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WEST JORDAN, Utah, April 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mountain America Credit Union was recently honored with a Diamond Award recognizing outstanding marketing and business development achievements in the credit union industry.
The awards were presented by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Marketing & Business Development Council, a national network comprised of over 1,300 credit union marketing and business development professionals. Awards are given in 35 categories ranging from advertising and branding to community events and beyond.
Mountain America earned a Diamond award in the Video (Commercial)-30 seconds or less category for the video, “Make the Jump.”
“We are always honored to earn this recognition from the credit union community,” says Sharon Cook, chief marketing officer at Mountain America. “Our team is passionate about helping members achieve their financial dreams, and great story telling helps us reach more members.”
“The hard work displayed by these credit unions always leaves us feeling inspired and passionate about what we do,” said Amy McGraw, Chair of the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council’s Diamond Awards Committee and VP Marketing, Tropical Financial CU. “Receiving this award further highlights the dedication they have for our movement and their members.”
Award winners were recognized at the council’s 26th annual conference held March 20-23 in Las Vegas. For more information on the Diamond Awards or to view the entire list of winners, go to http://www.cunacouncils.org/events-recognition/mbd-awards/.
For more information about Mountain America Credit Union, visit www.macu.com.
About Mountain America Credit Union
With more than 810,000 members and $8.5 billion in assets, Mountain America Credit Union assists members on the right path to help them identify and achieve their financial dreams. Mountain America provides consumers and businesses with a variety of convenient, flexible products and services, as well as sound, timely advice. Members enjoy access to secure, cutting-edge mobile banking technology, over 90 branches across five states, thousands of shared-branching locations nationwide and more than 50,000 surcharge-free ATMs. Mountain America—safely guiding you forward along your financial journey. Learn more at macu.com.
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America's credit unions, which are owned by 115 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org. To find your nearest credit union, visit YourMoneyFurther.com.
About CUNA Councils
CUNA Councils is a member-led, collaborative community of credit union leaders providing vibrant peer interaction, new ideas and innovation to foster professional development for our members while advocating for the overall success of the credit union movement. There are seven CUNA Councils with a network of more than 7,000 credit union professionals. For more information, visit cunacouncils.org.


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The Ascena Retail Group Inc., operator of the Ann Taylor, Loft, Lane Bryant, Justice and Lou & Grey chains, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company disclosed today.
Ascena, yet another retail victim of COVID-19 and insurmountable debt piled up through a string of acquisitions over the years, said it entered into a restructuring agreement with over 68 percent of its secured term lenders. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Ascena liquidated Dressbarn and sold off the Maurices chain. The company now plans to close all its Catherines stores.
The pre-arranged financial restructuring plan is expected to reduce Ascena’s debt by about $1 billion and provide “increased financial flexibility to enable the company to continue its focus on generating profitable growth and driving value for customers and stakeholders.”
Ascena said it worked out $150 million in funding from existing lenders. With that, plus cash flow from existing operations, the company feels it has sufficient funds to meet its needs.
The company also said that it will reduce its footprint by closing a significant number of Justice stores and certain Ann Taylor, Loft, Lane Bryant and Lou & Grey stores. “This includes the exit of all stores across brands in Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico and the closure of all Catherines stores,” the company said. The total number of stores to close depends on negotiations with landlords and bankruptcy court permission. Bankruptcy allows retailers to vacate leases without penalties.
The company filed the Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Currently, Ascena is operating with about 95 percent of its stores reopened after shutting down temporarily earlier this year due to the coronavirus.
“The meaningful progress we have made driving sustainable growth, improving our operating margins and strengthening our financial foundation has been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we took a strategic step forward today to protect the future of the business for all of our stakeholders,” said Carrie Teffner, interim executive chair of Ascena.
“The RSA (restructuring agreement) formalizes our lenders’ overwhelming support for a comprehensive plan to deleverage our balance sheet, right-size our operations and inject new capital into the business. With the cash generated from our ongoing operations and the new money financing commitments we received from our lenders, we expect to have sufficient liquidity to meet our operational obligations during the court-supervised process. We expect to move through this process on an expedited timeframe as our talented leadership team, established over the last year, stays focused on generating profitable growth and driving value for customers and stakeholders.”
Gary Muto, chief executive officer of Ascena, commented, “Ann Taylor, Loft, Lane Bryant, Justice and Lou & Grey have incredibly loyal customers who are at the center of everything we do. These iconic brands have significant long-term potential and we continue to deliver on their mission to provide all women and girls with fashion and inspiration to live confidently every day. This comprehensive restructuring, as well as the actions we are taking to optimize our brand portfolio and store fleet, mark a new start for our company and will allow us to expand our customer-focused strategies across her mobile, online, and store experiences.”

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This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2023.
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26th Apr 2023
- Indian agricultural sector, though having some major achievements, face a number of challenges that impacts its productivity severely.
- In this context, this edition of the Burning Issue will analyze the agricultural sector of India, its challenges, and relevant solutions.
Indian Agriculture: A backgrounder
While agriculture’s share in India’s economy has progressively declined to less than 15% due to the high growth rates of the industrial and services sectors, the sector’s importance in India’s economic and social fabric goes well beyond this indicator as:
- Population dependency: Nearly three-quarters of India’s families depend on rural incomes.
- Rural sector: The majority of India’s poor (some 770 million people or about 70 percent) are found in rural areas.
- Food Security: India’s food security depends on producing cereal crops, as well as increasing its production of fruits, vegetables and milk.
Major Achievements of the Indian Agriculture Sector
- Record Production of Food grains: Indian agriculture witnessed a distinct step up in the growth of output following the green revolution in the 1960s driven by the intensive use of inputs and technological advancement, which was sustained during the seventies and eighties.
- Diversification towards Horticulture Crops: Horticulture production has outpaced food grains production since 2012-13 and it currently accounts for around 35 per cent of the total value of crop output in the agriculture sector.
- Growing Importance of Allied Activities: The allied sector has steadily gained importance in the last decade led by strong growth in animal husbandry and fish production. Indian livestock sector attained a record growth of 6.6 per cent during the last decade (2010-19) with India emerging as a major producer of milk, egg and meat in the world.
- Changing Dynamics of Agriculture Trade: As India has emerged as a leading producer of various agricultural commodities in the world, its share in the global trade of agricultural and allied sector products has doubled from 1.1 per cent in 2000 to 2.2 per cent in 2018.
- However, despite all these achievements, the Indian agriculture sector is going through multiple challenges as well.
Challenges to Indian Agriculture Sector
(A) Small and Fragmented Land Holdings:
- Small and scattered land holdings apply to a small plot of land that is uneconomical.
- An agricultural farm must have a certain amount of land in order to be cost-effective in terms of purchasing and utilizing inputs, as well as harvesting.
(B) Inferior Quality seeds
- The seed is a vital and essential input for the crop’s yields and for maintaining agricultural production growth.
- The delivery of high-quality seeds is just as important as its processing.
- Unfortunately, good superiority seeds are out of reach for the majority of the farmers, marginal farmers and particularly small, due to exorbitant seed rates.
(C) Manures, Fertilizers and Biocides
- For hundreds of years, Indian soil was used to produce crops with no regard for replenishment. As a result, soils have been depleted and exhausted, leading to low productivity.
- Almost all of the crop has among the lowermost average yields in the world.
- It is a critical concern that can be resolved by increasing the use of fertilizers and manures.
(D) Irrigation challenges
- Despite the fact that India is the world’s 2nd largest moistened country after China, only one 3rd of the crop production is irrigated.
- In a rainy climate country like India, where rainfall is unpredictable, unreliable, and erratic, irrigation is the most significant agricultural input.
- India will not be able to make sustainable development in agriculture until and unless much than half of the collected area is irrigated.
(E) Lack of Mechanization
- Despite the large scales mechanization of agriculture in few parts of the world, most agricultural operations are still carried out manually.
- Irrigating, sowing, thinning, plowing and pruning, harvesting threshing, weeding, and transporting the crops all make little or no use of machines.
- This is particularly true for small and marginal farmers. It leads to a significant waste of labor and human labor yields per capita.
(F) Weak Marketing
- In rural India, agricultural marketing is still in poor shape. Farmers have to rely on local traders and middlemen to dispose of their farm products, which are sold at a loss because there are no reliable marketing facilities.
- Trading companies and middlemen predominate in the advertising and trading of agricultural products in the absence of a formalized marketing framework. The middlemen’s compensation increases the consumer’s burden for their services, but the farmers do not gain anything comparable.
(G) Poor Storage Infrastructure
- Storage facilities are either non-existent or woefully inadequate in rural locations. In such circumstances, the farmers are obligated to sell their food as soon as it is harvested at the going market rates, which are invariably low.
- The farmers lose their rightful income as a result of these distressed sales. The Parse Committee calculated that 9.3% of post-harvest losses were attributable to poor storage conditions alone, accounting for approximately 6.6 per cent of those losses. Hence, it is crucial to use efficient storage to prevent losses and benefit both consumers and producers.
(H) Low Capital Infusion
- Agriculture is a significant industry; much like other industries, it needs money to operate. With the development of agricultural technology, the importance of capital input is growing.
- The agriculturalist must borrow money to increase the pace of agricultural output because his capital is tied up in his lands and stocks. Even now, the money lenders, traders, and commission agents that charge exorbitant interest rates and buy agricultural products at extremely low prices are the main funding sources for farmers in rural areas.
Consequences of the above challenges
- Highest number of farmers suicides: The National Crime Records Bureau of India reported that a total of 296,438 Indian farmers had committed suicide between 1995-2014. High debt burden and crop failure remain the major reasons for it.
- High wastage of agricultural products: A rough estimated figure by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) – Approximately 40% of the food produced in India is wasted every year due to fragmented food and inefficacious supply chain system. The irony is that loss occurs even before the food reaches the consumer
- Low income of farmers: a report released by the National Statistical Office in 2021 reveals the pathetic income level of Indian farmers. The average monthly income from different sources per agricultural household from July 2018 to June 2019 comes to only ₹10,218, where a net receipt is obtained considering the ‘paid out expenses’ approach. This amount of income further reduces to ₹8,337 when net receipt is obtained considering both the paid-out and imputed expenses.
- High Disguised Unemployment: As per Census statistics, the rural population in India stands at 833 million, constituting almost 68 per cent of the total. While the agriculture sector engages 49 per cent of the total labour force in the country, its contribution to overall GVA is only 17 per cent which shows the overdependence of the Indian labour force on agriculture resulting in significant hidden or disguised unemployment in the sector and thus lower labour productivity.
- Increasing chemical and pesticide usage: since the availability of agricultural land is decreasing in India, the pressure on existing agricultural land is increasing to produce more food. In this quest, chemicals and pesticide usage is increasing in India. 275 pesticides were registered for use in India, of which about 255 are chemical poisons. In total pesticide consumption, insecticides occupy the highest share in India. However, India shares only 1% of the global pesticide use.
- High dependence on government and MSP: As agricultural production in India is still heavily dependent on rainfall and its spatial distribution, adverse climatic conditions like drought, flood and market factors, Indian farmers are highly dependent on government support schemes and policies such as MSP during every stage of growing a crop.
- Low private participation: due to price uncertainties, low confidence of farmers in private players and weak supply chains in the agriculture sector, the private sector is largely uninterested in investing in the agriculture sector, which leads to low capital formation, poor technologies penetration and high dependence on government.
Some solutions to tackle these challenges
(A) Promoting new technologies and reforming agricultural research and extension:
- Major reform and strengthening of India’s agricultural research and extension systems is one of the most important needs for agricultural growth.
- These services have declined over time due to chronic underfunding of infrastructure and operations, no replacement of aging researchers, or broad access to state-of-the-art technologies.
- Research now has little to provide beyond the time-worn packages of the past.
(B) Improving Water Resources and Irrigation
- Agriculture is India’s largest user of water.
- However, increasing competition for water between industry, domestic use and agriculture has highlighted the need to plan and manage water on a river basin and multi-sectoral basis.
- As urban and other demands multiply, less water is likely to be available for irrigation. Ways to radically enhance the productivity of irrigation (“more crop per drop”) need to be found.
- Piped conveyance, better on-farm management of water, and the use of more efficient delivery mechanisms such as drip irrigation are among the actions that could be taken.
(C) Facilitating crop diversification to higher-value commodities
- Encouraging farmers to diversify to higher-value commodities will be a significant factor for higher agricultural growth, particularly in rain-fed areas where poverty is high.
- Moreover, considerable potential exists for expanding agro-processing and building competitive value chains from producers to urban centers and export markets.
- While diversification initiatives should be left to farmers and entrepreneurs, the Government can, first and foremost, liberalize constraints to marketing, transport, export and processing.
(D) Promoting high-growth commodities
- Some agricultural sub-sectors have a particularly high potential for expansion, notably dairy.
- The livestock sector, primarily due to dairy, contributes over a quarter of agricultural GDP and is a source of income for 70% of India’s rural families, mostly those who are poor and headed by women.
- Growth in milk production, at about 4% per annum, has been brisk, but future domestic demand is expected to grow by at least 5% per annum.
- Milk production is constrained, however, by the poor genetic quality of cows, inadequate nutrients, inaccessible veterinary care, and other factors.
(E) Developing markets, agricultural credit and public expenditures
- India’s legacy of extensive government involvement in agricultural marketing has created restrictions in internal and external trade.
- Even so, private sector investment in marketing, value chains and agro-processing is growing, but much slower than potential.
- While some restrictions are being lifted, considerably more needs to be done to enable diversification and minimize consumer prices.
- Improving access to rural finance for farmers is another need as it remains difficult for farmers to get credit.
(F) Climate change mitigation
- More extreme events – droughts, floods, erratic rains – are expected and would have the greatest impact in rain-fed areas.
- The watershed program, allied with initiatives from agricultural research and extension, maybe the most suited agricultural program for promoting new varieties of crops and improved farm practices.
(I) Marketing reforms
- In the absence of a properly organized market and sufficient transportation facilities, Indian farmers face the problem of low incomes from their vendible surplus crops.
- As a result, farmers have fallen prey to distributors for the fast discarding of their crops at the lower price and uneconomic.
- Price fluctuations in agricultural products are also a significant threat to Indian agriculture.
- Price stability is important not only for farmers, but also for buyers, exporters, and agro-based industries.
- The price movements of agricultural products in India are neither smooth nor uniform, resulting in a fluctuating pattern.
(J) Minimizing Post-Harvest Losses
- Wastage of food products due to inefficient postharvest practices is one of the important factors behind high food inflation in India. Wastages take place at all levels of the food value chain – starting from the level of farmers to the levels of transporters.
- Agricultural economists have recognized that there is tremendous potential to increase the availability of agricultural produce, particularly horticultural crops like fruits and vegetables, by reducing wastage through the build-up of cold storage, warehousing, packaging and cold transport chain infrastructure.
(K) Developing Food Processing Industry
- Food processing is a sunrise industry and the demand for processed food in India is likely to increase steadily with rapid urbanization, rising per capita income and more women joining the workforce.
- Despite having huge growth potential, the food processing industry in India is currently at a nascent stage – accounting for less than 10 per cent of the total food produced in the country
Steps taken by the government in this regard
The Government of India has taken several steps which include:
- Improvement in soil fertility through the Soil Health Card scheme.
- Providing improved access to irrigation and enhanced water efficiency through Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).
- Supporting organic farming through Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).
- Support for the creation of a unified national agriculture market to boost the income of farmers.
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has been launched to mitigate the risk of crop loss in the agriculture sector.
- Launch of e-NAM portal for online trading in agricultural products.
- Ashok Dalwai committee was formed to suggest measures to double income of Indian farmers.
- Government accepted the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan commission to provide MSP at 1.5 times the cost of production of the crop.
- Multiple schemes have been launched for the allied agriculture activities like Matsya sampada yojna for fisheries, Rashtriya Gokul mission for livestock sector etc so as double income of farmers.
- Indian agriculture scaled new heights with record production of various food grains, commercial and horticultural crops, exhibiting resilience and ensuring food security during the COVID period. The sector, however, confronted various challenges, mitigation of which requires a holistic policy approach.
- Addressing these challenges would require a second green revolution focussed on the agriculture water-energy nexus, making agriculture more climate resistant and environmentally sustainable.


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Famitsu Magazine shared information on the sale of retail editions of games in Japan from March 21 to March 27 of the current year. Last week, Kirby and the Forgotten Land topped the list.
As revealed, Nintendo’s action-adventure platformer sold over 380,000 copies in the Land of the Rising Sun during the period, a record for the franchise.
According to information in Famitsu Video Game Sales Librarythe most successful launch of the Kirby series in Japanese retail until recently was Kirby Super Star Ultra (260.8 thousand copies) for the Nintendo DS.
For comparison, the launch of another week’s newcomer – otherworldly action film Ghostwire: Tokyo – barely surpassed 10,000 copies. A similar picture emerged in British retail.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Ghostwire: Tokyo debuted on March 25 of this year. The new Kirby is exclusive to Nintendo Switch, while Tango Gameworks is available for PC (Steam, Epic Games Store) and PS5.


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On March 24th, the Nepali Government announced a nationwide lock-down in a bid to slow the inevitable spread of Covid-19. The lockdown has caused immense economic hardship and an immeasurable number of artisans are struggling financially.
By purchasing an Hope Gift Package you are contributing directly to empowering marginalized women from rural areas of Nepal. Our aim is to empower women by teaching them handicrafts and entrepreneurship skills that will support them in gaining financial independence. These one of a kind gifts are all handcrafted with love and care, using eco-friendly materials and produced with a 100 year old loom.
Thank you for contributing to a more hopeful future for our local women artisans and their families.


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Three food delivery companies sued New York City on Thursday over restaurant fee caps.
DoorDash, GrubHub, and Uber Eats say that the city’s limit on the amount they can charge restaurants is unconstitutional, has cost them a lot of money, and forces them to past cost to consumers.
The three companies said in their suit that “the ordinance sets a dangerous precedent.” They seek an injunction to collect monetary compensation and prevent enforcement of the bill currently in place and a jury trial.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill last year in May to limit the percentage that food delivery services can charge restaurants. The bill was implemented during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The food-delivery apps cannot charge any more than 15%.
“Let me be clear, none of the reform measures are meant to target or impede any business from providing a service or making a profit,” City Councilman Mark Gjonaj, chairman of the city’s Small Business Committee, said.
The councilman believes that the lawsuit is “a misguided effort to protect what they feel is their right to fleece local mom-and-pop eateries out of every dime that they can squeeze from them. It’s unfortunate but not surprising.”
San Francisco has also set limits for food delivery services.
DoorDash and Grubhub filed a lawsuit against San Francisco in July.
“The City of San Francisco passed hasty, detrimental, and unconstitutional price controls which leave us no choice but to resolve this matter in court,” a spokesperson for DoorDash said. “Not only do permanent price controls violate the US and California Constitutions, but they will likely harm the very restaurants the city purports to support. Imposing permanent price controls is an unprecedented and dangerous overreach by the government and will limit the options small businesses rely on to compete in an increasingly competitive market.”


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Amazon Prime members have so many benefits that it is hard to keep track. But one to remember is coming here to Las Vegas. Prime members will soon be able to shop for their groceries, everything from meat and seafood to fresh produce and sundries.
“We’re thrilled to introduce AmazonFresh to Prime members in Las Vegas,” Stephenie Landry, vice president, AmazonFresh and Prime Now, said in a press release.
“Prime members tell us they want their stuff even faster. We’re happy to deliver on that ask and can’t wait for customers in Las Vegas to take advantage of one- and two-hour delivery from AmazonFresh,” she said.
With such a short turnaround from order to delivery, the AmazonFresh program is sure to help save you or any busy shopper some time.
Beyond grocery items, customers can still purchase the typical Amazon offerings, from Amazon devices to electronics, health and personal care, home and kitchen, toys and more. They even have books now. Prime members can access AmazonFresh for an additional $14.99 per month.
For a limited time, a 30-day free trial of AmazonFresh is available, with the possibility to receive $10 off the first order of $35 or more. Just use the promotional code
Grocery10 at checkout.
As Amazon expands its grocery delivery into new markets, its rivals are launching their own initiatives to compete. Walmart announced “Delivery Unlimited,” a subscription service including grocery deliveries as often as you like with two ways to pay, either $12.95 per month or $98 per year for expanded online shopping.


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Looking for a safe and clinically proven way to enhance your eyelashes? Than look no further because cosmetic drug maker, Allergen, the inventors responsible for Botox, found a formula that promises to enhance and create longer and fuller eyelashes. According to the Associated Press, an FDA panel of “outside eye and skin specialists” voted unanimously that the drug Lumigan benefits outweighed its risks.” Lumigan appears to be a safe and effective way to promote eyelash growth; however, the AP notes “that only one African-American patient was included in company trials,” and some experts believe more studies should be done to show the drug’s effectiveness in our population.
Would you be willing to test Lumigan on your eyelashes?
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Bata steps up plan for nationwide concept stores
KUALA LUMPUR: Bata Malaysia plans to open 15 new concept stores nationwide next year.
Bata Malaysia managing director Hernan Vizcaya said the new stores will complement the existing 250 stores it currently operates.
"However, we are now revamping the 80 stores that we have into family concept stores by next year, whereby it will have something for everyone including children," Vizcaya told reporters after the launch of the family concept store in Tesco Mutiara Damansara here yesterday.
He said the cost to redesign the new family store would be RM150,000 per store.
"Within one-and-a-half-years, we plan to revamp all our 250 stores into family concept stores," Vizcaya added.
He said the company's market share currently stands at 10.5 per cent and that it sold eight million pairs of shoes ofall brands annually.
"Our growth rate per year is between seven and eight per cent for pairs of shoes sold in a year," Vizcaya said.
Vizcaya said Bata Malaysia expects a double-digit growth in revenue this year, fuelled by the new family concept stores.


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PCSB in the News: Assistant Professor of Marketing Helen Caldwell Talks about the Impact of Online Shopping
In a segment on WJAR Channel 10, the PCSB’s Dr. Helen Caldwell offers her insight on how online shopping can cause real obstacles for small businesses around the holidays. When faced with fierce competition by huge online retailers like Amazon, local businesses experience significant challenges. In an effort to change this, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza is encouraging Providence shoppers to visit local businesses rather than do all of their shopping online. The city is even offering free parking throughout the season to encourage this.
However, Dr. Caldwell does not think this is enough to save the small stores. “It’s going to take a lot more than that,” she says, because when it comes to online shopping, there is a certain level of convenience that prevents people from going out to local businesses to shop. The Benny’s closures are clear evidence of this competition. Dr. Caldwell says,
“And if a company like Benny’s, which had a really strong following, can’t compete, what is one small store going to be able to do?”
To watch the full segment with Dr. Caldwell, click here!


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In the recent webinar organised by FirstCentral Credit Bureau – Experts from financial sector, mostly Fintechs, MFBs, Commercial Bank and Central Bank of Nigeria scrutinised the pros and cons of the cashless policy.
FirstCentral Credit Bureau Limited, Nigeria’s only independent and first licensed Credit Bureau , well-known for its commitment to designing and deploying solutions that turn data into strategic tools for information and risk management, recently organised a webinar titled: ‘Harnessing the Benefits of Cashless Policy on Credit Allocation in a Developing Nation’ which had Experts from financial and fintech institutions throw their weight behind the cashless policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), highlighting the benefits of improved credit allocation on the country’s economy.
The Managing Director, FirstCentral Credit Bureau, Mr Deji Peters in his welcome address asked participants to look forward to unlearning and relearning while focusing on the gains that the policy may bring from the experts who have come to speak at the webinar The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), highlighting the benefits on credit allocation on the country’s economy during a webinar put together by FirstCentral Credit Bureau Limited titled: ‘Harnessing the Benefits of Cashless Policy on Credit Allocation in a Developing Nation’ stated that the benefits of the cashless economy would to a large extent reduce money laundry, reduce government revenue leakages and improve financial inclusion, amongst others. Haruna Bala Mustapha, Director, banking supervision department, CBN said the cashless policy is aimed at reducing and not eliminating the use of cash and encouraging the use of electronic channels for payment transactions in Nigeria.
Mustapha who was represented by Adeniji Adekunle said the cashless policy which was introduced since 2012 in Lagos was later extended to five other States and FCT in 2013. He said the policy has since been reviewed and updated. He listed the impact of a cashless economy to include improved efficiency in payments, increased cost savings and improved transparency and accountability. Other benefits he mentioned are improvement in risk management and financial inclusion. Also speaking during the webinar, Ade Bajomo, president FintechNGR said one of the most significant impacts of the cashless economy is its impact on credit allocation whether it is SMEs, organisations, institutions, governments or individuals.
Bajomo hinted that the current credit supply is not sufficient to address the needs of SMEs and therefore going cashless will avail institutions the financial records of SMEs, their sales and purchases amongst others to enable them make informed decisions. He mentioned economies that have succeeded and benefited from cashless policies to include Sweden, Norway, South Korea and the United Kingdom, adding that these countries also tackled challenges in their way to success. He said Nigeria is also facing similar challenges which include infrastructure challenges, security, data bridges and resistance to change amongst others in its way to achieving a cashless economy.
“Transiting to a cashless society requires a lot of education but it is rewarding when successful. Emerging technologies such as block chain technologies have potential to transform the sector,” the FintechNGR president said. Ikemefula Nwachukwu, head, personal banking, First Bank of Nigeria, said challenges of digital lending in commercial banks include data security, regulatory compliance, integration with legacy systems and cost of acquiring digital solutions. Nwachukwu however noted that commercial banks can leverage digital lending by engaging in customer profiling and credit advisory. During his presentation on ‘Microfinance Banks Embracing Cashless Policy as a Tool for Financial Inclusion,’ Joshua Ukute, National President of National Association of Microfinance Banks in Nigeria said 38 million adults are financially excluded and 81 percent (30.8million) among them live in the rural area, while 19 percent (7.3million) live in urban areas. Ukute said 61 percent of the 38 million adults own phones and 24 percent use phones owned by others. He said among the 38 million adults, 25 percent are saving but 75 percent are not saving. He said there is an opportunity to tap into the 38 million adult market and provide services for them.
FirstCentral offers a wide range of products regarding Financial Reporting, Data Integration and Financial Intelligence; they include reports like: Dud Cheque, Detailed Credit, Basic Credit, X-Score and others. Services like: Trainings on Credit & Financial Literacy, Directorship Credit Reporting, Data Analytics are also being offered.
For more information, kindly visit the website: https://firstcentralcreditbureau.com/


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WK/London took note of their boss’ appearance in Creativity’s latest list project–The 2009 Creativity 50. In the feature on him, Dan Wieden says he’s looking to expand in a southerly direction. image courtesy of Flickr user, saramusico Here’s a segment from Creativity’s report: Co-founder Wieden says he also plans to expand into South America in […]
Yesterday, I mentioned that I made a perfect pair on Facebook with the help of The Melting Pot’s new FB app, but that I didn’t get any kind of confirmation. A representative from Push in Orlando–the agency that developed the work–has been kind enough to step forward and describe how the promotion works. “Once you […]
Om Malik likes to interface with the Facebook platform via mobile device. He also believes that mobile syncing of one’s key data points with location-based service offerings (advertising) is gonna be big. I recently pointed out that “as we transition to an increasingly mobile world, the location beacon takes the role of the TCP, and […]
According to Ad Age, Cessna sees its planes as “productivity tools.” You know, like Power Point.
[This People-Powered advertising stunt was brought to our attention by Sean Howard on Twitter.]
Orlando agency, Push, prepared a new Perfect Pairing Facebook application for its client, The Melting Pot, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The idea is for you to play matchmaker. Got friends you think would make a perfect pair? Use The Melting Pot’s Perfect Pairings application to see how they match up. Melting Pot will […]
Milwaukee’s Meglio Pizza is offering Twitter users $2.00 off their next pie. I’m making note of it because this is what’s right with Twitter. There are boatloads of social media experts ready to instruct business owners on how to use Twitter properly, but depending on one’s product or service offering, it needn’t be all that […]


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400,000 Australians asked to review NAB lawsuitAugust 12 2019 by InsuranceAsia News Staff
Over 400,000 Australians have been told they could potentially be able to take part in a class action lawsuit accusing National Australia Bank of selling “junk” consumer credit insurance.
Slater and Gordon said it had notified customers that they could become involved in the lawsuit. The law firm alleges NAB sold insurance for credit cards and personal loans which was of little or no value.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) was scathing of consumer credit insurance in a report released in July.
Slater and Gordon’s practice group leader Andrew Paull commented: “NAB knows that using pushy tactics and pressuring vulnerable customers into buying worthless insurance was wrong. They did it anyway, and collected millions of dollars in unwarranted premiums in the process.”
The class action proceedings were filed in the Federal Court in September on behalf of customers who Slater and Gordon say were inappropriately sold credit card insurance by NAB and MLC. In June, the court agreed the claim could be expanded to include personal loan insurance.
The regulator set out tough new standards and insisted insurers drastically redesign their consumer credit insurance policies. It ordered 11 lenders providing consumer credit insurance to undertake a remediation program for more than 300,000 customers, estimated to cost the firms at least A$100 million (US$67.4 million).
ASIC expects insurers to meet the new standards or cease selling the product; Allianz has decided to drop offering the product at the end of September.
Slater and Gordon wants Australians who held consumer credit insurance wants with financial institutions other than NAB to register interest in their own class action.
- October 18
The State Council has scrapped foreign shareholding limits for banks and insurers, effective immediately.
- October 11
The OIC should be given more independence, says the IMF in its latest assessment.
- October 11
The country's regulatory body will delay by one year the adoption of the new global accounting standards.
- October 10
The Hong Kong insurer has teamed up with the founder of Hillhouse Capital.


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Chennai: Indian two-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor Company has reported an increase of 16.3 per cent in profit after tax (PAT) in the third quarter for the financial year 2018 and stood at Rs 154.35 crore against Rs 132.67 crore in the same quarter last year.
Revenue, excluding excise duty/GST, grew to Rs 3,684.95 crore in the quarter ended December 2017, a growth of 23.5 per cent, from Rs 2,983.38 crore in the quarter ended December 2016.
The company registered a growth of 23.9 per cent Profit Before Tax to Rs 210.36 crore in the third quarter of 2017-18 from Rs 169.8 crore in the third quarter of the previous financial year.
During the quarter ended December 2017, the overall two-wheeler sales of the company, including exports, grew by 13.8 per cent to 7.99 lakh units in the quarter ended December 2017 from 7.03 lakh units in the same quarter previous year.
Motorcycles sales grew by 26.7 per cent to 3.14 lakh units in the quarter ended December 2017 from 2.48 lakh units registered in the third quarter of 2016-17.
Scooter sales increased to 2.69 lakh units in the third quarter of 2017-18 from 2.21 lakh units in the third quarter of 2016-17, registering a growth of 21.6 per cent.
For Eicher managing director Siddhartha Lal, the recent resignations at the Royal Enfield unit have come at a difficult period. The company is readying new launches of its premium bikes to breathe life back into flagging sales, and a person in the know said he would have preferred to have all hands on the deck.


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WESTFIELD, NJ — A Texas-based company has been soliciting donations from local businesses under the false premise that the funds would benefit school athletics programming through sports merchandising, police said Monday.
Sgt. Michael Walsh said neither the high school nor the Westfield Boosters authorized the sales, and those entities are not receiving the benefit of the donations.
“Sports Media Advertising has been soliciting donations from local businesses under the assumption that their logo will go on Westfield merchandise and sales will benefit the school,” Walsh said. Police are investigating, he said.
A school official confirmed the sales are not connected to the district or its athletics department.
Westfield High School Athletics Director Sandra Mamary encouraged any businesses with suspicion about a solicitation for youth athletics to contact her department.
“I really want to encourage merchants to call the athletic office before they donate if there’s any question because obviously a company from Texas should raise some flags,” Mamary said. “If it’s our teams and our student athletes reaching out for donations, by all means donate. They’re our kids. It’s very upsetting to me when our community is so generous and gets taken advantage of by a fraudulent company.”
Messages left with Sports Media Advertising were not returned Monday.
A profile of the company on the Better Business Bureau’s website states that Sports Media Advertising has a history of complaints and also goes by the name Sports Media Marketing.
“Sports Media Marketing has a pattern of disputes alleging the company falsely claims to be affiliated or working on behalf of local schools in their area to raise money for the school's athletic team,” the Better Business Bureau states. “Additionally, consumers allege an inability to obtain a refund or contact Sports Media Marketing after signing their agreement.”
In 2017, the Fort Worth-Star Telegram reported scams involving the company, which had previously done business under two other names before adopting the name Sports Media Advertising.
The newspaper report said the company sells T-shirts, banners and other spirit-themed items to companies with a loosely veiled promise that they will be distributed by local school districts.
Email Staff Writer Matt Kadosh at email@example.com; Follow him on Twitter: @MattKadosh
More Westfield NJ Local News


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While we can't physically go and be in the stands to cheer on our favourite teams at the minute, we can still show our support from home.
And if you're keen to get the whole family kitted out ready for the next international game then you're in luck as one Co Down company has created a very special range, especially for your pooch!
Urban Pup has teamed up with the Irish FA to create a range of fully-customisable Northern Ireland jerseys especially for your four-legged friends.
The Bangor-based outfit was established in 2007 by pet lovers Denis Kelly and Andy Cosgrove who loved the idea of looking after pets and keeping them warm and safe but in style.
And their brilliant designs have been seen on pups of celebrities including Rita Ora, Kelly Osbourne, Sheridan Smith, Caprice, Sadie Frost, Meg Matthews, Russell Kane, and Lorraine Kelly.
Explaining the new collaboration Denis said they are incredibly proud of the finished product.
He told Belfast Live: " We are immensely proud of the result which was six months in the making. As lifelong fans it was very exciting to be involved with the Northern Ireland international team and to be able to create something that was, shall we say, a little bit different from the norm.
"The IFA and the Urban Pup teams worked on many options and designs before arriving at the final design. This is based on the famous 1967 shirt worn by George Best which is instantly recognisable to any Northern Ireland fan.
"The range was recently launched and has been well received by the fans who now have suitably kitted out dogs all over Northern Ireland, who can join their owners and get behind the team for the next big game against Italy on the 25th of March."
Stephen Bogle, Head of Sales and Marketing at the Irish FA, said: “I would like to welcome Urban Pup to our growing list of official licensees. We’re delighted with the final products and I’m sure the GAWA will love this fantastic new range designed with their dogs in mind.
“By purchasing through official partners such as Urban Pup it helps the Irish FA to continue to invest in and develop the grassroots game across the country.”


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We don’t see the kind of maturity that should be in the approach of the senior officials or board person of the tax department, says Sugata Sircar, CFO and Country Finance Partner, Schneider Electric in an interview with ETCFO.Tax assessment: A big challenge
There is a lot that Indian e-commerce players can share with the world. Innovation and customer satisfaction may just be a few things, says Myntra CFO Dipanjan Basu.Are the risks for Indian e-commerce also its opportunities? Myntra CFO Dipanjan Basu answers.
In a short interview with ETCFO's Vartika Rawat, Srikanth Shenoy, CFO at Triton Valves, lets on what matters the most to the definition of a finance leader going forward. Giving the team members space to perform and fail too is crucial, he believes.Triton Valves CFO Srikanth Shenoy on the future finance leader


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updated 07:05 pm EDT, Wed June 1, 2011
Google digital library plan still without deal
Publishers revealed Wednesday that they and Google had yet to reach a deal in the longstanding plan to create a digital library. The content creators' attorney Bruce Keller told Judge Denny Chin that all was still "on the table" and that no deal had been reached. Judge Chin gave an extra 60 days, until July 19, for both sides to come to terms.
The American Association of Publishers and the Authors Guild had sued Google in 2005 after it had proposed a strategy that would have seen it create digital copies of as many public domain books as possible or those that had no traceable rights. Both of the objectors claimed that Google's strategy, which assumed it could publish if no one stepped forward, was violating their rights.
Amazon, Microsoft, and Yahoo objected as well, arguing that it would put too much control of e-books into one company's hands. Google eventually settled for $125 million this March, but the conditions, which let it offer a subscription to what it had planned, were ruled by Judge Chin as having gone too far.
Google has since offered a traditional e-book store on the web and on mobile platforms like Android and iOS.


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China’s Didi fined $1.2 billion for 16 cybersecurity violations
The year long probe of Didi, China’s ride-hailing giant, has come to an end on July 21. China’s Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced its decision on Didi’s breach of cybersecurity case. A fine of RMB 8.026 billion (USD$1.19 billion) is imposed on Didi Global Co., Ltd. and a fine of RMB 1 million(USD$ 147,889) each is imposed on Cheng Wei, CEO of Didi, and Liu Qing, President of Didi.
CAC’s inspection on Didi found the company had 16 violations of the country’s cybersecurity laws, data security laws, and personal information protection laws. Didi’s violation includes illegal collection of 11,963,900 screenshots from users’ albums, excessive collection of 107 million facial recognition information, 53,509,200 pieces of age group information, 16,335,600 pieces of occupation information, 1,382,900 pieces of kinship information, and collecting 142,900,000 pieces of drivers’ education information and storing 57,802,600 drivers’ national ID number in explicit forms.
In addition, the CAC says that “Didi has other illegal and non-compliant issues such as data processing activities that seriously affect national security, as well as refusal to fulfill the clear requirements of the regulatory authorities, and malicious evasion of supervision.“ The specifics of how Didi’s operation dangers national security remains undisclosed, in accordance with the law.
Didi’s probe was initiated a year ago in July, shortly after the company launched its IPO in New York on June 30, 2021, and raised $4.4 billion at $14 a share, equating a valuation of $73 billion. Didi shares crashed 20% after Chinese regulators opened their investigation and removed Didi apps from multiple app stores.
Didi’s fine accounts for approximately 4.7% of its $27.3 billion total revenue last year, and is the largest regulatory fine imposed on a tech company in China since Alibaba. In April last year, China’s e-commerce forerunner Alibaba was finned $2.75 billion due to monoply and malicious competition issues. The fine amounted to about 4% of Alibaba’s 2019 domestic total sales.


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CLEAR WATER, Wis. (WEAU) – If your pockets are a bit lighter these days, you’re not alone. It is an unexpected consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic which is changing the country. Literally.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the United States, Americans faced a shortage of toilet paper in supermarkets. Now they face another type of supermarket shortage, this one from the variety of parts. This forces companies to adjust their operations to cope with the shortage.
Stores across the country are asking buyers to pay with an exact currency or card, this is due to a shortage of domestic coins caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Federal Reserve, there are enough coins in the economy, but many places where coins are used for payment have been closed for months, resulting in reduced circulation. Amy Miller is the Customer Service Department Manager for Festival Foods, which is one of several stores in the Chippewa Valley asking people not to pay cash or pay with exact change.
“In the last few weeks we’ve heard of a national coin shortage, a national coin shortage,” Miller says. “But now it gets really close to where we order parts and we don’t get any.”
In grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants, customers see signs asking them to pay with a card or exact change if possible.
“I’ve never seen such a shortage of parts before.” Said Miller. “We were always able to get the parts we needed.”
At Festival Foods, Miller says the cash option at the vending machines has been turned off, as well as not allowing guests to buy rolls of coins in the hopes of stretching every penny as much as possible.
“We haven’t been able to get the parts that we’re trying to get,” Miller says. “We’re only out for almost three days, so if we get to where we don’t get any one-day coins, we’ll run out of pennies, we’ll run out of pennies and dimes.”
While the national parts shortage is causing problems for some businesses, others have found a way around it, while also helping the local community. Cousin’s Subs CEO Christine Specht said the restaurant requires customers who pay in cash to round their total to the nearest dollar, which is then donated to local boys and girls clubs.
“As a Cousin’s Subs franchise owner or as a store worker, they know that it’s part of our mantra to be involved in the community, to help the community and in that way, to take a creative way to turn a negative into a positive, ”Specht said.
Specht says about 45% of their customers still pay in cash and that the fundraising campaign fits into their model of community engagement, “The Make it Better Foundation,” which focuses on health and wellness. , hunger and education of young people. However, the initiative will not yet be present in all stores.
“We initiated communication with our restaurants at the start of the week,” explains Specht. “But not all restaurants have a parts shortage. “
Copyright 2020 WEAU. All rights reserved.


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MCDONALD'S workers have revealed the secrets of working in the fast-food chain’s kitchen.
Quora users claiming to be former Maccies' staff members have compiled a handy list of hacks - including when to get fresh food and why their uniforms have no pockets.
One staff member claimed that the uniforms have "no pockets to stop people pinching things".
He also said fans of the fast-food chain should visit the restaurant at night to get the freshest food.
That's because it's the time when the restaurant's kitchen is being cleaned, so they do not put as much pre-cooked food aside.
Another worker admitted that ice-cream cones are fiddly to make, which means that if you're in a hurry you should order a McFlurry instead. The sweet treats are often overfilled, so you'll save time and get more bang for your buck.
But it might be better to stay clear of the pastries as they are "never really fresh" - that's because they are made in the morning and can sit on the counter for up to four hours, according to one worker.
There also might be a chance that your burger bun hit the floor before reaching your plate, they're very hot to touch and staff members often drop them on the floor.
McDonald’s breakfast bacon is steamed. But one employee said it can be placed on the grill to make it extra crispy upon request. Although, you won’t be a popular customer if the restaurant is busy.
More about McDonald's
She added that employees have to finish their order at a drive-through within a certain time limit. Because of that she urged customers to do choose what they want to order before they reach the window.
Workers also complained that they were not allowed to eat while working and could get fired if they did.
A spokesperson for the company told the Sun Online: "Some of the claims made in the thread relate to our restaurants before our recent refurbishment programme, for example our refurbished restaurants do not have ‘food chutes’ and all items are freshly prepared and made to order for individual customers.
"Meal allocations provided to our people while they are working vary depending on the restaurant."
From the trick to saving money on Big Macs to opting out of salt on your fries, we previously reported on the 10 useful tricks that could improve your next fast food order.
These tips might be quite handy considering the fast-food chain was recently accused of short-changing customers by up to £33million a year by selling portions of fries that are smaller than promised.
BREKK-TAKING Is the McDonald’s Big Brekkie Burger available in the UK, what’s in the breakfast burger and how many calories does it have?
A total of 29 out of the 45 portions checked were under McDonald's recommended weight, according to an investigation by new Channel 5 consumer programme Shop Smart Save Money.
Earlier this year, we revealed that some branches charge up to 40p more for a Big Mac based on where you buy them from.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.org or call 0207 78 24516. Don't forget to join the Sun Money's Facebook group for the latest bargains and money-saving advice.


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If you're feeling nostalgic, you'll be delighted to know that Turkey Twizzlers are making a comeback this week.
Turkey Twizzlers were discontinued in 2005 after celebrity chef Jamie Oliver campaigned to have them removed from school menus.
But now food company Bernard Matthews have revamped the much-loved recipe, to bring us a healthier version.
The new and improved Turkey Twizzlers will now feature double the turkey meat of the original.
They’ll be available in two flavours, Original Tangy Tomato and Chilli Cheese. They’ll go on sale from Thursday 20th August.
Bernard Matthews’ Marketing Director David Leigh said, “We have been discussing the return of the Twizzler for some time.
“Obviously we’d like the product to go into schools, but for the minute, we’ve focused on going into what I guess you’d call mass market retail.”
So whilst the future of school lunches is uncertain, you can definitely enjoy the new Turkey Twizzlers at home.
Addressing the health concerns of the meaty treat, David revealed that the the old Turkey Twizzler was just 34% meat and had 137 kcal, and the new version was 70% meat and had 87 kcal.
He added, “If you look at our product now and let’s say you compared, say, two pork sausages to two Twizzlers, there’s 83% more saturated fat in two average pork sausages compared to two Twizzlers.
“So we have spent a lot of time making sure that we are delivering a healthy, a significantly healthier, product than it was before. It is very much a different product.”
The company worked with a nutritionist to ensure the new version was “a really balanced product” and could be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet.
“It is crucial for us that it is a really flavoursome product that people enjoy eating and it complements the high-protein content you normally get in turkey,”


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WHEN AUDI management board members gathered at the company's design studio in Sitges, Spain, last week, they basked in sunshine and the glow of a great year.
Spirits ran so high at the board meeting that they agreed to spend DM30 million ($16.9 million) on a new Audi history museum at the company's Ingolstadt headquarters.
Recent history has been good. Audi is finishing up four straight years of growth.
The company is finding new customers everywhere. Audi will sell 30,000 more units this year than its worldwide sales goal of 500,000.
Sales in western Europe grew more than 13 percent to 397,559 through October in an overall market that rose 3.7 percent.
In the USA, sales were up 23 percent to 26,876 through October.
'We're right on schedule,' said chief executive Franz-Josef Paefgen.
Audi has been steadily expanding the range since the early 1980s, when it had only two models.
Late next year, it will launch the TT Coupe and Roadster. Last month it announced plans to build a small, aluminum-bodied car based closely on the AL2 concept car shown at the Frankfurt auto show in September.
'We will broaden our model range to cover segments we have not covered before,' said Paefgen, who became chief executive in May after heading product development.
The turning point was 1993, when Volkswagen returned control of Audi marketing to the subsidiary.
'Before then, Audi simply developed and built cars, but VW distributed them,' said spokesman Juergen De Graeve. 'There was a great distance between us and our customers. We didn't know what they wanted and expected from us.'
Paefgen said the foundations for growth were laid in the late 1980s.
'We prepared the new models that would appear on the streets in the 1990s,' he said.
The first was the sleek A4 that replaced the Audi 80 in 1994. 'The A4 has been the key to growth,' said Peter Schmitt of Automotive Industry Data in the UK.
Sales of Audi's biggest volume car hit 261,098 in 1995 and rose to 275,000 last year. They've fallen off in 1997 because of competition from the new Volkswagen Passat and the A3 introduced in 1996.
Audi has been overwhelmed by the success of the A3, which shares a platform with the VW Golf. The A3 moved the company into a new, smaller market class.
Over 100,000 were sold through October, about 25 percent more than Audi expected. Last summer, Audi added longer second shifts, night shifts and Saturday shifts in Ingolstadt. The customer wait period was cut from seven months to three.
The A3 has attracted younger customers to the brand. The traditional Audi owner is 50 years old, but the average A3 buyer is 40.
The TT models and the AL2 will extend Audi's reach even more.
Audi will build 50,000 AL2s a year at its Neckarsulm plant, starting in 1999. It will use aluminum spaceframe technology pioneered on the A8.
About 30,000 TTs will be built annually, with a base price of around DM50,000.
'The TT is not meant to be a volume model,' said de Graeve, 'but it will help lift Audi's image to where we want it to be. The aim is to show that Audi is not just sensible, it is also emotional and fun. This positive image will affect all our models.'
To help with the image turnaround, Audi hired Hamburg-based advertising agency Jung von Matt in 1994. The agency specializes in repositioning brands and is known for its unconventional solutions.
The agency's best known campaign is a TV spot in which an Audi-driven German ambassador beats his counterparts to an event in a remote location.
'The goal has been to get away from the old Audi image of being reasonable and practical,' said de Graeve. 'We will keep this as a core message, but will add others that appeal to other people.'
Schmitt said Audi must be cautious. 'They cannot close the price gap with Daimler and BMW too quickly,' he said. 'But so far everything Audi has done is right.'


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Mr. Elliott Joins PhoneSoap, a rapid UV disinfection company for mobile devices
(LINDON, Utah) — NEWS: PhoneSoap welcomes the arrival of Jared Elliott as Director of Global Sales. After nearly 20 years in successful sales roles, most recently as Health System Director for Cepheid, a molecular diagnostic company, Mr. Elliott joins the PhoneSoap team bringing a vast amount of experience and knowledge.
“We are excited to have Jared join the PhoneSoap team,” said Wesley Laporte, CEO. “Jared is a strategic and collaborative sales leader, who will be driving the PhoneSoap brand into the healthcare arena as well as the professional and consumer realms both in the US and globally.”
As hand-held mobile devices are introduced to improve communication and streamline processes in healthcare and other workspaces, they bring with them the unintended consequences of pathogen transmission.
“Our PhoneSoap Pro device provides rapid, effective and consistent UV disinfection of shared-use mobile devices for busy work environments,” said Mr. Laporte.
“Becoming the Director of Global Sales allows me to continue to build upon the mission of PhoneSoap to use technology to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable world through convenient and long-lasting products, saving time and eliminating the need for unnecessary waste and chemicals,” said Mr. Elliott.
PhoneSoap was invented by cousins Dan Barnes and Wes LaPorte after recognizing the need to decontaminate hand-held devices. They conducted their own tests and results proved that the average phone is 18 times dirtier than a public bathroom. PhoneSoap has sold over two million consumer units and continues to grow at a rapid speed. In the past three years, additional models have been released as well as newer devices including PhoneSoap Go, HomeSoap and screen-cleaning accessories like the PhoneSoap Shine and Microfiber Pad 3-pack. PhoneSoap’s focus continues to be making the world a healthier place.
Learn more at: https://www.PhoneSoap.com
*LOGO link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/20-0715s2p-phonesoap-300dpi.jpg
Related link: https://www.PhoneSoap.com/
This version of news story was published on and is Copr. © eNewsChannels™ (eNewsChannels.com) – part of the Neotrope® News Network, USA – all rights reserved. Information is believed accurate but is not guaranteed. For questions about the above news, contact the company/org/person noted in the text and NOT this website. Published image may be sourced from third party newswire service and not created by eNewsChannels.com.


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Pusha T x adidas EQT Guidance Running `93 “Black Market”
Nearly a year ago, Pusha T released his first sneaker collaboration with adidas. The new version "King Push" EQT Running Guidance `93 comes in an all-black makeup and features the same premium treatment as its predecessor.
Details of the new shoe include a cracked Italian leather upper, carpe fish scale heel panels, tonal reflective stripes along the midsole and upper, and a translucent outsole.
The news of the sneaker release comes on the heels of the announcement that Pusha T is the new president of G.O.O.D. Music. Look out for the Pusha T x adidas EQT Running Guidance `93 "Black Market"on November 27, Black Friday.


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The new James Bond film is just over a month away from release – and the costs involved mean that 007 won’t be missing his appointment this time.
We covered a story last week which outlined the reported $900m that the oft-delayed next outing for 007, No Time To Die, would reportedly have to make to cover its delays, production costs, aborted marketing campaigns and crucially, the huge interest debts it has incurred whilst awaiting release. Whilst that report came from a respected oo7 website, now the Hollywood trade press is making similar claims with The Hollywood Reporter stating that MGM simply cannot afford to postpone the film’s release date any further than the end of September, its next scheduled release date.
With MGM not having a streaming site to offer the film on, as rivals such as Disney and Warner Bros do, there are few added benefits sending the film to a streaming platform that is not its own, apart from cash, an option that has been explored and rejected (Apple was reportedly looking at spending a nine figure sum last year on buying the film). EON Productions, who controls the direction of the franchise, would also resist that move anyway, rendering it exceedingly difficult for MGM.
Also. with the cost for keeping the negative on the shelf reportedly rising to $1m per month, it’s no surprise that MGM may have to stick with the upcoming release date, regardless of the situation cinemas find themselves in. Speculation is also mounting that the film simply may not be able to recoup its profits, and it’s worth considering how deeply backend deals for Daniel Craig and the film’s producers may also affect the film’s gross.
Whilst it’s still all speculation at the moment, it’s looking increasingly likely that September 30th will – finally! – be the film’s release date. If MGM does end up taking a huge financial hit on the film, its looming takeover by Amazon may just write the whole thing off anyway, as however bad the loss may be, it’s likely just a drop in the ocean for the colossal company purchasing the studio. We’ll bring you more as we hear it. But it does look as though James Bond will finally, finally return…
Thank you for visiting! If you’d like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website:
Buy our Film Stories and Film Stories Junior print magazines here.
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Posts Tagged ‘ Nexus Venture Partners ’
Friday, June 24, 2016
Bangalore-based self-publishing platform Pratilipi has secured about Rs 6.3 crore ($925,000) in seed funding from Nexus Venture Partners and other investors, a person privy to the development told Techcircle. The round also saw participation from Contrarian Opportunities Fund I and Times Internet Lt...
Pune- and San Francisco-based mobile customer relationship management (CRM) company Helpshift Inc. has raised $23 million (around Rs 153.6 crore) in a Series B funding round led by Microsoft Ventures and Salesforce Ventures. Existing investors Intel Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, True Ventures and...
7 June, 2016 |
E-commerce marketplace Snapdeal said on Thursday it has acquired Insightful Labs Inc., which operates data analytics provider Targeting Mantra, for an undisclosed amount as part of efforts to improve personalised shopping experience for customers. Snapdeal co-founder Rohit Bansal said in a statement...
5 May, 2016 |
Craftsvilla, an online marketplace for ethnic products that raised about $52 million from investors last year, has acquired women clothing rental platform F2SO4 for an undisclosed amount in its third takeover deal in as many months. The F2SO4 team will join Craftsvilla as part of the deal. In additi...
28 April, 2016 |
Bangalore-based Tsepak Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which connects users with merchants over instant messaging app Goodbox, has raised $2.5 million (Rs 16.5 crore) in Series A funding from Nexus Venture Partners. Goodbox will use the money raised to expand operations, it said in a press statement. “We ...
18 November, 2015 |
San Jose-headquartered Infoworks.io Inc, an automated big data management startup with engineering operations in Bangalore, has secured $5 million in Series A financing from Nexus Venture Partners, Knoll Ventures and other investors. The money raised will be used by Infoworks to expand its managemen...
30 September, 2015 |
Canada-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) startup Eka Innovations Inc that operates under the Procurify brand has secured $4 million in seed investment from Nexus Venture Partners, Point Nine Capital and the Business Development Bank of Canada, according to a press release. The startup, which offers...
23 July, 2015 |
SaaS and Big Data product intelligence startup Indix Corporation has raised $15 million (Rs 95 crore) in its Series B round of funding round led by Nokia Growth Partners. Existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Avalon Ventures also participated in the round. “This new investment enables ...
25 June, 2015 |
Chennai-based Inasra Technologies Pvt Ltd, the company that owns and operates Stayzilla.com, a hotel booking site, has raised $15 million in its Series B round of funding led by venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor Matrix Partners India. As part of ...
19 February, 2015 |
TinyOwl Technology Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based startup that offers a location-based mobile app for food ordering, is in talks with its existing investors, Sequoia Capital and Nexus Venture Partners to raise $5 million in its Series B round of funding. “We plan to raise $5 million. The amount may i...
3 February, 2015 |


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The idea of a all-electric Honda Fit is nothing new, but the details of the production version that will come to the U.S. next summer are, well, also nothing new. As announced today, the all-electric Fit will only be available through a lease program, probably for $399 per month. What's interesting is that the car does have an MSRP of $36,625, and multiple Honda reps milling around the stand after the world debut unveiling said that the lease-only deal is what's being announced today but that Ho
Japanese automaker Honda will roll out the production version of the 2013 Fit EV at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November. We're guessing Honda's electric-only 2013 Fit will somewhat resemble the automaker's Fit EV Concept, a vehicle which made its debut back at the 2010 LA Auto Show and is pictured above.
Japanese automaker Honda may not have stolen the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, but it did use the stage to present some of its greener prototypes, most notably, its EV Concept.


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Zynga today announced that Ruby Blast has come to mobile, available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Players can now play the games across social and mobile platforms.
Zynga’s move into the cross-platform field with mobile games shouldn’t come as any surprise based on the success these sorts of titles are seeing. The biggest examples of these, of course, are Zynga’s own Zynga Poker and Words With Friends with 6.4 million daily active users and 6.3 million DU respectively. Ruby Blast bears the distinction of being the first Zynga Arcade title to come to mobile devices, and Zynga says it will soon release a mobile version of Bubble Safari, too.
Ruby Blast transition to mobile was accelerated via Adobe’s suite of development software, primarily Adobe AIR and Starling Framework. The development team was able to use the same workflow for both the web and mobile versions of the game, meaning it didn’t have to be rebuilt for the web. Meanwhile, the Zynga Beijing team tested the game’s performance and then worked with a group from Zynga’s headquarters in San Francisco to optimize it with Project Monocle (Adobe’s new profiling tool for Flash and AIR developers).
While Ruby Blast was being developed, Adobe’s Starling framework was used to help improve the game’s GPU acceleration, which helped it become the first GPU-accelerated Zynga title on the web (something Design Director Jonathan Grant proudly pointed out when we got an early look). Diana Helander, Adobe’s Group Product Marketing Manager, Gaming Solutions, tells us Zynga developed major performance optimizations that were subsequently worked into Starling’s open-source framework; essentially, other developers who opt to use Starling will benefit from all of Zynga’s hard work.
Ruby Blast is a major feather in Adobe’s cap, even though there are already over 25,000 AIR-made apps across mobile markets like Apple’s AppStore, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore. Adobe’s been stepping up its efforts to raise awareness of how both mobile and web developers can utilize the the same workflow in both AIR and Flash, publicly touting how the technology was used with games like FreshPlanet’s SongPop, State of Play’s Lume and Amanita’s critically-hailed adventure Machinarium. However, Ruby Blast is arguably the highest-profile title used with Adobe’s software.
Following its launch in June, Ruby Blast had traffic grow to and then hold steady between 450,000 and 500,000 daily active users. In late October, though, it looks as though Zynga turned on its full cross-promotion power and the traffic has begun to skyrocket. The game currently has 2.3 million DAU, a new high point, and its traffic isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. By launching the game on iOS, it seems reasonable to assume that the game’s traffic will increase even more dramatically as new mobile gamers wind up logging into it with Facebook Connect. Likewise, we’ve heard from industry sources that cross-platform games tend to monetize roughly three times as much as their Facebook counterparts do, something that will undoubtedly be mentioned during company’s next earnings report.


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Armed with Data, City of Louisville Builds Thriving Local Food Economy
April 9, 2018 | Charli Engelhorn
At the root of Louisville, Kentucky’s ongoing and successful local food system implementation, which has generated considerable community and economic capital, is data.
A principal objective of Mayor Greg Fischer’s Six-Year Strategic Plan outlined in 2012-2013 to create new jobs and stimulate the economic development, is to develop ways to promote the city’s local food economy. Toward this end, three studies were conducted by the Local Food Economy Work Group, made up of elected officials from six counties and two cities, to gauge the needs of farmers and consumers pertaining to demand for local foods.
One of the studies showed that of Louisville’s $2 billion in food purchases a year, only $300,000 was going toward local food, and consumers and commercial buyers wanted to at least double that amount if opportunities were available. Another study highlighted the desire of local farmers to reach larger markets.
“We really got a clear sense that farmers did not want to do their own marketing or market development, but really wanted to promote the opportunity for consumers to see their farms,” says Theresa Zawacki, senior policy advisor to Louisville Forward, a government sponsored initiative that was created in 2014 to develop integrated economic development, real estate, and quality of place solutions that result in new jobs and businesses in the city. “They said if there was somebody who could help them in the public interest to find different market opportunities for the food they are growing, they would love to have that resource available to them.”
Thus, armed with the supporting data, Louisville Forward launched the ‘Louisville Farm to Table’ program to foster local food-related urban/rural connections and economic development in the city.
“We have a set of programs and initiatives that focus on everything from urban agriculture and farmer’s markets to value-chain coordination, or building more physical and conceptual infrastructure for moving Kentucky-raised foods into Kentucky market opportunities,” says Zawacki.
She credits the work of Sarah Fritschner, the head of ‘Louisville Farm to Table,’ for the growth and success of the program over the past several years.
“Sarah has made great progress in creating demand among, particularly, institutional and large volume processers and other buyers in the city and around the state interested in finding more locally raised foods,” says Zawacki. “She does a lot to promote consumer awareness of the importance of buying local, which has, alone, led to expectations to find local foods on restaurant menus and increased interest in farmers’ market development and coordination efforts.”
Fritschner started small by connecting local farmers to restaurants where they could sell cheese, ground beef, or vegetables, and by introducing them to direct-to-consumer opportunities available at farmers’ markets and through implementation of community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. She even coordinated a sale of a half cow each to two homemakers from a local cattle farmer. These actions generated $150,000 worth of direct farm impact during the first two years of the program. However, realizing the potential for connections to larger markets, Fritschner began forming relationships with institutional buyers, specifically the University of Louisville and the Jefferson County Public Schools system, to encourage their efforts to buy more locally sourced food. Today, the direct farm impact from sales from farmers to buyers is $1.2 to $1.5 million annually.
Along with the relationships made with the University of Louisville and the Jefferson County school district, the ‘Louisville Farm to Table’ initiative has helped develop a large network of community gardens, created amendments to local zoning laws to make it easier for urban farming operations to exist, educated the city’s land bank and urban renewal commission about the importance of supporting urban farming through land distribution, helped farmers in transitioning their conventional farms to organic farms, and supported the development of small and large business ventures that are interested in working within the local food distribution niche.
One such business is Custom Foods Solutions, an Indianapolis-based company Fritschner recruited to Louisville to be part of this niche. The company produces ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food products on a large scale using locally sourced foods, such as pork loins, grain products, chili, and prepared dishes. An example of the success of this partnership is seen in a cheesy chicken dish Custom Foods creates for the school district, which uses the inexpensive commodity chicken from the schools and mixes it with a cheesy base made from local butternut squash and sweet potatoes. This product non only satisfies the federal school lunch guidelines for servings of dark orange vegetables a week, but it also provides a delicious alternative to cooked carrots or vegetable puree most children will not eat, according to Zawacki.
The focus on the local food economy can partially be attributed to the area’s deep agriculture history. Zawacki says there is a connectedness to the rural communities surrounding the city not seen too often in other parts of the country, because of an appreciation for past economic benefits felt from the once burgeoning tobacco industry and the proximity of the city to local farms.
Despite this inherent connection, other cities can experience similar successes as Louisville Forward if time is taken to investigate farming and local food distribution in their region.
“It’s important to know your environment. Data collection and analysis is painful at first, but once in the habit of understanding and collecting the data, it becomes second nature and does wonders for organization and messaging around the work you are doing,” Zawacki says, “and that provides the opportunity to be more successful and engage with more partners because you have a story to tell and a message to send.”
On the horizon for the organization is more innovation aimed at creating different market channels for local farmers and continuing to work to make Kentucky-grown food a priority for consumers. The organization is currently in conversation regarding the development of 100% Kentucky-raised beef that can be sold to institutions. This product can help meet the price, volume, and quality needs of all interested parties while having an immense direct farm impact, which, in turn, keeps local money in the local economy.
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By Njie Baldeh
Police at Brikama station has arrested Amie Colley a Gambian employee to Nema Property company following an information giving to them by the company that the said Amie has allegedly been selling plot of lands to customers on behalf of Nema Property by giving false receipts to customers.
Amie works as the marketing manager of Nema Property and is currently under the custody of Brikama Police Station in the West Coast Region (WCR) for embezzling more than One Million Dalasi.
Speaking to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nema Property in order to have more light on the matter, Bambo Njie, confirmed the issue, noting that the incident is true.
CEO Njie said that the former marketing manager was doing dubious activities and receiving money on behalf of the company without submitting it to the office.
According to Nema Property boss, Amie has worked for the company for several months without bringing a single customer or an amount of money to the office, instead she just collect money from customers and use it for her personal interest.
Njie added that he discovered the dubious activities of Amie while she was receiving hundreds of thousands from customers and issuing them fake receipts.
At the moment, Amie granted a police bail at the Brikama police she again went and collect D215, 000 from one of their customer at the airport. The customer, he said, call him and inform him about the payment he made to the marketing manager.
Therefore, I decided to call the police and informed them about her act again. “The customer supposed to give her remaining D20, 000. Again, she uses another taxi driver to collect the remaining money. The customer asks the taxi driver o meet him at a bank where he was arrested.”
The police public relation officer (PRO) Kujabi was contacted for comments but could not be reached.


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Registration is now open for the AIAG 2017 Canadian Automotive Quality Summit, scheduled for February 16, 2017, as part of the 2017 AutoShow — O Canada! Industry Day in Toronto.
A new collaboration between the Automotive Parts Manufacturer’s Association (APMA) and AIAG, the event will showcase the Canadian automotive industry’s commitment to world-class quality and is designed for industry professionals from the various automotive manufacturing segments in Canada.
This inaugural Canadian Automotive Quality Summit will host the first roll-out in Canada of the automotive industry’s newest international quality standard, IATF 16949. A half-day of presentations will include:
- Automotive Standards Update from the International Automotive Task Force (IATF)
- Certification Rules Update from the International Automotive Oversight Bureau (IAOB)
- Transition Timing and Supplier Support information
The Summit will position OEMs, suppliers, and service providers to face quality-related challenges successfully. The sessions are focused on new industry global quality standards and will highlight supplier compliance expectations and timing.
Get more information and register now.


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Port of Montreal has historically operated as a terminus port with ships sailing directly to the port fully loaded, unloading all their cargo, then reloading completely before turning around to sail to their new destination.
This experience of unloading entire shiploads of containers has given the port a unique advantage when faced with the challenges of handling larger vessels. When an Ultra Large Container Ship (ULCS) stops at a U.S. East Coast port, the vessel may only discharge one quarter of its 10,000-TEU or larger cargo. While those volumes of boxes are creating headaches for port and terminal operators unaccustomed to handling such high volumes of containers at once, it’s a common practice at Montreal, where vessels completely discharge and reload.
Draft restrictions on the St. Lawrence River in the summer and ice in the winter promise to prevent ULCSs from calling the port. This past summer, the Termont group partially opened Montreal’s new Viau Terminal. A partnership between Logistec Corp., Cerescorp, and Terminal Investment Ltd., which is two-thirds owned by MSC, Termont will invest about $42 million to equip Viau with two new ship-to-shore post-Panamax cranes, five rubber-tire gantry cranes, six reach stackers, reefer stations and other equipment.
Madeleine Paquin, President of Termont Montréal Inc., and President and CEO of Logistec Corp., said Viau’s capacity will add 600,000 TEUs to the port, bringing Montreal’s container capacity to 2.1 million TEUs. “The interesting aspect of shipping containers to and from Montreal is the fact that a ship fully discharges and reloads,” Ms. Paquin said. The proximity of the 110 million people from the (U.S.) Midwest to Ontario and Quebec adds up to a pretty big market to serve.” Better transit times are not found for shipping to the Greater Montreal area, said Ms. Paquin.
The additional capacity provided by the Viau Terminal will allow somewhat larger ships to call Port of Montreal despite its draft restrictions, according to Sokat Shaikh, Managing Director of MSC (Canada). The 4,860-TEU MSC Carouge became the largest container carrier to call Montreal in 2011. “If you look at the order book for the top container carriers, MSC has about 713,000 TEUs of capacity coming online in the next 2-4 years,” Mr. Shaikh said. “That is about 27 percent of our fleet still to come in.
“What that means for the East Coast of Canada is as the bigger ships such as MSC Oscar and MSC Oliver go into the main trade lanes, Montreal will get larger ships than it is getting now, just not the megaships because of the draft restrictions of the river.”
While Montreal will remain a terminus port, Ms. Paquin doubts megaships will ever resort to single calls at other ports. “The rotation concept of making 2-3 calls on one coast won’t change with bigger ships,” she said. “Because of our experience handling large volumes of containers in one call, I believe Montreal will have no trouble remaining a niche facility that will hold its own competing in the marketplace. “Our experience makes us quite fluid in terms of getting boxes onto trains or trucks,” Ms. Paquin said. “Viau will allow the port to grow its footprint to stay competitive.”


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The Ninth Stakeholders' Day - European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Publicat la data de: 11/03/2014
|Data evenimentului:||21/05 > 21/05/2014|
|Locul de desfăşurare:||
|Adăugaţi în calendar|
The conference offers participants the chance to hear the latest news and updates from ECHA, European industry associations and NGOs.
The Stakeholders' Day is open to all but it is particularly relevant for those involved in REACH and CLP, industry associations, companies, public bodies, NGOs, third country representatives and the media.
The Stakeholders' Day can be followed on the internet live via web-streaming.


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Bernd Euler, the finance director of Siemens UK business, said suppliers prepared to offer quotes in Euros would gain a competitive advantage over rivals which quoted prices in sterling. "Whether the UK is in the European Monetary Union or not, if UK companies are not prepared to quote in euros they will lose out long-term, if their competitors are prepared to quote in euros," he said.
Siemens is embarking on seminars for some of its 12,000 UK suppliers to explain the change in policy and said that none had so far said they would refuse to quote prices in euros. Though Siemens insisted it would not force suppliers to switch to the single currency, Mr Euler made clear that all companies would be expected to pass on any cost savings from a single currency through to lower prices.
He said customers would ``demand these savings to be reflected in prices, whether or not the suppliers in question are capable of achieving these cost savings. They just have to squeeze their other costs harder in order to bridge the gap."
The warnings came as Siemens revealed a 35 per cent surge in sales from its UK operations to pounds 2.02bn last year, the first time its turnover had topped the pounds 2bn mark. Employee numbers also surged by almost a quarter, to 13,600, though exports fell by 20 per cent, to pounds 261m.
Meanwhile, FI Group, the computer outsourcing specialists, warned yesterday moves by Britain to join EMU could be scuppered by companies' lack of preparation for the switch. Hilary Cropper, chief executive of FI Group, said most British companies have only just started to think about the problem. "If Britain decided to join EMU in the first wave there would be no way any company could do it," she said. Ms Cropper said that companies dealing with the public, such as utilities, retailers and financial services groups, still have a lot of work to do to get ready.


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From Nordic Semiconductor: The first digital pill is approved
American authorities have approved the world’s first digital pill. The pill will help doctors monitor that drugs have been taken, although some are concerned with privacy.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first digital pill for use in the US.
The Abilify MyCite pill is fitted with a tiny sensor that, once digested, communicates with a patch worn by the patient. The patch then transmits data to a smartphone app, which the patient can upload to a database for their doctor and other authorized people to see.
Read more: Health record implants: Will we ever get there?
How the pill works
Every pill contains a tiny sensor chip known as an Ingestion Event Marker (IEM), which is activated when coming into contact with stomach fluid. It emits an electrical signal that is picked up by the patch. Data, such as the time the pill was taken and the dosage, is then sent from the patch to a smartphone app via Bluetooth.
Such disposable chip-scale packages are only viable from a cost perspective because of the on-chip baluns and excellent energy performance of the Bluetooth solution in the patch. A powerful M4 CPU will allow the work to be completed rapidly before turning back to sleep to conserve energy. As the patch must be replaced every seven days, keeping the cost down in such devices is a priority.
The Abilify drug treats schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and some cases of depression, so the benefits of healthcare professionals monitoring usage and/or dosage are clear. Such a system could also be expanded into target groups who may not easily be able to monitor their own intake, such as the elderly.
Safety of the pill itself doesn’t seem to be an issue, as the sensor is so small to be easily passable naturally. Experts though, have expressed concerns over what the pill might mean for privacy. While not so concerned about this specific pill, some experts believe it is a step towards a world of mistrust.
Ameet Sarpatwari from Harvard Medical School told The New York Times the digital pill “has the potential to improve public health”, but that, “if used improperly, it could foster more mistrust instead of trust.”
Read more: Security of connected medical devices
According to multiple media reports, the FDA is anticipating a rise in approval requests for other digital pills, and they plan to hire more staff with software development knowledge to meet the demands of medical IoT.
Safeguarding patient data
The patient’s doctor and up to four other people chosen by the patient can access the information from the smartphone app. The patient can grant and revoke access at any time, but what happens when the patient is unable to make that decision?
The new EU GDPR regulation coming into force in 2018 strengthens existing requirements in relation to data subject consent, and apply to any business with a customer in Europe.
The regulations make it clear that consent cannot be assumed, and that consent should not be regarded as freely given if the data subject has no free choice, or is unable to refuse consent without a negative impact. It’s these last points that could be most relevant for connected medication and connected medical devices, and mean that use of such a pill cannot be as widespread as healthcare professional would like.
Stay up to date with industry and supplier news!


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Johnny Cage from the upcoming Mortal Kombat 11 has been revealed alongside his amazingly funny, yet brutal, fatality.
Cage’s return in MK11 was already teased last month, but the actor’s appearance has now been revealed through a new reveal trailer from IGN, which can be watched down below:
The trailer shows off Cage in action alongside his amusing, yet savage, finishing move in MK11.
Warner Bros. Interactive and NetherRealm Studios announced Mortal Kombat 11 last month.
Mortal Kombat 11 deepens and personalizes the experience unlike ever before with an all new Custom Character Variation System that gives players the creative control of building customized versions of the character roster. In addition, the game will introduce a new cinematic story that continues the epic saga that is more than 25 years in the making.
“By giving players more creative control, Mortal Kombat 11 is a testament to why this iconic franchise is so strong and increasingly relevant after more than 25 years,” said David Haddad, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “This game showcases NetherRealm Studios’ extensive talent to innovate and create epic experiences for the Mortal Kombat fans and new players alike.”
“It’s exciting to finally announce Mortal Kombat 11 and showcase what the team has been working on,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “Our Custom Character Variation System opens up an infinite amount of options for players to personalize their favorite fighters. We can’t wait until January when we’ll be showing more of the game.”
Mortal Kombat 11 is slated for a release on April 23 2019 for PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.


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"You know, if they are targeted for a good cause, like in China, I think the answer is absolutely yes," Kudlow replied.
Kudlow went on to say that his support for targeted tariffs was "always" his view.
"Most free traders agree that China did not play by the rules, and the trading system is broken mainly because of them," he said.
"Either a country that has treated the United States unfairly for trade negotiates a fair deal, or it is rewarded with tariffs, it's that simple – and everyone talks! Remember, we're the" piggy bank, " Everything will be great! "(19659007) While Trump announced last week an agreement between the US and the European Union to reduce tariffs and trade barriers after several weeks of escalating trade tensions, its trade war with China had a negative impact elsewhere ,
"I think the president deserves a bottom line," Kudlow said. "Low Tax Rates, Rolling Back Regulations, Opening Up Energy … Trade reform that I believe already pays off in relation to the EU agreement we made last week, the fundamentals of the economy are looking really good."
Kudlow warned against blaming Trump for economic tensions and "giving him a chance to put politics into effect."
"He inherited a completely broken world trade system, including a World Trade Organization, but especially China, not just China," Kudlow said. "He's trying to fix the problem, and other US presidents in both parties, Demis and Republicans, have never taken the path he's pushing for."


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India-based beauty brand Plum has secured $35 million in funding. The round was led by A91 Partners, with participation from others including Unilever Ventures and Faering Capital.
This latest round brings the total amount raised by Plum to over $50 million, following a $14.9 million Series B round in late 2020 and a Series A round from Unilever Ventures in 2018. Plum says it will use the new funding to expand across more categories and channels, as well as to launch in new markets. As part of the transaction, Abhay Pandey of A91 Partners will join Plum’s board.
Plum produces makeup, skincare, and haircare products which are all vegan and toxin-free. The brand saw a dramatic increase in sales during the pandemic, as more consumers turned to online shopping. Pureplay Skin Sciences, which owns the brand, saw total revenue of Rs 53 crore ($6.9 million) in the 2020 financial year, compared to Rs 22 crore ($2.9 million) the previous year.
“The latest investment will help us accelerate on our exciting growth path, not only in our core skincare category, but also in adjacent large categories like hair care, makeup, body care and specialist care for men. In doing so, we want to bring alive our brand ethos of ‘being good’ in as many different and delightful ways as possible,” Shankar Prasad, founder and CEO at Plum, told YourStory.