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Antwerp: Feriel Zerouki, a prominent advocate for advancing standards in the diamond industry, has taken the helm as the new President of the World Diamond Council (WDC). With an impressive track record spanning nearly two decades, Zerouki brings extensive experience and a vision for driving progress in the diamond industry.
Zerouki’s appointment as WDC President was announced during a meeting of the WDC Board of Directors held in London. She succeeds Edward Asscher, who completed his second non-consecutive term as WDC President. Zerouki previously served as Vice President of the WDC for three years, demonstrating her dedication and leadership within the organisation.
During the meeting, the WDC Board also approved the election of Anoop Mehta as the new WDC Treasurer; Udi Sheintal, WDC Secretary; and Ronnie VanderLinden as the new WDC Vice President.
Born in the United Arab Emirates and of Algerian descent, Zerouki embarked on her diamond industry career in 2005 as a supply chain analyst at De Beers’ Diamond Trading Company. Her role expanded in 2009 when she became the Best Practices Principles Manager at De Beers, responsible for establishing and upholding ethical standards across the De Beers Group and its affiliates, encompassing various business, social, and environmental aspects.
Zerouki’s affiliation with the WDC began in 2014 when she assumed the position of Head of International Relations at De Beers. During her tenure, she played a pivotal role in spearheading Tracr, an initiative aimed at providing traceability and provenance for the diamond sector. Additionally, she championed GemFair, a program designed to support the formalisation of the artisanal diamond mining sector, ensuring fair value for miners’ diamonds.
In her most recent role as Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at De Beers Group, Zerouki continued to make significant contributions to the industry. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Responsible Jewellery Council and recently joined the Board of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee.
Zerouki paid tribute to the outgoing WDC President, noting, “Edward has served the WDC with distinction, dutifully representing the interests of our members and diverse stakeholders during a period in which the industry has navigated unprecedented events. His determination to always act with probity while also protecting the integrity of diamonds and the diamond value chain has been a personal inspiration to me. I am committed to upholding these principles and in particular Edward’s consistent call not to leave anyone behind, which will remain a foundational principle of the WDC.”
Zerouki outlined her vision for the WDC, highlighting its potential to unite stakeholders within the Kimberley Process. With a diverse membership representing various geographic locations and industry sectors, including rough producers, manufacturers, dealers, and jewellery retailers worldwide, the WDC can play a crucial role in safeguarding the diamond distribution chain.
Addressing the ongoing KP Review and Reform cycle, in which the WDC is actively involved, Zerouki emphasised its importance in adapting to the changing landscape and securing the future of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
Zerouki’s first official engagement as WDC President will be leading the WDC delegation at the upcoming five-day 2023 Kimberley Process Intersessional meeting, scheduled to commence on 21st May at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.


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J.Crew has announced its third quarter fiscal 2009 results. It is summed up quite nicely over at the Wall Street Journal (click here).
J.Crew 3Q Profit Surges On Higher Margins, Same-Store Sales
By John Kell
November 24, 2009
J.Crew Group Inc.'s (JCG) fiscal third-quarter profit more than doubled as the retailer posted higher margins and same-store sales, and results topped already rosy projections.
The retail industry has been hit by a sharp contraction in consumer spending and J.Crew, like its competitors, has spent the last year cutting costs, including reducing inventory, and trimming some corporate office positions. But the company's casual styles have been widely copied and creative director Jenna Lyons' design aesthetic has been credited for J.Crew's recent success.
Last month, Pali Research said the chain is well-positioned to increase market share as it courts luxury trade-down consumers, adding its "unique product at compelling price points is increasingly sought out by customers that are increasingly price and value conscious." The firm also touted the differentiated fashion and lower price points of J.Crew's growing Madewell division.
For the quarter ended Oct. 31, J.Crew reported a profit of $43.9 million, or 67 cents a share, up from $19 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. Last month, the company drastically lifted its earnings projection to 54 cents to 59 cents, citing stronger-than-expected sales and margins.
Revenue grew 14% to $414.1 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently expected $408 million. Gross margin surged to 48.4% from 41.6%.
Retail and factory sales were up 20%, and direct sales increased 4%. Same-store sales jumped 8%, in line with the company's October estimate. Inventory per square foot was down 17% from a year ago. For the fiscal fourth quarter, the company expects earnings of 37 cents to 42 cents, while analysts were looking for 41 cents.
"Regardless of the economic environment our long-term mission does not change--it's all about product, it's about design, it's about service, it's about creativity," said Chairman and Chief Executive Millard Drexler.
Shares rose 0.5% to $41.06 in after-hours trading. The stock has more than tripled this year.
I am pleasantly pleased with the results. (Especially since I am a stock holder. Go J.Crew, go!) J.Crew's strategy to reduce inventory and keep price reductions at a minimum seem to be working quite well for them.
What are your thoughts on the news? Do you disagree or agree with J.Crew's strategy? Do you think Jenna Lyon's role has helped contribute to the success of J.Crew?

domain: news


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A Facebook user identified a shoplifting suspect accused of throwing two bottles of stolen liquor at Schnucks employees Tuesday in Godfrey, police say.
The user called police and told them the woman pictured was 39-year-old Carlette Whitfield, of Alton, a Madison County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post said.
Employees told police they approached the shoplifter in the parking lot around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday after they say she stole four bottles of liquor from the store. They said she then threw two of those bottles at them, dropped the other two and fled the area.
Whitfield was arrested just two days after in Alton in an unrelated case.
She was taken to the Madison County Jail and charged on Monday with retail theft in the Schnuck’s incident.
Whitfield's bail was set at $30,000.
“We want to thank those of you who messaged and/or called in tips to the Sheriff's Office on this matter,” Capt. T. Mike Dixon wrote in the updated Facebook post.


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You may recall that last year, Target caught a lot of flak from LGBTQ+ groups for moving (and in some cases removing altogether) Pride-themed merchandise from prominent locations in its stores. The retailer cited threats to the safety and well-being of its employees after “customers knocked down Pride displays in some stores, angrily approached workers and posted threatening videos on social media from inside the stores,” as reported by the AP.
Nevertheless, Target was chastised for its actions by more than 100 LGBTQ advocacy organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), GLAAD, GLSEN and Family Equality. It was a strong sign that these groups, as well as individual consumers, are frustrated with “rainbow-washing,” the LGBTQ+ equivalent of “greenwashing” that sees companies pay lip service to the community but seemingly abandon it when that support becomes problematic.
Target CEO Brian Cornell tried to defend the decision and mollify critics in remarks made in August 2023, noting the retailer’s long history of supporting LGBTQ+ people and causes but remaining noncommittal about including Pride-themed merchandise in its assortment.
Where does this leave retailers wondering whether to include Pride-related products in their assortment, particularly during Pride Month in June? Retail TouchPoints spoke to Jim Fielding, a Partner at Archer Gray and former retail executive who has written the book All Pride, No Ego: A Queer Executive’s Journey to Living and Leading Authentically, for his take.
Retail TouchPoints (RTP): What do you think of the way Target handled the controversy over Pride merchandise in 2023?
Jim Fielding: I didn’t like their reaction of pulling or moving product; I felt they were kowtowing to the few loud far-right voices in the room. Target had been supportive of our community for over 25 years and I know it also has supported its own [LGBTQ+] communities and employees, but I thought their reaction to the negative press was an overreaction. By the way, since tearing down displays is a misdemeanor, those people should have been arrested or ushered quickly out of the store. That’s where I got a little frustrated with their reaction; I felt that there were other remedies. But when I tried to defend Target, I got a lot of backlash myself on social media.
RTP: What does a retailer or brand gain by acknowledging LGBTQ+ people and Pride Month? Are there bottom-line benefits?
Fielding: There are both qualitative and quantitative reasons to support LGBTQ+ people. Qualitatively, if as part of a company’s mission they are committed to celebrating marginalized communities — and that can be [among their] customers, employees, suppliers and the communities they serve — it serves as a very positive affirmation that [the brand] supports them as an ally.
Quantitatively, there’s been a ton of research showing that queer and LGBTQ+ families have economic power, and they like to buy things that represent our history and celebrate our month. And interestingly, May and June is often an “in-between” season that’s a time for [inventory] clearance, and so to have fresh product in your store that has an authentic story, it certainly makes sense for a retailer to do it — if they’re doing it for the right reasons.
If they’re doing it solely for economic reasons, as a queer person I’m not interested, because I’m looking for support on an ongoing basis. There’s been a lot of “rainbow-washing,” and as a queer retail executive I would ask: Is this really authentic? Do you really support the community? Do you know what the rainbow represents, and why Pride is in June [the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in June 1969 that kicked off the modern gay rights movement]? Many people saw [selling Pride merchandise] as just a business opportunity.
RTP: What would you say to a retailer that believes carrying Pride-themed merchandise is simply too controversial and that it’s better to just not do anything?
Fielding: I would ask them whether they have considered their employee and supplier base, and ask what message it sends to your own team by not celebrating Pride. Also, there are ways to support our community without carrying a Pride collection: a donation to HRC, GLAAD, GLSEN or The Trevor Project; a celebration for employees; having an employee group participate in a Pride parade. I would say to these leaders: if you don’t want to do this in your store, think about other ways you can show your support.
RTP: What advice would you give on making a brand’s Pride celebration as successful as possible?
Fielding: First, do that fearless self-inventory. Are you in this on an annual or ongoing basis? Do you have an LGBTQ+ employee resource group? What kind of representation do you have in different levels of management — do you have a queer executive willing to sponsor the group? Essentially, what’s your motivation?
In some ways, it’s the more the merrier, because representation matters, but I want it to be genuine and authentic — and I don’t want [the companies] to feel forced to do, or not do, something. But if you’re going to do it, do it.
Also, I would ask if they are prepared for any backlash: Have you thought about what your response is going to be if there’s a negative article or protests at your stores? I’m a former retail CEO, and if I was doing this and I knew there was a potential for blowback — that’s why you have a PR agency or communications department. In our current environment and our divided nation, it should not be a surprise that there are protestors. Be prepared, and don’t let it be a surprise. Target looked a little reactive, and I think you can be proactive by preparing for the worst.
RTP: What are some examples you’ve seen of brands that have shown real support for LGBTQ+ people and groups?
Fielding: Starbucks has been hugely vocal in support of the community; they even do Pride-flavored lattes. Levi’s has done some really nice representation over the years; the fact that they’re based in San Francisco helps. The Gap and Old Navy have always been supportive, and even Nike — they always have some Pride-related shoes or maybe tie-ins with one of their athletes.
While most of the companies I’m naming are big multinationals, the other thing that’s great is to see mom-and-pop specialty stores, old-fashioned types of retailers in Atlanta, where I now live, showing support for (and by) LGBTQ+-owned businesses.
RTP: What’s your personal favorite part of Pride month and Pride celebrations?
Fielding: I’m a people person, and what I love about Pride is being in community and with community. I love being in and going to parades, and the festivals that happen around them, the music and the booths. In many places it almost feels like a state fair, and for me, especially after the pandemic, the feeling of seeing people who look and feel like me or are allies is great.
I also love revisiting the history and educating the younger generation that Pride isn’t just about dressing up and dancing on a stage. It’s our job as [LGBTQ+] elders to remind them what Stonewall represents in the long arc of history. Let’s talk openly about the AIDS epidemic and what it was like to live through that. We lost a lot of talented people, a whole generation of artists, dancers, performers and leaders. It’s about where we are and how far we’ve come, but also honoring our past.
On tour [promoting my book], I’ve been going to a lot of universities and even high schools, and when someone says to me that they’re gender non-binary — well, you and I remember a time when Ellen DeGeneres didn’t exist [as a lesbian], and how big a deal it was when she came out in 1997 both personally and on her TV show — there was the Time magazine cover with the headline ‘Yep, I’m gay.’
I don’t want to be on a soapbox, but I do want to expose [younger people] to this history. That’s what Pride is about — it’s not about a sweatshirt with a rainbow, it’s what the rainbow represents. We need to use our platforms to educate.


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Embracer Group has announced its latest three acquisitions. These are Fractured Byte, SmartPhone Labs, and Demiurge Studios.
Over the last week or so, Embrace Group has made a few acquisitions that see it becoming the owner of some of the best game developers around.
2K Games has given an update on their WWE franchise, which won’t be seeing a mainline entry this year due to various complications.
Saber Interactive, developers of World War Z, has announced a Game of the Year edition of their four-player zombie shooter.
Embracer Group now wholly owns, or owns the majority of 26 studios in total due to recent openings and acquisitions.
The developers of World War Z, Saber Interactive have been acquired by Embracer Group in a deal topping $525 million.
In defense of the controversial Epic Game Store exclusives subject, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has disputed claims that they don’t benefit gamers.
Recently it was announced that 2009’s Ghostbusters: The Video Game is getting a remastered release later this year.
World War Z is fast becoming one of the biggest sleeper hits of 2019. So far the game has sold nearly 2 million units in its first month on sale.
Saber Interactive’s action shooter World War Z has sold 320,000 copies on the Epic Games Store in its first two weeks on release.


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Microsoft has just announced on it’s blog that the Windows 10 for PC and tablet is all set to arrive on July 29. The company will be offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade to PCs running on Windows 7 or Windows 8.
Windows 10 brings Cortana integration, the new Edge browser, a new Windows Store, Office 2016 suite, and redesigned Photos, Videos, Music, Maps, People, Mail and Calendar apps among other upgrades.
It also brings a new feature called Continuum Mode which is designed to help people who are using 2-in-1 computers. The service enables a user to quickly switch between desktop and tablet modes. For instance, as a user plugs out the keyboard/mouse from a hybrid computer, the device automatically detects the transition and shows off an option for on-screen keyboard, making the device quickly start working like a tablet.


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A Singapore-based photonics company has unveiled a unique manufacturing technology that’s poised to turn the metal fabrication world on its ear.
Zecotek Photonics Inc., an 11-year-old organization that’s made a name for itself developing such electromagnetic and light-energy-based projects as high-performance scintillation crystals, photodetectors, positron emission tomography scanning technologies, and 3D auto-stereoscopic displays, has this time succeeded with a revolutionary new manufacturing technology for metal powders and 3D printers.
Zecotek’s wholly-owned subsidiary Zecotek Display Systems Pte. Ltd., in partnership with the Institute of Chemical Physics and Greek-Armenian research, development and production company LT-Pyrkal, has developed this novel approach to manufacturing using metal hydrides synthesis.
Laser sintering-based 3D printing is a 3D printing process that uses a laser as an energy source to fuse materials and produce a solid object. Many different materials may be used, including glass, ceramics, and plastic. In this case, metal powder is bound together in layers to create 3D pieces.
Traditionally, metal powder manufacturing calls for effort-heavy operations to prepare hydrides (any of a class of chemical compounds in which hydrogen is combined with another element), along with the use of expensive fine metal powder under hydrogenation. The inclusion of the 3D printer in this method shrinks the labour element significantly.
More than that, other “significant advantages” Zecotek claims its unique 3D printing method boasts over traditional techniques include high productivity, superior quality of synthesized hydride, appreciably lower energy consumption, and ecological purity.
“The quest for cheap and available powders of refractory metals has been long and hard, and the 3D industry will value our solution,” Zecotek’s CEO Dr. A. F. Zerrouk has predicted. “Laser sintering-based 3D printing is undoubtedly the technology of the future.”


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And the store manager said new specialty products this year like this Koa ring and watch also helped draw customers in to beat last years Black Friday sales numbers.
"As soon as our doors opened until our doors closed it was just non stop," said Haneshiro.
Although Friday took a hit in sales, the total four-day holiday weekend sales were up $6.5 billion from 2011.
The National Retail Federation says there was a record of 247 million shoppers who visited stores and websites in the post-thanksgiving Black Friday weekend. Shoppers spent an average of $423.


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Love your pets so much that you want to keep them around forever? Cuddle Clones turns pictures of your furry friends into stuffed animals so you can hug them even when they're gone.
It's called Big Cola and it's designed to mimic the iPhone 6, but with some big differences -- namely more power and a sapphire screen.
Boost your Mac's performance and reclaim hard-drive space with this handful of tips.
Netflix will be showing the final episodes of "The Clone Wars," and now "Star Wars" fans can see (a little of) what the fuss is about.
The next iPhone is likely still a couple months off, but that hasn't stopped the attack of the clones from starting early.
BlinkyBird is a new Flappy Bird clone from Nothing Labs that brings the addictive game directly to your eyeballs, thanks to Google Glass.
Run for the hills. Flopsy Droid, a clone of the infamous mobile gaming sensation, has found its way to smartwatches running Android Wear.
The streaming-video service, which has long lacked the famed intergalatic franchise, will premiere 13 unaired episodes of Cartoon Network's "The Clone Wars" animated series.
Copycats of popular apps are the current place of choice for cybercriminals to deposit malware capable of extracting data, sending text messages, and tracking users' geo-locations.
Yahoo intensifies talks to launch its delayed rival to Google's massive home for user-generated videos, according to a report.


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Despite its sparkling balance sheet and dominant market position, Intel is nagged by its late arrival in the smartphone market.
Andy Grove, Intel's co-founder and former chairman, is famously quoted as saying "Only the paranoid survive." If that's true, then the analysts at Intel's investor day on Tuesday have a long and healthy life ahead of them.
That's because at virtually every point in the day where questions were allowed, they all came back to wondering how Intel would wrest away the smartphone and tablet markets from new archrival ARM Holdings, whose chips are at the core of Android phones and tablets, and with some Apple customization, iPhones and iPads.
If Intel execs were looking to avoid these questions, they were their own worst enemy, because rather than give one answer for how they planned to beat ARM, they gave at least three. First, Intel will eventually produce Atom processors on its newest fabrication process, allowing for substantially lower power use, multicore designs, faster graphics, and more stuff integrated onto the chip, including universal connectivity and security. Second, Intel chief Paul Otellini downplayed the importance of Intel chips being in every phone and tablet, as those are low-margin businesses. He offered a pop quiz on which chipmaker earns the most money in the mobile device sector. Of course, the answer was Intel--after all, all those low-margin phones without Intel chips must talk to servers somewhere, and most of those servers run high-margin Intel CPUs. Finally, various speakers pointed out that Intel's unique array of software offerings makes it easy for Android phone makers in particular to port their apps to Atom phones running Android.
There's merit to all these answers, and yet they don't quite satisfy, perhaps because Intel never really said: "We're going to be the leader in smartphones in XX months, and here's how we're going to do it." The main reason not to make such a statement is that you don't necessarily know that you can do it. And so the conservative Intel leadership, with Andy Grove's words ringing in their ears, just wouldn't go so far as to describe how they'd crush ARM.
While investors didn't get to hear exactly those words, there was plenty to get excited about.
Intel remains a cash machine. Not only does it have enough money ($12 billion in cash on hand) to continue its constant improvement in chip performance, it has also consistently increased its dividend payment and has been buying back its stock as a way to increase stockholder equity. What investor wouldn't love that? Intel waited until it saw the end of the recession and then started buying key assets to move the company into new markets and cement its place in existing markets.
Last August Intel agreed to pay $1.4 billion for Infineon's wireless unit, acquiring a more holistic smartphone platform. That deal ties in well with Intel's universal connectivity strategy, which includes everything from Bluetooth to 3G to LTE to Ethernet to Thunderbolt (a very fast USB-like standard, co-developed with Apple, that offers speeds of 10 Gbps).
Just weeks before the Infineon deal, Intel had agreed to buy security vendor McAfee for $7.7 billion, in a move that left many industry watchers scratching their heads. But McAfee should provide key technology to back up Intel's promise to provide energy-efficient systems with universal connectivity and security baked in. Meanwhile, Intel remains focused on keeping costs low and profit margins high, predicting on Tuesday that it will increase its margins for 2011 to more than 60%.
Yet even with all that financial goodness, there's still the nagging question of whether the company has lost the mobile device market to ARM, and, if it has, what that means for the long term. Intel's answer is framed by how it looks at its overall business. It breaks down revenue in four ways. PCs account for $30.3 billion in revenue. Data centers, which now include a good bit more than server chips, account for $8.8 billion. Software and services accounts for $2 billion, and "other" totals $3.1 billion. The last category includes Infineon, its Atom-based system on a chip (SOC) for netbooks and other embedded devices, and its NAND flash memory capability, mostly for solid-state drives.
When Intel announced its 3-D transistors May 4, it said Xeon would be the first to benefit. If you were wondering why Intel would use its new 3-D transistor technology first for Xeon chips rather than for Atom processors, the numbers tell the story. Its Atom sales are tiny by comparison; the cash cow goes first. The Atom will follow the Xeon in Intel's new 22-nm processor, and before that there are plans for the Atom-based chip known as Medfield to hit the market in 32-nm form--first a single-processor SOC, then dual, and probably quad cores after that.
How Enterprises Are Attacking the IT Security EnterpriseTo learn more about what organizations are doing to tackle attacks and threats we surveyed a group of 300 IT and infosec professionals to find out what their biggest IT security challenges are and what they're doing to defend against today's threats. Download the report to see what they're saying.
2017 State of IT ReportIn today's technology-driven world, "innovation" has become a basic expectation. IT leaders are tasked with making technical magic, improving customer experience, and boosting the bottom line -- yet often without any increase to the IT budget. How are organizations striking the balance between new initiatives and cost control? Download our report to learn about the biggest challenges and how savvy IT executives are overcoming them.


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WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that electricity suppliers must refund about $69 million from their California power sales or prove that their prices are justified, a published report said late Friday.
Through of review of power transactions during the month of January in the state of California, FERC determined that certain transactions were "unjust and unreasonable," Dow Jones reported. The FERC put 13 power suppliers on notice Friday, the report said.
The California Independent System Operator, which manages about 75 percent of the state's power grid, had asked FERC earlier this month to review $350 million in January power charges that exceeded the federal regulators' cap on wholesale power prices. See full story.
Under a December FERC order, power suppliers submitting bids over a $150 per megawatt-hour must offer a cost justification to FERC.
Purchases above $150 per megawatt-hour constitute about two-thirds of real-time purchases, the grid operator said earlier this month.
The Cal ISO must buy power on the spot wholesale market because the state's largest utilities, owned by PG&E PCG, +37.54% and Edison EIX, +15.38% have had to pay high wholesale electricity costs that exceed the price they can charge retail customers.


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Do you own an iPhone? Do you use it to get your news?
If you do, you're in luck! We understand that not everyone wants to get their news through Facebook or the enigmatic RSS, so MOCCC News is now available through the Apple News app on iPhone. The Apple News app comes pre-installed on each iPhone, so you won't need to download anything - just open the app and search for Marcellin OCCC in the search menu.
Now while you're flicking through articles about the struggling Australian Cricketing side, you'll be able to read other articles, such as the Marcellin OCCC 1st XI 2015/16 Grand Final match report, right in the same place!


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This year as well EFIR RVM participated in the autumn edition of the International Technical Fair Plovdiv 2016 that took place from …14 October 2016
Part of EFIR RVM’s team visited the headquarters of our long-term partner USCO in Modena, Italy. The pu rpose of the visit …12 October 2016
For a consectuive year, EFIR RVM will participate in the International Fair in Plovdiv.
You can find us at the open area, …12 September 2016
EFIR RVM won a tender in Power Plant 2 Maritza Iztok Ltd. regarding a delivery of spare parts for bulldozers Liebherr PR754.…26 August 2016


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Cheetah Mobile (CMCM) Announces Earnings Results
Cheetah Mobile (NYSE:CMCM) posted its earnings results on Monday. The software maker reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.09 by $1.30, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Cheetah Mobile had a return on equity of 33.45% and a net margin of 27.03%. Cheetah Mobile’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share.
CMCM opened at $9.10 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 3.30. Cheetah Mobile has a one year low of $7.38 and a one year high of $18.18.
A number of analysts have commented on CMCM shares. ValuEngine upgraded Cheetah Mobile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. TheStreet downgraded Cheetah Mobile from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, June 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.25.
Cheetah Mobile Inc operates as a mobile Internet company worldwide. The company's utility products include Clean Master, a junk file cleaning, memory boosting, and privacy protection tool for mobile devices; Security Master, an anti-virus and security application for mobile devices; Battery Doctor, a power optimization tool for mobile devices; Cheetah Browser, a Web browser for PCs and mobile devices; CM Browser, a mobile browser to protect users from malicious threats; and CM Launcher, which provides personalized experience in using smart phones.
See Also: Asset Allocation
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Henlys sounds the alarm on profits
AMERICAN yellow buses builder Henlys has warned investors its full-year profits will be far less than the market had predicted.
The company, issuing its warning and interims just as the market closed, said the figures would include a one-off charge of £10m. It promised a recovery in 2004 and strong growth after that.
The former motor dealer is now almost wholly reliant on the US school buses and touring coaches market. Last year it lost £35m, thanks to a sharp fall in demand for its yellow buses and coach sales.
In its latest statement it blamed the £10m charge on production problems at the Georgia factory owned by its US Blue Bird school bus business. The Iraq war and the deadly Sars virus was hurting current trading, particularly demand for luxury coaches.
Pre-tax profits plunged to £1.3m for the six months ended March from £8.6m in the year-earlier period, before one-off costs and amortisation of goodwill. Sales dropped 29% to £232m. Henlys cut the interim dividend to 1p from 2.5p last time.
The company was not scheduled to release its interims until next Wednesday. There was no immediate explanation of its decision to bring them forward, nor to leave its issue of a profits warning until just as the market was closing for the weekend.
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Tata Motors to raise up to ₹500 crore via securities1 min read . Updated: 14 Jun 2021, 12:15 PM IST
- The company did not share details as to how it plans to use the capital.
Tata Motors on Monday said its board has approved a proposal to raise up to ₹500 crore through the issue of securities on a private placement basis.
A meeting of the duly authorised committee has approved subscription, on a private placement basis, up to 5,000 rated, listed, unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of face value ₹10 lakh each, aggregating up to ₹500 crore, the auto major said in a regulatory filing.
The Mumbai-based company, however, did not share details as to how it plans to use the capital.
Shares of Tata Motors were trading 1.03% down at ₹347.15 apiece on the BSE in Monday's deals.
Tata Motors, a USD 35 billion organisation, is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, pick-ups, trucks and buses.
Part of the USD 113 billion Tata group, the company is India’s largest automaker with operations in India, the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia through a strong global network of 103 subsidiaries, 10 associate companies, 3 joint ventures and 2 joint operations as on March 31, 2020.
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Food: counterfeiting cost 4bln a year
SEPTEMBER 9 – Each year fake food products and tobacco smuggling cost the legal market four billion euros and over 20,000 jobs in Italy, according to Confagricoltura. The alarm was raised at a congress organized at Milan Expo 2015 together with the Open foundation.
”Buying counterfeited or smuggled products means not only consuming things that can damage health, but also causing economic damage to the country in terms of loss of revenue and employment, as well as to the productive system in general”.
Maharashtra: 3 lakh N95 masks seized from the godowns in Andheri and Bhiwandi which were to be sold in black market.
Amid the scare of the deadly coronavirus epidemic where the state is facing the...


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Honda’s UK sales division is to be led by David Hodgetts from January 3.
Honda's new HR-V, ASIMO robot, NSX supercar and the HondaJet all feature in a new brand marketing campaign across TV and YouTube alongside F1's Jenson Button.
After a dearth of new models, Honda is showing the UK public it is coming back in force with a Goodwood Festival of Speed display of its entirely new range.
Automotive Management Live: Where franchised and independent dealers will find everything they need to know about operating a modern showroom and service and repair facility fit for the digital age.
When: November 12 2020
Where: Birmingham NEC
Find out what features are in this month's, and future, issues


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|By Business Wire||
|November 29, 2012 12:00 PM EST||
For the past several years, the IT industry's transition to the 3rd Platform, built on mobile computing, cloud services, social networking, and big data analytics technologies, has dominated the annual Predictions from International Data Corporation (IDC). For 2013, IDC predicts the transition to the 3rd Platform will shift into high gear as the industry accelerates past the exploration phase and into full-blown, high stakes competition.
"The IT industry as a whole is moving toward the mobile/social/cloud/big data world of the 3rd Platform much more quickly than many realize: from 2013 through 2020, these technologies will drive around 90% of all the growth in the IT market," said Frank Gens, Senior Vice President and Chief Analyst at IDC. "Companies that are not putting 80% or more of their competitive energy into this new market will be trapped in the legacy portion of the market, growing even slower than global GDP."
For 2013, IDC predicts worldwide IT spending will exceed $2.1 trillion, up 5.7% from 2012. The biggest category driving this growth will once again be smart mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, eReaders), which will grow by almost 20% in 2013 and generate nearly 57% of the industry's overall growth. Excluding mobile devices, the IT industry's growth is forecast to be just 2.9%. Among the other major IT categories, worldwide software and services spending are forecast to grow 6% and 4%, respectively. The PC and server markets are also expected to return to modest positive growth in 2013, aided in part by more favorable year-over-year comparisons.
On a regional basis, IT spending in emerging markets will grow by 8.8% in 2013 to more than $730 billion. While this figure represents 34% of all IT spending worldwide, it represents more than 50% of all new growth in the IT marketplace. The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) will continue to dominate IT spending among the emerging markets with China capturing more than a quarter of this spending. Equally important, developments in emerging markets will start to reshape key global markets because of their oversized share of industry growth. As an example, IDC expects China's ZTE to compete for a position among the world's top 3 smartphone makers based on its phenomenal growth rate and strong position in emerging markets.
As noted above, mobile devices will continue to be a significant driver of worldwide IT spending. But the anywhere, anytime access offered by these devices is also changing consumer behavior as more and more people turn to their smartphones and tablets as their primary means of going online. This trend will be further accelerated by the popular embrace of "mini tablets" (sub-8" tablets) in 2013. IDC predicts this segment will account for as much as 60% of the 170 million tablets shipped in 2013.
In the battle for primacy over the mobile operating system market, 2013 will be a critical year for Microsoft and Research In Motion. Both vendors need to capture much greater interest from mobile app developers to expand the number of apps that run on devices powered by their respective operating systems. Failure to do so by the end of 2013 will likely be the beginning of their demise in this market. Meanwhile, hardware vendors like Samsung will explore their OS options, including Linux/Tizen, as a hedge against the growing market dominance of Android.
Cloud will also be a powerful contributor to industry developments in 2013 with the merger & acquisition (M&A) activity of the past 20 months actually accelerating. IDC expects to see over $25 billion in acquisitions over the next 20 months as cloud services become the centerpiece of more and more vendors' offerings. As packaged application providers like IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle become software as a service (SaaS) providers themselves, they will increasingly battle with SaaS pure plays like Salesforce.com and Workday for leadership in some of the major application software markets.
Elsewhere in the cloud, IDC expects 2013 will see an explosion in industry PaaS (public platform as a service) offerings as the market moves up the software stack and "horizontal" PaaS becomes commoditized by platforms built on open source-based infrastructure. In industry PaaS, cloud-based shared services environments are being tailored to the needs of a specific industry, while additional industry-focused solution developers are developing and deploying a range of industry-targeted value-added solutions and services on these platforms. Examples of emerging industry PaaS include: NYSE Capital Markets Community Platform in financial services; numerous health information exchanges in healthcare; and Johnson Controls' Panoptix App Marketplace in smart energy.
The trend toward industry-specific solutions will be further driven by the increased participation of line of business (LoB) executives in IT investment decisions. In 2013, nearly 60% of new IT investments will directly involve LoB execs (with them as the decision maker in 25% of the investments). As a result, IDC expects that businesses will spend $65 billion on industry-specific solutions in 2013, with a rapidly increasing number of them leveraging 3rd Platform technologies. This figure will grow to nearly $100 billion in the next 3 years as businesses use these technologies and solutions to create new products and services, and redefine existing customer relationships.
All of the trends outlined above – increased use of mobile devices and apps and the migration toward SaaS and industry PaaS – will also drive profound changes in the datacenters and IT organizations supporting these 3rd Platform solutions. Here, converged systems (combining server, storage and network systems together with the software to manage them) and software-defined networking will transition from market hype to market reality in 2013 with enterprise datacenter and cloud-provider use cases coming to market and getting deployed. Both nascent datacenter technologies will show explosive growth in 2013, reaching a remarkable 30-35% penetration in the datacenter by 2016.
In the social software market, enterprise software vendors will continue to step up their app transformations with social technology acquisitions, accelerating the buying spree that began in 2011. Look for Microsoft to beef up its CRM/Customer Experience offerings by acquiring a community management platform like GetSatisfaction or Lithium. Similarly, Oracle can be expected to abandon its attempt at creating an enterprise social network and acquire a more robust tool with an existing customer base. Meanwhile, businesses will struggle with enterprise social network sprawl in the transition from experimentation to integration.
Elsewhere, "Bring Your Own Identity" (BYOID) will bring consumerization to enterprise security in 2013, as security software vendors and IT shops start using Facebook, Google, and other social and consumer cloud identity services as a core part of their identity management environment, giving them the ability to extend identity management from their enterprise out to wider circles of customers, partners, and prospects. It will become even clearer that "consumerization" is not just about end user devices (smartphones, tablets); but increasingly about many of the core parts of enterprise IT.
Finally, big data will continue on its growth path, with investment in technologies and services growing to nearly $10 billion in 2013. But the focus of this investment will see an important shift in 2013, as more VC funding and M&A goes toward the upper half of the big data stack: analytics and discovery tools, and analytic applications. IDC expects predictive analytics will be a particular hot spot in the months to come.
IDC's predictions for 2013 are presented in full detail in the report, IDC Predictions 2013: Competing on the 3rd Platform (Doc #238044). In addition, Frank Gens will lead a group discussion of this year's predictions in an IDC Web conference scheduled for Thursday, November 29 at 12:00 pm U.S. Eastern time. For more information, or to register for this free event, please go to: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=IDC_P26737.
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 48 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.
All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
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While undercooked meat and seafood are often thought of as the main culprit when it comes to food poisoning and foodborne illnesses, tainted vegetables have been named as the source of a recent outbreak of cyclosporiasis.
As detailed by CNN, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a report documenting over 200 cases of cyclosporiasis, which have all been linked to tainted Del Monte vegetable trays. The trays in question, which were removed from stores since June 15, contain broccoli, cauliflower, celery sticks, carrots, and a small anticancer of dill dip.
Trays were sold at a variety of stores throughout the Midwest, including Kwik Trip, Kwik Star, Demond's, Sentry, Potash, Meehan's, Country Market, FoodMax Supermarket, and Peapod stores in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Illnesses have been reported from Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, though the cases from Michigan stemmed from trays purchased in Wisconsin.
To date, 212 people have been sickened by cyclosporiasis from ingesting food from the infected vegetable trays. Reports began on May 31, though the CDC believes that patients may have been infected from as early as May 14. Reports of infected individuals continued until June 13. The median age of those infected is 47, with ages ranging from 13 to 79 years of age. Seven people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported as of the time of writing.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes cyclosporiasis as an intestinal illness caused by the microscopic parasite cyclospora cayetanensis, which can be ingested by humans through contaminated food and water.
Common symptoms of cyclosporiasis include diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, stomach pains and cramps, bloating, increased gas, nausea, and fatigue. Other symptoms can include vomiting, body aches, headache, fever, and flu-like symptoms. Some of those who are infected may be asymptomatic. Most people with healthy immune systems will recover without any treatment.
The FDA also released a statement on what actions consumers should take.
"Consumers who have purchased recalled Del Monte 6oz, 12oz and 28oz vegetable trays from IA, IL, MN, and WI should discard the product immediately. Cooking or heating produce at high temperature will kill most pathogens, including parasites such as Cyclospora, and thus significantly reduces the likelihood of illness. This holds true for any produce that may contain Cyclospora. Washing or cleaning processes may not be sufficient to eliminate the pathogen."This particular outbreak is not related to a recent outbreak of cyclospora in Texas, which has been linked to imported produce, such as salad mix, raspberries, basil, and snow peas.


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Trade and Industry Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour has decided to stop the import of GMI Quantum Pendant, which claims to organize the body's energy, remove muscle and joint pain, promote deep sleep and offer protection of the body against cell phone waves.
The minister said the decision was taken to protect Egyptian consumers against the dangers that these types of products pose.
The minister also added that the decision was taken after a request was filed by the Supreme Committee of Radiation Detection, which includes experts from the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) and the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (NRRA).
Reports showed that the products in question expose consumers to high levels of radiation. Those particularly affected were youth and young children.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm


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Every day brings new stories about the impact of digital technologies on every aspect of the world around us, including their transformative impact on companies in just about every industry. Some of the articles are about the creation of innovative new technologies and applications, while others are about the creative destruction such innovations leave in their wake. Lately, the latter kind of stories seem to predominate.
For a while now, companies have been racing to try to keep with the relentless advances of digital technologies. We seem to be heading toward a kind of digital perfect storm, where four major IT trends are each gathering speed while interacting with and amplifying each other: mobile devices, cloud computing, social networks and big data and analytics.
These technologies are still in the early stages of deployment, but the disruptive impact of this digital perfect storm is already being felt by technology companies as well as by those in industries whose transformation is already underway. And perhaps most important, we know that even greater disruptions are in store in the not too distant future. The resulting creative destruction makes for interesting stories about the changing fortunes of companies.
People have been writing stories about the rise and fall of the rich and powerful at least as far back as ancient Greece. A common theme in Greek tragedy was the role hubris—arrogance and overconfidence, a disregard for the gods, etc.–played in a leader’s downfall. Our human nature and organizational cultures have not changed all that much in the intervening millennia.
Each company is different, as are its reactions to major disruptive innovations. Yet, their stories have certain patterns in common, not only with present companies but with others that are no longer with us. Here’s NY Times columnist Joe Nocera writing last month about BlackBerry Ltd.’s decline.
“In its heyday, the BlackBerry was so popular that it was nicknamed the CrackBerry,” he writes. “Chief technology officers loved its emphasis on security. Corporate employees loved its compact keyboard, which they mastered with their thumbs.” But, this was before the iPhone and Android-based devices totally redefined the smartphone. Today BlackBerry has less than a 3% share of the smartphone market.
Mr. Nocera compares the decline of Blackberry to that of Wang Laboratories, which in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was the leader in office systems. But then came the IBM Corp. PC, which, in addition to word processing, could run many other different kinds of applications. Wang tried to protect its market and was thus late in trying to reinvent itself as a software company by moving its word processing applications to PCs.
“By 1992, Wang Laboratories was bankrupt, done in by competitors that understood that people wanted their computers to be more than glorified typewriters. . . Just like Wang Laboratories – and thousands of other once-dominant companies that stubbornly clung to what they thought they were instead of what they needed to be – the maker of the BlackBerry has become an object lesson in the vagaries of capitalism.”
Why do once-dominant companies have so much trouble embracing disruptive innovations? This important question has been best explained by Harvard professor Clay Christensen in his 1997 classic, “The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail”.
Like in Greek tragedy, the stories seem to follow a similar arc. Initially, the new technology or product is nowhere near as good as the older ones it will ultimately displace. But, since the new offering is significantly less expensive and/or offers attractive new functions, it starts getting traction in good enough marketplace segments that don’t require the highest quality and performance.
After a while, the emerging innovation improves and can now be used in more demanding applications. Eventually, an entirely new eco-system and value chain is built around the new technology, which now has essentially displaced–and often finished off–the older technology in the marketplace.
“The Innovator’s Dilemma” explains how PCs and client-server computing displaced the word processing systems from Wang, caused the demise of minicomputers, including industry leaders like DEC, and brought mainframes and supercomputers to their knees. IBM barely survived.
Some of the IT industry’s leading disruptors of the 1980s and 1990s are themselves being disrupted today.
“These days, it is Microsoft’s turn to fend off the upstarts as it struggles to compete in a computing world that is increasingly mobile and based in a cloud of Internet-connected computers to which many customers gain access at the same time,” the NYT’s Quentin Hardy recently wrote. “It’s all part of the inevitable life cycle for technology companies. . . The rare tech company manages to thrive from one generation of technology to the next. Only a few of the big ones – I.B.M., Intel and Apple – have done it.”
I think of cloud as the next model of computing, following the centralized model that prevailed from the early days of the IT industry through the mid-1980s, and the client-server model of the past few decades. A new computing model affects every single aspect of our increasingly digital economy. Over the next few years, cloud-based infrastructures and applications will likely disrupt the business models of companies in IT as well as across a variety of industries.
This point is made by Richard Waters in an August 21 Financial Times article:
“Technology revolutions have a habit of devouring their own children. There has never been a clearer case in point than the coming of the cloud, the great deflationary force of modern business computing. The centralised infrastructure of cloud computing threatens to turn the once high-value hardware and software components of IT systems into standardised commodities. Staying ahead of this wave is a challenge, even for the industry’s giants.”
Cloud is a classic disruptive innovation. But, it should also be viewed as a major step forward in the world of complex IT-based systems, not unlike the engineering advances of the 20th century which have enabled us to design and build highly sophisticated bridges, skyscrapers, cars and airplanes. Cloud is now driving a much needed industrialization of IT data centers and IT infrastructures in general, the vast majority of which are nowhere near ready to support the increasingly smart mobile devices that billions around the world use every day, or the huge number of smart sensors that are being embedded in just about every thing in the physical world around us.
Over time, I expect that cloud will help standardize many of the components of the growing IT stacks, as has been the case for decades with complex engineering products and systems across the industrial sector of the economy. This standardization is enabling many new companies to become part of the growing IT ecosystem, which will undoubtedly lead to lower prices and increased innovation.
While opening up new opportunities for startups, the new cloud infrastructure and applications are directly challenging the business models of the established IT companies. In an earlier FT article, Richard Waters wrote:
“The impact of the cloud on enterprise technology is being felt in two main ways. The main components of IT systems – storage, networking and processing – along with the management and security software needed to run and secure the new clouds, are being transformed . . . [creating] a need for new technologies that can handle far higher volumes at much lower costs. . . The second beneficiaries of the shift to the cloud are so-called software-as-a-service companies that supply the applications that ride on top of the new infrastructure. . . [that] copy the more intuitive and accessible design style of consumer internet companies to appeal to a broader range of workers than have previously used business software applications.”
This is what creative destruction is all about – rewarding innovative startups, as well as those established companies that are willing to reinvent their business models and move forward.
The commoditization of proprietary technologies and the standardization of layers of the stack is very painful to those companies who previously controlled and profited handsomely from them. But, as was the case with the explosive growth of microprocessors in the 1980s, the Internet in the 1990s, Linux in the 2000s and mobile devices in the last few years, all kinds of new innovations and growth possibilities are now possible. Life goes on, leaving some species behind while others adapt and thrive, co-existing with the many new ones that will become part of the changing landscape.
Irving Wladawsky-Berger is a former vice-president of technical strategy and innovation at IBM. He is a strategic advisor to Citigroup and is a regular contributor to CIO Journal.


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PUBG MOBILE, one of the most popular mobile games in the world, is excited to announce a partnership with Italian hipster maker Pagani SpA.
Between November 10, 2023 and November 7, 2024, the collaboration will include two iconic Pagani models in PUBG MOBILE, available in color combinations exclusive to the game.
Founded in 1998, Pagani is renowned for producing exquisite limited production models that combine the perfection of art with the brilliance of engineering. PUBG MOBILE players can immerse themselves in the excitement of iconic Pagani creations, from the higher-performance Pagani Imola to the track-focused Pagani Zonda R. Both models will be available in the official animated, solid, color blocking and bright color options for this collaboration: the Imola in an iridescent Nebula Dream and the Zonda R in a musical equalizer-inspired Melodic Midnight. Imola will also be available in a special effects colorway, Arctic Aegis, which displays a protective sky effect.
But the joy and excitement don’t end with these extraordinary vehicles. PUBG MOBILE players can also add an extra touch of opulence and excitement to their gaming experience with the exclusive Pagani Parachutes, Director’s Cap, Director’s Shirt, Director’s Pants and Director’s Shoes.
The new Pagani vehicles will also be part of the recently introduced PUBG MOBILE pickup system. The more cars players accumulate in this collaboration, the greater the in-game rewards that will be unlocked, and those who collect all 7 vehicles will earn a unique record-breaking title.
Vincent Wang, PUBG MOBILE Publishing Director at Tencent Games, said: “As a leader in Battle Royale games, PUBG MOBILE is about embracing the spirit of competition and overcoming limitations. “Our partnership with Pagani, synonymous with high performance and success in the automotive industry, injects an electrifying new dimension into the battlefields that PUBG MOBILE hopes to serve our players.”
Michael Staskin, CEO of PAGANI AUTOMOBILI AMERICA, INC. I say: “We are delighted to collaborate with PUBG MOBILE, a game that, like Pagani, is driven by a passion for performance and innovation. Our partnership is a celebration of precision and excellence, where the art of design merges with the thrill of virtual competition. “We now aim to lose the passion for speed and sophistication in both gaming enthusiasts and high-performance gaming enthusiasts.”
The PUBG MOBILE x Pagani collaboration will be available from November 10, 2023 to November 7, 2024. Download the game for free on the App Store and Google Play Store to check out the new content.


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The government of Gujarat is a pioneer in wooing of investments. Its Vibrant Gujarat Summit has spawned clones across the country. This business-friendly development model, fostered during the regime of Narendra Modi, was his calling card when he ... Smart Investor, 2 days ago
3 images for "vibrant gujarat"
New Delhi: The government is trying to replicate Narendra Modi's experience with investors at 'Vibrant Gujarat' for the Make in India initiative - only, at a much larger scale. Modi will kick off the 'Make in India' week in Mumbai on the morning of ...Times of India, 6 days ago Government gets 'vibrant' muse for Make in India week Economic Times, 6 days ago
AHMEDABAD: The three-day Vibrant Gujarat Business Women National Conclave hosted by Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Business Women's wing in partnership with Indian Merchant Navy concluded with `Swayamsiddha Awards - 2015-16' ...Times of India, 1 month ago SCCI in Gujarat for expo The Telegraph, 1 month ago Delegation of Indo- Canada Chambers of Commerce calls on Gujarat CM DeshGujarat, 4 weeks ago Vibrant Gujarat Businesswomen National Conclave kicks off in Ahmedabad Times of India, 1 month ago
[embedded content] Rajkot Vibrant Saurashtra Expo and Summit 2016 was inaugurated today by Gujarat Chief Minister in Rajkot. The summit/expo has been organized jointly by Rajkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry. According to Jagat Shah, key ...DeshGujarat, 1 month ago Underway, mega summits, expo at Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot DeshGujarat, 1 month ago Gujarat CM inaugurated Vibrant Saurashtra Expo and Summit-2016 at Rajkot News on Air, 1 month ago 20 countries to take part in 'Vibrant Saurashtra' summit Times of India, 1 month ago
Gandhinagar Gujarat government has formed an advisory committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Anandiben Patel for organizing the 8th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017. A 22-member committee includes Additional Chief Secretary ...DeshGujarat, 1 month ago Gujarat CM launches Gunotsav-16 from tribal village Khairpara DeshGujarat, 1 month ago Gujarat CM to unveil Rs 332.86-crore projects MSN News US, 1 month ago Make most of industrial park: CM to biz women Times of India, 1 month ago
Gujarat may be known for its "vibrant development" in the past decade but the state is also home to several ancient Indus Valley Civilization sites. Dholavira, an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, is among the ...The Statesman, 4 weeks ago Prez praises 'vibrant' Gujarat for development HT Syndication, 2 months ago Pranab calls Guj vibrant, enterprising Deccan Herald, 2 months ago President Pranab Mukherjee praises 'vibrant' Gujarat for socio-economic development Economic Times, 2 months ago
More from: , Navhind Times...and 2 other sources
With the onset of winter, the events too are back in Gujarat. Following successful organization of Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 and Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas 2015, the state is set to host string of national-level events beginning this week.Times of India, 1 month ago Check Out: Kajol at an event! Pink Villa, 1 month ago News in brief from across Gujarat (updated) DeshGujarat, 2 weeks ago Vibrant Gujarat Summit: PM Modi... Deccan Chronicle, 2 months ago
Vibrant Gujarat International Travel Mart is a global travel exposition to increase interactions among travel professionals from Gujarat and across the world. January 15, 2016 | Posted by Manpreet Kaur | UPDATED 11:39 IST Putting Gujarat on the World Map ...India Today, 3 weeks ago Gujarat govt announces tourism calender for 2016 Press Trust of India, 1 month ago PTI - TOURISM(bes13) - Gujarat govt announces tourism calender for 2016 Namibia Press Agency, 1 month ago
Ahmedabad: Once termed a 'tamasha', the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit is inspir ing several states. Over the last two years, eight states have started holding investors' meet on the lines of Gujarat - Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra ...Times of India, 1 month ago Efforts on to make summit a success The Hindu, 1 month ago Plane truth on summit tarmac Calcutta Telegraph, 1 month ago
Gujarat had recently announced its tourism policy for the state, which will be in effect till March 31, 2020.DNA, 2 months ago Gujarat to copy Goa's efforts to promote its 1,500km coastline Times of India, 1 month ago PTI - GUJ-TOURISM (BCM27) - Tourism policy to help Gujarat emerge as vibrant tourist spot Namibia Press Agency, 2 months ago Tourism policy to help Gujarat emerge as vibrant tourist spot Business Standard, 2 months ago
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Don’t you love forking over that $33 fee for the state to take weeks to get the title of your new car back to you? If you give them an extra $10 you are lucky if you can get it in 2 weeks. Crazy when other states usually only pay half of what Mainers are charged. Well now the state is requiring you to pay that $33 fee all over again if you are trying to get a junk car out of your door yard.
Crazy right? The state has decided that it needs to crack down on the little guys that are “operating as a salvage yard” by paying people for their junk vehicles and hauling them to the licensed facilities that actually process the cars. They what this to stop or, for the moon lighters to just apply for their own junkyard license / dealer license (easier said than done). The rules they are implementing now will require all vehicles that go to a salvage yard to be titled in the name of the person dropping them off. Titles signed by the owner of the vehicle will no longer suffice. You need to have the vehicle titled in your name. Get ready to fork over an extra $33 to the state to get rid of your junk! Also the state considers the sale of a junk car the same as the sale of a working car. So even if you are getting rid of a vehicle for scrap, you are still required to have a dealers license if you do more than 5 a year.
What does this all mean? From what I can tell the state doesn’t want the little guys who run small scrap businesses to be able to operate any longer. By eliminating the middle-class man who runs his own small business or moon lights hauling junk, large yards & scrap facilities will to have less competition so the price paid for junk vehicles will drop to 0, or even worse, you might have to pay too have your junk vehicle hauled away.
The President of the Maine Auto Recyclers Association, a group of licensed business owners here in state of Maine that promotes streamlined environmentally sound automobile recycling, has said that in the long run it may be ultimately good for business owners as it will cause the price of vehicles to drop down to nothing increasing their margins, but at the same time, he wouldn’t want to see all “little guys” who have been helping the industry grow and have been doing it the same way for decades starve because the state doesn’t want them to be able to operate the way they have been. Its unrealistic to force them to abide by all the strict regulations that the large licensed corporations who process the vehicles are upheld to follow.
The overall scope of this entire new “push” appears to be a money grab from the state by enforcing title document fees and licensing on people that it shouldn’t apply too. I’m sure the state will argue that its about the environment, or that its about crime, but anyone hauling in a vehicle to a scrap yard already has to abide by the new rules passed in 2012 due to a spike in converter theft, that require a photo ID and vehicle TAG be recorded and payment be made by check only. As far as the environment, a middle man has little to no environmental impact, if anything its good for the environment because that vehicle will no longer be sitting in someones door yard full of hazardous fluids and materials and it allows the businesses that follow the strict EPA regulations to recycle more cars every year.
Just my .02 – I’m sure the MARA will be releasing a statement in the weeks to come about the new rules that state is implementing.


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The '90s Bowl Cut Is Making a Come Back – Would You Wear It?
No, you didn't read this post's title wrong.
The cringeworthy '90s bowl cut, along with its equally scary mushroom cut, have made their way back into fashion, thanks to Alexander Wang's Fall 2017 runway at New York Fashion Week.
Six models underwent the big chop for the show, cutting off their luscious locks for these '90s-inspired styles created by hair master Guido Palau. Models who didn't undergo the scissors (Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid) sported slept-in, textured waves with major grunge vibes.
It's no secret that the '90s have been going strong in the fashion world for a few years now—hello, chokers, sunflower prints, mega-ripped jeans and Docs! But, we never thought fashion's love affair with the decade would go this far. Sure, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus have tried out the bowl cut before, but they're also major fashion risk-takers who have a glam team to make sure the look goes according to plan.
For us, bowl cuts bring back bad memories of at-home haircuts, Dumb and Dumber, bad portraits, and Charlie Calvin from The Santa Clause. Actually, on second thought, Charlie might be the only kid who was able to rock a bowl cut and still look cute.
In reality, most people look like this with a bowl or mushroom cut:
Needless to say, while the bowl cut can look super cool on our fave celebs and in editorials on supermodels, we won't be trying out this trend anytime soon. Will you?
Want another crazy beauty trend? THIS Sweety High writer tattooed her eyebrows, see what happened!


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Webinar: just-drinks Confidence Survey 2014: Results and Insights
This event took place on April 8, 2014 at 3PM (BST) / 2PM (UTC)
In this webinar, just-drinks managing editor Olly Wehring will run through the results from our 2014 confidence survey, in which our readers tell us how they see the year panning out for the industry - with a focus on areas including consumer trends, M&A, NPD and sustainability.
Olly will be joined by just-drinks’ beer commentator, Larry Nelson, Vasu Majumdar from Grant Thornton's corporate finance team, Spiros Malandrakis, senior alcoholic drinks analyst at Euromonitor and Ian Buxton, just-drinks spirits columnist. Our panel of experts will be sharing their views of what they think 2014 has in store for the global drinks industry.
- Interview - Bacardi global marketing boss, whisky
- Comment - Hybrid Spirits: Innovation or Laziness?
- Has Coca-Cola Jumped From Frying Pan to Fire?
- Constellation grapples with glass as reality bites
- Brewers Feel Prolonged Russian Winter
- Mast-Jägermeister targets UK off-trade boost
- Diageo doubles intake for spirits start-ups scheme
- Second senior exec to depart Bacardi
- Portman finds against Diageo "mix it up" tagline
- Bacardi sees North America president step down


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Denver Urban Renewal Authority
Target wants $5 million before it goes ahead with plans to build another store in Denver.
A northeast Denver family is fighting for a healthy home. They had a mold clean-up job done in December, but say the mold still exists.
Saturday was the opening day of the National Western Stock Show in Denver. It comes after plans to move the stock show to Aurora officially came off the table last month.


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Against the backdrop of the ongoing Covid-19 threat, Sonalika Tractors, a leading
tractor manufacturer based in Hoshiarpur in Punjab has assured full wages to
its contractual workmen, adhoc staff, apprentice and trainees across plants,
businesses and all offices for the tenure of lockdown.
The company has also
released March 2020 advance salary of 20 days for employees to manage possible
Raman Mittal, Executive Director, Sonalika
Group, said, “We are in the midst of a global pandemic. At this need of the
hour, we stand strong to ensure the well-being of all. At Sonalika, being
people-centric is part of our core value. We are a vibrant organisation with a
belief in the potential of humans to surmount all challenges and emerge
winners. We will go the extra length to support our employees and their
families, and have decided to ensure full wages to all our contractual workmen,
adhoc staff, apprentice and trainees across our plants, businesses and offices
for the tenure of the lockdown. Further,
we have also released advance salary of 20 days for the month of March ’20 to
all Sonalika employees for them to manage possible exigencies. We will continue
to work closely with the state level administration to ensure rolling out the
required measures for the betterment of Society and our Nation.”
Designed with a unique abrasive film for higher performance, TVS Apache, a friction brand of Brakes India, launched platinum brake pads for the luxury car range which have been designed for comfort an...
Uno Minda, a leading Tier 1 supplier of proprietary automotive solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), has announced the launch of its BS VI -compliant automotive engine oils for two-whe...
Vida, powered by Hero, the emerging mobility brand of Hero MotoCorp, has initiated operations of its public charging infrastructure in Bengaluru, Delhi and Jaipur. The brand has set up nearly 300 cha...


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ONE of the most vibrant, fun and grandest fiestas in the country has come to a halt this year.
Streets that used to be filled with buntings, tourists and residents shouting Viva Pit Senyor! was replaced with silence and the fear of getting the virus.
Face paint and laughter no longer can be seen as everyone is required to use a face mask and face shield.
Even traditional religious activities such as the Fluvial Parade and the Walk with Mary and Walk with Jesus processions were canceled.
To prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu opted to cancel all in-person masses.
A church that used to be filled with thousands of devotees every Sinulog season now stands empty.
With all the canceled fiesta activities, the Sinulog this year is not the same.
But how are the Sto. Niño vendors coping with all the changes in the fiesta celebration?
At the start of December, people would often have their Sto. Niño statues repaired or replaced in preparation for the Fiesta Senyor.
However, for this year, with all the restrictions, people can no longer visit the stores any time they want.
To also observe physical distancing, vendors were relocated to the Maritima building in Aduana port, Cebu City.
This has contributed to the challenges of the vendors to get customers as the location is far from the church and most of their regular customers are not familiar with the place.
The cry of the vendors
At the age of 13, Marsha Abad, now 39, started selling and repairing Sto. Niño images. She said that their new location and the pandemic have greatly affected their income. She opens her store at 5 a.m. and closes at around 6 p.m.
She said that for the past years their stores were open 24/7; however, because of the new location and the lack of electricity, it is hard for them to remain open all the time.
For the number of customers, it was difficult for them in the past to accommodate all their customers because of the huge demand for the image and for repairs. They also did not accept orders. However, for this year, they had to beg passersby to have their images replaced or repaired.
"Sa una busy jud kaayo mi, karon relaxed na kaayo mi. One customer at a time na lang gyud mi," said Marsha.
From an income of P20,000 a day, they now early only P2,000 to P3,000 a day.
"Sa una maka tigom pami, karun wala nami'y na tigom," she added.
This was also the same problem for Pia Dahuya, 50.
Pia started helping her parents in repairing Sto. Niño images at the age of 13. Now she handles the business. Each year they looked forward to the Sinulog season. Pia cried that this year was the most challenging for the business. She said they only earn a little, enough for them to eat and pay for their transportation.
Pia is the breadwinner of the family after her husband got sick and her children do not have work because of the pandemic. She said it is hard for her to pay their debt because of the low income from repairing the images.
"Mo howam lang jud mig puhonan para sa pista, karun unsaon man namo pag bayad ani nga ingon ani amo sitwasyon," said Pia.
Despite these challenges that they face, Pia and Marsha kept their faith to the Sto. Niño.
"Bahalag unsa ka gagmay basta kanunay, kahibaw naman si Senyor Sto. Niño, siya raman among sangpiton," said Pia.
The pandemic has affected everyone -- rich or poor, healthy or not, young or old. The Sto. Niño vendors bear their loss of income but their faith in the baby Jesus remain strong.


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Egypt Feels Pain of Global Disruptions Wrought by War and Pandemic
Some tax withholding practices were also changed, he added, reducing the cash he can keep on hand. While he understands the government is aiming to increase revenue, he said the approach could deter entrepreneurship.
“It’s suffocating small businesses,” he said.
Gamal Osman, 59, a warehouse worker in Tanta, a city about two hours north of Cairo, said he was also paying more in fees for basic services, like renewing his identification card. He said that he had cut back to eating meat only once every two weeks and that, still, he could not save money like he used to.
“You can feel it in everything you do,” he said. “From the moment you step onto the street until the moment you go to sleep.”
Still, others see opportunity in the hardship.
Mohamed Ehab is a marketing director for an auto company that introduced Jetour, a Chinese brand, into the Egyptian market in 2020. Sales were booming last year, but the new import rules have snarled the business.
The company stopped accepting orders months ago and is focusing on expanding service centers.
Mr. Ehab said that there was still demand for a practical family car, even after prices shot up with the devaluation. The company’s lowest-priced car went up to $26,000 from about $18,000, largely because the importers have to pay China in dollars.
But he is hopeful that the impasse will spur the government to offer incentives for auto companies to assemble their products inside Egypt, which could generate jobs and make cars more affordable.


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Every year, millions of electronic items such as televisions, laptops, and mobile phones are abandoned in Australia. In reality, e-waste is the most rapidly expanding component of municipal solid garbage. According to the Global E-Waste Monitor 2020, e-waste (discarded products with a battery or plug, such as computers and mobile phones) increased by 21% in the five years to 2019 and is expected to nearly double by 2030, driven by higher consumption rates, shorter lifecycles, and limited repair options.
To make plastics, rubbers, and other polymers endure longer, manufacturers add synthetic antioxidants. However, the health impacts of these substances, as well as how easily they migrate into the environment, are largely unclear. Researchers have discovered a wide spectrum of new synthetic antioxidants, known as inhibited phenol and sulfur antioxidants, in dust from electronic waste (e-waste) recycling factories, potentially posing dangers to the workers within.
Previous research found widespread contamination and human exposure to a family of chemicals known as low-molecular-weight synthetic phenolic antioxidants. Some of these chemicals proved hazardous to rats or human cells in laboratory tests. Manufacturers have created a new class of high-molecular-weight synthetic phenolic antioxidants, commonly known as hampered phenol antioxidants (HPAs), that have increased performance and migrate slower from products. In addition to HPAs, sulfur antioxidants (SAs) are frequently added as “helper” antioxidants to rubber and plastic polymers.
The researchers gathered 45 dust samples from three types of e-waste recycling businesses in an industrial park in Yichun City, China, in August 2020: wire and cable disassembly, electronic plastic processing, and general e-waste dismantling. Most of these novel chemicals’ toxicological effects and environmental prevalence remain unknown.Lixi Zeng
Most of these novel chemicals’ toxicological effects and environmental prevalence remain unknown. As a result, Lixi Zeng and colleagues decided to look into the presence of growing HPAs and SAs in dust from e-waste recycling centers, which are workshops where vast volumes of abandoned electronics such as laptop computers, cell phones, tablets, wires, and cables are dismantled and processed.
The researchers gathered 45 dust samples from three types of e-waste recycling businesses in an industrial park in Yichun City, China, in August 2020: wire and cable disassembly, electronic plastic processing, and general e-waste dismantling. They then employed liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry to look for 18 new HPAs and 6 new SAs. All 24 chemicals were found in the dust, 22 of them for the first time, and some at relatively high quantities when compared to other e-waste contaminants.
Although dust concentrations of SAs were similar across all workshop types, centers that removed wires and cables and processed electronic plastics had much higher levels of dust HPAs than centers that dismantled general e-wastes. Given the prevalence of developing HPAs and SAs in e-waste dust, the researchers believe that more research on their environmental behaviors, fates, toxicities, and hazards is required.
Improper e-waste disposal in landfills or other non-dumping areas poses major dangers to present public health and has the potential to harm ecosystems for future generations. Toxic chemicals are generated when electronics are incorrectly disposed of and wind up in landfills, affecting the earth’s air, soil, water, and, ultimately, human health.
When e-waste is informally disposed of by dismantling, shredding, or melting the components, dust particles or poisons, such as dioxins, are released into the environment, causing air pollution and harming respiratory health. E-waste of little value is frequently burned, however burning also acts as a method of extracting valuable metals from electronics, such as copper. Chronic diseases and cancers are more likely to arise when e-waste is burned because it emits small particles that can travel thousands of kilometers, posing severe health dangers to humans and animals.
Toxic components in electronic trash include mercury, lead, cadmium, polybrominated flame retardants, barium, and lithium, all of which are hazardous to human health. Toxins’ harmful health impacts on humans include damage to the brain, heart, liver, kidneys, and skeletal system. It can also have a significant impact on the neurological and reproductive systems of the human body, resulting in sickness and birth abnormalities. Improper e-waste disposal is extremely hazardous to the global ecosystem, which is why it is critical to raise awareness about this rising problem and its potentially disastrous consequences. To reduce the hazardous impacts of e-waste, it is critical to e-cycle goods effectively so that they can be recycled, refurbished, resold, or repurposed. The growing stream of e-waste will only worsen if not educated on the correct measures of disposal.