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Fizzy drinks manufacturers have taken out many things from their products to make them more acceptable to today's health-conscious generation but they are trying to retain one thing they think will see them into the long term: the treat factor.
"There will always be room for indulgence," says Andrew Marsden, marketing director of Britvic, owner of Pepsi, 7-Up and R Whites Lemonade. "People portfolio-buy; they buy a range of soft drinks products and they use them at different times and at different occasions during the day. Within that, there will always be room for a treat."
Marsden argues that carbonated drinks should be seen in a wide context. "People are consuming more soft drinks, full stop." He also notes that, even though carbonated drinks were outsold in value terms by still ones for the first time last year, the sector is still in growth. Colas rose 5.9% in the year to the end of January, according to data from TNS, for example.
Anita Huntley, head of marketing for Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), is similarly upbeat, noting that soft drinks remains one of the biggest categories in grocery. Citing Nielsen data, she adds: "The carbonated soft drinks segment still remains hugely significant, accounting for 40.4% of total soft drink sales. In impulse, carbonated soft drinks account for 57.5% of total soft drink sales.
"Well-known brands will always sell well, particularly within the immediate consumption opportunity, and are vital to the category overall as this segment accounts for almost one third of total category value. Success is due to a number of factors including increased brand awareness driven by advertising and promotional activity and excellent in-store display both on fixture and at the point of purchase."
Companies know success is also due to their giving consumers products with apparently better health credentials. "The key issue with carbonates growth is no added sugar," says Marsden. Britvic, CCE and other companies have been very active in this area, with CCE pointing to the impact of the launch of Coke Zero.
Nonetheless, market research organisation Mintel notes: "Carbonated soft drinks, epitomised by the leading brands of cola, but also comprising fruit-flavoured fizzy drinks, lemonade and mixers, have felt the negative impact of heightened consumer interest in healthy eating.
"Once the first choice with many on a range of occasions, carbonates have lost out as the breadth of alternative drinks available has increased and a preference for healthier options has developed."
Retailers are already taking note of these changes in consumer habits by reformulating soft drinks in own-label portfolios. Last month Sainsbury's announced it would remove all artificial colours and flavours from its own-label soft drinks from June. It plans to update its 120-strong range of squash, cordials, mixers and fizzy drinks to contain natural ingredients, with fruit and vegetable extracts replacing artificial.
"Consumers have been turning away from carbonates on the grounds of content, switching instead to more natural alternatives such as water, juice or juice drinks. They are perceiving still drinks as inherently healthier," says Mintel.
Marsden argues, though, that alcohol consumption is reducing, meaning people are turning to soft drinks to replace intoxicating ones and that carbonated drinks will benefit from this general trend.
Claire Nuttall, client director at brand agency Dragon, feels the example from the restaurant sector shows there is a future for carbonated indulgent drinks. She notes the balance that many consumers strike - they eat and drink healthily all week then feel they deserve a treat at weekends. She says: "The growth of premium burger chains show people want pleasure and are prepared to balance that out at other times."
Indeed, companies within the carbonates sector remain consistently positive about the future. Adrian Troy, head of marketing at AG Barr, owner of Tizer and Irn-Bru, says: "We have seen people talk about the demise of carbonates. That is a massive over-simplification. The sector grew £56m last year at retail values." Bolstering that, he feels, is "tradition and taste," adding: "Carbonates is about taste, refreshment and a treat." AG Barr is, though, conscious of the pervading health message and, much as it markets Tizer on those traditional values, it also increased the drink's fruit content for its relaunch in March.
Claire Nield, brand manager for Vimto, notes: "The thing to bear in mind with carbonates is the sheer size of the market. It's a big market and very healthy part of the soft drinks market." Nield argues that companies investing less in carbonates or abandoning them are doing so prematurely and are not in step with consumers who want fizzy drinks in increasing volumes.
"You move with the times, though," she adds, "so we have developed a new sugar-free range. But we need to make sure we are still delivering excitement. Whereas some brands have turned their back on carbonates, we have made sure we are encouraging brand loyalty."
Nield feels her company is flying a flag for the sector and contends that "unless other manufacturers start to reinvest and reinvigorate the market" carbonates will continue to be outstripped by still products.
The British Soft Drinks Association continues to believe in carbonates, pointing out that the increasing range and sophistication of sweeteners means manufacturers can make sugar-free products with improving tastes. A spokesman states that across the range of soft drinks there are 200 new product launches annually and that carbonates continue to feature prominently. He adds: "Carbonates is still the single-biggest sector."
Data from TNS shows that in the year to the end of January, colas were 19% of the market and carbonated flavoured drinks a further 16%.
However, despite the upbeat message from companies in the carbonates sector, those working alongside them do not always share the optimism. A senior executive at a still drinks company under the same roof as a fizzy drinks maker says: "Carbonates have to face what their future looks like and their challenges are an opportunity for us."
And the head of one juice company, who prefers not to be named, says: "I'd rather be developing films in the age of digital cameras than working in carbonates. The market is moving to us and away from them." n


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Newly Announced Mecha Shooter Figureheads by Square Enix Gets First Story Details and Trailer
Today Square Enix announced Figureheads, a free to play PC exclusive mecha shooter scheduled for release this year.
The game is labeled a “strategic shooter” for up to 10 players, and it will be free to play with the usual cash shop.
Alongside with the announcement press release, we get the first story details:
At the end of the 20th century, a huge meteor that settled in Earth’s satellite orbit created unprecedented panic and confusion. Humanity tried to resist by shooting down the falling fragments of the meteor with anti-air missiles, but their cities were ultimately destroyed.
The ground is now polluted by the noxious materials fallen from the meteor, and humans have been forced to live in underground shelters. In order to manage the surface from underground, the development of unmanned robots went through a drastic acceleration, with their tech making remarkable progress.
Youngsters, bored by their new underground life, took a liking to competitive fights operating those unmanned robots called “2Foot.” The competition named “BOTGame” spread through the world like wildfire.
“BOTGame” then evolved in a major entertainment industry, organized and regulated by the “W2BF,” turning into a sport that provides amusement for many fans around the world
Finally, we get a trailer, that you can see below:

domain: news


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Sprint last week unveiled a mobile hotspot designed to satisfy all the wireless needs of a consumer in one 4.7 x 4.7-inch device.
Sprint LivePro, which went on sale Friday, is a multifunctional device that acts as both a mobile hotspot and a mini projector. Users connect via Sprint’s 4G LTE Spark network — the company’s enhanced LTE service that launched last October — or through its WiFi network. Once connected, the LivePro can power up to eight WiFi-enabled devices at once.
The LivePro is 1.1-inches in height and has a 4-inch touchscreen. It runs Android 4.2.
The LivePro can serve as a mini projector with a 10-inch to 10-foot display. It has audio capability built into it, as well as a headphone jack that can connect to other speakers.
It comes equipped with 1 GB of RAM, Bluetooth connectivity and 4 GB of internal memory. The LivePro can serve as a backup power supply when mobile phones need a charge.
It retails for US$449.99. Data plans start at $34.99 per month for 3 GB, and increase to $49.99 for 6 GB and $79.99 for 12 GB.
More Out of a Mobile Hotspot
The LivePro is an ambitious effort by Sprint to offer a product with capabilities that go above and beyond the typical mobile hotspot, said industry analyst Jeff Kagan.
“This is a pretty powerful new device in the wireless space,” he told TechNewsWorld. “There are other tiny projectors on the market, but they do not have a wireless connection. This combines a projector and is connected to the Sprint network. This gives the user the ability to download files from anywhere and display them onscreen for their presentation.”
Spint seems to have recognized that if it’s going to offer a hotspot, it better make sure it’s equipped to handle the expanded needs of today’s wireless consumer, said Ritch Blasi, senior vice president of mobile and wireless at Comunicano. That means catering to the growing number of consumers who rely on mobile device to do business on the go.
“The ability to have eight users tap into the device is just about right,” Blasi told TechNewsWorld. “This would be great for salespeople to have on the road.”
Of course, that means Sprint is trusting its network to power those consumers, which could be a big gamble, he added.
“The only concern is 3G/4G coverage, which may or may not impact how the device operates,” Blasi pointed out.
Gunning for More
Expanding its offerings is a smart way for Sprint to snag new customers in the super-competitive wireless space, said Kagan.
“As Sprint rebuilds it’s network from the ground up, it is starting to offer some new and unique offerings and features,” he said. “This was what Sprint said their wireless future would look like.”
The LivePro may not be Sprint’s ticket to the top of the market, but it could be a solid step on its path to make its service more attractive to some enterprise consumers, said Blasi.
“Melding the hotspot with the projector offers employees a virtual conference room that takes full advantage of what we expect from mobility,” he noted, “and consumers can use it to immediately share their latest Facebook or Instagram postings, or just about anything, with groups of friends or families. Sprint LivePro could be a differentiator for businesses and consumers.”


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71% of Bitcoin addresses remain profitable despite falling currency prices
According to a Bitcoinist report on February 21, recent data from IntoTheBlock shows that if the price of Bitcoin drops to $ 9,000, there may be a loss of 1.17 million Bitcoin addresses.
(Image source: pxhere )
Many Bitcoin traders are trapped above $ 10,000
According to data collected by blockchain analysts, when Bitcoin dropped to the $ 9,600 support level last time, more Bitcoin wallet addresses were "no longer profitable".
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Profitability of Bitcoin addresses
So far, more than 71% of Bitcoin addresses are still profitable, and many of them have relatively low prices for bitcoin purchases, and still have considerable profit potential. However, when the price of bitcoin approaches $ 9,000, there will be 1.17 million new addresses appearing below the breakeven point.
We cannot determine the actual number of Bitcoin wallets and the actual owners of these wallets. In addition, although some people have suggested "hoarding" more bitcoin when the price of the currency drops, there are also many people who "owe". They cannot control themselves and always sell the bitcoin in panic when the price of the bitcoin drops.
By analyzing Bitcoin's active addresses, we find that the vast majority of people tend to hold Bitcoin in their hands because the number of Bitcoin's active addresses has been declining since last year's peak. Currently, only more than 600,000 addresses are active every day.
Bitcoin's daily transaction volume is still around 330,000, which is at a normal level. Bitcoin's daily transaction volume is still high, with more than $ 1.8 billion worth of Bitcoin flowing between different addresses every day.
Although the price of the currency has fallen, the data is still encouraging, as most investors are still holding and continuing to store Bitcoin. If the price of Bitcoin can exceed $ 10,000, a large number of subsequent investors will regain profits. Of course, there are quite a few people who buy bitcoin at a price of more than 10,000 US dollars, and even some people buy it at the highest price of 19,000 US dollars, but most people who use bitcoin and "coin hoarders" buy The cost of coins is much lower.
Some early buyers may be affected by continued decline in Bitcoin price
As of this writing, the price of Bitcoin has fallen to $ 9581.07. If this downward trend continues, those who recently bought at around $ 8,000 may soon face the risk of shrinking investment profits. According to the data, we also found that there are many addresses where the price of buying coins is 4,000 US dollars. At present, Bitcoin is unlikely to fall to such a low price.
According to TokenAnalyst data, the on-chain capital flow to the exchange is still relatively stable.
BTC's on-chain flow on February 18:
#Currency security deposits USD 89.8 USD, withdrawal USD 85.6 USD
#bitstamp Deposit $ 33.4, Withdraw $ 33.3
#bitmex 33.9 USD deposit, USD 27.7 withdrawal
#bitfinex 19.2 USD deposit, USD 19.8 USD withdrawal
# Huobi 61.7 USD into the gold, USD 64.3 out
#krahen 36.5 USD, USD 49.9 USD
#okex 55.2 USD deposit, USD 34.2 withdrawal
More information: https://t.co/u90eafzR5J
-TokenAnalyst, February 19, 2020 Bitcoin's current price fluctuations will also be severely affected by the futures market. Because the operation activities in the futures market have nothing to do with the actual on-chain activities and wallet activities. However, in the future, having physical bitcoin may be an advantage, which has also become the main reason for many people to hold the currency.
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The Union Health Ministry is mulling crackdown on e-pharmacy drug abuse and data privacy. According to sources, a group of ministers are in favor of shutting down the electronic pharmacy. The business model currently followed by e-pharmacies can be problematic for patients who order drugs online, with the privacy of their data at risk and the potential for drug abuse.
The central government can ban the drug
The revised draft law on new drugs, medical devices and cosmetics for 2023 sent for interdepartmental consultation. In that, the central government can regulate, restrict sale or distribution of any medicine through online medium. The New Medicines and Cosmetics Bill 2023 and the existing Medicines and Cosmetics Act 1940 may be replaced.
E-pharmacy increases patient safety risk
According to official sources, regulating the functioning of such e-pharmacies, uncontrolled and irrational use of prescription drugs and maintaining the confidentiality of patient data are the key areas of focus. Online pharmacies collect regional data related to drug consumption, which increases risks related to patient safety. A group of ministers previously stated that they are in favor of banning online pharmacies.


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Starbucks Corp. plans to use 10 small stores to stir up the Dallas-Fort Worth coffee scene.
The Seattle-based coffee giant is opening 10 locations of its Seattle’s Best Coffee chain here on Monday — the largest number of openings in a single market on a single day in Starbucks’ history.
The move comes as Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones continues his plan to expand the Dunkin’ Donuts line here and as Dallas-based 7-Eleven is spending big to brew a better cup o’ joe.
By positioning its prefabricated outlets near busy shopping strips and offering food and drink combos for under $5, Seattle’s Best hopes to pull market share from competing java joints without stealing sales from its sister brand.
“We’re focusing on our competitors — the McDonald’s, and the Dunkin’s and the Whataburgers on the [fast food] side and the QuikTrips and the 7-Elevens and the RaceTracs on the convenience store side,” said Frank Sica, vice president and general manager of Seattle’s Best Coffee.
“We feel that we’ve been able to innovate in a way that allows us to go to market in a very strong way,” he said.
Seattle’s Best Coffee began life in the early 1970s as the aromatic brew offered up from a 12-pound roaster housed at the Wet Whisker on Seattle’s Pier 70. It was named “Seattle’s Best Coffee” in the 1990s after winning a local contest.
Starbucks purchased the chain in 2003 and early on expanded the brand by positioning locations inside Borders bookstores. That plan faltered on Feb. 16, 2011, when Borders sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and began liquidating its U.S. stores.
During its 2011 fiscal year, Starbucks closed 475 Seattle’s Best Coffee locations in Borders stores.
Last fall, Starbucks executives embarked on a new strategy. The company opened a prototype Seattle’s Best location in Seattle that was a small drive-through that could be quickly replicated at a lower price than the cost of building an 1,800-square-foot Starbucks.
The D-FW locations — there will be at least 14 company-owned locations open here by the end of summer — are all 523 square feet, about the size of a one-bedroom apartment. The buildings, which include a walk-up window, were carted in on flatbed trucks. The stores were built by DeSoto-based Palomar Modular Buildings LLC.
Other Seattle’s Best locations are larger and offer seating in a cafe-style setting.
Inside the new locations, two high-efficiency ovens from Carrollton-based TurboChef Technologies Inc., each about the size of a microwave, heat frozen sandwiches in about 30 seconds. Offerings include spinach and feta pretzel melts and ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches.
Above a sink, cups for hot and cold drinks are stacked like cordwood. The aisle leading from the ovens to the sink is wide enough for co-workers to slip by one another, if they turn sideways.
All of the North Texas locations are positioned near busy intersections, Sica said. Many are in working-class neighborhoods. Of the initial 10, nine are within a stone’s throw of a Wal-Mart.
“The targeted consumer is someone who is not necessarily going to Starbucks today,” Sica said. “They’re looking for convenience and speed. When you think of Starbucks, the first thing that most people think of is a cafe lifestyle.
“The drive-through … concept was created for those who don’t have time to sit in cafes. They’re value-conscious. They’re looking for a better cup of coffee, and they need it fast.
“We’re really focusing in on that customer who reflects America’s mainstream,” he said. “Nontraditional work schedules, service-oriented, part-time student, elementary school teacher.
“We want to make sure we’re accessible to those customers.”
Accessible means location and price point, he said, noting that the company made a decision to price its combos (a drink and sandwich) less than $5. By comparison, at Starbucks you could pay $4.75 for a Venti (large) strawberries-and-creme Frappuccino or $5.95 for a turkey rustico panini.
The North Texas launch will begin with an offer of free coffee, through May 26, then serve up a limited-time offer of a combo for $2.99.
There are about 150 Starbucks stores in the D-FW area. In 2008 and 2009, when the company realized its locations were perhaps too ubiquitous, it cut back nationwide and closed nearly 60 locations locally.
The company chose Dallas-Fort Worth as the first market outside of Seattle to host the new Seattle’s Best prototype in part because of the workforce growth and stable economy.
Those same attributes have been appealing to other coffee vendors.
In March 2012, Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. announced a limited partnership with Jerry Jones’ family and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman to open at least 50 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth in the next five years. If they opened at a steady pace, that would be about 10 per year.
A year later, two have opened — in Southlake in April 2012 and in Cedar Hill in June 2012.
The partnership expects to open four or five locations this year, “which is in line with our plan,” said Michelle King, a spokeswoman for Dunkin’ Brands. She said the next one is expected to open “in the August-September time frame.”
“The Dallas market represents a great growth opportunity for Dunkin’ Donuts, and we are pleased with our progress to date,” she said. “We are aggressively evaluating multiple sites, and additional sites are currently under contract. We are being disciplined and strategic in our approach to build out the Dallas market.”
For competitive reasons, a spokeswoman for 7-Eleven declined to give details on that chain’s coffee program.
“I can tell you that we have spent millions of dollars in upgrading thousands of our stores, and part of the upgrade includes a new coffee bar,” said spokeswoman Margaret Chabris, noting that the convenience store chain rolled out a Brazilian dark roast coffee this year.
Asked about the Seattle’s Best expansion, she said, “We are not concerned by a new competitor’s entry in the marketplace given our store concentration and scale.”
But Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Chicago-based Technomic Inc., a research service, wonders whether there are enough java lovers to go around.
“We still believe it’s a battle for [market] share today,” said Tristano, speaking of coffee sales nationally.
“We’re seeing very little real growth,” he said. “We’re expecting industry [sales] growth this year of 3.5 percent to 4 percent, with up to 3 percent of that being inflation.”
Real growth, adjusted for inflation, he said, is expected to be half a percent at full-service, sit-down restaurants and 1 percent in limited-service restaurants, a category that includes McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks.
Joseph DeRupo, a spokesman for the National Coffee Association of USA, notes that the proportion of U.S. adults who drink coffee increased this year to 83 percent from 78 percent last year. But that only returns the proportion to its pre-recession level.
Regardless, Valarie Floyd and Dave Thompson, Seattle’s Best veterans who are shepherding the Dallas-Fort Worth launch, are preparing for a crowd. As Thompson stood outside the Timbercreek Crossing location, recently, several drivers pulled up, hoping for a caffeine jolt. He urged them to come back.
“A lot of people are going across the street for a cup of coffee,” he said, facing a busy convenience store to the east.
“We’re here to be convenient. Our customer may not want to get out of the car to get a premium cup of coffee.”
Follow Karen Robinson-Jacobs on Twitter at @krobijake.
New stores by the numbers
4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.: weekday hours
6 a.m. to 10 p.m.: weekend hours
150: in-store employees (first 14 locations)
7,200: number of training hours
12: number of sandwiches/pies on the menu
$3.99: most expensive signature coffee: large, including caramel candy latte and mint chocolate chip mocha
0: extra charge for coffee creamers, like caramel, and flavors, like white chocolate


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Every company wants bragging rights for innovation and with Apple taking on Samsung for allegedly stealing its patented ideas, it lays both tech giants open to scrutiny.
Samsung made it clear it's going to fight Apple's copycat claim by showing that Apple's patents aren't valid. For example, the feature called "bounce back" on the iPhone and iPad. When you get to the edge of a document or screen, it makes a spring-like bounce to indicate you've reached the edge. Samsung will argue others invented it first. Another example is the feature called "click-zoom." When you double-tap on an iPhone or iPad, it zooms in. Or when you tap another area, it re-positions that area to the center for easier reading. Again, Samsung will try to prove someone else had it first.
The two companies are fierce competitors in the $219 billion per year smartphone and tablet business.
Apple says Samsung has made nearly 23 million smartphones and tablets that infringe on Apple patents, making over $2 billion in profits. However, Samsung argues it is no slouch when it comes to innovation. It pointed out it spent $35 billion on research and development from 2005 to 2010, employing 20,000 engineers and 1,000 designers, some of them based in San Jose.
It's a high-stakes showdown between two competitors. However, Apple also depends on Samsung for key components of the iPhone and iPad. Samsung makes the retina screen, for example, for the iPhone 4A. Samsung also makes the A5X processor inside the iPad.
Michael Cohen, a Fremont-based tech industry analyst, says the relationship between Apple and Samsung is complicated.
"The Silicon Valley is a very interesting place, as is the whole technology industry," Cohen said. "Where two companies can be partnered on side and be completely battling on another and in the end, everyone acts in their own financial interests."
Apple claims it filed over 200 patents for various features when it created the iPhone five years ago. It will focus on six in the court case. But now the jury will have to sift through the claims and counter-claims to get to the facts, a process that will take the better part of August.


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Archie Comics Inks Deal with Hoopla Digital
Archie Comics has inked a deal with Hoopla Digital to bring their acclaimed ‘New Riverdale’ reboot as well as their traditional Archie series along with Sonic the Hedgehog, Dark Circle titles, and more to the digital service.
Hoopla Digital is the category-creating mobile and online service for public libraries. They have partnerships with more than 950 public library systems across North America including Toronto Public Library, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Boston Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, St. Louis Public Library, and others. They will add popular titles from Archie Comics’ three imprints to their digital app and online service. This means you will be able to get Archie and Jughead, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, The Black Hood, and the upcoming Betty and Veronica, and more through Hoopla Digital. The Archie Comics titles are also immediately available for participating library patrons to instantly access on Hooopla Digital’s app and online service via smartphones, tablets, and computers.
“I’ve said from the beginning – our goal is for Archie to be everywhere, accessible to all fans looking to visit Riverdale,” said Archie Comics Publisher & CEO Jon Goldwater. “Teaming with the great group at hoopla digital moves us another step closer to that. Libraries are hugely important to Archie, and I’m excited that library readers will be able to find so many excellent titles via hoopla digital, from our traditional stories to the more recent, acclaimed New Riverdale launches like Archie and Jughead.”
The deal with Archie Comics will increase Hoopla Digital’s collection of more than 500,000 movies, TV shows, music albums, eBooks, audiobooks, and comics. This adds to their ever growing list of publishers which includes DC Comics, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Valiant Comics, and more.
“Archie Comics has a timeless legacy with its fans and now – with their 75th year reboot casting these celebrated characters to modern realities – even more audiences are discovering these iconic titles. We’re excited to bring Archie Comics titles to our library customers and their patrons to enjoy anytime, anywhere on our service,” said Jeff Jankowski, founder and owner of hoopla digital. “hoopla’s Action View experience was built especially for titles like Archie so fans can truly appreciate the artistry of these great comics.”
Not only does Hoopla work with over 950 public library systems they also have an innovative platform, Action View, which creates one-of-a-kind immersive digital reading by allowing for full page and panel-by-panel views of comics and illustrations. There is no waiting to borrow titles on Hoopla Digital since on-demand content can be enjoyed by multiple patrons simultaneously. Patrons who use Hoopla Digital also avoid library late fees as digital content borrowing periods simply expire without charges.
You can begin enjoying Archie Comics on Hoopla Digital by downloading the free Hoopla Digital mobile app on Android or iOS devices or visiting hoopladigital.com. New comic books are added to the service weekly, but it is only available to patrons of participating public libraries.
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- Trendy hand-painted T-Shirts from West Bengal a hot sell CII Chandigarh Fair
CHANDIGARH: The earthy feel of artifacts, handicraft, home décor items, etc from West Bengal, on display at the States of India Pavilion at CII’s Chandigarh Fair 2016 is getting a tremendous response from the visitors. Chandigarh Fair 2016 is on till Monday at Parade Ground, Sector 17, Chandigarh. Visitors are also succumbing to the rustic appeal of marble artifacts, jewelry, blue pottery, and food items from Rajasthan. The West Bengal pavilion offers something for everyone at the Chandigarh Fair 2016. Be it hand-painted t-shirts with spiritual motifs of Lord Budha and Krishna or Kantha embroidered stoles, scarves and sarees. "Youngsters are loving the hand-painted kurtis and t-shirts at the Fair and we have sold all our unstitched kurtis and are already out-of-stock,” said an artisan. T-shirts are priced between Rs 550 and Rs 700 while kurtis are priced between Rs 650 and Rs 900. West Bengal State Export Promotion Society is showcasing wooden carvings and sculptures, utensils, artificial flowers, decorative showpieces, jute bags, crystal necklaces, cotton Kantha suits, hand-made soft toys, hand-stitched embroidered sarees, etc. Ornaments made of Dokra are the most hot-selling products at the West Bengal stalls. Dokra is an ancient form of metallurgy and the ornaments are made after melting metal. Special hand-stitched suits and sarees, priced between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 are most sought-after. It takes artisans one year to complete one suit. Artisans have brought a variety of sola, palm and cane flower sticks and jute and Cotton flower swings, which are being especially liked by children. Rustic appeal of Rajasthan is also a major attraction at the Chandigarh Fair 2016. On display are an exquisite range of ancient art of blue pottery from Jaipur which is hand-made and is world-famous for its color and brightness. Priced between Rs 50 and Rs 600, these artisans are showcasing a wide range of Diyas, lanterns, wall hangings, bathroom sets, and a range of decorative items. Ranging between a nominal price of Rs 250 to 300, these lanterns and diyas are must buy for Diwali. Art and handicrafts from Rajasthan with some very artistic aarti thalis, besides beautiful ear rings, cutlery, pen-stands, marble statues, salt and pepper dispensers are another highlight. Pickles, papads and some sweets and savory items like a variety of gachak, revaris and mongra are tempting the taste buds of visitors at the Fair. Many other items like waterproof doormats; Jaipuri jutti are also a hit.
- All bets are off in the new teaser of Homeland Season 6
It is one of the most pulse-pounding action series that tackles geopolitical moral conundrums of our current world. Multi-award winning series, Homeland, recently unveiled the teaser for the upcoming Season 6 that has left everyone impatient to see how Carrie Mathison will circumvent around another international espionage mystery.
- CII Chandigarh Fair: Trendy hand-painted T-Shirts from West Bengal a hot sell
The earthy feel of artifacts, handicraft, home décor items, etc from West Bengal, on display at the States of India Pavilion at CII’s Chandigarh Fair 2016 on at Parade Ground, Sector 17, Chandigarh, is getting a tremendous response visitors.
- Health authorities to ensure sale of hygienic food items during festival season
CHANDIGARH: All Civil Surgeons & District Health Authorities must regularly check the sale of eatable items to ensure the sale of only hygienic and healthy food items. In view of the festival season, the demand of sweets, milk products and other eatables increases manifold, hence the monitoring of such items shall also be stepped up by the health officials to check any possible sale of adulterated eatables, especially milk and milk products like khoa etc. Any unhygienic food item found being sold will be destroyed on the spot. These instructions were given by principal secretary health, Punjab, Vini Mahajan, while addressing the Civil Surgeons of the state via Videoconferencing. She said that health minister, Surjit Kumar Jyani has already given directions to ensure sale of only quality & hygienic food products. The meeting was attended by senior officers of the state including Vikas Garg, special secretary health, Dr HS Bali, director health services, Dr Dharam Pal, director family welfare and other senior programme officers. Mahajan asked the Civil Surgeons to depute eye specialists along with Emergency Medical Officers (EMO’s) in all district and sub-divisional hospitals of Punjab in order to promptly handle any emergency like burns etc during Diwali. She however appealed people to celebrate safe and health Diwali and take necessary precautions to avoid any mishap. She further reviewed all key health programmes and passed instructions to the officers to ensure delivery of quality health services to the people in the state. She informed that state has already taken the initiative of providing free treatment to patients suffering from Hepatitis-C under the chief minister Punjab Hepatitis-C Relief Fund. In this regard she further announced that on the request of Prisons Department, the health department has decided that prisoners suffering with Hepatitis-C can also be provided free treatment under the scheme. However, jails department will have to bear the testing cost, whereas treatment and medicines will be provided free of cost by the health department. Principal secretary also reviewed the arrangements for tackling vector borne diseases like Dengue, Chikungunya and asked the officials to maintain strict vigil and regularly monitor the situation. All necessary arrangements for testing and treatment are already available in govt Hospitals. She also asked the officers to ensure that vaccination against Hepatitis-B must be given within 24 hours of the birth of every child. Even the children taking birth in private hospitals will be provided with free dose of the vaccine by the Department.


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By Yan Zhuang
German supermarket giant Kaufland has scored approval to build two more superstores in Melbourne, with its sights set on opening a total of 14 in Victoria.
The state government has given the supermarket chain the green light to open stores in Oakleigh South and Coolaroo, in addition to three stores already approved for Dandenong, Chirnside Park and Epping.
Kaufland, which also owns Lidl stores, has also lodged applications to open another nine supermarkets in Highton, Braybrook, Coburg North, South Morang, Narre Warren, Lyndhurst and Pakenham, as well as Warrnambool in the state's west and the Bendigo suburb of Kennington.
Kaufland’s hypermarkets are described as being a cross between a supermarket and a Kmart, a one-stop shop selling both supermarket staples and extras like bikes or car maintenance supplies at discount prices.
They typically stock fresh produce and familiar brands alongside products from Kaufland's private label range, and also house cafes, pharmacies and other small independent businesses.
Its big-box outlets are typically 20,000 square metres in size with 300 car spaces compared to Woolies and Coles supermarkets which are around 4500 square metres. A typical Bunnings is 15,000 square metres in size.
The supermarket and general merchandise giant announced its arrival in Australia in 2017 when it purchased a site in Adelaide for $25 million.
"Victoria is an easy place to do business," Kaufland Australia managing director Julia Kern said.
The company has submitted proposals for the nine additional stores to an independent advisory panel which reports to Planning Minister Richard Wynne.
However, it will still be another two or three years before Victorians can expect to set foot in one of them.
Ms Kern said the company first needs to finish building its Mickleham distribution centre, on which construction began earlier this year and which will take up to two years to build.
At 110,000 square metres, the distribution centre is one of the largest of its kind.
Kaufland is owned by the German Schwarz Group, the world’s fourth largest grocery conglomerate. Schwarz Group has previously considered bringing its other supermarket chain and Aldi's arch-rival, Lidl, to Australia.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said Kaufland had not been enticed to Victoria with public money.
"Overwhelmingly, the work we do around attraction of companies, 80 per cent of it is around facilitation," he said.
The site at Oakleigh South will eventually become the company's headquarters.
Kaufland, a combination of the German words for "purchase" and "land", currently operates more than 1200 stores across Europe.


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The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is coming. That is if you are living in Kenya. The wait could be shorter if you’re elsewhere. With Samsung opening pre-registrations for the device yesterday and expected to open pre-orders in a little over a week, Safaricom has gone ahead to open pre-orders for the device.
The telecommunications company’s retail arm has a microsite where interested buyers of the device can key in their information so that they can be contacted later on by staff with regards to purchasing the device. Something like what Samsung is doing with the pre-registrations only that in this case, one gets to specify the exact Safaricom retail outlet where they want to pick their swanky new 6.3-inch phablet and they will have to part with a part payment at some point.
Those buying the Galaxy Note 8 through Safaricom will part with the same Kshs 104,999 that those buying the device through Samsung brand stores will be parting with. True to its tradition, Safaricom is bundling a 4GB data bundle with the purchase on top of the 5,100mAh portable charger offered by Samsung to all customers who pre-order the device.


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Beta codes have been sent out for Sony's "PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale."
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale beta codes were sent out last night, IGN reports.
Beta codes were sent at random and will be active for two sessions: today, July 27th at 3:00 p.m. EST until Sunday, July 29th at 2:59 a.m. EST; and Friday August 3rd at 3:00 p.m. EST until Sunday, August 5th at 2:59 a.m. EST.
The focus of the beta will be "stress-test the server's load capability and in-game features," according to the email sent along with the codes. The code also grants access to the PlayStation All-Stars message boards so testers can leave feedback for developer SuperBot Entertainment.
"Congratulations on joining the Developer Beta for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale!" reads the email. "Here you'll be among the first to experience the iconic characters of the PlayStation universe coming together in an epic fighting game! We're very excited to show you the game and all the fantastic features we've been working on and we can't wait to see everyone go all-out in battle to see who's truly the best!"
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is coming to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita on October 23rd.


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Internet behemoth Google is America’s happiest company to work on CareerBliss’ ranking of the 50 happiest places to be employed in 2011.
The military is among the most blissful places to work in America, outranking companies such as Disney, Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft in overall happiness, a new index reveals.
The taste of Kit Kat candy bars, Coca-Cola beverages and Jelly Belly candies are known to stimulate cravings and subsequently influence consumers’ spending habits.
Ever wonder why you prefer chocolate to vanilla, sci-fi movies instead of romantic comedies or jazz rather than rock?
Research suggests that happiness is linked to a quantifiable attribute known as “emotional intelligence."


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No matter how many streaming services spring up, there is no question that going to the cinema is still the best way to view blockbuster action and superhero movies. There is something about the cinema going experience that is simply magical. While cinema is largely based on technology developed over a hundred years ago, the experience has vastly improved over the decades by technological development.
Cinema has frequently been at the forefront of adopting new advancements. Now that the major film studios are multifaceted mass media conglomerates, their impetus to be on the cutting edge of new technologies is even greater than when studios adopted sound or Technicolor in their films. Their technological advancements can have an impact far beyond their film studio to other segments of their business.
It's no surprise cinemas and studios have started to tap into web3 – the next iteration of the internet landscape and the successor to what we use now – through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), unique digital assets that cannot be edited or duplicated. Studios have been utilizing NFTs to connect fans, content, and the in-theater movie experience in new and interesting ways:
· Paramount giving away digital collectibles to cinemagoers who see Top Gun: Maverick
· Warner Bros. Entertainment and DC Comics released a Bat Cowl collection for Batman fans
· The Walt Disney Company partnering with Cinemark, the third-largest cinema chain in the United States, to offer Thor: Love and Thunder digital collectibles
Nonetheless, these initiatives appear to be just the groundwork for future collaborations to create continuous and inter-connected content experiences across media formats and are a far cry from offering NFT memberships to exclusive experiences that resell for millions of dollars.
Yet with these experiments in the digital collectible market, the major studios are figuring out how to best connect with fans digitally before, during, and after they visit the cinema and making their customer experience continue beyond watching a two-hour movie.
The Potential of Metaverse Marketing
Of the above examples, the most interesting one is the Disney/Cinemark partnership because it teases the future of connected experiences. To unlock a Marvel Thor: Love and Thunder digital collectible, moviegoers needed to be a member of Cinemark Rewards, the theater chain’s loyalty program. This serves a two-fold purpose: creating a deeper connection between fans and the film (and its future franchise installments) and encouraging participation in a loyalty program that can develop continued business for the theater chain.
But this is only scratching the surface of what’s possible with cinema NFTs and how they can impact entertainment experiences for fans. Particularly with the rapid rise of virtual production – exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic – studios have access to a vast digital landscape that, at this point, fans can only dream about entering.
Just imagine if after buying a Bat Cowl digital collectible before the next Batman film, a fan could access the Gotham City virtual set – where segments of the film were actually shot – as a metaverse experience. There they can explore and discover hints of the movie to build anticipation for its eventual release. The experience on the virtual set of Gotham City could allow for additional tokens, including ones that offer perks such as tickets to screenings and perhaps even grand prizes, like a trip to the movie premiere. In this way, the studio is both promoting the film and generating revenue before the movie is even in theaters.
The best part for studios? The experience doesn’t end after the fan sees the movie at the cinema. The fan could still explore the virtual set and relive the experience of seeing the film. Perhaps the ticket stub from the screening now allows the fan to access a previously restricted area of Gotham City with clues pointing to the future of the franchise. Of course, the experience can continue to offer additional NFTs for upgrades, additional benefits, and other one-of-a-kind collectibles or opportunities.
In this case, the movie is the crescendo of a journey for the audience to traverse that lasts far beyond the cinema going experience. While this may not be an experience craved by every fan at this time, many of a film’s most loyal audience members – so-called “superfans'' who have been following news about the production of the film online for months or even years – are itching for opportunities to develop a deeper connection with the media they love through digital engagement and gamification. It also allows studios to maintain interest in a franchise between installments and perhaps point fans in the direction of similar properties they hope to promote. This may very well be the entertainment experience of the future.
Disney Enters the Metaverse
Of all the major studios, Disney is at the forefront of developing the metaverse. That shouldn’t be a surprise for a company that has nearly 70 years of experience in creating unforgettable in-person experiences after founder Walt Disney opened the original Disneyland in 1955. Even at that early stage, Disney sought to insert fans into their favorite movies with opening-day attractions like Peter Pan’s Flight and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. While the technology of 1955 did not allow for digital experiences in the metaverse, Walt Disney understood the public’s desire for immersion in their entertainment choices.
While Disney has been offering virtual experiences at its theme parks worldwide for years, more recently the innovative media company has sought to expand its metaverse offerings beyond its theme parks.
It’s no accident Disney has been making significant moves in embracing the metaverse. In the past few months, Disney has:
· Launched several NFT collections in tandem with movie releases, including the aforementioned Thor: Love and Thunder
· Gone all-in on NFTs and VR/AR in the latest partnerships in its Accelerator business development program
· Set up a new internal division dubbed “Next-gen storytelling”
Disney CEO Bob Chapek has referred to the Metaverse as “the next great storytelling frontier,” and this is a notable declaration for a company that has been known for its mastery of storytelling for nearly a century. Other media companies may wonder why Disney seems to be leaning in so heavily on metaverse initiatives so early, but the company has many compelling reasons for doing so.
First, Disney is experimenting with the metaverse to jockey for early positioning to catch the wave. Even if what Disney tries now doesn’t end up being a successful strategy, the efforts will help the company determine best practices for the future. Furthermore, Disney is a brand that appeals to all ages, but for nearly its entire history has had a particularly strong connection with young audiences who are the most likely to adopt new technologies. This helps the company in moving in the direction of its future key audience segments. Lastly, early NFT actions from major brands serve as a PR move in itself because of the press coverage and interest they attract.
Of course, Disney is known for its long-term strategy. For example, the successful launch of the Disney+ streaming service is the result of a strategic decision created nearly a decade ago. The company’s metaverse strategy is certainly about engaging its existing audiences, but more so about learning, practicing, and positioning for future audiences.
The metaverse is now the new frontier of storytelling, but it’s not clear yet what the audience demands. Only trial and error will determine the most successful – and lucrative – path. It’s no surprise that major media conglomerates are so forward-thinking about the future of storytelling and entertainment.
The more pertinent question is, how will cinema follow? By partnering with the primary companies that provide their content, cinemas are already playing a significant role in the development of metaverse entertainment experiences. The most important aspect is that cinemas need to ensure that they remain a key partner in the future of storytelling.
At DX, we are thinking about the future of cinema and web3 because we are passionate about the topic. Our product and engineering teams are constantly monitoring the latest web3 updates in context of how they might impact cinema and so that we can test integration with ticketing before the industry is ready for it. It’s part of our initiative to future-proof our product so DX will never be obsolete, and we will continue to follow the future of cinema so our company can continue to help our clients’ businesses grow.


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Safeway stores offering some antibiotics free
Safeway Inc. yesterday became the latest area grocer to offer some prescription antibiotics for free. The program, which covers up to a 14-day supply of nine generic antibiotics, is in affect until March 31. Safeway is among grocers around the country offering the antibiotics program in an attempt to lure customers. Giant Food and Wegmans Food Markets Inc. also offer free antibiotics.
Andrea K. Walker
10 tech companies get $750,000 from TEDCO
The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) said yesterday that 10 Maryland technology companies have received about $750,000 to encourage cooperation between the businesses and area universities and federal research labs. The goal of the grants is to help companies turn scientific and medical discoveries into marketable products. The 10 companies are: AccuStrata Inc.; American Dynamics Flight Systems Inc.; Aparna Biosciences Corp.; Applied Sensor Research and Development Corp.; CCC Diagnostics LLC; Encore Path Inc.; Nanorods LLC; OxiCool Inc.; Resensys LLC; and U.S. Languages and Cultures Net LLC. Each received about $75,000 from TEDCO's Maryland Technology Transfer Fund. Since the TEDCO program began six years ago, 119 companies have received almost $7 million from the fund.
Cessna Aircraft laying off 2,000
WICHITA, Kan.: Cessna Aircraft Co. says it is laying off 2,000 employees. The announcement was made yesterday in an e-mail to workers. The work force reductions will be implemented across the Wichita-based company's facilities and affect all pay categories. Spokesman Robert Stangarone says workers will receive a 60-day notice within the next few weeks, with the job cuts occurring in March. Cessna is Wichita's biggest employer, with 12,000 workers.
Federal Reserve Board's Kroszner to leave Jan. 21
WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve Gov. Randall Krosz- ner said yesterday that he will leave this month, giving President-elect Barack Obama an opportunity to put his stamp on the central bank. After nearly three years at the Fed, Kroszner said he will step down Jan. 21, a week before the central bank's next regularly scheduled meeting. Kroszner, 46, will return to the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.


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Pella Corporation launched e-commerce capabilities on Pella.com, citing the importance of online pricing transparency for window and door buyers today. For many homeowners, not knowing price is a major hurdle in continuing the online purchase journey, according to Pella. With Pella’s e-commerce capabilities, homeowners in select markets will be able to see pricing and purchase replacement windows and patio doors online.
A recent study conducted by Pella found that 47% of customers in the market for windows and doors would consider purchasing them online, driving the decision to create the direct-to-consumer e-commerce model.
“Our customers wanted a path for online purchase, and we’re delivering that by bringing e-commerce to our category,” Emily Videtto, chief marketing officer for Pella Corporation, said in a news release. “This is the fastest way to customize a window and have it delivered directly to the homeowner. No other company in our category is doing this.”
Pella said it is beta-testing its e-commerce offering, powered by Elastic Path, to ensure the experience meets high customer expectations before rolling out nationally. E-commerce capabilities are currently available in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Davenport, Iowa; Waterloo, Iowa; Chicago, Ill.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; Grand Rapids, Mich., Green Bay, Wis.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Minneapolis, Minn.
Customers in those markets will be able to shop Pella’s collection of wood and vinyl windows and doors online. Pella said it plans to have most product lines available to purchase online in 2021. The e-commerce experience allows customers to filter by material type, product line, and price range. Future plans will include additional features and options, such as professional in-home measurement verification, and Pella Certified installation.
Pella, Iowa-based window and door manufacturer Pella Corporation has 18 manufacturing locations and more than 200 showrooms across the country.


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Ford’s new 14th-generation F-150 might be around for longer than its predecessor thanks in part to its over-the-air (OTA) software updating system. This seemingly minor piece of technology is a major asset for the Blue Oval because it gives engineers and product planners the ability to improve a wide array of features wirelessly.
“It gives us that optionality. I think we now have the ability to make the vehicle physically better for the customer with these OTA updates, and that’s something that’s game-changing in terms of the business model,” Hau Thai-Tang, the company’s head of product development and purchasing, explained to Automotive News.
Ford inaugurated its over-the-air software updating system on the aforementioned F-150, which is starting to reach dealer lots across the nation, and the technology will later spread to other models, including the electric Mustang Mach-E. Engineers have already identified a few use cases for it. For example, the F-150 and the Mach-E can be purchased with an optional hands-free driving system named Active Drive Assist, and the feature will be beamed to early adopters when it’s ready in the third quarter of 2021. Muscle Cars & Trucks learned about 55 of the F-150’s systems can be adjusted wirelessly. Even its fuel economy could be improved via powertrain tweaks.
It helps that a majority of motorists are already familiar with the process. Whether you’re partial to Android or Apple, odds are your device performs over-the-air updates on an at least semi-regular basis. These updates often happen behind the scenes, preferably on Wi-Fi, and they bring patches, fixes and new-look interfaces.
Thai-Tang’s comments reaffirm the idea that technology is one of the most important measuring sticks in the automotive industry, even in the pickup segment. If owners can gain 10 horsepower or a pair of miles per gallon by tapping the “download” icon on their touchscreen, Ford might be able to get away with delaying sheet metal refreshes for longer than we’re used to. Viewed in this light, model years ultimately might not matter as much as the version of the software that’s running. It would mark a dramatic about-face for an industry that used to roll out new looks every single model year in a bid to one-up the competition and lure more buyers into showrooms.
Spacing out redesigns is a strategy that can help Ford save money, but OTA technology can also allow car companies to make money. For example, and this is pure speculation, Ford could give buyers the option of customizing their car’s lighting signature, or of adding menus to its infotainment system. Its executives haven’t publicly announced plans to charge for features yet, but it’s something many of its peers are experimenting with.
Ford isn’t the only company that sees a huge amount of potential in OTA updates. Tesla immediately comes to mind; it hasn’t given the Model S a major makeover since the sedan went on sale in 2012, but it has updated it time and again with more power, more driving range, new infotainment features, and bug fixes. Chevrolet also reprogrammed the 2020 Corvette’s Body Control Module (BCM) with an over-the-air update in August 2020.


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Square Enix has just announced that Star Ocean 5, dubbed Integrity and Faithlessness, will be releasing in Japan on PS3 and PS4 this Winter and that it’ll come to both Europe and North America next year.
It’s aiming to be seamless with battles and events seamlessly occurring without breaking the flow of the game, although there will be traditional cutscenes too.
It’s currently at 30FPS but it aims to be 60FPS by the time it releases later this year in Japan.
Want to know when you’ll be able to get this game from us? Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to know about our new products and deals in the Rice Digital Store!
- Super Mario Odyssey Celebrates its One Year Anniversary - October 28, 2018
- Dragon Ball Z KAI Final Chapters Review (Anime) - October 28, 2018
- Resident Evil 2 Remake Gets a Steelbook Edition in Europe - October 24, 2018


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- With the rise of the delta variant of COVID-19, restaurants face a hard winter if cities don’t extend outdoor dining, the National Restaurant Association reports.
- According to Association research, the delta variant slowed indoor dining at 78 percent of restaurants in recent weeks.
Pivoting to outdoor dining kept many restaurants in business last year as the COVID-19 virus spread across the country and indoor dining was shut down for months. Today the National Restaurant Association sent a letter to the U.S. Conference of Mayors warning that thousands of restaurants could close without support to extend outdoor dining.
The letter warns that, despite a few weeks of optimism earlier this summer, the outlook for the restaurant industry remains dire. The delta variant caused a majority of consumers to change their restaurant use, including 20 percent who prefer to dine outside instead of inside.
Additionally, the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) quickly ran out of money, the Association notes, and about two thirds of applicants did not receive any funding. Congress has yet to replenish the fund, leaving a $43.6 billion funding gap and 177,000 restaurants in danger of closing.
While outdoor dining has provided a lifeline for restaurants this summer, National Restaurant Association research indicates that the continuing impact of the delta variant, the lack of RRF replenishment and the changing weather are creating a recipe for a bleak winter. The research also found:
- In recent weeks, the delta variant slowed indoor dining at 78 percent of restaurants.
- At 68 percent of fullservice restaurants, outdoor dining accounts for 20 percent or more of their daily sales.
- 61 percent of fullservice restaurants can only use their outdoor space through October.
- Only 30 percent of fullservice restaurants plan to utilize outdoor seating the entire winter.
“Restaurants currently rely on outdoor dining to stay open, but the dark chill of winter is coming,” said Mike Whatley, the Association’s vice president for state affairs and grassroots advocacy. “For operators depending on this revenue, every additional day they can extend their outdoor service matters. Last year, despite supply chain issues, many restaurants were able to invest in equipment to expand and winterize their outdoor dining areas. But many restaurants weren’t able to make those investments.”
The letter encourages local leaders to do everything in their power to assist restaurants in offering outdoor dining for as long as possible this winter. Specifically, it suggests:
- Extending expanded outdoor dining allowances
- Continuing to streamline permitting processes
- Promoting outdoor dining efforts by operators in their localities
- Providing funding for outdoor dining infrastructure as some localities did last year.
“Expanded outdoor dining cannot replace robust consumer demand for indoor dining or Congress taking action to replenish the RRF, yet it is critically needed to help the industry sustain the winter,” Whatley added.


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FDI in retail - common man's analysis
There is a repetitive intonation to policy paralysis. The relaxation of the FDI in the country to 100% is in the least a Pro-urban policy and more pampering of the same is in place by more subsidies framed.
The FDI jingle is offering a mix of the problems and solutions. But the thing stays that sooner or later this was imminent to befall and it did at the right turn of time. This is the time when the world is searching for market and India is churning to open up to new avenues in the times when markets in rich European countries are not as positively tilted.
According to Global Retail Development Index, by American consulting firm A T Kearney, India ranks 4th most attractive market amongst top 30 emerging markets in the world. India has been a global hub for marketing and the trend has been rising since a decade now. The onus has been on the fact that a country cannot progress in isolation, and India has done away with it by making herself most suitable and eligible for Global market ever since Mr. Manmohan Singh liberalized the nation and Mr. P Chidambram catered to the dependency ratio of the world to streamlining India in same orders.
Following are some of the pros and cons discussed about the FDI in retail in India.
- The middleman between the farmer and market will lose ground with stronger players in the market whose demand will be catered by supplies.
- The 50% must have supplies (back end infrastructure) from domestic levels will offer better prices to providers of supplies.
- The better and world class commodities will be available at hands to the people in here which was otherwise missing.
- The quality of the products will turn out better owing to sustenance against the stiff competition in the league.
- The competition will lead to better technology inclusion and also innovative methods to drive the market change so as to compete with the foreign players.
- Despite the World players not playing in smaller cities, the modus operandi will be followed down by them which can overhaul the persisting anomalies whatsoever.
The policy for 100 percent allowance poses a serious question about the beneficiaries of the transition phase between the 51 to 100 percent FDI provisions. There are Indian joint ventures who are cash starved and will be more than ready to sell off their equity amounting to 49%. So the benefit is laid in the hands of these cash deficit companies.
The FDI opening up is not manna dropped from heaven and it won’t dampen the food inflation pervading in country or lead to heavy cash inflows as obvious.
- Monopolizing and the formation of the cartel by the financially strong foreign players can be a primal fear.
- Now that the FDI has come in with 100% investment capacity the tax jurisdiction will be dealt stringently minding the profit encashment and cost allocation via unverifiable means. Besides the RTI act will also be enforced upon the retailers for all the products and ingredients.
- Empirically consumers prefer to purchase from retail stores nearest to their places of residence in as much as proximity of the stores that makes it convenient for the stores to make home delivery and for the consumers to carry the purchased articles home, besides credit system being allowed by the retail stores when necessary eases the process in more than one ways. There will be very few retail stores which are located within close distance of the large-sized stores. Therefore the loss of self-employment by means of close of small-sized retail stores may be negligible.
- The retail markets opening only in One million plus cities restriction is actually a discrimination that puts off the color from the policy.
- Another major point of conflict is that the profits reaped from the country will be savored by the foreign players.
- The selective or segmented freedom to freely invest is directly a retort against across the board plan of action for FDI policy.
- If you don't go to a Wal-Mart, that is outside of the city, with a car to lug all your stuff back home, it doesn't make economic sense, and you'd rather pay up a small premium for the convenience of shopping near your home.
Economic (of PESTEL) change has actually turned the tables against domestic retail beating on the Porter Five forces theory’s Threat of New Entrants. Government having relaxed the norm has directly affected the retail business of the country and in best guesses I can say that the economic decisions are better left with wisdoms of those who run the business.


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'maverick' marketing spend is rife at some of Europe's top companies, claims procurement professionals report
Procurement professionals working at some of the top businesses in Europe have claimed that ‘maverick’ marketing spend is rife, according to a report from Charterhouse.
The findings of a report, outlined in The Marketing Maturity Matrix, from marketing production specialist Charterhouse, claims that over two thirds (67%) of procurement professionals believe that ‘maverick’ marketing spend is widespread. It also revealed that four fifths (80%) of companies struggle due to ‘immature’ marketing procurement practices, wasting a combined €716m each year as a result.
The research was conducted amongst 200 procurement professionals, chosen from across 500 of the largest companies in Europe.
Other findings included almost half (42%) of those working in procurement departments feel pressure to improve marketing procurement, while almost a third face conflict with their marketing departments as a result.
David Fincham, business development director at Charterhouse, commented: “Maverick marketing procurement is a costly problem for Europe’s largest businesses, but can be very difficult to identify.
“Yet it represents the tip of the iceberg in ‘hidden’ savings. Firms need to take a fresh approach to marketing procurement to tackle uncontrolled and inefficient buying practices,” added Fincham.
It was also claimed that over a third (36%) of companies had no mechanism for measuring return on marketing investment.
Fincham continued: “Without a proactive marketing procurement strategy, it’s easy for marketing budget to be committed without procurement involved. In large businesses, this can equate to huge amounts of investment not procured in the right way. The potential lost savings here could be ploughed back into additional effective marketing activities.
“Those inheriting legacy processes should start building relationships with marketing immediately, and work together to develop a strategy that identifies potential improvements.”
The majority (58%) of procurement staff were said to have no remit within the marketing department, while a fifth (21%) said they had ultimate responsibility for marketing spend, and 37% said that they struggled to make savings in marketing purchasing.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
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Today, Vivo rolled a promo video of the Vivo S9 5G smartphone that is slated to launch on March 3 in China. The design of the Vivo S9 5G was revealed last week through its official renders. Today’s promo video teases the handset in real and confirms some of its key features.
The short video reveals that the Vivo S9 5G has a wider notch on the display like the predecessor Vivo S7 5G smartphone. The notch houses a dual selfie camera system. The company confirmed last week that it includes a 44-megapixel lens as the primary selfie camera.
The backside of the Vivo S9 5G has a rectangle-shaped module for its triple camera system. Leaks have claimed that it includes a 64-megapixel main camera. The promo video confirms that the Vivo S9 5G is powered by the Dimensity 1100 chipset and UFS 3.1 storage.
Speaking of Dimensity 1100Geekbench. The handset can be seen running on Android 11 OS. In the single-core test, the handset scored 860 points and it recorded a score of 3532 in the multi-core test.
Other leaks have revealed that the Vivo S9 5G will sport an AMOLED screen that offers a 90Hz refresh rate. The device could be housing a 4,100mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging.Vivo S9e has specs like Dimensity 820 chipset, 8 GB of RAM, and a 4,100mAh battery with 33W fast charging.
- Vivo X60, X60 Pro Global variants could ditch Samsung Exynos for Snapdragon 870 chipset
- vivo X60 and vivo X60 Pro certified by India’s BIS, Indonesia Telecom, and more
- Vivo S9 official renders appear as pre-orders begin, Vivo S9e’s arrival also confirmed
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Delayed plumbing repairs leading to huge water wastage
New research has shown that Brits are putting off fixing simple plumbing issues like leaky toilets and dripping taps, which can lead to huge water wastage.
The survey commissioned by the Water Regulation Advisory Scheme (WRAS), found that 27% of Brits would wait over a week to fix a dripping tap - the equivalent of 168 litres of wasted water.
This follows a recent Defra consultation on measures to reduce personal water use, which highlights that high population density means the available water per person is less than in many Mediterranean countries. It recommends a ‘twin-track’ approach of increasing supply and reducing demand, currently 141 litres per person in England, is needed in order to secure the resilience of water supplies.
The WRAS survey also found that 22% of Brits would wait in excess of four days to fix a leaky loo which can waste up to 400 litres of water per day.
Around 400 million litres of water are estimated to leak from UK toilets every day, which is enough water to supply 2.8 million people - the populations of Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool and Bristol combined. Fixing leaky loos alone could contribute around 10% of the additional water capacity needed to cope with an extreme drought in England by 2050[vi].
40% of the 2,000 respondents surveyed said they would wait in excess of four days to fix a dripping tap, 30% admitted they would wait the same amount of time to report a leaky tap and a 36% would wait that long to fix banging pipes.
Julie Spinks, managing director of WRAS, said: “Four days might not seem like a very long time to wait before fixing a plumbing problem, but this level of delay can lead to huge water wastage, as well as potential damage to the home and increased bills.
“We all have a duty to use water more wisely and consider the impact we have on the environment. When a plumbing problem first arises, a quick call to a local approved plumber can not only give you peace of mind but also help ease the burden on the environment.”
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DirecTV Now Drops Hurt AMC, Discovery, Viacom
Stock prices of cable programmers AMC Networks, Discovery and Viacom dropped Wednesday after AT&T confirmed they were being dropped by DirecTV Now.
AMC Networks finished down nearly 5%, Discovery dropped more than 5% and Viacom fell 3.36%.
AT&T boosted the price of DirecTV Now to try to boost its profitability of the streaming service.
For programmers without the retransmission consent muscle of a broadcast network or powerful sports franchises, getting networks carried on the top virtual MVPDs is a key issue as Wall Street watches traditional pay TV subscription fall, taking revenue with them.
It’s worth nothing that DirecTV Now is carrying the networks it acquired when it bought Time Warner, including HBO, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, TNT and TruTV.
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Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.


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Early stage venture fund Prime Venture Partners on Thursday said that it has led a $1.1 million seed funding round in workforce management software services provider Zuper.
Other investors in the round were Gunderson Dettmer and Gemba Capital, a statement said.
The company plans to use the fresh capital to grow in North America, the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia, a statement said, adding that it also looks to hire talent across all functions in India and the United States.
Zuper currently operates in India, the United Arab Emirates, the US, the UK and Singapore.
The software services startup operates through an Indian subsidiary Zupersoft Solutions in Chennai, while the parent entity Zuper Inc is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
The B2B company’s online field services management portal allows clients to manage field and remote workforce with the marketplace offerings of multiple businesses.
Its SaaS-based mobile-first platform has led to operational advantages, including a 50% increase in workforce utilisation, 35% reduction in service turnaround time, 45% increase in customer adoption and profitability and 30% reduction in costs, the company claimed in the statement.
“The platform includes a white-labeled mobile and web application for a modern consumer experience, back office application to manage, govern and operationalise the workforces, native mobile applications in iOS and Android for workforce collaboration, and service 360 to grow business with data,” the statement said.
The platform’s features include smart scheduling and dispatching, work order management, Covid-19 compliance, intelligent location services, quotations and invoicing, and inventory and contract management, the statement added.
The company was founded in 2016 by Raghav Gurumani, Karthik Rao and Vijay Narasiman. In July 2020, Anand Subbaraj joined the company as CEO, after serving at Microsoft for about 13 years.
“SMBs are experiencing two powerful trends -- they now manage an increasingly distributed workforce while their customers expect an on-demand service experience,” Shripati Acharya, managing partner at Prime Venture Partners said.
“Zuper’s mobile first, intelligent workforce management solution provides SMBs with complete visibility to what work is being scheduled where, to which partner and its current status. At the same time their end customers are able to request, pay and track the order through a few taps on their mobile. The pandemic has further accelerated this trend and with it the demand for Zuper’s solution,” Acharya said.
Prime Venture Partners has invested in a total of nine startups in the SaaS sector, including MyGate, Quizizz and HackerEarth. Earlier this week, it invested in a $1.7 million funding round in remote health monitoring startup Dozee.


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The company is touting the product as “AdSense for Video,” matching ads with the context of a video clip using speech analysis and metadata, something we’ve been covering extensively since October. At the time we wondered when search engines like blinkx would get in the game; since then, other search companies like Nexidia, Google itself, and startups like ScanScout focusing exclusively on ads, have volunteered solutions. blinkx is actually one of the last to do so (though in a young market that may not mean much).
A key difference is blinkx is offering AdHoc as a tool for publishers. “We do not have any aim to be an ad network,” Suranga Chandratillake, blinkx founder and CEO, told NewTeeVee in an interview last week. “We’re not hiring an ad sales team to have an inventory of ads.”
Chandratillake said the platform will handle all sorts of ad units — pre-rolls, bugs, banners, video ads — but he does not expect video ads to play a significant part for now because they tend to be broadly related to brands and less plentiful than other types, .
blinkx is not launching the product with any customers, though it does have a commitment for compatibility from ad giant Publicis Groupe.
Shares of the recently IPOed blinkx, which also announced deals with RealNetworks, InfoSpace, and Lycos on Monday, rose 4.5 percent to $40.75 in the day’s trading.
On a related note, four companies in the online video ad space — Adap.tv, ScanScout, XLNTAds, and YuMe Networks — are presenting at the Under the Radar conference in Mountain View on Thursday. We’ll be there to see them duke it out.


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Over the past decades, Finland-based paperboard company Metsä Board has experienced extensive growth, evolving from a fine paper producer into Europe’s leading paperboard company. Millions of packages made of Metsä Board’s paperboards are consumed each and every day worldwide.
Having invested heavily in its operations, Metsä Board has strong pulp self-sufficiency and has earned a reputation as a forerunner in sustainability. All of the wood fiber it uses comes from sustainably managed, certified or controlled northern forests, and is 100% traceable.
The company recently was named to the Financial Times Europe’s Climate Leaders 2021 list, primarily due to reductions in its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40% between 2014-2019.
“Sustainability is part of the DNA of our business,” said Markku Leskelä, Metsä Board’s Vice President of Research and Product Development. “Everything we do needs to be done efficiently, and with minimal impact on the environment. Mitigating climate change is at the core of our sustainability efforts: We want to achieve fossil free mills by 2030, with zero fossil CO2 emissions. Our targets meet the strictest requirements of the Paris Agreement, aiming to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. All of the wood we use comes from sustainably managed forests and is 100 % traceable, and all of our mills have certified environmental management systems (ISO 14001) and quality management systems (ISO 9001), as well as PEFC and FSC Chain of Custody.”
However, this laser focus on developing new sustainable packaging solutions, along with an almost insatiable demand for fast fulfilment from customers across both the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) & Retail and pharmaceutical industries, has led to new, innovative ways of working at Metsä Board.
“We quickly came to realize that we needed to accelerate our rate of innovation to stay ahead of the competition,” Leskelä said. “We felt the traditional way of optimizing material and design solutions for packaging took too much time. We had to physically make a prototype design, which then had to be transported to be tested. Based on the test results, we would then recommend the paperboard and maybe also adapt the design and the process would start again.”
The company also felt that there were opportunities in improving internal collaboration. Having a real-time view of the most up-to-date designs, enabled Metsä Board to deliver the superior customer experience it wanted to achieve. “Although customers were not really demanding anything more, we saw that we can do better,” Leskelä said.
Leskelä was very aware that modeling and simulation technologies could bring a new way of working to his team, but it took some time to find a good solution. “The capabilities we needed just didn’t seem to be out there,” he said. “The technologies hadn’t advanced enough. But then I discovered Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE® platform. After seeing the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, my opinion changed. It was just what we had been looking for.”
The 3DEXPERIENCE platform offered Metsä Board innovative 3D simulation capabilities from a central platform. Advanced packaging designs could be simulated easily, and validated in the click of a button. Designs could be shared securely in the cloud, and then accessed from any device, allowing ad-hoc collaboration to occur, even when teams are geographically dispersed. With concurrent engineering, delivered by a single platform, Metsä Board could reduce decision times and ensure much faster recommendations and solutions to its customers.
Leskelä knew he needed to take a slow and steady approach if he was going to change years-old ways of working. “We wanted to take baby steps,” he said. “We expected there was going to be a learning curve and that getting the training right was going to be key.”
Leskelä’s cautious approach paid off. “After specialized training and support from Dassault Systèmes, we implemented the 3DEXPERIENCE platform relatively quickly, and we actually saw results faster than we anticipated,” he said.
Thanks to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, Leskelä and his team were able to build an entirely new offering for customers. The 3D simulations are now an important part of the Metsä Board service offering, called Metsä Board 360 Services.
“The Metsä Board 360 services are designed to help our customers create the best solution for their needs,” Leskelä said. “Using the advanced simulation technologies that are delivered through the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, we can create virtual twins of our customers’ existing packaging solutions, and work out how they perform against our new solutions in a variety of simulated environments.”
Metsä Board sees this as a big step towards lowering the environmental impact of customers’ packaging. “Our advanced testing capabilities enable us to recommend lighter board grades with a smaller carbon footprint,” Leskelä said. “By analyzing the properties of packaging samples, we can recommend lighter weight that will perform equally well while minimizing both carbon footprint and costs. We can also improve functionality, recyclability and brand impact, ensuring that we maximize the performance of the packaging.”
What’s most impressive, however, is the speed at which this can be done. “Compared to physical prototyping, we can deliver data-based recommendations 85% quicker,” Leskelä said. “Our customers now benefit from a much faster and far easier experience.”
This accelerated speed to market is especially beneficial for Metsä Board’s CPG customers who have specific needs, particularly when it comes to selling online.
“The growth of e-commerce activity, especially as a result of the pandemic, has significantly increased the demand for new, innovative packaging solutions,” Leskelä said. “This market has quite different needs to bricks-and-mortar retail. There are far more touchpoints as packages are unloaded and reloaded multiple times before they reach the recipient. This means packaging needs to be designed to withstand this heavy handling, while ensuring they are lightweight and have as small a carbon footprint as possible.”
Metsä Board now benefits from finite element (FEM) simulation using Abaqus technology on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Using these simulation capabilities, the company can take a 3D design drawing, or measure the dimensions of an existing package sample, and use this structural data together with the strength data of the paperboard to calculate the strength of a complete packaging design.
The company also can test an almost infinite number of applications of its products very quickly. In addition, it can simulate more complicated use cases and situations, such as behavior under compression loading, transport vibration tests, drop test simulations, secondary packaging in the context of primary packaging and more. “We can also see what’s happening inside the packaging during the simulations – this is something we have never been able to achieve before,” said Pekka Suokas, R&D Manager at Metsä Board.
Metsä Board’s pharma customers also are benefiting from the new simulation capabilities. “The pharma industry has different demands,” explained Leskelä. “It requires packaging that not only meets stringent regulations, but that can also withstand extreme temperatures.”
One example is the packaging for drug vials such as those used to carry doses of the various COVID-19 vaccines. Distributed across the world, the journey from manufacturing facility to dosing point is complex and carefully controlled at every step. High-quality, fit-for-purpose packaging was critical to ensure that medicines remained safe, sterile and fully traceable throughout the supply chain.
“We were on the frontline, testing the paperboards used by pharma manufacturers to package and protect vaccine doses,” said Leskelä. “The packaging needed to retain its specified thickness, mechanical strength and water absorption properties – even at temperatures as low as -70 degrees Celsius. Any changes in dimensions could cause curling or bulging, which could pose a risk to the integrity of the packaging and therefore the safety of the product inside.”
With the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, Metsä Board can now run virtual simulations of how its paperboards perform in various conditions – from extremely cold to extremely humid – and develop packaging strength simulations such as transportation and board conditioning tests to demonstrate how a package will perform in the real world. “We can simulate various use cases and conditions in as little as a day, instead of the weeks it would have taken using physical prototyping and testing,” Suokas said.
Ultimately, Metsä Board can now achieve the optimal balance between strength, size and performance for its pharma customers – and save both materials and costs in the process by minimizing package weight using modeling and simulation during early design. “By analyzing the properties of pharmaceutical packaging samples we can recommend lighterboard weight that will perform equally well while helping to cut the carbon footprint of the packaging,” Leskelä explained. “We produce 1.3 million tons of paperboard every year, and if all of that were used to produce pharmaceutical packages weighing seven grams each, it would be enough to make 430 million packages a day. Cutting the paperboard weight by just 1% would save the amount of natural resources needed to produce 4.3 million packages a day.”
Metsä Board employees also are experiencing significant benefits, especially when it comes to collaboration. With ENOVIA on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, its teams can innovate with a higher degree of confidence, knowing that all key stakeholders have access to a single view of the most current designs and key data.
What’s more, since modifications can be shared at the object level, teams can work concurrently on the same product. “We are able to solve problems far more effectively,” Suokas said. “Decisions can be made much faster, ensuring greater efficiency and productivity, and reducing the possibility of design and manufacturing errors.”
Metsä Board executives believe they are much better prepared for the future thanks to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
“We hope to expand our use of the solution in the future, so that we can realize even more benefits,” Suokas said. “The industry in which we operate is quite conservative, so it is great to be one of the first to adopt this type of solution. I believe there’s huge potential to not only reinvent the service process, but the value chain in general.”
“Ultimately, our success will be defined by the speed at which we can develop new solutions and deliver them to our customers,” concludes Leskelä. “I have no doubt that simulation will be helpful in doing this; using this kind of advanced technology, we will be able to achieve more than the conventional suppliers, and faster too. I’m excited about the new possibilities and interesting applications that simulation will facilitate in the future.”
Metsä Board is a leading European producer of premium fresh fiber paperboards, supplying customers across Europe, the Americas and Asia with lightweight and high-quality folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners. The pure fresh fibers used in Metsä Board products are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in sustainably managed northern forests. As a forerunner in sustainability, the firm aims for completely fossil free mills and raw materials by 2030.
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- Gamescom 2020 will certainly not be canceled, as it will ultimately take place in digital form;
- Key decisions will be made after the "assessment of the situation" scheduled for mid-May;
- If it turns out then that the trade fair in its classic form can take place, changes will have to be made for the sake of the health of all participants.
In the face of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic, the fate of this year's gamescom fair (to be held on August 22-24) has been called into question. However, as the German video game industry association - Game - and Koelnmesse (the fair and exhibition centre where the European "Gamers' Holiday" takes place every year) have reported, the event will not be completely canceled. As a last resort, gamescom 2020 will take place in digital form (via GamesIndustry.biz).
This was admitted by Felix Falk, who is the managing director of Game. Furthermore, he noted that although currently the people responsible for gamescom are working "at full speed" to develop the options associated with the organization of the fair in digital form, the event is already doing well on the Internet, boasting "millions of fans from around the world". The opening ceremonies, broadcast live, are particularly popular.
However, no specific decisions have been taken at present. We will have to wait for them until mid-May when the final assessment of the situation will be made. If it turns out that gamescom 2020 can take place in its classic form, changes will have to be made for the sake of the participants' health. Otherwise, all visitors and exhibitors will get refunds.
For a long time gamescom remained in the shadow of the E3 fair. Due to the fact that this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo has been canceled, even in its digital form it would still be probably the biggest (and best) "Gamer's Holiday" we can expect in the current situation.
- gamescom - official homepage


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Bowling Green, KY— Goodwill Industries of Kentucky will hold a three-day hiring event May 9-11 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM at its program office, 1806 US. Highway 31W Bypass (across from Zaxby’s).
Employers will be on-site to interview candidates for positions in manufacturing, transportation and logistics, hospitality, food service, and more. Employers confirmed to attend include Bojangles, Bowling Green Retirement Village, Fruit of the Loom, Ft. Dearborn, KOBE Aluminum, Lord Corporation, and Hampton Inn. Candidates should bring copies of their résumés and dress in interview attire.
Pre-registration for the hiring event will be held May 3-5 and May 8 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM. For additional information, please call (270) 781-4930.
The hiring event coincides with Goodwill Industries Week, an annual celebration by local community-based Goodwills across the U.S and Canada. During that time, many Goodwills offer an array of appreciation events, job fairs, hiring events, and other activities that highlight the nonprofit organization’s mission to help people get to work, especially those who have the most difficulty finding and maintaining employment.
Goodwill’s Job Junction program is a free community resource that offers résumé development, one-on-one interview coaching, career exploration, screening for and referral s to area employers, and linkage to educational programs and human services providers. More than 3,800 south central Kentuckians have received services from Goodwill’s Job Junction program in Bowling Green since it opened in 2013.
Revenue from Goodwill’s retail stores supports numerous employment-related programs across the state, including a program that helps employees maintain their jobs and set and achieve personal and professional goals. Last year, Goodwill placed Kentuckians into more than 2,800 jobs by partnering with 677 employers across the state and paid more than $15 million in wages to Kentuckians with disabilities or other barriers to employment.
About Goodwill Industries of Kentucky
As one of the largest Goodwill organizations in the country, Goodwill Industries of Kentucky accepts a variety of donations, including clothing and other household items, which are sold locally in its stores. Donations are tax deductible and receipts are available. In fiscal year 2016, Goodwill Industries of Kentucky placed Kentuckians into 2,859 jobs and paid more than $15 million in mission-related wages. Kentucky’s Goodwill has 65 stores throughout the state that provide jobs and hands-on job training. Goodwill also provides employment services and post-employment support to help people with disabilities or other disadvantages achieve and maintain employment to gain a better quality of life. For your nearest donation center and retail store, visit www.goodwillky.org.


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Western food fuelling SE Asia diabetes boom: researchers
Thursday 08 July 2010
The growing popularity of Western junk food is fuelling a diabetes boom across Southeast Asia, Australian researchers warned on Wednesday.
Studies found about 11 percent of men and 12 percent of women in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City had type 2 diabetes without knowing it, on top of the four percent of people who are diagnosed sufferers.
"Dietary patterns have been changing dramatically in Vietnam in recent years, particularly in the cities as they become more Westernised," said Tuan Nguyen of Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
"There are fast food outlets everywhere."
He said the findings, based on testing a random sample of 721 men and 1,421 women, mirrored the results of a similar study carried out in Thailand.
"Because of that, we feel very confident that we can extrapolate our findings to other parts of Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Laos," he said.
Type 2, the most common form of diabetes, is caused by high levels of fat and sugar in the diet and a lack of exercise, and can lead to heart disease, vision loss, limb amputation and kidney failure.
Co-author Lesley Campbell said developing countries were facing a "sad story" where they are affected by Western lifestyle diseases alongside hunger and poverty, but without the health resources to treat them.
"Unfortunately, we are watching, in just over a generation, a very rapid increase in diabetes" in developing nations, she said.
The researchers have developed a simple risk assessment for diabetes, using only blood pressure and waist-to-hip ratio, which they hope will help doctors detect those most likely to have the disease.
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