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HSIL Limited Brings its Digitally Integrated Lacasa Store to New Delhi Acetech 2017 HSIL Limited, India’s leading sanitaryware & bath-fittings’ company, showcased their state-of-the-art revolutionary Lacasa Concept Store at Acetech, Asia’s largest trade fair for the architecture and interior design industry. The company, recognized by its brand ‘Hindware’, a household name in India, prides itself on the constant innovation and reinvention
Snapdeal Announces its Curated Christmas Store Snapdeal's Christmas store has a range of festive gifts, X-Mas decor and eclectic products - all put together at prices that will make you smile.The store features a wide range of products covering everything you might possibly like to buy - for yourselves, your home, gifts for your friends, families and even your pets.While the store has an extensive selection of traditional items like Christmas wreaths
Total Unveils ‘Hi-Perf’ with an Unique Mix of New Age and Traditional Marketing Tools Total Oil India Private Limited (TOIPL), an integrated energy producer and provider and a leading oil and gas company in India, has launched Total Hi—Perf an integrated 360 marketing campaign for its new range of high performing motorcycle engine oils
KOR Energy Bags Orders from 4 (four) U.P Based Companies for 2.8MWp Rooftop Solar Power Plants KOR Energy (India) Pvt. Ltd. a solar power company has bagged orders from four (4) companies for rooftop solar plants in the industrial area of Uttar Pradesh. Of the total 2.8MWp, 1200KWp rooftop solar plant is being installed at Apollo Metalax Ltd. at Secunderabad Industrial Area - Bulandshahr, 1200KWp rooftop solar plant will be installed at Apollo Pipes Ltd. at their plant at Dadri Industrial Area -
Ajax Fiori Announces Expansion of Bangalore Operations with an Investment Outlay of INR 1000 Million Leading concreting equipment solutions provider, Ajax Fiori today reiterated its focus on India as a key manufacturing hub by announcing the expansion of its operations at Doddaballapur & Gowribidanur, near Bangalore in Karnataka. The expansion will include a new world class manufacturing facility at Doddaballapur and expansion of its existing manufacturing facility at Gowribidanur.
Thane's most Coveted Residential Project Hosts One of the Biggest Hollywood Celebrity Trainers Staying true to its philosophy of bringing best-in-class global partners to India, Lodha Group has partnered with Ramona Braganza, Hollywood’s leading celebrity fitness trainer, to offer her world renowned 3-2-1 fitness regime. The holistic fitness programme aimed at burning fat, increase stamina, flexibility and manage stress is being offered exclusively to the Lodha Luxuria Priva residents. Voted as
Paisabazaar.com Sources the Biggest Ever Single Unsecured Loan of Rs. 75 Lakh for Kotak Mahindra Bank India’s No.1 Marketplace for loans and cards, today announced it has sourced an unsecured business loan of Rs. 75 lakh – its biggest ever in the unsecured product category. The loan, applied from the Paisabazaar.com platform, was provided by Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Tickets for "OnePlus 5T Star Wars Limited Edition" Launch Event Sold Out in 60 Seconds OnePlus, a global mobile technology company, set yet another record as tickets to the OnePlus 5T Star Wars Limited Edition launch event were sold out in under 60 seconds. The tickets that went live at 10:00 AM today for the launch event at IMAX Wadala in Mumbai on Paytm were purchased by our community.
ixigo Honours Indian Heroes With a Fund Raise Campaign on Armed Forces Flag Day To commemorate the Indian Armed Forces, on 7th December 2017, India’s leading travel marketplace, ixigo will be running a day long campaign. As a part of this campaign, ixigo will be contributing Rs. 100 from each flight and train booking made on the platform on that day towards the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund. ixigo urges travellers to make their travel bookings on this day to help with this noble cause.
MP Birla Cement and Mohun Bagan Athletic Club Come Together MP Birla Cement, the umbrella brand of the Cement Division of Birla Corporation Limited, flagship Company of the MP Birla Group, will partner Mohun Bagan Athletic Club for the coming football season of 2017-18. The relationship has started with the launch of Hero I-League on 21 November 2017. Mohun Bagan’s big derby match against East Bengal will be on 3rd December 2017. The partnership will cover all tournaments that Mohun Bagan will
Nuvoco Wins the FICCI CSR Jury Award for Women Empowerment Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd. (formerly Lafarge India Limited) one of the leading building materials manufacturers bagged the FICCI CSR Special Jury Commendation Award for the year 2016 - 17 in the women empowerment category at the 16th edition of FICCI CSR Award ceremony held at New Delhi. They were awarded for their project ‘Samridhi’, which has brought about economic empowerment of women in the community by engaging them in sustainable sou
CASHe Launches Fintech Industry's First Distributed Ledger Based Smart Contract Tokens at Global Entrepreneurship Summit Aeries Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a fintech company promoted by serial entrepreneur and private equity investor Mr. V. Raman Kumar, today announced that it has built a Smart Contract-based Distributed Ledger Technology
Subway Launches Winter Feast with Classy Combos fans in India will get to relish some of the brand's core, premium international submarine sandwiches (subs) this winter as part of a limited period combo offer running across all its restaurants in India. Subway® Classy Combos would allow guests to go international with their cravings providing them a truly global flavour-platter to choose from. The three-piece Classy Combo will comprise
Industry Risk Review by Alea Consulting on Defence Sector in India The Indian Army is amongst the top 4 largest armies in the world. In 2015-16 it imported US$5.5 billion of defence equipment to meet approximately 70% of its requirements.
India is executing defence projects using indigenous technologies and skills, including Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (artillery modernization), Basic Trainer Aircraft HTT-40 developed by HAL, indigenous naval systems viz. ABHAY, HUMSA UG, NACS and AIDS
24MRC Network Felicitated the Winners of 2017 Leaders Awards FASTEST GROWING BRAND FOR MICRO FINANCE OF THE YEAR” - ATULYA NIRMAN MICROFINANCE ASSOCIATION, “MOST ADMIRED BRAND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT OF THE YEAR
Finally, the Black Friday Sale Truly Arrives in India Last year, 150 million+ shoppers around the world shopped for the World's best deals on Black Friday! However, barring the adventurous few, Indians have missed this landmark sale event.
Coverfox Opens Up its Technology for Agents and Micro Entrepreneurs Online insurance broker Coverfox.com, has announced the launch of Coverdrive – a mobile app that allows individuals, including insurance agents, to sell insurance via its seller platform. With this app, Coverfox has opened the doors to its proprietary technology to almost 26 Lakh insurance agents and potential micro-entrepreneurs.
Online Hotel Booking Company, MiStay, Raises Funding from Axilor and Others MiStay, an online hotel booking company based out of Bangalore, raises funding from Axilor Ventures and a group of angel investors. MiStay allows booking hotel rooms by pack of hours with flexible check-in/check-out times. The funds will be utilized in growing the team, marketing and scaling up operations across India. MiStay was part of Axilor's Winter
Home Credit India Completes First-Ever Consumer Durables Loan Securitization, Raises INR 1.53 Billion Home Credit India Finance Pvt. Ltd, one of India’s fastest growing non-banking financial company (NBFC) and part of The Czech Republic-based Home Credit Group, has raised INR 1.53 billion in a first-ever securitization transaction of consumer durable asset loan receivables by the company in India.
Tata Capital Investment Banking Advises on Acquisition of Spectro Analytical Labs by Eurofins Scientific Tata Capital’s Investment Banking division has successfully advised on the acquisition of Spectro Analytical Labs (“Spectro”), a leading environment and analytical product testing and inspection company in India, by Eurofins Scientific (“Eurofins”), one of the global leaders in bioanalytical testing.
UAE Exchange India Awarded for Business Excellence Award More than Once UAE Exchange India is a legendary financial institution through decades of expertise in serving the customer with financial services, molding a company into best financial service provider of the nation. As a recognition for outstanding performance company has been honored with the awards for ‘Business Excellence’.
Speaking about the network expansion Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir said “The induction of four new aircraft will cater to the enhanced seasonal demand whilst offering flexibility to customers with more flight options to choose from.
OnMobile's Consumer Brand ONMO Sweeps Transform Awards in New York with 5 Wins ONMO, the sound based communication brand of OnMobile Global Limited, swept the Transform Awards North America 2017 with 5 wins including the Best Overall Visual Identity. Hosted by Transform Magazine, the awards recognize excellence in rebranding, brand development and the journey brands make.Apart from winning the Best Overall Visual Identity,
Virat Kohli Joins Hands with Ola in its Campaign against Pollution and Congestion in Delhi-NCR With Delhi-NCR battling smog and heavy air pollution levels over the past week, Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation, has kicked off the fourth leg of its year-long campaign, #FarakPadtaHai. The campaign was launched on 5th June, on World Environment Day to raise awareness for congestion and pollution issues and encourage adoption of shared mobility.
Prudent Launches Online Empanelment Process for IFAs Prudent Corporate Advisory Services Ltd. (Prudent) has launched online empanelment process for IFAs. Now, IFAs can become Prudent Partnerby following 5 simple steps. The process is completely paperless and IFAs can immediately start their business with Prudent.Prudent, through its dedicated portal Prudent Connect, provides online platform to IFAs to grow and expand their business.Advantage Prudent:Ideally
Morepen Labs Reports 24 Per cent Jump in its Q2 Net Profit Backed by Lower Interest Cost and Improved Home Diagnostics’ Sales Highlights Q2 FY 2017-18
Net profit rises by 24 per cent at Rs. 10.37 Crore.
Net Sales Revenue declines marginally by 3 per cent at Rs. 136.43 crore.
Domestic Sales are up by 34.4 per cent at Rs. 101.91 crore.
Exports turnover stood at Rs. 34.52 crore.
Interest burden drops further down by 38 per cent at Rs. 1.29 crore.
Omkar Realtors Resorts to Novel EOI Sales Strategy through a Record 3,000 Channel Mumbai-based Omkar Realtors & Developers, a leading player in city’s redevelopment and luxury residential space known for its innovative customer-centric offerings, is back to stir the city’s real estate market with a novel, first-of-its-kind sales offerings for its upcoming residential project near Andheri on the Western Express Highway. This new project consisting of 1200 plus apartments (phase 1) will be Mumbai
ITC Limited - Hotels Division Conferred the 2017 Greenbuild Leadership Award by the U.S. Green Building Council for its Commitment to the Green Building Movement in India ITC Hotels has been presented with the ‘2017 Greenbuild Leadership Award’ in the Occupants category by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), creators of the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design)
Home Credit India Completes Second Two-wheeler Loan Securitisation, Raises INR 453 Million Home Credit India Finance Pvt. Ltd. one of India’s fastest growing non-banking financial company (NBFC) and part of Home Credit Group B.V., has raised INR 453 million in another unique two-wheeler loan securitization transaction. This is the second successful two-wheeler loan securitization deal done by the Indian arm of Home Credit Group this year.
Franchise India Collaborates with Chicken Xpress and Snap Fitness Franchise India is collaborating with two new brands - Chicken Xpress and Snap Fitness – to help them create and expand their footprint in the country through the franchise model.
OYO Continues to Gain High Market Share Despite its Hotel-only Focus Against Traditional Players: Kalagato Report OYO, India’s largest hospitality chain, continues to power its growth momentum emerging as a successfully differentiated offering in the hotels—booking space. According to a recently released report by Kalagato,
Clarivate Analytics has Announced the India Research Excellence - Citation Awards 2017 Clarivate Analytics, the global leader in trusted insights and analytics for research and innovation, has announced the 6th edition of the India Research Excellence – Citation Awards to recognize and honour research excellence in the country.
Hero MotoCorp Strikes a Goal with Hero World Bike Contest During FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 As the football fever gripped the nation, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, the World’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer and the National Supporter of the recently concluded FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, introduced an exciting Hero World Bike contest to further delight the football fans
Total Launches New Integrated Campaign for Quartz Engine Oil Total, a leading international Oil and Gas Company has recently launched an integrated campaign for their product “Quartz” a car engine oil. Total rolls out this integrated campaign through various initiatives on Digital, Radio and OOH in phases. The OOH campaign has started and it will continue till November in 15 cities, across 550 vantage points and 23 malls. The Digital campaign will go live in association with TVF (The Viral Feve
NIIT Announces Strategic Initiative to Drive Cultures of Service Excellence across Organizations Worldwide NIIT Limited, a global leader in Skills and Talent Development, entered into a strategic partnership with UP! Your Service, the global leader in creating cultures of service excellence worldwide. Founded by Ron Kaufman, the globally renowned Service Culture Consultant, UP! Your Service works with organizations across the world, equipping them with customer service principles, training tools
Global Market Leader in Automotive Lighting OSRAM Unveils High Performance Automotive Lighting Product Range Customized for India Market OSRAM India, a wholly owned subsidiary of OSRAM GmbH (Germany), one of the world’s leading lighting manufacturer and the world market leader in automotive lighting, today announced the launch of its new range of high performance
Kellogg India Launches Chocos Fills Kellogg India, country’s leading breakfast cereal maker, has announced the launch of Kellogg’s Chocos Fills. It’s a unique offering which can be eaten both as a breakfast cereal and as a snack. Available in a 32 gm pack priced at Rs. 20/- and a 250 gm pack at Rs. 185/-, Kellogg’s Chocos Fills is now available in major general and modern trade outlets across all markets in the country. Kellogg’s Chocos Fills is a crunchy cereal snack with a delicious chocolaty
HDFC Ltd Financial Results for the Half-year Ended September 30, 2017 Standalone and Consolidated | The Board of Directors of Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) announced its unaudited standalone and consolidated financial results for the first half of the financial year 2017-18, following its meeting on Monday, October 30, 2017 in Mumbai. The accounts have been subjected to a limited review by the Corporation’s statutory auditors in line with the regulatory guidelines.
Eight schools and six housing societies of Kolkata received the second Daan Utsav Samman at a befitting ceremony at G D Birla Sabhagar, Kolkata, for notable contributions in the areas of Environment, Healthcare, Education and Community Welfare, among others.
Hyundai Expand Sits Network in Pune | Hyundai Motor India Ltd. the country's second largest passenger car manufacturer and the number one exporter since inception, today inaugurated its new Dealerships & Workshop, Neel Hyundai to further strengthen & enhance its Sales & Service network in Pune.The new dealerships Neel Hyundai in Hadapsar would be catering the customer's needs for sales and service.
Aman announces a new urban sanctuary in the world’s greatest city: Aman New York, scheduled to open in 2020. The property, located on Manhattan Island, will blend the pulse of the city with the soul of Aman, joining the much-lauded Aman
India’s biggest conference on Software-Defined Networking and Network Functions Virtualization ‘SDN & NFV India Congress 2017’ is set to showcase the rapidly growing and massively influential SDN and NFV developments in Indian Telecommunications sector.
Espark-Viridian, a startup accelerator for early and growth seeking startups in-association with Headstart Network Foundation, announced Marketyard Agrisolutions from Pune as the winner of its - SmartUp 2017, a pan-India B-plan Competition
Tata Value Homes Launches 'Offer of the Century' with 99 Hours Flash Sale on Affordable Homes ata Value Homes - a 100 % subsidiary of Tata Housing - one of the leading real estate development companies in India, today announced the launch of ‘99 hours flash sale’ on Tata Value Homes across India. Through this offer, Tata Value Homes will enable customers to own their dream home with 99 percent funding by select banks. The scheme is applicable on the first 99 units across the projects and for a l
Internationally Successful Customs Transit System TIR to be Implemented in India Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Commissioner (Customs & EP), Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) interacted with the participants of the Stakeholder Consultation on TIR System organized by FICCI in association with the International Road Transport Union (IRU), Geneva in preparation for the Implementation of TIR System in India.
AxisDirect Website Bags the DMA India Award 2017 in the Best Web/E-Commerce AxisDirect, the retail broking arm of the leading BFSI player Axis Securities Limited, was honored with the coveted DMA India Awards 2017 in the Best Web/E-Commerce Category. The award was conferred to AxisDirect for their innovative approach in developing a simple, user-friendly and informative website which makes investments easy and hassle-free for its client
Four Plants of Ruchi Soya Honoured with Coveted National Safety Awards Ruchi Soya has been recognized for its initiatives and implementation of safety measures with four of its plants receiving the coveted National Safety Awards. The National Safety Awards are awarded by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India in acknowledgement of safety initiatives and recognition of outstanding safety performance at a national level. The awards were distributed by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwa
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, has launched Connected Clinical Trials (CCT), an innovative Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that enables pharmaceutical companies to significantly transform patient engagement in clinical trials and improve the efficiency and accountability of the clinical supply process.
MobiKwik Launches Festive Brand Campaign, 'Paisa Bana Powerful' MobiKwik’s new brand campaign, ‘Paisa Bana Powerful’ promises more value for every rupee to its 65 million users. This festive season, users will get at least 5% Supercash on every transaction on MobiKwik app and BSNL-MobiKwik app. Over 2 million merchants, pan-India are powered by MobiKwik for digital
GNC Strengthens its Presence in India GNC (General Nutrition Centre), headquartered in Pittsburgh, US, and a leading global specialty health, wellness, and nutraceuticals retailer, is strengthening its presence in India through its association with Guardian Healthcare, the official importer and seller of GNC products in India.
ICICI Bank Commits Rs. 10 Crore to the Indian Armed Forces ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, today committed a financial assistance of Rs. 10 crore to the Indian Armed Forces. The contribution, payable in two equal tranches this year and next year, will be utilised towards welfare activities and betterment of the families of ex—servicemen who have lost their lives guarding the nation. Ms. Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank today handed over a cheque worth
GVK MIAL Bags National Awards for Excellence in CSR and Sustainability at the National CSR Leadership Congress & Awards 2017 Adding to its extensive list of laurels, GVK MIAL, the company that administers Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), bagged the ‘Best Overall Excellence in CSR’ and ‘Best Sustainability Report’ awards at the National CSR Leadership Congress & Awards organised by the World CSR Congress. The esteemed awards were presented to GVK MIAL at a grand ceremony
OMEGA Announces Kaia and Presley Gerber as its Newest Brand Ambassadors OMEGA is proud to announce that Cindy Crawford’s son and daughter, Presley and Kaia Gerber, have become the newest members of its family of brand ambassadors.Cindy Crawford has been one of OMEGA’s most iconic representatives for over 20 years. Cindy joined OMEGA in 1995, becoming the brand’s very first ambassador. She instantly immersed herself in the company, providing ideas for a new Constellation collection and helping to
WittyFeed Bags Two Awards at the First ‘Digipub Awards’ for Online Publishers Wittyf World’s second largest and India’s largest viral content marketing company came out as the big winner at the first Digipub Awards with two honors. The Digipub Awards is India's first such initiative to reward inspiring initiatives by websites in English and Indian languages, across a spectrum of parameters. The award ceremony was a part of Digipub World Conference, a two-day convention for web publishers which
Independent Research Firm Names CSS Corp as a 'Strong Performer' in Customer CSS Corp, a new-age IT services and technology support company, has been recognized as a “strong performer” in The Forrester Wave™: Customer Analytics Service Providers, Q3 2017. The report evaluates and rates the top customer analytics service providers globally on a 33-criteria scale. Brandon Purcell- Senior Analyst serving Customer Insights professionals at Forrester Research
Sony Pictures Networks Latest PSA Implores you to Serve your Nation by Maintaining a Discipline of Cleanliness Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, an urgent call to action for citizens across the country to strive for civic cleanliness and put an end to open defecation, Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) is rallying support with its latest Public Service Announcement (PSA), ‘Gandagi jaan leva hai, Swachhta hi seva hai’ This PSA features some of India’s leading entertainment
Polaroid Eyewear, inventor of the original polarized lenses and symbol of pop culture for millions of people around the world, unveiled its Fall/ Winter 2017 eyewear collection with brand ambassador Anushka Sharma and Kyriakos Kofinas, Senior Business leader India Middle East Africa & Latin America for Safilo Group in Mumbai today. Amplifying the grandeur of Polaroid since last 80 years, the brand is now all set to dedicate their new collection to lifestyle trend setters.
Sony Pictures Networks India Celebrates its Fourth Consecutive Win at the SHRM India HR Excellence Awards Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), India’s leading entertainment and sports broadcast network has been recognised for the fourth consecutive year as an employer with the Best Health and Wellness Initiatives. Awarded by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
Bajaj Finance Witnessed a Sharp Rise in EMI Card User base in 12 months Bajaj Finserv’s lending arm Bajaj Finance witnessed a rise in EMI card user base in past 12months. EMI card user base grew from 7.2 million to 9.8 million adding 2million new users. Company also witnessed a surge in the consumer finance business driven through No cost EMI option provided on consumer durable, digital and lifestyle products. Bajaj Finance’s consumer finance business now constitutes 41 per cent of the total loa
Rana Kapoor Recognized as ‘Global Business Leader of the Year’ Mr. Rana Kapoor, MD & CEO, YES BANK and Chairman, YES Global Institute has been recognized as the ‘Global Business Leader of the Year’ at NRI World Summit & Pride of India Awards 2017 organized by NRI Institute at the House of Lords, London.
Mastering the 'Modern Software Factory' Helps Companies Achieve Higher Revenue Mastering modern software development by building a ‘Modern Software Factory’ is at the heart of business success in the digital economy, according to the results of a survey of over 1,200 IT leaders released today by CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) and conducted by industry analyst firm Freeform Dynamics.
Tata Housing Wins ‘Project of the Year’ at Project Management Institute (PMI) India Awards 2017 Tata Housing – India’s leading real estate development company, bagged the ‘Project of the Year’ title at the prestigious Project Management Institute (PMI) India Awards 2017. This award was presented to Myst, a joint venture between Tata Housing and Impact Projec
Bajaj Finserv's Festive Season Offer - Affordable Home Loans at Lowest Interest Rates Home loan aspirants have another reason to cheer this festival season with cheaper home loan by Bajaj Finserv. All home loans applicants, availing a loan above Rs. 25 lakh will get a 50% waiver on the loan processing fee. What makes this proposition more attractive to the home loan applicants is that the 50% waiver complements the lowest interest rates on home loan at 8.35% on loan amount above Rs. 75 lakh. Baj
Bajaj Finserv Offers Lowest Interest Rate on Home Loan and Rewards on Personal Loan Bajaj Finserv, through its lending arm, Bajaj Finance Ltd, this festive season will offer lowest interest rate of 8.35% on a home loan of Rs. 75lakhs and above. The company is also rewarding personal loan applicants with Amazon vouchers ranging between Rs. 1000 to Rs. 5000.Applicants opting for a home loan amount of Rs. 50lakhs to 74.99lakhs
Daily Staples from Daawat Devaaya Now Offer up to Rs. 75 Paytm Cash Devaaya, owned by LT Foods Ltd., one of the country’s premium basmati and flour brand has announced its partnership with Paytm, India’s largest mobile payments and commerce platform to launch an exclusive offer for its consumers. Paytm customers can now buy any of the products under the Devaaya brand and get a cashback up to Rs. 75.
NIIT Earns Twenty Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards Jointly with Customers NIIT Limited, a leading provider of managed training services announced today that it has been awarded twenty Brandon Hall Group awards for excellence jointly with its customers for the second consecutive year. NIIT won eight gold awards, three silver awards, and nine bronze awards in various categories. Now entering its 23rd year, the Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards Program is the most prestigious awards prog
OPPLE Launches LED EcoMax HPB OPPLE Lighting, a Chinese multinational lighting corporation and one of the world’s leading lighting brands today launched a new product, LED EcoMax High Power Bulb, a magnificent breakthrough in the sphere of professional and domiciliary lightning. It is considered to be their most revolutionary product in terms of energy efficient luminaries.
After a highly successful Tyre Care & Safety campaign at Honda Cars India at their Greater Noida plant earlier this year, Honda Cars invited ATMA and ITTAC to hold a similar activity at their Tapukara (Rajasthan) plant for the benefit of Honda Cars employees. Service engineers from ATMA member companies inspected tyres of the cars parked, held interactive seminars with employees for safe tyre care practices and distributed free literature.
Alliances Galore Plugs Dining Offers to the Samsung Pay Platform Alliances Galore, the leading aggregator for Merchant Offers, has conceptualized a string of offers from some of the leading names in the Dining space on Samsung Pay, Samsung’s revolutionary payments platform. These offers will further reward customers using Samsung Pay.An ever-changing, dynamic and evolutionary
Bajaj Finserv Offers Assured Vouchers on Personal Loans Bajaj Finserv, one of the most diversified financial companies in India, through its lending arm, Bajaj Finance Ltd is offering prepaid vouchers to all customers who avail personal loan in the period of 1st to 4th September, 2017. The customers will get an assured voucher worth Rs. 14000 on a loan amount of Rs. 12 Lakhs & above. Those availing a personal loan between Rs. 8 lakhs to 11.99 Lakhs will be eligible for a gift voucher of Rs. 10,0
Dig in to the Fragrant Fusion of Maacher Jhol! The much-awaited Bengali film, Maacher Jhol is now releasing in key metros like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR, Bangalore and Ahmedabad on 1st September 2017. Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) and Mojo Productions’ latest offering, written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Pratim D. Gupta, is a heart-warming journey of an internationally renowned Masterchef struggling to cook the quintessential Bengali dish, Maacher Jhol (fish curry).The film which
HCL Foundation Signs MoU with District Administration of Gautam Budh Nagar HCL Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of HCL Technologies Ltd, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the District Administration of Gautam Budh Nagar for ‘My School’ Project – a unique initiative by HCL, to improve the quality of education in 35 government schools of Noida. This MoU is a long-term commitment towards provision of quality education to children studying in these schools. Imp
Magicbricks PropIndex Reveals Positive Signs for Real Estate Especially in Southern MarketsThe latest real-estate research report by Magicbricks titled PropIndex for April-June 2017 quarter reveals a positive outlook for the realty market in India in the coming months. According to the report, real estate sector in India may see a strong turnaround in 2017 as 55% of the 750 localities across 14 major cities witnessed an average price increment of 2.8% in April-June 2017 quarter. At city level, H
The Tata Social Internship 2017 Hosts 15 International Students in India Grass-root level exposure to India provided to international students through sustainability projects of Tata companies
Students from leading universities – University of California, Berkeley, USA; University of California, Davis, USA; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA; London School of Economics and Political Science, UK; and University of Cambridge, UK – participate
Launched in 2008, Tata Social Internship has
YASH Offers New SAP-qualified Rapid-deployment Solution for HR Innovation YASH Technologies, a global leader in SAP® SuccessFactors® solution deployments and support, announced that SAP has qualified its rapid-deployment solution. As customers across industries seek to fuel transformation and innovation of their Global HR function, YASH’s rapid-deployment solution will help unleash the power of SAP SuccessFactors software for its global clients, while enabling quick and affordable adoption.“
Tata Power JV synchronizes 186 MW Georgia Hydro Project in Record Time Tata Power, India's largest integrated power company, through Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC (AGL), its joint venture with Norway's Clean Energy Invest AS Norway (Clean Energy) and IFC InfraVentures (IFC), a member of the World Bank group, today, announced the synchronization of its 186 MW Shuakhevi Hydro Power Project (HPP) in record time. Further, Tata Power has commenced stabilization procedures to ensure smooth operations. The


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Carrols Restaurant Group to Spin-Off of Fiesta Restaurant Group
04/26/2012 – Syracuse, N.Y. – Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors has given final approval to the spin-off of Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc. (“Fiesta”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary that operates the Pollo Tropical® and Taco Cabana® restaurant businesses. The spin-off will be completed through a tax-free dividend of the common stock of Fiesta to Carrols’ stockholders.
The distribution of the Fiesta common stock is expected to occur on May 7, 2012, with each Carrols’ stockholder receiving one share of Fiesta common stock for every share of Carrols common stock held of record at the close of business today, April 26, 2012, which will be set as the record date of the distribution.
Carrols Restaurant Group has received a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service with respect to the tax-free status of the distribution Fiesta Restaurant Group’s registration statement on Form 10 was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 25, 2012.
The common stock of Fiesta Restaurant Group will begin trading on a “when issued” basis on The NASDAQ Global Select Market on April 26, 2012 under the symbol “FRGI” and will begin trading on a “regular way” basis on May 8, 2012. Carrols Restaurant Group common stock will continue to trade on The NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “TAST.”
Carrols Restaurant Group is Burger King Corporation’s largest franchisee with 297 Burger King® restaurants as of April 1, 2012 and has operated Burger King restaurants since 1976. According to the Associated Press and Syracuse.com, the closing of the Fiesta Restaurant Spin-Off clears the way for the group to buy 278 additional company-owned Burger King® restaurants for a $15.8 million stake in its company.
Fiesta Restaurant Group owns and operates the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana restaurant businesses with 243 company-owned and operated restaurants at April 1, 2012 and 38 franchised restaurants in the United States, Puerto Rico, and internationally.
- LA’s Flagship Food Group To Acquire UK Based Atlantic Foods Group Flagship Food Group is a diversified food and consumer products company supplying frozen, shelf-stable, and fresh products into both the retail and food service markets.
- National Restaurant Association Projecting 448,000 Summer Jobs According to the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant industry is the nation's second-largest creator of summer jobs.
- Campbell to Acquire Plum Organics, Entering the Premium Baby Food Category Campbell Soup Company expects to close on the acquisition of Plum Organics by the fourth quarter of their 2013 fiscal year.
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On Thursday the FCC published the official text of the Open Internet Order, which, until then, was unseen by the public. The first focus of the order, as previously explained by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, is to eliminate three practices deemed exceedingly harmful to a free internet: blocking, throttling and paid prioritzation.
That is, customers must get any service they paid for, in its fullest form, and must not be charged in a way that favors particular content. "A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service... shall not block lawful content, applications, services, or nonharmful devices, subject to reasonable network management," the order states.As a lawful application, HBO Go should be available on customers' devices. But Comcast customers have frequently complained on Comcast forums that HBO Go won't work on Sony consoles –– the issue began with the app's PS3 launch in March of last year, and persisted on PS4 earlier this month.
The FCC "reasonable network management" exception mentioned in the above rule states that a provider may block or throttle a service or app, so long as it has a technical justification for doing so, and doesn't relate to business decisions. So, if Comcast has a "network management" reason for blocking the app, then it may be considered an exception to the rules.
But in a Feb. 18 forum response, a Comcast employee said "HBO Go availability on PS3 (and some other devices) are business decisions and deal with business terms that have not yet been agreed to between the parties." If the decision is indeed based on business matters, and not technical issues, as Comcast says, then the provider might not have regulatory power over HBO Go on Sony consoles.
To be clear, there could be any number of specific deals or obligations between Sony, Comcast or HBO to consider. Matt Wood, legal expert and policy director for Free Press, a group that pushed strongly for the recent net neutrality rules, said there may be contractual agreements (or disagreements) between HBO and Comcast that could prevent the app from working under the provider. But he also said it's an anti-consumer practice.
"We think it's a problem with Comcast being so big," Wood told IGN. "Just because they say 'No, no, we have a really good reason,' I don't trust it at face value. I don't know what to pin it on. It might be some licensing issue, and not Comcast just up-and-deciding to block it so people watch it on some other device. But bottom line, it's limiting viewers' choices."While Comcast said business negotations are ongoing in the aforementioned forum post, Sony declined to comment on whether any such deals are taking place.
IGN also asked an HBO representative why Comcast might be blocking the app, to which HBO responded: "Only they can speak to it."
Considering the HBO Go app works for Xbox owners who have Comcast, IGN asked for Microsoft's perspective on any possible contractual obligations. Microsoft declined to comment.
Last week, IGN emailed Comcast for comment on why the company blocks the HBO Go app on Sony platforms. While they declined to comment about that issue directly, a Comcast spokesperson told IGN "there is no shortage in the number of ways for our customers to access their content across the devices and platforms of their choice." Comcast also pointed out that it began authenticating HBO and Showtime on Roku last December –– but that was only after Roku filed an official complaint to the FCC.
After the Open Internet rules were published Thursday, IGN sent Comcast a follow-up email to see if the company had anything to add. The provider declined to comment further, but pointed toward its recent blog post.
"The issue relating to authenticating HBO Go on Playstation 4 is nothing more than a purely commercial issue – it is not an Open Internet issue," Comcast said. "Comcast’s authentication of HBO Go isn’t remotely related to the Open Internet requirements, which address how Comcast provides broadband Internet access service to its retail customers, not whether Comcast shares its cable customers’ credentials with third parties. Even more important, the issue has no connection to this transaction at all."
Mike Mahardy is a freelance journalist writing for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @mmahardy.
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The Metaverse Finally Has Some Legs to Stand on
The dreamers have long talked the talk. Will they now walk the walk?
Today, I woke up to some bad news.
My favorite dunk on Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse — the idea that we’ll adopt floating Wii avatars that forgot to bring their legs into the digital world — will soon end.
Pass the tissues. Is my writing career going to hit the skids?
The company announced the update among a host of features during its Connect 2022 conference, which many attendees joined using the Oculus 2 headset. First, there was a new ‘pro’ headset (priced at a whopping $1500) that will be aimed towards creators and businesses. There were grand plans to build out the VR ecosystem and improve integration with “real world” apps like Instagram, meaning users could share videos from the Metaverse across social media.
The conference also provided a loose roadmap for what’s to come, which is essential if Metaverse creators are going to convince the world to stay excited about something years away from fruition. Meta is inventing new tech. It’s experimenting with the entry-point devices, aiming to build Google Glasses, but better. It’s making expensive deals with giants like Microsoft to integrate Teams, Office, Windows, and Xbox into Horizon’s VR world. A new project called Magic Room — proclaimed as the future of meetings — will one day allow interaction regardless of devices or headsets, allowing people and avatars to mix.
In sum, there was some good stuff here.
But then came the real announcement.
“I think everyone has been waiting for this,” Zuckerberg joked during the keynote.
Yup, legs are now on the roadmap. I repeat. Your Metaverse overlord is going to grant you your legs back.
In the strangest statement you’ll read today, Meta notes, “Legs will roll out to [Horizon] Worlds first, so we can see how it goes. Then we’ll begin bringing legs…


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The National Bank of Ukraine, jointly with PrivatBank, has set up a simplified method for transferring funds into the account of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine for humanitarian purposes.
“A convenient method to remit funds from a payment card through a PrivatBank service is now available on the NBU’s website for all those wanting to help the people who have borne the brunt of the suffering that Russia has inflicted by starting this war,” said NBU Deputy Governor Oleksii Shaban.
You can help the victims of Russian aggression by making a transfer from a payment card of any bank in any country (except for the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus), and the funds will be wired into the special account of Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy.
All methods and payment details for making remittances are available here: https://bank.gov.ua/en/about/humanitarian-aid-to-ukraine
Our gratitude goes out to all those who stand with Ukraine!


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A link for something called Chromecast has been showing up sporadically today in the “About Devices” page of the “Google Play” support section on Google. We’re not sure whether or not it’s going to be an official moniker for a device or service, but it certainly has a catchy name.
Update: The Chromecast device has been made official, and this is it.
Speculation has swung from it being the name of a new generation of AppleTV-like set-top boxes to it being a simple HDMI/Wi-Fi/content gateway adapter that would allow for cheap AirPlay-like connectivity between Google devices and HDTVs. It might also instead be a hybrid device-and-service thing, mashing up the likes of YouTube with other content providers like Netflix and Hulu to create a way for any HDTV to view any Web video content anytime – provided it somehow goes through a Google Play-connected device first.
But that's all conjecture; we have no way of knowing, as the link has since disappeared. It wasn’t available everywhere and to everyone (this writer was able to snag the above screengrab using a proxy server). When it was live it went to a “page not found” error.
A mystery product showing up on a support site a mere 24 hours before an announcement event – like the one Google has planned for tomorrow – means that we likely won’t have to wait long to find out exactly what Chromecast is. The idea of a “Chrome dongle” has been floating around the Androidosphere for awhile, and it could be that simple.
In related news, this writer was able to type the word “Androidosphere” without laughing out loud and will be changing his preferred DJ name to “Chrome Dongle”.


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Mother’s Day is just around the corner. And that means that people around the country are already preparing by purchasing gifts, planning parties or making dinner reservations to say thank you to and celebrate mothers. So how many are likely to celebrate Mother’s Day in some way this year? And how are they likely to celebrate the holiday?
In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 50% of respondents said that they are likely to buy gifts for their moms, grandmas or other relatives this Mother’s Day. Of those respondents, 57% said that they plan on purchasing Mother’s Day cards. 50% said that they’re likely to buy flowers. 29% plan on buying some sort of food items. 22% are likely to purchase home items as gifts. 18% are likely to give clothing or accessories. 9% plan to buy books or other types of entertainment. Another 9% plan to buy tech items or gadgets. 9% have other types of gifts in mind, such as gift cards. And 16% are still undecided.
When it comes to making those gift purchases, 42% said that Mother’s Day sales or promotions are at least somewhat likely to impact their buying decisions. And the most popular stores where respondents plan on doing their Mother’s Day shopping include Walmart, Amazon, Target, Macy’s the Hallmark Store, Kohl’s and various florists and flower shops.
However, buying gifts isn’t the only way for people to celebrate Mother’s Day. 36% of overall respondents said that they are likely to go out to eat in honor of Mother’s Day this year. 9% have travel plans. 6% plan to either host or attend a party. 5% plan to make or exchange homemade gifts. Another 5% plan to attend other types of events. And 8% have other plans such as simiply visiting or calling their moms.
You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.
What do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.
Results were collected on May 2 via AYTM’s online survey panel.


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Readers, employees distraught over Borders closing
Cheryl Crimmins choked back tears as she talked about the prospect of leaving her job selling books at the Borders Express in Hanover after 12 years.
“It’s a bad day,” said Crimmins, a manager who started at the Route 53 store when it was still called Walden books. “It’s like losing family.”
Executives at the Michigan-based Borders books chain announced Monday night that they are seeking to liquidate the company’s remaining 399 stores after an auction attempt failed to attract bidders. If approved by a bankruptcy judge, the move will leave dozens of booksellers on the South Shore jobless this fall while tearing a hole in the region’s community of avid book readers.
Borders’ remaining stores in Hanover and Kingston are slated to close by this September and will follow earlier rounds of closures that included locations in Braintree, Wareham and elsewhere in the state. The shuttered stores leave the region’s readers with relatively few options between Barnes & Noble and a handful of independent book stores.
“It’s a big disappointment, a tremendous loss,” said Sandy Higgins, a Middleboro resident who started shopping at the Kingston Borders after the store in Wareham closed earlier this year.
Many customers headed to the remaining Borders stores in Kingston and Braintree on Tuesday to cash in gift cards and Borders Bucks, the company’s reward program. Most said they’ll likely turn to Barnes & Noble or one of the region’s independent book stores once Borders has packed up and left, but were still sad to see the stores go.
“In a way, they were more like a small bookstore than a big chain,” said Pam Kennedy, a Duxbury resident and frequent shopper at the smaller Borders Express in Hanover.
The eight employees at the Hanover store had developed a dedicated following of customers who relied on their recommendations to find their next reads, customers said. Joey Mitchell, a book seller from Rockland who has been at the Hanover store for six years, once recommend the book “Hannah’s Dream” to so many customers that the author felt compelled to fly out from Oregon to make an appearance.
“We have an incredible fan base,” she said. “Each of us have our own followers.”
Theresa Vogel, a 21-year-old heading to the Borders in Hanover on her lunch break Tuesday, said she’d miss the convenience of having a book store down the street from the Hanover tech firm where she works. But she said she’s considering getting an e-reader, like Amazon’s Kindle, and prefers getting her books from her local public library in Quincy anyhow.
“I like my library,” she said. “Your taxes pay for it; you might as well use it.”
Other readers said they’re giving up on chain stores, but not old-fashioned books. Kennedy, who reads two to three books a week, said she plans on getting her reads at Westwinds Bookshop in Duxbury.
“It’s excellent, so I’m happy to give them business,” she said. “But I’m going to miss the convenience and selection of Borders.”
Neal Simpson may be reached at email@example.com.
READ MORE about Borders.


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What you need to know
- President Biden is expected to direct the FTC to create new 'Right to Repair' rules in the country.
- The rules could impact Apple's ability to restrict repairability on its devices.
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to direct the United States Federal Trade Commission to create new 'Right to Repair' rules that could impact companies like Apple.
As reported by Bloomberg, the order is expected to include "mobile phone manufacturers." If included, Apple may need to open more repair options to both third-party repair shops and customers themselves.
The directive from the President will come in the form of an executive order that is anticipated to be similar to 'Right to Repair' rules in the European Union.
While Apple has pushed back against Right to Repair in the past, the company has more recently opened up repairs to more providers and provided more documentation and official parts to repair shops. The company has maintained certain restrictions, however, citing consumer safety.
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iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!
Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.


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I was recently intrigued by the news surrounding the “bhad babie onlyfans leak.” As an avid follower of pop culture and digital platforms, this event caught my attention. The incident raises questions about privacy, security, and the potential consequences of leaked content in today’s online world.
For those unfamiliar with the situation, Bhad Babie, also known as Danielle Bregoli or the “Cash Me Outside” girl, made headlines when her OnlyFans account allegedly experienced a data breach. OnlyFans is a popular subscription-based platform where creators can share exclusive content with their fans for a fee. While the specifics of the leak are still unfolding, it serves as a reminder that even celebrities and influencers are not immune to cyber threats.
The bhad babie onlyfans leak brings up important discussions about consent and personal boundaries in the digital realm. We must ponder how leaks like these impact individuals’ perception of online privacy and trust in such platforms. It also highlights the need for enhanced security measures to protect content creators from falling victim to breaches that could potentially harm their careers or personal lives.
Who is Bhad Babie
Bhad Babie’s rise to fame
Bhad Babie, whose real name is Danielle Bregoli, first gained widespread attention in 2016 when she appeared on the popular talk show “Dr. Phil.” Her infamous catchphrase, “Cash me ousside, how ’bout dah?” went viral and instantly made her a controversial internet sensation. This unexpected fame propelled Bhad Babie into the spotlight at just 13 years old.
Following her appearance on the show, Bhad Babie capitalized on her newfound popularity by venturing into various entertainment avenues. She signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and released her debut single “These Heaux,” which surprisingly charted on the Billboard Hot 100. With this success under her belt, she continued to release music and collaborate with notable artists.
The controversy surrounding Bhad Babie
Despite achieving commercial success as a rapper, Bhad Babie has faced criticism for appropriating Black culture and using offensive language in her lyrics. Many argue that she has profited off of cultural stereotypes while disregarding the struggles faced by marginalized communities.
Additionally, Bhad Babie’s behavior outside of music has also sparked controversy. She has been involved in public feuds with other celebrities and found herself embroiled in legal issues. These incidents have further fueled debates about whether or not she should be given a platform or celebrated for her actions.
Exploring Bhad Babie’s OnlyFans leak
Recently, there was an unfortunate incident involving Bhad Babie’s OnlyFans account being hacked and leaked online. OnlyFans is a subscription-based platform where content creators can share exclusive material with their paying subscribers. While it remains unclear how this breach occurred, it highlights the potential risks associated with online platforms and personal security.
The leak of private content raises concerns about privacy invasion and unauthorized distribution of explicit material without consent. It serves as a reminder that even celebrities are vulnerable to online security breaches and the potential consequences of such incidents.
Bhad Babie OnlyFans Leak
The Impact of the OnlyFans Leak on Bhad Babie’s Career
The rise of OnlyFans has been a phenomenon in recent years, revolutionizing the way content creators monetize their work and connect with their fans. This online platform allows individuals to share exclusive content, ranging from photos and videos to personalized messages, in exchange for a subscription fee. However, as with any digital platform, it is not without its challenges.
One notable event that brought attention to OnlyFans was the leak involving Bhad Babie’s account. Bhad Babie, also known as Danielle Bregoli or “Cash Me Outside” girl, gained fame through her appearance on a popular talk show. She later joined OnlyFans to explore new avenues for her career and engage with her fanbase on a more intimate level.
Unfortunately, Bhad Babie experienced the negative side effects of being a public figure on an online platform when her OnlyFans account was compromised and leaked. This breach of privacy had significant consequences for both Bhad Babie and her career.
The impact of this leak can be seen from multiple angles. Firstly, it raised concerns about data security on platforms like OnlyFans. Users entrust their personal information and content to these platforms with the expectation that their privacy will be protected. Incidents like this undermine that trust and can have long-lasting repercussions for both creators and consumers.
Secondly, the leak generated widespread media attention around Bhad Babie’s involvement with OnlyFans. While some may argue that any publicity is good publicity, in this case, it exposed her to scrutiny and criticism from various sources. It highlighted societal debates surrounding adult content creation platforms like OnlyFans and further fueled discussions about consent, exploitation, and individual agency.


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Ronda Rousey Teases Mortal Kombat 11 Invitation Possibly
In any case, here's all the games coming to xbox game pass through at least the first part of january 2019. just cause 3, life is strange and more join xbox game pass. credit: avalanche studios. The xbox one games with gold line up for january 2019 is already burning hot. with the new year, microsoft released game of the year contender celeste free for subscribers of xbox live gold, as. Xbox one owners who subscribe to xbox game pass can play the life is strange series, ark: survival evolved, absolver, farming simulator 17 and more as of january 2019. Some big games are coming to xbox live gold subscribers in the new year, including celeste, far cry 2, and more. xbox one games with gold announced for january 2019 top new game releases. Xbox game pass games list: february 2020 games plus every xbox one, 360 and xbox live game currently available a complete list of games playable in netflix style service xbox game pass on xbox.
Xbox Game Pass Teases February 2019 Upcoming Games
Microsoft today announced the new titles that will be added to the list of games available through xbox game pass in january. the service offers access to over 100 games for $9.99 per month, but. Xbox game pass members have recently gotten a nice selection of new xbox one games to play at no additional charge. six new games landed on the service between january 3 10. Xbox game pass is microsoft's subscription service for xbox one owners. it's designed to be like a "netflix for games," where you pay a simple monthly rate and get access to loads of games for. Hi, xbox game pass friends! don’t want to freak you out, but we turned around today and suddenly there were even more games sitting on our desk. we’re going to need a bigger desk… and you’re going to need some free time, because there’s so many games on the way. we’re dropping four awesome games […]. Here are all the surprisingly great video games coming to 'xbox game pass' in september (2019) erik kain senior contributor opinions expressed by forbes contributors are their own.
Xbox Game Pass Adds We Happy Few Shadow Of Mordor And
But you can be so many other people thanks to january’s xbox game pass titles! we have many great games coming your way, in addition to the over 100 great games already included in your membership, that run the gamut from the punch in the feelings from the life is strange series (which we sneakily added over the holidays), to an actual punch. Xbox game pass january 2019 new additions it’s the start of a new month and that means there are some new titles coming to the xbox game pass. here’s the complete list of games coming. Xbox game pass teases six new games coming to the service. grant huff. january 28, 2019 7:22 pm est. news xbox one. xbox game pass teases six new games coming to the service. grant huff. The 8 most anticipated games coming to xbox one and windows 10 in 2019, and 10 more, too! ea access and origin access subscribers will get access to the anthem vip demo on january 25 27, 2019. New year, new games. these are the january 2019 titles worth mentioning on pc, ps4, xbox one, and nintendo switch. subscribe for more: http:// /gameranxtv.
Microsoft teases 'awesome' january xbox game pass additions that he had a chance to review the xbox game pass line up for january 2019 and that it was "awesome." xbox game pass games for. 31 big xbox one games coming in 2019. january 18 as the first proper numbered entry in the ace combat series in over a decade, ace combat 7 will finally be released in 2019, bringing that. They've now teased four more xbox game pass titles for february, as well as a final title for january. xbox game pass teases february's titles. by rebecca smith, 29 jan 2019. Xbox game pass: tekken 7, sword art online: fatal bullet and frostpunk coming soon. another set of xbox game pass games has sneaked onto the app's coming soon list, revealing launches in the. Coming this month to xbox game pass grand theft auto v was added to xbox game pass on console early on in january 2020, with the full rockstar game and all its updates being included on the service.


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Burst.com on April 17 followed up on its promise to countersue Apple, alleging patent infringement in documents filed in a San Francisco federal court.
Apple originally filed suitagainst Burst in January for declaratory relief, alleging patent invalidity or non-infringement. The two companies had been negotiating the issuance of a license to cover Apples iPod and iTunes products.
“Theres no question in the public record of who initiated these methodologies,” Bursts co-founder and CEO Richard Lang told Publish.com in January, referring to the several patents under contention. “We spent most of the 90s promoting these methodologies.”
Burst settled a patent and antitrust suit against Microsoft last year. Microsoft licensed Bursts patents and paid a lump sum of $60 million. Bursts technology now appears in Windows Media Player.


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Of all the ways to cut your electric bills, twisting in a CFL might just be the easiest. You don't have to build a backyard wind farm or set the thermostat so low you've got to sleep in down pajamas. Just replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs, which sap 75 percent less energy, and you could slash hundreds off your annual electricity expenses. And over the long haul you'll save on bulbs, too, because they last up to 10 times longer than incandescents.
It's that simple. And yet many of you aren't using CFLs. We know this because you told us so in a recent poll on our messageboards
. Among your gripes were slow start-up times, the greenish light CFLs cast, and their mercury content. But they don't deserve such a bad rap anymore, says sustainable lighting designer Mark Loeffler of New Haven, Connecticut. "The bulbs you buy today are far better than what was on the market just a few years ago," says Loeffler. No, they're still not ideal for every light fixture and application, but most of the big problems have been solved. Take, for example, the following concerns from your fellow readers.


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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has proposed to simplify the procedure for Turkish trucks’ transit through the territory of Azerbaijan. This means that even if the Turkish drivers lack visas or other appropriate documents, in respect of them penalties will not apply. The essence of the decision is not to abolish penalties, but to accelerate the process of entry of Turkish goods into the territory of Azerbaijan.
It should be noted that the President of Azerbaijan announced about this decision immediately after the meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held recently in Baku.
Azerbaijan can import into Russia Turkish goods under its guise, — says Dmitry Kuvalin, deputy director of the Institute of Economic Forecasting, the Russian Academy of Sciences.
«There are quite a few precedents. We remember how through Poland to Russia under the guise of the Polish beef was imported the low-quality South American meat. The con import can be carried out by changing the certificates and accompanying documents of imported goods,»- mentions Dmitry Kuvalin in his interview to RUSARMINFO.
Note: On November 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to ban charter air transportation between Turkey and Russia, from January 1 of 2016 it’s also prohibited to recruit Turkish nationals in Russia. Today it has become known that the ban includes Turkish products, such as chilled and frozen meat, cattle, poultry, dairy products, seafood, fruits and vegetables. After that, the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Alexander Tkachev announced that Turkish products could be replaced by goods from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Israel.


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Disney, reeling from the coronavirus, raises $6 billion in debt offering
Buffeted by the coronavirus outbreak, the Walt Disney Co. on Friday said it had raised nearly $6 billion in a debt offering.
The debt offering comes one week after Disney closed its domestic theme parks, suspended cruise ship sailings and pulled a high-profile movie release. The company is shoring up its debt structure amid the cascading effect of the global pandemic, including heightened fears of a recession that could slow the Burbank entertainment giant’s recovery.
Disney, in its regulatory filings, said it planned to use proceeds from the sale for “general corporate purposes,” including restructuring existing debt, making acquisitions, buying back shares or investing in its various business units. But the company cautioned investors about the economic damage from the coronavirus.
“The outbreak of the novel coronavirus ... and measures to prevent its spread are affecting our business in a number of ways, which should be considered in connection with an investment in the notes,” Disney said Friday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. “We have closed our theme parks; suspended our cruises and theatrical shows; delayed theatrical distribution of films both domestically and internationally; and experienced supply chain disruption and ad sales impacts.”
The latest updates from our reporters in California and around the world
Disney raised the money — $5.98 billion — Thursday through the sale of five sets of notes that will expire between 2025 and 2050, according to the filing. Interest rates on the notes range from 3.35% to 4.7%. The issuance is expected to be finalized Monday.
The debt offering comes just one year after Disney completed the $71-billion purchase of much of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger viewed the Fox takeover as a way to fortify his company for the streaming age, and the purchase greatly expanded Disney’s profile and its pipeline of movies and TV shows. Disney now owns the majority stake in streaming service Hulu, and the company has plans to sell that service directly to consumers along with its recently launched Disney+ streaming service and ESPN+.
But the blockbuster Fox deal more than doubled Disney’s debt, to nearly $48 billion.
In the wake of the global pandemic, ratings agencies have reassessed Disney’s credit rating. On Wednesday, Fitch Ratings downgraded Disney’s credit outlook to “negative” from “stable.”
The economic effect of the coronavirus has been devastating to the company. Disney’s theme parks are closed around the world, and its cruise ships are stuck in harbors.
Movie theater closures have erased another big source of revenue for the company because Walt Disney Studios relies heavily on its box office blockbusters. Disney had been banking on the release of the live action “Mulan” in late March, but now that won’t happen. Meanwhile, its longtime profit engine, ESPN, has been struggling to cobble together a compelling lineup after the mass cancellations of live sports. Analysts say ESPN could lose 80% of its advertising revenue.
Disney, in its filing, acknowledged that “there has been a disruption in creation and availability of content we rely on for our various distribution paths, including most significantly the cancellation of certain sports events and the shutting down of production of most film and television content.”
Investors have been worried that a recession could prevent a return to business as usual, as leisure spending is discretionary and households will have less income for such extras.
The global pandemic already is changing ways that media companies reach consumers. With movie theaters dark, Disney and other companies have sped up the release of big-budget movies into home entertainment.
On Friday, Disney announced that it would add Pixar’s recent release “Onward” to the Disney+ streaming service earlier than anticipated after the coronavirus disrupted its theatrical run. Disney also added “Frozen 2” to Disney+ three months earlier than planned.
The challenges follow a recent changing of the guard as longtime Chief Executive Bob Iger handed the day-to-day operations over to Bob Chapek, who had run Disney’s parks and attractions.
Disney’s stock tumbled 9.4% on Friday, or $8.95 a share, to $85.98. The stock has fallen 38% since Feb. 20, when the market began worrying about the economic toll of the coronavirus.
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In an effort to keep Barack Obama and his presidential suite using BlackBerry devices, chief executive officer John Chen has held recent talks with the White House.
“As part of my meeting customers I have briefed the White House from an IT perspective,” Chen said in an interview last week with Bloomberg Television in California.
“It’s just customer outreach—and they were nice enough to share some of their thoughts with me,” he added.
Chen says he has met with 100 clients since taking over as CEO in November as he refocuses BlackBerry on the enterprise.
Quoth the Financial Post:
Chen is trying to shore up the Canadian smartphone maker’s base of heavy e-mail users in government and business, clients who rely on the sophisticated encryption technology its software and servers provide. Last week, at a trade show in Barcelona, Chen revealed the Q20, a phone he calls the Classic because it brings back buttons dropped from recent models, and he introduced a more secure version of the BBM instant-messaging service.
Under Chen’s leadership, BlackBerry’s stock has surged 55%. However, BlackBerry is still valued at a small fraction of its 2008 peak.


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CmdrTaco from the this-is-never-going-to-end dept.
Digitus1337 writes "Wired has the story. " U.S. music industry group says it has sued 493 more people for copyright infringement as part of its campaign to stop consumers from copying music over the Internet.
The Recording Industry Association of America has now sued nearly 3,000 individuals since last September in an attempt to discourage people from copying songs through peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa and LimeWire." "
You know, the difference between this company and the Titanic is that the
Titanic had paying customers.


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"You want to see what a halo effect looks like? Take a look at last year," said Carton, pointing out the Mac's 6.5-point jump in the planned purchase share last summer, immediately after the first-generation iPhone debuted.
That halo effect continues, Carton said. In the August survey, 17 percent of those polled said that they were more likely to buy a Mac desktop or laptop because of the iPhone 3G, the model Apple launched last month.
"This year's halo isn't to the degree of last year's, but in this economic environment and the fact that Apple's hitting its biggest numbers ever, means it's enough to see Apple significantly outperform expectations going forward," said Carton.
"Everything else equal, Apple's outperforming in an incredibly difficult consumer spending environment," Carton observed.
During Apple's most recent quarter, which ended June 30, the company sold a record 2.5 million Macs.


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Strong Brazilian Retail Sales, Strong Real
Brazil reported much better than expected Feb retail sales and this is encouraging expectations of a 75 bp rate hike later this month and allowing the real to extend its winning streak for the fifth consecutive session. The real has now recovered all the ground lost in the first several weeks of the year. Today is the first day the greenback is trading below BRL1.75 since the first half of Jan.
Retail sales jumped 1.6% in Feb, which was nearly 3 times greater than expectations and comes on the heels of a 3.0% rise in Jan. On a year-over-year basis, Brazilian retail sales have risen 12.3%. The sales were led by clothes, household goods and foodstuffs. The yield on the interest rate futures rose 5 bp.
The Bovespa has risen about 17.5% off the early Feb lows and looks to move higher despite the prospects of higher interest rates. That said, we note that the IPO of EBX has been cancelled and that decision very early today comes on the heels of a disappointing IPO last month from the same Eike Batista, among the richest Brazilians.
Meanwhile, the most recent polls show that Lula’s hand-picked successor Rousseff has nearly closed the gap with Serra. Ironically, both candidates promise to continue Lula’s policies.
While the risk of a 75 bp rate hike at the next COPOM meeting is increasing, it is not a done deal and this may become more apparent tomorrow with the April inflation figures. After an outsized 1.1% increase in March, the FGV measure is likely to moderate to about half the pace. If true, these latest gains in the BRL may have to be tested first. Moreover, the near-term risk-reward seems to shift as the BRL1.70 is approached.
Marc Chandler is the Global Head of Currency Strategy at Brown Brother Harriman. For more of BBH’s currency views, visit the BBH FX website here.
The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and not necessarily those of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., its subsidiaries and affiliates (BBH). This information is not intended as financial advice or an offer or recommendation of any financial products and is subject to change without notice. Recipient agrees that it is solely responsible for any trading or investment decisions that it makes after reviewing this information and that BBH bears no responsibility or liability for such decisions or use of this information.
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Opulent cars, fashionable spas, distinctive architecture -- leave it to China to find the most creative, unique and ultra-luxurious ways to draw attention to new hotels.
We already know that Asia is the fastest growing market for tourism and hotels, but that's not enough for some hoteliers. They want more. Much, much more.
In an effort compete with the hundreds of hotels opening across China in just this year alone, hotels are going to have to find ways to differentiate themselves in an effort to gain attention from tourists. Enter: the theme hotels.
Earlier this year, Shanghai Shimao Property Group broke ground on China's first underground hotel. Located at the foot of a 100-meter abandoned quarry at Shanghai's Tianmashan, the 380-room resort will have three levels above ground and 16 underground, and will also offer spa services, a sports facility and an underwater restaurant.
The property is part of the larger project to build Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, a large-scale theme park, and is expected to open in 2014 or 2015.
Those who want to stay sea level, but require a certain need for speed, might opt to check in to China's newest themed hotel, courtesy of the Lamborghini family.
The Tonino Lamborghini brand is the latest to enter China's hospitality market. The luxury Italian entrepreneur opened a five-star hotel near Jinji Lake in Suzhou Industrial Park and it's already attracting some wealthy crowds.
The Tonino Lamborghini Boutique Hotel Suzhou is a project of Mr Tonino Lamborghini himself, son of Ferruccio Lamborghini, founder of Italy's Lamborghini automotive brand in 1963. A hotel of the brand name already exists in Italy, but this will be Tonino Lamborghini's first foray into China.
The hotel has 92 lake-view rooms spread out around in four buildings, each surrounded by gardens and flowing water. The interiors are a blend of Chinese style and Italian details, Chinese Ming-style furniture and of course, Tonino Lamborghini's signature bull logo.
"I love to see the fusion of Italian luxury and Chinese culture," said Tonino Lamborghini in a statement. "This will be the perfect combination of a 'made in Italy' and Eastern philosophy."
According to reports, nine more Tonino Lamborghini boutique hotels are planned for seven Chinese locations, including Sanya, Zhuhai, Hangzhou, Xuzhou, Huangshi and Kunshan.Melanie Nayer is a hotel reviewer and expert on luxury travel around the world. She has covered all aspects of hotels including corporate restructures, re-branding initiatives, historical aspects and the best of the best in luxury hotels around the world.
Melanie writes a weekly exclusive column for 4Hoteliers.com


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COVID-19 restrictions ease in Ottawa, eastern Ontario following shutdown
Here's what you need to know about how restrictions are changing
The stay-at-home order has been lifted in Ottawa as the region enters the "orange-restrict" category on the province's five-colour scale of pandemic restrictions.
The change means non-essential businesses, including restaurants, gyms and salons, can open their doors and welcome customers inside, albeit with some restrictions.
Gathering limits have been eased and many sports can resume.
"What we're hearing is that we're happy to be back at work and we're certainly happy to open up our stores again," said Nathalie Carrier, executive director of the Vanier Business Improvement Area.
"The unfortunate thing is nobody knows for how long."
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) also moves to orange Tuesday, while the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit will join Belleville, Kingston and Renfrew County areas in the green zone, the lowest level on the scale.
Below is a non-comprehensive list of rules and restrictions that took effect as of Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. in Ottawa. For the full list of changes, visit the Ontario public health measures website.
People are still advised to limit close contact to only those they live with, stay home as much as possible and to stay at least two metres away from everyone else
Those who live alone can have close contact with people from one other household.
Events and social gatherings at private homes, backyards or in public parks can have up to 10 people indoors or 25 people outdoors.
Up to 50 people can attend organized public events and gatherings indoors at staffed businesses, like meeting or event spaces, and up to 100 people can attend if the event's held outdoors.
Religious services, weddings and funerals can take place indoors at 30 per cent of the building's normal capacity, and outdoors with up to 100 people.
Restaurants and bars
Restaurants, bars and other establishments may open for indoor dining with capacity limits of 50 people and a maximum of four people per table.
Guests must wear masks or face coverings except when eating or drinking, and must provide contact information for contact tracing purposes.
All restaurants and bars must stop selling alcohol by 9 p.m. and close by 10 p.m. Buffets are not allowed.
Malls and retail stores
Retail stores and malls may begin welcoming customers inside again. Both will need to screen customers for potential symptoms of COVID-19 and prepare a safety plan.
Customers must wear a mask or face covering, with some exceptions, and keep at least two metres apart from other people while shopping, lining up at the cash register or waiting outside.
Personal care services
Barber shops, hairdressers, nail salons and spas can all reopen, so long as guests wear masks or face coverings at all times.
The following facilities must stay closed:
- Oxygen bars.
- Steam rooms.
- Sensory deprivation pods (except for therapeutic purposes).
- Bath houses.
- Other adult venues.
Sports, gyms and recreational facilities
Outdoor ski, ice and snow recreational amenities can open for recreational purposes.
Gyms, sports facilities and recreational facilities can reopen with capacity limits — up to 50 people in areas with weights and exercise machines and a maximum of 10 people per class. Up to 25 people may attend outdoor facilities.
Organized team and individual sports can resume only if they can be modified to avoid physical contact between players, with a maximum of 50 people per league. Spectators aren't allowed to attend games, except for one parent or guardian per child.
A 90-minute time limit will apply to all exercise classes and workouts, but not for sports.
There are some exemptions for high-performance athletes and parasports.
Movie theatres can reopen with capacity limits of 50 people indoors or 100 outdoors.
City of Ottawa services
The City of Ottawa will gradually reopen many of its services, with the following resuming today:
- Public and lane swims at select pools.
- Aquafitness programs.
- Weight and cardio rooms.
- Sport activities.
- Older adult programming.
Reservations are required for most of the above activities.
People can also play outdoor sports like hockey on rinks where such activities are allowed. Limits of 25 skaters at larger outdoor rinks and 12 at smaller rinks remain in place.
Public skating at select indoor arenas will start on Saturday, Feb. 20.
Sledding hills are open with a maximum of 25 people allowed to gather at the top and bottom. Physical distancing of two metres must be maintained at all times.
In-person counter services at city hall and Ben Franklin Place will resume on Monday, Feb. 22, but people can start reserving appointments for that week starting Tuesday, Feb. 16.


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Differentiation through hardware will become even more difficult
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the next big growth areas for the mobile industry according to a white paper released by IHS Markit ahead of Mobile World Congress.
“We see AI making smart devices even smarter with improved user experiences,” said Ian Fogg, Director of Mobile and Telecom Analysis at IHS Markit, “Existing AI agents like Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant will expand across the industry, complemented by embedded AI in all parts of mobile devices from cameras, to audio, to machine.”
“Smartphones will both be the interface for consumer AI and deliver the vast amount of data technology companies need to train AI systems,” Fogg said.
Software investments and partnerships are critical for hardware companies to create smarter AI-enabled experiences, said the IHS Markit white paper. Vendors such as Google, Apple, Sony, Microsoft and Samsung have heavily invested in the development of their own AI and voice-assistant capabilities. In order to compete, smaller players with less in-house software expertise and resources will be looking to partner-up.
“As Amazon’s Alexa makes its way onto other devices, Google must and will increase the reach of its own Assistant to all Android smartphones – reducing the differentiation for Google’s Pixel smartphone,” Fogg said, “Over five years since Apple’s Siri first launched, Apple must offer new AI-powered capabilities to remain competitive.”
By 2020, over six billion smartphones and $74 billion in app spend
The AI opportunity comes at a time when the global smartphone installed base is still growing, the white paper said. By 2020, the smartphone-installed base will exceed six billion units, up from four billion in 2016, with revenues totaling $355 billion.
“Spending on mobile apps shows no sign of slowing down,” said Jack Kent, Research Director at IHS Markit, “Consumer spending on mobile apps will reach $74 billion in 2020, up from $54 billion in 2016. Major companies are increasingly trying to use the fast-maturing mobile apps and services market as part of a wider platform strategy to tie consumers into ecosystems. The combination of consumer apps, communications, advertising, commerce and payments will drive new growth opportunities.”
The number of addressable smartphones for device-based payment services, such as Apple Pay and Android Pay, will rise to more than five billion units by 2020, up from 2.7 billion in 2016.


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LONDON — In the high-stakes game of Big Tech deal-making, Microsoft — and not the British antitrust enforcer — blinked first.
After enduring a fierce, four-month-long lobbying campaign led by senior Microsoft executives, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday it had rejected the U.S. tech giant’s plea to revisit its original decision to block a major gaming merger.
Instead, Microsoft has submitted a new, restructured takeover of Activision for the British watchdog to review, under which it will sell the rights to stream existing and new Activision PC and console games to rival French game maker Ubisoft. The rights Ubisoft will acquire outside of the European Economic Area will be exclusive.
As the CMA’s biggest merger investigation post-Brexit, the case has been seen as a litmus test for the regulator now that Britain is out of the bloc.
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Before Brexit, the European Commission had jurisdiction over competition merger investigations, meaning if the U.K. was still an EU member, the deal would have been approved for U.K. consumers when the Commission gave it the green-light back in May.
“This outcome seems likely to cement the CMA’s reputation as a competition authority which doesn’t just talk tough, but also has teeth,” said Zach Meyers, a competition expert at the Centre for European Reform think tank.
‘Closed for business’
The restructuring shows the CMA managed to extract significant concessions from Microsoft in the face of the company's lobbying.
Microsoft president Brad Smith had declared Britain “clearly closed for business” after the CMA said it intended to block the deal in April, and met with U.K. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to discuss ways to get the deal over the line.
Hunt said that regulators must “understand wider responsibilities” to promote growth in an intervention seen as sending a signal to the CMA that it had been heavy-handed in its approach to the Activision takeover. However an official familiar with the chancellor’s thinking said Hunt “wasn’t being pointed” with the comment and that the CMA’s independence from government is a competitive strength.
The deal exposed the tension between the government’s post-Brexit de-regulation drive and its desire to show it is taking a strong stance against Big Tech.
Meanwhile Smith’s warnings ruffled feathers, both within Westminster and at the CMA. Some officials perceived it as a political misstep by the Microsoft rep, forcing the regulator to take a harder position to avoid being seen as caving to public pressure, said two U.K. officials who are close to the deal and were granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Microsoft piled more pressure on the CMA to look at the deal again after the European Commission approved the merger and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission lost its own bid to block it. The Seattle-based tech giant sought to portray the U.K. antitrust watchdog as embarking on a foolhardy mission to police the digital world on its own.
But in forcing California-headquartered Activision to sell its stable of cloud gaming titles to French gaming company Ubisoft before going ahead with the Microsoft deal, the CMA stood firm on its concerns that the deal posed a real threat to competition in the nascent cloud gaming sector which Microsoft dominates. The European Commission's investigation had focused on Microsoft's share of the traditional console gaming market.
Ubisoft shares surged seven percent on Tuesday morning, adding around €250m to the company’s market value, signaling the significance of a deal whose value has remained undisclosed.
Microsoft will now be hoping the deal is completed before October 18 when its deadline with Activision Blizzard to secure the acquisition runs out. That date is also the CMA’s deadline to decide whether to approve it or refer it to a more detailed investigation. European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta said it is “carefully assessing” whether the new deal designed to appease the U.K. watchdogs needs to be notified in the EU again.
Finish line in sight
Observers say both the CMA and Microsoft will see the outcome as a win, since the tech giant will be confident it can get the deal over the line now despite the CMA managing to extract concessions no other regulator did.
Equities analyst Gareth Sutcliffe at Enders Analysis said the restructuring won’t significantly affect Microsoft’s bottom line — for now.
“Microsoft will have diminished margins as they’ve effectively appointed Ubisoft as a reseller. But this is a really small and emerging market at present — Microsoft is still going to be a dominant force in cloud gaming. They’re just relinquishing some pricing control,” Sutcliffe said.
On the domestic scene, the CMA will be seen by policymakers and industry execs to have stood its ground at a delicate time for the regulator. It is about to have its powers to police the digital world boosted by a bill snaking through the British parliament that Big Tech players in particular have voiced alarm at.
“Given some of the recent speculation about alleged politicization of the CMA, this is reassuring news,” said a former CMA official commenting on Tuesday's decision. They were granted anonymity so they could speak candidly. “I don’t see any evidence this is a result of ministerial pressure and despite some of the more excitable commentary I’d be surprised if it set much of a precedent.”
But some fear the time the CMA has taken to get to this stage will be seized on by Big Tech firms who are lobbying the government to weaken new powers given to the regulator under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. The legislation will make it harder for large firms to buy small, local players.
“Big Tech firms will run with the argument that the CMA is not expert enough in this so we need a proper way to review their decisions,” Meyers, the Centre for European Reform competition expert, added. “But I don't know whether that will fly because most politicians on both sides of the aisle seem reasonably comfortable with the bill.”
Annabelle Dickson and Giovanna Faggionato contributed reporting.


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Trader Joe’s is off to the new-store races this September, having opened a location in Halfmoon, N.Y. on Sept. 8, a store in Morrisville, N.C., on Sept. 10, and a new wine shop in Colorado Springs, Colo., a state where wine and spirits must be sold separately from groceries.
Formerly an Earth Fare, the 10,600-square-foot Morrisville store at 951 Morrisville Parkway is Trader Joe’s 11th location in North Carolina. Grocery competition in the area is strong and growing. It includes multiple Aldi and Food Lion stores as well as Walmart and Wegmans, the last of which opened in neighboring West Cary last year.
Wegmans also has been aggressive about its North Carolina expansion. While it doesn't open new stores with the nimbleness or frequency of smaller-format Trader Joe's and Aldi, it opened its first store in the state in Raleigh in 2019. That move was followed by the West Cary location in 2020 and stores in Chapel Hill and Wake Forest earlier this year. But the Rochester, N.Y.-based grocer’s four North Carolina stores are far fewer than Aldi’s more than 70 stores in the state.
Among Trader Joe’s North Carolina locations is a single store in nearby Raleigh, where competitor Aldi has a dozen stores in and around the burgeoning North Carolina city.
In March, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in Chicago identified the top 10 commercial real estate markets for 2021, and Raleigh was among them.
“The top commercial real estate markets that are expected to outperform the rest of the nation are generally affordable and able to draw new residents with a greater flexibility to work from home,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun in a press release. “These growing markets also offer much lower office and retail rents and are, therefore, able to attract new and expanding businesses.”
Earlier this month, Trader Joe’s confirmed additional new stores “coming soon,” including locations in the trendy Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. (200 Kent Ave.); Bridgemarket on New York’s Upper East Side (405 E. 59th Street); and Rocklin, Calif. (5116 Commons Dr.) near Sacramento—another red-hot real estate market, where home prices recently surged 18% to 25%.
Trader Joe's recently revealed the five most coveted products, from cauliflower to sassy seasoning, in its 11th Annual Customer Choice Awards. It counted down the fab five in its latest podcast, "Episode 21," recorded at the Trader Joe’s mother ship in Monrovia, Calif.
“We send out a request to our customers via email and on our Instagram page to submit to us their favorite Trader Joe’s products in a bunch of categories,” said Tara Miller, director of words and phrases and clauses, in the podcast. Trader Joe’s also asks customers to nominate one overall winner as their favorite product in the store.
“Every year since we have been doing the Customer Choice Awards, the overall favorite at Trader Joe's has been Mandarin Orange Chicken," Miller said. "Do we think that it can retain its leadership position?”
And the winners are …


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BERLIN: BMW saw a drop in its automotive margin on earnings before interest and taxes to 8.2% from 15.8% last year as the consolidation of its Chinese joint venture BMW Brilliance dampened earnings, it said on Wednesday.
Group earnings before taxes were down 34.3% because of a one-time gain of 1 billion euros ($1.02 billion) in the second quarter of 2021 from a partial reversal of EU trust fines, and 1.1 billion in headwinds from the consolidation, it said.
Overall, the reevaluation of the Chinese joint venture shares boosted earnings before tax by 7.7 billion euros in the first half.
BMW increased its stake in its joint venture with Brilliance Auto Group to 75% from 50% in February after securing the necessary license from Beijing to take majority control.
It said at the time the deal would have a positive effect of 7-8 billion euros on the financial results of the automotive business.
The carmaker reported a group net profit of 3.05 billion euros ($3.10 billion) from 4.8 billion euros last year.
It confirmed its outlook of 7-9% for the automotive segment but said it expects full-year deliveries to be slightly below last year.
“Although the company expects sales volumes in the second half of the year to be solidly higher than in the same perioud of the previous year, this will not fully compensate for lost volume in HY1 2022,” a statement said. Reuters


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Apple is sending a team of experts to delve deep into the issue of some Indian politicians receiving threat notifications last month, warning them of state-sponsored hackers targeting their devices. The Apple team consists of technical and cybersecurity experts and will visit India soon to further look into the issue, reliable sources told IANS on Friday. The threat notification probe is currently being conducted by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
In October, Opposition MPs, including Shiv Sena’s (UBT) Priyanka Chaturvedi, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, Congress’ Pawan Khera and Shashi Tharoor, AAP’s Raghav Chadha, CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said they received a notification from Apple stating that their devices were being targeted by state-sponsored attackers. Right after the politicians highlighted the notification they received on their iPhone devices, the union minister for electronics and information technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw took cognisance of the matter and issued a statement.
“The Government of Bharat takes its role of protecting the privacy and security of all citizens very seriously and will investigate to get to the bottom of these notifications. In light of such information and widespread speculation, we have also asked Apple to join the investigation with real, accurate information on the alleged state sponsored attacks,” Vaishnaw said in a string of posts on X (formerly Twitter).
Apple had sent “threat notifications” to individuals whose accounts are in nearly 150 countries. The company had clarified that “it does not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker”. Apple that it’s possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms.
“State-sponsored attackers are very well-funded and sophisticated, and their attacks evolve over time. Detecting such attacks relies on threat intelligence signals that are often imperfect and incomplete. It’s possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms, or that some attacks are not detected,” the tech giant had said in a statement.
Apple had said it was “unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help state-sponsored attackers adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future.”
— Written with inputs from IANSGet latest Tech and Auto news from Techlusive on our WhatsApp Channel, Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram and YouTube.
Author Name | Shubham Verma