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Would you be willing to give up social media for a month to have your favorite snack every day? What about your cell phone?
Three in 10 adults would agree to the first arrangement, and two in 10 to the second, according to Mondelēz International’s first ever State of Snacking report. The survey of more than 6,000 global consumers, found that 59% of people prefer to eat small snacks throughout the day rather than a few large meals. This trend is even stronger for consumers in the developing world (72%), Millennials (70%), and those who make health a top priority (66%).
“We see that the average global adult now eats more snacks than meals on a given day, driven by a number of evolving demands largely associated with how we live today, including a growing need for convenience, yearning to share nostalgic and cultural experiences, expanded wellbeing preferences and the desire for choices that range from wholesome to indulgent,” Dirk Van de Put, Chairman and CEO of Mondelēz International, said in a press release. Read on for more results from the study.
Snacking as a lifestyle
The report found that snacking supports the modern convenience-oriented lifestyle in a couple of ways.
Snacking relates to culture and identity
Consumers see the snacks they choose as tied to their culture, identity, and relationships.
Snacking is linked to emotional well-being
Even though snacks are replacing meals, they aren’t just for fuel.
Snacks should be both indulgent and healthy
While consumers continue to love indulgent snacks, they prioritize health.
By Krista Garver
Source: Food Industry Executive
The signatories delivered a joint letter yesterday evening to the EC advising it to establish a “transparent, ambitious, and circular ‘chain of custody’” method instead.
Funded with US$15 million, the competition took off last July, prompting “suppliers, designers and problem-solvers” to submit environmentally sustainable design solutions and standard plastic bag alternatives.
Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company has partnered with Encirc to trial a glass beer bottle that has the potential to cut the carbon impact of its bottles by up to 90%.


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Asus has announced the launch of the Tinker Board, a credit card-sized PC that has its sights set firmly on the Raspberry Pi. The Asus Tinker Board is the same size as the 10-million-selling Raspberry...
Huawei is reportedly seeking to use its new operating system in a variety of gadgets
Goodbye Toshiba, hello Dynabook?!?
Google claims its new service will free players from the limitations of traditional consoles and PCs
Microsoft's HoloLens 2 shows that augmented reality headsets could be a valuable collaboration and work tool - but at a price
Apple loses $250bn in value since becoming $1trn company in August

domain: news


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The SIU of Canada is a catalyst for change, consistently holding government to account to ensure the interests of all Canadian seafarers are heard loud and clear.
The SIU of Canada is proud to be a Union that is run by seafarers, for the benefit of seafarers.
The SIU of Canada prides itself on standing up for our Members while holding government to account. Learn more about our advocacy and the team that makes it happen.
Article Featured in the June 2021 Issue of The Canadian Sailor
Over the coming months, we will be partnering with some of our international allies to educate Members on the importance of Cabotage not only in Canada, but around the world, with featured articles in the June issue of The Sailor, and more to come in the future. With one of the largest coast lines in the world, combined with the Great Lakes and St Lawrence Seaway system, Canada should be a Maritime super-power. We hold our own, all due to strong, realistic and enforceable domestic Maritime Policy. The Canada Shipping Act states that all vessels operating between ports in Canada must be Canadian Flagged and Canadian crewed – a safeguard that positions Canada as independent, capable, reliable, but not protectionist. A piece of legislation that created thousands of jobs, adds billions to the Canadian economy, protects the environment and most importantly, guarantees a logistics chain to deliver goods all across the Country. We supply the concrete for bridges and buildings, we supply the salt for winter road hazards, we get the grain/wheat/fertilizer to markets. We deliver the fuel and oil that keeps Canadians warm in the winter and the jet fuel to keep planes flying. There is nothing the Canadian Maritime industry can’t do and do well.
There are always those who would like to see the Canadian Flag removed from our vessels, Cabotage gone and replaced by Flag of Convenience vessels. The same vessels known to exploit crew, avoid taxes, pollute the world’s oceans and destroy domestic shipping around the globe. Those who would like to see the demise of the Canadian Flag use outdated and debunked information to try to sell their ‘snake oil’ to politicians. They make false claims of protectionism and rising costs. The real motives are tax avoidance, cheap exploited labour, skirting national standards on labour and the environment, lax safety regulations and non-existent enforcement.
Canada has a thriving national shipping sector consisting of hundreds of Canadian flag vessels crewed by Canadian workers. Canada, like so many other countries around the globe, has strong national shipping policies on Coasting Trade and acts as proof that these policies do not weaken supply chains, they strengthen them. Strong domestic shipping policy ensures security in the supply chain, provides confidence for shipowners operating under the national flag to invest in tonnage for the future and provides good-paying jobs to thousands of workers. The voices that unite against Cabotage do so only to benefit themselves, not Canadians.
Having Canadian flagged ships crewed by Canadian workers in Canadian waters secures supply chains and ensures the consistent, safe and timely delivery of goods and services to Canadians. Canada is a trade-dependent nation and if the past year and a half has proven anything, it is that taking ownership of supply chains and ensuring there is a capability to import and export critical goods is an absolute necessity – leaving that to chance and in the hands of a foreign operator is of no benefit to Canada and creates a significant and dangerous risk to all Canadians.
Our Canadian Flagged Companies are committed to the Canadians they serve, as are SIU of Canada members. We take our role seriously in not only defending our flag, but making sure we are regarded among the best in our industry around the world. Cabotage is not new, and neither are the veiled actors trying to break Cabotage behind closed doors. Opposition to our Cabotage must be met with firm resistance every time it resurfaces.
The real heart of Cabotage in any country are the seafarers. The women and men who consistently turn up for months on end to deliver the goods. The workforce, who spend months away from home at personal sacrifice to make sure the world keeps turning. The Maritime Industry in Canada is more than just a job to our seafarers, it is a commitment to the Country and its citizens day after day, year after year. A commitment to never let them down, never fail to deliver and never fail to defend their industry from corporate greed and exploited labour.


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Arizona Corporate Excellence Awards Ranked Vemma as the 37th largest private company revenue generator. – Source Pitch Engine
Scottsdale, AZ — Last night, Vemma Nutrition Company was ranked as the 37th largest private company revenue generator in Arizona at the Arizona Corporate Excellence (ACE) Awards. The invitation-only awards ceremony was attended by representatives from scores of Arizona’s largest private companies, including Vemma VP of Marketing, Mark Patterson and a team of Vemma executives.
At the event, ACE honored Arizona’s 50 top, privately held companies based on stability and financial strength. Vemma is one of the youngest companies to be recognized and one of only three consumer products companies to make the list.
Vemma Founder and CEO BK Boreyko commented, “We are honored to be recognized for the third time by the ACE Awards as one of the top 50 companies in Arizona. This award is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our Brand Partners and Home Office employees.”
The awards ceremony was held Thursday, September 13 at the Phoenix Art Museum and was open only to winning companies. Vemma VP of Marketing, Mark Patterson commented, “The event was an incredible gathering of some of the best private companies in the state. As a young and dynamic company, it was an honor to be recognized alongside successful Arizona companies that have been in business for decades.”
This was the 18th annual Arizona Corporate Excellence Awards event, which is sponsored in part by the Phoenix Business Journal. The ACE Awards honor the largest private companies in Arizona, which have combined annual revenue of over $15 billion.


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VW starts its own battery production
It is an open secret: High-performance batteries are the key to electromobility. Volkswagen is now taking matters into its own hands and has started pilot production of lithium-ion batteries in Salzgitter.8 Oct 2019 Roland Freist
The Volkswagen Group has opened the ‘Center of Excellence for Battery Cells’ at its Salzgitter plant. Over the next few years, 300 experts will work here in a pilot plant to develop and build lithium-ion batteries that will later be used in future generations of electric cars. At the same time, Volkswagen and Californian company QuantumScape are researching the technology of solid-state cells. The aim is to break away from the current dependence on Asian battery manufacturers. At the earliest in 2020, Volkswagen plans to construct its own factory for lithium-ion batteries in Salzgitter, in cooperation with Swedish company Northvolt . Production is scheduled to commence around the end of 2023/beginning of 2024.
At present, batteries for electric cars primarily come from the two South Korean groups Samsung and LG, as well as from CATL in China. CATL wants to strengthen its presence in Europe and is currently building a huge battery factory in Thuringia . Unlike Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW purchase their battery cells from Asian companies and only install them in their own batteries at their plants in Kamenz and Dingolfing.
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The furnishings from one of Auckland’s most exclusive and luxury homes went under the hammer last night in front of a packed saleroom at Mossgreen-Webb’s.
The auction achieved 100% sold by lot and a staggering 234% sold by value.
Sale highlights include a Louis XVI Style Three-Drawer Commode which had a pre-auction estimate of $3,000 – $4,000 and sold for $7,637, a Marble Topped Table with a pre-auction estimate of $1,000 – $2,000, sold for $5,875, and Two Chests which sold for $6,462 against a pre-auction estimate of $1,500 – $2,000.
Other exceptional results were an Ebonised Centre Table which sold for $6,168, and two matching table lamps which had a pre–auction estimate of $200 – $300 and sold for $3,877.
Mossgreen-Webb’s Head of Single-Owner Collections, James Hogan, commented: “We are delighted with the success of the auction for the vendor, which attracted competitive bidding from both local and international buyers. “


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The FCA board has expressed concern over the timing of the Financial Services Consumer Panel’s December report on the annuities market.
The panel published the report on 9 December, which found huge differences in commission payments from non-advised annuity services.
The minutes of the FCA’s December board meeting, held days after the FSCP report was published, reveal the board expressed “some concern” at the timing of the publication in view of the ongoing work the FCA was carrying out in this area.
The minutes say: “It was noted, however, that this work had been commission by the panel some considerable time ago, before it was known that the FCA intended to carry out work on annuities.
“The board noted the executive and panels should work together to co-ordinate publications where appropriate.”
The minutes, published last week, also show that advice firms’ interpretation of independent advice was discussed at the December meeting of the Smaller Business Practitioner Panel.
The minutes say: “The board noted the FCA recognised these concerns and that work was ongoing in this area.”
The minutes also reveal the FCA’s Risk Committee is concerned the regulator needs to better understand consumer credit firms’ business models in order to regulate them effectively when it takes over regulation of the sector in April.
In an update from the Risk Committee’s November meeting, the FCA board was told: “The FCA needed to understand consumer credit firms’ business models in more detail in order for it to be able to target interventions.”
The minutes state the board acknowledged this was a risk and that the FCA would only have information gathering powers for these firms from 1 April.


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The iPod has been slowly slipping away into obscurity, but it recently might have been the last straw, as the iPod category was removed from the top of Apple’s website.
Taking the iPod’s place at the top of Apple’s website in the navigation bar is Apple Music, which is a new music streaming service that the company announced earlier this week at WWDC. Of course, if anything was going to dethrone the iPod from the navigation menu at the top of Apple’s website, Apple Music is more than deserving of it.
However, it does make us wonder what the future holds for the iPod, and whether or not this recent move is a sign that the iPod is finally dead.
Now, it’s important to note that Apple is still selling iPods on its website, and if you go to store.apple.com, you’ll see that “Shop iPod” is still featured at the top of the page. The iPod Touch, iPod Nano, and iPod Shuffle are still up for sale, with the 2GB iPod Shuffle being the cheapest non-accessory product that Apple sells at $49 a pop.
The iPod Touch, though, is Apple’s flagship iPod, if you will, and too many times we’ve heard rumors about a possible 6th-generation model releasing at some point, but we have yet to see that happen.
The last time the iPod Touch was updated was almost a year ago when Apple improved the camera, added more color options, and lowered the price by $30 for the 16GB model to just $199. That’s not a huge refresh by any means, but most likely just a lazy attempt by Apple at trying to keep the iPod relevant in some way. Other than that, the iPod Touch hasn’t received a major overhaul since 2012.
The iPod has always been thought of as the iPhone for frugal users, giving owners the experience of an iPhone without the hefty service charges required for a monthly data plan. The $199 price tag is certainly feasible for a lot of users and you can even get them for pretty cheap on eBay, with some models selling for less than $100 used.
However, it seems like many consumers are still going for the iPhone, which isn’t too surprising considering the yearly hardware updates and the overall support that it’s getting from both Apple and third-party app developers. And since many users would be paying for a monthly cell phone bill anyway, they might as well use an iPhone with it.
Still, the iPod Touch is the cheapest touch screen iOS device that you can buy, making it great for kids to play games on during road trips.
As for the iPod Classic, it was quietly discontinued last year after Apple announced the iPhone 6, but if there’s any proof that the high-capacity iPod is still loved and cherished by the community, it’s that shoppers were buying them up on eBay for hundreds of dollars.
The truth is, there’s no mobile device from Apple that offers more storage than the iPod Classic. The device could fit 160GB worth of music, while the iPhone and iPad are currently maxed out at 128GB.
The iPod Classic was launched in 2005 as simply just the 5th-generation iPod, but it was also the first iPod that could play video, which was a huge milestone for Apple at the time, as this was before the iPhone even released.
In any case, it’s really no surprise that the iPod is becoming obsolete, and I’m sure Apple expected it to happen eventually as the iPhone became more and more popular. Apple sold an insane 51 million iPhones during the holiday season last year, while only selling 6 million iPods. That’s a roughly 50% decrease compared to the same time period a year before that, which was one of the biggest drops in sales that the iPod has seen in the last several years.
Apple certainly knows this, but I don’t think the company is afraid to kill the iPod once and for all. It’s just wants to milk it for all its worth.
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Insatiable Eats Chef Marco Barrila has rented out the old Michelangelo location on East Main Street and Maple Avenue. Michelangelo’s, which closed in March.
Insatiable Eats Creative Kitchen will be the home of the successful catering and events company founded by Barrila and his wife Sheila in 2010, creating and hosting events in the East End showcasing Barrila’s international and regional cuisine.
Insatiable Eats Creative Kitchen will also be an eclectic restaurant and market offering a variety of international dishes and showcasing Barrila’s Sicilian roots.
In an interview inside the former Italian restaurant and pizzeria on Friday afternoon, Barrila enthusiastically described his plans to open up the interior of the space, eliminate the wall that separated the pizzeria from the restaurant seats, and remove all cabins as well as the freestanding fireplace near the main entrance.
“I want everything to be open,” Barrila said of the interior space. His vision is to have an open kitchen, where customers can watch the chefs prepare meals and watch the fresh pasta and ravioli prepared by machines that Barrila imports from Sicily.
There will be take-out and fresh ingredients that guests can buy and take home to prepare in their own kitchens – as well as table service in the restaurant, which will provide a relaxed atmosphere. He wants the restaurant to be a place where people will be comfortable having dinner after work and where they will be comfortable with their children.
It’s all about the food, the chef said. There will be televisions in the restaurant, but they will only have cooking shows, he said, “no sports.”
Barilla plans to convert the restaurant bar into an antipasto bar, where guests can choose from a variety of small plates to accompany with a glass of wine or beer.
“My plans are always evolving,” Barrila said. But don’t expect Insatiable Eats Creative Kitchen to be a typical Italian restaurant and pizzeria. There will be pizzas, but they will not be a main menu – and the pizza will not be sold by the share. “There are so many pizza places,” Barrila said. “We don’t need another one,” he said.
“It will be different. My menu will be creative and fun. It will offer specialties from his native Sicily, but it will also offer diverse cuisines, he said.
Also, don’t expect Insatiable Eats Creative Kitchen to look like the Shinnecock Lobster Factory, which he opened in Southampton four years ago with the chief of the Shinnecock tribe, Lance Gumbs.
“If you want lobster, go to the Lobster Factory,” he said with a smile. “I recommend it. It’s fine. But that’s not what we’re going to do here.
Born and raised in Messina, a port city on the northwestern tip of Sicily, Barrila grew up working in his grandmother’s trattoria, a restaurant dating back to the 1800s. He arrived in New York at age 24 years old. He has participated in Chopped and other Food Network events.
Corrado Muttin, veteran New York restaurateur and restaurant manager, will run the Barrila storefront. “Corrado will be my right hand man,” Barrila said.
Muttin was on site Friday afternoon to supervise workers cleaning the interior of the restaurant.
Barrila said he hopes to be able to open before the end of October.
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Sears Holdings Corp., the struggling store operator that was once a prominent fixture of the U.S. retail landscape, indicated that more cost cuts and changes are on the way as it posted a $573 million quarterly loss amid declining revenue and margins.
Sears, which has shed businesses lately in a bid to refocus its operations, said slumping electronics sales continued to weigh on results, as did margin-squeezing costs from promotions.
Sears is now relying on its membership program and online business to drive sales while its turnaround grinds on.
The company is targeting 130 store closures this year, with potentially more coming, while it continues to evaluate spinning off its auto-center business and divesting itself of its 51% stake in Sears Canada Inc. Earlier this year, the company, which is controlled by hedge-fund billionaire Edward Lampert, spun off its Lands' End apparel unit.
"We have continued to show progress in our transformation, as demonstrated by our year-over-year increase in online and multi-channel sales, and with our member sales now representing 73% of eligible sales, " Mr. Lampert said in a news release. "However, our second quarter earnings are unacceptable and we are taking steps to address our performance on several levels."
Mr. Lampert also said Sears would pursue cost cuts, more investments in its "Shop Your Way" and integrated retail customer programs, and "rationalizing our physical footprint and improving pricing and promotions."
Sears posted a fiscal second-quarter loss of $573 million, or $5.39 a share, compared with a loss of $194 million, or $1.83 a share, a year earlier. Excluding costs of closing stores, certain tax matters and other items, the company's adjusted per-share loss was $2.87.
Revenue fell 9.7% to $8.01 billion, while gross margin for the period slipped to 21.7% from 24.6%.
Overall, same-store sales fell 0.8% at domestic stores during the period ended Aug. 2. Sears said domestic same-store sales rose 0.1% at its namesake locations, but noted they would have grown 1.6% excluding the impact of consumer electronics. The company's Kmart stores suffered a 1.7% decline in same-store sales, dragged down by electronics and by its grocery and household-goods business.
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“When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks, because that’s what you needed…PCs are going to be like trucks. They’re still going to be around. They’re still going to have a lot of value. But they’re going to be used by one out of x people…this transformation is going to make some people uneasy.“–Steve Jobs, at the Wall Street Journal’s D8 conference last week
“Flash was created during the PC era…”–Steve Jobs, in “Thoughts on Flash”
“Maybe next year we will focus primarily on the Mac. Just the normal cycle of things. No hidden meaning here.”–Steve Jobs, reassuring a developer who was concerned about the iPhone-centric WWDC 2010
I went into yesterday’s Steve Jobs keynote at Apple’s WWDC event knowing that Macs would not be in the center ring of this particular circus. But I thought that they might get some attention during the first part of Jobs’ presentation, in which he cites impressive-sounding numbers relating to a variety of Apple product lines. After all, recent Mac sales figures are…well, impressive.
In two hours of presenting, though, Jobs barely mentioned traditional computing devices. Okay, he did point out that the conference would host sessions devoted to Macs–and he asked those in the audience who had laptops to place them on the floor to prove they weren’t using MiFis that might muck up his Wi-Fi demos. But that was about it.
Yes, traditional portable and desktop computers remain a huge and growing business for Apple; no, iOS-based machines aren’t in any position to render the Mac irrelevant any time soon. And chances are high that Apple will hold one or more Mac-centric events before 2010 is out. But sitting in the WWDC audience yesterday, it wasn’t hard to envision a future Apple that (A) didn’t sell Macs and (B) was at least as successful as Apple circa 2010.
That’s a new feeling. For all of the iPod’s significance, it remained a Mac (and PC) peripheral, not an heir apparent. The iPhone and iPad, however, are devices meant to replace the types of computers we’ve used for the past few decades. That’s not speculation: Jobs is already talking about the PC era in the past tense and predicting that PCs will be outnumbered by new-wave devices. He’s getting ready for the post-Mac era.
(Me, I don’t expect devices we think of as “PCs” to vanish from the scene in the next decade or two–but I do think that they’ll come to look and work a lot more like iPads than they do like a conventional Mac or Windows box.)
All of this made me think of the last Apple platform shift. I’m counting the Mac’s 68000/PowerPC/Intel jumps and the move from Mac OS to OS X. The last truly epic shift happened a really long time ago–because it was the move from the Apple II (introduced in 1977) to the Macintosh (1984). (Come to think of it, it was also the first truly epic shift–the Apple I, Apple III, and Lisa were all blips.)
The Mac was announced in January of 1984. In April of the same year, Apple announced a new version of the II, at an event called “Apple II Forever.” The phrase became a rallying cry, not to mention a pretty silly song:
Even at the time, the idea of “Apple II Forever” had a defensive tinge and carried an implied acknowledgment that the platform, like all others, didn’t have an infinite shelf life. But the Mac and the II managed to coexist rather successfully for years. Here’s the Computer Chronicles show devoting an episode to new II variants in 1988:
The Apple II finally went away in late 1993–almost a decade after the beginning of the end.
Now, I’m not saying that the parallels here are even sort of close. The Apple II of 1984-1993 was based on archaic technology; thinking back, it’s kind of amazing it lasted as long as it did. Today’s Macs–and, for that matter, today’s best Windows PCs–are still getting better, albeit at a vastly slower pace than the iPhone. (Having been out over a few weeks, the iPad is just getting started.) And the list of things a Mac can do well that the iPad and iPhone can’t do at all is long.
But for the Mac, like the Apple II in 1984, the beginning of the end is here. Any guesses about how long this epic shift will take?
This story, "Will the iPhone Eventually Replace the Mac?" was originally published by Technologizer.


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posted Nov 14, 2013, 11:42 PM by mykbonet
updated Nov 15, 2013, 11:06 AM
- Lee Byung-kyu re-signed with LG for 2.55 billion won, Samsung re-signed Jang Won-sam for 4 years 6 billion won and Park Han-yi for 4 years 2.8 billion won. Arirang
- Oh Seung-hwan: The 'sticking point' is the transfer fee between Hanshin and Samsung Yakyubaka
- Softbank Hawks interested in Dae-Ho Lee Yakyubaka
- Samsung Lions defeat Fortitudo Bologna to open Asia Series in Taiwan Yonhap
- Samsung beats Bologna 5-2 in the Asia Series. Lee Seung-yeop's 3-run home run was the difference
- Ryu Hyun-jin Bobblehead Night will be on May 27th against the Reds.


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One afternoon, as timeshare executives and suppliers mill about in a hotel ballroom, bottles of grape juice chill on ice.
"Come tonight, there will be champagne," said Howard Nusbaum, president of the American Resort Development Association, the country's timeshare lobby.
Hard-hit by evaporation of credit and the recession, timeshare developers say they are bouncing back and have reason to celebrate.
"What a difference a few years makes," Nusbaum said to a large crowd at the association's annual trade show.
"We're back," he cheered.
The pep rally surely means summer vacationers are more likely this year to hear a stranger ask: "May we have 90 minutes of your time?"
Amy Gregory, a professor at the University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management, said consumers can expect a less pressured, more straightforward sales presentation than in years past.
"It's not 'I'm going to slam the door and keep lowering the price until we get to what you're going to pay,'" she said.
Gregory attributed an increase in industry credibility to nationally recognized hotel brands such as Hilton and Marriott taking a greater stake in timeshare development.
"They absolutely brought credibility to it," she said. "There's price integrity now."
Still, trade secrets on display at the beachside trade show highlighted how the timeshare sell remains an emotional play – often while couples are on vacation.
Steve Pentland, whose company Generator Systems produces lush sales videos for timeshare developers, spoke bluntly about the need to get into prospective buyers' heads.
"No one wakes up in the morning and says, ‘I'm going to go out and buy a timeshare,'" he said, standing in front of a bright orange booth with the word "psychology" printed on it.
And that's where critics raise a red flag.
"If any other industry tried to do something like this, they'd go to jail," said Stuart Vener, a real estate consultant who helps people get out of timeshares.
Vener warns would-be buyers that timeshares depreciate rapidly and can be worth very little in the resale market.
"If you get anything, it's a miracle," he said.
Where there are no nibbles, Vener says he resorts to offering a deed back to the developer or property manager. He says they refuse.
"They're telling people it's worth 15, 20, 30 thousand dollars, and I offer it to them for nothing. They don't want it back," he said.
Additionally, Vener says timeshare sellers gloss over required annual fees for maintenance and management. ARDA says they currently average $680 per two-bedroom unit per year. Assuming a condo unit is divided into 52 equal shares and the developer keeps one week (which is customary), the total amount collected for that one room totals nearly $35,000.
Vener says the industry makes pawns of people.
Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey goes farther.
"Timeshares are one of the biggest scams on the market today," he writes on his website.
ARDA's Nusbaum responded without hesitation.
"Although I respect Dave Ramsey, vacations are not financial investments," he said. "Whether you rent a traditional hotel room, or a beach house, or buy a timeshare."
Despite the deep difference of opinion of the value of timeshare, vendors at the ARDA conference were optimistic about the future.
"I hoping to gain some sales," said Jane Arason of Arason Enterprises.
Her firm manufactures unique fold-away beds called the Creden-ZzZ. Her sense is that the worst has passed and Arason will find buyers.
"It is coming back," she said.
A few rows over, Orlando hotel soap and bathrobe distributor Phil Fry laments the rollercoaster of the past few years-- tongue in cheek.
"I won't say I want you to steal the robe so I can sell more, but it wouldn't hurt," he said.
On a more serious note, he says he's seeing encouraging signs that the timeshare world is rebounding.
"We're enjoying the ride back up," Fry said.


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A new cafe is looking to open in what used to be a charity shop close to Preston city centre. Walker Street’s former St Catherine’s Hospice charity shop has seen […]
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Dermatology is hot. Valeant Pharmaceuticals ($VRX) has been snapping up skin-remedy companies, including its recent $2.6 billion deal for Medicis. Novartis' generics unit Sandoz agreed in May to buy U.S.-based Fougera Pharmaceuticals, to become the biggest player in dermatology generics.
Now, India-based Sun Pharmaceutical is joining the party. It's buying U.S. drugmaker DUSA Pharmaceuticals for about $230 million, or $8 per share, a 38% premium to yesterday's closing price. The key prizes: DUSA's Levulan combination therapy, used to treat non-hyperkeratotic actinic keratoses, and BLU-U, used to treat acne.
"DUSA has proven technical capabilities in photodynamic skin treatments, with USFDA approved manufacturing," Sun Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi said in a statement. "DUSA's business brings us an entry into dermatological treatment devices, where we see good growth opportunities."
Indeed, as ICICI Direct analyst Siddhant Khandekar told Reuters, dermatology "was the only area, a growing one, where Sun did not have products in the United States. Plus, DUSA's business fits nicely with Tara Pharmaceutical, a majority-owned subsidiary that Sun is in the process of acquiring fully. "This acquisition will actually complement Taro's existing business, which has a strong dermatology product range," Khandekar said.
- see the release from Sun
- read the Reuters story


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Apr 20, 2021
Apple event: AirTag, iPad and iMac lead line-up
APPLE. Apple has shown off its latest product line-up in its first big event of 2021. APPLE. AirTags have been highly-anticipated by Apple fans. APPLE. Colleen Novielli showed off new super-thin iMacs in seven different colours, built with Apple's new M1 chip, and a 24in, 11.3 million pixel screen, along with a revamped camera and other upgrades. The new M1 chip Macbooks have had rave reviews - so it was only a matter of time before Apple switched its other products over to the new design. Apple wants to limit how companies follow you on the internet on Apple devices.
Make a complaint about Apple by viewing their customer service contacts.


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Settlement system WeChat Pay started its own digital yuan journey, at the time when millions of Chinese residents are obtaining their very first preference of what life is like with a central bank digital money (CBDC) as citizens in a few of the country’s most significant cities started utilizing a pilot variation of a CBDC app.
WeChat Pay, operated by the technology gigantic Tencent, is just one of China’s greatest electronic pay systems, and along with the Ant Group’s Alipay (component of the Alibaba service empire), stands for a tremendous 15% of the entire Chinese repayments market.
Interoperability with the platform will certainly be viewed as a major progression for Beijing which many argue intends to cut right into both the electronic settlements and the crypto markets with its brand new token.
Crypto has actually been shunted aside by two sweeping suppressions, one of the most recent of which came in September in 2014. As well as unlike other CBDC projects, Beijing says its electronic Yuan effort does not use blockchain technology.
The Central People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has rejected to devote itself to a complete national rollout, however much of one of the most populous parts of the nation already appreciate accessibility to the digital Yuan many thanks to a fast expanding pilot.
The bank is certain that the token will certainly be ready to display to the globe at the winter months Olympics, to be kept in the funding early next month. Beijing’s Olympics sites belong to the pilot.
As per the media outlets Sina and Hexun, WeChat Pay users can access digital Yuan functionality using the WeBank service by completing a quick confirmation procedure.
Read More: Digital Yuan Ready for International Olympic Showcase at Beijing 2022 Games
As well as are now able to pay making use of the token by “scanning a electronic Yuan payment code on WeChat,” or by allowing vendors to check a code using their very own devices.’
Digitizing the last mile’ of the consumer journey Although the PBoC is still eager to minimize the significance of advancements like these, WeChatPay’s customer base is big.
More than an easy conversation app, WeChat is likewise a digital market, a shopping gateway, a Pc gaming hub and also has more net capability. The system has more than 1bn individuals, many of whom are WeChat Pay customers.
Alipay individuals will likely be able to access the token soon, too. Individuals in pilot locations might be able to access the CBDC app through its affiliate, the online loaning network MYBank.
Alipay has additionally been associated with piloting digital yuan settlements, and also could well follow suit with its biggest rival. Yicai reported that significant online gamers have actually likewise clambered aboard the digital yuan train.
The most remarkable of these is one of the country’s most significant e-commerce platforms, Jingdong Mall (likewise called JD.com). Together with Alibaba’s ecommerce wing Tmall (which has additionally begun accepting the electronic yuan as a payment technique), the two companies represent the lion’s share of the on the internet retail market in China.
Last year, the Eleme food shipment platform and also the Hema chain of grocery stores also started accepting digital yuan pay in pilot locations. Both are Alibaba owned.
Yicai reported that Meituan Waimai, one of the biggest food delivery networks in the country, has additionally included electronic yuan budget settlement options.
The very same media outlet priced estimate experts as mentioning that other banks would soon be contributed to the nine approximately financial institutions providing digital Yuan purse solutions, with more online sectors established to add interoperability functions.
Zhou Weiran, PwC’s taking care of companion of modern technology, media as well as telecom, was priced quote as declaring that the digital Yuan had the power to “digitize the last mile” of the customer journey.
It would certainly allow financial institutions and also vendors accessibility customer behavior information and gain insight right into the general public’s spending patterns.
Read More: Caribbean CBDC is Remained Offline for More Than 2 Weeks Amid Technical Issues
However, Zhou kept in mind that “massive adoption” would “not happen overnight” with numerous still keen on different electronic solutions such as Alipay as well as WeChat Pay or cash.
Find out more about Chinese Central Bank’s Digital Yuan Application Strikes Apple, Android shops, Chinese Central Gov’t wishes to produce ‘Digital Asset Exchanges’as CBDC nears.
Recent Chinese bitcoin court judgement ‘Not a separated situation’ and component of’ a recurring pattern ‘Chinese Financial Institutions’ inform the general public on the Risks of Crypto.


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BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (AP) — Ulta Beauty said Friday that its overall holiday sales increased 23.2 percent over the prior year as shoppers bought more high-end skincare and cosmetics. Another closely-watched retail revenue metric rose just over 7 percent.
It also reaffirmed its fiscal fourth-quarter outlook that it first announced in November, but that was at the low end of market expectations. Its shares fell 5 percent in midday trading.
The beauty products retailer formally known as Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. said that its revenue for the seven-week period that ended Dec. 29 rose to $475.6 million from $386.0 million a year earlier.
Ulta said that revenue from its stores open at least a year increased 7.4 percent for the holiday period following a 12.6 percent increase last year. This comparison is considered a good indicator of a retailer's financial performance as it strips away the impact of recently opened or closed stores.
"We were pleased with our holiday sales performance given the numerous national news events that appeared to have curtailed customer purchasing behavior across most of retail," Ulta President and CEO Chuck Rubin said.
Continue reading this story on the...


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There are a lot of ways for small business owners and marketers to use Facebook to promote their brand and products. An under-utilized tactic for promoting sales is the use of Facebook Groups. Many small business owners and craft makers have used Facebook Groups to sell items to members of the community. Facebook has recently announced some new features that will make it easier for community members to buy and sell things within Facebook Groups.
Facebook Groups are useful to small business owners because posts within groups are more likely to be seen that posts made directly on a business page. As Facebook continues to restrict the organic growth of Business Pages, small business owners and marketers have use their membership in groups related to their industry to improve their reach. Bear in mind, this works better for small businesses than large corporations but even large businesses can get invited if they join the right groups.
The biggest improvement Facebook recently announced is that group members will be able to write posts about items for sale and put information such as price, description, and location into prominent locations. This is useful for local artisans who use groups to sell items to friends, family and other community members. For example, a local art walk could start a group on Facebook and then use post to sell items in-between art walk days. And artisans can use Facebook’s Groups to keep tabs on what is selling and what is not before going to shows.
Another enhancement is that sellers can easily catalog the items for sale and availability. Sellers will be able mark posts as Available or Sold. And sold items are automatically added to a easy-to-view catalog of items previously sold. This helps entrepreneurs establish a reputation with every item thy posts.
To illustrate the possibilities with the new system, Facebook used Lisa Duncan-Thayer from Florida as an example. She created the group “Made By Mama Buy/Sell/Trade” to sell her crochet work and give other local artisans a place to sell their handmade items. The group has grown to more than 4,500 members in or near Pinellas County, Florida. Many of the members have used the group to turn their hobbies into businesses.
“We have a very wonderful community,” Lisa said according to Facebook. “There are several members whose hobbies have now grown into part- or full-time businesses! Metal stampers, bow makers, bread makers, soap makers…you name it.”
And to show it’s not just about networking moms, Facebook also mentioned Kadu Carvalho, a professional guitarist from Rio de Janeiro, who created a Facebook Group to help musicians in Brazil buy and sell instruments. The group now has gained more than 34,000 members in just three years and has enabled Kadu to personally buy, sell and trade musical instruments. An as an additional benefit, the group raised the profile and awareness of his band, Swell.
There was clearly a benefit for marketers and business owners to manage groups in Facebook even before the new features to foster selling were introduced. With the new features, it will be easier for people within a group to find items for sell, get useful information on the item, and see other items sold by the person in the past.
These new features, designed to make group selling easier, won’t be everywhere, nor will they be automatically applied to a group. It’s up to the Group Admin to request that these features be added to their group. This means that if a business owner or brand marketer is part of a group but not the manager, they can’t request that the feature be added.
Additionally, these new features will roll out to all slowly, coming to Facebook For Sale Groups on iOS, Android and web over the next few months. And though not specifically stated, it’s safe to assume that the features will come to English-speaking markets first and then branch out to the rest of the world.
For more recent news about Facebook, read this article on Facebook’s plan to mark hoax and fake news stories.


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June 3, 2014 BY Brendan Dunne
New Balance is the latest sneaker company to bite back against luxury brands ripping off its designs. According to TMZ, the brand is suing German fashion lord Karl Lagerfeld over his liberal usage of the NB aesthetic, specifically the side letter hit, on a $360 pair of Lagerfeld trainers. The turn of events suggests that sneaker companies aren’t exactly appreciative of the sort of high fashion rip approach that’s been rampant lately in the luxury sneaker world (Common Projects, Givenchy, and Céline are all guilty of this as well). You have to also wonder whether or not New Balance will be chasing down the likes of Hender Scheme, who have a sneaker that’s basically just a $900 NB 1300 without the logo. See some of the evidence after the click and let us know if you think sneaker companies should be a little bit more lenient as far as luxury borrowings of their designs.
Above, the Karl Lagerfeld sneaker that sparked the lawsuit
Above, a high end sneaker from Hender Scheme that also borrows heavily from New Balance
Tags: Karl Lagerfeld


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Vietnam inflation slows for second straight month
HANOI — Vietnam's inflation eased slightly for a second consecutive month in October, official estimates showed Monday, as the country battles Asia's fastest-rising prices.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 21.59 percent year-on-year in the month, according to the General Statistics Office, from 22.4 percent in September when the rate slowed for the first time in more than a year after a 23 percent peak in August.
Food prices continued to stoke inflation, increasing 31.72 percent in October from a year earlier.
Vietnam, which has this year refocused attention away from economic growth and towards stabilisation, was last month forced to raise its 2011 inflation target to 18 percent, from 15 percent, as prices soar.
Both the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank project a year-average inflation rate of almost 19 percent.
The country is faced with an economy beset by double-digit consumer price rises, dwindling foreign reserves and a weakening currency.
Officials have ushered in a series of measures, including raising key interest rates, vowing to cut state spending, and ordering that loan growth stay below 20 percent.
Last week Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung gave a 2012 inflation target of below 10 percent.
Agence France Presse - October 25, 2011


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A bidding war took place for the low-mileage example.
We've all been waiting for the Tesla Roadster very patiently but unfortunately, the electric sports car has been suffering from delays since it was shown to the world in 2017. The latest update we were given from Elon Musk is that deliveries should commence by next year while the company has stopped taking orders on its online portal.
Some might not be aware that this will be the second generation of the Roadster, following the Lotus-based example from 2008. This was not only the company's first-ever car but also a pioneer in the battery-electric performance sphere. Despite it being over a decade old, it had impressive claimed figures such as an EPA-rated mileage of 244 miles and a 0-60 mph time of 3.9 seconds.
When new, the base model sold for $80,000, which was a hefty chunk of change but that's chump change compared to the amount that this used but clean example recently fetched. As sold by the Gruber Motor Company, this 2008 Tesla Roadster was purchased for an astonishing amount of more than $250,000, which is what the all-new upcoming generation Roadster will cost.
This particular Signature trim model finished in Thunder Gray is the 13th of 2,450-run that was produced over the four-year life-cycle and has only covered 840 miles. It has been upholstered in black leather with a hardtop paired with its original packaging. It also maintains its 220- and 110-volt chargers, both keys, USB, and the manual. There is a fault with the tire pressure monitoring system which is a common issue for this generation of the Roadster.
Gruber Motor Company explains that the $250,000 price tag was removed from the listing almost as soon as the advert was posted. This is because a vicious bidding war took place very shortly after the ad was posted with a few offers coming in that were way above the amount. A request was then made for the dealer to remove the price and replace it with a "make offer" auction listing. The amount beats its record-setting sale of $190,000 that took place at the beginning of this year.
The Signature 100 was released in 2007 as a limited edition model at an undisclosed price but Tesla confirms that each customer paid a $100,000 deposit. What makes this model so special is a commemorative plaque personalized for each customer that bears the signature of the company's principals. It also came with a then-state-of-the-art navigation system and the hardtop roof.


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*Disclosure: The author works as an influencer for Cricut.
After five years with no new additions to the Distress Ink color palette, Ranger Ink and Tim Holtz have announced they will be adding new colors to the industry-dominating ink line again. The new color additions to the 60 color Distress line will be available in 7 Distress products, plus an enamel collector’s pin. A set release schedule or number of new colors has not been announced by Ranger Ink. Holtz will be announcing the first new Distress color in a livestream on his Facebook page on May 20th at 1 pm EDT. (The new color is Speckled Egg.)
In another sign of the ever-shrinking scrapbook page, Scrapbook.com will be adding 9” x 12” three-ring albums to their house brand line of products in June. The new 9×12 albums will be available in six solid colors plus two patterns, and four accompanying page protector designs are also being introduced.
Three-ring albums in the 9×12 size were previously only available from Studio Calico, where they became popular with pocket scrapbookers as a more approachable alternative to the 12×12 page size.
Cricut launched a new machine, the Cricut Joy, in February. In contrast to their previous machines’ 12” cutting width, the compact Joy machine has a maximum cutting width of only 4.5” but (when using Smart materials that can cut without a mat) can cut projects up to 20 feet long.
While Cricut was thinking small…Silhouette was thinking big, preparing to launch two machines that expanded on the (until 2020) pretty much craft industry standard 12” cutting width for die cutting. The Silhouette Cameo 4 Plus, with a 15” cutting width, launched earlier this year. Silhouette also previewed the Silhouette Cameo 4 Pro, a machine with a 20” cutting width, to insiders last year. That machine had an expected shipping date of late spring 2020 but is now expected to be pushed back slightly due to Covid-19 production and shipping disruptions.
Minnesota-based Stamp-n-Storage announced in late April that they have acquired their Canadian competitor Best Craft Organizer. Both companies produce craft organizing furniture and accessories, including add-ons for Ikea Kallax units and are regular exhibitors at U.S. consumer scrapbook shows. According to the announcement, the two companies will continue to maintain separate websites and brand presences while cross-selling some products between the two.
Jillibean Soup has announced that it will be partnering with American Crafts for the production of future products. The brand had previously been partnered for seven years with Hampton Art. Jillibean is known for its country chic paper collections (all with soup names) and rustic style surfaces for altering, along with its clean and simple cut file designs available in the Silhouette Online Store and as free giveaways on its social media.
Legal action is now resuming in My Sweet Petunia’s patent infringement suit against Stampin’ Up! over alleged infringement of My Sweet Petunia’s patent on its MISTI stamp platform. The case, which was filed in late 2018, is coming off of a six-month hold during which the U.S. PTO conducted a re-examination of patents at issue in the case. The two parties have now agreed to a schedule for the case (pending court approval) that extends pre-trial activities well into next year. My Sweet Petunia settled a similar case with Tonic Studios nearly two years ago over the Tim Holtz stamp platform.
Ellison Educational, who launched a flurry of lawsuits against stamping companies last year for allegedly violating one of its patents on thin metal die technology, has now settled its legal cases with all of its litigation targets. Prima Marketing and Avery Elle settled with Ellison in March 2019 and August 2019, respectively. Hero Arts settled its case with Ellison in late November 2019. In March 2020, Heartfelt Creations reached an agreement with Ellison to end their case. The final case, against designer Stephanie Barnard’s two companies, was settled in early May. Since all of the Ellison case settlements are confidential, it is difficult to know what they will mean for the die industry moving forward.
Of the Moment
Many scrapbookers are, of course, wanting to record the events surrounding this historic time and how it has affected their lives personally. In response to this desire, many companies in the industry have stepped up with content and products to assist in that project.
Photo Play Paper rushed a new Becky Moore scrapbooking collection called “Living The Quarantine Life” into production for May release. The collection’s designs include toilet paper, coronaviruses, and other themed elements. Another of Photo Play’s May collections, Michelle Coleman’s “We Can Just Stay Home”, focuses on design elements for family stay-at-home activities like pajama days, reading, and games.
Eleven stamp companies from The Stamping Village, a marketing collective, have created a collaborative stamp set that honors front line workers during the coronavirus crisis.
Each stamp set sold will donate $5 to the Save the Children fund. Previous stamp sets produced by the group have donated to The Dreaming Zebra Foundation.
Other companies have stepped up with downloadable items for digital or printable use, including many free offerings. Designer Traci Reed compiled a wonderful resource rounding up many of these digital brush, printable card, and SVG files on her blog.
On a more practical front, both Cricut and Silhouette are providing users of their electronic die cut machines with free cut files to use making masks. Silhouette isn’t providing any numbers, but Cricut says that as of May 1st their users had produced a million masks.


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Redbox is known far and wide for its ubiquitous red kiosks, not to mention its $1-a-night DVD rental policy. But the video rental giant is—once again—tinkering with raising prices, with a new test in Portland, Ore. hiking the price for a night’s DVD rental to $1.15. How much more would you be willing to pay?
This isn’t the first time that Redbox has experimented with boosting its magic buck-a-night price point for DVD rentals. Back in 2009, the Coinstar-owned video kiosk company tried charging customers in selected markets $2 for the first night, followed by $1 a night thereafter.
Later tests involved flat fee increases ranging from an additional 15 cents a night to a full 50 cents extra.
This latest test in Portland appears to be another isolated trial, reports Home Media Magazine, adding that Wall Street analysts seem confident that Redbox customers wouldn’t boycott the kiosks over such a modest price hike.
Personally, I think Redbox is nuts to mess with its main selling point: a buck a night for DVDs! That said, the prospect of padding the bottom line by raising DVD rental prices must be a tempting one. (By the way, Redbox also rents Blu-ray discs for $1.50 a night, while video games are $2/night—and those prices appear to be locked.)
Redbox is also facing pressure from Hollywood movie execs, who have complained bitterly that Redbox’s low prices have undercut DVD sales. Redbox has since inked deals with most of the big movie studios that involve 28-day delays before it can offer their latest releases in its DVD kiosks.
So, would be willing to pay more than a buck a night to rent DVDs at Redbox kiosks? Cast your vote below!
Source: Home Media Magazine


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Joana co-hosts Great Day Colorado. She loves featuring the best businesses and business owners Colorado has to offer. Before coming to Great Day Colorado, Joana reported and anchored news in Salt Lake City, San Diego and numerous stations in Denver. Her bilingual capabilities as a South American native have taken her to countries like Mexico and Colombia for reporting and production opportunities.
As an AFAA fitness professional, Joana created the Fitness Friday franchise for Great Day Colorado on Colorado’s Very Own Channel 2. The weekly segments feature cutting edge workouts, local trainers and fitness fashion and products. Joana’s passion for fitness also landed her an opportunity to represent Honda in their active woman campaign. Joana says her favorite fitness job is teaching group fitness at local gyms. She teaches Cycle, Pilates and strength training classes.
Her personal experiences fighting breast cancer in her own family, prompted her to be the first woman to do a mammogram on live television for Good Day Colorado on FOX31 in Denver. As someone who has lost a sister to the disease, she decided to reveal her results live, good or bad, with hopes of inspiring women everywhere to take the fear out of preventive testing.
Joana has called Colorado “home” for the last 16 years. As a busy mother of a 16-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, she finds that keeping the family active lends to great family time. She has trained her son for multiple kids’ triathlons and teaches her children to read nutrition labels. Getting kids to love fitness is one of her main goals as a fitness professional and mother and former member of the Governor’s Council for Physical Fitness in Colorado.
Her background as a ballet dancer in the Ballet West Academy and NBA cheerleader play a vital role in the way she covers fitness for television and social media.
Make sure to tune in for Fitness Friday’s on Great Day Colorado.
If you have a fitness question for Joana Canals email her at email@example.com.


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During a Halo Fest panel at PAX Prime, Microsoft revealed more about its plans for 2012's Halo 4 and showed off new concept artwork from the upcoming first person shooter.
Is Windows Phone about to go big?
Digital Storm Vanquish II gaming PC
Which Android handsets would you like to see as Windows Phones?
Microsoft's first annual Halo Fest reveals new maps for the upcoming Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary remake, new updates for Halo Reach and more.
Fans of Microsoft's original Xbox game console might also remember the massive original Xbox controller that came with the console back in the fall of 2001. The device, also known as the "Duke" controller, wasn't...


text: Global News Hour at 6 BC October 25 2021 9:48pm 01:57 Capacity limits lifting for most B.C. bars and restaurants Many B.C. bars and restaurants welcome the end of COVID-19 capacity limits in several regions around the province. John Hua reports. ‘Immediate return in bookings’: B.C. hospitality sector celebrates end of indoor capacity limits REPORT AN ERROR Responsive site?


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Shareholders watch the inventory market in a securities buying and selling room. Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China, July 6, 2020.
Costfoto | Barcroft Media | Getty Pictures
The latest Chinese language inventory market rally raised fears that it was being pushed by retail traders partaking in dangerous leverage-fueled transactions, which prompted a dramatic collapse in 2015.
Analysts say they’re monitoring margin buying and selling ranges or the observe of borrowing cash from brokerage companies to commerce.
It comes as mainland Chinese language markets surged in early July. Within the first two weeks of this month, the Shanghai composite climbed 14%. The CSI 300 index jumped greater than 20% and the Shenzhen composite climbed 17%.
This rally led the Securities Regulatory Fee of China problem a warning to traders to keep away from lenders who illegally present funding for margin buying and selling. Margin buying and selling includes threat as traders use borrowed cash, and due to this fact any loss on investments can be magnified as merchants may also should repay curiosity.
William Ma, chief funding officer of Chinese language asset administration agency Noah Holdings, instructed CNBC on Tuesday that his firm is monitoring buying and selling ranges of margins amongst retail traders. “The pattern ranges are about half of the height, so we consider the rally will proceed. On the similar time, we (must be) conscious that we’re solely 20% of the height values of latest years,” did he declare.
“The latest inventory rally is a double-edged sword for Chinese language policymakers,” ANZ Analysis added in a report launched on Monday, which additionally warned of the dangers of margin buying and selling.
On the one hand, he stated, these entries are helpful in curbing company debt, which has elevated as a result of inflow of credit score this yr. Because the coronavirus disaster hits companies, authorities have pumped billions of yuan into the banking system, encouraging lenders to increase credit score and minimize rates of interest. Consequently, nevertheless, the quantity of dangerous money owed within the nation is anticipated to snowball.
ANZ added that as company debt falls, the tax burden can be eased, noting that the federal government has a controlling stake in publicly traded state-owned corporations.
“On the flip facet, there are rising considerations concerning the monetary dangers of phantom margin buying and selling, which prompted the inventory market crash of 2015,” he warned.
In keeping with knowledge from China Securities Monetary Company, which refinances margin operations and enjoys liquidity assist from China’s central financial institution, margin finance lending in June was 33% greater than in Could. Through the first week of July, the China’s margin steadiness accelerated 9% to 1.3 trillion yuan, in accordance with a South China Morning Put up report.
Some platforms illegally funding margin buying and selling allowed traders to borrow greater than 1,000 yuan ($ 143) to purchase shares for a deposit as little as 100 yuan, a leverage of 10 instances, in accordance with the Chinese language media Caixin International.
In 2015, there was an identical growth and recession in China, fueled by unlawful margin lending that noticed the Shanghai composite fall greater than 40% from its peak in a matter of weeks, in accordance with Reuters. Greater than $ 5 trillion was worn out of market capitalization in Shanghai and Shenzhen after peaking in June of that yr.
Earlier this month, Chinese language state media additionally warned traders to respect the market and handle threat.
“The tragic lesson of the irregular inventory market volatility in 2015 stays alive, warning us that we should promote a wholesome and affluent inventory market within the appropriate posture,” the China Securities Journal stated in an editorial.


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NEW YORK (AP) - Security experts are warning all Internet users to change all of their passwords because of a threat called Heartbleed that breached encryption technology used to securely transmit email, e-commerce transactions, social networking posts and other Web traffic. The threat is considered serious because it has remained undiscovered for more two years. The breach involves SSL/TLS, an encryption technology marked by the small, closed padlock and "https:" on Web browsers to signify that traffic is secure.
(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo has officially rolled out subscription-based accounts for verified users on its platform, letting fans subscribe to their favorite brands and celebrities to receive updates from them automatically, Sina Tech reports (hat/tip Tech in Asia).
The Twitter-like service’s latest move gives brands and celebrities a way to connect with their fans, in turn driving engagement and keeping users onboard. Verified users can send their followers updates via direct messages — so fans won’t miss anything that has been sent.
This comes amid fears that Sina Weibo is losing ground as it is being pressured by competition from messaging apps — in particular Tencent-owned WeChat, which already has public platforms for users to follow a particular account and receive updates accordingly.
Sina says that so far, more than 60,000 users have signed up to use this new channel during its beta-testing stage.


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Any advertiser, from the biggest global brands to the local flower shop, will now be able to advertise on Instagram as the social media site opens up its marketing platform to all for the first time.
From today (9 September) ads will be available in 30 new countries, including eight in Europe, with a global rollout planned for the end of September. That includes the newer direct response ads, which encourage users to take actions on posts through buttons such as ‘shop now’, ‘install’ or ‘learn more’.
Instagram is also launching new ad formats including ‘Marquee’ ads. These are aimed at delivering high awareness and impact over a short period of time for events such as Black Friday or a new campaign launch, according to Amy Cole, business operations at Instagram. “Instagram advertising is now open for business,” she said
Instagram has taken a measured approach to launching advertising on its site, testing what works with a small number of brands required to spend at least $50,000 on the site and offering them a member of the team to offer help and advice on what works and what doesn’t.
Cole explained: “We have taken a pretty considered approach so far. We feel confident that we know what works for advertisers and what experience is right for them and what needs they have on the platform and we know what works for the community.
“We’ve had good response so far because we’ve built that knowledge and that infrastructure to really be able to scale in the right way.”
Instagram claims that during testing brands saw statistically significant improvements in branding results. Across 400 campaigns analysed by Nielsen, 97% generated a significant lift in ad recall and Instagram ads were found to be 2.8 times more powerful than ads across the rest of the web.
Made.com, one of the brands that was given early access in the UK, claims it saw a 10% increase in order size among people shown Instagram advertising. Aligning Instagram advertising with business objectives
By opening up its ad platform Instagram runs the risk of brands that don’t understand the platform and its audience creating campaigns that simply won’t work. Steve Hatch, UK and Ireland director at Instagram owner Facebook, told Marketing Week that the key to advertiser success relies on understanding the community and great creative.
“The best brands bring their creative a game. On Instagram you stand out by fitting in. The best brands really understand the context of Instagram,” he said.
One issue with social media has been that many brands don’t know how to measure success. A recent survey by the CMO Survey found that just 15% of US marketers are quantitatively measuring their results, with more than 40% not measuring anything.
Hatch said Instagram has done a lot of work to introduce “comparable measurements”. But says marketers need to start aligning their social media marketing with their wider strategy.
“Brands need comparable measurement between platforms, and to recognize how that sits in the overall marketing mix. We do an awful lot of work with Nielsen on that to build out a sense of proof.
“The change we’ve seen is people thinking about Instagram as a solution to business objectives – how to solve a retention problem or hit a sales objective,” he said.
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ASSET-BACKED peer-to-peer platform Kuflink has expanded its short-term finance division, Kuflink Bridging, with a new hire.
Hiran Patel has been appointed as an underwriter on the bridging team, where he will support lending growth across the platform.
Patel has more than ten years’ experience in the finance industry and previously worked as an underwriter at Equifinance.
“Following the launch of our quick bridge product at the tail end of 2018, we’ve seen a huge spike in uptake from new brokers as well as familiar faces” said Narinder Khattoare, chief executive of Kuflink.
“Hiran joining the team will help us to meet this growing demand, maintain our high standards and continue improving upon our already award-winning bridging service.”
Khattoare added that the new hire will help to support its team as it embarks on its busiest year to date.
Kuflink has been growing at a rapid pace over the past few months. Last summer, the platform passed its £20m lending milestone, and in October it announced that its investments were being funded in record time thanks to new products such as Kuflink Bridging’s five-day loan.
The Kent-based company has also opened its second bricks-and-mortar office recently, located at the Silicon Roundabout in London.
Read more: Kuflink boosts IFISA and auto-invest rates


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USDA investigating claim Sysco kept meat in sheds
October 2 , 2013
An investigation by NBC Bay Area last year discovered that the largest food distributor in the world, Sysco, was storing raw meat, produce and dairy in unrefrigerated areas in Canada and the U.S. The reports suggest that food was left inside sheds for up to five hours before being taken out for delivery; the outside temperatures hit 81 degrees.
A local meat trade association complained to the USDA after viewing the NBA report and USDA is now known to be investigating the claim.
According to sources, the food stored inside the unrefrigerated sheds was part of the small and not-profitable orders. Experts have been concerned for years about the lack of enforcement over the condition of the food before it's delivered to the consumer. "Nobody knows what conditions it's being shipped under," one expert said.
Sysco mentioned that it has stopped using sheds in order to store food and is cooperating with the investigations.


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PARTNER NEWS: Digital security giant Gemalto is to supply its Ezio Mobile Suite to financial solutions provider Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) to help the company secure mobile payments, internet banking and related services in Japan. “With Gemalto’s solution, DNP can offer a strong and scalable cloud-based authentication platform, supporting a wide range of authentication and transaction signing methods, including biometric, one time password and out-of-band,” Gemalto says. DNP selected Gemalto to roll out mobile payment solutions to its customers in October 2015.
- Shanghai Metro installs QR code readers at ticketing gates
- National Australia Bank integrates with Amazon Alexa
- Westpac adds support for Amazon Alexa
- Ride-hailing app Grab acquires mobile payments startup iKaaz
- Starbucks tests cashless store concept in Seattle


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But it's no longer alone. There are now 32 cards offering a "0% deal" and many cards now have standard APR rates below Egg's.
So, has the Egg deal cracked? Not so says its spokesman. "We offer continuity so customers know what they are getting from us. But with increased competition in the market it's the others (credit card providers) that flit in and out of it.
Rather than playing that game we tend to offer our customers continuity. With 2.5m customers and 10% of gross balances in the UK, it remains an attractive deal - but needs to keep a close eye on rivals.


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|PR Newswire: Computer Hardware
|Philips présente HeartModel A.I. à l'occasion du congrès 2015 de l'ESC -
ANDOVER, Massachusetts, et LONDRES, August 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
La solution HeartModelA.I. de Philips est un outil à ultrasons anatomiquement intelligent qui fournit des résultats reproductibles, des temps d'examen rapides et un flux de travail fluide
|Philips presenta HeartModel A.I en el Congreso ESC 2015 -
ANDOVER, Massachusetts y LONDRES, August 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
La sofisticada aplicación Inteligencia Anatómica para los sistemas de imagen por Ultrasonidos ofrece resultados más reproducibles en Ecografía, tiempos de examen rápidos y un...
|India WI-Fi Data Card Market, CY 1Q 2015 -
DUBLIN, Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/l95bpg/india_wifi_data) has announced the addition of the "India WI-Fi Data Card Market, CY 1Q 2015" report to their offering.
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|Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. Press Release -
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (TAIEX: 2311, NYSE: ASX) ("ASE" or "we") today acknowledged the announcement made public today by Siliconware Precision Electronics Co, Ltd. ("SPIL") in response to ASE's tender offer of NT$45 per...
|Seek Thermal's Award-Winning Compact Line of Thermal Cameras Launch in Europe; -
BERLIN, Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Seek Thermal, creators of heat-seeking tools to help save time, money and lives, announced today that its debut, award-winning line of Compact thermal imaging cameras is now available in Europe for both iPhone and Android smartphone users. The Seek...
|IBM and GENCI Team to Drive Supercomputing Closer to Exascale -
PARIS, Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and GENCI, the high performance computing agency in France, today announced a collaboration aimed at speeding up the path to exascale computing – the ability of a computing system to perform at least one exaflop, or a billion...
|All-In-One 1U Integrated Computer and Display -
POWAY, Calif., Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Core Systems Incorporated, a leading global provider of rugged computer solutions, announced the build of the M1U2201, an all-in-one integrated computer with a 17" display and keyboard.
|IFA 2015: Seek Thermal feiert Europapremiere mit kompakten Wärmebildkameras für Smartphone und Tablet -
Bahnbrechende, mobile Technologie zur Visualisierung von Wärme ab sofort für Anwender in Europa erhältlich
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Nearly stagnant hard disk drives market is analyzed in this 2015 global HDD research report that provides forecasts to 2020, 12 company profiles, upstream raw materials, downstream demand analysis and more.
Complete report on hard disk drives...
|State of Ohio and NineSigma Collaborate to Drive Regional Economic Growth and Job Creation -
CLEVELAND, Aug. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- NineSigma the leading innovation partner to companies worldwide, will help drive over $450M in estimated overall revenue growth and anticipates the creation of over 350 new jobs through the Ohio Third Frontier Open Innovation Incentive...
|NCS Technologies Launches New Zero Client Endpoints and a Scalable, End-to-End VDI Solution at VMworld 2015 -
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DOVER, N.J., Aug. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Casio America, Inc. is excited to announce that its Systems Products Division received a Bronze Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) Vendor Award of Excellence in the Software and Hardware category for its electronic cash register...
|Lexmark to participate in Citi Global Technology Conference 2015 -
LEXINGTON, Ky., Aug. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Lexmark International, Inc. announced today that David Reeder, Lexmark vice president and chief financial officer, will participate in Citi's Global Technology Conference 2015 on Sept. 10, in New York City.
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MONROE, La., Aug. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) announced today that it will bring high-speed Internet services to approximately 1.2 million rural households and businesses in 33 states by accepting approximately $500 million a year for six years from the...
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|NICE Receives Two TMC Awards for its Ground-Breaking Contribution to the Industry and Product Innovation - RA'ANANA, Israel, August 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
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PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Elemental Technologies, the leading supplier of software-defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery, today announced that Com Hem, a Swedish supplier of broadband and television services, has chosen Elemental...


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Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre
Bespoke couture designer Ozwald Boateng treated his guests to an explosion of colour and African-inspired prints and textures with a grand fashion show on Sunday night at the Apollo Theater, Harlem New York.
The show was in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance and Ozwald who recently dressed Idris Elba for his wedding to Somalian wife Sabrina Dhowre, took the opportunity to launch his first womenswear collection.
He said he had chosen the Apollo, the ‘epicentre for African American culture’, because he was committed to building a bridge between Africa and the African diaspora.
Designer, Dapper Dan Harlem, actor, Omari Hardwick, models Adut Akech, Cindy Bruna, Maria Borges as well as Nigerian journalists, Nikki and Lola Ogunnaike, and more were in attendance. Musicians Justin Skye also attended with Jidenna and Diggy Simons part of the model lineup for the show.
See all the red carpet photos below.
Ernest Danjuma and a model
Lola and Nike Ogunnaike
Dapper Dan Harlem
Ryan Jamaal Swain
Photo Credit: Getty
For more on Fashion, follow us on Instagram @OBStreetStyle | Twitter: OnoBello | Facebook: OnoBello Magazine
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As for Mendel, he admitted he never attended prom growing up in Paris. "In France, we have debutante balls, which are more my idea of proms," he told WWD Thursday in between fittings for his fall runway show. "But I have a daughter who is almost 16, so I'm getting to know proms pretty well." Mendel said his guest-judging appearance on the Klum-helmed show was an easy transition since he's known and dressed the model for some time. "When she started the show, she always mentioned that one day I should come over and be a judge," he said. "I was very excited because I think the show is a lot of fun....I like the [premise] of challenging young kids to make a product in such a short period of time." Short, too, was the amount of time Mendel spent filming the episode — roughly three hours, from hair and makeup ("a little touch up," he assured) to the announcement of the challenge winner (an azure halter number by Victorya Hong, one of Mendel's favorite contestants) and loser.
As to whether there were any future, say, Gilles Mendels in the fourth-season pack of "Project Runway" contestants, the designer explained, "Overall, I think they were quite talented and the dresses that I saw were pretty..." He paused. "...OK....The authority of a TV show might not be good enough at the end to make a successful fashion house. That's a different ball game." — Nick Axelrod
BACK ON THE SCENE: Annemarie Iverson has returned to the halls of Hearst Magazines. The former editor of YM and Seventeen is filling in for Alexandra Parnass, beauty director, who is on maternity leave. Iverson was the beauty and fashion news director of Harper's Bazaar in the Nineties before rising to editor in chief of YM and later Seventeen when it was owned by Primedia. Iverson's position is a temporary one until Parnass returns. — S.D.S.
MOSS TAKES MANHATTAN: Kate Moss reportedly banked nearly $10 million last year and she is showing no signs of easing up. Being the face of Yves Saint Laurent isn't enough for her new year — Moss has shot Longchamp's spring campaign with Mario Sorrenti. The duo have paired up for the fifth consecutive season, with the Brooklyn Bridge and towering skyscrapers of southern Manhattan providing the backdrops for the new Eighties-inspired ads. If last year's earnings are any indication, luxury campaigns are incidental for the resilient supermodel. Nearly $4.3 million of last year's payout was said to come from her Topshop deal, $3.2 million stemmed from her affiliation with the fashion label Skate, and modeling contracts kicked in the rest.
— Rosemary Feitelberg
VIDEODROME: The spring Y-3 campaign was inspired by the video aesthetic of the Eighties, with its grainy quality, movement and action. But behind the scenes virtually everything other aspect of the campaign is new to the brand, according to a spokeswoman. Craig McDean photographed four models in color — a departure from the black-and-white images of past seasons — to be reminiscent of still frame movie shots off a VHS tape. Also new for spring, Vogue contributing editor Tabitha Simmons styled the campaign, which was art directed by Doug Lloyd of Lloyd & Co. The ads will break in the March and April issues of Vogue, Vogue Paris, L'Uomo Vogue and Vanity Fair Germany, among others. — A.W.


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FCB Ulka Interactive, a division of the FCB Ulka Group, has bagged the creative, as well as the media mandate for the coffee brand Vero. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch which saw the participation of five agencies for creative and strategy presentation, which was further followed by two rounds of evaluation.
Commenting on the pitch process, Priya Gandhi, vice-president, Vero, says, "FCB Ulka Interactive was finalised as the agency to manage the business based on its deep understanding of our product, user insights, and proven capability in managing small-to-large social media campaigns. We are confident that FCB Ulka Interactive will not just be a communications agency, but a strategic partner in our journey to re-define the coffee experience in India and build the brand Vero."
Satish Ramachandran, senior vice-president, FCB Ulka Interactive, adds, "Vero coffee is a prestigious business and it's a pleasure to be a part of the launch of this new category in India. I would like to thank the client for having expressed confidence in FCB Ulka Interactive."
Vero, a coffee brand, lays focus on Indian coffee blends rather than the Western taste, says the company in a press release.
Other clients handled by FCB Ulka Interactive include ICICI Bank, Skoda, Amul, Tata Housing Development Company, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).First Published : June 02, 2016


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This past April, I augmented that list with some commentary about whether Walgreen’s might become a Swiss-based company.
And in May, I pontificated about Pfizer’s effort to re-domicile in the United Kingdom.
Well, to paraphrase what Ronald Reagan said to Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential debate, here we go again.
Here’s the opening few sentences from a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Medtronic Inc.’s agreement on Sunday to buy rival medical-device maker Covidien COV PLC for $42.9 billion is the latest in a wave of recent moves designed—at least in part—to sidestep U.S. corporate taxes. Covidien’s U.S. headquarters are in Mansfield, Mass., where many of its executives are based. But officially it is domiciled in Ireland, which is known for having a relatively low tax rate: The main corporate rate in Ireland is 12.5%. In the U.S., home to Medtronic, the 35% tax rate is among the world’s highest. Such so-called “tax inversion” deals have become increasingly popular, especially among health-care companies, many of which have ample cash abroad that would be taxed should they bring it back to the U.S.
It’s not just Medtronic. Here are some passages from a story by Tax Analysts.
Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to buy U.S. pharmaceutical company Labrys Biologics Inc. Teva, an Israeli-headquartered company, had an effective tax rate of 4 percent in 2013. In yet another pharma deal, Swiss company Roche has agreed to acquire U.S. company Genia Technologies Inc. Corporations are also taking other steps to shift valuable assets and businesses out of the U.S. On Tuesday the U.K. company Vodafone announced plans to move its center for product innovation and development from Silicon Valley to the U.K. The move likely means that revenue from intangibles developed in the future by the research and development center would be taxable primarily in the U.K., and not the U.S.
So how should we interpret these moves?


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As is known, during the state visit of the Esteemed President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov to the Islamic Republic of Iran in June 2022, a number of documents were signed on various areas of bilateral cooperation, including customs.
During the meeting, which took place within the framework of this state visit, the heads of the customs services of the two countries agreed to jointly study the activities of border customs posts.
In accordance with this agreement, on August 31, 2022, a working meeting was held between the Chairman of the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan Maksat Hudaykulyyev and the President of the Customs Administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran Alireza Mogadasi.
During the meeting, the delegations of the customs services of the two countries got acquainted with the activities of the checkpoints on the Turkmen-Iranian state border "Artyk" and "Lotfabad".
During a visit to the Artyk customs point, the Iranian customs delegation was introduced to the rich infrastructure of the post, which includes a modern material and technical base, X-ray equipment, cargo disinfection terminals, and rooms for service dogs. The visitors were visually shown how carefully and clearly the work of the post was organized. The Iranian guests also got acquainted with videos in Persian about the activities of customs authorities equipped with a modern digital system, as well as the conditions created to prevent various inconveniences and congestion at the border checkpoints of Turkmenistan.
The working meeting also discussed the implementation of the recently signed Technical Conditions for the exchange of customs data, the establishment of an exchange on the customs value of goods of mutual trade, an inventory of the contractual and legal framework of services, and the next steps were identified to further expand bilateral cooperation.
At the end of the working meeting, the parties expressed the hope that today's visit will further increase the throughput of checkpoints across the state border connecting the two countries, while at the same time expanding and strengthening the customs interaction between the two states.


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Stakes rise for online gambling
(Page 4 of 5)
“A year in the internet is an eternity,” he said.
But, he added, if it happens, DoubleDown will be ready.
DoubleDown isn’t the only company ready to take advantage of online gaming. Redmond-based Wild Tangent is an online game distributor and in-game payment processor that has 23 casino games on its mobile site.
Wild Tangent Executive Vice President of Products Matt Shea said that if iGaming is legalized, developers will have to build a completely different system for handling the “chips” used to bet in games.
“Those games aren’t treating the currency as real money,” Shea said. “That currency cannot be switched over and turned into a payout.”
Some games give away chips to heavy users, or let people buy $100 worth of chips for $50 to make them feel like they have more money to gamble with than they would in real life.
In a real money game, however, online casinos would be unlikely to do that.
Wild Tangent is already a distributor for other companies’ games, including DoubleDown’s, and would make a likely partner for tribes creating their own games.
“Any game looking for distribution would be a candidate for us to distribute,” Shea said.
Not everyone is as excited about legalized online gambling, though. Matt Hulett, who runs the game division GameHouse at Seattle-based RealNetworks, said the social gaming market is pretty strong without legal iGaming.
“There’s a big audience for people who want to play ‘no-money’ games,” Hulett said.
In fact, approximately 250,000 people play social casino games on Facebook, even though they never get to cash out their winnings, he said.
Emily Parkhurst oversees all digital content for the Puget Sound Business Journal.
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- 4 min read
Global tax war ahead: After no consensus in OECD; Facebook, Google, Amazon, LinkedIn could face domestic taxes
OECD was expected to come out with a common tax framework by December this year, now it's expected to do so mid-next year. This could mean that most countries including India would implement their own plans rather than wait for OECD’s framework on how to tax digital giants.
MUMBAI: Google, Facebook, Amazon, LinkedIn and Netflix could face larger domestic tax liability after OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) postponed a common tax framework for global economies, a move that will allow countries like India to go ahead with their own plans to tax the digital giants.
OECD was expected to come out with a common tax framework by December this year, now it's expected to do so mid-next year.
This could mean that most countries including India would implement their own plans rather than wait for OECD’s framework on how to tax digital giants.
India has already started partly taxing these global giants under equalisation levy and has also introduced significant economic presence (SEP) framework last year.
“India was only waiting for the OECD to give some guidance around how economies must tax these global giants. Now that no consensus seems to be emerging, most large economies would go ahead with their own domestic taxes and regulations,” said a person close to the government.
India, along with other OECD members, was looking to bring some of the biggest multinationals under the domestic tax net.
OECD had been trying to bring large economies on one page under its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) framework.
“India too deferred the implementation of SEP until April 2021. We may not wait any longer and that would mean digital majors can be taxed in India on global profits based on their India revenues in certain cases. This would be in addition to the unilateral measure of Equalisation levy introduced recently,” said Ajay Rotti, Partner, Dhruva Advisors.
The US has already threatened reciprocal treatment of any economy that attempts to tax the digital giants. The US in June has already launched an investigation on how some of the countries including India are taxing digital companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook in India.
India in 2018 had said that global digital companies have a large consumer base in India but don’t pay enough taxes domestically.
There is a global push to bring the digital giants under the ambit of local taxes. Many such companies deliberately base themselves in low-tax jurisdictions.
India has come up with the SEP framework, whereby it can tax global giants taking their user base into consideration, a move objected by the US.
Tax experts say that the race to tax digital giants is set to create problems for some of the larger companies operating in India.
“Failure or even significant delay in reaching a consensus would mean that more countries would want to introduce unilateral legislation for taxing digital businesses. This could mean further trade conflicts and potential double taxation for MNCs. However if a consensus is reached, it would result in a shift in tax collection from low tax countries to consumer economies such as India,” said Rajesh Gandhi, partner, Deloitte India.
The issue, say industry trackers, is $ 100 billion large. Most of the large digital giants have created a maze of companies across the world as part of their tax planning. This also means that they don’t pay domestic taxes in several jurisdictions as per the liking of the local governments.
Take India for instance, government officials say that digital giants earn as much as Rs 25,000 crore from India but they do not pay domestic tax on the entire amount.
In most cases digital giants have created domestic companies that only charge “fees” or “commissions” and domestic tax (30%) is only paid on this portion of the amount.
To circumvent this, the Indian government has introduced an equalisation levy—6% on advertising revenue and 2% on online purchases—on digital transactions.
According to the people in the know, the concern among digital companies was that they might face tax in different jurisdictions for the same profits.
Industry trackers say that for most companies, the sales in India are not as high in percentage terms when compared to other major jurisdictions.
“The concern is that if the tax department challenges the current tax structures based on domestic regulations, it could have an impact on the revenue from other jurisdictions as well,” said a person in the know.
Under SEP framework tax department can tax digital companies in India even if they don’t have a permanent establishment (PE) here.PE is a concept in taxation that decides where a company must pay taxes. India’s move essentially means companies that do not have a single employee or office in the country too can be taxed by the income tax department here.