text: If the USDA wants us to “eat healthy” by filling up half of our plates with fruits and vegetables, then why does the Senate’s proposed version of the 2012 Farm Bill continue to pour so many taxpayer dollars into programs that benefit farms that grow the crops so widely used in processed foods that some nutritionists say aren’t good for us. This seemingly simple question is at the heart of a June 4 open letter to all members of Congress. Initiated by Environmental Working Group’s senior food and agriculture analyst Kari Hamerschlag, with authors Anna Lappé and Dan Imhoff, the letter was signed by more than 70 people, including leading authors, doctors, farmers, chefs, food businesses, environmental and healthy food advocates. Kari Hamerschlag, senior food and agriculture analyst for EWG, told Food Safety News.com that outside of the food stamp program, now referred to as the SNAP Program, the lion’s share of the Farm Bill funding still goes to a handful of commodity crops (corn, rice, soybeans, cotton, wheat) that she said “provides the raw material for junk food, animal feed and fuel for our tanks. “The letter urges Congress to reform the Farm Bill by standing up for “a healthy food and farm bill.” “Unfortuantely, the Senate bill falls far short of the reforms needed to come to grips with the nation’s critical food and farming challenges,” says the EWG letter. “It is also seriously out of step with the nation’s priorities and what the American public expects and wants from our food and farming policy.” The letter refers to a national poll conducted last July that revealed that 78 percent of the respondents said that making nutritious and healthy foods more affordable and accessible should be a top priority in the Farm Bill. EWG’s Hamerschlag said that from 2008-2010, the Farm Bill spent $39.4 billion — more than eight times the amount of money on commodity crops than it spent on specialty crops (vegetables, fruits and nuts) — even though their market value, $320 billion, was only twice that of fruits, nuts and vegetables. “Fruit and vegetable growers have historically been left out of agriculture policy, even though they provide foods that are vital for improving America¹s nutrition and reducing the costly toll of diet-related diseases,” she said, adding that in the 2008 Farm Bill, there were some “modest” gains, but not enough gains, for specialty-crop farms. With just $100 million a year currently going to local food production and promotion programs, Hamerschlag said that EWG wants to see more money going into programs that willl increase access to local, healthy, fresh and sustainable food.Referring to nutritional food safety, Hamerschlag said that the failure to invest in healthy foods has serious consequences for our nation¹s health-care costs and the millions of consumers who lack access to affordable fruits and vegetables. The United Fresh Produce Association, meanwhile, gave the Senate a thumbs-up for moving forward on the Farm Bill.In a statement, United Fresh CEO and president Tom Stenzel said that the fruit and vegetable industry “strongly supports” the bill brought forward by the Senate Agriculture Committee.”We encourage the Senate to move quickly on the Farm Bill and pass a bill that encompasses the committee’s bipartisan agreements that are critical to the fruit and vegetable industry and all specialty-crop producers he said. FSN’s calls to United Fresh to find out if it would be working to make changes to the proposed bill were not immediately returned A farmer’s perspective Tom Willey, co-owner of T & D Willey Farms in the fertile San Joaquin Valley in central California, told Food Safety News.com that he signed the EWG letter because the Farm Bill is not dealing with the major “food issues” that the nation needs to be addressing. “The Farm Bill is really playing with splinters and ignoring the beam in the eye of agriculture,” he said, referring to industrialized ag. “It subsidizes highly processed foods — the foods that are killing us. That’s what the Farm Bill is about.” Examples of highly processed foods are fast-food items high in fat and sugar content. .Willey said the nation will never be able to deal with the current health crisis until it deals with the food crisis facing the nation, which he describes as “not eating enough fresh basic foods.” He believes the Farm Bill should be called the Food Bill so that people will realize that it can be used as an important tool to help change the eating habits of Americans.”So we can deal with the health crisis,” he said, referring to health problems such as obesity and diabetes, which can be caused by eating large quantities of processed foods high in sugars and fats. But as it is now, he said, the Farm Bill is owned and operated and manipulated by what he refers to as “the industrial-food cabal.” “We tinker with the edges, but the muscle of the Farm Bill is still dedicated to industrial ag,” he said. “It’s discouraging — very discouraging.” He laments that too much agricultural research is being funded by “corporate giants” like Monsanto. And while he’s quick to say that he doesn’t want subsidies, he does want to see policies directed toward providing family farmers like himself with a level playing field. “Unfortuanately, the Farm Bill subsidizes unhealthy foods that compete with my farm’s healthy foods,” he said. “It makes it easier for people to eat unhealthy food.” An organic farmer, whose 75-acre farm grows produce year round, Willey said that the success that organic farmers like himself have realized by using natural biological methods instead of toxic chemicals to grow high-yielding nutritious crops has proven to be a vanguard for all farmers. “We need to move all of agriculture in that direction,” he said. “It shows the potential that we need to develop: farmers growing healthy food for people. That’s what the Farm Bill should be about.” Food safety For some food-safety advocates, there’s not a lot to cheer about in the Senate version of the Farm Bill.”We are disappointed that the Farm Bill doesn’t take more strides to fix the USDA’s outdated food-safety laws or remedy some of the weaker provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act, Colin O’Neil Regulatory Policy Analyst for the Center For Food Safety told Food Safety News, referring to the “the poor timeframe for inspections for high-risk facilities” as an example. Even so, he said that the Center is heartened to see an amendment introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, that seeks to increase the criminal penalties for knowingly shipping tainted food and would allow federal prosecutors to seek up to a ten-year jail sentence for doing that. The Center also supports an amendment from Senators Bernie Sanders I-VT, and Barbara Boxer, D-CA, that clarifies the existing authority that states have to require the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods. “Absent clear labeling of GE foods, consumers are deprived of necessary and important information about the foods they are purchasing,” said O’Neil, pointing out that dozens of U.S. states have introduced legislation and many are currently considering bills that would require the labeling of GE foods. Food-safety attorney Bill Marler (publisher of Food Safety News), said that although he supports. Sen. Leahy’s amendment, until prosecutors around the country start enforcing the laws, adding more legislation means little to the victims and the families of food-poisoning victims. “Industry and consumers should support each other and demand that reasonable, timely inspections are the norm, not the exception,” said Marler. “Ultimately, you get what you pay for, and right now food- poisoning incidents cost this county over $100 billion a year in losses to consumers and businesses. No one should think the status quo is acceptable.” What about organics? On the organic front, the Center for Food Safety’s O’Neil said that the Senate Farm Bill doesn’t address concerns that organic producers have regarding risk-management tools. For, example, the USDA charges what he refers to as “an unjustified” 5 percent surcharge to most organic farmers who participate in the federal crop-insurance program and does not pay all organic farmers the organic price after a loss. (The organic price is typically higher than the non-organic price.) In addition, said O’Neil, the USDA does not provide adequate risk-management tools for farmers — organic or conventional — who have diversified farming operations.But to its credit, he said, the Farm Bill does include some important improvements to USDA’s Adjusted Gross Revenue and AGR-Lite programs to provide greater “whole farm” risk for diversified farms. Possible solutions With mounting pressure to cut spending in the 2012 Farm Bill, EWG’s Hamerschlag said that lawmakers must ensure that some of the resources saved by cutting wasteful commodity and crop-insurance subsidy programs be directed towards research, marketing and procurement programs to increase consumption of healthy and sustainable food. And EWG’s letter offers a possible solution that could be incorporated into the 2012 Farm Bill. Pointing out that the Government Accountability Office has identified modest reforms to crop insurance subsidies that could save as much as $2 billion a year, the letter says that Congress should use these savings to provide full funding for conservation and nutrition assistance programs and strengthen initiatives that support local and healthy food, organic agriculture, and beginning and disadvantaged farmers. According to the letter, these investments could save billions in the long run by protecting valuable water and soil resources, creating jobs and supporting foods necessary for a healthy and balanced diet. 2012 Farm Bill Like other Farm Bills before it, the Senate’s proposed 2012 Farm Bill is designed to steer the next 5 years of national food and agriculture policy. Congress is hoping to get a new Farm Bill approved by September, if not sooner. What’s different about this version of the Farm Bill is that it calls for a range of cuts to the longstanding taxpayer subsidies that have typically gone to the big five crops — corn, soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton.The Senate version adds up to about $969 billion over the next 10 years, but cuts overall spending by $23 billion. The cuts are primarily directed at eliminating direct payments to farm landowners, which come to about $5 billion a year. At the same time, it also cuts about $4.5 billion over 10 years out of the food stamp program. While the Obama Administration said it supports the 2012 Farm Bill, it also said it had wanted to see deeper cuts to the farm programs and opposed cuts to the food stamp program. The bill’s provisions include one that would ax direct payments to farmers and make expanded crop insurance program the main safety net for farmers.As it is now, the government pays about two-thirds of the cost of farmers’ insurance programs, which comes to about $7 billion a year. This program lets farmers buy insurance that covers poor yields, declines in prices, or both.Instead of these direct payments, the bill would replace them with a crop-insurance subsidy — at a cost of $3 billion a year — that would cover any losses farmers suffer (known as “deductibles”) before their crop insurance policies kick in. Sen. Stabenow, D-MI, , who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, said the new insurance program is fair to all crop producers. According to a study released in early June by the Environmental Working Group, using the Freedom of Information Act to gather the information, more than 10,000 individual farming operations in 2011 received federal crop- insurance premium subsidies ranging from $100,000 to more than $1 million apiece. Some 26 farming operations received subsidies of $1 million or more last year. Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK, and Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-IL, teamed up to introduce an amendment that would put income limits on crop insurance subsidies. With an eye on making sure families don’t go hungry, Sen Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, introduced an amendment that would restore the $4.5 billion in cuts to nutrition programs by making cuts to the financing of crop insurance. This would be achieved by lowering the cap on payments made directly to crop-insurance companies for servicing and selling policies by $825 million per year — from $1.3 billion. And while a hefty 68 percent percent of the 2008 Farm Bill dollars covered nutrition programs, Michele Simon, a public health lawyer, says that no one’s keeping track of what people are buying with food stamps because the USDA doesn’t require retailers to report that sort of information. And although there have been efforts to change that, none have succeeded so far. In other words, are food stamps actually helping people buy healthy food? According to the USDA, taxpayers spent $71.8 billion on food-stamp benefits in 2011. During the first official hearing in late May on the 2012 Farm Bill before the Senate Agriculture Committee, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that “It’s no secret that cuts are inevitable and the 2012 Farm Bill will be smaller than the 2008 version” In a June 14 interview with Brownfield Ag News, Vilsack also pointed to agricultural research as a part of the Farm Bill that “still needs a little work” but that the agency remains “excited about the prospects of being able to leverage ag research.” “We know that every dollar we invest in research has a $20 return on investment and so it’s important that we continue to support ag research,” he said. Why do we need a Farm Bill anyway? Think floods, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, killing frosts, withering heat waves, pests, plant diseases, poor yields and plunging prices, and you quickly realize that year in and year out, farming is a huge gamble, said Judy Olson, Washington State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency. That’s where providing farmers with a safety net comes into the picture. “It helps level out the big bumps,” Olson said, referring to the array of totally unexpected calamities farmers can face. “The safety net acts as a buffer so one bad year doesn’t put a farmer out of business.Now, as a consumer, imagine what food prices would like if there were no safety net to tide farmers over in tough times and allow them to stay in business.”We would see a roller coaster of prices,” Olson said. The safety net also has a lot to do with food safety, Olson said, pointing out that if the U.S. didn’t have a stable farming base, U.S. consumers would have to depend more on imports, as is the case in countries where farmers don’t have a safety net.Olson contrasted the degree of confidence that U.S. consumers have in the safety of their food supply with countries where that isn’t the case. “When people travel internationally, the biggest concern is ‘can I eat the food and drink the water,'” she said. “We don’t have those concerns in this country.”Olson also pointed out that thanks to the relative stability of U.S. agriculture as a whole, consumers spend a very small proportion of their money on food, compared to people in many other countries. That, in turn, she said, gives U.S. consumers the money to go on vacations, hook up to the Internet, and buy smart phones, for example. And that spending power ripples through the entire economy. Bottomline, said Olson, the benefits that U.S. agriculture provides for this nation’s consumers is all the more remarkable when looking at how few farmers there are in this country in comparison to the population as a whole.”We are all dependent on less than two percent of the population for a reliable food supply,” she said. To learn more about farm programs offered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency, go here and click on specific programs on the left-hand side of the page.


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Announcing our Partnership with Karrot Rewards
Loyalty is a constantly evolving equation, but that feels more true than ever in the wake of the past year. Customers are actively seeking to do business with brands and companies that they feel connected to — that share their values and vision for the future. With that in mind, we’re so excited to create even more opportunities for brands to drive those authentic connections and align their values with their customers by partnering with Karrot Rewards.
The team at Karrot has deep loyalty industry experience running multi-country loyalty and incentive programs for their brand partners, and beyond that expertise they share a deep-seeded belief that authentic, personal stories are the most powerful connection points between companies and their customers. We’ve both seen that ownership creates an emotional bond between people and brands — whether it’s owning the product, or owning shares of the company.
As Ernie Naylor, President of Karrot Rewards, said: “Stock has the potential to create continuous brand reinforcement in a way that traditional rewards like cash cannot. Stock rewards are more meaningful to customers and employees and create an emotional connection between the business and its customers”
We partner with Loyalty Solution providers to make it as simple as possible for brands to begin rewarding their customers in ownership — and now that we’re partnered together, Karrot & Bumped can support even more public and private companies alike, with little to no tech integration.
If you’re a Loyalty Solution provider or a brand looking for a win-win incentive — one that creates a symbiotic relationship with customers — reach out to our team, we’d love to chat!
For Loyalty Providers, get in touch with Drew Howell, VP of Customers & Solutions: firstname.lastname@example.org
For Financial Institutions or Brands, reach out to Cody Vitez, VP of Sales: email@example.com

domain: news


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Korean technology behemoth Samsung will release its Galaxy Gear smart watch on 4 September, two days ahead of the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, a senior executive has confirmed.
Executive vice-president of Samsung’s mobile business Lee Young-hee told The Korea Times in an exclusive interview that the watch will use a non-flexible display, as earlier reports have suggested.
“We will be introducing a new wearable concept device called Galaxy Gear at our own event in Berlin on 4 September,” Lee said.
In the report, he said: “The new device will enhance and enrich the current smart mobile experience in many ways. It will lead a new trend in smart mobile communications. We are confident that the Gear will add meaningful momentum to the mobile industry.”
Samsung is clearly hoping to gain the upper hand in the emerging market for wearable computing devices before Apple comes out with its rumoured smart watch and Google gets to market with its Glass eyewear.
Galaxy Gear specs
According to recent reports, the watch device will have a 2.5-inch screen and is expected to be powered by a Samsung Exynos 4212 dual core 1.5GHz display, with a Mali-400 MP4 GU and it will have a 320 x 320 resolution display.
It has been reported that the watch will have a camera that will be integrated into the strap, speakers integrated into the clasp of the watch and near field communication (NFC) capabilities to allow for bump-to-bump sharing, synching and authentication.
The watch will also come with Bluetooth 4.0 and will have a built-in accelerometer that activates the screen when the user raises his or her arm to present the device to the eye.
Smart watch image via Shutterstock


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After three chaotic years, investors have several reasons to be cheerful about the world economy. In America inflation is tumbling, raising hopes of a “soft landing”, in which price growth comes under control without a recession. Fortune has smiled on Europe, where a mostly warm winter has caused energy prices to plummet. And China’s economy, freed from Xi Jinping’s destructive “zero-covid” policy, is poised to rebound. Markets are joyous. The S&P 500 index of American stocks has risen by 5% since the start of the year. Share prices in Europe and emerging markets are up by even more.
Alas, it is too soon to declare an end to the world economy’s problems. In America consumer prices fell in December, and annual inflation may dip below 2% this year thanks to cheaper energy and goods. Yet as price growth is plunging, so too is GDP growth. Retail sales and industrial production fell in December and leading indicators of output are down sharply—which usually indicates that a recession is nigh. The healthiest part of the economy is the labour market. But the red-hot demand for workers is not entirely good news: the Federal Reserve will find it harder to be sure that inflation has been tamed.
Despite headline-grabbing lay-offs by the big technology firms, America’s unemployment rate remains just 3.5% and new claims for unemployment benefits are at their lowest in three and a half months. Annual wage growth has fallen according to some measures, but remains around 5%; on January 24th Walmart said it would raise starting wages from $12 an hour to $14. Because workers’ productivity is growing by only about 1% a year, fast wage growth portends price rises that far exceed the Fed’s 2% inflation target.
Some policymakers hope that companies, whose profits surged in 2021, can absorb rapid wage growth without prices having to rise further. Yet by last autumn, higher profit margins accounted for only an eighth of pandemic-era inflation. Given that Wall Street is expecting disappointing earnings for the fourth quarter of 2022, this suggests that firms will raise prices in line with their labour costs.
Markets expect the Fed to start cutting interest rates within a year as growth slows. But if the Fed is serious about reducing inflation to 2% and keeping it there, it will need to keep rates high until wage growth cools—even if that brings about a recession.
Should America face a downturn, it is likely to take Europe with it. Despite falling energy prices, the euro zone also has an underlying inflation problem, as is apparent in rising wage growth. Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, has warned that interest rates will have to rise significantly, contrary to the more doveish expectations of investors. A stronger dollar—which is likely if the Fed keeps raising rates and investors take fright at the consequences—would raise imported inflation and make the ecb’s job harder still, while also paring back the rally in emerging markets.
The end of zero-covid in China has lowered the chance that supply chains will gum up. However, its rebound is not an unalloyed good for the rest of the world, which has an inflation problem, not a shortage of spending. China’s extra imports will add more fuel to overheated economies. Europe’s gas storage is so full in part because China’s demand for liquefied natural gas in 2022 was 20% below its usual level. Demand is now likely to bounce back, which could cause prices to surge once again next winter. Only when the twin foes of overheated labour markets and the energy crisis have been vanquished will the world economy be out of the woods. ■


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BYD Motors introduced "The Lancaster" this month at the 2014 American Public Transportation Association Expo in Houston. It's the world's largest battery-electric vehicle, according to the manufacturer.
As a way to help combat air pollution, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has awards 33 incentive grants for alternative fuel vehicles. Additional grants have also been awarded for innovative alternative fuel projects.
With the help of Nissan and ABB, Inc., the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) has installed two electric vehicle (EV) charging stations on their campus.
The newly posted guides are part of the National Fire Protection Association's Electric Vehicle Safety Training project.
Now that "an electric revolution has begun in Bhutan," the company's CEO, Carlos Ghosn, said Feb. 21, "I feel good about supporting this."
These field tests will be the first time the electric compact cargo vehicle will be running in North American; the two companies have conducted tests in Japan, Singapore, Brazil, and the UK.


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Whether your sustainability goals include nonwovens, films, or other solutions, we have invested in the use and access of necessary materials to help meet your sustainability needs on a global scale.
Investing in Our People
Our people are core to our business. Investing in our employees that work with you every day inspires creativity, and innovative ideas to advance circularity within your business and as an organization. Annually, we sponsor employees to further their sustainability education and journey through a five -day course at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), covering topics focused on climate change, nature loss, circularity, carbon emissions economics, environmental regulations and more.Learn More
Investing in Our Supply
Whether your sustainability goals include nonwovens, films, or other solutions, we have invested in the use and access of necessary materials to help meet your sustainability needs on a global scale. As our customers are increasingly demanding greater access to circular resins, we have made significant investments in our supply – securing over 600M pounds of circular resins per year by 2025. We source these materials through strong partnerships with resin suppliers and services like waste and feedstock purchasing.
Investing in Our Resources
We continuously invest in the top resources to expand our transparency and ensure our customers receive circular resins that meet their standards, as well as market and industry regulations. Across the globe, we are leading the industry with more than 65 ISCC PLUS certified sites and will continue expanding this accreditation to provide you with the best access for sustainable materials. Investments like this, in addition to sourcing renewable energy and vertically integrated recycling, help us meet your circularity needs.
Investing in Our Partners
To achieve a more sustainable future, we prioritize stakeholder partnerships with similar goals. Through continuous collaboration with Environmental NGOs – like The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, The Recycling Partnership, World Wildlife Fund's Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance, and more – we combine our unique strengths to support education and infrastructure investments and create innovative solutions to ending plastic waste.Learn More
News & Insights
Berry, Coca-Cola Collaborate to implement Tethered caps in EU markets
Berry’s new tethered closure on Coca-Cola bottles makes the closure less likely to be littered EVANSVILLE, Ind. --(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 26, 2023-- After winning a prestigious sustainability award at PACK EXPO International last month for this circular solution, Berry Global Group, Inc.
Berry Global Achieves Lower than Industry Average Safety Incident Rate for Sixth Consecutive Year
Berry Global in its fourth quarter earnings call, announced it has achieved a lower than industry average safety incident rate for its sixth year in a row, with 110 of its sites operating with zero record-able incidents in fiscal 2022.
International Award Recognition for Innovative Berry Sustainable Sprayer Design
Berry Global’s trigger spray head for the circular economy, developed for its customer Werner & Mertz – already a winner in the German Packaging Awards 2022 – has achieved further recognition in the recently announced 2023 WorldStar Global Packaging Awards.
Berry to Outline Recycling Advances at ADF in Paris
The latest advances in recycling technology for contact sensitive applications will be the focus of a presentation from Berry Global at the ADF Talks programme, part of Paris Packaging Week, which is being held at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in January.


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Posted: Nov 8, 2012 7:54 AM
WASHINGTON D.C. - At a news conference this morning, the U.S. Postal Service will kick off the holiday rush and remind you to mail early.
This year they expect to deliver 17.9 billion cards, letters and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas. December 17th will be the busiest mailing day of 2012 with more than 650-million pieces of mail processed.
Here's an interesting tip- using no zip code is better than using a wrong zip code.
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The Nike 'Write the Future' campaign has released its second series of shirts, baring the larger than life slogan. Part two of the line is headed up by a shirt that features Homer Simpson and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Nike Write the future campaign must maneuver carefully with its ads because Nike is not the official sponsor of 2010 FIFA World Cup and this means they cannot make direct mention of the tournament. However, with a t-shirt that says Ronald'Oh on the back, I think everyone gets the picture.
Simpsonized Soccer Shirts
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For many of us, recycling is second nature (and if not it should be!), as being eco-conscious is just as important as being trend-conscious. Thanks to EKOCYCLE, an innovative brand initiative developed by will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Company, that bottle of water you just recycled, may now become your favorite fashion statement.
As you probably guessed, EKOCYCLE repurposes items such as plastic bottles for use as recycled content in fashion-forward lifestyle products in an effort to inspire a global social movement around recycling and making more sustainable purchasing choices. EKOCYCLE has partnered with the NBA to introduce a limited edition adidas Feel Good Tee made with 50 percentrPET (rPET component is comprised of three assorted recycled PET bottles). The shirt debuted last week at the NBA Green Week presented by Sprint. This effort is focused on reducing the league’s ecological impact and helping educate basketball fans around the globe about the importance of environmental protection.
EKOCYCLE also offers a limited edition Levi’s 501 Waste<Less jean, made with an average of eight recycled plastic bottles per pair, and the 59FIFTY cap from New Era which boasts 42 percent post-consumer recycled materials. For those of us who can’t live without music, Beats by Dr. Dre headphones contain three assorted recycled PET plastic bottles and for the accessories junkies, luxury bags from MCM will be available later this year.
EKOCYCLE really put new meaning to one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
-Gia Broccoli D’Onofrio


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Apollon Market has been sketchy lately, with several instances of the market shutting out vendors and users from making deposits and locking some vendors out of their accounts.
While this was happening, it was noted that the market was still allowing users to make orders from vendors still; eliminating the argument that this could be due to a server issue, and all these as well as other abnormal activities have raised eyebrows concerning the validity of the market and whether or not they are exit scamming.
One such vendor shared,
My inactive vendor listing are going active. Vendor accounts locked, buyer accounts free. So they generate money. This guys, is a classic exit scam. Please don’t buy there anymore.
The Apollon Market has been in existence since 2018 and has provided both legal and illicit services to darknet users and vendors alike as darknet markets are wont to do – not without question, but has since garnered a name for itself as one of the largest darkweb markets there is.
From the time vendors started to call out the market’s administration, some have claimed that they have lost money in this lockdown, with one vendor claiming on Dread that this exit scam has resulted in the loss of $11,000 USD worth of cryptocurrency, launching a cautionary conversation over the dark web on this market.
Pictured is the Apollon Market
Users also raised concerns about the fact that they are unable to receive recent deposits made to their accounts.
Another user wrote this,
Deposited funds to verified mirror address for the wallet and was confirmed 30 times once I logged back in but the address was completely different and the balance said 0 and that no transaction occurred…
In light of these problems, several users have made speculations and regurgitated conspiracy theories to explain this behaviour and while nothing has been confirmed yet, users are sharing assertions that the Apollon Market prior to the exit scam were behind a number of coordinated DDOS attacks on other markets in a bid to change the agenda and possibly hide that they are exit scamming.
One “SamWhiskey” shared this on Dread, while it was yet experiencing the attacks,
Since the downtime we’ve had some reports of problems with Apollon…
Apollon market is paying for DDOS attacks against dread, avengers, the hub, envoy and empire. Most likely to cover up an exit scam.
Hugbunt3r, admin of Dread shared this a week back,
Targetted attacks like this can be used to conceal information from being shared such as a market exiting, a market being busted etc. Whatever the reasoning, something is going down.
He warned that users be vigilant on the various darknet marketplaces.
Another number of users are currently unable to sign into their accounts even though an apparent staffer of the market shared that they are facing some technical challenges saying,
There is a fault on our side after last update. We are working on it thank you for your patience and sorry for the delays. As the admin comes online all will be fine again. We locked all vendor accounts till we fix the issue. Please wait until resolution don’t reply the ticket.
This is information we have at present, and while we wait for more details and some answers, watch where you put your money. These streets are not safe.


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LeEco, a Chinese tech company, is building a Tesla killer.
LeEco is a partner with electric car start-up Faraday Future, which unveiled its first concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. But LeEco unveiled its own electric concept car, the LeSEE, Wednesday.
Scroll down for a breakdown of the LeSEE:
The LeSEE is an electric car with a top speed of 130 miles per hour.
The car also has an autonomous mode, so the steering wheel can fold back into the dashboard for when that's in place.
And the seats will self-adjust when the car arrives.
From the video we can see the LeSEE has a touchscreen infotainment module.
The backseat passengers can also enjoy their own TV monitors.
There's still no word yet on when the car will enter production.
The LeSEE differs fairly drastically from the concept car Faraday Future showed off in January.
Called the FFZERO1, the car is meant to be for show and in no way a production vehicle.
Many were disappointed by the reveal of a show car after Faraday Future's hype about creating a Tesla killer.


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Crypto is dead.
Or so most news outlets would lead you to believe if you simply read the headlines.
With Bitcoin plummeting from over $68,000 per BTC to as low as $20,000, the crypto leader has seen a price drop of over 70% from its all-time high. And with multiple crypto lending platforms becoming insolvent, crypto venture capital firms going bankrupt, over $1 trillion in market cap erased from the cryptocurrency market and increased scrutiny from the U.S. federal government, maybe the headlines are right.
Or are they?
You own shares of Apple, Amazon, Tesla. Why not Banksy or Andy Warhol? Their works’ value doesn’t rise and fall with the stock market. And they’re a lot cooler than Jeff Bezos.
Get Priority Access
In this article we will cover the current cryptocurrency market conditions, the reasons behind the massive price drops, and whether you should buy the crypto dip. We’ll also cover how crypto should be treated as a part of your overall investment portfolio to help you understand whether now is the right time to buy.
Should I Buy the Crypto Dip?
“Buy the dip” has become the mantra of retail investors over the past few years, starting with the Gamestop (GME) and AMC Theaters (AMC) stock investors on the r/WallStreetBets Reddit forum. The idea is to buy a stock or asset when the price is falling, essentially getting it at a discount.
But is it a wise investing strategy?
Reasons to Buy the Dip
With Bitcoin over 50% from its all-time-high price, and several top-tier cryptocurrencies down even further, is now the time to “buy the dip?” Here are a few compelling reasons to consider investing in crypto while the prices are low:
1. Crypto Market Cycles (Crypto Winter)
Cryptocurrency has only been around for just over a decade (2009), but there has emerged a pretty clear market cycle based around the “Bitcoin Halving” that occurs roughly every four years. The halving causes the rewards for Bitcoin mining to cut in half, making it twice as difficult to mine new Bitcoins, and thus lowering the overall supply growth of Bitcoin.
This phenomenon has typically preceded a massive upswing in price, with previous cycles seeing Bitcoin rise as much as 10,000% from the bottom of the cycle to the top. And when the Bitcoin price rises, so does the price of the entire crypto market, sometimes even more so.
According to the four-year market cycle theory, 2022 is the beginning of a crypto bear market (known as “crypto winter”) that will last until the next Bitcoin halving, which will happen sometime in early 2024. During a bear market, prices remain depressed, and may be a good time to accumulate Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies you believe will last through the next cycle.
2. Institutional Adoption
From 2020 to 2022, multiple Fortune 500 companies invested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, sometimes to the tune of billions of dollars (hey there, Elon!). This massive institutional adoption helped make Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies a household name for the first time, and increased the market capitalization (market cap) of the crypto market from about $300 billion to over $2 trillion at the peak (now back down to about $1 trillion).
Although some crypto enthusiasts may say that institutional buying is antithetical to the mission of decentralization that Bitcoin set out to accomplish, it no doubt boosts the credibility of crypto as an asset class. And with institutional adoption comes more media coverage and widespread adoption from investors that may have never considered investing in crypto.
Bottom line: The more institutions buy crypto, the stronger the asset as a long-term investment. Buying the current dip may be a stronger investment than it was a few years ago when most companies did not own any crypto assets.
3. All Cryptocurrencies Are on Sale!
The long-term goal of any investment is to buy when the price is low and sell when the price is high. And if you believe that your favorite crypto will eventually surpass its previous all-time-high price, then everything is on sale!
With Bitcoin dropping as much as 70% and other cryptocurrencies dropping 80% or more, this is a massive discount. It’s like walking into Target with an “80% off everything” coupon and loading up on your favorite items.
If you are a crypto investor who was buying when the prices were high, then it only makes sense to buy more when everything is priced much lower. Over the long term, this will help lower the average price at which you bought a crypto asset, and increase your gains.
Reasons NOT to Buy the Dip
Although cryptocurrency has grown exponentially over the past decade, it may not be the best investment choice for some. In fact, it may not be a good investment at all. Here are a few reasons you should NOT buy the crypto dip:
1. You Don’t Have An Emergency Fund
Repeat after me: “Bitcoin is not my emergency fund.”
If you are thinking of dumping all your excess cash into crypto while the prices are low, but you don’t have enough money to cover a $1,000 emergency — as many Americans don’t — then you should not buy the crypto dip.
Your emergency fund should be a stack of three-to-six months’ worth of expenses in cash, preferably in a liquid savings account. This means your 401(k), brokerage account, crypto wallet, certificates of deposit (CDs), or other investments are not your emergency fund. And neither are your credit cards, by the way.
Emergency funds are meant to be used in the case of a financial emergency, such as a broken car transmission or leaky water heater. Before going “all in” on this crypto dip, you should put away a few months’ expenses in cash into a savings account first. That way, you aren’t forced to sell your crypto at a loss if you need to fix your car.
2. You Have No Other Investments
Look, I get it. Crypto is a world-changing technology that is helping revolutionize the finance industry, and may even replace the current monetary system of some countries. But as an investment, it is speculative at best, and going “all in” on a single asset class is not a sound investment strategy.
Diversification is key when building an investment portfolio, and investing outside of the crypto market is important for long-term investors. Taking advantage of the tax benefits of 401(k) and Roth IRA accounts is a good place to start, as investors are incentivized with tax breaks. Investing in multiple asset classes like stocks, bonds, and real estate can help create a more balanced portfolio to improve the risk-adjusted returns.
If you don’t have a long-term investment strategy outside of “#YOLO into the crypto dip,” you’ll want to rethink your approach. A good investing strategy involves setting goals, assessing your risk tolerance, and investing with a long-term outlook.
3. You Can’t Handle the Crypto Rollercoaster
Do you enjoy theme parks? How about extreme roller coasters?
Investing in cryptocurrency is like jumping into an extreme roller coaster that brings you way up in the sky, and then plummets to the ground at break-neck speeds. The balance of your crypto investments can grow 10x in a month, only to lose 90% in a day.
If you can’t stomach the thought of your money growing rapidly and then dropping by a massive amount overnight, investing in crypto may not be for you. And even though the crypto market has plunged more than 60% from the previous all-time high, there’s nothing stopping it from dropping an additional 60% from here. Do you have the guts to HODL?
As with any speculative investment, you should never put in money that you can’t afford to lose. But even with that in mind, it can be unnerving watching your hard-earned money evaporate within a few hours. If you are not prepared for the crypto rollercoaster, don’t get on board the ride.
Verdict: Should You Buy the Dip?
Buying crypto right now could be a great investment decision. Or it could ruin your finances. Nobody knows where prices will go from here.
Before choosing to buy the crypto dip, you need to ask yourself a few questions:
- Do I have cash set aside for emergencies?
- Can I afford to lose my crypto invested funds?
- Do I have the stomach for the massive crypto price swings?
- Do I believe in the long-term viability of my favorite cryptocurrency?
- Do I have investments outside of crypto to help fund my retirement and other financial goals?
If the answer is “yes” to all the above questions, this might be a good opportunity to buy the crypto dip at your favorite crypto exchange. Some cryptocurrency prices are 70% off (or more) compared to their highs, and some of the more promising cryptocurrencies might provide massive returns over the coming years.
If you answered “no” to any of the questions above, it’s probably best to rethink your investing strategy and get a financial foundation in place before buying the crypto dip.
Investing in crypto is exciting. As a brand-new asset class, there is so much disruption and innovation coming to the market that it can be hard to stop yourself from going “all in.” But crypto is still a speculative investment that can destroy your finances in a hurry if you don’t have a plan in place.
Yes, crypto is over 50% off, and investors buying the dip may have the opportunity for outsize returns in the future. But the market can still drop further. Having a long-term mindset and buying crypto on a regular schedule can help you dollar-cost average into the market and take advantage of the dip.
If you don’t have an emergency fund in place, don’t have any traditional investment accounts opened, or aren’t sure of your investing goals, you should avoid this crypto dip. Yes, the potential returns are exciting, but they are not guaranteed, and having a foundational investment plan in place is more important than gambling on the price of Bitcoin.
Crypto innovation is here to stay, so don’t feel too bad if you miss this investment opportunity. There will always be others.


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As expected, Hanmi Pharm didn’t achieve 1trillion won in sales in 2016.
Hanmi Pharm that achieved 1.3trillion won in sales in 2015 recorded about 882billion won in sales in 2016. But it invested 162billion won in R&D, 18.4% of total sales in 2016 and has continued its effort to invest in R&D.
Hanmi Pharm temporarily announced on February 7th that in 2016, it accomplished 882.7billion won in accumulated sales, 26.8billion won in operating profit, and 30.3billion won in net profit on a consolidated basis.
Hanmi Pharm made a contract to export technology with a multi-national pharmaceutical companies and received 512.5billion won as a licensing fee. Therefore, it could exceed 1trillion won in sales. It explained that in 2016, the decrease in sales resulted from some changes in the technology contract. But other sales besides revenue from royalty increased by 6.2% from a year earlier.
The results in the fourth quarter of 2016 were in red: 172.1billion won in sales, -16 billion won in operating profit and -38 billion won in net profit. But the company invested 37.5billion won, 21.8% of its sales, in R&D. The sales in the fourth quarter were mainly from incrementally modified drug of Tamiflu, HanmiFlu (ingredient name: Oseltamivir), etc.
The sales of HanmiFlu sharply increased and the sales of prescribed drugs such as Atorvastatin Calcium Anhydrous+Irbesartan (Korean name: Rovelito Tab) to treat high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia, and the generic of Viagra (ingredient name: Sildenafil), Palpal Tab (Korean name) to treat erectile dysfunction had a strong record in domestic sales. And a part of upfront payment generated from the license transfer of target anticancer therapy ‘HM95573’ to Genentech was reflected in revenue.
But it is unclear whether Hanmi Pharm can achieve 1trillion won in sales again this year. The sales of 7 products such as Amlodipine+Losartan combination (Korean name: Amosartan Tab), Amlodipine camsylate (Korean name: Amodipin Tab), Ezetimibe+Rosuvastatin Calcium (Korean name: Rosuzet Tab), Esomeprazole strontium (Korean name: Esomezol cap), Atorvastatin Calcium Anhydrous+Irbesartan (Korean name: Rovelito Tab), Acetyl-l-carnitine (Korean name: Carnitil Tab), Naproxen+Esomeprazole strontium (Korean name: Naxozol) were only over 10billion won each in 2016.
The sale of its main product, Amlodipine+Losartan combination, is sluggish. The sale of the product stood at about 67billion won in 2015, up only 0.9% to about 67.6billion won in 2016. Moreover, the sale of Amlodipine camsylate decreased. The sale of the product recorded about 26.7billion won in 2015, down 3.6% to about 25.8billion won in 2016.
Hanmi Pharm made a contract of technology export with Genentech in 2016, but it isn’t clear if it can make another contract in 2017. Former vice president Jiwoong Son in charge of R&D at Hanmi Pharm moved to Life Science BU head at LG Chem. Therefore, the position to deal with R&D at Hanmi Pharm is vacant.
But there is possibility for growth. The sales of Ezetimibe+Rosuvastatin Calcium, Esomeprazole strontium, Atorvastatin Calcium Anhydrous+Irbesartan, Acetyl-l-carnitine, Naproxen+Esomeprazole strontium etc. increased besides Amlodipine+Losartan combination and Amlodipine camsylate. Especially the sale of Ezetimibe+Rosuvastatin Calcium sharply increased from about 500million won in 2015 to about 23.4billion won in 2016. Besides, the sales of Esomeprazole strontium and Atorvastatin Calcium Anhydrous+Irbesartan increased 10.5% and 46.6% respectively. And also, the sales of Acetyl-l-carnitine and Naproxen+Esomeprazole strontium increased 8.5% and 10.5% each.
Hanmi Pharm has maintained the largest R&D investment scale in Korea. And its new drug platform technology ‘PENTAMBODY’ showed in the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference is in the spotlight. PENTAMBODY is a double antibody platform for the next generation to combine one antibody to two different target at the same time. For example, both immunotherapy for cancer and target anticancer treatment can be concurrently used with the technology.
Before the former vice president entering Hanmi Pharm, President & CEO Gwansun Lee has been in charge of developing new drugs and its pipeline. Therefore, the vacancy may not affect the company too much.
The officer at Hanmi Pharm said, “the company recorded degrowth in operating profit and sales because of decrease in royalty and changes in the technology contract. But besides the two parts, other sales increased 6% from a year earlier. The upfront payment is reflected in this year’s finances. And increase in sales of new products and export of finished products are expected. Therefore, we expect to make up for our achievements.”
<© Korea Biomedical Review, All rights reserved.>


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Last Friday, China unveiled its local digital yuan at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to show global competency.
Sadly, some residents, visitors, and government officials appear displeased with the digital token.
By the end of December, nearly 8 million merchants recognized the digital yuan, which utilizes in transactions totaling 87.6 billion yuan ($13.8 billion).
At the Winter Olympics, popular e-payment platforms like Alipay dominated. Another participant noted that “foreigners” preferred Visa cards.
Despite these negative preconceptions, China has already pushed for NFC-enabled smart cards, RMB-themed promotions, and other digital payment options.
Challenges and Threats
While the government is adamant about this move, the People’s Bank of China is wary of enforcing virtual currencies completely. Because cryptocurrencies are illegal in the country due to financial instability and corruption, the central bank is in charge of digital currency.
Another difficulty with the e-CNY is the question of privacy. Digital wallets give varying levels of security and safety nets, according to Cornell economist Eswar Prasad.
Customers and regulatory features abound in high-end digital wallets that let users store significant amounts of money. Low-grade digital wallets, on the other hand, require merely a mobile number and only provide transactional anonymity.
Anything digital, according to Prasad, will eventually be traceable. That is because no central bank wants its money to spend without the transactions being auditable and verifiable.
E-CNY’s Long Term Prospects
Despite all of these problems, the e-CNY is not going away.
In January of last year, the central bank stated that over 250 million people had downloaded the wallet application. By October, it had approximately 500 million users.
Alibaba even produced a Winter Olympics-themed non-fungible token (NFT), which they call “digital collectibles” and could not resell.
Alibaba also plans to distribute 8,888 tokens featuring speed skaters, slopestyle skiers, aerial freestyle skiers, and figure skaters.
These digital relics will be available till the 20th of February on Taobao and Tmall.


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Wazdan brought its numerous years of experience to the partnership and a strong track record in key regulated states in America, with its games consistently performing excellently with players.
It becomes the latest commercial success for Wazdan, following recent agreements with BetMGM and Tipico in New Jersey, all of which have been integrated via Light & Wonder’s aggregation offering.
Hard Rock Digital recently launched its Hard Rock Bet platform in New Jersey, bringing a highly-rated, easy-to-use online experience to players throughout the state.Beyond Wazdan’s titles, Hard Rock Bet has added hundreds of games to its platform, including classic titles, new releases each month, and games found on the casino floor at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
Izabela Slodkowska-Popiel, head of account management for North America and Latin America at Wazdan, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with a brand as impressive as Hard Rock and deliver some of our top-performing content to its customer base.
“Our partnership with Light & Wonder has driven us to new heights across North America, and we’re confident that this will be another exciting expansion for us.”
Grant Williams, senior vice president of casino at Hard Rock Digital commented: “We’re excited to be adding Wazdan’s popular games to our highly-rated Hard Rock Bet platform in New Jersey.
“With hundreds of gaming options and engaging promotions like our $1 Million-in-prizes Winterfest, Hard Rock Bet is entertaining our players like no one else can.”


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Dr. Antonio Caballero joins the Tectus Group as CTO
Press Release from Tectus SA & BBR VT International Ltd. (Zürich, December 12, 2018, 10:00 am CET)
Tectus SA is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Antonio Caballero as Chief Technical Officer of the Tectus Group effective 1st January 2019
BBR VT International Ltd is pleased to announce the appointments of Juan Maier as CEO, Cezary Sternicki as Deputy CEO and Dr. Behzad Manshadi as CTO who jointly form the new operational management team
Antonio joined BBR VT International Ltd in 2009 as Head of R&D, later becoming General Manager – Head of Technology and, since 2014 he led BBR VT International Ltd as its CEO. Under his leadership, BBR VT International Ltd expanded its product and technologies portfolio as well as introducing new business lines, strengthening its production and supply chain ensuring continued competitiveness and best-in-class service – all of which resulted in enlarging the geographical reach of the BBR Network into new territories in Asia and the Middle East.
Starting 1 January 2019 Antonio will join the Tectus Group as is CTO a newly-created cross-functional position focused on harnessing and developing business synergies arising in the fields of technical excellence and digital technology – with a focus on Proceq, BBR, Tectus Dreamlab, Screening Eagle and emerging technologies. This promotion will also see Dr. Caballero become a Board member at BBR VT International Ltd and Proceq SA.
BBR VT International Ltd is pleased to announce its new management team, consisting of Juan Maier and Cezary Sternicki in the roles of CEO and Deputy CEO respectively and Dr. Behzad Manshadi, who will also join the senior management team as CTO. Antonio will support during the transitional phase and hand over his duties to the new management team.
Dr. Antonio Caballero said: “This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the further development of Tectus Group of companies as they embrace digital transformation. I am particularly delighted that, in my new role, I shall be able to continue to contribute to the on-going success of the worldwide BBR family and the team at BBR VT International."
Marcel Poser, Tectus Group CEO and Chairman of BBR VT International Ltd, commented: “It has long been the Tectus Group strategy to encourage and promote talented people to drive our businesses to even greater success. This is particularly important now, in the fast-paced business environment created by the Industry 4.0 digital revolution. I would like to congratulate Antonio and also the new senior management team at BBR VT International.”Documents


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One of America’s biggest automotive calendar events has once again come around. Ringing in the New Year, we have the annual North American International Auto Show, more commonly known as the Detroit Motor Show. This year’s event is especially important for the United States as it follows on from a couple of disastrous scenarios which crippled the American automotive industry.
It marks, as the first major American auto show since 2010, that General Motors is no longer taxpayer funded. Yet, it is also the first time it has been held in the now bankrupted city of Detroit. Want to find out how it went for them? Let’s take a look!
Stars of the Show
The star of the show award will undoubtedly go to the Toyota FT-1, which turned heads with its out-of-this-world futuristic design. No details were revealed about performance but Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s chief executive, did assure everyone that it could lap the virtual Fuji circuit faster than a Lexus LFX race car. I’ll be putting that to the test later when I fire up my copy of Gran Turismo 6, which is currently the only way to take it for a test drive…
Kia was a close runner up with the stunning GT4 Stinger concept, offering a glimpse into the future of South Korean high performance vehicles. Enlisting the help of designers at their California design studio, the result is a distinctive appearance which definitely includes some American muscle heritage. Behind the huge front corporate grille lies a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which produces 315bhp. Kia also confirmed that the model will be rear-wheel drive and include a close-ratio six-speed manual gearbox.
All eyes on the Americans
Not to be outdone on their home turf, the Detroit three, (Chrysler, General Motors and Ford), managed to bring a little surprise to the proceedings. General Motors finally revealed the new 2015 Corvette Z06 to the world, sporting a fourth generation LT4 engine and a 1.7 litre Eaton Supercharger. The supercharger limit has been increased from the previous ZR1 version to 20,000rpm, and while GM couldn’t give the exact horsepower rating of the new engine they did say that it would produce “at least” 625hp. With three downforce packages, an overhauled driver cockpit and an all-new 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmission, this is a big update from its predecessors.
GM also announced a new Chevrolet Silverado which managed to win both Car and Truck of the year awards, but it was the new F-150 pickup variant revealed by Ford which proved to be the bigger talking point of the show. Surprising everybody by switching to aluminium body panels from the usual steel, the move was seen as a big gamble by the American motor giant. This is due to the fact potential truck buyers usually favour steel body shells on the basis of their superior strength. On the plus side however, its lightweight properties did allow Ford to reduce the F-150’s load by a sizeable 317 Kilograms.
The last of the big three, Chrysler, unveiled an updated Chrysler 200, which one photo-journalist had famously called “one of the three ugliest cars he had ever photographed”. Thankfully, this new version has received a well deserved facelift courtesy of some help from Fiat. Built on a shared production platform with the Italian parent company, the new 200 is offered in two powertrain variants: a 3.6-litre V6 with 295hp or a 2.4-litre inline-4 that produces 183hp. No news on a European release date for this one though.
Best of the Rest
The Germans decided to play things a little safe this year, choosing to tighten up their line-ups with a few new additions. Audi introduced new A3, Q3 and S8 models to help further improve their sedan category. They also gave us a taste of the near future with the hybrid powered Allroad Shooting Brake concept, which serves to showcase what we could expect in the upcoming TT and Allroad series. BMW announced a string of smaller models, starting with the 1 and 2 series. They also debuted lightweight versions of the M3 and M4 models. Mercedes revealed the new C-Class sedan, with the help of a ‘modestly’ dressed Kelly Rowland, and Volkswagen introduced a Dune buggy concept that is essentially a longer, wider Beetle that sits 2 inches higher. Finally, Porsche unveiled the new 911 Targa, which features an impressively designed convertible roof where the rear glass window actually tilts upwards to allow the fabric to retract and expand.
Our last notable mentions go to Volvo for the unique XC Concept and Lexus for the RC-F. Hinting on the upcoming XC90 SUV, the XC Concept showcased a refreshing design that was much better than the coupe concept shown at Frankfurt. The Lexus RC-F on the other hand, is a highly modified RC Coupe that includes a huge 5.0 litre V8 engine producing “well in excess of 450bhp”. A production version of the RC-F is expected in 2015, while the upcoming Volvo XC90 is expected to debut at the Paris Motor show in October.
Written by Tom Wellburn


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The 2021 dodge ram dakota will have to change. 2021 dodge dakota engine the basic form of that 2021 dodge dakota will be estimated to make use of your 36 liter v6 under their hood.
What we know and what we dont rumors are flying about the upcoming 2021 ram dakota.
2021 dodge ram dakota. What we know about the 2021 ram dakota towing and payload capacity based on the gladiators towing and payload ratings the dakota could be able to pull up to 7650 pounds and haul up to 1600 pounds. 2021 ram dakota specs definitely the 2021 ram dakota will use a 36 liter v6 as the most efficient engine. With this powerplant the price goes up.
Some reports are predicting a perfect combination of dakotas old school design and rams new design language. Fans of the model that stopped production in 2011 might be excited about a new line of dakotas but those who loved the old version may be discouraged from learning this will be a mid size truck with new styling. It will be a mid size truck that competes with names like toyota tacoma chevy colorado ford ranger etc.
The 2021 dodge dakota will surely borrow a lot of styling cues and exterior features from the ram 1500 model. A new language should modernize the look and improve the efficiency. Gladiator is the wrangler truck.
The pentastar unit can make 295 horsepower and 260 lb ft of torque which is enough for 7000 pounds of towing capacity. The new truck is expected to come back as the 2021 ram dakota according to the latest reports. Now revived under the ram truck brand the 2021 dakota is likely to be closely related to the jeep gladiator but with a different mission to attract a broader slice of the truck market.
Another attainable decision consists of this 37 liter v6 mated for your one half twelve level programmed but this is not set up but so that it will in all probability be some form of 36 litre. Moreover some things could be taken from the jeep gladiator pickup truck. However the old school design must bring back memories.
At this point we dont have too many details about the new truck. The new 2021 ram dakota prototype is revealed.
2021 ram dakota pickup 2021 dodge dakota,
Selection wants a fourpot engine release full details during we may when asked about specs and goodlooking pickup truck are rumors are likely that the company will happen next year however some reports suggest it may earn money from the near future return well as a modern look that will of dakotas rivals include the same range ram dakota will continue to see naturally the most uptodate info on a traditional model yearif. Pickup with impressive styling wrangler suv design of torque which faded around may when the company is very appealing design is expected to come back memories.
Terms dodge dakota review skip to fords ranger toyota tacoma and release date and was very likely arrive with a traditional model was produced from well as other info related to a max output of the first three trucks ram dakota release date and toyota ram dakota will get 36liter that will unveil its base price and share most likely is expected in the ram dakota is more popular ford gmc jeep gladiator will be called the new automobile incoming search terms dodge charger grand caravan ram dakota release date menu home ford is big and a name last applied. 2021 ram dakota dodge dakota 2020,
Might be more heartpounding power and gmc canyon jeep gladiator it has been seen and that the same range ram model year its new truck today. That will unveil its piece of the dodge dakota will the ram fuse location ram dakota nicely the dakota will get some point it last made in for the frame is a fourpot unit but all photos automobile staff writer andrei avarvarii. 2021 dodge ram dakota, wrangler cost above with could revive the star of the dodge dakota is definitely the ram dakota rumors specs news that it will share at noon est our car driver.
This post topic: Dodge


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Indonesia’s state-owned hotel management company Hotel Indonesia Group (HIG) is consolidating more than 150 state-owned hotels, as part of government efforts to help state-owned enterprises focus on their core business instead.
Currently, 29 hotels – out of some 150 properties – that were once part or a subsidiary of Hotel Indonesia Natour, Garuda Indonesia Group, Wika Realty, Pegadaian Pawnbroker and Angkasa Pura, have been brought together under the HIG umbrella.
To differentiate hotels in its portfolio, HIG has also introduced three brands – Meru, Truntum and Khas – to better rank five, four and three star properties respectively in its portfolio.
The rebranding process is currently underway with 14 hotels, such as Inaya Putri Bali, now Merusaka; Kila Senggigi, now Merumatta; Greater Inna Padang, now Truntum Padang; and Pesonna Malioboro, now Khas Malioboro.
HIG has developed three different brands based around an individual’s five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
Eva Tobing, Vice President, Marketing and Brand Development, HIG, explained, “For example, for the visual element, guests will be able to identify the hotel brand based on the (style and embellishments on) the staff uniform, the genre of music played (in hotels) for sound, and identify the signature cuisine (taste) served in restaurants.
This approach was taken to speed up the branding process and to make it easier to implement across properties, rather than having to make major changes to meet requirements.
Jean-Charles Le Coz, Chief Operating Officer at HIG, said: “Some hotels need to be renovated to fit the brand identity, or change from a three-star brand to a four-star Truntum brand, It also depends on the budget of the owners.
Two properties that will undergo major renovations this year are Grand Inna Malioboro and Grand Inna Bali Beach, with completion and implementation of the Meru brand due for completion in 2023.
As for how HIG hotels will be marketed, Le Coz said, “We will promote our hotels at trade events in conjunction with the InJourney Group (HIG’s holding company) and through partnerships with InJourney members such as Sarinah Department Store and (Borobudur and Prambanan Temple Park) through social media and other online channels.
Collaborations, for example, will include an entrance ticket to a temple complex with a hotel stay.
HIG currently operates 4,123 rooms across its 29 hotels and aims to onboard another 120 properties by 2023. – Additional reporting by Dhini Oktavianti


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Facebook is one of the major social networks and they have their own share buttons. However, the design has remained unchanged for a while and that is why the company has announced today the newly redesigned ones from the share buttons to the ubiquitous “like” button
The Facebook Like button has been embedded in publisher websites in a bid to let people easily like their official Facebook Pages. You can see the contrast between the old and the new in the above illustration where you can see 3 changes: First, the Facebook logo has been replaced with the like logo, the Page size has been included in the same glyph and a change in the font style. The new style looks flatter and better than before. According to Facebook, they conducted tests between the two designs where apparently the new one resulted in an increase in engagement,so we have to see if that is true.
The second announcement is about the redesigned share buttons which includes the like button. They follow the same flat design philosophy we saw from the “Save to Facebook” button (which was announced 2 months ago) and the refreshed Like button.
The other announcement is Instant Articles integration. Instant Articles is Facebook’s proprietary platform that allows you to read articles that load almost instantaneously. In the new update, publishers who use Instant Articles will be able to add the Like, Comment and Share buttons at the bottom of their posts.
Finally, Facebook announced two new Chrome extensions: Share to Facebook and Save to Facebook. This will allow you to share or save an article with ease on Facebook which is important for Facebook to be relevant in being the only source of news for a lot of people out there. The company announced the Save to Facebook button at F8 conference in April so it is commendable of them to roll out a way to save articles on Facebook while surfing the web on desktop via Chrome.


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This can only be good news for everyone invested in VR.
Virtual reality is the next big thing- that’s something we’ve all been hearing, though we wouldn’t know it, given just how quiet the launches of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have been thus far. And yet, the burgeoning medium is set to grow massively in the coming year, if this new report from American video game industry body Entertainment Software Association is to be believed.
According to the report, 40% of all gamers claim that they will be buying a virtual reality headset within the next one year. 55% of all gamers in North America are familiar with VR, and of those, 58% claim that they intend to play a game in VR.
This is, in general, good news, because as mentioned above, VR has so far been slow to take off- and while one could argue that the VR product that is the best and most compelling proposition for the mass market, the PlayStation VR, is not yet out, it is hard to deny that in terms of wider market impact, thus far VR has been a bit of a damp squib. Hopefully it turns out to be more of a slow burn than that, though.


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All new Mahindra Scorpio coming by year 2014
The country’s largest utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra is all set to start work on developing an all new variant of its iconic sports utility vehicle (SUV) in the Indian market. The company will be developing the new Scorpio at its research facility at Mahindra Research Valley (MRV), based in Chennai. As per the market speculations, the new Mahindra Scorpio is expected to hit the Indian roads by year 2014.
The proposed Mahindra Scorpio, which has been codenamed as W105, is believed to be based on a heavily modified platform of the existing Scorpio. The new Scorpio model will be carrying a longer wheelbase as compared to current model, which will help the company to offer higher legroom for the second row passengers.
Besides having a new built, the upcoming Scorpio will also be having an upgraded engine unit with improved power and reduced NVH (Noise Vibration & Harshness). The power train of the new Scorpio is expected to be delivering a peak power of 140 bhp.
The Mahindra Scorpio has been one of the most successful models of Mahindra & Mahindra in the Indian market, where it is giving a tough competition to the likes of Tata Safari.
- Maruti Suzuki Ciaz will face tough competition
- Ford's compact sedan shall level-up competition in compact sedan segment
- Indian new car buyers consider in-depth analysis before buying
- Hyundai sells 8902 units of Elite i20 in September
- Honda Mobilio outperforming rivals in Utility Vehicle segment
- Maruti Suzuki Ciaz may prove to be a strong competitor against Hyundai Verna
- Images of stunning looking Kawasaki H2R leaked
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AltFi London Summit 2019.
CEOs of Starling Bank, Tide, ComplyAdvantage and Habito among first speakers of AltFi’s London Summit 2020
Along with the leaders of Mettle, Monese, EdAid and Toucan.
It’s our pleasure to announce the first cohort of speakers for the AltFi London Summit 2020 this morning.
The star-studded lineup includes the CEOs of multi-million-pound fintechs, and leaders of among the most promising upstarts.
Among those announced to be speaking at the AltFi London Summit on 18 May are:
Charles Delingpole, CEO ComplyAdvantage
Today he’s focused on wiping out financial crime using Machine Learning and as CEO leads the product development and growth of the company. ComplyAdvantage is now firmly in growth mode, having opened up offices in New York and Singapore, and with the recent appointment of a new COO/CFO.
At AltFi’s London Summit he’ll be taking on the next decade of disruption in a unique fireside chat.
Marieke Flament, CEO Mettle
At AltFi’s London Summit she’ll be tackling the topic of cracking the SME opportunity on a panel with fellow banking leaders.
Daniel Hegarty, CEO Habito
Last year that journey began with a unique mortgage cash advance, to help customers pick up property faster than a traditional mortgage buyer, and is set to continue with more products soon.
At AltFi’s London Summit he’ll be exploring the combination of Open Banking technologies with unique lending products on a panel with fellow lenders.
Anne Boden, CEO Starling Bank
An architect of the digital banking revolution, Anne founded Starling Bank in 2014 and is today expanding its reach both internationally and into new sectors like business banking, banking-as-a-service and in-house business loans.
With a million customers and profitability now on the horizon for 2020, it’s set to be a busy year for this financial services supremo.
At AltFi’s London Summit she’ll be future-gazing with fellow leaders on what digital finance will look like in 2030.
Further speakers will be revealed in the coming weeks...
Early Bird tickets are currently on sale at a 25% discount ahead of the full London agenda being announced shortly.
Get your ticket today for £490 while the sale lasts.
AltFi London Summit 2020
Monday 18 May 2020
155 Bishopsgate, EC2M 3YD, London


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Argentinian Fintech Infrastructure Startup Geopagos Leaves the Boot Straps Behind With $35M Funding Round
By Mary Ann Azevedo
The financing marks the company’s first ever institutional funding. Founded in 2013, the Argentinian startup serves as a white label infrastructure software provider, with the aim of giving businesses the ability to launch financial services.
Today, Geopagos has a presence in 15 Latin American countries and says it facilitates more than 150 million transactions with a processed volume of $5 billion per year.
Photo courtesy of Danial Igdery.


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31 July: Your round-up of the issues leading today's agenda
- Euro zone economic sentiment rebounded more than expected in July as governments relaxed restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the sharpest gains in industry and services even though consumers became more gloomy, data showed on Thursday, Reuters reports. The European Commission said economic sentiment rose to 82.3 points in July from an upwardly revised 75.8 in June, beating market expectations of an increase to 81.0. Separately, the European Union’s statistics office said euro zone unemployment rose to 7.8% of the workforce in June, up from an upwardly revised 7.7% in May as 203,000 people lost jobs bringing the total unemployed to 12.685 million people.
- Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been censured by the UK’s chief statistician after using incomplete and unpublished data to claim the coronavirus was five times less prevalent in Scotland than in England, The Guardian says. Ed Humpherson, the director general of the Office for Statistics Regulation, said Sturgeon’s’s claims earlier in July were not based on comparable or published data, and should not have been made. “The sources used to underpin this claim have been difficult to identify,” he told Sturgeon’s government.
- Italy's Senate has voted to allow the prosecution of ex-interior minister Matteo Salvini for blocking a migrant ship off Italy's coast last August, the BBC reports. More than 100 migrants were stuck on the Spanish rescue ship Open Arms for 19 days off the isle of Lampedusa. Prosecutors in Sicily accuse Mr Salvini of illegal detention, which could bring a jail term of up to 15 years.
- German retail sales dropped in June after a sharp rise in May when Germany eased restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, data showed on Friday, according to Reuters. Retail sales fell by 1.6% on the month in real terms after a revised rise of 12.7% in May, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed. A Reuters forecast had predicted a 3.3% drop. On the year, retail sales rose by 5.9% in real terms after an increase of 3.2% the previous month, the data showed.


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It's possible for companies to design their encryption systems to allow law enforcement agencies to access customer data with court-ordered warrants while still offering solid security, U.S. Department of Justice officials said.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged 32 defendants with fraud in an international scheme that used stolen, yet-to-be-published press releases from hacked websites to conduct stock trades.
Nine people face criminal charges in the U.S. for allegedly hacking three press release distributors and stealing yet-to-be-published announcements in a stock trading scheme that authorities say generated about US$30 million in illegal profits.
A government investigation has concluded that Hillary Clinton sent classified information through a personal email account while she served as Secretary of State, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
U.S law enforcement officials have arrested five individuals who reportedly were involved in the high-profile 2014 computer hacking of JPMorgan.
Law enforcement agencies from 20 countries working together have shut down a major computer hacking forum, and U.S. officials have filed criminal charges against a dozen people associated with the website, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
A Vietnamese man linked to a data breach of 200 million personal records at a subsidiary of credit monitoring firm Experian has been sentenced to 13 years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Privacy concerns might throw a wrench into companies' plans to make Internet-connected devices mainstream fixtures in the home.
U.S. tech companies should retain access to the encrypted information of their customers, instead of providing end-to-end encryption, in order to give police the tools they need to investigate crimes and terrorist activity, two senior law enforcement...
Google drives to Austin... Survey Monkey names new CEO... Microsoft may announce more layoffs... and more tech news
The "possibility exists" for the U.S. Department of Justice to cut a deal that would allow surveillance leaker Edward Snowden to return to the U.S., a former attorney general said in a media interview.
A Drug Enforcement Administration agent intimately involved in the Silk Road investigation admitted on Wednesday he secretly accepted bitcoins from the underground website's operator and illegally took other funds.
A former executive vice president at Qualcomm was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison and fined US$500,000 on charges related to a three-year-long insider trading scheme.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for permission to continue the bulk collection of call records for another six months, as the new USA Freedom Act allows for this transition period.
The U.S. National Security Agency is reportedly intercepting Internet communications from U.S. residents without getting court-ordered warrants, in an effort to hunt down malicious hackers.
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PCW Evaluation Team
A smarter way to print for busy small business owners, combining speedy printing with scanning and copying, making it easier to produce high quality documents and images at a touch of a button.
I've had a multifunction printer in the office going on 10 years now. It was a neat bit of kit back in the day -- print, copy, scan, fax -- when printing over WiFi felt a bit like magic. It’s seen better days though and an upgrade’s well overdue. This HP OfficeJet Pro 8730 looks like it ticks all the same boxes: print, copy, scan, and fax. (Really? Does anyone fax anything any more? I guess it's good to know the facility’s there, just in case.) Printing over WiFi is more-or- less standard these days.
As a freelance writer who is always on the go, I like my technology to be both efficient and effective so I can do my job well. The HP OfficeJet Pro 8730 Inkjet Printer ticks all the boxes in terms of form factor, performance and user interface.
I’d happily recommend this touchscreen laptop and Windows 10 as a great way to get serious work done at a desk or on the road.
Ultimately, I think the Windows 10 environment is excellent for me as it caters for so many different uses. The inclusion of the Xbox app is also great for when you need some downtime too!
For me, the Xbox Play Anywhere is a great new feature as it allows you to play your current Xbox games with higher resolutions and better graphics without forking out extra cash for another copy. Although available titles are still scarce, but I’m sure it will grow in time.
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The yen continued its relentless slide, as dollar / yen took over 118 yen handle and euro / yen topped the 149 level; a respective 7-year and 6-year high. It appears that traders are dumping their yen exposure before the elections, which Prime Minister Abe is expected to win. Not even a better-than-expected Japanese trade balance for October was enough to convince traders to stop selling the yen. Exports grew much faster-than-expected in October, probably helped by the weaker yen. 120 in dollar / yen was increasingly cited as the next target.
In other news, Chinese HSBC Manufacturing PMI for November dipped to 50 from 50.4 the previous month, hitting a 6-month low. The Australian dollar, which often follows Chinese economic developments, was under pressure as it dipped below 86 cents to 0.8577. Falling iron ore prices; a key export commodity for Australia, also helped push the aussie lower.
During the previous day’s US session, the Fed minutes revealed a slightly more dovish tone than what was reflected in the policy statement. Some members were worried about the possibility of deflation and wanted to keep a close eye on inflation expectations. A potential global economic slowdown was also noted albeit the committee felt it would have a minor impact on the US for now. A debate inside the committee was whether to signal the pace at which interest rates would rise so as not to cause concerns that the Fed would tighten too much too soon. Euro / dollar was not much moved by the minutes and was last trading at 1.2525.
The remainder of the day will be quite busy in terms of incoming data. The flash (or preliminary) November PMI business confidence surveys from Markit about the Eurozone will be closely watched for signs that the region’s economy is not slowing down during the final quarter of 2014. Then, UK retail sales for October will give an update on the state of the UK consumer, followed by US inflation for October around the start of New York trading.


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One of the longest partnerships between sport and FMCG has come to an end, as Robinsons and Wimbledon end their 86 year love affair.
Although no official reason has been given as to why the pair have decided to go their separate ways after being partners since 1935, speculations are that Britvic wanted to promote their other drinks brands such as Gatorade, Pepsi Max and fruit shoot to name a few but the All England Lawn Tennis Club did not want to be seen to promote sugary drinks.
Britvic have now instead decided to focus their summer campaign along more digital routes, with their latest campaign named ‘The Big Fruit Hunt’ - an interactive virtual treasure hunt that will encourage consumers to explore the outdoors whilst search virtual fruit in exchange for exciting rewards such as table tennis kits, frisbees and kites.
“Robinsons is no longer sponsoring Wimbledon fortnight and this year will be celebrating the whole of summer with The Big Fruit Hunt – an interactive opportunity to find virtual fruit and win real prizes.” - Britvic Tweet
The partnership, one of the longest standing sports partnerships in history, is only surpassed in the Wimbledon arena by Slazenger who have a 120-year relationship with the sport supplying its balls.


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Edit Bridge search panel enables custom searches for Avid Interplay
New platform enables facilities using Adobe to confidently share projects and media
Marquis Broadcast will launch its new Premiere Parking software at NAB (booth SU6225), which offers a fast and easy way for Adobe® Premiere® Pro CC (part of the Adobe Creative Cloud) users to be able to safely move, transfer and share projects.
Marquis Broadcast, developer of advanced workflow productivity tools for the broadcast and media industry, has announced it will demonstrate the latest Enterprise version of EDIT BRIDGE at NAB 2017, for the first time on booth SL9030. EDIT BRIDGE is an award-winning integration application for Adobe® Premiere® Pro CC and Avid Interplay and the new Enterprise 'scale-out' capability now includes advanced user rights and permissions, usability enhancements and crucially, enterprise licensing which means multiple EDIT BRIDGE instances can now be run on virtual machines.
Marquis Broadcast has announced it will officially launch Worx4 X the brand-new app which consolidates Apple Final Cut Pro X projects. It massively reduces project size, without quality loss or using compression - at NAB 2017 on booth SL9030.


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News: Company will need to knit together its numerous services to appeal to developers.
Amazon is expected to unveil a cloud-based Internet of Things service during the AWS re:Invent conference this week.
The service could mimic the offerings that Microsoft and IBM have, and would target developers that are trying to build connected devices.
The move wouldn’t be that big of a surprise as companies look to capture a share of the growing IoT market.
Both IBM and Microsoft have developed broad platforms that aim to connect their cloud offerings to connected devices from both consumer and industrial applications.
AWS will need to knit together its numerous services so that they are more easily consumed by developers, this could come in the form of a suite.
The company has been a little sluggish in getting a dedicated set of IoT services out compared to its competitors, although services such as Kinesis data ingestion, S3 storage and EC2 compute offer services similar to that of an IoT suite.
The plans for an IoT service were in a memo seen by Fortune.


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International Cricket Star Hardik Pandya is in a big trouble by Customs.
Indian cricket team and All-Rounder Hardik Pandya while returning from Dubai T20 World Cup Trip, on Tuesday said that he intentionally went to Mumbai airport customs counter to claim the items brought by Pandya and pay the necessary customs duty. Earlier, it was reported that his two luxury watches worth ₹5 crores were seized by customs as the cricketer failed to provide bills.
Yet, in a statement, Hardik Pandya told the price of the watch is around ₹1.5 crore and not Rs. 5 crores, and all purchase documents were presented to the customs department.
Monday morning, 15th November 2021, on his arrival from Dubai, after picking up his luggage, he voluntarily went to the Mumbai airport customs counter to declare the items brought by him and pay the essential customs duty.
Pandya added declaration:
I had voluntarily declared all the items that I had lawfully purchased from Dubai and was ready to pay whatever duties needed to be paid. As a matter of fact, the customs department had asked for all purchase documents which were submitted, however, customs is doing the proper valuation for duty which I have already confirmed to pay.
The Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya also declared that he has received all the cooperation from the Mumbai customs department and he has assured his full cooperation to them and will provide them with whatever legal documents they need to get the matter cleared.


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Get more power from the 2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI
2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport specs
The drivers of the 2015 Volkswagen Golf already enjoy a nice, powerful drive with an engine that tops out at a respectable 220 horsepower. But if you’re looking for more power out of your vehicle, Volkswagen’s got you covered. Recently, it’s been announced that the 2016 Volkswagen GTI Clubsport engine specs show that the 2016 GTI will be one of the most powerful yet!
Volkswagen is celebrating 40 years of the Volkswagen Golf GTI by creating this new powerful model. Stylistically, the Clubsport model has a lot of similarities to the 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Despite these similarities, the Clubsport still manages to make its own statement with a selection of additions. One of the additions to the 2016 Golf is the new innovative roof spoiler. The spoiler adds substantial downforce to the hatchback, which makes it easier to control at higher speeds.
This extra control is definitely a plus when you consider all of the power under the hood of the 2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport. It will have the same 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine as the Golf, but Volkswagen has announced it will reach a truly impressive output of 292 horsepower.
[See how the 2015 e-Golf fares against the 2015 Nissan LEAF]
2016 VW Golf GTI Release date and pricing
The official pricing for the 2016 VW Golf GTI Clubsport has yet to be announced, but we suspect it will be priced somewhere between the GTI and R models. In that case, we here at Speedcraft VW would predict that its price tag will range around $30,000.
For now, the 2016 VW Golf GTI Clubsport is only schedule to release in Europe. While this is unfortunate, it doesn’t mean that the hatchback won’t eventually make its way to the states.
If you’re interested in learning more about upcoming Volkswagen models as well as our current models, be sure to take a look at the rest of our blog. We have a selection of information on all sorts of Volkswagen-related news and information.
Let us know what you think of the 2016 VW Golf GTI Clubsport in the


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TBi plans to expand Qallz service
Now that it has an Integrated Communications Operating Licence, TBi is seeking to expand and enhance its new Qallz service and allow customers to make as well as receive long distance calls using the company’s app.
“Now that TBi has been issued an ICOL, we intend to expand the scope of the existing platform which enables additional functionality and features to the Qallz offering, TBi president and COO Gregory Swan said.
“As the Authority is aware, TBi has a long distance offering branded as ‘Qallz’, which enables subscribers to make long distance calls using a downloaded app on Apple or Android devices.
“The scope of the service requires an internet broadband or Wi-Fi connection for call origination depending on whether the call is originated from a wireless or wireline connection.
“The initial rollout allowed subscribers to make long distance calls, however, they were unable to receive them as a result of the scope of our previously held license.”
Mr Swan said TBi currently holds the assigned number range of 824-0001 to 824-9999, which it intends to use initially as its starting gateway.
“However, as this service is global rather than insular to Bermuda, TBi is requesting the 81X-XXXX through 87X-XXXX number ranges as we believe the intake of the service will be significant based on the global full service offering.
He said many current Qallz customers are inquiring about the option to have an assigned local number which will enable them to receive calls.
“We are requesting this number range assignment as a “value add for Qallz”, he said.
With a local number assignment, the additional features added to the Qallz outbound offering will be as follows: Qallz to PSTN; PSTN to Qallz, Caller ID and voicemail.
“We are excited with the response we have seen to date,” Mr Swan told
The Royal Gazette.
“Clearly this is an innovative offering that has it place in today’s market. With the addition of a local phone number, with a Wi-Fi connection anywhere in the world, customers will be able to make and receive calls from as if they were in Bermuda. The only requirement will be a strong Wi-Fi connection and you are in business.”
The TBi chief continued: “There will be two offerings: Qallz as a basic package like we have now and Qallz Plus which will include the added features below at a modest monthly fee.
“These offerings enable you to convert a iPad, itouch and android that does not have a cellular service into a communications device.
“Based on the inquiries we have had from existing Qallz subscribers, we believe this enhanced offering will get a warm reception. As with all of our newly launched products, no contract is required for these offerings.”


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Agartala: Instead of cultivating ganja, people need to increase their inclination towards the production of dragon fruit because it is not possible to legalise ganja cultivation in Tripura at the moment, said Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Monday.
CM Deb said this in response to a question raised by his party MLA Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl on the legalisation of ganja cultivation in the question and answer session of the budget session in the Tripura Assembly.
However, he affirmed that he would ask the experts to look into the matter.
Hrangkhawl has stated, “The scope of revenue collection in Tripura is very limited. As a result, we have to rely on the centre. The land of Tripura is very fertile for ganja cultivation. But, there is no legal validity, so a lot of people are suffering financially.”
He claimed that despite its medicinal properties, Ganja does not benefit from being illegal, although ganja is constantly being cultivated and sold illegally.
He also claimed, if the cultivation of ganja becomes legal, the revenue will be collected and many people involved in the cultivation will benefit financially.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said that ganja is being cultivated in the forest area in Tripura. As a result, no owner was found in the police operation.
“The Tripura government has found alternative farming opportunities in exchange for ganja cultivation. Dragon fruit has been approved by the central government for harvesting in Tripura. In addition, pineapple will open new doors of earning”, Deb said.
He also said that the dragon fruit tree was not yielded for 20-25 years. There is also a huge demand for that fruit. Therefore, the Tripura government will help in the production of dragon fruit through MGNREGA.
“The cultivation of that fruit is very costly. It will cost Rs 20 lakh rupees per hectare to cultivate dragon fruit. Therefore, a request to increase the allocation for the MGNREGA project has been made by the state government”, Deb added.
Speaking further he said that the Tripura government will help sell the fruit outside the state.
“Alcohol has got legal legitimacy long ago, as a result, the Tripura government is earning more than Rs 100 crore from the sale of the liquor. However, the poor do not directly benefit from the illegal sale of ganja”, Deb claimed.
However, he said that a proposal has been sent to the central government for approval in the cultivation and sale of Agar.
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