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Does your iPhone 5s have a really short battery life? It might be the result of a manufacturing problem.
Apple Inc. said it will be reaching out to customers who bought the iPhone 5s and are experiencing battery issues so that they can have their gadgets replaced.
“We recently discovered a manufacturing issue affecting a very limited number of iPhone 5s devices that could cause the battery to take longer to charge or result in reduced battery life,” Teresa Brewer, an Apple spokeswoman, is quoted as saying in a New York Times report.
“We are reaching out to customers with affected phones and will provide them with a replacement phone,” the company said in the statement.
Apple did not say exactly how many of the devices are affected by the problem, but the report said that the company “implied” it is likely a few thousand.
The iPhone 5s went on sale starting at $200 with a two-year contract in late September. It launched alongside the $99 iPhone 5c.
Los Angeles Times
(c)2013 Los Angeles Times


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Panos Panay, general manager of Microsoft Surface, opens another retail store in Corte Madera, California
In a press release Microsoft announced that since the first Microsoft store opened in 2009 more than 15 million customers has been served.
“We’ve welcomed more than 15 million customers and counting so far, and have learned a lot from them,” said Jonathan Adashek, general manager of Communications Strategy. “Having this direct connection to our customers has really helped us better understand their tech needs.”
Now more than 30 stores have opened, and the first international one in Toronto is opening on Friday, the 16th.
“This is the one place where you can see all of Microsoft’s offerings in one place, and that’s something that’s really important for us,” Adashek said. “Customers tell us they appreciate having direct access to Microsoft technology and face-to-face tech support. It’s a huge value for them.”
“The stores are a resource for the community and its technology needs,” he said. “We feel like we are on the right path and are highly motivated to expand our footprint and give more customers a chance to have the store experience.”
“We really want to have a direct relationship with customers. I think when you see people touch the Surface tablet or experience Windows 8 in person, a light goes off in their head,” general manager of Microsoft’s International and New Store Formats said. “In person, you get a very different experience and it’s one we’ve been very delighted to provide. When you see our technology in person – when you can touch and feel it – a light goes off.”
Microsoft retail stores have the opportunity to introduce customers to the company’s entire ecosystem, from Windows 8 PCs to Windows Phone 8 to Surface to Xbox with Kinect, and well-trained associates can show people how everything works together and how it can work for them, he said.
“Not every retail experience is created equal, and who better to talk about the products than the company that makes them,” Walter said. “We’re going to reinvent the kiosk experience.”
Giving customers hands-on time with products in a “world-class” retail experience is job one, said Microsoft retail Store Manager Ryan Scott, which is why associates train for months before going to work.
“We have people from so many different backgrounds – people who have never worked with technology in their life but they have hunger to do it, but they all share a great attitude and energy,” Scott said. “We feel that as long as they’re willing to learn about Microsoft specifically and technology in general you can definitely teach them that part.”
Microsoft retail Store Manager Ryan Scott said the advantage of Microsoft having its own stores was that the company could better control the experience – to make it “one of the most beautiful and captivating retail stores out there.”
“We have a big job to uphold the Microsoft brand and name. I take that very seriously,” Scott said. “From the second they walk in the store, whether they buy anything or not, I want them to have a world-class experience and walk out with that wow factor so when they think about Microsoft they think about incredible service, the best technology in the world, and they then want to share that with their friends and family.”
Kelly Soligon, Microsoft Store Director, Customer Segment Marketing said Microsoft has received great feedback from customers and community members for the way the company introduces itself to new cities. Consumers also appreciate the opportunity to spend time with Microsoft products in person, she said.
“People think they know what Microsoft does, but they haven’t seen us in a retail setting. We see people delighted and surprised by the depth and breadth of the products we offer – some people don’t know Xbox is made by Microsoft, so they start to make that connection,” she said. “You see people awakened to technology and what we do – the full Microsoft picture – and that we’re really genuine about the community connection.”
“Technology decisions for consumers can be expensive. The ability to come in and touch the products, use the products, see the great selection, we want people to feel really good about their purchase decision. It’s not a decision to make lightly,” she said. “Obviously we would love people to buy Microsoft technology from a Microsoft retail store, but at the end of the day if they have a great experience in the Microsoft store and end up buying a PC from Costco, that’s awesome too.”

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On Tuesday October 20th, FRS Team # 1 led by team CEO, Sarina Vij wowed the FRS executive team at their Redwood City headquarters.
FRS Executives Maigread Eichten & Jim Taschetta
The smiling faces in the picture below, left to right are: Piyush Prasad, Godwin Vincent, FRS Chief Marketing Officer Jim Taschetta, Monica Thukral, Team CEO Sarina Vij, FRS CEO Maigread Eichten and Julie Phillips. Not shown is FRS team member Felipe Braun who was unable to attend.
FRS Team # 1 with CEO
FRS CEO Maigread told the team that their presentation beat the work done by a University MBA team. She and Jim said the Camp BizSmart students, who won the “Best Go-To-Market” plan, had great financials, a brilliant marketing concept and a very well delivered presenatation.
FRS executives were enthusiastic about the new and innovative can design for the teen market. CEO Eichten commented that based on the Camp BizSmart FRS team’s business plan, it might be a good thing to review a possible entry into the teen market. They quizzed the kids on the cost of the new can design, and learned from Ken Johnson, VP for Ideas at innovation company WAGIC, that the additional cost to produce a can with a heat sensitive design was less than two cents.
The students loaded up on FRS chews and drinks, tee shirts and ball caps, compliments of FRS.
Thanks to FRS for being a thoughtful and dedicated Camp BizSmart team project sponsor. FRS Team # 1 led by Sarina Vij did a terrific job!! Way to go!


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33-year-old software engineer Shraddha Sharma is a movie buff. More so a Hollywood buff and never fails to catch the latest releases. She also likes shopping for products inspired by movies and her recent collection includes Star Wars backpacks, The Last Jedi mug, Game of Thrones t-shirts, phone covers and tea coasters. She also has a red satchel inspired by Beauty and the Beast. She uses these products on a regular basis, often carrying the satchel to work and using the mugs and coasters at her work desk.
Just like Sharma, several professionals are embracing merchandise inspired by movies, sports and celebrities wholeheartedly. Hitherto relegated primarily towards children, the market for licensed merchandise is fast enveloping the youth and adults, those with a zest for sports and movies and a yearning to shop.
“The wide adaptation of pop culture, easy access to global trends and content across genres, high levels of brand awareness, and the increase in average disposable income are major factors why the (licensed merchandise) industry has shifted its focus from kids to adolescents and adults,” says Jiggy George, founder & CEO of brand management and licensing company, Dream Theatre.
Estimates suggest that the licensing market is worth $1.3 billion in India and is growing at a healthy rate of 10-12% every year. Of this, the market for adult merchandise is roughly 45%. India is also regarded as one of the top three developing markets for licensed merchandise, set to grow exponentially in the next five years alongside other emerging markets such as Brazil and China.
“And of the total Indian licensing market, fashion holds much sway, comprising $731 million, followed by entertainment at $401 million,” says George.
With the Indian retail market touted to scale upwards of $1.1 trillion by 2020 (as per Assocham), it will directly impact the demand for merchandise inspired by entertainment and sports, feel experts.
According to brand consultant Harish Bijoor, having a collection of merchandise associated with entertainment, sports or films is perceived as making a lifestyle statement. “There is an entire generation of people who have grown up on brands such as Star Wars and Beauty and the Beast. Today these adults are fascinated by merchandise inspired by such films that are iconic. Shopping for the merchandise elevates their mood and status in their social circuits,” says Bijoor.
“The Disney collection was aimed at adults with memories of Disney and those who still love fantasy,” says Dilip Kapur, President, Hidesign, which introduced a special collection inspired by the movie Beauty and the Beast; and which consisted of premium leather bags, wallets, stylish totes and satchels that had the movie characters fused with Hidesign’s leathers.
Experts say earlier, licensing in India was largely rooted in animation and hence what hit the stores mainly focused on school-goers and included toys, kids apparel, school bags and other knick-knacks.
“Character content is no longer focussed on kids. Movies such as Batman, Superman, Hulk or Spiderman are no longer made just for kids but cater to a family audience. Even animation movies have a broader appeal. So a child who grew up watching Pokemon in the early 2000s is today playing Pokemon GO and has a nostalgia connect with the property and a range of Pokemon t-shirts to choose from. Likewise, design programmes of hitherto kids’ properties like Mickey and Minnie (mouse) now have art programmes made for adults that have aspirational quotients,” says George.
Brands look towards merchandise as a noteworthy channel to reach out to a newer set of consumers and thereby expand their target consumer base. Kapur says the Disney collection helped them reach beyond the existing world of Hidesign, “inspired by careers and travel, to the Disney world which is much larger. It’s not surprising that it was a great success, with sell-through that went beyond an average new collection. It shows clearly that a creative collaboration, as long as it fits into the brand value of the two collaborators, works in expanding the customer base through licensing.”
Experts say sports licensing is also driving growth in the adult market for merchandise in India. “We have seen a massive spurt in business for our sports properties like Real Madrid and FIFA 2018 (in the adult space) with categories like apparel, gifts, sporting accessories, bags and more. The adult merchandise market is coming of age in India,” says George.
Mumbai: Smiles are contagious, and no one knows this better than Nicolas Loufrani, who in 1997, created the first-ever 3D smiley. Two decades on, his Smiley Company, which is known for nearly 1,000 emojis and smileys that people share on social media, has big plans for India, which it sees as a market with immense potential.
Says Mr. Loufrani, CEO, “I am here, which indicates that India is at the top of my priorities. We are seeking new partners for more collaborations.”
The Smiley Company will enter new categories here, and foresees volumes coming in from FMCG, fashion, toys, school products, home decor and footwear. The company is already into fashion products in India through its licencees Lifestyle Departmental stores and Archies Gift shops. Mr. Loufrani says the company will introduce new collections in India from its global portfolio. “We want to grow four-fold in three years here to a retail revenue of to $20 million from $5 to 6 million.”
Last year, the company appointed Dream Theater as its representative to enter into new partnerships. Jiggy George, Founder & CEO, says the licensing industry is at an early stage in India but is poised to grow exponentially. “Our strategy is to be present at more retail chains and forge alliances with fashion and lifestyle brands.”
The Smiley Company is one of the top 100 licensing companies in the world, with over 310 licensees globally. The Smiley trademark is registered in over 100 countries. According to a recent Toluna survey, it has 97% recognition across the world as a symbol of positivity. “Last year, our licensees sold over $400 million worth of products globally across 13 different industries.”
The idea, says Mr. Loufrani, is to “spread smiles throughout the world.”
“When I started developing the digital smiley in 1997 and started the official smiley dictionary in 2001, I had said it was the birth of a universal language. My slogan then was to create a new form of communication that people could use to bring more emotions into their communication and replace words with the images.”
Trends may come and go, but the Smiley face is clearly here to stay. Nicolas Loufrani, the man responsible for taking his father’s creation and making it into a brand, talks about how the Smiley transcended being an emotion to being an icon. The simple yellow face with its unique set of features spreads its message of happiness after years of hard work, effort and strategy. Loufrani, the face behind the face, credits business vision to the popularity of the character. Currently in India, along with Dream Theatre, Smiley is all set to spread the cheer after the Smiley X ONLY capsule collection sold out in record time.
How did the Smiley become pop culture’s biggest celebrity?
Nicolas: “Smiley wouldn’t live without the products, it lives through products and marketing campaigns that are spreading the message. All these brands like Zara, Moschino, or Lifestyle in India, they like the values of the Smiley brand, that’s been around for 46 years spreading this message of the smile.”
The best selling product with the Smiley face on it?
“If I look at it through the decades, it’s always been T-shirts in apparel that carry the smiley. And then in food, it’s the potato chip — the potato Smileys. But last year, it was water. Two hundred million bottles of water with the Nestle group, that was the product of 2017.”
The oddest place you’ve ever seen the Smiley?
I’m very open-minded, so nothing is weird to me. I think even if I was seeing a Smiley on a coffin it would look normal to me. I haven’t seen it, maybe it will be on my coffin…”
What do you think about the smiley on runways?
I always like to create collections with fashion designers and put them on the catwalk. To be in the cooler stores as a way to create very iconic pieces even celebrities would wear. Pop singers are going to wear only very creative pieces, like the line we created with Jeremy Scott. We like to be aligned with the music scene. Music makes us very happy, it brings happiness in people’s life, I think.
So why is the Smiley yellow?
Yellow is the colour of the sun, it gives us life, it’s the colour of the brand. But in terms of the product, it can be anything; black and white, sequins, in colours. But we don’t change its features. We have a very unique way of drawing our Smiley, it’s not like an emoji.
Did the emoji make the Smiley more popular?
Emoji is basically a copy of the Smiley, we have our own art direction. They’ve followed our concept of a universal language for communication. But it was originated by me in 1997 as a project and emoji has taken it to a different level. I think it’s a positive thing for us, I always say when you start an art movement or a fashion movement, it’s the best proof that you’ve created something unique and created an impact on the world.
What’s your favourite rendition of Smiley?
There’s this French designer, after his shows he always comes out with his red beanie hat. So we created a Smiley for him wearing the hat. It’s the collection I wear the most.
If Smiley were a person, who would he be?
That’s me. The original Smiley is my father, a larger-than-life character. The Smiley was launched two weeks after I was born, we’re twin brothers.
In India, where would you like to see it?
Actually, I was asking about charities. We have the Smiley fund, I was asking what are biggest foundations in India. I would like to align with them and our own foundation. And do real good. We spread happiness through our products and the real life aspect of it is doing real good and spreading happiness like that.
The India Fashion Forum 2018 (13th-14th March 2018) was a roaring success with participants across brands, retailers, thought-leaders, academicians and fashion intelligentsia drawn from across India and the world. In a first, The Indian Fashion Forum partnered with Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association (LIMA) to shine a spotlight on the Licensing Business and how it has been on the forefront of driving growth in fashion.
The panel discussion titled “Fashion Licensing: Driving Growth Globally and In India” had the luminaries of the licensing industry participate to highlight the role of licensing in fashion. Moderated by Jiggy George, Head of LIMA India & Founder and CEO of Dream Theatre, Ms Maura Regan Executive Vice President , Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association delivered the opening statement and the eminent panelists included Nicolas Loufrani, CEO of The Smiley Company, Sanjeet Mehta – Executive Director, Consumer Products, Disney India, Girish Kumar, Trading Head Shoppers Stop, Vivek Bali, COO, Sephora, Manohar Kamath – CXO and Head Myntra Fashion Brands and Shweta Pandey Director-Counsel, Head Legal & Member, Board of Directors, Target. The discussion was a engaging, interactive session and highlights included advantages of licensing versus creating own brands, the solid contributions of licensing in the e-commerce businesses, how licensing across fashion, entertainment and celebrity pods is helping retailers offer new products and connect with their consumers, challenges in the Indian industry and how retailers and brands can leverage licensing along with their own brands to create a strong product portfolio.
The Indian industry, over the years, has warmed up to the idea of licensing. The fact that it is moving to new genres and shifting focus from kids to adults, owing to shows like Game of Thrones, Batman, Superman and host of other big franchises is a testament to this. At the helm of the licensing industry is Jiggy George, Head of The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association and Founder of Dream Theatre. Exchange4media caught up with George who shared his insight on the licensing industry, the reasons behind IPs not being able to leverage success in the merchandising front and more.
How has the journey been with Dream Theatre and how has venturing into jewellery and digital licensing helped the brand?
As a company, we have always been in the forefront of driving change. We’ve been growing the market from being a kids-and entertainment market to a more encompassing one. We’re driving the strategy for Angry Birds which was India’s first successful digital property, not based in the TV, to become one of the hottest licensing properties in India with a slew of products and FMCG promotions. We also explored new areas of licensing like a jewellery collaboration with Mrinalini Chandra for Candy Crush – a collaboration that brought together a new age digital property with India’s jewellery legacy using craft techniques like Meenakari and Jaali. In yet another first, we represent two YouTube phenomenon, ChuChu TV and Gummy Bear for global rights.
Being the pioneer in the industry, can you tell us about the kind of growth that the licensing sector has witnessed? How much is the industry pegged at?
It’s a sea change! The pre-licensing era was the pirated, parallel imports days without any active legitimate licensees or play in the market. And today, along with Brazil and China, we are the emerging market of the world in licensing, valued at US $1396 million of retail sales as of 2016. It’s a market teeming with opportunities across multiple licensing genres and a solid base of property owners, licensors, representative agents, licensees, retailers and allied firms at play.
While there is a latent demand for products, has retail addressed the penetration and have knock offs reduced?
One of the tick marks for licensing to success in any market is organized retail and this is one place India lags behind woefully. Organized retail is still less than 10 per cent of the market and therefore there is a massive gap in demand and supply of authentic licensed products. The result is piracy. India now has a strong set up of licensees which are able to create world class products at prices that work for India, but we still have a long way to go to reach every consumer and every fan. E-commerce has managed to address this to some extent; licensing will really flourish with the growth of retail.
What are the reasons behind IPs not being able to leverage success on the merchandising front?
India has had some great success stories with home grown IPs like Chota Bheem which also has a very successful licensing program. While there are some massive hits of local IPs on TV, most of them have not been able to leverage the same success on the merchandising front. Licensing needs a long term vision and strategy and needs to be a part of the blueprint when a property is being created.
More often than not what we see in India is that after a property becomes a hit on TV, its quickly extended into licensing as an afterthought. For instance, Dream Theatre is the global licensing partner for ChuChu TV, but before embarking on the licensing journey, we worked closely with the team to set the vision, the strategy and got the property license ready. This deep dive into planning the licensing objectives, life -cycle and the strategy is what most Indian IPs lack and are therefore not able to reach their full potential.
How does licensing help in elevating campaign presence?
Licensing based campaigns are clutter breaking and effective. We are so used to seeing the same principles and communication strategies at play for years that they are now falling on blind spots. Using licensing to align the communication message or product DNA can really help create stand-out communication, more-so in the digital space and this is one area which marketers and agencies need to push harder. Licensing has delivered solid results in promotional licensing across FMCG players versus same old generic promotions and it has the same potential for delivering the message and achieving the objectives for marketing.
What is the way forward for Dream Theatre and your recent venture Mojostar?
For Dream Theatre, we see massive potential of the overall business in India and will continue to consolidate our leadership position in Entertainment, Sports and Lifestyle. 2018 will see a special focus on growing Lifestyle brands and DTRs in retail and a lot more engagement at retail. On the international front, we are in discussion with a few iconic properties which we will be announcing soon. Our quest for doing more, pushing the envelope, bringing the best of international to India and vice versa will continue through 2018.
In India, there is an obvious market opportunity for celebrity brands but the authentic approach to celebrity brand creation has not yet matured. And this is where Mojostar is laser focused and envisages creating three to four celebrity partnered brands in the next five years.
In early February, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan dazzled Australians by appearing in a black fishtail-style gown with a perfectly fitting lace bodice embellished with gemstones. The former beauty queen was attending the launch of a Longines boutique in Sydney in her capacity as the Ambassador of Elegance for the Swiss premium watch brand. Rai has been the face of Longines since 1999 and more recently, the endorser of French cosmetics brand L’Oreal since 2003. Likewise, her Bollywood counterpart Shah Rukh Khan can boast of South Korean automobile giant Hyundai retaining him as their ambassador for two decades (and more).
Brands are often seen changing their celeb ambassadors as the seasons change, bringing in currently reigning icons and younger faces to portray the brand’s evolving qualities. Why then do certain brands prefer continuing their association with a particular celeb for years together?
Brands are all about the long-term, about consistency; and if the celebrity too can be ‘long-term’, it’s a rare phenomenon, says advertising and branding veteran Ramanujam Sridhar. He says Hyundai (for example) have acknowledged the value of Shah Rukh to the brand’s launch, success, and growth. “Shah Rukh has been involved with the launch of the company when it was not so well-known here and SRK was the big brand. His ads ‘Should I or Shouldn’t I’ certainly made waves. His charisma and appeal to women helped the brand as he did commercials with Preity Zinta. It’s a tribute to the resilience of the star and the consistency of the brand owners that the association has endured,” says Sridhar.
Just like in any partnership, long-term associations, especially when they continue to stay relevant, are always good for a brand, says Jiggy George, founder & CEO of brand management and licensing company Dream Theatre. According to George, the brand and the celeb must continue to evolve and echo the same DNA. “The celeb’s performance equity must continue to grow in such associations and if that is not the case, the association can run the risk of being out-of-touch,” says George.
Moreover, having the same ambassador enhances brand recognition and recall, say experts, as the celeb becomes the signature of the brand, helping the message to get delivered faster to the consumer.
However, the drawbacks of the same face for a brand are too many to be ignored. Long-term associations with a celeb can do more harm than good, says Kaustav Das, CEO of creative agency Ralph & Das.
Firstly, says Das, the brand’s fortunes get inexorably linked to the celeb’s fortunes. If the celeb faces a controversy or his or her performance sinks, it impacts the brand. “Secondly, celebs age and their personality matures over time. But brands have to evolve and stay fresh all the time. Celebs cannot necessarily evolve to comply with a brand’s re-set vision,” says Das, who feels that hiring celebs ‘’is the conventional wisdom of lazy marketers.”
Having different ambassadors helps maintain freshness in a brand’s communication, say experts, “As new celeb endorsers address changes in consumer preferences. It also helps to send out a new message or advocate a novel product or service with a new celeb.”
Do mascots like the Amul baby or Air India maharaja stand a better chance over celebs then?
“Perhaps”, feel experts. Das says the mascot can evolve. “A fine example is the V-Guard kangaroo evolving after 40 years. Or the Qantas Airlines kangaroo that has undergone changes over the years.”
Mascots can never get into controversies, says Sridhar. “But the challenge is that they have no appeal of their own and it has to be entirely created. But brands like Amul have managed to do it over the years.’’
Mascots can also be used to convey topical messages (like the Amul baby) “without having to resort to long-term planning, coordination, shoots, etc. But mascots have to be created and invested in over decades to turn legendary,” says George.
Having the same ambassador enhances brand recognition and recall, say experts
A celebrity or a mascot becomes the signature of the brand
But having different ambassadors helps maintain freshness in a brand’s communication


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ANCHORAGE - In the new world of Alaska regional seafood marketing, sockeye salmon will be on ice seconds after being plucked from the sea. They'll be coddled like newborns to prevent bruising.
And they'll have brand names that remind customers of where they come from: Aleutia. Kenai Wild. Copper River. Kodiak.
Desperate to revive sales that have tanked because of sluggish foreign economies and competition from farmed fish, some Alaska salmon fishermen are banding together to create regional brands for customers willing to pay a premium for fresh, wild fish.
"The whole idea of the project is to develop a situation where the fishermen in that region have a long-term relationship with a specific group of customers," said Marc Jones, executive director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, which helped launch the Aleutia brand with fishermen in the Aleutians East Borough.
Along with names that fishermen hope will catch on, the newest brands sport third-party inspection to ensure quality.
"Otherwise, you're just talking about a cute sticker," Jones said.
Alaska fishermen have not always had to market so hard.
In the early 1980s, Alaska supplied nearly half the world's salmon. Demand gave rise to fish farms in Norway, Canada and Chile. Owners of pen-reared Atlantic salmon began delivering fresh fish any time of year, in any size fillet desired by restaurant chefs or grocers. And consumers didn't seem to care whether their fish grew up eating pellets.
In 2000, Alaska supplied just 19 percent of world's salmon.
The state has been slow to react. Legislators now are talking about changes in a state-regulated fishing system designed to maximize the number of people fishing, which include built-in inefficiencies such as limits on the size of fishing boats.
The state's official marketing arm, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, is prohibited from promoting a particular region, company or fisherman's catch. Instead, it has made its research and quality standard resources available to regional marketers, said Ray Riutta, executive director.
The first region to push a brand was Cordova at the southeast end of Prince William Sound, a few miles from the salmon-rich Copper River.
The area established a niche market during the past 25 years by promoting itself as Alaska's first major salmon run. After the long winter, the first catch of Copper River kings and sockeye command premium prices as they're whisked off boats and jetted to Seattle and other markets.
Alaskans launched two other regional brands last year.
Cook Inlet fishermen caught salmon for the Kenai Wild label. With help from the Kenai Peninsula Borough, the Alaska Manufacturers Association and the state, Cook Inlet Salmon Brand Inc. is planning a five-year marketing program.
Farther west, fishermen at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula and the start of the Aleutian Islands launched Aleutia brand.
Aleutia fishermen want to take advantage of one of Alaska's latest runs of sockeye, delivering fresh fish in September when most other fishermen have hung up their nets.
To kick off the program, the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, backed by federal grants, last fall bought sockeye graded out as premium for 95 cents per pound, more than double the 45-cent going rate.
Kenai Wild and Aleutia promoters hired private third-party inspectors from Seattle to certify the quality of fish. Before any were caught, the inspectors trained fishermen to handle them to meet the industry's highest standards.
Trident Seafoods custom processed Aleutia fish at Sand Point in the Aleutians. To be graded premium, fish had to meet standards set by buyers: fish bled while they were still alive, immediate icing, gently handling to avoid bruising and scale loss. Salmon had to be of good, red color - the easiest requirement for wild Alaska sockeye. Fillets had to be free of cuts inflicted by nets or sea lions.
The foundation hoped to buy 100,000 pounds of sockeye. A small run resulted in the foundation purchasing just 15,000 pounds, Jones said.
The smaller amount may have been a blessing in disguise as logistics could be worked out without being overwhelmed by the higher volume of fish. Among the challenges: Everyone who touches the fish - fishermen, processors, transporters, wholesalers and marketers - must be committed to maintaining the high standards for a highly perishable product. It doesn't help that each component is a separate business.
"Someone's got to keep them all in their traces," Jones said.
Another challenge is moving fresh fish quickly at a reasonable expense. It cost 92 cents per pound to transport salmon from Sand Point to Boston last year, Jones said. A whopping 60 cents of that involved moving the fish from Sand Point to Anchorage.
Mark Powell, president of Cook Inlet Salmon Branding, said the first year of the Kenai Wild project showed that many more fish than originally thought possible can qualify as premium grade if fishermen adhere to handling standards.
Webber of Cordova applauds the marketing efforts in other regions and expects it to be a growth area for Alaska fishermen.
"I'm glad to see the rest of the state wants to step up to the quality plate," Webber said.
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KW radios now Bluetooth compatible
Kenworth now offers radios with two Bluetooth-capable options: factory installed radios and Kenworth NavPlus, both in compliance with new cell-phone laws. As many as eight phones can be synchronized with the radios, and contacts are automatically loaded and can be contacted via Voice Command options. In addition to calls, if the connected phones are capable of holding music, the radio can stream audio from the phone to the truck’s sound system.
Gaines Motor Lines has agreed to pay $262,500 to four former drivers who the ...


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By Granate Sosnoff
If a new wine-focused restaurant with proprietor-sommeliers who “specialize in obscurity” sounds like a great night out, then get yourself to The Barrel Room in Rockridge.
Sarah Trubnick and Carolyn Johnson are in launch mode for The Barrel Room, an expanded version of their San Francisco wine bar of the same name. They’re furthering a win-win trend of successful businesses like A-16 (also in Rockridge) that are crossing the Bay for better rents and eager, sophisticated diners in Oakland.
Read more of this story and news at Oakland Local: bit.ly/1cj8i8t


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The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its global economic growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019, saying that trade policy tensions and the imposition of import tariffs were taking a toll on commerce while emerging markets struggle with tighter financial conditions and capital outflows.
The new forecasts, released on the Indonesian resort island of Bali where the IMF and World Bank annual meetings are getting underway, show that a burst of strong growth, fueled partly by U.S. tax cuts and rising demand for imports, was starting to wane.
The IMF said in an update to its World Economic Outlook it was now predicting 3.7 percent global growth in both 2018 and 2019, down from its July forecast of 3.9 percent growth for both years.
The downgrade reflects a confluence of factors, including the introduction of import tariffs between the United States and China, weaker performances by eurozone countries, Japan and Britain, and rising interest rates that are pressuring some emerging markets with capital outflows, notably Argentina, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa.
“U.S. growth will decline once parts of its fiscal stimulus go into reverse,” IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said in a statement. “Notwithstanding the present demand momentum, we have downgraded our 2019 U.S. growth forecast owing to the recently enacted tariffs on a wide range of imports from China and China’s retaliation.”
With much of the U.S.-China tariff war’s impact to be felt next year, the Fund cut its 2019 U.S. growth forecast to 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent previously, while it cut China’s 2019 growth forecast to 6.2 percent from 6.4 percent. It left 2018 growth forecasts for the two countries unchanged at 2.9 percent for the United States and 6.6 percent for China.


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Ford recently unloaded Land Rover and Jaguar and now there are speculations that Ford may be looking at selling Volvo.
Continue reading "Do You Think That Ford Should Sell Mercury and Volvo?" »
Nissan has announced that the Nissan GT-R had a lap time of seven minutes and 29 seconds on the infamous Nurburgring in Germany.
Continue reading "Nissan GT-R Does the Nurburgring in under 7:30" »
Yesterday Jerry York made some statements about the fact that Ford should sell its Volvo and Mercury brands. Well today Ford has released an official statement that Volvo is not for sale and that the automaker continues to invest in Mercury.
Continue reading "Ford Denies Yet Again that Volvo is for Sale" »
Mitsubishi is going to release a refreshed Eclipse for the 2009 model year. The automaker has announced that the base GS Eclipse will start at $20,099.
Continue reading "Restyled 2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse Starts at $20,099" »
Yesterday Nissan announced that the Nissan GT-R completed a lap of the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 7:29. That announcement may be put to rest sooner than later if GM engineers manage to pull it off. They are hard at work on the 2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1. Last week GM released official stats, 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft of torque. GM also released a video of the car reaching 205 mph on the track.
Continue reading "Will the 2009 Corvette ZR1 Manage to Beat the Nissan GT-R's Nurburgring Time?" »
Audi officially unveiled the 2009 Audi Q5 SUV at the Beijing Auto Show last month. Now we have the first photos of the S-line version of the small SUV.
Continue reading "2009 Audi Q5 S-Line Unveiled" »
A few days ago Ford announced the pricing for the 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR that will be in showrooms later this month.
Continue reading "More Photos of the 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR...Is it Worth $80K?" »
GM has released details on its new 4.5L V8 Duramax turbo-diesel engine that will debut in the 2010 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra light duty trucks.
Continue reading "GM Releases Info on the 2010 4.5L V8 Duramax Turbo-Diesel Engine" »
Gas prices are out of control and are forcing many buyers to rethink their current vehicles. This has killed sales of large trucks and SUVs. Chrysler has just announced a promotion to hopefully win more buyers that still want an SUV or truck, but can't imagine paying over $4 bucks to fill it up.
Continue reading "Chrysler Guarantees Gas at $2.99 a Gallon for the Next Three Years! " »
Yesterday Chrysler announced a new "Let's Refuel America" campaign that will lock in gas prices at $2.99 a gallon for three years for new buyers. Well today Suzuki also jumped on the bandwagon by offering its own "free gas" promotion.
Continue reading "Suzuki Jumps on the "Free Gas Bandwagon" But GM and Ford are Saying No" »
BMW’s CEO Norbert Reithofer recently revealed that the next-generation 1-Series is going to get the 4-cylinder engine that is a result of the PSA-BMW relationship. The current 4-cylinder is used in the Mini Cooper.
Continue reading "BMW is Going to Put the Mini's 4-cyl in the 1-Series and Release a Hybrid 7-Series" »
Corvette ZR1 chief engineer Tadge Juechter recently sat down to answer many of the current questions about the upcoming Chevy Corvette ZR1.
Continue reading "GM is Going to Build 2,000 Corvette ZR1's a Year for Worldwide Consumption" »
Republican Bill Maze has proposed a bill in California that would make it illegal for drivers to drive with their beloved pets on their laps.
Continue reading "California May Soon Make it Illegal for the Family Pet to Ride on Driver's Laps" »
Audi issued a new sales report on Tuesday that said its "stock of Audi R8 cars is sold out for months to come." Pretty disappointing for anyone that is hoping to grab one of these awesome cars.
Continue reading "Audi R8 is Sold Out for Months to Come..." »
It's been quite a while since a Taurus SHO (Super High Output) was available in a Ford dealership, but this may change. Last Monday a group of 11 Chicago area Taurus SHO fanatics were quizzed by Ford execs about the car.
Continue reading "Is Ford Thinking About Bringing Back the Taurus SHO?" »
VW officially unveiled the all-new 2009 Volkswagen Routan minivan at the Chicago Auto Show earlier this year. VW has now officially announced the pricing for the Routan.
Continue reading "Buy a 2009 VW Routan Minivan and Get $1500 for Your Kid" »
Mazda finally took the wraps off of its midsize 2009 Mazda6 sedan a few weeks ago. Pricing for the all-new sedan has leaked onto the web and Mazda6club.com has all the preliminary pricing info.
Continue reading "All-New 2009 Mazda6 Pricing Leaked...It Starts at $19,850" »
There has been a lot of news lately about the Nissan GT-R and Corvette ZR1 times on the Nurburgring in Germany. Well another car is also making great times on the track.
Continue reading "2009 Cadillac CTS-V Does the Nurburgring in 7:59.32...Fastest Production Sedan to Date" »
Toyota has announced plans to buy back over 800,000 Toyota Tacoma pickups that were built between 1996 and 2000 that have rusted frames.
Continue reading "Toyota is Going to Buy Back Over 800,000 Rusted Tacoma Pickups" »
Audi is planning on releasing a hybrid of version of its large Q7 SUV sometime next year, but the automaker has yet to release any plans for a smaller Q5 hybrid.
Continue reading "Audi is Going to Release a Q7 Hybrid Next Year, but a Q5 Hybrid is a Ways Off" »
Kia is going to bring its new Soul small car to the US in early 2009 to go head to head with Scion.
Continue reading "Kia is Going to Bring Some Soul to the US in 2009" »
Full-size truck sales have dropped off considerably due to the high gas prices and declining housing market in the US. Gas prices alone have pushed many buyers into smaller vehicles leaving large trucks and SUVs on lots for weeks or months at a time. This new trend of moving into smaller vehicles may (hopefully) revive the small-midsize truck market.
Continue reading "Is Ford Considering a Truck Smaller than the F-150 but Larger than the Ranger?" »
Ford released an new Ford Focus for the 2008 model year, but when the car was first unveiled it received enough criticism to force the automaker to tweak the final product before it hit dealer showrooms. Well it looks like Ford has added more tweaks to the Focus for the 2009 model year.
Continue reading "2009 Ford Focus Coupe Unveiled...Ford Tweaks the Yet Focus Again" »
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has officially released the crash test results for the smart fortwo.
Continue reading "Official 2008 Smart Fortwo IIHS Crash Test Results Released" »
Nissan recently held a private event where the new Nissan 370Z was unveiled. Apparently the automaker forgot to take away all the camera phones from the attendees.
Continue reading "First All-New 2010 Nissan 370Z Photo Leaked!" »
Audi has unveiled its latest concept, the Audi A3 TDI clubsport quattro concept that will be officially unveiled at the 27th annual Lake Wörther Tour being held at the end of May in the Austrian province of Carinthia.
Continue reading "Audi A3 TDI Clubsport Quattro Concept Unveiled" »
Subaru has officially released a teaser image of its upcoming Exiga seven-passenger wagon. The concept version was unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Show last fall as the Exiga Touring Concept.
Continue reading "Subaru Exiga Teaser Image Released" »
Ford has already announced plans to bring the all-new Ford Fiesta to the US by 2010. The Fiesta is going to be the first of the European Fords that will finally make the trek over to the US.
Continue reading "Ford Finally Decides to Bring its Euro Models to the US" »
Subaru has officially unveiled the Impreza WRC2008 ahead of its launch at the Acropolis Rally of Greece.
Continue reading "Subaru Impreza WRC2008 Unveiled before the Acropolis Rally" »
Alfa Romeo CEO Luca de Meo recently told Auto Motor und Sport in an interview that the Italian automaker is working on an SUV that will be launched for the 2010 model year.
Continue reading "Alfa Romeo CEO Confirms Plans for an SUV in 2010" »
Inside Line has learned that the new Lexus supercar, the Lexus LF-A is going to start at over $200,000 when it is finally released.
Continue reading "Lexus LF-A is Going to Start at Over $200K!" »
Honda has announced the pricing for the all-new 2009 Honda Pilot that will be hitting dealerships later this week.
Continue reading "All-New 2009 Honda Pilot Starts at $27,595" »
Honda has already announced plans to increase its current hybrid lineup, but now Honda's President, Takeo Fukui has released even more info about the upcoming models.
Continue reading "Honda Announces Plans for a Fit Hybrid and Releases More Details About its Prius Fighter" »
Camaro5 forums (the site that is all about the new Camaro) has just put up photos of the V6 Chevy Camaro. Rather than just a few pics of the exterior of the car, these photos give us our first glimpse of the actual V6 engine under the hood.
Continue reading "2010 Chevy Camaro V6 Engine Photos Surface" »
Mitsubishi officially released the all-new 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X earlier this year, but only the GSR version of the car.
Continue reading "2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo MR Is Finally Coming to the US Next Month" »
Volkswagen officially unveiled the Scirocco GT24 at the GTI Meet at Wörther Lake. The car is going to be driven for two days at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.
Continue reading "Volkswagen Scirocco GT24 Unveiled with 321 Horsepower" »
In addition to unveiling the changes to the 2009 Vantage, the automaker has also unveiled the changes to the beautiful 2009 DB9.
Continue reading "Revised 2009 Aston Martin DB9 Unveiled with 470 Horsepower" »
Jay Leno recently described what he feels is plaguing American automakers, poor quality economy cars.
Continue reading "Jay Leno Tells Detroit to Make Better Cars...Then Maybe They Would Sell" »
The current Chrysler 300 has been a huge success for the automaker, which is going to make it difficult for the automaker to redesign the car which debuted over four years ago.
Continue reading "The Next Chrysler 300 Will See Few Changes on the Outside, but Bigger Changes Inside" »
Rolls-Royce has released the first official design sketches of the automakers next new model, known as the RR4.
Continue reading "Rolls-Royce Releases Official Sketches Its Baby Phantom, the RR4" »
The first all-new 2009 Nissan Maxima has rolled off Nissan's assembly line in Smyrna, Tennessee. The car signals the Maxima's return to a "4-door sports car".
Continue reading "First All-New 2009 Nissan Maxima Rolls off the Assembly Line" »
It's already been revealed that Toyota and Subaru are collaborating on a new rear wheel drive coupe, which will be sold as both a Subaru and Toyota. Now, Inside Line claims to have even more info on the new coupes that are slated for a late 2011 release.
Continue reading "More Details on Subaru/ Toyota's Upcoming RWD Coupe" »
Hyundai has officially announced the pricing for its all-new 2009 Genesis sedan.
Continue reading "2009 Hyundai Genesis Sedan Starts at $33,000" »
Edmunds is throwing a contest in which lucky winners have a chance to win some cash that could be used as a down payment on a new car...sound exciting?
Continue reading "Play Edmunds Savvy Shopper Sweepstakes and You Could Win Some Cash" »
Honda is going to switch where some of its models are produced in North America to meet demand.
Continue reading "Honda is Going to Build More Small Cars and Continue to Preserve US Jobs" »
Dodge unveiled the all-new 2009 Dodge Ram pickup at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year. Now according to Chrysler executives the all-new Ram could see a 20 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over the out going model.
Continue reading "All-New 2009 Dodge Ram is Going to be Up to 20 Percent More Fuel Efficient" »
Ferrari officially unveiled the 2009 Ferrari California earlier this month, but at the time only a few photos were released. Today Ferrari released more photos and details about the California.
Continue reading "More Pics of the 2009 Ferrari California...This Time With its Top Up" »
The awesome and beautiful Audi R8 is now available for the first time with full LED headlights, in addition to the current daytime running lights that feature 24 LED's per lamp.
Continue reading "Audi R8 is Now Available with Full LED Headlights" »
Ford unveiled the all-new Fiesta hatchback earlier this year. At the time Ford confirmed that a version of the Fiesta would indeed reach our shores, but it was expected to only be a sedan version of the small car. Now Ford has confirmed that the US is also going to get a hatchback to go along with the sedan when the Fiesta arrives in 2010.
Continue reading "Ford Confirms Fiesta Hatchback for the US in 2010" »
Honda has unveiled the all-new Freed minivan that is about the same size of a Civic, but manages to seat eight passengers.
Continue reading "All-New Honda Freed Seats Eight and is Shorter than a Civic" »


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The number of travellers using Suvarnabhumi airport is predicted to soar to 59 million this year, adding more congestion to the already overcrowded terminal.
Airport director Sirote Duangratana bases his estimate on the number of passengers during the first five months of this year, which peaked in February with 195,000 people in just one day. The number of flights per day also rose to 1,300 in the same month.
This year, Mr Sirote believes, the total number of the travelers will jump to 59 million, up around 5% from 55.9 million last year.
“The numbers show the crackdown on ‘zero dollar’ tourism had no direct impact,” he said, referring to tourism packages from China in which customers pay very cheap prices, or nothing, for trips to Thailand and are pressured to buy overpriced goods and services here from the company’s partners.
Despite fewer Chinese tourists, travellers from other countries continue to crowd the airport, Mr Sirote said.
Airport officials will encourage more Thais to use automatic passport checking facilities to quicken the immigration process. He said it is not very popular, with only 60% of Thais using it to date.
Thailand tourism generates 840 bln Baht ($24.7 bln) in first four months
Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports has released figures showing that during the first four months of this year, 12 million visitors came to Thailand spending around 620 billion Baht, an increase of 4.71 per cent when compared with the same period in 2016.
Source : http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/1258498/crowded-suvarnabhumi-to-get-even-more-hectic
Can border reopening revive tourism in South-East Asia?
In Thailand, where pre-pandemic tourism accounted for 11-12% of GDP, the country lost an estimated $50bn last year as Covid-19 restrictions led to an 82% fall in arrival numbers.
Thailand dropped from UK’s tough covid-19 travel ‘red list’
Earlier, Thailand was listed among countries with high infection levels that were put on a ‘red list’, requiring arrivals to spend 10 days in a government-provided quarantine hotel, and must periodically have a PCR test or other tests.
Advance booking for Thailand national park visits extended to 60 days
Bangkok, 23 November, 2021 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) would like to advise that tourists can now preregister...
China Sustains Huge Ecommerce Development Investment Flows into ASEAN
What Asia Investment Research showed us that there were China outbound investments into several ASEAN markets, led by Singapore, and...
Bangkok Airways resumes Phuket – U-Tapao and Samui – U-Tapao routes in December 2021
Bangkok, 24 November, 2021 – Bangkok Airways has announced that it will resume two more of its domestic services which...
Why Vietnam is Forecast to be the Fastest Growing Internet Economy in Southeast Asia
Since the beginning of the pandemic, customer demand for online purchases has increased dramatically. More than 70 percent of Vietnam’s...
Youth unemployment hits new highs in Thailand due to COVID-19 restrictions
BANGKOK, Thailand (ILO news) - Joblessness among young men and women in Thailand has reached a level unseen in recent...


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The ravaging COVID-19 pandemic affected the operations of every business globally. While most businesses are undergoing a tough time, one area or industry that has seen a boost is eCommerce and web traffic. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, most businesses have reported a surge in web traffic. However, businesses should know how to maximize this and take advantage of web designs.
Web design saw a significant increase in demand during the pandemic, especially as the population remained stuck at home. Most businesses took this opportunity to create new websites and redesign their existing web presence. This explains why young adults are taking online coding classes to learn web design languages. Even though the future of this pandemic cannot be predicted, below are ways that COVID affected web design.
1. Ecommerce Web Design
With the pandemic pumping up internet use by more than 70%, online shopping slowly became the norm. Apart from ordering basic groceries and home supplies, people also sought other products and services online. The use of communication and collaboration tools offered for businesses and schools, such as zoom and other video conferencing tools, skyrocketed since lockdown and other restriction measures were put in place.
All this increased demand for online services led to a resultant increase in the need for skilled web designers. Web designers with cybersecurity and coding experience are in high demand, as businesses focus on improving their website’s user interface. Just to mention, managing customer support is valuable for the growth of online businesses.
A recent analysis shows that approximately 75% of online shoppers start by evaluating a businesses’ website design before shopping. Additionally, 94% of negative feedback to businesses are related to various design elements. Therefore, having a business website that ticks all good design boxes, including functionality and aesthetics, attracts more customers and yields a high ROI. Minimalism in website design is a trend that helps businesses benefit from fully functional websites that provide a satisfactory user experience.
Google is currently considering including minimalism in its ranking algorithms. With a minimalistic design, websites can communicate their main message directly without unnecessary distractions. These design elements include simple and clean design elements, small paragraphs, proper use of white space, and other best website design practices. Websites should also leverage outstanding video demos and high-quality photos.
Unlike other website designs, minimalistic websites keep site visitors focused on your brand, products, services, and offers instead of several unnecessary elements. This significantly reduces loading time, improves user experience, boosts readability, and makes it easy to digest information. Achieving this requires the input of highly experienced web designers.
3. UI/UX Web Design
An increase in internet use and online shopping not only increased the demand for eCommerce web designers but also increased demand for user interface and customer experience designers. Interestingly, the economy had begun changing even before the onset of the pandemic. The new age of add-to-cart was already choking brick and mortar businesses, and the pandemic possibly acted as a catalyst.
During quarantine, a few products and conveniences became essential as other majority struggling services were taken off. While this reflects the devastating effects of the pandemic on most businesses, it was a wake-up call for businesses on the importance of transitioning from physical offices to online solutions. This transition presents the need for innovative and user-friendly UI/IX.
4. Responsive Website Design
As of now, desktop internet users have been surpassed by mobile users (Our World Data). This means that web designers should focus on making business platforms mobile-friendly. This perhaps explains why responsive mobile design is among the biggest web design trends. A responsive website enhances user experience and an important Google ranking factor.
5. Media and Entertainment
Lockdown measures had everybody stuck indoors, presenting a perfect time for binge-watching. So to say, there was a massive surge in media and entertainment use online during the first weeks of quarantine, with COVID-19 dominating worldwide discussions. That said, web design plays a significant role in how media and entertainment are delivered. As such, design responsibilities related to online media and streaming services also experienced increased demand.
Advertising is another changing landscape due to the effects of the pandemic. Most high-impact advertising, such as large events and professional sports, experienced a drop in its ROI. Even as marketers cut on marketing expenditures, advertisement remains a crucial part and contributor of business growth. Therefore, for businesses to remain afloat during this period, they should innovate their advertisements, a task that requires assistance from web design companies.
Predicting the Future of Web Design
Predicting the future of web design is probably the biggest challenge. However, regardless of what happens in the future, what is clear is that the internet will continue playing a major role in all industries. As such, the new scope and demand for web applications and provision of online services will likely continue rising.


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More than 60 business deals concluded at Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum (en)
Delegates attending the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum 2012 in Mexico City had struck more than 60 business deals as the event held at Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs drew to a close on Wednesday 7 November. The deals have a total value of more than US$6 million. Many more deals are set to be concluded in the coming days and weeks as buyers and sellers continue bilateral negotiations.
Ms. Patricia Francis, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), said: “This has been another strong Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum. There has been a high attendance and the number of deals struck already, shows the importance of women vendors and buyers to come together at this event.”
Nearly 150 sellers and some 40 buyers from multinational and medium-sized enterprises were among the more than 300 delegates attending the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum 2012, alongside officials from governments and trade support institutions.
“The women vendors and the companies who attended this year’s Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum are setting examples for others to follow,” said Ms. Francis. “They have shown how important it is to move out of your comfort zone to seek and achieve success. They have also taken steps to ensure that more women-owned businesses are connected into the global value chains,” she said.
The Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum 2012 is organized by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in cooperation with Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ProMéxico and WEConnect International.
Organizing partners: Asociación Mexicana de Mujeres Empresarias (AMMJE), the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW), Vital Voices Global Partnership, the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), Full Circle Exchange, the Women’s International Textile Alliance (SPINNA) and Quantum Leaps.
ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, and is devoted to helping small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries become more competitive in global markets and thus to speed up sustainable economic development and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
For further information, visit: www.intracen.org/projects/women-and-trade/events/wvef-II/
Jarle Hetland, Hetland [at] intracen.org, +41 79 221 8980 +41 22 733 4439


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Chandigarh: Battery maker Exide Industries Ltd would invest Rs300 crore on expansion of its production capacity, besides entering new overseas markets with an aim to double its exports this fiscal.
“We will be investing Rs300 crore this year to augment production capacity in our plants located at several locations in the country,” Exide Industries Vice President S Kalla said.
The company would invest Rs150 crore in two of its plants in West Bengal, while the rest would be injected in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. “The entire investment will be funded through internal accruals,” he added.
With an aim to consolidate its exports, the company has identified new overseas markets, including Europe, South Africa and the Middle East for its tubular batteries, which are used in UPS system.
“There is a tremendous potential for our tubular batteries in these countries ... we will double our exports to Rs500 crore in 2008-09,” he said.
The company, which is aiming at sales of Rs4,500 crore in 2008-09, gets 55% of revenue from automotive batteries and 45% from industrial batteries.
On being asked about the impact of rising input prices, Kalla said the company has inserted a price evaluation clause in the agreement signed with its institutional buyers.
“With this clause the buyers will have to pay the increased price if there is an escalation in lead rates and if prices falls, then they will pay the reduced prices,” he said.
The lead prices have tripled from $1,200 per tonne in 2004 to $3,800 per tonne in 2007.
Exide manufactures storage batteries from 2.5 AH to 20,400 AH capacities from the company has nine production facilities.


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GPE snaps up London’s Fashion Retail Academy building for over £36m
GPE, formerly known as Great Portland Estates, has snapped up the government and Philip Green-backed Fashion Retail Academy building for £36.5m.
While the property development and investment firm has bought the building, in the heart of Fitzrovia, it will remain home to the fashion school until it relocates to a larger building.
The building, a stones’ throw away from the Elizabeth Line Tottenham Court Road, adds around 43,000 square feet of space to GPE’s around 250,000 square foot portfolio.
It comes as the London-headquartered company leases One Newman Street in a fresh 10-year lease to a global investment firm, the name of which GPE has not disclosed.
“We are delighted that this global investment firm has chosen One Newman Street for their new European headquarters,” leasing managing Richard Carson said in a statement this morning.
Main image credit: The terrace at GPE’s One Newman Street. (GPE)


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So long, Crown Vics, and thanks for all the rides to the airport. Today New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission voted to approve the rules that will make Nissan's "Taxi of Tomorrow" the next-gen cab of the Big Apple.
Last year Nissan revealed its futuristic cab, which is based on the NV200 cargo van the company was already selling in Europe and Asia and is now bringing to the U.S. as a production car. The Nissan beat out rivals including one based on the Ford Transit Connect van. Now that the commission has approved the design, it will be the taxi that medallion owners must buy starting in late 2013. Over the next three to five years, the NV200-based taxi will be phased in to take over the fleet.
The rise of the Nissan taxis means that New York's traffic will look a lot different in a few years. Today, NYC yellow cabs are a hodgepodge of old Ford Crown Victorias, hybrids including Ford Escapes and Toyota Priuses, and a smattering of other sedans and minivans. But soon the streets will be crawling with these cargo vans, which come equipped with phone chargers in the back and a transparent roof to allow for stunning views of the skyline.
More From Popular Mechanics
The Taxi of Tomorrow has its opposition, though, and not just because its looks are so far removed from that of a traditional sedan like the Crown Vic. In the 2000s, NYC, like several other cities, pushed to turn a percentage of the taxi fleet into hybrids, thinking hybrid engines make particularly good sense for the stop-and-go driving style of a New York cab. But the new Nissan taxi is gas-only.
This trend may not be limited to New York. At Nissan's event for the new taxi last year, the company told us that it hopes to sell the cab to other cities, too.
Andrew's from Nebraska. His work has also appeared in Discover, The Awl, Scientific American, Mental Floss, Playboy, and elsewhere. He lives in Brooklyn with two cats and a snake.


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Pepsi buys SodaStream for a future beyond cola
The soda brand wants to explore healthier drink options.
Tesla's plan to charge electric semis relies on its customers
At least until its own stations for trucks are up and running.
Plastic-plucking robots are the future of recycling
At least until we can chemically engineer better biodegradables.
Twitter's first promoted stickers come from Pepsi
The soft drink's emoji may be all over your friends' Twitter photos before long.
Pepsi Phone comes out of the blue in China
We don't exactly know why, but China seems to have a thing for the Pepsi brand. Following the Peps...
Yes, Pepsi is launching smartphones in China
No, Pepsi isn't building them.
Facebook's Atlas ad platform will track you around the internet
Facebook's sufficiently chummy with advertisers that some people have gone and built their own soc...
Big names -- McDonald's, Pepsi, Nissan, Proctor & Gamble -- sign on for iTunes Radio ads
With iTunes Radio set to hit the ground running once Apple releases iOS 7 to the masses sometime t...
Pepsi's 'Sound of Football' project lets visually impaired players see the pitch with their ears (video)
One one side of the field was a team of former pro soccer players. On the other, a squad of visua...


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The grocery store industry is in the midst of a major transformation. Target is the most recent retailer to make changes to its business in this changing landscape.
Thanks to Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods and its promise to lower food prices, the grocery world is following suit to stay competitive.
Shoppers have significantly increased their visits to Whole Foods since Amazon announced a slash in prices. Target is hoping to draw them back into its grocery section with wide-scale price lowering.
In a blog post on the company’s site, Target announced that it had lowered prices on a variety of items, including “cereal and paper towel to baby formula, razors, bath tissue, and more.”
The slash in prices should not be confused with a company-wide sale. Target is hoping to focus its grocery selection around lower everyday prices. Shoppers will still be able to find items on sale, but they will be from the new prices.
To combat the price decrease, Target has gotten rid of more than two-thirds of discount sale signs and labels, known as “price and offer call outs.”
According to Target’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer Mark Tritton, Target is moving towards “a focus on offering the right price every day and simplifying our marketing to make great, low prices easy to spot.”
The cutting of “price and offer call outs” does not mean that Target is removing sales from its business plan.
Tritton said, ” We want our guests to feel a sense of satisfaction every time they shop at Target.
Part of that is removing the guesswork to ensure they feel confident they’re getting a great low price every day.”
Investors have not been impressed with the move. With major worries about the company’s profit margin, share prices fell 3 percent following the announcement.
Target hopes that it can use the new approach to fend off Wal-Mart and Amazon.


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"Illegal Immigrant Hunting Permit" is what is written on a sticker that has caused outrage in the Latino community in Easton, Colorado.
The message that is written on these decals is considered as being racist and has stirred some controversy in the south west part of the United States. They are currently being sold in several stores and gas stations.
Agfinity is the company who is selling these stickers in their own stores, and also now regrets the sale of this product and released a statement.
"We at Agfinity deeply regret the concern this issue related to bumper stickers that had been for sale in our store has raised in our community. We have removed the bumper sticker display from our stores. As an organization, we do not condone offensive messages of this nature."
The pressure that the company received from all of those who were offended, caused Agfinity to take immediate action to remove all of these stickers from all of their shelves.
Illegal immigration keeps on being a hot topic in the country, meanwhile the administration of President Barack Obama, continues its debate on an immigration reform.
69% of the Latino community who voted for Obama in the last presidential election, expect for him to fulfill his promise on new legislation that would benefit more than 11 million illegal immigrants that are currently living in the U.S.


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Microsoft unveiled what it described as “the most affordable Lumia devices to date”, in the shape of Lumia 435 (pictured) and Lumia 532.
The move comes as the company seems to be focusing the lion’s share of its smartphone efforts at the entry level, rather than in the competitive high-end space – a market where numerous vendors have struggled.
In a statement, Microsoft said that the two new products “provide a balance of features and power”, as users look to upgrade from feature phones to smartphones.
Lumia 435 is described as “the first 400 series Lumia”, while Lumia 532 is a “powerful quad-core smartphone that builds on the success of the Lumia 530” – a device hailed as the first sub-$100 Lumia when it launched.
Upgrades over the 530 include a front-facing camera and a memory increase.
“With the Lumia 435 and Lumia 532, we’ve realised our goal of creating the most affordable Lumia devices to date, opening up the opportunity to reach those people who are buying a smartphone for the very first time,” said Jo Harlow, corporate VP for phones at Microsoft.
Lumia 435 has a 4-inch WVGA screen, is powered by a 1.2 GHz dualcore processor, has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of ROM (with MicroSD expansion slot). It has 2MP main and VGA front cameras.
Lumia 532 has a 4-inch WVGA screen, is powered by a 1.2 GHz quadcore processor, has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of ROM (with MicroSD expansion slot). It has 5MP rear and VGA front cameras.
The devices will begin rolling out to key markets in Europe, APAC and IMEA in February, with both available in single and dual-SIM variants.
While pricing will vary by market and operator, pricing for Lumia 435 is around €69 before taxes and subsidies, while Lumia 532 is around €79.


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FDA Warns Consumers About ShoulderFlex Massager
Neck and Shoulder Massage Device Poses Strangulation Risk
The FDA consumer safety division issued a warning to consumers against using a massage device called the ShoulderFlex Massager. The device was implicated in causing at least one death and one near death. The product was recalled but there are still some products remain on store shelves.
The ShoulderFlex Massager is a personal massage device sold in retail stores, via catalogs, and over the Internet. It is intended to provide a deep-tissue massage to the neck, shoulders, and back area, while lying down.
The concern is with hair, clothing and jewelry which might get entangled in the mechanism and cause strangulation.
“The ShoulderFlex Massager poses serious risks,” Steve Silverman of the FDA says in a news release.
Silverman, director of the FDA’s Office of Compliance in its Center for Devices and Radiological Health, says, “consumers should stop using this device, health care providers should not recommend it to their patients, and businesses should stop distributing and selling the device.”
During this last minute holiday shopping, if you see a massager heavily reduced in price, make sure you double check the brand and model.
Personal massagers can be a nice gift. They can help with muscle spasms and trigger points. But always be safe when using one. If it has any sort of entanglement risk, do not use it.
Dr. Andrew White
Chiropractor St George Utah


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A locally-owned ice cream shop is planning to stay open all day and night to raise money for childhood cancer research.
CP's Cooler, located on Vine Street in Willowick, will stay open for 35 straight hours beginning at noon on July 21 to help "give childhood cancer a lickin'." Ten percent of all ice cream sales will go to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation during this period.
The store will also have volunteers serving lemonade and holding various fundraisers, including a 50/50 raffle and a Chinese auction. All proceeds from these fundraisers will go to Alex's Lemonade Stand.
CP's Cooler specializes in homemade ice cream and recently made headlines for their creative signs during the NBA Finals.
Anyone wishing to become a sponsor for or donate to the event is asked to call 440-944-COOL.


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The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the latest big institution to file an NFT-related trademark.
Last year, NYSE minted their first NFT to celebrate the first trades of several companies, namely Spotify – which executed the first ever direct listing, Snowflake, Unity, DoorDash, Roblox and Coupang.
Now, NYSE is hinting at bigger NFT ambitions. According to a recent trademark application, the exchange talks of provision of a marketplace where buyers and sellers can purchase NFTs.
The application, dated February 10, reads as follows.
“Provision of an online marketplace for buyers, sellers, and traders of downloadable digital goods authenticated by non-fungible tokens (NFTs);
Provision of an online marketplace for buyers, sellers and traders of virtual and digital assets, artwork, collectibles, and non-fungible tokens; online marketplace services, namely, providing an online marketplace for buyers, sellers and traders of digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, digital tokens, crypto tokens and utility tokens;
Providing a website featuring an online marketplace for buying, selling and trading virtual goods with other users; develop and design virtual retail stores, virtual stores, and virtual showrooms for others provision of an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of downloadable digital goods authenticated by non-fungible tokens (NFTs); provision of an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of downloadable digital art images authenticated by non-fungible tokens (NFTs).”
The application itself may not mean that NYSE will be developing a marketplace to compete with OpenSea, LooksRare and the rest. It could also mean that the exchange plans on staking IPs in related areas.
However, we’ll have to wait and find out what their true plans are.


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Reston Town Center merchants report a significant drop in sales from this time last year.
Now, an estimated 60 of those merchants are considering a lawsuit against Boston Properties over what they see as the cause of that decline — the installation of paid parking.
“I’ve never seen the amount of customers that are upset and are just flat-out boycotting the Town Center as a whole,” Mervis said. “As for retailers, I’ve never seen the amount of different retailers grouping together. Usually, when I’m talking to other retailers, it’s seeing what we can do to help cross-market each other’s brands. Talking about protesting and lawsuits, that’s unprecedented.”
Boston Properties initiated paid parking at Reston Town Center on Jan. 3. Backlash from the community, particularly on social media, began quickly thereafter. Mervis said RTC restaurants have been gathering to fight since the paid-parking plan was first proposed by Boston Properties last year, and retailers have since joined the groundswell as well.
Mervis also runs Wildfire restaurant at Tysons Galleria, and he said the trickle-down effect of the parking controversy reaches there as well.
“People are openly talking about it at the bar, saying they are only there because their friends won’t meet them anymore in Reston, or they themselves refuse to park in Reston,” he said.
Mervis said estimates provided by Town Center merchants show a 10-50 percent decline in sales from January 2016. He said Big Bowl validates two hours’ parking for its customers, but the system doesn’t make sense from neither the business’s nor the customers’ standpoint.
“A $4 beer and $4 for parking, that doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “Our customers are appreciative that we’re doing it… but they still say they’re not coming back. They say it’s too much of a hassle.”
The merchants are planning a meeting Monday at Vapiano restaurant (1875 Explorer Street) to continue to discuss their future plans, including potential litigation. In a press release, reasons for their unrest are spelled out:
Besides being onerous, the system itself is driving people away. It includes:
— Having to download an app, which customers say is confusing, does not work well
— Pay stations are often not working and confusing
— Little or no assistance from Boston Properties and no way to explain the system to non-English speakers
— Confusion: Some retailers have provisions allowing free guest parking in one lot but not another
— Filled parking spots forcing guests to park in a different lot where a retailer may not validate (not all retailers can afford to purchase validation codes for all lots)
— Overnight charges for restaurant guests who have been drinking and want to leave their cars overnight while they walk/taxi/Uber home
— Forcing guests to park in nearby development and angering tenants
— There is no quick parking accommodation for guests to do pickups, dropoffs, etc.
— Unclear rules about weekend parking (holidays? Fridays nights?)
— Validation codes have major limitations (guests must change garages to have their ticket validated for both a movie and dinner at certain restaurants)
— Guests with disabilities without smartphones must find a pay station (not conveniently located)
There are also issues which affect the retailers:
— Negative publicity has spilled over to the retailers
— Employees are affected and are looking for other work
— All retailers are charged the same fee to validate parking (bad for small retailers)
— Employee parking is inconsistent and difficult to manage
— Parking security is not trained to help or answer questions
— Retailers are struggling to hold weekday events because people who would attend do not want to deal with paid parking
— Boston Properties has made changes without notification
“This is unbelievable, what’s happening, what they’re doing,” Mervis said. “Guests don’t want to deal with this. They just want to come in and eat.”
Rob Weinhold, spokesperson for Boston Properties, said it would be “inappropriate” for the real estate trust to speculate on or respond to the merchants’ legal threats. However, when contacted by Reston Now, he did wish to clear up “misinformation” about parking validation “that requires immediate clarification:”
“Each retailer and restaurateur, at their sole discretion, decide[s] which garages they choose to validate. As previously communicated, each retailer and restaurateur makes their own business decision about (1) participating in the validation program and (2) what validation terms they choose to incorporate within their unique business model, to include validating for all or select garages.”
Mervis said his restaurant is trying to do the right thing for customers by validating parking, but the end result is hurting their bottom line.
“We’re paying the same price as the guest pays,” he said. “We spent $1,600 in January to validate parking, and at our price point, that has drastic effects for us.”
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Data theft scam targets Google searchers who clicked on paid ads
SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc. yanked paid advertisements linked to about 20 search terms that online criminals had hijacked to steal banking and other personal information from Web surfers looking for the Better Business Bureau and other sites.
It was unclear how many people were affected before the breach was discovered this week, but computer security experts said Thursday that the attack appears to be isolated and targeting only Windows XP users who had not properly updated their machines.
They said the attack was unlikely to undermine Google's core business of selling lucrative advertising links, which made up the bulk of the Mountain View, Calif.-based company's $3.08 billion in profit in 2006 and $1 billion in the first quarter of 2007 alone.
- Want to Make it Big in Business? ‘Million Dollar Listing’ Star Says Take this Class Media: Buzz 60
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- Apple to unveil 3 new iPhones Media: Fox29
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- Trump To Apple On Tariff Impact: Make Your Products In The US Instead Of China Media: GeoBeats
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- Amazon is Now Reportedly Creating a Free TV Streaming Service That Could Rival Roku Media: Buzz 60
- British PM plans to boost investment in Africa Media: Euronews
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- It Pays to Be The Boss: U.S. CEOs Made 312 Times More Than Workers in 2017 Study Shows Media: Buzz 60
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Google said it dismantled the offending links and shut down the problem AdWords accounts Tuesday. The company is working with advertisers to identify any other malware-loaded sites that might be on the network, it said.
"This is serious -- there's confidence in the links that are at the top, whether they're sponsored or not," said Nick Ianelli, an Internet security analyst with the federally funded CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University.
The attack targeted the top sponsored links tied to Google search results, installing a program on victims' computers to capture private information used to access online accounts for 100 different banks.
The scheme, discovered by security software firm Exploit Prevention Labs in New Kingston, Pa., involves a ruse by online criminals to fool Google searchers into clicking through a rogue site.
The criminals created their own Web site and outbid legitimate businesses in Google's AdWords program to secure prime placement of ads linked to popular search terms. Users who clicked on those ads were then routed to the booby-trapped site before being sent on to the legitimate destination.


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Siemens has become the latest company to announce losses connected with its decision to leave Russia following the invasion on Feb. 24.
Several companies from brewers Anheuser-Busch InBev and Carlsberg to sportswear maker Adidas to carmaker Renault and several banks have been counting the cost of suspending or withdrawing their operations in Russia.
Siemens has now started winding down all of its industrial operations in Russia and all its industrial activities, the German engineering and technology firm said on Thursday.
It had previously halted new business and deliveries into the country after the invasion, which Moscow calls a special operation.
"We join the international community in condemning the war in Ukraine and are focused on supporting our people and providing humanitarian aid," said Chief Executive Roland Busch in a statement.
"Today, we announced our decision to carry out an orderly process to wind down our industrial business activities in Russia," he added.
Siemens, which employs 3,000 people in Russia, incurred 600 million euros in impairment and other charges mostly recorded at its train-making mobility business "subsequent to sanctions imposed on Russia," it said.
The business, which makes and maintains high speed trains in Russia, also suffered a 200 million euro downturn in revenue due to sanctions, it said.
The charges triggered a downturn in profit during the second quarter at Siemens, which also makes industrial software and controllers.
Net income halved to 1.21 billion euros ($1.27 billion) in the three months to the end of March from 2.39 billion euros a year earlier. The prior year figure was boosted by a 900 million euro gain Siemens made from selling gearbox maker Flender.
The company posted industrial profit of 1.78 billion euros, down 13% on a year earlier and missing the 2.39 billion euros forecast by analysts.
But demand continued to be robust, with orders 22% higher on a comparable basis and revenue 7% higher.
As a result it confirmed its full-year outlook, with revenue comparable revenue growth of 6% to 8% with the downturn in mobility expected to be compensated by faster growth in other parts of the business.
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- US Will be India’s Best Natural Ally for a 100 Yrs
Few bankers have been as prescient and as prepared as JPMorgan chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon to face a crisis and bail out those who get into trouble. In an interview with MC Govardhana Rangan, Bodhisatva Ganguli and Joel Rebello, the go-to banker even for the US Federal Reserve said he expects that global financial metrics could get worse before getting better.Car Production Hits High Gear on High-octane Sales
Workers across the automobile hubs in Gurgaon-Manesar, Chennai, Pune and Sanand are working longer hours and even on weekends, as carmakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Tata Motors and Mahindra build up inventory.DGGI Raises ₹55,000-cr Tax Demand from eGaming Cos
The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has sent out a dozen pre-showcause notices to online real money gaming (RMG) companies over goods and services tax dues of about ₹55,000 crore, said people with knowledge of the matter.
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The team from Mirada will host a booth at the 2021 Photonics West exhibition at Booth #758. We will be demonstrating our LiDAR beam steering technology and be unveiling our new product lines available for quick shipping for engineers to quickly validate our product samples for design into new systems. Come see the latest product offerings and let us know how we can assist you in deploying a breakthrough product. We are scheduling one on one meetings now, please be in touch.
We are pleased to announce Mirada’s new MP Series Optical Scanning Technology. It is not a polygon scanner. It is not a monogon scanner. It


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India International Trade Fair inauguratedNovember 14th, 2008 - 3:50 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS) The 28th edition of the India International Trade Fair was inaugurated by Vice President M. Hamid Ansari at the Pragati Maidan show grounds here Friday with Pakistan as the partner country and Orissa as the partner state.Besides providing a platform for India to showcase its merchandise goods, the 14-day fair will seek to reflect the several facets of the country’s cultural diversity, including culinary delights, folk dances and special programmes.
“India is a safe, secure and profitable trade and investment destination,” Ansari said at the inauguration ceremony, hoping the business delegations from some 35 countries will go back with the impression that India is now an important hub for high technology, research, manufacturing and services.
“I am confident that the trade fair would continue to play its proactive role in catalysing trade, investment and technology transfer,” he said, asking India Inc to help the organisers, the commerce ministry’s India Trade Promotion Organisation, in the effort.
Some of the attractions this year include exhibits with themes like technology mart, realty and good living, to showcase a wide range of products and services covering automobiles, electronics, pharmaceutical, jute, rubber, handicraft, jewellery and consumer goods.
Merchandise like processed foods, cosmetics, healthcare and consumer electronics, among others, will also have dedicated halls, the organisers said.
At last year’s fair, more than 7,500 companies had participated from 34 countries besides India in an area covering 149 acres - inside 18 halls and open-air exhibition spread over of 10,000 sq mts, besides the 34,000 sq mts of permanent state pavilions.
The organisers have made provision for sale of discounted tickets at Metro stations, Mother Dairy and Safal outlets, and designated branches of Central Bank, Canara Bank, Allahabad Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Federal Bank, as well as at select Bharat Petroleum pumps.
Tags: allahabad bank, business delegations, canara bank, high technology research, inauguration ceremony, jammu and kashmir, jammu and kashmir bank, open air exhibition, petroleum pumps, trade promotion organisation


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India's growth likely to be 5.5% in Oct-Dec quarter: D&B
The report however, noted that the biggest segment of the services sector - trade, hotels, transport and communications - is yet to witness a turnaround.
New Delhi: The Indian economy is expected to have grown by 5.5 percent during the October-December quarter of this financial year drawing support primarily from the services sector, says a report.
"We expect the GDP to have grown by 5.5 percent during third quarter of FY15 drawing support primarily from the services sector," Dun & Bradstreet said in a research note.
The report however, noted that the biggest segment of the services sector - trade, hotels, transport and communications
- is yet to witness a turnaround.
India's GDP growth, which had fallen under 5 percent, is expected to be between 5.4 percent and 5.9 percent this fiscal.
The country's GDP expanded 5.3 percent in the September quarter, slower than the 5.7 percent pace in the preceding June quarter.
"There has been some encouraging news on the economic front with the IIP turning positive and December retail inflation below the RBI's target," Dun & Bradstreet India senior economist Arun Singh said but added that "it may be too early to infer that these indicators herald the onset of a recovery in the economy".
D&B expects growth in index of industrial production (IIP) to remain in the positive territory. IIP is likely to have grown by 1-1.5 percent during December 2014, it said.
On the inflation front, fall in global crude oil prices would undoubtedly provide support to the WPI trajectory, inflation in protein items remains a key risk for the food inflation, the report said.
It expects the WPI inflation to increase by 0.5 percent - 1 percent during January 2015.
"The announcements in the Union Budget for FY16 with regard to government finances and policy reforms will determine if the current momentum can be sustained in the near future," Singh said.
Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.
Federation of Indian Export Organisations too said that the Project Development Fund would push India’s project exports, helping both the merchandise and services sector.
What does the tourism industry expect from Budget 2015? HolidayIQ's Hari Nair says the ministry of tourism needs to do much more.


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According to the latest press release by the Victorian state government Victoria’s manufacturing industry has continued to grow positively.
The Australian Industry Group’s Performance of Manufacturing Index, released which was released last week, showed that Victoria’s manufacturing industry has grown for a 16th consecutive month.
Minister for Industry and Employment Ben Carroll said, “Our manufacturing industry continues to go from strength-to-strength – creating jobs and boosting our economy.”
The growth in manufacturing is underpinned by the Labor Government’s $120 million in manufacturing support, who mentioned in the press release, has created 6,000 jobs and is driving more than $1.6 billion in private investment.
This unprecedent growth is despite the closure of automotive manufacturing, and the continued neglect of Victorian manufacturing by the Turnbull Liberal Government.
The Victorian Budget 2018/19 includes $172 million to make 30 priority TAFE courses free, with courses focusing on the skills our state needs to build the major road and rail projects, new schools and hospitals Victorians need.
Victorian manufacturing contributes $27.7 billion to the Victorian economy and is home to over 13,000 businesses employing more than 286,000 people. Victoria exported $18.16 billion of manufactured goods in 2016-17.


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Wrote for Baseball ProspectusFollow on MessengerEmailcommentThe NCAA Division I schedule kicks off this Friday, Feb. 16, which marks the unofficial start of MLB draft season as well, although some high schools and junior colleges in the south and west are already underway. This cheap authentic jerseys year’s Rule 4 draft will take place June 4-6, with the Detroit Tigers holding the first pick, followed best throwback mlb jerseys by the Giants, Phillies, White Sox and Reds. The class looks strong right now, the deepest overall since 2011, although the upper tier is less certain Nike Kris Bryant jersey right now and heavier on the high school talent
some teams have shied away from in recent drafts.
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Q. The home run today, do you remember vividly hitting it? Do you remember the trip around the bases? Did you black out? Just take us cheap baseball jerseys through that?
? Counsell entered the series looking for a spot to use closer Corey Knebel. The Brewers lead the Majors with 98 games decided by three runs or fewer but had not used Knebel since Sept. 12, against the Pirates.
While Cashman didn’t think that Girardi was communicating well enough with the clubhouse, Cashman disagreed with reports that he and Girardi went separate way buy baseball jerseys online india at times over analytics or that the two had a deteriorating relationship. Cashman called Girardi an exceptional manager.
The cheap mlb jerseys from China move seems to add more evidence to the idea that the Mets are using Tebow as a sideshow. His promotion to a new club means there will be more Tebow?merchandise for cheap jerseys China fans to purchase. More merchandise Atlanta Braves jersey means more money to the organization.
MLB.com: Quick as he was, it took him 10 years on the Hall of Fame ballot to be elected. Does customized mlb jerseys blackhawks that surprise you?
Cain retires Arenado SF@COL: chinese nfl jersey sites Cain Anthony Rizzo jersey strikes out Arenado cheap jerseys 2018 to end the inningMatt Cain strikes out Nolan Arenado swinging to Boston Red Sox game jersey end the 1st inning with his first K of the game
We Javier Baez third jersey see the sales at retail and in our channels, the amount of Judge jerseys being sold are extremely, extremely high, said Noah Garden, MLB’s executive vice president of business.
There’s a lot to like about the Braves discount jerseys nfl china going forward. Freddie Freeman is an offensive monster, Ender Inciarte customizable baseball jerseys nike contributes with the bat and the glove, and after a really rough four months Dansby Swanson has hit well since Aug. 1. They might not be in a position to contend next year, but they’re headed in the right direction youth Chris Sale jersey with an improving talent base to build upon. — Bonzagni
Ben Weinrib is a reporter for MLB.com based in Cleveland. Follow him on at @benweinrib. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
The Nationals really cool youth china website nfl jerseys baseball jerseys had announced Saturday that Strasburg (right shoulder inflammation) was headed for the disabled list Chicago Cubs home jerseys following an MRI. He left Friday night’s start against the Giants after two innings.
That jolt I wrote of would be the eventual return of franchise shortstop Carlos Correa, who buy baseball jerseys uk daily mail is out with an injured wholesale jerseys cheap nfl scam thumb, but that isn’t like to happen for a few weeks. In the meantime, the Astros have work to do. They need to put a bow on the AL West, which, barring something out of the Twilight Zone, remains a foregone conclusion. They need to lock down that top seed, and if that buffer continues to shrink, that might not happen until well into September.