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The annual esports event Evolution Championship Series, or EVO for short, 2019 edition has started on July 2nd and is going to continue until July 4th. EVO 2019 is being held in Las Vegas and is hosted by the Mandalay Bay Events Center, as it did since 2016. Competitors from over the world are coming to participate in the battle, each year seeing an increase in the number of contestants.
What video games is EVO 2019 going to feature?
Just before the start of the esports event, the organizers released the schedule of the competition, including the timetable, the games lineup, panels, and also new DLC announcements.
The games that EVO 2019 will feature are Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mortal Kombat 11, Soulcalibur VI, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st], Dragon Ball FighterZ, BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, and Samurai Shodown. Super Smash Bros. had more than 3,500 participants, is the first tournament of the game to have so many entrants.
On August 1st, there was an official pre-party at Moorea Beach Club, as a kickoff party before the start of the event. Officially, the tournament has opened its doors for the competitors at 8 a.m. on July 2nd, and at 10 a.m. the competition began until 8 p.m. The second day, the players were expected at the same hour. While being the second day of the competition, there had been some tournament finals of Unist, DragonballFighterZ, Samurai Shodown and Mortal Kombat 11. In the final day, there are four finals scheduled: BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Tekken 7 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Good news is that fans are able to watch the esports event for free on the streaming site Twitch.tv, due to the competition being broadcasted across various distinctive streams.


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AFTER the country moved to the purple colour code with more restrictions imposed which among others, only allow liquor traders to operate from Monday to Friday, the traders are now asking the government to extend their operating days.
Aug. 23, 2021
2 min read
Liquor traders want to operate over weekends
The Sani Mountain Lodge pub
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They argue that they need to open their businesses over the weekends as those are their peak days when they have more customers to serve and generate good income.
Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro announced earlier that in the purple colour code, liquor traders must open from 9am to 7pm, serving only take away.
A bar owner from St Michael’s in Roma, Monaheng Sesiu said while they are permitted to sell alcohol, they are however, unhappy that they cannot work on the two busiest days of the week, Saturday and Sunday.
“We have lost many customers due to these restrictions and most of our customers have now resorted to buying alcohol from traders who sell it illegally over the weekends,” he said.
He said traders are still expected to pay the same amount of tax and licenses even though their working days and hours have been cut tremendously.
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Sharing similar sentiments, another trader, Morapeli Montšo of Ha Lebamang said the weekends are the most crucial time in their businesses when they are supposed to be making a lot of money.
“But it is time we learnt to live with the COVID-19 pandemic because it looks like it is going to stay with us for a long time,” he said.
The government has also prohibited public gatherings, political rallies, marches and contact sports saying they are super spreaders of the coronavirus. LeNA

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At the proposal of the Executive Board, an extraordinary general meeting of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK) today elected Michael Lohscheller as the new VDIK President. He will take office on June 12, 2024.
Lohscheller succeeds Reinhard Zirpel, who had already announced in June 2023 that he would not be standing for re-election this year. Zirpel has been President of the VDIK since 2016.
“I am looking forward to my new role and will do my utmost to promote the interests of the 38 international passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturers in Germany,” said Michael Lohscheller, emphasizing: “They sell more than one million passenger cars and over 100,000 commercial vehicles a year in this country and deserve a strong voice.”
Reinhard Zirpel wished his successor every success and a lucky hand and explained: “We are delighted that we have been able to win Michael Lohscheller, an extremely experienced expert and leader in the German and international automotive industry, for the office of VDIK President. This puts the VDIK in an excellent position to successfully face the challenges of the future.”
At the Extraordinary General Meeting, André Schmidt, President of Toyota Deutschland GmbH, was also elected as the new VDIK Vice President to succeed Jürgen Keller. He takes office today.After holding various positions at Jungheinrich, Daimler Chrysler, Mitsubishi Motors and Volkswagen, Michael Lohscheller worked at Opel from 2012 to 2021, first as CFO and then as CEO from 2017.He then led the Vietnamese car manufacturer VinFast as Global CEO. Most recently, Lohscheller was President & CEO of Nikola Corporation, a US manufacturer of electric and hydrogen trucks, until August 2023.


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MSC promises to the Ministry of Transport of China: fully expand the Chinese market
Recently, Zhao Chongjiu, Vice Minister of Transport, met with Soren Toft, the global CEO of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), by video. The two sides exchanged views on topics such as the development of international shipping.
During the meeting, Soren Toft introduced MSC's global and business development in China. Soren Toft said that the Chinese market has played a very important role in the rapid growth of MSC's business. Thanks to the strong support from China's transportation authorities over the years, MSC attaches great importance to the Chinese market and is full of confidence in China's pandemic prevention and control and future economic development. MSC will continue to expand investment in China, strengthen cooperation with more Chinese enterprises and scientific research institutions, and provide better services for MSC's global customers.
Soren Toft said: "MSC has been a staunch supporter of China's import and export trade since entering the Chinese market. Despite the impact of the pandemic, we have maintained our firm commitment to the Chinese market. MSC has adjusted routes in a flexible manner and continue to launch new routes to meet the rapidly changing market demand. We will continue to make efforts to ensure the security of the global supply chain.”
Zhao Chongjiu introduced the development prospects and plans of China's shipping industry to Soren Toft. Zhao Chongjiu said that the Ministry of Transport of China will continue to encourage and support international shipping companies, including MSC, to carry out various forms of mutually beneficial cooperation with Chinese companies and scientific research institutions. It is hoped that MSC will continue to increase investment in shipping capacity in China's shipping market, strengthen cooperation with Chinese import and export enterprises, and stabilize the international shipping logistics supply chain.
Zhao Chongjiu further stated that in the future, he hoped that MSC would seize the historical opportunity period of China's further opening up, continue to give full play to its own advantages, expand the potential of China's market, and achieve better performance, while also making new contributions to China's economic and social development and global economic recovery.
During the video meeting, the two sides also exchanged views on topics such as the global shipping market and global supply chain security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is understood that MSC entered the Chinese market as early as 1997 and has made large-scale investments in fields including shipbuilding, container shipping, ground logistics, cruise ships and terminal operations.
In order to meet the growing import and export demand, MSC has opened a number of routes from China to the West of the United States. At the same time, MSC has vigorously developed sea-rail combined transportation services in the Chinese market. In addition, as the world's largest container shipping company by capacity, MSC has also signed a large number of newbuilding orders with Chinese shipyards, and plans to order more ships in China in the future.
In January 2022, MSC also announced that it will cooperate with Shanghai Port Group (SIPG) to jointly build the "Shanghai Port Northeast Asia Empty Container Transportation Center" Yangshan Yard Project.


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Week in Review: Indonesia’s digital ambitions gets huge fillip from Grab
By Karamjit Singh February 3, 2017
- Cleverly aligns its US$700 mil investments with nation’s future direction
- Raises the heat on competitors Gojek and Uber in fight to dominate market
IF THERE were any doubts about how important the Indonesian market is, Grab’s announced US$700 million investment into the country over the next four years, till end 2020, will have shattered them.
While the Malaysian founded, Singapore headquartered Grab did not offer a breakdown beyond US$100 million to be invested into an R&D centre, even that investment is likely to be among the largest announced R&D investments into Indonesia, ever. It follows similar announcements made in 2016 notably by Apple and Samsung.
For sure the announcement of its “Grab 4 Indonesia” plan (note the clever word play) has sent a strong surge of optimism and confidence into the country as it maps the way forward into an increasing digital world. And not surprising, tapping into Indonesia’s announced digital ambitions, Grab aims for its investments over the next four years to help drive Indonesia to reach its digital goals.
The move surely raises the heat on its main competitors, Gojek and Uber as Grab has cleverly aligned its investment with Indonesia’s digital ambitions and those ambitions stand no matter the government in power.
And, I can imagine the government now looking kindly on any issues Grab may have in the country as it fights to be the market leader in its space. For, with this announcement, Grab will no more be seen as a pesky foreign startup trying to beat local champion, Gojek, but as one of the leading foreign investors into Indonesia.
And while Grab just raised US$750 million last Aug, you can bet it will be raising another round this year as it beefs up its war chest for this and its other investments in Southeast Asia.
Two data points really grabbed my attention in the Grab announcement. The first was the US$260 million income it claims to have generated for its driver partners in Indonesia. That’s a big amount, and even bigger when converted to Rupiah. And while Grab did not give a time frame for when this was achieved, I am guessing that it must be cumulative since it launched in Indonesia in 2014, starting with Bali.
The second was the claim that it saw a massive 6x increase in business in both its GrabCar and GrabBike services. While Gojek and Uber have not shared how they did in 2016, I do wonder if the growth came at their expense or that the pie just got larger.
While the Indonesian business seems to be going great guns, Grab will face a major challenge in its intention to hire 150 engineers for its R&D centre. Just like Malaysia, many of Indonesia’s best engineers and programmers are plying their trade overseas, especially Singapore. It will be an expensive proposition to try to entice them back home.
As a way around this, one market observer speculates that they will likely hire a core of experienced engineers and leaders with the bulk of the hires being fresh graduates and those with a few years experience. Others also caution that past R&D plans for Indonesia have either failed to materialize or been scaled down due to talent challenges but I am sure Grab and its CEO, Anthony Tan realize this and will be up to the challenge.
And all eyes will definitely be on Grab and Tan, moving forward, as an entire nation looks forward to them delivering on their promised investments and with that, boosting Indonesia’s goals of becoming a digital economy.
Here’s wishing you a restful weekend and a productive week after.


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The nearly $23 million in revenue was just a few million less than what the sale of alcohol brought in last month.
Amid skyrocketing demand for legal weed in Illinois, statewide tax receipts from recreational pot sales are now rivaling those from booze.
November’s tax revenues from adult-use cannabis, which reflect the record $75.28 million in sales tallied in October, reached nearly $22.88 million, according to figures released by the Illinois Department of Revenue.
That’s less than $3 million shy of the roughly $25.74 million in taxes collected through alcohol sales last month. That’s the smallest deficit since recreational marijuana was legalized in January.
Pot sales have skyrocketed in the 11 months since the drug was fully legalized, resulting in an almost steady increase in monthly returns for the state, according to a Sun-Times analysis. Taxes have pumped nearly $153 million into the state’s cash-strapped coffers, including nearly $100 million in the past five months.
Why have weed sales — and taxes — increased so much?
First of all, state levies on cannabis are far higher than those tacked on the price of booze (not including local or federal taxes).
On pot sales, the state charges a 6.25% sales tax and an excise tax of up to 25%, depending on the amount of mind-altering THC in what’s being sold.
While there’s no apples-to-apples comparison, alcohol is also subject to the general sales tax of 6.25% and an excise tax of 23 cents per gallon of beer, $1.49 per gallon of wine and $8.55 per gallon of liquor.
That means the state’s share of the price of a joint is much more than its share of the cost of a six-pack of beer. A $15 six-pack, for example, would net 69 cents for the state, while two high-potency joints priced at $16 would generate $5 for the state.
What’s more, pot sales have steadily increased since the program launched Jan. 1 — which was to be expected. But COVID-19 has also played a role, experts said.
The pandemic has “had a big impact on sales numbers,” said Alyssa Jank, an analyst at the Brightfield Group, a Loop-based firm that researches the cannabis industry.
“People have been at home more. People are looking for things to do [and] people don’t have to worry about being functional or capable to go and do stuff. So I think that’s part of it,” said Jank. “I think another part of it is that people have been way more stressed out and anxious this year, so they’re looking for something as a solve for that.”
Meanwhile, tax revenues from alcohol sales have fluctuated and returned to pre-pandemic levels. Though some research suggests consumers are spending less overall because they aren’t paying for the markup at restaurants and bars, total alcohol sales still trump the state’s pot sales totals.


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Alongside them, Daimler has rolled out a new stretched-wheelbase version of the C-Class sedan. Measuring eight centimeters (3.15 inches) longer than standard, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class L offers extra legroom in the back. All the better for owners who prefer to ride in the back and let their chauffeurs do the driving.
The C-Class also debuts in China with new four-cylinder engines that feature the 48-volt EQ Boost technology. The (very) mild hybrid system has bee making its way across Daimler’s engine lineup and promises to help boost fuel economy, while powering additional auxiliary systems as well. .
The new compact luxury sedan also gets LED headlights as standard, with Multibeam Ultra Range units available. There’s also a new digital instrument display, large media screen, a multifunction steering wheel, 64-color ambient lighting, and multicontour seats.
“People who know a little of the history of our brand here in China will know why the C-Class is very special to us,” said Nicholas Speeks, Benz’s local sales chief. “In 2014, here in Beijing on this stage, we introduced our game-changer: the long-wheelbase C-Class – a car that promised to transform our brand’s perception from what had gone before. 380,000 customers since that day have confirmed that change and with their trust have placed the C-Class, also in quarter one of this year, as its segment leader.”
Together with the A-Class sedan, C-Class L, and Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury concept, Daimler also showcased the Mercedes-Maybach S680 at the Beijing show. But that’s simply what it calls the twelve-cylinder, AMG-powered S650 in China, where 8 represents a lucky number.


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Reports have also begun to pop up on other sites that Apex Legends has completely replaced a third Titanfall game - according to Kotaku, Titanfall 3 isn't now in development and Apex Legends is what we're getting instead. Surprisingly, Apex Legends will ditch the Titan mechs that give the series its namesake.
There are eight Legends to choose from at launch, but Respawn plans to add more to the game over time. According to Kotaku'sJason Schreier, he was tipped off about the game last month, and was told that it "plays like Titanfall mixed with Overwatch and Blackout from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4".
There is other evidence that bolsters this rumor. Click on the game, click the orange "Add to Library" button (which will add the game to your own Origin Games Library), then you should get a pop-up asking if you want to download the game.
Huawei Foldable Phone Coming This Month at MWC As impressive as the foldable phone looks for Samsung , they are not the only company to be releasing such a device this year. That said, Huawei is yet to reveal the design of its foldable phone, so it looks like those renders were off base.
What are you expecting out of Apex Legends? The URL "playapex.com" also redirects users to the EA website.
And: "Sources who have played and have knowledge of the game confirm to me that Respawn is set to announce and release Apex Legends on Monday Feb 4, a free to play Titanfall Hero Battle Royale game for PC, PS4, and Xbox One".
It's unclear what improvements, if any, have been made to characters or game mechanics from Titanfall 2. It's a free-to-play battle royale that, interestingly, won't let you use the Titan mech suits that make Titanfall so iconic. Crafting Metals, meanwhile, can be obtained in Apex Packs, and they are used to unlock weapon skins and other cosmetics. This appears to be Respawn's way of keeping the Titanfall franchise active while the rest of the studio focuses on developing Jedi: Fallen Order, which is supposed to come out later this year. The game's storyline takes place after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith or after Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader. It should also be around the storefront, perhaps under the "All New Games" list. The game should be released by the end of 2019.
Thank you for the memories, the friendships, the laughs, and the culture we created, for the understanding and for being family. He brought instant credibility to a Packers locker room that didn't often get the chance to welcome veteran free agents.
According to the teaser, the upcoming handset, Huawei 5G Foldable Phone will see the light on February 24 at 14:00 CET. Comment in the section below if you have more queries and stay tuned to PhoneRadar for more similar news and updates.
At Cardiff's match against Bournemouth on Saturday, Sala's photograph appeared on the front cover of the matchday programme. Sala's father Sunday was awakened from a sound sleep to learn that the plane in which his son was killed, has been found.
Messi scored twice, as the hosts came from 2-0 down to earn a point and extend their lead at the top of LaLiga to six points. Atletico Madrid face Real Betis on Sunday, bidding to close the gap with leaders Barcelona to three points.
The defeat was the first for Japan since being knocked out of last summer's World Cup round of 16 in a 3-2 loss to Belgium. For all that, they've won seven games out of seven and conceded just one goal on their way to victory.
In a video from the crash scene which was shot at about 3pm, one of the residences can be seen having been destroyed by the fire. Twitter user Joshua Nelson wrote, "A few houses down [from the crash] the propeller and engine landed in their yard".
In a February 2 Instagram post , Kylie posted a photo of her with Travis, and wrote a cryptic caption: " baby #2? ". Just look at the cake! Last month, Kylie gushed over how much she loves Stormi during a vacation outing.
For SpongeBob fans everywhere, the performance was extremely disappointing - and they made their feelings known on Twitter , too. Levine, meanwhile, opted for something a little more straight-up, taking to the stage in a Dries Van Noten zipper.
Goyal said the tax scrutiny would be done electronically eliminating any interaction between the tax authority and the taxpayer. Goyal also announced an increase in the standard deduction , which provide for employee expenses, from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.
Punxsutawney Phil predicts early spring
It is only the 19th time out of the 123 recorded appearances that Phil has seen his shadow, the York Daily Record reported . Where does Punxsutawney Phil live? That year Chuck was actually secretly replaced by his granddaughter, Charlotte.
The best memes from the 2019 Super Bowl
The replies section was quickly flooded by fans calling it one of the worst half-time performances in Super Bowl history. Outkast: One of the former Outkast members, Big Boi , arrived in a Cadillac while someone was driving it on the turf.
Bow Wow Arrested on Suspicion of Battery
The 31-year-old rapper, whose real name is Shad Gregory Moss, was arrested in Atlanta at approximately 4:15 a.m. on Saturday. Moss was in Atlanta for the Super Bowl to promote a pop-up event put on by his mother.


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Mild Fall Weather Extends California Berry SeasonNovember 11, 2019
The Californian berry season is wrapping up later than usual due to mild temperatures. California Giant grows their strawberries in California, Mexico and Florida.
Cindy Jewell, the company’s vice-president of Marketing says: “The California season usually runs from January through October. Normally, at this time of year the rains have started and the nights have gotten cold, but we are still seeing really mild conditions now. The spring-crop is still producing fruit and is still being harvested, which is unusual for this time of the year. So, the California season has been really long this year which means that it should actually complement the Mexico and Florida season. Usually, there is a bit of a gap between the seasons but this year there will be an easier transition. Our harvest in Mexico and Florida will begin this week or next week, to complement the fruit coming out of California, and those seasons will run through the spring.”
While the season has run longer than usual, the volumes are down from last year. “Last year was a record year for the strawberries so that would have been difficult to beat. We have had enough fruit to keep the pipeline full and meet the customer demand. The demand this time of year is less than peak summer season, but it is a good market for both grower and customer. The prices dipped a bit last week, but have since recovered and we are seeing double-digit pricing right now,” Jewell explains.
While volumes were down a bit, the product’s quality held up. Jewell says: “The quality this season has been excellent. The amount of trays being harvested every day is declining because the days are getting shorter but the product looks good. The Mexico and Florida seasons are looking great so far as well, and we are expecting the winter-season for strawberries to be really nice. The varieties grown in Mexico and Florida are short-day varieties to accommodate the different geography and timing. Strawberries aren’t labeled with varieties though, so the consumer isn’t aware of this difference in the varieties. This might change in the future, as growers and packers try to distinguish themselves in the market, but we aren’t there yet.”
The company also grows a steady supply of organic strawberries, ranging from 10-15% of their total crop, to complement their conventional product. “There is a core-group of people that will buy organic year-round, but most consumers base their purchase off pricing, or quality rather than whether it is organic. We are seeing that for other berries, like blueberries for example, the organic market is growing, but for strawberries it has remained pretty static” Jewell says.
Raspberry season extended as well
Raspberries, just like the strawberries, are also enjoying an extended season this year. “We are still producing some here in California, but the Mexican season is also kicking off. The majority of the raspberries come out of Mexico, with that season beginning right now, in November, and running all the way into May. This is a long season and we always see really good volumes and quality coming out of Mexico. This is an area that we are growing in, and it’s really well-received by our trading partners.”
Year-round raspberry supplies
The raspberry season this year has been good. “Raspberries continue to be a customer favorite, and in the past we only had our California crop so we couldn’t supply year-round. Now that we’ve added our Mexico crop we are able to produce and supply year-round. This is our third season of the Mexico crop and we’ve been adding volume each season to meet the rising demand. Retailers prefer having a one-stop shop, so having the raspberries as part of our year-round offering has been really well-received,” concludes Jewell.
By Fresh Plaza


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Apple to launch first online store in India
Apple will launch its first online store in India on Sept. 23 to give customers in the country a chance to purchase its products directly from them.
The company currently relies on third-party online and offline sellers in India.
Apple's Indian online store will offer the company's full range of products and support, including new ones to be announced next week.
The move is expected to bolster sales in one of the world’s fastest-growing smartphone markets, with millions of new Internet users every month.
The launch is scheduled just before India’s major Hindu festival season next month.
With its population of nearly 1.4 billion people, India is a key focus of tech giants.
Foxconn and Wistron’s assembles Apple smartphones in two southern Indian states.


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India GST requires more work
- Mar 22, 2018 | Richard Asquith
The July 2017 new Goods and Services Tax ('GST') regime was an ambitious reform of a complex, and business unfriendly tax regime. But more reforms to the GST system are required if it is to realise its potential to liberalise intra-state trade in the country. Areas for focus in the next months will include:
Simplify GST rates
Reducing the use of 5 different tax rates. There is still a wide spread across the 0%, 5% 12%, 18% and 28% GST rates. This arises in confusion, wrong tax charges, manipulation of goods descriptions to gain beneficial low tax rates and likely complex tax disputes
Simplified monthly returns
The original plan for a monthly pre-return invoice reconciliation between vendors and their customers has proven too complex, and the system has effectively been suspended. The government, GST Council and Infosys, which operates the IT back-bone to the new tax are still reviewing potential simplifications
The plans to tax e-commerce transactions at source are not widely copied in the rest of the world. This could hinder development of the important sector.


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The stimulus will target business owners likely to be negatively affected by step 2 of the Victorian government’s plan out of lockdown announced last week, said Victorian Minister for Business Precincts Martin Pakula in a press conference.
He said there will be grants of $3,000, which he estimated would support around 33,000 sole traders across the state.
“They will be industries like accommodation and tourism, some non-permitted retail, media and film production, gyms, creative studios, outdoor entertainment, private museums and galleries,” Mr Pakula said.
While he noted that primary income support for sole traders has been provided by the Commonwealth and through JobKeeper, Mr Pakula said the Victorian government has been focusing its efforts primarily on those businesses which employ people in creating a relationship of “complementary support” between it and the federal government.
“The new sole trader initiative is a recognition of the serious challenges that many sole traders have faced,” he said.
“It will allow tens of thousands of them to help pay their overheads — to give them the opportunity to emerge on the other side and recover strongly.”
Recovery fund for Melbourne CBD
In addition, the Victorian government announced a $100 million Melbourne city recovery fund for businesses to move their activities outdoor to fund COVID-safe events and new infrastructure in preparation for the warmer months and as people are welcomed back into the CBD.
The initiative is in partnership with the City of Melbourne and is estimated to support around 16,500 businesses registered in the area.
Of that $100 million fund, $30 million will be provided in grants to small and medium businesses to help pay for tables, plastic screens, umbrellas and all of the apparatus needed for outdoor hospitality to re-configure spaces to convert areas like rooftops and courtyards for outdoor use.
Another $30 million will support COVID-safe events and cultural activities in the CBD aimed at attracting visitors back to the city once it’s safe to do so and once the city is further out of restrictions.
Further, $40 million will go towards physical improvements to the CBD streetscape, including bike lanes, wider footpaths and bollards.
“Those businesses support north of 470,000 jobs, so it’s an incredibly important part of our economy and a lot of those businesses are being enormously impacted by the restrictions which have been required to combat this global pandemic,” Mr Pakula said.
“This will utterly transform the city, and I think not just for this summer. It’s going to be something that I think Victorians will love and appreciate and will create a new al fresco environment for CBD dining which I think will be, I suspect, enjoyed for many summers hence.”
Hospitality support outside the Melbourne CBD
Mr Pakula also announced an $87.5 million outdoor hospitality support package for businesses outside the City of Melbourne. $58 million of that package will be paid in grants of up to $5,000 to businesses to help pay for umbrellas, furniture, screens and advertising.
Those grants will be available to both licensed and unlicensed businesses, restaurants, takeaway food businesses, pubs, bars and clubs with a payroll of under $3 million, of which the Victorian government estimates about 11,000 businesses will be eligible.
The other $30 million will go to local councils to help them implement the streamlined permit enforcement and monitoring processes to support expanded outdoor hospitality.
The grants will be up to $500,000 for metropolitan councils, and those councils which cover regional cities and rural councils will be eligible for grants of up to $250,000.
Under the package, some of that council money can be passed on to businesses in the form of reducing and waiving permit fees as well as investing in infrastructure such as streetscaping.


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HID Global, a global trusted identity solutions provider, announced its cloud-based HID FARGO Connect solution has won the 2017 Campus Safety Best Awards in the Access Control & Identity Management category. As the world’s first cloud-based card personalisation and issuance solution, HID FARGO Connect untethers printers from dedicated computers to offer a new way to create, personalise and securely issue IDs and credentials.
“HID FARGO Connect addresses a growing market demand to simplify the management and delivery of IDs, especially for high-volume issuance requirements in environments with large populations,” said Craig Sandness, Vice President and Managing Director of Secure Issuance with HID Global. “This recognition underscores yet another solution from HID Global that powers trusted identities through an innovative approach to card personalisation.”
Cloud-based identification technology
HID FARGO Connect makes it possible to issue ID cards from anywhere and from any device via the web—all in a trusted environment that leverages the industry’s most secure cloud technologies with end-to-end encryption. Users can create new cards or issue replacements, encode data and manage print queues through a secure and trusted system.
The Campus Safety Magazine 2017 BEST award honours superior products and services for K-12 campuses, institutions of higher education and healthcare organisations.


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Lorcana, one of the most hyped Trading Card Games in some time, is landing this summer. If you haven't heard the news yet, Lorcana is shaping up to be a real contender for the likes of Magic: the Gathering and Pokémon and looks like a blast to play!
Ravensburger recently released more info on exactly how to play Lorcana and the mechanics involved including a series of videos you can check out down below to find out the basics.
We can't wait to get our hands on the game and see what becoming an Illumineer is going to be all about!
You can also find the quick start rules right here.


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The 34th annual Shell Rotella SuperRigs competition will be held June 9-11, 2016 at the Joplin Convention and Trade Center in Joplin, Mo.
The Shell Rotella SuperRigs® competition is a top truck beauty contest for actively working trucks. Owner/operator truckers from across the United States and Canada compete each year for cash and prizes. Additionally, 12 drivers will be selected to have their trucks featured in the Shell Rotella SuperRigs® calendar.
Trucks are judged by industry professionals who score the rigs on exterior appearance, design, detail/finish, originality, and workmanship. In total, 18 working trucks receive awards.


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Though working as the head of treasury at Braintree, Boris de Souza when found a $90 million payment that went “lacking” for more than two weeks mainly because of inadequate payments infrastructure.
“It was my first week on the task, and I acquired an e-mail from a client indicating ‘I feel you shorted us $90 million,’” he recalls. “I appeared into it, and they ended up right. I figured out there was a bug in the technique, mounted it and wired the income. But it was outstanding to me that it took them 2 ½ months to know they were being missing $90 million.”
For de Souza, who was also a founding engineer at digital financial institution Chime and a product supervisor at Slack, the complete business enterprise payments place “has not truly evolved” about the past many many years.
“Most organization payments are nonetheless incredibly considerably finished in paper verify and unintelligible ACH payments,” he mentioned.
To established about helping clear up that challenge, he still left Braintree in 2019 and teamed up with fellow previous Chime software engineer Zhuo Huang to located Streamlined, an Oakland-dependent startup that is rising from stealth right now with a complete of $4 million in funding. Streamlined elevated $1 million in a pre-seed spherical led by SignalFire in 2020 and not too long ago shut a $3 million seed financing co-led by Greycroft and SignalFire. Abnormal Ventures and some others place dollars in the most current spherical.
A large amount of B2B payments tech is designed on top rated of B2C tech, such as Stripe, that was engineered to manage shopper card transactions, according to de Souza. But Streamlined is different, he promises, in that it has “custom built” transaction infrastructure for B2B “from the floor up.”
A lot of organizations now nevertheless pay back through paper checks and ACH, largely for record-trying to keep and compliance factors. In the meantime, payment cycles continue to be “messy and inclined to irregularities,” he claims. As these, in accordance to de Souza, a company’s accounting department can squander time manually hunting for payments, and then even additional time attempting to reconcile specific invoices.
Streamlined’s mission is straightforward: to give firms the ability to settle for payments from their company customers “how they want and when they want,” no matter if it be via paper test, ACH or credit rating card.
“We are creating it feasible for us to acknowledge payments, regardless of how the payment will come in,” de Souza advised TechCrunch, “and then make it out there to the receiver electronically and in the time that they choose.” This, he reported, can also assist merchants and their prospects be compliant and up to date.
The company also touts that its infrastructure is intended to let for more rapidly merchant payouts and to “dramatically simplify” reconciliation, which he thinks is one of the firm’s most significant differentiators.
“Where Streamlined really anchors by itself in opposition to any individual else,” he instructed TechCrunch, “is that we concentrate on this difficulty of reconciliation.”
To begin with, the startup is working with quickly-growing e-commerce companies, which have grown substantially in selection and dimension considering the fact that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and presently handles “tens of thousands” of merchants’ payments every day. It can be targeting businesses with $10 million to $100 million in GMV, and “a robust want to scale wholesale,” de Souza stated. But the company’s long-phrase goal “is to make B2B payments of any measurement and complexity simple.”
“Unlike retail transactions, B2B commerce is relationship-oriented, and each individual romantic relationship is distinct,” de Souza added. “The system by which a consumer prefers to pay back, or the timing for that payment, will come down to the way the romantic relationship is defined concerning purchaser and vendor, and this is a main rationale why B2B payments is so fragmented, so complex and is still so palms-on. We’re approaching this challenge with a deep being familiar with of equally buyers and sellers.”
Streamlined, he states, can sync with Quickbooks and Shopify and shoppers can produce invoices in Streamlined or specifically on Shopify.
Impression Credits: Streamlined
De Souza declined to share revenue expansion metrics, expressing only that some of its recent growth “has been strongly tied to the recent adjustments in e-commerce and a push for a lot more wholesale.” It tends to make cash by charging a processing fee for each payment.
The business strategies to use its new funds to beef up its 10-human being employees, specifically its engineering workforce. It is open up to selecting folks who do not have working experience in the payments sector.
“I think it is vital for people today with no a payments history to consider the space, and it’s thrilling, due to the fact you’re bringing a new lens to a trouble that individuals have stared at for several years,” de Souza mentioned.
SignalFire founding lover and CTO Ilya Kirnos believes that the development of B2B e-commerce has created a will need for improved payment and reconciliation instruments. Brick-and-mortar stores who experienced to shift their enterprise on the net when COVID strike experienced loads of selections when setting up an e-commerce storefront, he factors out.
“There are tons of fashionable instruments for B2C e-commerce payments, whether it’s Shopify, Stripe, and so on.…,” Kirnos informed TechCrunch. “…But B2B commerce is pretty diverse — much more functions are concerned in a transaction, you have to match the invoice to the payment, most payments are still produced by verify or ACH, and not credit history card. There is no uncomplicated way to do this now as a merchant on the internet, and this is the hole Streamlined is addressing.”
Greycroft husband or wife John Elton agrees that the “consumerization of B2B payments is below.”
“It’s not just about the payment — it’s the full expertise a company has working with payments,” he stated. “The standing quo is generally a handbook, paper-driven system that is disconnected…With Streamlined, organizations don’t have to fear about payments and get paid out speedier, far more correctly, in a method that is seamlessly tied into the present finance and accounting purposes.”
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If you’ve ever relished flan from local eateries like El Taco Loco, Los Tres Cochinitos or La Michoacana, those belong to 58-year-old Daniel Gascón, owner of Molto Buono Cheese Flan Factory in West Long Beach. Now, he’s bouncing back from the pandemic with a total of seven flan flavors.
“It’s not the rich people giving back,” Luzanilla said. “It’s us.”
Wille’s Tin Shop will reopen Tuesday, June 15—the day businesses across California can operate without capacity limits after the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on daily operations and routines across the state.
Over the weekend, new signage for Sheldrake Coffee Roasting went up, replacing the Polly’s logo that has graced the Belmont Shore coffeehouse for more than four decades.
Planet Books staff will celebrate the store’s 22nd anniversary by boxing up 50,000 books, following a 30-day notice to vacate its long-time home by mid-November.
The Gaslamp music venue, bar and restaurant—known for booking popular tribute bands—has filed a $19,520 claim against the city for losses its owner says were a direct result of misinformation disseminated by Mayor Robert Garcia and the city’s lead health official.
Three Los Angeles County tattoo shop owners, including one in Long Beach, filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and two state health officials over the ongoing closure mandate imposed on the industry.
As head of the only standalone training ground for aspiring chefs and bakers, Chef Tech Cooking School in Bixby Knolls, she has seen her share of mishaps in the kitchen.
To prepare for next week’s grand opening, Whole Foods is having a three-day, half-off sale of its entire store’s inventory.
The first-ever Long Beach Homebrew Festival put on by We Love Long Beach (We Love LB) will also serve as the nonprofit organization’s first ever fundraiser and draw attention to more than 20 local homebrewers from the greater Long Beach area, ready to gather to share their carefully crafted brews and compete for the votes of attendees this Saturday.


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Get ready shoppers! Vogue’s Online Shopping Night is back this Wednesday June 20 – bigger and better than ever.
Celebrating the best of shopping online, Vogue is bringing together top Aussie fashion designers and retail partners, who offer exclusive deals that you can find on Vogue.com.au for one night only.
This year, the event will be hosted live from the Ivy in Sydney – with some of Australia’s biggest designers - like Akira Isogawa, Simone Zimmermann and Heidi Middleton from Sass & Bide.
“Vogue Online Shopping Night is a unique opportunity for our consumers to shop directly from their favourite brands and Australian designers, while taking advantage of some incredible discounts and special offers which are exclusive to our event and available for one night only,” says Vogue Australia Editor-In-Chief, Edwina McCann.
Here are a few of the great deals on offer -
Up to 75 per cent off women’s fashion from Alannah Hill, Little Joe Woman, Ginger & Smart, Gorman, Sheike, Seduce, Bardot and more; up to 70 per cent off shoes from Tony Bianco, Siren, Therapy, Lipstick and more; up to 50 per cent off bags and accessories; plus, follow @westfieldonline on Twitter for special offers.
10 per cent off full-priced jewellery and watches; 20 per cent off homewares; be one of the first 50 shoppers to make a purchase of $200 or more to be in the running to win a one-on-one styling session with a Vogue stylist; plus, free shipping on all orders.
25 per cent off all stock; free shipping on all orders; plus, go in the running to win a pair of limited edition Hans Wegner Cigar chairs upholstered in an exclusive Gorman print valued at $6,500.
Enter “VOSN30” at checkout and receive 30 per cent off all stock; plus, be one of the first 100 customers to make a purchase and receive a Li & Lash kit valued at $129.
For the first time, Vogue Australia is also teaming up with premier digital music service, Rdio to give you an additional element to complete the perfect night in shopping, music. Everyone who registers will receive a month-long unlimited subscription to Rdio.
Vogue Online Shopping Night will run between midday and midnight on Wednesday June 20.


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In a joint announcement issued by AT&T and Samsung, the two shared information on some devices slated to be available “in the coming months” for AT&T’s 4G LTE network. The devices include three smartphones powered by Android and one tablet device.
Headlining the list of forthcoming devices is the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the eagerly awaited for successor to the Samsung Galaxy Note.
Today, Samsung has unveiled a brand new Exynos ModAp processor that features an integrated 4G LTE modem. This is a quad-core SoC that supports both regular LTE speeds as well as LTE Advanced. At the very least, it is now possible to achieve at least 150Mbps.
Samsung Electronics unveiled a 7.7-inch, Android 3.2 version of its Galaxy Tab tablet, as well as a 5.3-inch Android 2.3 phone, each running on a dual-core 1.4GHz processor. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 is the first tablet to offer Super AMOLED Plus technology, while the pen-enabled Galaxy Note smartphone settles for Super AMOLED, and both feature 1280 x 800 WXGA resolution....
Samsung recently announced via Twitter that they’re set to announce their new Exynos processor on January 7 at CES 2014 in Las Vegas. The cutting edge processor will feature 64-bit architecture and will compete with Apple’s A7 chip.


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Free Trade Could Stem Illegal Immigration
US-Mexico pact may cause short-term rise, but a long-term drop in flow across border
FREE trade with Mexico - a top priority for President Bush - could have a dramatic long-term impact on illegal immigration into the United States.A number of analysts say that in the short run, free trade will increase the number of Mexicans who enter the US unlawfully. Within 15 years, however, free trade should decrease those numbers by strengthening economic prosperity in Mexico and boosting the income of workers south of the border, experts say. Wages in Mexican factories are often around $1 an hour, or about one-tenth the pay of comparable jobs in the US. Immigration issues are being largely ignored in the trilateral trade talks among the US, Mexico, and Canada that began June 12. But analysts say the flow of people, as well as goods, will eventually have to be addressed. Millions of Mexicans and other Latin Americans have entered the US illegally across the southern border during the past decade. Most are fleeing poverty in search of good jobs. They have intensified a population boom in California and Texas. The number of illegal entrants decreased briefly after passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. But since May 1989, the numbers are up again. If the White House neglects the impact of trade on the movement of people, analysts worry that illegal immigration will eventually cause social and economic disruption in the US, particularly along the southern border. George Grayson, an expert on Mexico and a professor at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., favors a free trade agreement as an aid to the problem of illegal immigration. "Without sustained economic growth in Mexico, you will see a flood of illegals turn into a tidal wave," Dr. Grayson says. "Even with growth, you will have illegals, but not as prolific." However, free trade carries risks, with the greatest dangers seen in the next 10 to 20 years. Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation of American Immigration Control, argues that without special arrangements, free trade could exacerbate population pressures from illegal migration in Texas, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The reason: Free trade could speed the construction of thousands of new factories in Mexico along the US border. Already, hundreds of so-called "twin plants" operate there as a result of earlier trade deals with Mexico. Those twin factories have attracted millions of Mexicans to the US border area. Tijuana, once a sleepy city south of San Diego, has boomed to 1.2 million. Ciudad Juarez, near El Paso, Texas, has climbed to 1.3 million. Matamoros, near Brownsville, Texas, has risen to 600,000. The US Border Patrol says these impoverished urban areas are the primary source of illegal entrants to this country. Mr. Stein says: "We do not want Mexico to be like Canada, with everyone along the border. To exclude immigration from these trade negotiations is to remove a fundamental issue that affects the future of both countries profoundly." Stein wants several concessions from Mexico: 1. An agreement which would limit further development at the border, particularly near ports of entry like Brownsville and Chula Vista (San Diego). 2. Improvement of the infrastructure - roads, sewers, pollution controls, schools - in border communities. 3. Better facilities to monitor cross-border traffic in people and goods. "The border region is already well on its way to becoming a third-world state," with the US side also suffering from the twin threats of poverty and pollution, Stein says. Patrick Burns, a longtime analyst of immigration problems, says that even with free trade, illegal immigration will continue, but will not rise as fast. From that viewpoint, free trade makes sense, he argues, for ultimately the US "must take Mexico's people or its goods." Mr. Burns favors giving priority to Mexican products, since "we take goods from all over the world. Why not give preference to Mexico rather than Japan?" Burns says the impact of free trade on immigration should be studied, however, because importing more goods from Mexico could have unexpected results. "It could harm [industries in] some other countries, such as roses in Colombia and the carnations now coming out of Central America," he says. The Caribbean region's economy could also be damaged, he suggests, as production is shifted from countries like Haiti and Jamaica to Mexico. Stein, who has fought for years to get better control of US borders, concludes: "The American people seem blissfully unaware of the population juggernaut that lies just south of our border. It makes sense to use that labor, but it only makes sense if that labor stays there."


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Rumor | Apple working on its own AR headset, believes it to be a game changer
If the grapevine is to be believed, Apple could well be on its way to debut its Augmented Reality (AR) headset sometime between late-2019 to early-2020. Deviating from the current norm, the Apple AR headset would feature its own screen, CPU, and OS. Most likely, it will be independent of the iPhone/iPad but will somehow tie in the Apple ecosystem via compatible apps.
Bloomberg reports that Apple has a strong AR team spread across its Cupertino and Sunnyvale offices, all working under the code name 'T288'. The team's first product was ARKit that works on existing iPhones and iPads running iOS 11. The natural evolution of this is to create dedicated hardware for AR leveraging the best of Apple's SoC and display prowess. Apple has been leading the SoC race by a mile and could very well be building custom silicon that can power the headset through most tasks. The headset could also run on what is currently called 'rOS', short for 'reality OS' based on iOS, which in all likelihood will come with its own App Store. Apple engineers are also prototyping various methods of interacting with the headset viz. touch, Siri, and head gestures.
AR is an important technology and Apple would be foolhardy to not take a slice of the pie (and possibly, lead the pack). Apple CEO, Tim Cook, considers AR to be a potential game changer that will transform the way people work, connect, and play in the future. In July this year, Patently Apple reported of a patent application that shows a method for representing points of interest overlaid on a display with interactive functionality. The application was originally filed by AR solutions company, Metaio, which was later acquired by Apple. Apple also recently acquired AR startup company, Vrvana, cementing the fact that Apple is quite bullish about making a mark for itself in the VR/AR space.
Current prototyping of the headset is reportedly being done on an HTC Vive and there are also plans for a device similar to Oculus Gear VR that will use the iPhone's hardware for internally testing AR apps.


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Soft Stock Markets Could Spark Vendor Consolidation WaveBy Sharon Linsenbach | Print
Desktop-as-a-Service Designed for Any Cloud ? Nutanix Frame
Oracle's Larry Ellison says he may go bargain shopping while rivals have suppressed valuations. Could the recession bring a string of mega-mergers at basement prices?
A new wave of vendor consolidation could shore up struggling companies, foster innovation and help VARs drive new technology to customers even as the rest of the economy suffers.
Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison made waves last week when he said the slumping economy created a "buyer’s market" that the software giant could leverage to acquire other software companies."Acquisitions that we have been looking at for some time may now be more attractive," including companies such as Sun Microsystems, Research In Motion, Yahoo and others who’ve hoarded cash but are otherwise struggling, Ellison said at Oracle’s annual stockholders’ meeting held Oct. 10.
While Microsoft says it won’t revisit acquiring Yahoo and IBM is sticking to its usual slow-and-steady acquisition plan, analysts say a wave of mergers and acquisitions could have a number of positive benefits, help shore up a flagging tech sector, and infuse confidence in solution providers and their customers who’ve been wary of making purchases in an iffy market.
For one, smaller, innovative vendors who may not have the resources to survive a deep recession could find a reprieve in an acquisition by a larger, solvent company. With venture capital drying up, many otherwise successful firms may find being acquired brings a new lease on life for their innovative technology. There’s one caveat: How will it affect the end user?
"If larger players like Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle decide to buy up smaller, innovative companies to help them fill in their portfolios so they can better service their customers, that’s a good thing," says Tiffani Bova, a channel research vice president at Gartner. She adds that a reduced number of vendors will further benefit the channel, since it will ease vendor management hassles.
If a large vendor buys a complementary vendor or rival and does a good job of integrating both companies’ channels, it may actually improve the partners’ offerings around specialized solutions they are investing in.
"Consolidation is not necessarily a bad thing—if it is done with the goal of servicing the customer better while also making more revenue for shareholders," Bova says.
Of course, if a company’s acquired, there’s always a chance that acquisition could dampen its ability to innovate and fundamentally alter its direction, says Michael Speyer, a consultant at Forrester Research.
If a company were acquired by a large player such as Oracle or Microsoft, it would have to take marching orders from its new parent and wouldn’t have as much control over its competitive direction, Speyer says.
There are numerous examples of solution providers adopting a smaller vendor’s product lines and thriving because they get a lot of attention and support. That tends to change in a flash when they’re absorbed into a larger program through acquisition; suddenly, they find themselves as small fish swimming in the big ocean among swarms of sharks.
Solution providers could benefit if their small vendor partner is subsumed by a larger company that helps clean up redundant offerings and invests in the channel. In such situations, the acquiring vendor would simplify the marketplace, and reduce technology complexity and channel conflict.
"Consolidation might make an impact on the number of different solutions [VARs] bring to their customers. A wave of consolidation would lessen the chance that solution providers would have competitive products and solutions in their line cards," Speyer says.


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Health Canada recalled a brand of dark chocolate products in Ontario on Saturday over an undeclared ingredient on its labels — milk.
The health agency said Salento Organics did not declare milk as an ingredient on various dark chocolate products. These include pineapple bites, pitaya (dragon fruit) bites, organic banana dark chocolate clusters and organic peanuts dark chocolate dipped.
“Do not consume recalled products to which you are allergic or sensitive as they may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction,” Health Canada stated on its website.
The agency further advised that Ontarians should throw out or return the products to the locations from which they were purchased.
“There have been no reported reactions associated with the consumption of these products,” said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in a news release.
According to the CFIA, milk is one of the priority food allergens in the country. When someone consumes or comes into contact with a food allergen, symptoms of an allergic reaction “may develop quickly and rapidly progress from mild to severe.”
The inspection agency’s website lists the symptoms of an allergy, which can vary or bear a combination of signs ranging from (but not limited to) breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, shock to changes in texture and appearance of skin, gastrointestinal issues or dizziness.
The most severe allergic reaction is called anaphylaxis.
Milk — along with peanut, tree nut, shellfish, egg, wheat, sesame and soy — is part of the list of allergens largely responsible for the majority of severe anaphylactic reactions, states Health Canada.
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text: “The only benefit I see after the ridesharing services have been introduced is that one can get a car ride instantly and nothing else,” said Khilgaon resident Manik. The ridesharing services became popular among people in the city due to Dhaka’s consistent troubles in the public transport sector. The government drafted a ‘ridesharing policy’ last year to bring the service under law. The policy does not fix the fares for private cars used in ridesharing, but asks ridesharing companies to follow the policy on taxicabs to determine the fares. The policy also says that fares for ridesharing services should not exceed taxi cab fares. There is no mention of motorcycle fares in the policy. This has led to ridesharing companies charging fares for motorcycles however they wish. According to the taxi cab policy for air-conditioned cabs, Tk 85 will be charged for the first two kilometres, Tk 34 for every additional kilometre travelled and Tk 8.5 for every two minutes of waiting time. In the case of economy taxicabs, Tk 50 will be charged for the first two kilometres, Tk 12 for every kilometre after that and Tk 3 for every two minutes of waiting time. The fare for CNG run autorickshaws has been fixed at Tk 40 for the first two kilometres and Tk 12 for every kilometre travelled, with a waiting charge of Tk 2 for every two minutes. But for ridesharing services, the passenger is charged for every minute of riding time. Every ridesharing company charges different rates for their services. Ubermoto has its initial fare set at Tk 30 and charges Tk 12 for every kilometre travelled with a waiting charge of Tk 1 per minute. Pathao charges an initial fare of Tk 25 and for every kilometre travelled, the rate has been set at Tk 12 with a waiting charge of Tk 0.50 per minute. The initial fare for Pickme is Tk 24 and it charges Tk 12 for every kilometre travelled with a charge of Tk 0.50 per minute for waiting time. It adds Tk 25 as a request charge. Obhai on the other hand charges a minimum fare of Tk 100 by taking into calculation the distance covered over the first six kilometres. It means that a passenger has to pay Tk 100 even if they travel a distance of only a kilometre. The service charges Tk 20 for every kilometre travelled but it has no waiting charge. Uber Premier has its initial fare set at Tk 80 and charges Tk 22 for every kilometre travelled with a waiting charge of Tk 3 for every minute. For UberX the initial fare is Tk 40 with Tk 18 being charged for every kilometre travelled while retaining the same waiting charge as Uber Premier. Pathao car ride sharing charges Tk 50 as initial fare, Tk 20 for every kilometre travelled and Tk 2.50 for every minute of waiting while Pickme, another ride-sharing company, charges Tk 50 for user requests, Tk 40 as initial fare, Tk 20 for every kilometre travelled and Tk 6 waiting charge for every 2 minutes. bdnews24.com found differing fares in four different ride sharing apps when it requested rides for the same destination at the same time. For a bike ride from National Press Club to Gabtoli bus stand, Shohoz Rides showed an estimated fare of Tk 172, Pathao Tk 177, Ubermoto Tk 180, Obhai Tk 205 and Pickme Tk 175. For car rides, Pathao Car Plus showed Tk 397, UberX 359, Uber Premier Tk 450 and Shohoz Car Tk 360 in estimated fares over the same distance. At times, the actual fare is much higher than the estimated fare, complained Aklima Chowdhury, an ICDDR,B official. “Uber showed an estimated fare of Tk 536 from Mohakhali to Mirpur-1 but it turned into Tk 825 by the time I reached my destination. I made the payment and took a snapshot of the receipt but later I found out that the fare changed to Tk 536 again in the trip history section of the app,” she told bdnews24.com. “A new problem has arisen in ride sharing, which is the CNG-run auto-rickshaw. They charge different amounts for the same distance at different times. They increase the fare according to the demand,” said Manik Muntasir, a user of ride-sharing services. “The fares have increased recently. I used to travel to Uttara from Khilgaon paying around Tk 400 without any discounts. I cannot go to Uttara now without paying less than Tk 500 even after getting a discount,” he said. It is not right to increase the fares because of high demands, said Rajibur Rahman, a resident of Kalshi Road in Mirpur. “The apps show an estimated fare when I send a request but when I see the actual fare it says ‘fare increased due to high demand.’ Why would they demand more money on top of a given rate? I would not usually get an Uber ride when there is a high demand. But why should I pay extra when I do?” he told bdnews24.com. The company shows details in the voucher if the actual fare is more than the estimated fare but not if the actual fare is less, complained Neyamat Ullah, a resident of Dhanmondi. “When the trip finishes within the estimated fare limit, they do not provide me with detailed calculations. But when the trip crosses the estimated fare limit, they send me an email containing the details of base fare, distance, time, total bill etc. If there is a bonus, they omit it,” he said. The companies offer ‘discounts’ initially to attract passengers but reduce it later, said Shubhra Pal from Mohammadpur. “I haven’t received any discounts in bike rides for the past two weeks and no discounts in car rides for more than two months. I travel between Mohammadpur and Gulshan regularly. Ubermoto and Obhai charge Tk 160 to Tk 165 for this route without discounts. Pathao charges Tk 190 to Tk 200 for the same route. Now I feel that I should use CNG run auto-rickshaw to travel, which at least allows me to sit comfortably,” he said. The increased fare of ride-sharing companies has led him to switch to auto-rickshaw rides, said Shariful Hasan, chief of BRAC Migration Programme. “It will be better if the auto-rickshaw follows its metre to determine the fare. Also, the public transport system in the country should be fixed,” he said. The ridesharing companies determine the fares considering the overall cost, said Quazi Omar Ferdous, chief operating officer in Obhai Solutions. “We fix the fares considering the fuel, maintenance, cleaning, etc. Also the Obhai platform cost is included in the total fare to maintain the service quality and security of the passengers,” he said. Uber said that it determines fares according to a ‘varied fare system.’ “This means that the fare paid by the passenger varies according to the demand. Mainly, the estimated distance, time, traffic congestion and demand determine the fare. A dynamic pricing system based on the demand and supply has been introduced to ensure that the driver can offer the ride timely. This may increase the fare a little,” Uber officials said. bdnews24.com has not received any response on the matter from Pathao or Shohoz after attempts to make contact. The BRTA has not fixed any fares for the ride-sharing companies but the fares cannot cross taxi cab fares, said BRTA Director Mahbub-e-Rabbani, when bdnews24.com asked him about the discontent among ride-sharing customers. “The ride sharing companies cannot charge more than the taxi cabs. But they can coordinate the issue through discussion if needed,” he said.


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Get the original Splinter Cell for free on PC
The Fisher king.
Ubisoft is giving away the first Splinter Cell to celebrate the publisher's 30th anniversary.
As such, it's offering one free game a month on PC. Last month it was Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and there are still five months to go this year. What could be next?
You only have one month to claim the free promo. Come mid-August another game will replace Sam Fisher's premiere adventure. You'll also have to use Uplay to access the PC game.
Splinter Cell was released in 2002 and has spawned five sequels with 2013's Splinter Cell: Blacklist being the most recent.


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AWS moved Amazon EKS to Kubernetes’ common software
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the general availability of Amazon EKS and is always available to serve at any time, its managed Kubernetes service – bringing it with its rivals Microsoft and Google grow stronger in this area.
EKS, was unveiled at AWS once again: Invented back in November, currently active in the Eastern United States and the United States, with further expansion of its scale taking place ‘very soon “, according to the company.
This move puts AWS together with Microsoft and Google in terms of Kubernetes management. Of course, because Google originally designed interconnected systems such as containers, there was no basis to guess that the second solution had many different solutions and the same efficiency in the work processes. Microsoft announced the AKS (Azure Container Services) in October last year as a managed service and built on a technology change through standardization with the expectation of satisfying business conditions from Simplicity is the most complex and can bring the most positive effects in the work process.
“Prior to Amazon EKS, customers had to make a significant amount of work for the architect in a highly fault-tolerant way to operate Kubernetes, or simply accept the lack of resilience in their work processes “. Says Deepak Singh, director of AWS Compute. In addition, he added, “With the launch of Amazon EKS, customers no longer have to live with one of these deals that have been upgraded to a certain higher level, and they receive a service. Kubernetes are highly resistant to faults and deliver remarkable performance.Many of our customers are very happy with what they receive. “
The Indisputable Truth About Enterprise Cloud Computing That Nobody Is Sharing With You
Cloud computing was quite beneficial. Despite enough time since it appeared on the sector, companies which believe their first migration are still confronting many difficulties, and they’re also making some blunders that may cause issues. It’s a really powerful notion. Cloud-computing is one among the advantages we like as of online and computer engineering. Business cloud computing systems is a set of characteristics of both the overall public and private cloud computing, tailored to the specific demands of the company.
Enterprise apps and cellular apps are somewhat unique, however generally just within the meaning that cellular programs are regularly for users, whilst enterprise apps are for employees and businesses. Such apps help all of the organization proprietors to ease their customers in the easiest means possible producing a winwin situation for everybody. Virtually all the types of inkjet scanning programs are all created for fostering the lifestyle of users.
Once you get started applying cloud solutions, make sure you’re full ready to select best CloudServices which satisfy your business demands. Based on person’s demands, cloud computing computing solutions might be helpful to some wonderful degree. Hence, the online development providers create an effort to create web pages internet site development to supply more approaches to generate income on the internet.
However, moving EKS to common availability does not mean AWS is fighting for customers in the meantime to solve problems they do not deserve.A total of 25 companies were registered as EKS applicators in the press materials. One, GoDaddy, will familiarize readers with this publication to advertise the latest features. The company specifically cited positive concerns for applications that were classified and put into operation on AWS in March in the hope of bringing the most positive impact to both parties.
Other companies confirmed as customers include Verizon – another person last month revealed AWS as their favorite public cloud service provider – Snap and Pearson. Chris Jackson, director of cloud computing at Pearson, said in a statement that the move to Amazon EKS secured his team with specific conditions to bring certain effects. He added: “It was built as a startup company, though it was a joint venture as a large and influential business in the market.”
In some ways, the move can not come sooner. Amazon EC2 and ECS continue to be the leading container deployments in the field, with 69% of respondents surveying in the most objective way in the Google GCE / GKE citation (39%), according to data compiled. All are announced by Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and Azure (23%). The CNCF, acting as a guardian for Kubernetes, ‘graduated’ technology in March with hopes set. Sarah Conway, senior director of PR services at CNCF, said at the time that Kubernetes signaled it was “mature enough and patient enough to handle containers on a scale across all industries of all sizes scale from medium to small”.


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Nov 25, 2017
Sky-Futures, founded in 2009, is one of the oldest drone service businesses that exist. The company specializes in providing drone-based inspection services to global industrial enterprises.
James Harrison is Sky-Futures' CEO and has been with the company since the beginning. James and Ian speak about the demanding requirements of enterprise clients who request drone services, U.K. drone regulations, the drone hardware the company has used historically, and much more.


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Reuters’ sources recently claimed that Apple would be unveiling its first electric car in 2024, but according to popular Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, we shouldn’t expect the Apple Car to rear its hood until 2025–2027 at the earliest. Kuo is the same analyst who previously predicted that Apple’s first vehicle would launch a few years earlier in 2023–2025, but new developments have him convinced that EV enthusiasts could be waiting as long as 2028.
“We predicted in a previous report that Apple will launch Apple Car in 2023–2025 […],” Kuo wrote in a note obtained by MacRumors. “However, our latest survey indicates that the current development schedule of Apple Car is not clear, and if development starts this year and everything goes well, it will be launched in 2025–2027 at the earliest. Due to changes in the EV/self-driving market and Apple’s high-quality standards, we would not be surprised if Apple Car’s launch schedule is postponed to 2028 or later.”
Kuo goes on to warn that even if Apple does manage to launch an electric vehicle, its success is nowhere near guaranteed, citing the company’s failure to enter the smart speaker market despite being one of the most popular and profitable brands in the world. The analyst also suggested that people should keep their expectations in check based on Apple’s current position in deep learning/AI, which is apparently nowhere near self-driving car rivals such as Tesla.
“The market has high expectations for Apple Car,” Kuo continued. “Still, we remind investors that although Apple has a variety of competitive advantages, it is not always successful in new business. For example, Apple failed to enter the smart speaker market. The demand for HomePod and HomePod mini were lower than expected, and the development of new smart speaker models had been temporarily suspended. The competition in the EV/self-driving car market is fiercer than that for smart speakers, so we think it’s perilous to jump to the conclusion that Apple Car will succeed.”
“If Apple Car wants to succeed in the future, the key success factor is big data/AI, not hardware. One of our biggest concerns about Apple Car is that when Apple Car is launched, the current self-driving car brands will have accumulated at least five years of big data and be conducive to deep learning/AI. How does Apple, a latecomer, overcome this lagging gap?”
Reuters’ report from last week suggested that the Apple Car would leverage a “next level” battery technology that would not only be safer, but provide extended travel range. Elon Musk later chimed in, claiming that this “monocell” design is “electrochemically impossible.”


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WASHINGTON—The HouseWays and Means Committee voted Thursday to revive and make permanent a big depreciation break aimed at encouraging business investment.
The proposal, which allows businesses to deduct 50% of many capital purchases up front, was approved by a vote of 23-11 along party lines. It now goes to the full House, where it is expected to pass. But its ultimate fate is less certain, as Congress wrestles with the future of a long list of temporary tax breaks, most of which expired at the end of 2013.
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The VW Golf 8 and Audi A3 are well protected against speedometer fraud. ADAC has now announced this.
ADAC talks about the change of trend regarding speedometer fraud in the VW Golf 8 from the year of construction 2019 and the Audi A3 (from 2020). These models are better protected against speedometer hacking than other models, according to the auto club in a press release Monday.
As ADAC’s market research has shown, the service providers known for controlling speedometers have not yet made any corresponding offers. This is not unusual for a long time after the market launch of these two models of the compact class.
HSM is used
ADAC sees the reason for this in computer chips with a Hardware Security Module (HSM) that has been in demand for a long time. HSM is used for mileage protection methods. The module can encode the kilometer data in such a way that it cannot be easily changed later. In addition, “increased encryption has increased the security of the data set, making forgery more difficult,” according to ADAC. Similar technology is also used by Audi in the current A4 and A6 models.
As VW announced at ADAC’s request, signs of speedometer fraud would now be systematically monitored and then dealt with. In this way, new attacks should be quickly protected. With the introduction of new models from 2023, VW is planning additional measures to prevent being deceived by the so-called kilometer filters. According to ADAC, VW Golf 8 and Audi A3 are also among the first models in case of keyless theft. They are better protected than the other 500 vehicles that ADAC has examined so far.
According to the Motor Club, speedometer fraud can also be prevented with Connect technology: almost all new cars already have a SIM card permanently installed. In addition to many other data, the SIM also transmits the mileage from time to time to the manufacturer.


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Reportedly after launching premium flagship Galaxy Note10+ last year that saw a tremendous response in india, samsung has now brought the 'Lite' version of the same device with the same experience. Galaxy Note10 Lite is touted as a good attempt by industry analysts to woo users in a price band currently dominated by the Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus.
Note10 Lite is priced at Rs 38,999 for the 6GB variant and Rs 40,999 for the 8GB variant. Both models come with 128GB internal memory. After using the device (8GB ram and 128GB storage variant) for a couple of weeks, here is what we think about it.Additionally, there is a new square-shaped camera module on top right corner at the back, unlike its predecessor.
In terms of the size, the Galaxy Note10 Lite is just as tall as Galaxy Note10+, but there are certain visible differences.The major change is lack of premium glass design and the company used plastic instead of glass on Note 10 Lite. Another difference is the presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack. Additionally, there is a new square-shaped camera module on top right corner at the back, unlike its predecessor.


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Pure fruit and vegetable juices are generally regarded as healthy,
despite containing less fibre than the whole fruit. A review of
studies into their potential to reduce risk of chronic disease may
serve to validate the popular perception...
Large increases in science graduates lauded by the UK government
simply do not exist, the country's prestigious Royal Society has
warned, adding more evidence of the threat to food industry
research and development.
Dairy research and development in the UK has been systematically
destroyed, warn two senior ex-officials, seriously damaging the
potential for the country's industry to compete against foreign
Following a £15m (€22.2m) investment in research and development at
the company, UK crisp giant Walkers has launched a new 'healthier'
range to attract snack-loving consumers worried about their


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Cape Coast, Dealers in arts and craft in the Cape Coast Metropolis have decried the low patronage of their goods as a result of the importation of cheap works from Asia and parts of Africa.
Mr Robert Aboagye, Executive Member of the Arts and Craft Dealers Association (ACDA), in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the cheap foreign artifacts were making it difficult for local artifacts to compete on the market.
He called on the Ministry of Trade to regulate or ban such imports to promote and protect the local arts industry.
Another issue of concern that was hampering their activities were superstitious beliefs associated with arts and craft items in the country adding that people should disabuse their minds because they were just art works for beautification.
The artifacts include leather wares, wood carvings, traditional musical instruments, beads, locally made sandals, paintings, silver and bronze jewelleries.
Mr Aboagye said the high cost of transportation is a major concern as many of their products are brought in from different parts of the country.
The dealer described the industry as key to Ghana’s cultural transformation agenda and job creation and appealed to Government to support that industry to create more employment for the youth.
Madam Dora Arhin, an arts and craft dealer, also expressed concern about the superstitious beliefs associated with arts works and the misconception that arts and craft works were for the rich and Africans in the Diaspora.
The unfounded misconception and biases that some arts and craft works such as mask and sculptured wooden items are demonic is one big factor derailing the progress and sustainability of the industry, she said.
She appealed Ghanaians to patronize their wares to sustain the nation’s cultural heritage for posterity.
Madam Arhin urged the Ministry to remain committed to implementing a coordinated campaign for the patronage of Made-in-Ghana Arts and Craft, to promote local artisans to produce works that would stand the test of time.
She described Ghana’s arts as unique and called for skills and capacity building for arts and craft artisans within the industry.
Scores of other dealers and artisans who spoke with the GNA called for an enactment of laws for public places to display indigenous arts and craft that express the cultural values and historical experiences in the society.
Source: Ghana News Agency


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The Supermarket Association of Trinidad and Tobago said it is seeking to vaccinate all 30,000 of its members “as soon as possible.”
In a statement issued earlier today, SATT said supermarket workers are essential workers.
It explained that the majority of workers, since March 2020, were deemed essential staff and have been on the front lines serving customers.
SATT said when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared globally on March 11 2020, it led the way in implementing measures to protect employees and consumers against the virus, while satisfying the demand of customers for grocery items and operating regularly to prevent panic buying and market disruption.
President of the association Rajiv Diptee said: “Employees of SATT members have been on the front lines for the past year, therefore, SATT is currently exploring avenues to have them vaccinated against the virus, in the shortest possible timeframe and we will be working with the Ministry of Health to make this a reality.”
SATT is the second local business group to announce its intentions to vaccinate its employees.
ANSA McAL conglomerate offered to vaccinate all 6,000 of its employees and their immediate families, free of charge, once vaccines become available.


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Hi, what are you looking for?
While revenue increased, Ayurcann reported gross margins of $580,000 in the first quarter, a 68 per cent decline from $1.8 million during Q1 2021
Rubicon’s national market share of premium flower and pre-rolls dipped to 7.1 per cent during the first quarter from 7.6 per cent during Q4...
Trees posted $1.7 million in revenue during the first quarter compared to $0.5 million in Q1 2021, representing an increase of 225 per cent
VIVO continues to pursue its international expansion strategy, which now represents more than 50 per cent of its cannabis revenue


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How Small Business Owners Become Cyber VictimsHow Small Business Owners Become Cyber Victims
If you are a small business owner who is clueless about cyber security risks, you're not alone. BYTE spoke to Visa's chief enterprise risk officer to find out 5 things you should know about, so you don't become a fool when you accept payments in our increasingly digital and mobile world.
October 15, 2012
When starting a small business, the last thing on your mind is probably fending off hackers and cyber criminals. You're not alone. Many businesses believe their data is safe--but don't have security policies in place.
Seventy-seven percent of small business owners in the U.S. think their company is safe from cyber criminals, according to a recent study conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance and Symantec. However, 83% said they don't have a cyber security plan in place.
Cyber threats can come from outside organizations, or from within companies when an employee or ex-employee steals data. Small business owners take on a different set of risks when they accept debit and credit card payments over the Internet, said Ellen Richey, chief enterprise risk officer for Visa, Inc. Richey said businesses can be the target of thieves attempting to steal information from their systems, or they can be fooled indirectly when fraudsters steal information from a different merchant and use that information to make purchases.
Consumers also can be at risk, especially if they are posting information on social networks. Cyber criminals can use the information that is publicly available to socially engineer their way into the consumer's account, said Richey.
Richey gave 5 tips for establishing a cyber security policy:
Not knowing what data you even have and where it is can put you at risk. Know the who, what, where, of your sensitive data and what kind of payment data you actually have, where it is, and who has access to it. This makes it possible to establish where risks are.
If you don't need the data, don't keep it. Companies tend to store payment information on laptops. They might even allow employees to access it on their own devices, which becomes more likely with the BYOD trend. However, there are cloud services available for payments and encryption. For instance, Visa is coming out with a way to store secure data, including a point-to-point service and a tokenization service.
Outsourcing a secure solution provider can often introduce a vulnerability. For instance, if a company hires a sales person from an outside company, that person might come in and install the payment application on the computer system--without changing the password. The most common mistake is leaving in place the default password. The confusion arises because the project has been outsourced to a reseller, and it's not clear who is responsible for tasks such as changing passwords.
Use secure devices and applications when accepting payments. Visa maintains a list of those gadgets on its website where small business owners can check to see what meets the standard.
For payments, there are certain practices and tools that small business owners can use for verification. These include the code on the back of the credit card, and an address verification. Companies can even install a physical space upgrade to EMV chip technology that will allow consumers to pay with smart cards.
"We at Visa want to make security important to small businesses by getting data out of their system," Richey said, by moving to a dynamic data system. That way, even if a cyber criminal stole a card number, the person still couldn't use it to commit fraud.
"If we had that fully in place that would reduce the opportunity to commit fraud because small businesses wouldn't have valuable data anymore. In the future, only the big aggregators of data--like Visa itself--will have vulnerable data," Richey said.
As more consumers begin making payments with Square and new mobile forms of payment, Richey said, it produces new types of risks.
"At a high level, the challenges are technical. Mobile phones aren't a secure, payment system--payment information needs to be in a segregated section of the phone; it can't be in the same space as any old application that a consumer can download. The other is an environmental challenge. Unlike a traditional terminal, a mobile phone is traveling all over the place and can be lost or fall into the wrong hands," Richey said.
That said, the mobile phone also presents an opportunity to become more secure, she added. For instance, using near field communications (NFC) technology in the phone to make payments is much more secure than depending on the magnetic strip on a credit card. Many Android and Windows Phones support NFC, but Apple chose not to include it in the iPhone 5.
Beyond education and awareness of small business owners, technology can help close the gap in security and payment systems. For instance, Intel recently announced a partnership with Mastercard that will implement PayPass NFC technology in its Ultrabooks, allowing users to make online payments by tapping a card or their phone on their ultrabook. Also, Facebook has a system that allows you to use two devices for authentication. If only the payment systems would catch up to this.
The pieces to solve the identification problem are out there. All that's left is putting the pieces together.
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The spread of COVID-19 virus has turned into an unprecedented global health crisis.
Under these extraordinary circumstances, your safety and our employees’ is, and has always been, our priority. The most effective way to fight the virus is to reduce human contact and increase social distance. The every-hour stronger containment measures established by the different European Governments are direct proof of the above.
Today’s situation is such that, as other Corporations in our sector, we are obliged to set up drastic measures in order to protect you and face this challenge. As a consequence, starting March 18th 2020, we have decided to temporarily close all our stores until further notice.
We are certain that, together, we will overcome this global health crisis and we will very soon have the pleasure to welcome you again in our shops.
The Belgian Chocolate House Team


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The Ministry of External Affairs, in cooperation with the Indian Chamber of Commerce organised an outreach programme on Export Controls focusing on start-ups in various sectors of the economy. The outreach was aimed at enhancing awareness about regulations for export of sensitive, dual-use goods and technology. About 200 industries and enterprises including several start-ups companies participated in the webinar.
The outreach shared the relevance of export control systems in the context of India’s integration with the global economy, international non-proliferation framework and Government’s flagship initiatives of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’. The presentations and discussions covered our national laws, regulations, implementation mechanisms, procedures, as well as the importance of industry-level measures to uphold India’s impeccable non-proliferation record acknowledged globally.
The outreach webinar included participation of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade as part of ongoing industry outreach endeavours of the Government of India towards a sound national export control system in line with global standards.Disclaimer: We donot claim that the images used as part of the news published are always owned by us. From time to time, we use images sourced as part of news or any related images or representations. Kindly take a look at our image usage policy on how we select the image that are used as part of the news.


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The Swedish furnishings giant has submitted plans for a town centre store in Hillingdon as the first step in circumventing government policy against out-of-town warehouses.
Further projects are planned near transport hubs or other town centre sites.
The change of tack has come about after a long struggle against planning policy. In February, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott refused plans for a £30 million store near Stockport. Ikea has also been searching, without success, for a site on the south coast for four years.
The Hillingdon plans include a six-storey mixed-use scheme on a 4.5 acre site next to Hillingdon Tube station. The development will accommodate a 250,000 sq ft store, as well as 240 oneand two-bedroom flats, of which 117 will be affordable housing.
It will also include a public square fronting the Tube station and several other shops. There will be 655 car park spaces for the store and 566 other spaces.
Ikea plans to submit an application for a second such scheme near another transport hub in the UK by the end of the year. It wants to have 10 more stores within eight years.
The entry into mixed-use development is a dramatic switch for Ikea, which will be forced to trade from much smaller new stores. It is looking for sites almost a quarter of the size of its normal requirements in the UK.
The mixed-use strategy is an innovative way around the longstanding problem of gaining planning consent. It is also likely to appeal to local authority planning departments because of the provision of affordable housing.
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Kroger will start selling longer-lasting avocados to reduce waste and save money.
This week the company will start selling avocados treated with a plant-based solution that helps slow down decay. The fruit will be available in about 1,100 of Kroger's nearly 2,800 stores. The grocery chain also plans to sell longer-lasting asparagus and limes in a Cincinnati pilot program.
When treated with the innovative coating — a colorless, odorless powder that is mixed with water and sprayed, brushed or otherwise applied to lock in moisture and block oxygen — the produce should last at least twice as long as regular avocados.
Kroger will sell the avocados, asparagus and limes at the same price as untreated versions of the produce. It is testing various marketing programs to determine how customers will know that they are buying something different.
Apeel, which makes the coating, is a seven-year-old startup that raised $110 million from investors that include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Andreessen Horowitz, Viking Global Investors and others.
For consumers, Apeel products could mean fewer trips to the grocery store or less money wasted on food items that spoil before they can be eaten. For Kroger, it's also a way to cut costs and help fulfill its 2017 promise to eliminate food waste across the company by 2025.
Last year, Kroger partnered with Apeel to sell avocados treated with the new product in about 100 of its midwestern stores. Apeel's product has "proven to extend the life of perishable produce, reducing food waste in transport, in our retail stores and in our customers' homes," Frank Romero, Kroger's vice president of produce, said in a statement Wednesday.
"We've been able to reduce in-store waste by more than 50%," Apeel founder and CEO James Rogers told CNN Business. "Our product more than pays for itself," he added, because while Kroger buys Apeel-treated produce at a premium, it saves more than it spends by reducing waste. Kroger did not disclose how much it expects to save by selling Apeel products.
Apeel says its product is made of plant-derived materials, including lipids and glycerolipids, which are present in many foods. The FDA recognizes those additives as safe , so Apeel does not require government approval.
There are also environmental benefits.
Apeel and Kroger expect the partnership to help prevent millions of avocados from ending up in landfills, which should help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. They also predict that the deal will save over one billion gallons of water and help preserve dozens of acres of farmland.
Rogers sees Apeel as a way to help protect the environment across the supply chain. Longer-lasting produce could be shipped by boat instead of flown to a retailer or transported in unrefrigerated trucks to reduce emissions.


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Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, speaks during a TV interview in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018.
Akio Kon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Donald Trump might not be a fan of cryptocurrencies, but Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao doesn’t seem worried.
Known in the crypto community as “CZ,” the digital currency exchange’s chief said Trump’s comments criticizing bitcoin and Facebook’s libra currency can only be good for the industry.
“Trump so far has not done anything positive or negative, he’s just said he’s not a fan,” Zhao told CNBC in an interview last week. “The fact that he tweeted about it, and the president of the United States is talking about cryptocurrency, it’s a good thing.”
Trump said in a series of tweets earlier this month that he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, claiming they’re “not money.” He also directed his ire at Facebook’s plans to create a cryptocurrency, saying the firm should be subject to federal banking regulations.
Subsequently, Facebook’s blockchain chief David Marcus was grilled on Capitol Hill over libra, while bitcoin’s price has been subdued over the last week amid heightened regulatory concerns.
But CZ said that even if the U.S. made it illegal to own cryptocurrency — which he describes as the “worst case scenario” — it wouldn’t shatter the industry.
“Cryptocurrency will survive regardless of any one country,” he said. “Most countries that try to ban bitcoin cause their citizens to want cryptocurrency more.”
Authorities have frequently sounded the alarm over cryptocurrencies, worried about their potential use in illicit activities like fraud and money laundering. Massive cyberattacks have also shaken the industry, and Binance hasn’t been immune to that trend.
In May, the trading venue notified its users that it was hit with a major breach that saw hackers run off with around 7,000 bitcoins, which today equates to over $70 million. The firm said it would cover the incident “in full” and no user funds would be affected.
While CZ described the incident as “unfortunate,” he added it was “totally manageable” given the size of Binance’s revenues. The company made around $400 million in profits in 2018, and its boss said it expects to make even more this year.
If anything, he said, the heist — and Binance’s response to it — shows the industry brings a “new level of transparency” when it comes to finance. Binance is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world by trading volume.
“Banks get hacked but they’re not transparent with the numbers. You see billions of dollars in fines for banks,” he said. “Whereas with cryptocurrency there’s more transparency, which is actually good for the users because now they know what’s going on.”
Correction: This article has been amended to correct the spelling of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s last name.


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Home » Chinese stocks: ‘Not for the faint of heart’
Posted on 27 April 2012.
China’s boom has made it a magnet for capital, but investing in the world’s second-largest economy is still risky.
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