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Wal-Mart’s online customers will soon be able to retrieve their purchases at their local Wal-Mart stores and save on shipping.
After a three-year pilot program, the world’s largest retailer today launched the first phase of a national rollout that will bring its “site-to-store” service to most Wal-Mart locations in all 48 contiguous states by late summer.
Tens of thousands of online items in nearly 100 categories will be eligible for free delivery, including 2,232 CE SKUs. Indeed, Wal-Mart specifically targeted CE for the service, along with toys, sports, home and baby products, and cited a Samsung 32W-inch LCD HDTV, retailing for $897, as a top-selling item from the trial.
Special messaging is featured on eligible product pages, and during checkout customers can select the site-to-store option, chose the store where their items will be delivered, and see the amount saved on shipping. Purchases arrive in stores within seven to 10 business days after the order is processed.
Wal-Mart began testing the program within the Dallas-Fort Worth market in 2004, and sales more than tripled following trials at a limited number of pilot stores, the company said. Nevertheless, Wal-Mart, with its extensive store base, is a latecomer to the clicks-and-bricks service, which was pioneered by Circuit City and recently launched by RadioShack.
The first phase of the rollout will bring the service to 750 stores in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and select parts of Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Wal-Mart will activate additional stores throughout the United States over the next several months, beginning with the West Coast, and will complete the national rollout by late summer.
“Our extensive testing allowed us to create a multichannel shopping experience that brings additional assortment, convenience and value to our customers,” said Raul Vazquez, CEO of Walmart.com. “Nearly two-thirds of the customers who used the trial service also shop in Wal-Mart stores on a weekly basis. Site-to-store not only offers these customers access to thousands of additional online products, but also gives them the added convenience of picking up those items during their weekly shopping trips without paying for shipping.”
- 2019 TWICE Top 100: Watch List - May 23, 2019
- 2019 TWICE Top 100: Consumer-Direct Sales Dominate The Charts - May 22, 2019
- 2019 TWICE Top 100: Best Buy Keeps The CE Crown, But Barely - May 21, 2019


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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Clinic has found that a portion of its N95 mask supply used between November and Monday were counterfeit and “not effective as respirators,” according to the health system.
To be classified as N95, respirator masks must meet standards from the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and filter at least 95% of airborne particles.
The Clinic released a statement late Wednesday, saying that a manufacturer tipped off administrators that some of its purchases were counterfeit.
“We took immediate steps to remove these masks from our sites and have replaced them with approved supplies,” the Clinic said. The Clinic did not say how many masks were involved, only that it tested a sample of the masks and found they weren’t effective.
These masks were fraudulently branded and purchased through a third-party vendor, the Clinic said. The health system reported the fraud to law enforcement.
“We take this matter seriously and have reported this issue to law enforcement officials. Healthcare-related fraud has increased during the pandemic and unfortunately Cleveland Clinic is one of many health systems that has been impacted,” the statement said. “We are continuing to work with the manufacturer and its investigation to help prevent counterfeit products from entering ours and other healthcare systems across the country.”

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Sony has released an update to clarify its stance on backward compatibility for PlayStation 5, saying the upcoming console will support an “overwhelming majority” of the more than 4,000 existing PS4 titles. Ahead of the update, Sony’s Mark Cerny, the system architect for the PS5 who detailed its full hardware specs in a live stream presentation on Wednesday, said the console would support “almost all” the top 100 PS4 titles.
“A Quick Update on Backward Compatibility: With all the amazing games in the PS4 catalog, we’ve put significant effort into allowing our fans to play their favorites on PS5,” Sony writes in the update text, which is posted on the Top of your tech spec announcement post two days ago. “We believe that the overwhelming majority of the more than 4,000 PS4 titles will be playable on PS5.”
Sony also says those older titles may work better on the newer system, too. “We hope that backward compatible titles will run at an increased frequency on PS5 so that they can take advantage of higher or more stable frame rates and potentially higher resolutions,” the company adds. “We are currently evaluating games title by title to detect any issues that need to be addressed by the original software developers.”
Sony says Cerny “provided a snapshot of the top 100 most played PS4 titles” simply as a demonstration of the company’s current efforts at backward compatibility. “We have already tested hundreds of titles and are preparing to test thousands more as we move toward launch,” says the company. “We will provide updates on backward compatibility, along with much more PS5 news, in the coming months.”
Hopefully, this should clear up some confusion about the scope of the backward compatibility commitment from Sony. Some fans were concerned that the PS5 didn’t have the same next-gen level of compatibility as Microsoft’s next Xbox Series X. Considering the fierce competition between the two devices, fans of both are already vigorously debating which will be the best buy and most successful platform: Xbox fans have started a victory lap over X Series support for older games.
That said, Microsoft is still way ahead in terms of broader backlog support due to its many years of backward compatibility work. While the PS5 and Xbox Series X sound as if they both support the previous generation of hardware, Microsoft Xbox Chief Phil Spencer said last month that the Xbox Series X would support “four generations of Xbox,” meaning from the original system all the way down to the latest hardware.
“Our commitment to compatibility means that existing Xbox One games, including backward compatible Xbox 360 games and original Xbox games, look and play better than ever,” Spencer wrote in a blog post. “Your favorite games, including titles on the Xbox Game Pass, benefit from more stable frame rates, faster load times, and improved resolution and visual fidelity, all without the need for developer work. Your Xbox One gaming accessories are also presented with you. “
Instead of taking this route, Sony has chosen to support older games through its PlayStation Now cloud gaming service. That said, those concerned that the PS5 cannot play PS4 discs, or that their digital libraries cannot move with them, should be able to rest now.


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[INQ. NO. 1701M11] Waterworks Yujin, originally a manufacturer of water faucets, innovated itself in 1994 with robot automation and gained the strong competitiveness it enjoys today. Waterworks Yujin is now sharing its experience, technology, and innovation by robot with every corner of root industry.
Waterworks Yujin, previously adopted robots in the polishing process for its faucets, is now expanding its business scope to distribution of robot systems, attracting much attention from the robot sector. The robot technology will tell a story about the company that began its robot business to introduce superiority of robot automation to others.
It has been more than 20 years since Waterworks Yujin established its own robot automation business, after attracting wide attention by intro¬ducing robots to its own polishing line for faucet production in 1993, expanding scope of the robots. The company that innovated the polishing process by adding haptic technology is now leading the trend of robot automation as a distributor of robot systems.
The company’s latest precise robot system, called “Wefac Robot,” can perform polishing for large-sized products, or for detailed works. Its automatic processes will guarantee another level of reproducibility, enhancing the competitiveness of companies. For the heavy plating racks and chemical processes, the plating process was always lacking in stable HR. Wefac Robot will innovate the plating facility with high productivity and systematic field management.
korean-machinery.com | Blog Magazine of korean-machinery, brands and Goods


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DS Containers, a Japanese-American partnership, recently celebrated the grand opening of its Batavia, Illinois plant. U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and representatives of Daiwa—the company’s Japanese partner, which invested $100 million to the operation—were on hand as the company fired up its assembly lines in Batavia, Illinois. The 236,000 square-foot facility has the capability to produce approximately 30,000 hourly.
DS Containers applies Daiwa’s polymer-coating technology to produce steel aerosol cans that address the limitations of steel and are suitable for personal care items. The polymer-coated steel that is applied as part of the coil-making process at Corus Packaging Plus in Europe combines the integrity of steel with the versatility and protective properties of plastic. Finished cans are scratch, corrosion and rust-resistant, eliminating the need for interior and exterior coatings that are used in conventional can-manufacturing.


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MicroPort Scientific plans portfolio expansion
MicroPort Scientific India, an Indian arm of Shanghai-based medical device firm MicroPort Scientific Corporation is looking at expanding horizontally and vertically in terms of expansion across the country as well as product portfolios. The company provides medical solutions covering 10 major disciplines including interventional cardiology, orthopedics, endovascular, neurovascular, electrophysiology, diabetes and endocrine management, surgical management and others. The company has innovative TES (Target Eluting Stent) technology product FireHawk and it is eyeing at about 20 per cent market share in the stent business. The company’s short term investment would be in people and education. In long term it is also exploring opportunities to have local manufacturing and partners with the government in ‘Make in
India’ initiatives. MicroPort Scientific Corporation is a leading medical device company with business focussing on innovating, manufacturing, and marketing high-quality and high-end medical devices globally and its products currently approved for use in over 5,000 hospitals in 80 countries worldwide.


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An old high street favourite could be on its way back, right in time for Brexit. A former director of Woolworths, which collapsed nearly a decade ago amid debts of, like, £400 million, is trying to persuade the brand’s owners to let him use the name on a new chain of bricks-and-mortar stores.
Woolworths is one of those shops which people remember with fondness, but never actually bought anything from.
It’s best remembered for its luxurious collection of pick’n’mix sweets, and it was without doubt a good place, pre-internet, to buy CD and cassette singles, but the rest of it was just stuff you could get a bigger choice of online for less money. The internet in a nutshell, we guess.
Its closure was a tragedy at the time, with around 800 stores shutting their doors on the eve of its hundredth anniversary, at a cost of 27,000 jobs, but the campaign to bring it back is quite weird, considering how many other high street stores have also disappeared down in recent years, including Peacocks, JJB Sports, Comet and BHS.
Regardless, it’s not even certain that it will come back. Shop Direct, the brand owner, has yet to comment on Tony Page’s media campaign to give him the Woolworths name.
Claiming in an interview with Daily Star Online that he is still “emotionally attached” to the brand, he said: “I have contacted Shop Direct and said ‘you're not using the brand anymore, would you consider giving it to someone who would?’"
We’re going to get a lot more of this nonsense as Brexit sends us tumbling back through time.
(Image: Stuart Clarke/REX/Shutterstock)


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The Georgia District Export Council, a group of private-sector advisers that help companies in the state grow their sales internationally, was named the best organization of its kind by the U.S. Commerce Department at a May conference in Washington.
The council was honored as the top council, or DEC, out of more than 60 around the country convened by the department to boost U.S. exports by providing programming, training, coaching and advice to local firms.
Members of the the Georgia DEC including President Dan Usher and U.S. Commercial Service Atlanta Director George Tracy accepted the award during the annual National Association of District Export Councils, or NADEC, conference.
While DECs all have the same mandate to support export promotion efforts by the Commerce Department, they operate as independent nonprofits, tackling their work with varied methods depending on the makeup of their boards and each council’s role in its respective local export ecosystem.
In addition to its substantive help for small Georgia businesses, including those mentored through the Atlanta Metro Export Challenge grant program, the Georgia DEC set itself apart through its digital outreach.
The group has maintained and hosted for years a comprehensive set of export training webinars through Export-U.com, which sees thousands of viewers each month using its tools to assess export readiness and better understand topics like export documentation and international commercial terms.
Also catching the eyes of the nominating committee was the Georgia DEC’s role in helping nearly half of the other DECs around the country to build out websites to multiply efforts in their own communities.
Mr. Usher, the Georgia DEC president, said the recognition is more fuel for the council’s mission to help local firms find global markets.
“Georgia DEC members are mostly private sector executives volunteering their time and international expertise to help Georgia companies reach the 95 percent of the world’s population outside the U.S.,” Mr. Usher said. “Working closely with local, state and federal trade partners in Georgia, we connect, educate and advocate to impact Georgia’s export growth.”
He said the honor is a testament not only to the DEC but to the broader array of organizations dedicated to helping companies grow globally around the state.
“It’s an honor for Georgia that we all should celebrate,” he said. “As it relates to our Georgia DEC, we’ll leverage this recognition to raise awareness of our organization and our mission of growing Georgia exports, economy and jobs.”
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce Kendee Yamaguchi presented the award on stage at the NADEC conference. DEC member Sheriah Johnson, senior compliance manager at NCR Corp., and Zaheer Faruqi, CEO of airplane parts exporter Aventure Aviation in Peachtree City, were also on hand for the event. Mr. Faruqi is a Georgia DEC member who earlier this year was selected to represent the Southern area on the steering committee of NADEC.
Learn more about the Georgia DEC, find export resources or reach out for assistance at https://georgiadec.com.
Editor’s note: Global Atlanta Managing Editor Trevor Williams has been a member of the Georgia DEC Board since 2022.


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Campden BRI is to manage membership of a network created to share intelligence on food authenticity.
The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) has confirmed all ‘is back to normal’ following threats to contaminate Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Unilever and Delta products with chlorine and hydrochloric acid.
Canadian officials are investigating an outbreak of E. coli O121 which has sickened 12 people.
Recalls due to products contaminated with plastic or rubber more than doubled in the past 12 months, according to Detectamet.
A UK takeaway owner has been fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £200 in costs after admitting selling dishes labelled as containing lamb and almonds which were actually mutton and peanuts.
Food safety challenges this year will include persistent outbreaks and recalls and increasing US Department of Justice (DOJ) scrutiny, according to PURE Bioscience.


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Qlipp, a tennis sensor and mobile app which helps players track and improve their performance in real time, started as a six person startup, in Singapore. Dr Donny Soh, co-founder & CEO, Qlipp was looking to grow the product’s reach to further markets.
As a tennis perfomance sensor, Qlipp had scope of growth beyond the Singapore market. Soh said on the idea behind the product, “I have always been fascinated by technology and I was then working in A*STAR on a project in sensors / virtual reality. I was taking tennis classes then and constantly frustrated with not being able to hit well. It was then that this idea of having a performance sensor on my tennis racquet came.”
As Qlipp is a very niche product and this technology is still considered pretty new, the team decided to rely on Google’s tools for SMBs to increase their reach. “Knowing that it is not an item that will turn up on one’s search results or typically searched by consumers, we decided to employ the use of Google’s tools to increase the awareness of Qlipp online,” Soh said.
The team employed Google’s display ads to targeted the right customers. However, the initial targeting was done incorrectly in the team’s first attempt. “It took us a bit of fine-tuning to discover a target segment that responded well. Over time working with Google, we found out that the United States was an obvious market, and the team used online data to identify the top ten tennis-playing states in the United States, and targeted online advertising to those regions,” Soh explained.
As the product was different, the team later realised that display ads might not fully explain to users what Qlipp was. To demonstrate the features of the product better, the team created videos for YouTube and targeted the YouTube video to tennis players around the world. “YouTube’s video advertising turned out to be much better in driving traffic to the website. We also used remarketing to target users that had viewed our website and shown interest in Qlipp, and realised that this was effective in bringing about conversions,” Soh opined.
Some of the other SMB tools by Google, Qlipp’s team used was:
1. Test My Site to ensure their site is mobile-optimised
2. Google Adwords for marketing and establishing their online presence
3. Google Analytics to measure their online marketing
4. Google Firebase for their apps backend servers
“After just one month we saw a huge improvement in both site traffic exposure and sales. Over time, we also realised that doing display ads with video advertising works best if you time it with a local event or press release and sales conversions from Google remarketing can be achieved once you’ve laid the groundwork,” he added.
Working with Google to target the top 10 tennis-playing states in the United States resulted in a ten-fold increase in web traffic and a 30 per cent increase in sales in three months. “Since we adopted digital tools, 90 per cent of our company’s sales now come from overseas. With the use of Google Search ads and YouTube video ads, we were able to bring our products to life and reach the right customers overseas—this has really magnified our potential customer base beyond those living in Singapore,” Soh concluded.


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Imagine Communications And Sky Media Collaborate
- 17 February, 2021
Imagine Communications' xG GamePlan™
UK: Imagine Communications, which helps broadcasters and content owners monetize TV, has entered into an agreement with Sky Media, the advertising sales arm of Europe’s leading entertainment company, to transform the way that multiplatform media advertising is bought and sold. In a collaborative five-stage project, Imagine will work with Sky Media to evolve its existing, on-premises Landmark™ Sales application into a cloud-based, fully managed service for cross-platform campaign sales management, inventory optimization and adaptive audience fulfilment. This marks the latest chapter in the strong relationship between the companies, which has grown since 2007.
Central to the enterprising, multi-phased project is One Campaign, Sky Media’s new market-leading proposition that allows advertisers to buy a single campaign that is delivered and measured holistically across multiples platforms, including linear and on demand, and receive one invoice. The capability was successfully developed in 2020 and is now live.
Another critical element in Sky Media’s business-driving transformation is Imagine’s xG GamePlan™, a cloud-native booking optimizer that brings improved efficiency to audience-based campaigns to reach target goals with less inventory. With xG GamePlan, Sky Media can plan even last-minute campaigns accurately and effectively, ensuring all opportunities are monetized without over-delivery. Finally, the project will see Landmark Sales transition from a standalone application to a next-generation cloud-based platform including modern, browser-based user interfaces.
By next year all of Sky Media’s ad management operations will be fully migrated to the cloud and operated by Imagine Managed Service, enabling Sky Media to reduce total cost of ownership as compared to an on-premises deployment and allow them to focus on their core business of providing viewers with great content and providing brands with great advertising opportunities.
“At Sky Media, we are always looking at how we can simplify the TV advertising market,” said John Litster, Managing Director of Sky Media. “One Campaign has only recently launched, but it is already proving to be a huge success in the market. It is transforming the way TV advertising is planned, measured, traded and managed by focussing on audiences, not platforms. We have enabled advertisers to reach and connect with the right audience whenever and wherever they watch - in the knowledge it has the brand safety and high impact that only TV can provide. It will change the future of TV for the better, and in combination with other new tools such as xG GamePlan, it takes our capabilities to serve customers and manage our business to the next level.
“But we don’t want to stop there. Once the new cloud platform is fully rolled out in the UK, the logical next step will be to deploy it across our international footprint, enabling the Sky Media teams in every European territory to operate as a fully integrated hub from a single common platform.
“The team at Imagine are fantastic partners in enabling all of this change. We have achieved a lot together already, and while there is more to do, we are really excited about the future and the prospect of building an even stronger partnership with them.”
“Our vision for the future of ad tech is a comprehensive, cross-platform advertising planning and delivery platform that runs in the cloud, provides a modern, intuitive user experience, and is readily and seamlessly integrated into all the systems around it,” said Tom Cotney, CEO of Imagine Communications pictured. “When we discussed this vision with Sky Media, they enthusiastically embraced it and were eager to work with us to bring it to life. This is a game-changer not just for Sky, but for all broadcasters and media businesses that need centralized, consolidated, cross-platform and highly efficient advertising technology.”
For more information about Imagine Communications’ products and solutions, please visit:


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The sales of Electric vehicles in China have grown since last year despite the global pandemic. When we think of EVs, the first company that clicks our mind is Tesla. Elon Musk’s Tesla is undoubtedly the largest electric vehicle company globally and is simply leading the charts. However, China has never been easy for foreign brands, and Tesla was no different. Chinese companies stepped into the NEV (new energy vehicles) market and gave very tough competition to Tesla. The leading Chinese NEV company is called Nio.
RISE OF NIO
Nio was founded in 2014, based in Shanghai, China. On the day of its launch, the company introduced its EP9 sports car. Following that, it catered to favorite Chinese SUVs, launching ES8, ES6, and the latest EC6. Chinese people love SUVs and have always looked up to brands like BMW, Audi, and Mercedes. With the advent of electric vehicles, Tesla and now Nio and other EV brands are increasing the options in the market.
COMPETITION TO TESLA
Nio continues to expand. Recently, the Chinese company launched its first-ever luxury EV sedan, the ET7. This electric vehicle is all set to give tough competition to Tesla’s popular Model S. They follow a model similar to that of Tesla, stamping its extensions in the EV market. Nio Service centers, Nio Life apparel band, and Nio power are some examples of its wings. Speaking of neck-to-neck competition, Tesla took about 12 years to produce 100,000 vehicles. On the other hand, Nio took just six years to reach this milestone.
THE BATTERY SWAP TECHNOLOGY
One thing that differentiates Nio from Tesla is its battery swap technology. Tesla tried adopting this technology way back but had to drop it. They went with developing long-lasting batteries instead. The former on the other hand, is successfully handling this technology in its EVs. This technology allows easy replacing of batteries if they go dead or require an upgrade. The Chinese EV company has around 160 battery swapping stations across China. On the contrary, Tesla has established 2500 superchargers and 2400 destination chargers all across the country.
Speaking of sales, Tesla had a lead in the first half of 2020. The giant BYD sold the most EVs in China, followed by Tesla on the 2nd spot, while Nio was placed on 9th. However, Nio has overpowered Tesla since then, posting a sign of worry for Elon Musk and the company.
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While both the next-generation iPad Air and iPad mini are expected to be unveiled at Apple’s special media event this Thursday, Oct. 16, we’re now getting an idea when the products will actually hit the market.
According to MacRumors, that date appears to be Friday, Oct. 24. The report says Apple is already shipping large quantities of a new product into the United States.
The site’s sources were unable to identify the exact product being shipped, so it could be either one, or both, of the rumored tablets.
That schedule would also mirror what Apple has done in the past with iPad introductions. For example, in 2013, the iPad Air was introduced on Tuesday, Oct. 22 and landed in stores on Friday, Nov. 1. While the iPad mini was unveiled at the same event, it didn’t arrive until November because of supply constraints.
The “iPad Air 2” is expected to feature a faster A8X chip, 2GB of RAM, an even thinner body, and a Touch ID sensor. The smaller tablet is also expected to receive the biometric functionality.
Along with the two new tablets, Apple should be introducing a Retina iMac and discuss rollout plans for the Apple Pay mobile payment system and OS X Yosemite on Thursday.
For other recent news, see: Apple will soon be providing after-sales service for Beats products, A nasty bug has been removed that made it difficult for some iOS 8 users to download apps, and Dropbox says its service is safe following reports of ‘massive’ hack.


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Global Tech & Strategy Summit 2023 Mumbai, Mumbai
In today’s rapidly evolving marketplace and fast-changing technology environment, being relevant to the market and to consumers is paramount for every business. Organizations and individuals alike need to keep up with new technology trends. If they are to remain competitive and continue meeting customer expectations.
To address challenges for new business realities, Quadrant Knowledge Solutions is proud to announce the Global Tech & Strategy Summit (GTSS), aiming to help organizations respond to global changes with technology innovations.
The Summit will bring together technology professionals, digital leaders and subject matter experts who will discuss, deliberate and provide insights on emerging technology trends & disruptions, strategies for the new business reality, and best practices & priorities for tech leaders.


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Footwear maker Pou Chen Corp (寶成工業) yesterday said that it has suspended production at its plant in Myanmar amid clashes between police and protesters following a military coup on Feb. 1, in which the military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Pou Chen provides original design manufacturing services to international brands, such as Nike Inc, Adidas AG, Asics Corp, New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc, Timberland Co and Salomon SAS.
The company said that the decision to stop production was made out of safety considerations.
The suspension is not expected to have an adverse effect on Pou Chen’s overall operations, as the Burmese plant accounts for a fraction of its total production, the company said.
Its factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Myanmar account for about 4 percent of the firm’s total production, Pou Chen said, adding that the closure of the Burmese manufacturing facility would not cause any delays in shipments to customers.
If greater capacity is needed to meet demand, production would be increased at its plants in Indonesia and Vietnam to fill the void left by the Burmese plant, the company said.
Pou Chen’s business has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue from its shoe contracting business falling 24.6 percent last year from a year earlier.
Tsang Yi Co (昌億), another Taiwanese footwear maker that supplies shoes to Adidas, has also halted its production in Myanmar amid the violence there, the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Invest Taiwan office said.
Pou Chen and Tsang Yi suspended their Burmese operations to protect their employees, and it is unclear when production would resume given the turmoil in the country, the office said.
Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) yesterday reported higher neutralizing antibody levels in people who were given its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster after two AstraZeneca doses, the company said. In a trial of 200 participants who received Medigen’s COVID-19 vaccine, neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 grew by 5.7 times one month after being administered, Taoyuan General Hospital said. Medigen said that the results have been submitted to medRxiv, an online platform for researchers to share complete but unpublished papers. Another trial conducted by National Taiwan University Hospital showed that among 45 participants who received three doses of the Medigen vaccine,
BEATING EXPECTATIONS: With electric vehicles and the metaverse on the horizon, the company predicts a solid first quarter as customers stockpile inventories Key iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) could achieve an “unprecedented” performance in the first quarter, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said. “Our performance in the first quarter might surpass how we fared in the past few years, and it is likely that some staff at key sites might only get two days off during the Lunar New Year holiday,” Liu said in prepared remarks for the company’s annual workers’ party yesterday. Manufacturers around the world are racing to build up inventory out of fear that outbreaks of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and other uncertainties could further disrupt their supply
The US Department of Commerce on Tuesday said that a global survey of semiconductor chip producers and users shows a shortage will persist, sparked primarily by wafer production capacity constraints. The voluntary survey of 150 companies last fall in the supply chain confirmed “there is a significant, persistent mismatch in supply and demand for chips, and respondents did not see the problem going away in the next six months.” US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told reporters that the department “in a few instances didn’t really get what we needed and we’re going to go company by company and do personal engagement
EV ‘ECOSYSTEM’: The firms have agreed to work with the Indonesian government and others in creating infrastructure for the country’s growing EV market Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday made a major step toward a foothold in the world’s electric vehicle (EV) market by signing partnership agreements with the Indonesian government and local energy and battery companies, in which local EV supplier Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) would also take part. Hon Hai, the world’s largest electronics manufacturing company, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Ministry of Investment, battery maker PT Industri Baterai Indonesia, PT Indika Energy and Gogoro to build a sustainable energy ecosystem in Indonesia, a joint statement said. The government-level deal came after Hon Hai last year unveiled its first EV


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Nintendo Game Saves Boy's Eyesightsandymaple
Despite a general consensus that video games are little more than time-wasting diversions, they’ve been getting some pretty good press lately. First, the American Heart Association gave the Nintendo Wii Fit their stamp of approval by forming a partnership with the video game maker to encourage active video game playing. Now, another popular Nintendo game has been credited with saving a young boy’s eyesight.
At the age of four, Ben Michaels was diagnosed with amblyopia in his right eye, a condition better known as “lazy eye.” By the time he was six, his vision was so poor in that eye that he couldn’t recognize family member’s faces. But things changed after he was prescribed an unusual treatment. Consultant Ken Nichal, of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in the UK, told Ben to cover his strong eye with a patch and spend at least two hours a day playing video games on his Nintendo DS console.
After just one week of regular sessions of Mario Kart, Ben’s mom says her son’s eyesight had “improved 250 per cent.” Although his vision remains imperfect, Ben can now see well enough in that eye to read.
Nichal says the repetitive eye movement required to play this type of video game trains the eye to focus correctly. And unlike the boring eye exercises usually prescribed for this condition, kids are much more likely to get on board with type of therapy. And that willingness to play video games, says Nichal, might just be the key to the success of the treatment.
“A games console is something children can relate to. It allows us to deliver treatment quicker. What we don’t know is whether improvement is solely because of improved compliance, ie the child sticks with the patch more, or whether there is a physiological improvement from perceptual visual learning.”
While prescribing video games to improve vision may sound unconventional, the idea isn’t new. A 2009 study found that playing certain action video games improved players’ ability to discern different shades of gray, resulting improved vision at night.
Image: Seth W/Flickr
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Inpher Secures Strategic Investment from Swisscom Ventures to Accelerate Growth in Secure, Privacy-Preserving Computing
NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2021– Inpher, Inc., the pioneers of Secret Computing®, today announced a strategic investment from Swisscom Ventures to fuel growth and partnership for market acceleration in telecommunications, finance and healthcare. Inpher’s existing investors include the Amazon Alexa Fund, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Crosslink Capital, Bowery Capital and Alpana Ventures.
Gartner predicts that “by 2025, 50% of large organizations will adopt privacy-enhancing computation for processing data in untrusted environments and multiparty data analytics use cases.” Consumer awareness, expanding data privacy regulations and secure, collaborative AI applications are driving this growing demand. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has specifically recommended the use of ‘split or multi-party processing’ as a supplementary measure for compliant data processing under the GDPR which is a foundational cryptographic capability in Inpher’s products.
“We are experiencing strong growth due not only to data privacy compliance, but also the realization that privacy-preserving computing drives commercial ROI through actionable insights from broader and deeper pools of sensitive data,” said Jordan Brandt, Chief Executive Officer of Inpher. “Our customers are building new businesses and revenue streams through Secret Computing©.”
The strategic investment from Swisscom underlines Inpher’s continued partnership with trusted industry leaders in data security, privacy and AI. “We look forward to implementing the vanguard of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) to ensure cryptographically guaranteed trust for the many industries we serve,” said Pär Lange, Investment Partner at Swisscom Ventures. “The patented technology, enterprise-ready product and expert team at Inpher demonstrate the next wave of innovation and scale in this rapidly expanding market.”
Inpher is a New York-based, global Secret Computing© company that powers privacy-preserving machine learning and analytics to unlock the value of sensitive, siloed data and enable secure collaboration across teams and organizations. Data scientists leverage Inpher’s XORTM SaaS to train and run ML models on deeper and more diverse data while it is encrypted to improve model performance with mathematically guaranteed data privacy and residency. Global enterprises have used XOR in multiple vertical applications across finance, healthcare and IoT. Inpher’s team of recognized leaders in the fields of Multiparty Computation (MPC), Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), and Federated Learning (FL) continue to deliver the fastest, high-precision privacy-preserving capabilities.
Press Contact: [email protected]
Original Content Published on PR Newswire


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The engine features a 12. Just like speed radar devices that simply display the speeds of passing motorists without issuing tickets, the pilot program in Edmonton only displayed the noise of vehicles going by, with no negative consequences for lawbreakers.
Although the German Intermot show doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, Indian has gotten a head start on the party by introducing its FTR1200 and FTR1200 S naked bikes the cameras were equipped with a display board.
They work like photo radar, but instead of taking pictures of vehicles that travel over the speed limit, the devices determine the decibel output of nearby vehicles and if a vehicle (motorcycle, car, truck, whatever) was over the legal limit, then it would mail a ticket to the offending vehicle’s owner.
We also accumulated tens of thousands of test miles on the street with input from racers, including our championship winning Wrecking Crew flat track team and former Grand Prix racers. Residents near the devices claim they’ve actually caused a hike in road noise. Additionally, the engine makes wide use of Electric Lift Truck Manufacturers magnesium to reduce weight and utilizes a low-inertia crankshaft that allows the engine to rev to its redline quickly for thrilling acceleration


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For a cause
eBay India has launched a new dedicated meta category (http://charity.shop.ebay.in ) for increased visibility for NGO products.Updated: Jun 24, 2010 14:25 IST
eBay India has launched a new dedicated meta category (http://charity.shop.ebay.in ) for increased visibility for NGO products. The new meta category aims at offering Indian NGOs a platform to raise funds by retailing their products to a national and global audience of savvy, online shoppers.
Over 40 NGOs are registered with eBay India’s Charity Platform, which includes CRY, Save the Children, and Women’s India Trust, among others. The new Charity Home on eBay India will allow easy access for interested shoppers who want to support the NGOs and offer them safe, easy payment options.
Deepa Thomas, Senior Manager-Pop Culture, eBay India, says, “The launch of the new Charity Meta category will help propel NGOs products front. Most importantly, each of the NGOs can also raise awareness for their cause in their eBay listings.“
Since the inception of the program, the eBay community has helped us raise over Rs 2 crore for charity through the sale of NGO products, online donations and participation in high profile charity auctions of products like ‘Yuvraj Singh’s Bat’, ‘Sachin’s Coaching Camp’ or ‘A day with Priyanka Chopra’.
* CRY (Child Rights & You) Colourful magnets, coasters, mouse pads, trays, photo frames, pen stands, memo pads, cheque book holders and tic tac toe game set.
Ceramic mugs, clip boards, notepads,
business card holders, ethnic bags, notebooks and desktop pen holder.
* Save the Children
Jewellery boxes, paper bags, drawing book, jute bags, tee shirts, jewellery, and candle holder.
T-shirt, backpacks, laptop bags, sleeping bags and baskets.
Diyas, paper bags, earrings, bracelets and necklaces.
* Joker hand puppet from WIT charity: Current bid price: Rs 150
* Black bag with imprinted design from Aseema charity: Current bid price: Rs 349
* Attractive jewellery box with joker design from Save The Children charity: Current bid price: Rs 1,199
First Published: Jun 24, 2010 14:24 IST


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ET had reported Tuesday that VPN providers such as Surfshark and NordVPN are unlikely to be able to adhere to a new security directive from Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). This mandates maintaining the personal data of users for five years or longer and handing them over to the government when sought or face punitive action. The directive is scheduled to take effect by June-end.
"Most of the frauds were happening through VPNs," the official said. "We are just saying you keep the records for five years... we are not saying give it to us. We are saying keep the records - if required, then any law enforcement agency can ask. I think that's a very fair ask. It's an evolution. All the countries are moving in that direction... Police has the right to ask the criminal to remove the mask or not - same is the case here."
India has more than 270 million VPN users, who use them to access company networks securely, remain anonymous, access geo-restricted content, stay safe on public Wi-Fi networks and get around internet curbs, among other things. The move could render VPN services illegal in India if providers don't comply.
'Some Provisions may Hit Enterprises'
The parliamentary standing committee of home affairs had called for a ban on VPNs last year, citing cybersecurity threats.
Top VPN companies told ET that logging sensitive user data would go against the nature of their services, which are designed to protect user privacy. Netherlands based-Surfshark, a popular VPN service in India, said that it doesn't even have the technical means to comply with the order.
As per the new rules, which will come into effect within 60 days of being notified, all enterprises will have to report any cybersecurity incident to CERT-In within six hours and store all data for a stipulated period of time.
Security experts point out that it currently takes days or even months before some enterprises realise that they have been compromised.
In a letter to the cybersecurity agency, the Information Technology Industry (ITI) Council asked for a delay in implementation and opening the matter up to a wider stakeholder consultation.
"The directive has the potential to improve India's cybersecurity posture if appropriately developed and implemented," said Kumar Deep, country manager at the ITI Council. "However, certain provisions, including counterproductive incident reporting requirements, may negatively impact Indian and global enterprises and undermine cybersecurity."
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Brands & Companies
- Electronic, Car Cos Hit Top Gear to Step Up Festive Output
Companies manufacturing cars, smartphones, televisions, refrigerators and washing machines are ramping up festive season production by up to 50% compared with the corresponding period a year ago, anticipating robust sales and buoyed consumer sentiment in the next three-four months.Amid Curbs, India-Russia Trade Via INSTC Booms
The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) has been facilitating a higher volume of trade between India and Russia via Iran over the last three months amid the West’s sanctions on Moscow following the Ukraine war.Market Share of Private Fuel Retailers Falls 50-80% in a Year
The combined share of private players—Reliance-BP, Shell and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy—has shrunk by 50-80% in the fuel retail market year-on-year and even the taxes imposed in July on exports or the official mandate to sell more in the domestic market hasn’t helped.
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
ETPrime stories of the day
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The Nigerian smartphone market has consistently recorded growth, with many top brands competing aggressively. When Samsung Electronics West Africa, launched the Galaxy S7 Edge and S7 smartphones recently, its Director of Information and Mobility, EmmanouilRevmatas, told Raheem Akingbolu that the market is responding positively to innovation
The launch of Galaxy S7 edge and S7 is coming barely a year after Samsung unveiled Galaxy S6 edge and S6, is the introduction of the new devices a result of less-than-stellar performance of the preceding model in the market?
Not at all; Samsung as a brand has become synonymous with innovation. Our Galaxy S range is also regarded as the premium smartphone. Introducing the new Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and S7 is our commitment to our customers to meet their ever-evolving technology needs in the fast-paced world we live in. Samsung did not just redefine these devices, but also re-imagined what they could do based on the feedback from the people who use them, and what they need most from the devices. Our customers are the inspiration for any innovation.
The Galaxy S7 series are being positioned as stunning in both visual appeal and handling. Can you please highlight the major features that stand the new offerings out?
The key differentiators for the S7 edge and S7 range from IP68 water and dust resistance feature, which allows for submersion in up to 1.5meters of water for 30 minutes at a time. The S7 comes with 3,000mAh battery, while the S7 edge has 3,600mAh batteries which are great improvements from the S6. They also come with 4GB of RAM for improved multitasking and 30 percent more powerful processors with “thermal spreader” water-cooling technology to avoid the phones overheating.
Both devices have support for microSD cards augmenting their 32GB of internal storage. The microSD card space can also be used as a second SIM slot for those who want to use two SIM cards on their device.
In the pre-sales promotion you have been conducting, Samsung is bundling a device, the Gear, with the S7 series. What is the Gear all about?
The Gear VR is a virtual reality headset that allows you to clip in your Samsung device and transport yourself to another galaxy by either playing a virtual reality game or watching a fully immersive and interactive movie, or your own video that you have captured on your Gear 360 camera.
Since all Android-based phones are basically running on the same platform, why should one be preferred to the other?
Rather than answer this, I would prefer to say, let the consumer decide based on their own needs and wants.
There is a widespread perception that Android-based phones consume far greater amount of data. Is this true and what can be done to minimise the amount users expend on data?
Perception is not always reality. Perhaps, as research has shown, the ease of using Android-based phones means that consumers access the internet and do a lot more with their devices and therefore consume more data because of higher usage.
There is the claim that the S7 series are water and dust resistant. Isn’t this a sales enhancing gimmick?
An IP, which is “Ingress Protection” rating, can only be achieved after a rigorous assessment has been confirmed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The code is defined by the IEC who state that IP68, which the S7 is, can be immersed up to 1.5m for 30 minutes.
Considering the pricey nature of the smartphones, why is Samsung not promoting insurance to reduce possible losses from buying these smart devices?
As many know we were the initiators of this concept several years back, but now many retailers are offering this service in one form or another.
How easy is it to get help with fixing them when buyers experience glitches? Or do you simply replace them under warranty?
Depending on the nature of the problem, when a customer has an issue and takes their device to our service centres, which are located across Nigeria, the Service Consultant will advise whether the glitch is in or out of warranty. As you also know, we continue to be the only brand that offers a 24-month warranty.
We have seen the huge growth that the smartphone market has witnessed in Nigeria, which is not too different from other markets around the globe. Indeed, a recent report ranked Nigeria 17th globally in smartphone usage. What could be responsible for the huge growth that we are experiencing in this market?
In fact, approximately 70 percent of the market is still feature phone based even though there is a significant growth year-on-year of smartphones. The huge growth is being driven by availability of broadband. Nigeria often leapfrogs technologies evidenced by the fact that most people will never have a landline. Another factor driving adoption is investment in 3G, and more recently LTE, coverage and capacity. A third factor is that smartphones are becoming more affordable and in addition, the need for people to be connected is also driving growth. Nigeria ranks extremely high in terms of social media trends and activity.


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San Diego County CU Adds Same-Day Bill Payment
SAN DIEGO – San Diego County CU said same-day bill payments are now available through its online bill payment solution, Bill Payer Plus, one of the first financial institutions to offer the service.
Members can select the same-day delivery option as part of the normal payment scheduling process. San Diego County’s Bill Payer Plus and the same-day payment option are powered by CheckFree RXP from Fiserv, which processes billions of payments for millions of consumers each year.
Bills available for same-day payment include auto, mortgage, credit card, utility, phone and other common household bills, the credit union said.
“Same-day payments can help our members pay their bills on time and avoid late charges or penalties from their billers,” said Teresa Halleck, president of the $5 billion credit union.


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BAKU: The bi-currency basket, revived by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, does not describe fully the disposition of currencies of the main consumer good suppliers in the country, but is much higher than the real import currency basket.
According to customs statistics, the main suppliers of consumer goods in the country are Russia, Turkey and the EU (euro zone), but the bi-currency basket does not include Russian and Turkish currencies. The currencies of the EU, Russia and Turkey form the import currency basket.
It includes three currencies, weighted by their formal share in the supply of consumer goods to Azerbaijan: Russian ruble and Turkish lira by 35%, the euro by another 30%.
On 25 December the CBA announced the exchange rate of ruble at the level of AZN 0.0221 (yesterday: AZN 0.0223; by the end of last week: AZN 0.0148), the exchange rate of lira at the level of AZN 0.5324 and euro at the level of AZN 1.7043. As a result, the import currency basket for today (the second day for the manat devaluation year) costs AZN 0.7054 against AZN 0.7032 on 24 December, AZN 0.8038 on 21 December, AZN 0.4724 on 18 December. As a result, efficiency of import remains at the standard level.


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ASDA has announced it is creating up to 3,000 new jobs across the UK - 800 of them in stores in Northern Ireland and the remainder across its 289 stores in England, Scotland and Wales.
This week, Asda opens five new stores in England and Scotland, including its largest-ever - a Supercentre in Milton Keynes, which launches on Saturday November 19 with a staff of 1,000. The recruitment drive means an average of seven extra colleagues - as Asda calls its staff - in every store and the company says it will ensure top-notch service and fully stocked shelves throughout the day.
Asda is also creating 300 jobs at Teesport, near Middlesbrough, where it is investing #20million in developing a new import centre. This deep-sea container facility will help ease congestion in southern container ports, such as Felixstowe and Southampton, and provide Asda with an international logistics operation in the North East.
The new jobs will be mainly for warehouse staff, such as loaders and forklift truck drivers. Construction has begun on a huge warehouse, which will be ready for action by February. To find more about jobs in-store, contact your nearest Asda. For information about opportunities at the new import centre, enquire at your local Jobcentre.
THE North East is also the location of the latest Job Scene exhibition, which comes to the Metro Radio Centre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne tomorrow and Saturday, November 19.
The exhibition features a long list of employers, including local names such as Northumbrian Water, Durham County Council, Northumbria Police and Sunderland Housing Group, as well as nationally known companies including Orange, npower, First Choice Holidays and Flights and Zurich.
A number of local colleges and training organisations will be attending and features at the show will include Business Start Up and IT Analysis Advice Clinics, as well as help with interview techniques.
The exhibition is free and doors are open from 10am till 4pm on both days. To find out more, visit www.jobsceneuk.co.uk.
IN London, The Barbican's Exhibition Hall 1 is hosting The Career Fair 05, also taking place tomorrow and Saturday, November 19.
The show houses more than 50 exhibitors from 17 industry sectors looking to recruit permanent, temporary and contract staff, with interview areas set aside to allow visitors to talk to recruiters in private. There's also a CV Clinic, a programme of seminars and free presentations during Friday by inspirational speaker Richard Denny.
Opening hours are 10am till 7pm on Friday and 10am till 5pm on Saturday. For further information, including directions to the venue, visit www.thecareerfair.com.


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- Hyundai plans to have autonomous tech on road by 2020 – Automotive News: Hyundai said today it aims to commercialize autonomous driving capabilities in some of its cars in 2020, as the South Korean automaker plays catch-up in the increasingly competitive technology.
- Automakers Poised to Enjoy Big Year in 2015 – Detroit Bureau: With the big New York Auto Show set to open this week, carmakers have every reason to be optimistic about their prospects for the month ahead based on preliminary data. Auto sales are on track to hit 17 million units. For details, go to TheDetroitBureau.com.
- CHINA: Faurecia inks JV with Dongfeng Hongtai – Just-auto: Faurecia says it has inked a joint venture with Dongfeng Hongtai, which will serve the Chinese company and its automotive partners for passenger and commercial vehicles.
- NADA expects interest rates to hold through summer, boosting auto sales – Automotive News: The National Automobile Dealers Association predicts the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates through the summer, giving vehicle sales a boost that can offset slow economic growth in the start of the year.
- Bang & Olufsen to Sell Car-Audio Unit to Harman in Focus Shift – Bloomberg: Bang & Olufsen A/S plans to sell its automotive … products to makers of high-end cars and target B&O Play to the “mass luxury market.
- RUSSIA: Falling rouble allows GAZ to export competitively: CEO – Just-auto: GAZ Group says the current rouble devaluation allows it to take advantage by competitively exporting commercial vehicles with improved warranties compared to similar foreign products.
- US: Tesla to unveil ‘major new non-car product line’ – Just-auto: Tesla is set to unveil a new non-car product line at the end of this month, with speculation rife that the new product will be a home battery.
- PSA chief Tavares dampens talk of merger with Fiat Chrysler – Automotive News: “[Fiat Chrysler boss] Sergio Marchionne is welcome every time he wants to speak to us but for us it’s a little bit early now,” Tavares said in an interview…
- Mercedes pickup will be built by Nissan, report says – Automotive News: Daimler declined to comment on a report that its first Mercedes-Benz pickup will be based on the Nissan Navara. Nissan would build…


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News 11:02 February 2024:
All our services are working fast and instantly. Feel free to try us out , we even have a the free trial.
The social media craze in the world today is huge; you are literally seen to be a boring person if you are not on social media. People are constantly on their phones and their mobile devices updating their Facebook statuses, retweeting tweets, posting photos and so and so forth. People’s lives have become like a series for the world over to follow as everything is put out there on social media; from what they are doing for the day to where they will be going to what plans they have for the weekend and so on and so forth.
The new addition to the social media craze is snapchat. Snapchat has taken the social media world by storm and it is indeed getting a large number of followers. With Snapchat you get to post videos of yourself and maybe activities that you are engaging in with your friends. The more interesting your videos are the more snapchat followers you will get. It is always about picking the interest of those looking at your page. They should be entertained anytime they visit it. As a matter of fact, social media has turned out to be one of the biggest sources of entertainment in the world of today thus you have to keep people wanting to come back.


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Econet to launch mobile VoIP?
TELECOMS| Jan. 25, 2012, 5:10 p.m.
Speculation is mounting in Zimbabwe that Econet is preparing to launch a mobile VoIP service.
While Econet Broadband already offers Voice over Internet Protocol packaged for landlines, it is rumoured that the company will extend this option to mobile at a launch tomorrow.
Mobile VoIP is seen as a more cost-effective way to make mobile calls, particularly long distance calls, as the calls are priced at local internet data rates.
MORE TELECOMS NEWS
MTN Nigeria condemns xenophobic attacksMTN Nigeria has condemned the raft of xenophobic attacks unleashed on migrants in South Africa, and cautioned against reprisals. Read More
New Samsung flagships arrive in KenyaSamsung Electronics last week launched its entirely redefined smartphones, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, into the Kenyan market. Read More
Glo gives subscribers 200% bonus airtimeNigerian operator Globacom has launched three new packages designed to give subscribers the most affordable call rates in the country. Read More
Huawei seeks to help build better connected AfricaHuawei is seeking closer cooperation with the governments of Zimbabwe and other southern African countries in accelerating connectivity, the company’s VP for Eastern and Southern Africa, has told the Innovation Africa Digital (IAD) Summit 2015 in Vitoria Falls. Read More
NATCOM set to take over NITEL/Mtel assetsThe government of Nigeria has cleared the coast for the take-over of the assets of former state-run NITEL and its mobile arm Mtel, by an indigenous firm, NATCOM Consortium. Read More
Nigeria lawmakers approve NCC’s N60.2b budgetNigeria’s lower legislative chamber, the House of Representatives, has passed the N60.258 billion 2015 budget of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Read More
Microsoft empowers loyal customers in it Make It Happen PromoWinners of the Make it Happen Competition have received their prizes at the posh Silver Bird Lounge in Accra. Read More
Nigeria’s active telephone numbers up to 142mThe Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the number of active telephone lines in the country increased to 142,589,775 in February. Read More
Tigo opens 46th Customer Experience CentreTigo Ghana has opened a new Customer Experience Centre in Abeka Lapaz, as part of the company’s ongoing nationwide retail expansion. Read More
TEDx Accra hosts Vodafone Chief Marketing guru Agnes EssahOne of Ghana’s most innovative and inspirational sharing platforms, TEDx Accra, hosted Vodafone Ghana’s Chief Marketing Officer, Agnes Emefa Essah, among other distinguished speakers at this year’s TEDx Accra summit. Read More
FEATURED STORYe-commerce space untapped, says phonekings head
E-commerce is the future, says the head of a new online electronics mall launched in Nigeria. Tayo Olusanya spoke to Kokumo Goodie in Lagos.
BEST READ NEWS
IN DEPTHVillagers get solar training at Barefoot College
The Botswana Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) has seconded seven semi-illiterate mostly Ngwatle villagers for a six month solar electrification training course at the famed Barefoot College in India.


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UPDATE 5/14/13 4:15 PM: We have just learned that Sen. Johanns withdrew his amendment to eliminate Country of Origin Labeling. Thank you to all who called and wrote Sen. Johanns and other lawmakers about this important issue!
In a blatant slap in the face to food producers and food consumers alike, Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns has proposed an amendment to the Farm Bill that would eliminate Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL). COOL is a provision that helps food consumers know where their food comes from, and it helps food producers distinguish their products in the marketplace. It is truth in labeling, and it promotes informed decision-making.
Now, Sen. Johanns has teamed up with foreign interests to eliminate COOL, and thereby any transparency about where meat on the shelf originated, in tomorrow’s Farm Bill discussion in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Farmers, ranchers, and food consumers alike need your help. While this issue deals primarily with beef and poultry, repealing COOL would be a step backwards in food safety, transparency, and free-market competition. The bottom line is this: Food consumers demand and have the right to know where their food comes from, whether that food is a steak from a cow raised in the U.S. or a strawberry grown in South America. To take that basic information away is a violation of consumer trust, and it ends up hurting responsible food producers who are proud to stand by their product.
Please stand up for food sovereignty and take one or more of the following actions as soon as possible:
Phone: (202) 224-4224
Use this link to send an electronic message: http://www.johanns.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailSenatorJohanns
Link to Sen. Johanns office information: http://www.johanns.senate.gov/public/?p=OfficeLocations
Call and write the Senate Ag Committee members and tell them consumers have the right to know where their food comes from:
Links to the Ag Committee’s websites are at this link: http://www.ag.senate.gov/about
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper:
Spread the word to family and friends through email, facebook and twitter.
Time is of the essence! This debate will take place in the Senate Ag Committee tomorrow, Tuesday, May 14th.


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Mercedes-Benz announced on Thursday, March 20, the launch of the 250 Turbo Sport in Brazil. The top-line of the hatch version 2.0 brings an engine of 211 hp - the same used in the C 250, with rates from seven-speed dual-clutch.
How Audi showed off the renovated S1 during the Geneva Motor Show, many believed that, at the same event, the automaker could also show the post-facelift A1. That's not what happened, but our spies have managed images compact tests.
Version 2016 Chevrolet Camaro will be different from the present. Using the same platform as the Cadillac ATS and CTS, the model will undergo another redesign, but according to information compiled by the Edmunds site, changes with respect to the generation that is currently for sale will not be large.
The Mercedes-Benz presented a special series of the A 45 AMG created just for Japan OA 45 AMG Petronas Green Edition mentions the Formula 1 team Mercedes AMG and is based on Edition1 version has been launched at the CLA.


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Top Poultry Companies
Poultry Tech Summit News
Fruit disinfectant could improve food safety in poultry
The process is a combination UV, ozone and hydrogen peroxide.
Egg handling innovations to better serve North American customers
GI-OVO to open first US office in Springfield, Missouri. Brand Insights from GI-OVO.
AEB advocates for change in 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines
The egg organization wants the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to consider modifications in its proposed scientific review protocol.
US large eggs more expensive than medium, small in 2022
The cost increase to produce inline eggs in the U.S. increased almost 20% in 2022, compared to the previous year.
TekniPlex breaks ground on new egg carton facility in Ohio
The company is opening a new plant in 2024 that will produce specialty molded pulp products.
Can Burnbrae Egg Bakes get has-beens to run again?
Olympic runner Maddy Kelly makes a good pitch for Burnbrae Egg Bakes, but is it enough to get former runners to hit the track again?
Moba announces new AI-powered vision weighing system
The new technology uses artificial intelligence to identify cracks in shell eggs and record individual weights.
IEC’s new egg industry award to recognize innovation
Membership organization the International Egg Commission (IEC) is now accepting applications for its new Vision 365 Egg Innovation Award that will recognize organizations that push boundaries to create innovative food products that add value to eggs.
Plant-based and animal-free egg companies to partner up
Two plant-based companies, Alpha Foods and Plantega, recently announced partnerships with animal-free protein companies, The Every Company and Zero Egg, respectively, to use their egg protein products in upcoming plant-based products.
US Herbruck’s continues to grow its Blue Springs Egg Farm
U.S. egg producer Herbruck’s Poultry Farm announced new developments in its cage-free layer facility Blue Springs Egg Farm located in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, as well as advances in energy consumption and litter processing.
RoTa to bring NABEL egg processing equipment to the US
A new partnership between vision engineering technology company RoTa Technologies and processing equipment manufacturer NABEL Co., Ltd. will bring egg grading and packing equipment to the U.S. market.
Michael Foods to expand its Iowa egg processing plant
Egg producer Michael Foods, a subsidiary of food business group Post Holdings, has announced expansion plans for its precooked egg manufacturing and distribution facility located in Norwalk, Iowa.
Sanovo Technology Group Intl
Odense SO, Michigan 5220
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FRANCE: Parliament approves wine, spirits tax rise
France's parliament has finalised a new wine and spirits tax that will add around EUR0.7 to a bottle of wine and increase spirits prices by 23%.
The move, approved by MPs this month, will take effect from 1 January.
Members of the industry described the new tax as "catastrophic", particularly because it will increase in line with inflation.
Celine Clerc, of CANOC, the confederation for AOC wine producers, told just-drinks: "This year it is a question of EUR0.7, but if inflation continues as it is, in 10 years time it will be a 15% increase. And it comes from a president who promised to lower taxes on wine."
Clerc said the move would reduce France's competitiveness against other European wine countries.
Coming up at this year's London International Wine & Spirits Fair…...
French wine body the Conseil des Vins de Saint-Emilion (CVSE) is lobbying the Ministry of Agriculture to appeal to France's Council of State over a recent court decision confirming the scrapping of th...
The Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Provence (CIVP) has increased funding to promote rosé wines abroad in 2009....
Trade body the Union des Côtes de Bordeaux (UCB) has created a Côtes de Bordeaux appellation, describing the move as a "revolution in the organisation of Bordeaux appellations."...
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- Global gin insights - market data, product innovation and consumer trends research
- Future growth opportunities for global spirits
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- Global rum insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends research
- Global vodka insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends research


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"One of the things I was hearing all the time when I was in the banking world was 'OK, but this bitcoin thing, it doesn't have any intrinsic value,'" said Ambre Soubiran, CEO of cryptocurrency market-data startup Kaiko.
Soubiran spoke with CoinDesk for the latest episode of Bitcoin Macro, a pop-up podcast series featuring the speakers and themes of CoinDesk's upcoming Invest: NYC conference on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Welcome again to our pop-up podcast around bitcoin in the world today.
Who's going to be first, bitcoin or gold? To sort of frame it, because if bitcoin continues to behave this way, perhaps it grows much faster.
There's going to be the bitcoin holding and a couple of times this really makes bitcoin unique in terms of financial assets.
Actually, at the time where it was seen as this private and anonymous currency, I was working in banking at the time and we started to raise the idea that bitcoin was something interesting to look at and they were completely, completely reluctant to have anything to do with bitcoin.
Do you expect or have you seen bitcoin even within those two sophisticated economies of France and England behaving as a safe haven asset? Of course, when the Brexit vote first happened, we saw bitcoin get a price bump back in 2016 and it was definitely a correlation there.
There's foregoing what you already to have to invest in bitcoin or to hide in bitcoin, and there is already having bitcoin and not wanting to get out of it and not wanting to actually take that existing gain, which is already on the table.
One of the things I was hearing all the time when I was in the banking world was 'OK, but this bitcoin thing, it doesn't have any intrinsic value.
So there's definitely the blockchain not bitcoin narrative at some point helped kind of go past specific limitations that were kind of old ghosts from the bitcoin is a way to finance the drug industry.
PODCAST: Kaiko's Ambre Soubiran on Bitcoin's 'Intrinsic Value'
Publicado en Nov 8, 2019
by Coindesk | Publicado en Coinage
Mencionado en este artículo
Bitcoin Miner Maker Canaan Sets $100 Million Target for US IPO
Canaan, the world's second largest bitcoin miner maker, intends to raise about $100 million in its initial public offering in the U.S. The Hangzhou, China-based manufacturer of the Avalon bitcoin miners updates its IPO application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 13.
Fintech Arm of Chinese Insurance Giant Files for US IPO After Blockchain Push
OneConnect Financial Technology, the fintech arm of China's largest insurance company, filed a prospectus on Wednesday for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
BaFin Orders Gold-Backed Token Issuer to Cease-and-Desist Order
The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority has issued a cease and desist order to Karatbit Foundation to immediately stop unauthorized business in Germany.
Cointelegraph Moderates First Crypto Media Gathering at BlockShow Asia 2019
The pace of the crypto market's expansion would have been much slower without the contribution of dedicated media outlets.


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In just its third season of football at its new on-campus stadium, Minnesota football is struggling to sell student tickets. According to a report from the Star-Tribune, fans have purchased just 2000 of the 10,000 allotted student seats with just three weeks left until the Gopher home opener. It marks a steep decrease from 2009, when the Gophers opened TCF Bank Stadium by selling the full 10,000-seat section. Minnesota sold approximately 7800 student tickets in 2010.
University leaders have blamed everything from poor marketing to the lack of wins to Metrodome hangover for the reduction in student ticket purchases, but assistant athletic director Jason LaFrenz may have the most reasonable explanation for the recent downturn in sales: The customers aren't back yet.
Jason LaFrenz [...] said the school still hopes to sell 8,000 student season tickets this year, believing the current total will rise when students return to class.
"Other than that first year in TCF Bank Stadium, we've traditionally sold the majority of our students tickets in the 10 days before the first home game," he said. "That's when we sell all of our tickets."
Minnesota opens up its 2012 season at UNLV on Thursday, August 30.


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What’s the Real Result of Google’s New Search Algorithm?
In April 2012, Google released a new search algorithm to better fight webspam and promote higher-quality content. Their new “Penguin” update was designed to decrease the search rankings for websites that violate Google guidelines, which would improve the overall quality of search results and ultimately affect approximately 3 percent of searches. SearchEngineLand.com reported on the details of this recent update, along with its initial impact on the state of search.
The Penguin update is targeted at pages that attempt to improve their rankings through malicious activities such as link schemes, keyword stuffing, intentional duplicate content, and cloaking. Following Google’s recent warnings about violating its guidelines, this update shows that the search engine is serious about fighting webspam and serves as a way to encourage websites to pursue “white hat” SEO practices rather than engage in deceptive webspam activities.
“We’ve heard a lot of solid feedback from SEOs who are trying to do the right thing and who don’t want to see webspam techniques rewarded,” said Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s webspam team. “And we feel the same way.”
Just days after its release, some online forums were filled with people complaining over their lower search rankings. A troublesome example was Viagra, which is often a magnet for the webspam that this update strives to fight. Following the update’s release, Google failed to include the brand’s official website in the top results. Google later said that this mistake was not related to the new algorithm. Regardless of the rationale, similar errors may result in a boost for Bing, which listed Viagra’s official site at the top of its search rankings, followed by numerous affiliate sites and online stores.
Yet Bing also makes mistakes, such as having more listings than Google for sites aggressively pushing money-making courses. In side-by-side comparisons over searches ranging from medical advice to product reviews to SEO resources, both Bing and Google had their strengths and weaknesses, so there really is no definitive winner in the search engine war.
The real issue at hand is whether Google is achieving its goal of having higher-quality search results with its Penguin update. Rather than paying attention to angry online forums, worried websites should watch their traffic in the coming days to determine if the update made an impact on them. If their search rankings improve, they should celebrate. If they stay stable, they were not affected. If they decrease, they should either correct their sites or request reconsideration. Remember, Google is only trying to provide the best search results, so it will serve sites well to follow their best practices.


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Shedding light on hidden critical suppliers
Professor of Supply Chain Management Thomas Choi and his W. P. Carey colleagues uncover companies embedded in a large supply chain that can have profound effects on the overall system.
The devil is nearly always in the details, and recent instances of supplier-caused business disruptions have placed one vital set of details — hidden yet critical suppliers that reside deep within the supply network — squarely under a microscope.
Managing prominent strategic suppliers has become business as usual, but a second, less obvious type of critical supplier — called a “nexus” supplier — often eludes managers.
Nexus suppliers are critical because of their structural positions in the supply network. They may be several tiers removed in the extended supply network, and thus have no direct contact with — and are all but invisible to — the focal buying ﬁrm.
Now cutting-edge research is helping shed much-needed light on companies embedded in a large supply chain that can be easily overlooked yet have profound effects on the overall system.
Professor of Supply Chain Management Thomas Choi, together with a pair of his W. P. Carey colleagues, are providing the additional light by using a data-analytics approach to identify hidden critical suppliers in supply networks and the development of a Nexus Supplier Index (NSI).
Buyers’ blind spot for critical suppliers
In their study, Choi and his two co-authors uncovered and categorized nexus suppliers. Based on the theory of nexus supplier and data envelopment analysis (DEA), they proposed a data-analytics approach to compute what they have termed the NSI. It is a strategy that combines various network centrality measures to capture and reﬂect diﬀerent aspects of a supplier's structural importance.
The study takes the concept of nexus suppliers that exists only in theory all the way to practice and demonstrates how companies can look for and find nexus suppliers. To achieve this, the three researchers developed a mathematical model for NSI, compiled a large data set using Bloomberg Terminal (a computer software system provided by financial data vendor Bloomberg LP), and used computations to identify and categorize nexus suppliers. The target company was Honda of America, where they reviewed the results with its top supply-management team.
“We know there are hidden, critical suppliers several tiers removed from a big buying company,” explains Choi, who has served as Harold E. Fearon Chair of Purchasing Management and executive director of CAPS Research, a joint venture between Arizona State University and the Institute for Supply Management since 2014. “If an accident or a disruption occurs with that supplier, its effect could be felt by many companies in the supply chain.”
Indeed, many of these critical suppliers are virtually hidden. “Big buying companies like General Motors or Apple may not know the identities of these critical suppliers,” Choi continues. So, they took the data that is available now in mathematics to reveal them.
“First we build up a complete supply network for a company,” says co-author Benjamin Shao, who’s an associate professor of information systems. “Then we apply the network theory to integrate four basic network centrality degrees, each of which reflects a certain aspect of a supplier's importance in the focal buying firm’s supply network to come up with a comprehensive index.”
The NSI model includes the four essential centrality measures most frequently used in social network analysis and combines them into one composite index that reflects the various aspects of node importance (i.e., supplier criticality).
“Strictly speaking, we haven’t done a supply chain study,” says co-author Zhan Michael Shi, who is an assistant professor of information systems. “We’ve built a network of buyer-supplier relationships. But these relationships are just as important, because a supplier that occupies an important network structural position that, let's say, goes belly-up, would have a ripple effect, and that is what we are trying to study.”
The ripple effect of hidden suppliers
There have been incidents in which “one small supplier in the network had a disruption to his operation, and the effects rippled throughout the network,” Shao explains. “There are many examples like that.”
Firms that understand the concept and importance of nexus suppliers can make the necessary adjustments, “but up until now, they have had little clue about how to identify — let alone manage — or exploit the potential advantages the supplier might offer.”
“What we have done is not rocket science,” Choi admits. “We have provided direction and said, ‘Hey guys, you want to look in this direction. It was like they were operating in the dark. Imagine you are in total darkness, and a small bit of light, a glimmer of light, would be helpful. It doesn't have to be a bright light. That's what we offer, a glimmer of light.”
According to Choi, this type of research has never been done to this degree. “I’m confident we are the first ones who’ve tried to empirically identify these hidden critical suppliers.”
Once he and his colleagues had completed the study, Choi took the results to Honda America in Ohio where they spent time with its executive vice president in charge of the North American supply chain and his deputies.
“Our list exposed names of suppliers that they had never heard of,” Choi recalls, “so we had been able to identify the blind spots.” Indeed, he was able to point to critical suppliers in the second and third tiers “that they never suspected; they never suspected (their key role). They told us, ‘We have to go and investigate what is going on here.’”
“After we listed the top-tier suppliers, we found out their suppliers, the second-tier suppliers for Honda,” says Shi. “Then we went further, all the way through the fourth tier. Eventually, we had 10,832 companies — Honda’s first-, second-, third- and fourth-tier suppliers — in our data set.”
Once identified, nexus suppliers can be categorized according to their distinct network positions and more effectively managed, resulting in lower costs, less risk, and improved responsiveness.
The authors say the research offers these takeaways for buyers:
1. Map your firm’s entire supply network. The idea is to make what has been invisible, visible. Once you identify it, you can work to manage it.
2. If possible, try and replicate the professors’ study using your own company’s product-level data.
3. Most importantly, implement it. Theory and planning are essential, but rolling up the sleeves and following through on it is what creates positive change.
“The research we've done is fundamental,” Shao says. “We took a baby step and said, ‘It is possible to identify these hidden critical suppliers. In the past, there was only the theory, which was proposed by Choi. When it came to ‘How do I identify and manage them?’ they had no clue. We are the first ones to show in our model that it is possible to both identify and manage nexus suppliers.
“If you have the resources and capabilities to map your whole supply network,” Shao concludes, “apply our model and our data and it will help you identify those hidden critical suppliers.”
- Combative consumers change the marketing strategy for Target and Bud Light
Customer rage has increased 35% since 2017, ASU study shows.
- Experts: Arizona economy could be hit hard if default is in our stars
ASU expert says U.S. default on debt is possible but unlikely.
- Target rolls out drive-up returns for Phoenix-area customers
Great customer service is necessary to creating brand loyalty, says ASU expert.


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The ClickBank Ruby Sample Code by ClickBank demonstrates API interaction with the purpose to implement eCommerce features into web services. Supported APIs include analytics, images, orders, products, shipping, tickets, ship notice, and quick stats.
BIPS, Bitcoin payment system, allows users to buy or sell online using Bitcoin digital currency. In addition to Bitcoin transaction-based apps and an e-wallet, BIPS provides an API that users can integrate with existing workflows and tools. Merchants can utilize Bitcoin currency alongside traditional currency transactions.
VigLink is an ecommerce tech company helping monetize links and referrals from a publisher’s websites, social media platforms and mobile apps. VigLink’s API products are helping the company appeal to a wider audience of tech-savvy ecommerce businesses who are looking to integrate VigLink’s services directly into their online shopfronts and blogs.
Local coupon aggregation site The Dealmap will share the numbers behind its major growth, in part fueled by its The Dealmap API. The company, which says it reached 1.4 million users in nine months, sees 11 million daily queries to its API from its 271 developers.


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It’s double Oscar time in these parts. Come Sunday night a lot of folks are going to be tuning into the 90th Academy Awards to see which movie of the year will be the best — “Darkest Hour,” “Dunkirk,” “The Post,” “Lady Bird,” “Phantom Thread,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,” “Get Out” or “The Shape of Water.”
And speaking of “shape” and Oscars, Crystal Charity Ball Chair Claire Emanuelson and Crystal Charity Ball Fashion Show And Luncheon Chair Heather Esping just sent word that the designs featured at the fundraiser in Neiman Marcus Downtown on Friday, September 14, will be the Oscar de la Renta Resort 2018 Collection.
Though the late, great designer has been gone for years, his line is being created by Creative Directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia. Their style has evolved since they took over less than a couple of years ago, with their latest collection receiving manicured thumbs-up during February’s New York Fashion Week.
As for the 10 Best Dressed and Hall of Famer, that announcement will be revealed on Wednesday, March 21.
The great news is that Laura and Fernando will be at the children’s fundraiser in September. The not-so-wonderful news is that tickets are not available. Stay tuned.
BTW, if you want the inside poop on the Academy Awards, Hayley Hamilton Cogill and Gary Cogill will be sharing wisdom and wine at “Wine And Film: 90th Academy Awards Preview” to benefit the Dallas Film Society, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, at the Studio Movie Grill at Royal and Central Expressway. Tickets are available here!


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ClearTax has unveiled ‘Clear’, an umbrella name under which all of its offerings across taxes, invoices, wealth management and credit for businesses will reside. In its decade-long journey, the company has expanded from an e-filing tax platform to being a full stack financial services provider.
With the ‘Clear’ identity, the company said it will continue to offer great products nurturing its legacy of accuracy, security and reliability, complementing the ClearTax brand. ClearTax will continue its tax offerings.
Clear identifies itself as a tech and product first company having graduated from web-only cloud based form factor to now web, desktop, mobile and APIs. The latest addition to its portfolio is ClearOne - an easy to use, one-stop invoicing and compliance solution for SMEs. As per estimates, Clear is expected to manage invoices worth over $1 trillion by 2023.
Archit Gupta, founder and chief executive officer, said, “We started the company to simplify taxes, over the years we have evolved beyond taxes and have grown tremendously. Today we make SaaS for taxes, invoices for connected businesses and offer wealth management. Clear captures our huge ambitions to serve Indians in the areas of invoicing, wealth management, credit and much more.”
Over the past few years, the number of women at the junior level has grown. Still, women continue to be underrepresented at the leadership level. Bias impacts women’s day-to-day work experiences and ability to advance. We are discussing the challenges women are facing in the workplace.


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ENVIRONMENT,Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira says Zimbabwe will be receiving about 350 Chinese tourists monthly courtesy of the newly launched Tour Africa-New Horizon project.
The project is a brainchild of Mr He Liehui the president and manager of Touch Road International Holdings Group and is collaboration between Ethiopian Airlines, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Mupfumira said China is working on strengthening hard infrastructure, soft infrastructure and cultural ties in 65 countries and that has necessitated the launch of the project.
“It is in the spirit of this noble initiative that we are launching the grand Tour Africa- New Horizon Project, which will see us receiving 350 Chinese tourists every month as from March 2019.
“This project is collaboration between Ethiopian Airlines, which is providing the charter flight for 350 tourists to travel through Djibouti, Tanzania and Zimbabwe! The final destination being Zimbabwe, the tourists will enjoy the majestic Victoria Falls and other scenic beauties provided by nature Zimbabwe.
“Part of the large Chinese delegation will include investors who are coming to scout the environment whilst enjoying our unique tourist attractions. The interaction also seeks to establish cultural ties with the East and promote cultural exchange programs between the two countries,” she said.
According to Minister Mupfumira, the thrust is also to raise awareness of the current facilities that already exist for tourists, both domestic and foreign.
She said the coming of Tour Africa-New Horizon to Zimbabwe is a challenge to local players in the tourism industry to spruce up their products so that tourists can have memorable adventures.
“The arrival of the Tour Africa- New Horizon Project therefore requires our tourism and hospitality industry players to gear up and enhance their products to accommodate tourists.
“We are therefore calling upon you to dig deeper and research more on how to widen up your horizons too. Our tourists must experience memorable moments that will give them a reason to return to Zimbabwe.
“Just last month, we had an early Christmas treat here again as we witnessed a cultural exchange event hosted by a famous Chinese artist and a couple of Zimbabwean musicians. The Event was a memorable one,” said Minister Mupfumira.
Speaking at the same occasion Touchroad International Holdings Group chairman Mr He Liehui said culture exchange is important for countries to effectively know each other and that once you know each other’s culture you will better understand each other and you will work more closely and your friendship will stay for a long time.
Information, Media and Broadcasting Minister Monica Mutsvangwa applauded China for showing confidence in Zimbabwe.-


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FNB’sRobert Eimann, Head of the SME division has echoed Government’s promise to support and nurture the SME sector in Namibia. “Minister of Trade and Industry Calle Schlettwein recently said that government is supporting SME’s on an ongoing basis. I would like to say that we, at FNB Namibia, do the same and have been doing so for numerous years,” Eiman said.
He added that both FNB Namibia and the Namibian Government wished for SME’s to become more profitable so that they could actively and positively participate in the country’s economy, thereby creating wealth for all as well as assisting the growth at home and employment creation strategy.
Eiman said that when looking back at 2013 the highlight for the SME division at FNB Namibia was certainly the number of new businesses the bank has managed to fund, thereby contributing to employment plus the fact that these businesses continue to grow and prosper. He added that the greatest challenge remained the fact that the service/product offering was not fully understood by the broader network of entrepreneurs in all areas and the fact that they were not aware of how the SME Division can assist them to start and grow their businesses. “We are continuously striving to educate and reach them all to give them a fighting chance in the SME market.”
When looking at 2014, FNB Namibia’s SME division would like to reach a wider audience and ensure that the flexible product and service offerings are enjoyed by entrepreneurs throughout the country. “Secondly we wish to ensure that our service offering adapts to the ever changing needs of entrepreneurs while making sure that we continuously improve the skills and knowledge of our customers through targeted training and mentorship.”
Eimann concluded that the SME sector would continue to face an onslaught of competitors entering the market jostling for the same consumer base, while the weakness of the Rand and subsequent weakening spending power would also affect business as well as the possibility of an upward change in the interest rate in Namibia. “I hope that we will see an innovation in terms of products and services and continued growth to satisfy the premise that the SME sector is the backbone of the economy. We invite entrepreneurs out there who want to start their own business to engage FNB to ensure that financing or rather the lack thereof will not hamper their plans for financial independence. We would furthermore like to be a partner to the existing business that needs to grow and expand.” PF
For more information please contact Vicky Muranda, Manager: Corporate Communications at FNB Holdings on telephone: (+264 61) 299 2944. email@example.com


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In a recent announcement, Alibaba has proposed a vending machine for sales of vehicles in China.The Company has provided with the renders of vending machine. The innovative buildings of ‘Car Vending Machines’ will look like a bigger version of kids’ toys.
Alibaba is on a mission to put together the offline market with the online sales platform. The recent investment of USD 2.9 billion in hypermarket operator Sun Art and the publicized of this ‘gigantic vending machines’ project are prominent illustrations of its mission.
How does the Car Vending Machine work?
- A potential customer uses Alibaba’s Taobao app to scan a car that they are interested in
- The system recognizes the scanned vehicle and lets them pick a color
- The customer is then prompted to enter basic information and snap a selfie
- Then, the system arranges a car for a test-drive if it’s available
- Once the customer is all set to buy the car, they head over the unmanned vending machine facility and after showing their face (hence the earlier selfie), their order retrieves and the company dispatches the car
The customer can also buy a vehicle subsequent to a test-drive or arrange to test a diverse model via Taobao app.According to Alibaba, two stores, one in Shanghai and the other in Nanjing, will be opened in January to help out the customers in buying a car as easily as buying a can of soda. The company revealed that it is intending to open more outlets across China later in 2018.
The company’s policy, to let the potential customers to take a car for up to three days to test-drive it, is a precarious business and Alibaba is relying on its own financial resources to keep the track of borrowed vehicles. Furthermore, the company will also let the customers to test-drive as much as five vehicles in just two months which, as per Alibaba, will “increase” its potential customers.The customers will avail a free test-drive given that they’ve reached a certain score on their Zhima credit-scoring service and are also a super member of Alibaba.
This is not the first time Alibaba is taking big steps.Earlier, it had also sold other large tickets such as airplanes and expensive vehicles online. This time, with the cars’ vending machine concept, the company desires to merge online retail with physical retail.