI executive chairperson, Precious Moloi-Motsepe.
As fashion is an extension of cultural expression, MBFWJ 2014’s theme, Creative Freedom: Under the Pillars of Fashion, Art and Design, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of South Africa’s democracy.
In keeping with the theme, the event is intended as an equal-opportunity platform to foster creative independence amongst the new generation of talent in the fashion and design industry. As such, the Fastrack, Next Generation and FashionTalks programmes, which all feature in the 2014 MBFWJ line-up, aim to identify enrichment opportunities for young, up-and-coming designers in the fashion world.
“Through these initiatives, the South African fashion industry will be supported, aiding efforts to bolster the industry as a whole, thereby benefitting the entire economy,” said Moloi-Motsepe.
The 10 finalists of the AFI Fastrack initiative, now in its fourth year, will have the opportunity of showcasing their own designs on the same runways as renowned labels.
In a stringent selection process, judges looked at graduate ranges from participating design institutions around the country to identify the 10 finalists – Rich Mnisi, Ditiro Mashingo, Ellen Kondowe and Tuelo Ngunyuka from Gauteng; Fabian Ah-Sing, Jessica Ross, Robynn Deedat and Naazneen Kagee from the Western Cape; Benazeer Mulla from KwaZulu-Natal; and Ruth Mc Naughton from the Eastern Cape.
At the end of the showcase, three winners will be announced, with each receiving a cash prize from AFI and an internship in the studio of an established fashion designer, as well as an opportunity to launch a capsule collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Africa 2014.
The FashionTalks seminars, meanwhile, are themed Cutting from New Cloth: Innovation in Fashion and promote new talent on a global platform through educating the local design community on the importance of cultivating innovation and sustainability.


text:
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti says more people watch videos on BuzzFeed during prime time than any other time of day. The online network that has Most Creative Person Ben Smith as editor-in-chief, is busy breaking records.
“Primetime, watching video for us is the same as for watching television,” he said. “People are on their couch watching TV and when the commercial comes on they watch BuzzFeed videos–or when the plot line gets boring, they watch BuzzFeed videos! And then, because social apps are the most popular apps on mobile apps, sharing video has become a huge thing for us. People don’t share them or view them as much during the work day, because it’s harder to watch a video, but in the evenings, then on weekends, when people are more used to watching video content, there’s a massive sharing of videos.”
Will the firm, which has its own ad network to bring sponsored content already on BuzzFeed to other sites, introduce pricing tiers for advertising? Doubtful, given the way mobile advertising works (Twitter made its biggest acquisition–MoPub cost it $350 million in stock–earlier this month.) BuzzFeed’s writers, however, may find their schedules changing accordingly.
[Image: Flickr user espensorvik]


text:
With the fallout from the recent US election, many are feeling uneasy about the year ahead. Rising nationalism in Europe, along with a growing protectionist trend towards international trade are certainly a cause for concern.
Resistance to multilateral free trade deals has been gaining ground globally, with many advocates of free trade agreements such as Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) facing considerable public opposition. However, this strong opposition has now become a deal-breaker, rather than a constructive negotiating mechanism, in the wake of the new US administration.
A (new) era of protectionism?
Dan Ikenson, the director of the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, remarked on the unusually protectionist agenda of the US president, in a recent article on the Bloomberg website: “Never has the president been the one to initiate protectionism or been so vocal about turning inward.”
He also pointed out that since 1934, US trade policy has been “geared toward liberalization and accommodation and internationalism” on a bipartisan basis. It is worth noting that criticism of his trade policies has also come from both sides of the political spectrum.
Nevertheless, while the US has historically been a very public advocate of free free trade, in practice protectionism is certainly nothing new – especially when a liberal attitude to trade did not lie in it’s favour. According to a report by Credit Suisse on globalisation in 2015, the US has consistently imposed far more protectionist measures than any other state.
For the future of multilateral free trade treaties however, the new stance of the US will remain a significant obstacle. President Donald Trump’s openly hostile policy towards free trade poses problems not only in regards to future negotiations of such deals but also the ratification of existing agreements. The US has already opted out of the TPP deal and has plans to renegotiate NAFTA and TTIP, marking a strong contrast to the policies of former President Barack Obama.
But is walking away from these deals really the best option?
Much like the logic behind the Brexit campaign, the reality of an opt-out is not always as simple as it sounds. In addition, hitting out against trade will likely impact those he is claiming to protect the most.
The future looks bilateral
Trump has made it very clear he is not a fan of multilateral trade. The US has already taken steps to pull out of the TPP, signed by the Obama administration earlier this year, causing the deal to become effectively void.


text:
Here’s today's news list from Oman.
7 November 2022
1. Expired children’s toys and candies seized in Muscat Governorate
Muscat Municipality has seized expired children’s toys and candies at commercial centre in the Wilayat of Seeb.
"In cooperation with the Consumer Protection Authority, the food control team in the Muscat Municipality in Seeb seized a violating centre and destroyed a quantity of children’s toys and candies due to their expiration date, and deceiving the consumer by packing them in alternative boxes that hide their expiry date, and the safety of materials manufactured for toys that have been disposed of," Muscat Municipality said in a statement.
2. Police seizes over 1 million Captagon tablets in Oman
The Royal Oman Police (ROP) has seized more than 1 million Captagon tablets found from three smugglers in North Al Batinah Governorate.
"Coast Guard Police in North Al Batinah Governorate arrested three Asian smugglers on a boat at sea with 1,822,000 Captagon tablets. The legal procedures are being completed against them," ROP said in a statement.
3. Two arrested for fraud, online extortion
The Royal Oman Police (ROP) has arrested two people on charges of fraud and online extortion.
"The Directorate General of Inquiries and Criminal Investigations arrested two people of Arab nationality on charges of fraud and electronic extortion through a social media programme after they impersonated a girl and communicated with the victim and blackmailed him by transferring large sums of money, " ROP said in a statement.
ROP advises the public not to accept friendship requests of unknown people on social media platforms, or to send money under any threat. In the event of harassment or blackmail, immediately report it to the toll-free number (80077444) of the Directorate General of Inquiries and Criminal Investigations.


text:
Motorola India confirms that the Moto M would be getting the Nougat bump next
When Motorola announced its plans to get devices that they have manufactured to run the latest Android software, the Nougat 7.0, back in the month of October in India, they made mention that they would be specifically rolling out this new push to the units of their Moto Z and 4th generation Moto G devices, something that they have started to honour just a few days ago, with the Nougat rolling out to the unlocked versions of the aforementioned devices. Shifting their attention from a promise kept, they have made another one which gives us an insight into the next unit to get this bump.
From their official twitter page, they have announced that the Moto M from last month would be the next one to get this update and with the phone just being officially confirmed last month, we would be waiting for the update sometimes next year as this present one is already winding to a close, and fast.
For those that do not know, the Moto M was announced in China last month and it has not left the Asia sphere for other markets since then, being that its most recent launch sighting was in India again.
Invest in Demicoin ICO now - $0.25 current price
You may also like
HMD Global confirms VoLTE support for Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 units
Google Play services turns 5 today!
Huawei P10 series show up in Netherlands under a number of carriers
ZTE Blade V8 goes on for sale in China, but there is a beautiful twist
Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus have been confirmed for Germany, but you cant have it yet
- Motorola India confirms that the Moto M would be getting the Nougat bump next
- Motorola India releases new teaser for upcoming launch
- India joins the list of markets for the sale of the Motorola G5
- Motorola Moto Z units in Brazil and India starts getting the Nougat
- Motorola Moto E3 officially slated to launch in the Indian market


text:
Hackers have been targeting Network Attached Storage (NAS), which poses a risk for data backups usually stored on such devices. Recently, similar attacks were observed against LenovoEMC NAS devices.
LenovoEMC NAS devices targeted
According to entries on BitcoinAbuse, a web portal for reporting cyber-crime related Bitcoin addresses, attackers have been targeting old LenovoEMC (formerly Iomega) NAS devices, for at least a month.
In June, ZDNet researchers identified around 1000 such vulnerable LenovoEMC NAS devices using the Shodan search engine.
A hacker named 'Cl0ud SecuritY' launched attacks against old LenovoEMC NAS devices, wiping users' files, and leaving ransom notes demanding victims a payment between $200 and $275 to get their data back.
The hackers didn't rely on a complex exploit but targeted only LenovoEMC NAS devices that were already exposing their management interface on the internet without a password, and those which didn't bother encrypting their data.
A similar attack happened last year
The latest attack seems to be a continuation of attacks that started in July 2019 that also targeted LenovoEMC NAS devices.
Attackers deleted files on publicly accessible Lenovo Iomega NAS devices and left ransom notes demanding a payment of 0.01 to 0.05 BTC.
It is believed that the same threat actor is behind both attack waves.
What Lenovo says
Since 2018, Lenovo has discontinued the LenovoEMC and Iomega NAS devices. Still, Lenovo has urged such users to secure their data, via a post on a Lenovo Support page.
Recent attacks on other NAS Devices
NAS devices are used by many businesses to back up their data. They often have a web interface that can be accessed over the internet, which increases the chances of its exploitation.
In June, the eCh0raix ransomware gang also reportedly targeted QNAP NAS devices in a new wave of ransomware attacks.
Earlier in March, a new variant of Mirai malware, dubbed Mukashi, exploited a vulnerability (CVE-2020-9054) in Zyxel NAS devices.


text:
GM to launch $2,002 rebate on 2002 models
Thursday, January 3rd 2002, 12:00 am
By: News On 6
DETROIT (AP) _ General Motors Corp. will begin offering a $2,002 rebate, replacing its just-ended zero percent financing program.
The cash rebate would be offered on all 2001 and 2002 GM vehicles, GM spokesman Jeff Roegner said Thursday.
The rebate is expected to cost the automaker less than the no-interest loans it had offered to counter fears that business would lag after Sept. 11.
Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG followed GM's lead on the zero percent financing program because of its popularity. Their financing offers are slated to expire within two weeks.
GM television commercials announcing the $2,002 rebates were aired early by mistake in Chicago on Tuesday, The Detroit News reported Thursday.
Analysts estimate the zero percent financing represents a savings of anywhere from $2,500 to $7,000 throughout the course of the loan.
Executives at all three major automakers have discussed wanting to de-escalate the industry's rebate wars. GM's latest program is an admission that heavy discounts are needed to keep sales from dropping, given the weak economy and the intense competition from Japanese, Korean and European rivals.


text:
Members of the leather and allied product manufacturers association of Nigeria (LAPAN) have re-echoed their opposition to the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) policy of the federal government arguing that it is doing more harm than good to the country.
In a memorandum submitted to the House of Representatives Committee on trade and investment at the weekend, the group maintained that as leather dealers, they have been kicked out of business due to the lopsided implementation of the EEG policy.
The memorandum signed by the chairman of the board of trustees of LAPAN, Malam Bashir Ibrahim Danyaro, faulted those who claim that more jobs have been created due to the implementation of the EEG policy.
The group said: "There is the argument that the beneficiary companies do provide jobs but can the jobs they give compare to the ones destroyed from the local tanners who do not have the financial muscles to compete in buying the raw skins?"
"Due to the unfair 30 percent EEG given to these exporters, thousands of jobs were lost in the shoe industries around the country.We have the leather cottage industry which depends solely on local tanners for leather that have been badly hit."
Also, it said jobs have been lost at the Aba shoe clusters, and the Kofar Wambai where hundreds of thousands of shoe artisans used to be busy producing different brands of articles for home and export.
LAPAN further argued that: "These beneficiaries of the EEG in the leather sector have driven the price to an all time high, making it impossible for any local user of leather to remain profitable in the business. For them, head or tail, they are winners because after all the incurable cost, they are dashed or they collect a gift of 30 per cent EEG -courtesy of the federal government of Nigeria.
" The committee should try and find out what causes the closure of these shoe factories such as Bata shoes, silver shoes, Anita shoes, Exclusive leather, Whanu shoes, Lennards shoes, Ajalyn shoes, Kenny shoes, Unix shoes, John white and a host of others not mentioned. All these were household names in Nigeria shoe industries providing hundreds of thousands of jobs."
The memoranda also called for urgent scrutiny of the of the EEG disbursement alleging that in 2008, the value of leather exported from Nigeria was $500 million and in 2010, the value shot up to $3billion. "What a coincidence as 2010 was the year EEG returned and that was the same year poverty has eaten deep into Nigeria," the group claimed.