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The event takes place in New York City on January 23 at 10 a.m. ET, with many expecting DJI to unveil its first drone since the launch of its popular Spark quadcopter in 2017.
The drone company announced a couple of new camera gimbals at CES 2018 earlier this month, but has apparently decided to keep its very latest product under wraps for a little while longer, putting it center stage at its own unveiling event.
In a supremely hyperbolic promo video with the tagline “adventure unfolds,” a narrator from the School of Overly Dramatic Acting declares that although the origin of humanity is mysterious and remarkable, “are we ready for what’s to come?” Well, if it’s some horrendous plague that threatens to wipe out the entire human race or an alien invasion from another galaxy, then probably not. But if it’s a remotely controlled flying machine aimed at the consumer technology market, then bring it on.
Having already scored big successes with its Phantom, Mavic, and Spark drones, the money is on DJI adding another one to its growing range.
The video shows some deliberately vague shots of the product, leaving fans to reach their own conclusions about what’s coming.
Considering the noise it’s making about the upcoming event, it’ll likely be something new for DJI, so perhaps it’s about to launch its first fixed-wing drone along the lines of the Parrot Disco or Yuneec’s recently announced Firebird FPV? Come to think of it, is that a wing we see at the end of DJI’s video?
Such fixed-wing machines generally need wide-open spaces to fly, and also require a different set of skills to master than regular quadcopters, though that could be a plus for drone enthusiasts looking for a new kind of piloting experience.
If we take the teaser vid at face value, however, it seems most likely that DJI plans to unveil a drone with folding arms — perhaps a new generation of Mavic, or maybe a collapsible, pocket-friendly version of the Spark.
It’s hard to say, but all will be revealed on January 23, so be sure to check back for all the details.
- Check out Wing’s largest delivery drone yet
- Drone delivery leader Wing heads to new country for next pilot program
- Amazon shows off new delivery drone ahead of trial service
- Wing drone delivery heads to first U.S. metro area
- Watch Emirates’ new daredevil ad shot by a drone


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SEQUIM — A Sequim store will give away free life jackets on Saturday.
Coastal in Sequim will give away 300 free life jackets for children up to 12 years of age, store officials announced.
The drive-through giveaway will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday in the store’s parking lot in Bell Creek Plaza at 990 E. Washington St. It will be first-come, first-served.
“Water safety is top of mind for all of us here at Coastal,” Coastal CEO Lori McKinnon said in a press release.
“Some of our employees have shared with me over the years their personal experiences with family members drowning in lakes and rivers, when they believe simply wearing a life jacket could have made all the difference.
The company, which operates stores in Washington and Oregon, is giving away 6,000 life jackets to children in the communities they serve.
“We hope that we can help make a difference when it comes to families coming home safe after a day of playing in the water,” McKinnon said.

domain: news


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Lauren Holden Appointed Chief Operating Officer and Jessica Zaski Appointed Chief Transactions Officer
New Appointments Add Significant Operational, Transaction and Development Experience to ShopCore’s Leadership Team
Announces Plan to Integrate 52 Shopping Center Properties in High-Growth Southeastern Markets
Chicago, IL – September 6, 2022 – ShopCore Properties (“ShopCore”) today announced the appointments of Lauren Holden and Jessica Zaski to the newly established leadership positions of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Transactions Officer, respectively, effective immediately. Both will also hold the title of Executive Vice President.
Ms. Holden brings to ShopCore decades of experience acquiring, leading and managing large and diverse retail portfolios. Most recently, she served as Managing Director and Head of Retail Asset Management for Clarion Partners. In her new role as Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Holden will drive value creation at the asset level, overseeing leasing, development & construction, asset management and property management and will be closely involved with ShopCore’s sustainability initiatives.
Ms. Zaski brings over a decade of experience setting and executing investment strategies through the management of acquisitions teams for both public REITs and opportunity funds. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President, Co-Head of Acquisitions for Acadia Realty Trust. As Chief Transactions Officer, Ms. Zaski will oversee the Company’s acquisition and disposition efforts.
Ms. Holden and Ms. Zaski will join Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Jim Nakagawa on ShopCore’s executive leadership team, responsible for all strategic and operational matters for the Company. All three will report to Chief Executive Officer Marc Ricks.
“We are excited to expand our leadership team with seasoned leaders who have extensive experience acquiring and managing retail real estate. These appointments support ShopCore’s strategy to build a best-in-class retail operating platform with disciplined growth in key markets,” said Marc Ricks, ShopCore Chief Executive Officer.”
“I look forward to working with the entire ShopCore team to sustain and grow its shopping center portfolio, which serves a diverse group of best-in-class tenants, while creating value for the communities in which they operate,” said Ms. Holden.
“Ms. Zaski said, “I am excited to work with ShopCore’s experienced, forward-thinking team to help continue to build the premier shopping center company in the country.”
The Company also announced that it will manage 52 grocery-anchored shopping centers that Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust purchased through its previously announced acquisition of Preferred Apartment Communities. With the addition of these properties, ShopCore’s portfolio will comprise 108 properties, totaling nearly 20 million square feet, anchored by best-in-class retailers and located in high-growth markets.
Mr. Ricks continued, “The integration of this portfolio of 52 grocery-anchored centers marks a significant step in our journey to become the preeminent operator of community and grocery-anchored centers throughout the country. We seek to provide best-in-class support to tenants across these properties and grow these centers’ roles as pillars of their communities.”
About Lauren Holden
Ms. Holden joins ShopCore from Clarion Partners, a leading U.S. real estate investment manager, where she has served as an Equity Partner, Managing Director and Head of Retail Asset Management since 2014. At Clarion, she was responsible for overseeing the firm’s retail portfolio, comprising approximately 100 open-air neighborhood and community centers, prime urban retail, enclosed mall and mixed-use properties. She also served as a member of the Steering Committee of Clarion Partners Women’s Leadership Network, a member of Clarion’s Environmental Sustainability and Governance (ESG) committee, an Advisory Peer Group member to five separate accounts, and a Sponsors for Educational Opportunity Mentor. Prior to joining Clarion in 2014, Ms. Holden served as Executive Vice President, Investment Management and Acquisitions at Equity One, Inc., a publicly traded shopping center REIT that has since merged with Regency Centers. Prior to Equity One, Ms. Holden was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Kimco Realty. Ms. Holden currently serves on the Board of Directors for WX, Inc., an organization that promotes the advancement of women in commercial real estate.
About Jessica Zaski
Ms. Zaski joins ShopCore from Acadia Realty Trust, a publicly traded REIT that owns and operates shopping centers, street retail and mixed-use properties with retail components, where she most recently served as Senior Vice President, Co-Head of Acquisitions. In this role, she was responsible for managing the acquisitions team and setting and executing investment strategy for both the public REIT platform and the opportunity funds. During her tenure at Acadia, Ms. Zaski was involved in the acquisition and disposition of millions of square feet of open-air retail. Her experience includes building street retail portfolios in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, Williamsburg Brooklyn, Dallas’s Henderson Avenue, and Chicago’s Gold Coast, as well as acquiring stabilized and value-add street and urban retail, grocery anchored, and power centers in markets across the country. Prior to Acadia, Ms. Zaski worked in advertising and marketing, including roles at Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc, the largest privately held commercial building in the United States, and Starcom Worldwide, a world-renowned media communications agency.
ShopCore, a Blackstone portfolio company, is a vertically integrated real estate company with internalized leasing, development, property management, legal, accounting, and asset management functions. Currently, ShopCore leases and manages more than 100 shopping centers, comprising nearly 20 million square feet across 17 states. For more information, visit shopcore.com.
Jonathan Keehner / Lucas Pers / Jack Kelleher
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher


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Saturday, December 6, 2008 --- 2:55 a.m.
According to the Chicago Tribune, two Milwaukee neighborhoods want to print their own money.
Residents from the neighborhoods of Riverwest and East Side are scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss printing their own money.
Local cash could be used at neighborhood stores and businesses, thus encouraging local spending.
The result, according to the organizers, would be a bustling local economy, even as the rest of the nation deals with a recession.
They could trade 100 U.S. dollars for 110 local dollars, essentially netting them a 10% discount at participating stores.


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LONDON: Google, which has seen a slew of companies withdraw ads after they appeared alongside extremist content, said Tuesday it was introducing new tools to give firms greater control.
"We know advertisers don't want their ads next to content that doesn't align with their values. So, starting today, we're taking a tougher stance on hateful, offensive and derogatory content," Google's chief business officer Philipp Schindler said in a post on the internet giant's blog.
This follows an apology by a top executive made Monday.
The apology from Matt Brittin, president of Google’s Europe, Middle East and Africa division, came after UK banks HSBC and RBS, along with major retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S), decided to suspend their adverts from appearing on platforms such as YouTube.
“I would like to apologize to our partners and advertisers who might have been affected by their ads appearing on controversial content,” Brittin said in a statement.
“We take our responsibilities to these industry issues very seriously.”
Brittin said Google was already making improvements thanks to increased investment — resulting in it “raising the bar for our ads policies, simplifying advertiser controls and adding safer defaults.”
In a statement Monday, HSBC said it takes “breach of our digital advertising standards very seriously and have put advertising with Google on hold at this time.”
An M&S spokesman added: “In order to ensure brand safety, we are pausing activity across Google platforms whilst the matter is worked through.”
The British arm of French advertising agency Havas suspended such advertising last week. Others to pull the plug, temporarily at least, are the BBC, Guardian newspaper group and McDonalds UK.
In the UK, a committee of MPs has meanwhile demanded that Google explain how government adverts have appeared on “inappropriate and hate-filled sites” and whether the government and advertisers will be refunded payments made to the US tech giant.
A government spokesperson said Monday: “It is totally unacceptable that taxpayer-funded advertising has appeared next to inappropriate Internet content — and that message was conveyed very clearly to Google.
“The Cabinet Office has told Google it expects to see a plan and a timetable for work to improve protection of government adverts to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“YouTube advertising remains on hold while that work is carried out.”


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Thai tourist police launched new mobile technology on the eve of the tourist-jammed traditional Thai new year, better known as the Songkran festival.
The tourist police launched the Tourist Buddy Application, a smart-phone friendly free application providing travel information and safety tips. It also enables travellers to directly access to police stations nationwide, as well as emergency call centres.
For emergency services, the Hotline 1155 is available around the clock. More importantly, the innovative smartphone application also allows the authorities to locate where the calls are being made from.
“This app acts like your Buddy. When you are lost or need to find travel places, you can use this app for searching,” read the free application’s download page.
Thailand’s Tourist Police have embarked on a major campaign to improve their image and their services for tourists by launching one of the country’s most innovative virtual applications. The “Tourist Buddy” initiative will ensure 24 hour assistance for its users along with a better standard of help for those in need.
Tourist numbers will increase sharply during this event,” said the creator of the application, Pol.Maj.Gen. Roy Inkapairoj, Commander of the Tourist Police Division. “We realise the need to provide efficient services in all aspects to tourists”.
“Tourism is Thailand’s number one revenue earner and it’s the Government’s goal to increase tourism revenue income to 2 Trillion Baht by 2015.”
To ensure the safety of tourists, he adds, the Tourist Buddy Application will provide a new method for tourists to get assistance, anytime. It will also go a long way in supporting promotion for the nation’s tourism, culture, traditions and festivals.
“The nation’s Tourist Police realise the importance of providing care, help and comfort for tourists along with a prompt response to any situation that may require assistance”.
Pol.Maj.Gen Roy Inkapairoj hopes that the introduction of the Tourist Buddy will help deliver a high level of service and safety for tourists who come to visit Thailand, but somehow end up in difficulty.
The Tourist Police Division is overseen by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and the Royal Thai Police. Their mission is to give service, convenience, life safety and asset protection to tourists who visit Thailand as well as to Thailand’s domestic tourists. This includes protection against crime that impacts on the nation’s tourism image, industry and tourist providers.
“This initiative will also increase tourist confidence in Thailand,” adds Pol.Maj.Gen Roy.
Thailand confirms No Quarantine plan for Foreign Visitors under Phuket “Sandbox” Scheme
Phuket will be reopened to fully vaccinated international travellers without quarantine from 1 July, 2021, but ‘final’ official details are under review by the Royal Thai Government.
Thailand confirms Phuket’s reopening date of July 1st
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will proceed with its plans to reopen the resort island of Phuket to international visitors, without compulsory quarantine, starting July 1st
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DETROIT (AP) - Car buyers increasingly want high-tech features like voice recognition and navigation. But they're not very forgiving of the car company when those systems fail.
NEW YORK (AP) - Taco Bell plans to test a "Power Protein" menu that it's hoping will eventually be hit with its core audience - young men.
NEW YORK (AP) - Starbucks has a new way to wake up its customers: showing the calories in its drinks.
SUNNYVALE (AP) - Yahoo is the latest company to disclose how many requests for user data it has received from U.S. government agencies, putting the number between 12,000 and 13,000 in the six months that ended on May 31.
DETROIT (AP) - After initially defying federal regulators, Chrysler abruptly agreed Tuesday to recall some older-model Jeeps with fuel tanks that could rupture and cause fires in rear-end collisions.
NEW YORK (AP) - A former intern filed a class-action lawsuit Monday against Warner Music Group and Atlantic Records over his unpaid internship, similar to a spate of recent lawsuits in other industries pushing back against the widespread practice.
NEW YORK (AP) - Nine owners and managers of 7-Eleven stores across Long Island and in Virginia were charged Monday with making tens of millions of dollars by exploiting immigrants from Pakistan and the Philippines, in part by paying them using the stolen Social Security numbers of a child and three dead people while stealing most of their wages.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Lowe's plans to expand its California presence with an acquisition of Sears spinoff Orchard Supply Hardware Stores for about $205 million in cash.
NEW YORK (AP) - For the first time in seven years, most U.S. homebuilders are optimistic about home sales, a sign that construction could help drive stronger economic growth in coming months.
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - A single mother who worked briefly at a northeastern Pennsylvania McDonald's franchise is suing the owners after she said she was given a fee-laden debit card and told that she must use it to access her earnings.
SEATTLE (AP) - For the activists who led the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Washington state last fall, Jamen Shively was one of their biggest fears: an aspiring pot profiteer whose unabashed dreams of building a cannabis empire might attract unwanted attention from the federal government or a backlash that could slow the marijuana reform movement across the country.
NEW YORK (AP) - Here's the latest goal for food makers: Perfect the art of imperfection.
DALLAS (AP) - Thrifty Car Rental says it's sorry, but many customers who were offered a free one-day rental won't be getting that after all.
DETROIT (AP) - Volvo Cars is planning to build its first-ever U.S. assembly plant as part of a push to increase sales here.
NEW YORK (AP) - StubHub is suing Ticketmaster and the Golden State Warriors, alleging it unfairly required fans looking to resell tickets to use Ticketmaster's resale exchange.
DETROIT (AP) - Tesla Motors says it will reveal a new product next month, but it's not a car.
NEW YORK (AP) - It was a tempest in a coffee cup.
NEW YORK (AP) - Americans bought less soda for the 10th straight year in 2014, with diet sodas shrinking more than their sugary counterparts, according to a report released Thursday.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A hearing on whether to approve the bankruptcy sale of assets of electronics retailer RadioShack opened Thursday with the company seeking court approval of the purported winning bid, and an attorney for a losing bidder describing the auction as a sham and asking a Delaware judge to reopen the sale process.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - For anyone who's ever dreamed of being on "American Idol" or "The Voice" as a performer or judge, a new app seeks to make their fantasy come true.
NEW YORK (AP) - New phones from Samsung and HTC will be available in U.S. stores starting April 10.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Facebook's Messenger app is evolving into a multitasking tool equipped to send an animated fist bump to a friend at one moment and then get a little business done in the next.
WASHINGTON (AP) - IRS workers would be prohibited from using private email to conduct official business under a bipartisan bill passed Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee.
NEW YORK (AP) - Some of the most familiar names in ketchup, pickles, cheese and hot dogs are set to come under the same roof after H.J. Heinz Co. announced plans Wednesday to buy Kraft and create one of the world's largest food and beverage companies.
NEW YORK (AP) - The FCC says the first lawsuits filed against the government's new Internet traffic rules are "premature" and may be dismissed because they were filed too early.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. is mounting a public defense of its animal handling in a new advertising campaign that began Monday, after a highly critical 2013 documentary left the park with declining revenue and attendance.
NEW YORK (AP) - OPEC and lower global oil prices delivered a one-two punch to the drillers in North Dakota and Texas who brought the U.S. one of the biggest booms in the history of the global oil industry.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Ride-sharing company Uber said Monday that CFO Brent Callinicos is leaving the company to spend more time with his family.


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Habanero has further extended its reach across Europe, and Croatia in particular, after entering into an agreement to supply its portfolio of content to online casino PSK.
Owned by Fortuna Entertainment Group, a gaming operator across central and south-eastern Europe, PSK will have access to Habanero’s collection slots and table games.
“The quality of Habanero’s offering is clear for everybody to see and we know our players will be over the moon that they can now get their hands on them,” commented Bojan Molnar, CFO at PSK.hr.
“Their portfolio of games is not only of the highest standard in terms of graphics and narratives, but also features a variety of features that are sure to tick a lot of boxes with a number of demographics.”
Under the terms of the agreement the slots and table games provider is to allow players in Croatia to play titles including Lucky Lucky, Hot Hot Fruit and Wild Trucks, as well as festive specials Santa’s Village and Happiest Christmas Tree.
Arcangelo Lonoce, European head of business development at Habanero, added: “It has been a very busy and productive 2019 and we are delighted to have added another great operator deal with PSK.
“Croatia is a very exciting market which we are keen to expand in and this is a great signal of intent from us. PSK’s players are sure to love both the variety and quality of our certified games portfolio.”
This becomes the latest European jurisdiction targeted for growth by Habanero after the firm agreed deals last month to deepen its footprint in Italy.
Firstly a partnership was entered alongside Game Account Network, before a link-up was entered with SISAL that saw the developer increase its reach in Italy further still.
“Italy is a hugely important market for us, and our varied portfolio is proving to be a hit with players throughout the country. We are delighted and look forward to expanding our footprint further,” Lonoce said of the market.


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Netflix signage next to the Nasdaq MarketSite in Recent York, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Take a look at the businesses making headlines in prolonged trading.
Netflix — The streaming giant’s shares skyrocketed greater than 14% after the bell Tuesday after the corporate reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for essentially the most recent quarter. It also added 2.41 million net global subscribers, which is greater than twice what it projected 1 / 4 ago.
Intuitive Surgical — The medical equipment maker jumped 11% after the corporate reported quarterly earnings and revenue that got here in barely higher than expected, in response to FactSet. It also reported growth in its da Vinci procedures of about 20% compared with the third quarter of 2021.
United Airlines — The airline saw its shares move higher by greater than 6% after-hours following its quarterly results. Unit revenues got here in 25% higher than 2019 levels. The corporate forecast one other profit for the top of 2022 and said travel demand is growing even with higher airfares.
Interactive Brokers — Shares of Interactive Brokers added 3% after the electronic broker reported adjusted earnings for the third quarter of $1.08 per share, in comparison with FactSet’s estimates of 96 cents per share. Adjusted revenue got here in at $847 million, while FactSet estimates put it at $797.6 million.
J.B. Hunt Transport — Shares of the transportation and logistics company gained greater than 2% in prolonged trading following its quarterly earnings report. Earnings beat expectations by 12 cents per share, in response to Refinitiv. Revenue was also higher than expected.
Adobe — Shares of the software company rose 3.2% after Adobe issued financial targets for 2023 and maintained its fourth-quarter outlook at a financial analyst meeting.


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Winnipeg Free Press
By: Katie May
Posted: 04/15/2020 12:56 PM
In better times, they would have been training for manufacturing jobs, or putting their seamstress skills to work in factories.
But now, a group of newcomer women has taken industrial sewing machines home with them to churn out dozens of homemade face masks each day. It's hoped their labours will supply local non-profits with enough masks to keep moving during this pandemic.
The non-medical-grade face mask operation launched Tuesday with an online shop and contactless pickup designed to encourage charity donations while Winnipeggers are stocking up on masks for themselves.
Four women are working from home for fair wages from a local garment manufacturer, The Cutting Edge, which for the past two years has been training newcomers to work in manufacturing through the Canadian Muslim Women's Institute. Their training programs had to be put on hold because of public-health regulations for physical distancing, but their work didn't have to stop. Training and basic patterns moved online, and last week, the manufacturer teamed up with two other local agencies to start face-mask production.
Anne-Lydie Bolay, operations director at The Cutting Edge, said it's part of the manufacturer's mission to provide jobs for women, and wants to keep it that way for as long as possible.
"Everybody's facing job insecurity. Even though factories are retooling, there also have been layoffs in some factories, and so we want to provide... that support, that if women at home are looking for income at this time, they can continue to have that," Bolay said, noting one sewer recently had to quit her job at another factory so she could be home taking care of her children.
It was a "natural fit" for the Main Street hardware store to be involved in the sale of the masks, said general manager Samantha Leclerc.
Working on the face masks from home offers more flexible hours, and the sewers are paid per piece.
Staff at The Cutting Edge deliver cotton fabric for the women to sew into pleated face masks, then they gather up the completed masks — roughly 30 to 50 per day — and drop them off at Pollock's Hardware Co-op, where customers can get curbside pickup after ordering online through a shop created by Local Investment Toward Employment. The site gives customers the option to buy masks for themselves, buy masks as donations, or do both at the same time.
It was a "natural fit" for the Main Street hardware store to be involved, said general manager Samantha Leclerc, paraphrasing Mr. Rogers.
"It's like, when you're in a scary place, you look for the helpers. And we have an opportunity to be the helpers," she said after the first batch of mask pickups Tuesday.
Tyler Pearce, LITE's executive director, said they decided to start the project after hearing from front-line workers at local non-profit agencies who need masks as they continue working with the public, including vulnerable populations. They're aiming to supply non-profits with 500 non-medical masks and allow newcomers to earn some money at the same time.
"We were talking about this (pandemic) and how devastating it is to the women who are learning and needing to earn money. And then together we just devised how we could — from the very start of production, all the way to getting the masks in the hands of customers — how we could do it if we actually each took on a piece," Pearce said.
"Everyone's been moving very fast to bring it to market and to hope that Winnipeggers can help non-profit organizations that need masks."
Four women are working from home for fair wages from a local garment manufacturer, The Cutting Edge.


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Vodafone has announced the launch of "Vodafone 360", describing it as "a new suite of innovative internet services for the mobile and PC".
To be implemented initially on two new handsets made by Samsung, the phones will offer the LiMo operating system, a high profile launch for the platform.
Vodafone says with 360, which will replace Live! going forward, all of a customer's contacts, status updates and messaging services are brought together in one place.
"Customers will have integrated contacts, music, photos and mapping services and can share things such as music choices and location, how and when they choose, with their chosen groups of friends", says the operator.
With auto PC or Mac backup and synchronisation, 360 will offer the ability to chat through Windows Live Messenger - and Google Talk. Apps will also be available to download.
At launch the full Vodafone 360 experience will be available on two exclusive handsets said to be built to Vodafone's specification by Samsung.
The Vodafone 360 H1 by Samsung gets a 3.5-inch touchscreen, high definition OLED screen, 720p video recording, 16GB memory, Wi-Fi and a 5-megapixel camera.
Vodafone says it will be followed soon after by a second Samsung handset, the M1, "offering customers a range of colours and price points".
The HSDPA M1 is also a touchscreen device, with a "crisp", 16 million colour 3.2-inch display.
It will offer integrated GPS, push email, audio and video playback, up to ten hours talk time, 1GB memory expandable with microSD card, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 3-megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom.
In addition, four Nokia Symbian smartphones will come pre-loaded with Vodafone 360 and part or all of the service will be downloadable to over one hundred phones.


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It always a good news when a positive step is taken in the direction of aiding small enterprises. This was perhaps the idea behind the recent development where the finance minister Arun Jaitley announced that the GST council nigh-doubled the annual turnover limit for the composition scheme.
To be more precise, where previously GST exemption was given up to the Annual turnover of INR 20 lakhs, now this exemption can be enjoyed even at the annual turnover of INR 40 lakhs. The same goes for the North eastern states where the previous exemption was set of INR 10 lakhs and now it is INR 20 lakhs.
This Annual turnover for availing composition scheme has also increased from INR 1.5 crore to 1 Crore. This new rule is to be implemented starting from April 1 2019.
Following are the new and refined features of the annual composition scheme:
- Now, the income tax has to be paid on quarterly basis. However, the GST return is to be filled on the annual basis.
- The aforementioned scheme has been added to the services sector as well.
- There is an option left open for the small companies where they can opt out of the GST tax net.
The GST Council, which is headed by Arun Jaitley, the Finance minister has also said the following for Kerala:
Kerala is now fully entitled to intra–state trade and is now allowed to impose a cess of maximum 1 percent. This limit is to be pursued for the period of 2 years.
The aforementioned exemption is especially good for the ones who have opted for MSME registration (Micro Small and medium Enterprises). This doubled limit would have far reaching consequences for the small companies gaining a proper foothold in the market.
Therefore, if you have not still opted for MSME registration, now is the time that you should not defer it anymore and apply for this registration at Registrationwala. Our team is going to make sure that you get this registration on time so that your business endeavours won’t just start, they are also successful.


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SIAL China: Cold Chain Logistics with growth potential
Now in its nineteenth year, SIAL China 2018 will continue to connect the Asian and international food industry, promote innovation and collaboration to meet new and changing consumer demand. On 16-18 May, 2018, exhibitors from 21 food sectors, occupying 13 exhibition halls and 162,000 sqm will exhibit their products at SIAL China.
Meat, Dairy, Wine, and Beverage remains four of the top food industry growth sectors in China and will have their own dedicated halls. Cold Chain Logistics remains one the sectors with the highest growth potential due to quickly growing fresh food e-commerce and on-demand industry. As a result, at SIAL China 2018, the designated International Cold Chain Logistic Hall will be expanded. SIAL China's Events, a key attraction for visitors and exhibitors, will continue to collaborate with top associations and professionals like the World Associations of Chefs Societies (WACS) and Wine masters and renowned sommeliers. These collaborations will share the latest food innovations, trends, and techniques with visitors and exhibitors.
At SIAL China 2018, visitors and exhibitors will be able to experience cooking demonstrations at La Cuisine and Seafood Fest’. Learn from wine masters and renowned sommeliers at Wine Innovation Forum, watch a live dessert demonstration at Chocolate World, explore the essence of tea at the China National Specialty Tea Brewers Cup, exchange inspiration at Retail & Hospitality Forum, learn the most current global consumption trends with World Tour, and see the most cutting-edge products at SIAL Innovation.


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Seoul, South Korea (CNN Philippines Life, Oct. 23) — In K-drama land, the sight of emerald green bottles and shot glasses on the table are a sign of many things: a lovesick male lead mourning the end of a relationship, or maybe an ensemble of office workers celebrating a promotion. When you see them whip out the soju, one thing’s for sure: they’re in for a long night.
But have you ever wondered why all soju bottles have the same shape and color, regardless of brand?
“It’s for recycling purposes,” says Byung Jun Yu, the HITEJINRO manager for overseas business. Earlier in the day, Yu answered this and more of our long-held soju questions as he toured us around the HITEJINRO factory in Icheon, a sprawling complex that’s around 45 minutes away from Seoul by car.
The tour of the factory began with a look at the recycling process, where bottle labels are removed and the bottles themselves undergo an intensive sanitation process before being filled up with the soju that fuels many a drunken night out. Pointing out that some of the bottles in the crates are not from JINRO, Yu tells us that several soju companies came to an agreement over a decade ago to package their soju in green bottles with the same color and design so that they can easily be recycled.
Riding the Hallyu wave
We were at the factory to learn more about Korea’s number one liquor; a spirit that’s dominated the Philippine alcohol market since it found its way to our shores in the 1980s. Over email, Jung-ho Hwang, managing director at the HITEJINRO overseas business headquarters cites data from Euromonitor, which stated that the Philippine soju market in 2022 was “estimated to be 7,545,000 liters in volume, which translates to 21 million bottles.”
“Soju is seamlessly integrated with culture. In the midst of the global Hallyu wave, soju is readily recognizable and accessible,” says Hwang. “I believe that the charm of soju lies not only in its taste but also in the fact that it allows consumers to embrace Korean culture while enjoying it.”
For many of us, drinking soju is one way to channel our favorite K-drama characters and K-pop idols. The drink’s ubiquity in K-entertainment, its fun flavor options, and its accessible price point have made it a drink of choice for many a Filipino inuman.
Hwang says that this was all part of the company’s “soft marketing” strategy; a process which involves getting young female celebrities as their brand ambassadors. The current ambassador is singer-actress IU, who’s been representing the brand for eight years and counting. She’s the latest in a string of actresses and singers tapped by the brand to advertise their Chamisul product since 1999 — a strategy they used to encourage young women to buy what back then was previously marketed as a “man’s drink.”
What’s soju made of?
At the factory museum, we got a peek of JINRO’s close to 100 year legacy, which started in what is now North Korea. They opened in 1924 with a flagship soju that had 35% ABV (alcohol by volume). By comparison, the average ABV of whisky is between 36 to 50%, while tequila is usually at about 40%. Now, JINRO’s flagship Chamisul bottles contain 16.5% ABV.
This hasn’t stopped it from being enjoyed worldwide. “It’s the #1 best-selling spirit in the world!” says Yu proudly at the start of the tour, citing Drinks International’s Millionaires’ Club list. It even beat out the Philippines’ own Ginebra, as well as other hard liquors such as Imperial Blue whiskey and Strong Zero. JINRO accounts for roughly half of the soju market in the Philippines, based on their export quantities.
Yu showed us the distillation process that sets JINRO soju apart from other imitation brands. As a spirit, their Chamisul soju is known for its neutral, slightly sweet and clean-tasting flavor despite its high alcohol content. To achieve that flavor, it’s made with three key ingredients: rice, barley, and tapioca, with a few natural additives that undergo a patented four-time distillation method involving bamboo charcoal.
This process removes impurities that can cause hangovers — one of the many reasons why JINRO Chamisul is the soju of choice for many Koreans. If not for the taste, it can be hard to differentiate sojus based on shelf appearance alone. When in doubt, Yu says, “look for the toad.”
HITEJINRO re-introduced the toad in 2019, along with their “JINRO Is Back” campaign, which also introduced a retro blue bottle design that quickly became a hit in Korea. I ask if this mascot has a name, like the Kakao and Line characters so prevalent around the nation’s capital. But Yu tells me that the toad doesn’t have a name. It’s simply called “dukkeobi,” which translates to “toad” in Korean.
We ended the tour right before lunch, a little tipsy from all the soju we tried at the end of it. As if to stamp in the fact that JINRO is already a hallmark to Korean culture as San Miguel is to Philippine culture, markers of the brand greeted us until we reached Seoul. At the restaurant we went to for lunch, a poster of IU smiled down upon us as we enjoyed our dak galbi, while sky blue, light green, and pink versions of Dukkeobi were plastered on restaurant windows, stamped on soju bottles and water pitchers, and printed on the aprons of ahjussis and ahjummas at the market.


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Apple does not expect customers to be able to go into an Apple retail store and buy the firm's new Watch until June, according to a memo from the iPhone maker's retail chief.
Sprint wholesale partner nTelos Wireless closed a deal to sell some of its 1900 MHz PCS spectrum to T-Mobile US for $56 million. The transaction was announced in December as part of nTelos' plan to exit from its Eastern Markets. NTelos wants to focus on markets in western Virginia and West Virginia where it has a stronger retail presence and benefits from a network deal with Sprint.
T-Mobile US is likely going to best Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and Sprint in terms of handset subscriber additions in the first quarter, according to a new report from financial analysts at Wells Fargo. However, the other carriers likely will continue to make strides in tablets. Additionally, the analysts are looking for a more detailed outlook for the rest of the year from Sprint, especially on its capital expenditure plans.
The FCC will consider what changes it should make to its rules governing designated entities (DEs) that bid in spectrum auctions, ahead of next year's incentive auction of 600 MHz broadcast TV spectrum.
T-Mobile US CEO John Legere is keeping up the pressure on Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and Sprint to drop overage charges on their domestic plans, as T-Mobile did a year ago. Legere said in a new video that if a petition he started on the issue, which has already attracted around 200,000 signatures, gathers 50,000 more signatures, he will "send them a message that they won't miss."
The first-quarter earnings season is getting underway. Be sure to check back here frequently to stay updated on the financials and key metrics of the major players.
North America and Western Europe are going to peak in terms of smartphone sales growth in the next couple of years, according to a new report from research firm CCS Insight.
AT&T Mobility continues to urge the FCC not to repack and place TV broadcasters into the 600 MHz band as part of next year's incentive auction. The carrier also said it conducted a study that found varying levels of interference for carriers depending upon how much spectrum broadcasters give up.
Nokia's $16.6 billion deal to acquire Alcatel-Lucent would bring together two large network vendors that have each gone through major mergers of their own that have been difficult, to say the least. Although the companies' leaders are defending the deal, some analysts are skeptical that the firms can pull off such a merger without major integration headaches.
How did the wireless industry perform in the first quarter of 2015? Check here throughout the first-quarter earnings report season for full earnings reports from the wireless industry's carriers, handset makers, equipment suppliers and others.
Sprint has made a lot of news recently about plans to expand its distribution and even bring phones directly to customers. It's all part of an effort to retain the company's customer base and drum up more sales in the hopes of growing net subscriber additions. However, unless Sprint clarifies its brand message and improves its 2.5 GHz LTE network, I fear it will not amount to much.
In a conversation with FierceCable, Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch discussed how Dish Network made the transition to IP-based video delivery, the potential for advertising via over-the-top services like Sling TV, changing views around programming, and more. Hot Seat
Intel said it remains on track to cut $800 million in losses from its mobile business this year as it ramps up production of its chipsets for entry-level phones and tablets. The company, which reported first-quarter earnings yesterday, also said it will continue to pay device makers to put its silicon inside their gadgets, but it will do less of that this year than it did in 2014.
The European Commission (EC) is formally opening an investigation into whether Google violated antitrust laws through the dominant position of its Android mobile operating system by favoring its own services. The probe came paired with an official accusation by the EC's competition chief that the search giant had abused its power in Web searches.
Nokia agreed to purchase Alcatel-Lucent in a $16.6 billion (€15.6 billion) deal that would form a powerhouse to rival Ericsson and Huawei in the global market for telecom equipment. In the United States, the deal could create a company that could challenge Ericsson's leading position.
The Pew Research Center recently published a report called US Smartphone Use in 2015, which provides some interesting survey data on how Americans are accessing the Internet. When looking at the survey results, it becomes apparent that zero rating data--the practice of exempting data usage charges when accessing certain websites or apps--is a viable, market-driven opportunity that improves the affordability of access to everything from health information, to job applications, to encyclopedias, to music and more.
Virtual reality goggles, Wi-Fi and cellular network modeling and RF testing are just a few of the treats at CableLabs' newly refurbished headquarters in Louisville, Colo., a short drive northwest of downtown Denver. At the lab, the company tests new and innovative technologies that eventually might make their way into some new product from a cable provider. Special report
Twilio (a 2014 Fierce 15 winner) is adding video capabilities to its cloud-based communications platform, giving enterprises and developers the ability to add live video calling to any application.
Qualcomm brushed off calls from an activist shareholder to break up its chipset and patent-licensing businesses, arguing that keeping them together is in the best interests of shareholders. However, as the Wall Street Journal details, Qualcomm's profitable royalty business is coming under pressure from industry trade groups and competitors.
Verizon Wireless is taking flak for a posting on its website written by industry analyst Jack Gold that suggests customers do not want or need unlimited data plans.


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RUG INSIDER caught up with several of your favorite HPMKT stars for an Insider’s look at what’s in store for Fall Market 2022 introductions and events.
Fall markets were back in a big way for the area rug industry in mid-September 2022, as two shows made big waves in New York and New Jersey. Cover Connect returned for its second iteration at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City from September 11 – 13. The Rug Show took place at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus, New Jersey from September 14 – 16. Both shows were heavily attended and were a great way to kick off the fall selling season, following a downturn in the last couple of years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Here is a roundup of what a few of the exhibitors had to say about the state of the industry, what their companies are up to, and how the market looks this fall.
Following pandemic-related postponements, The Rug Show returns to the East Coast at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey on September 14-16, 2022. As a premier industry fair, The Rug Show offers attendees a place to buy new products, meet new rug makers, learn and build connections through networking.
Retailer + Designer Traffic Poised for In-Person Pickup, Post-Pandemic
The home fashions industry has reconvened this month—first at the Atlanta Market July 12-18, and then again at the Las Vegas Market July 24-28—to shop the latest and greatest in area rugs and much more.
The area rug category represents “a key asset” and an integral component to the markets’ whole home resources, noted Scott Eckman, executive vice president and chief revenue officer of International Market Centers (IMC), the organizer of the Atlanta and Las Vegas markets.
Area Rug exhibitors are moving into new showrooms and displaying tons of fresh product at the fall High Point Market.
The last High Point Market came at the perfect time—right as the CDC lifted mask requirements. But masks or not, everyone knew it would be a successful market.
Even though COVID-19 restrictions are tightening across the country, the rug industry is still looking forward to a stellar fall show. There’s sure to be plenty of introductions on tap, and even new showrooms as rug exhibitors expand their offerings and aim to reach new customers.
Talk to nearly anyone who attended the recently concluded High Point Market and they’ll tell you that traffic was noticeably higher than the last October market, order writing was steady and everyone was eager to get back to business. Such was the case for several rug exhibitors Rug Insider caught up with who took advantage of the show to display new and trending designs for designers and retailers alike.
In June, Tamarian Rugs left its temporary space at the Suites at Market Square and moved into its new showroom on East Russell Street. At the fall market, Ned Baker, key account manager of Tamarian, says the company will still view it as a grand opening. While no grand opening event is planned at the time of this writing, Baker says to keep an eye out as we get closer to market.


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Watch all the latest videos from Ipsos MORI.
Ben Page speaks to Research Magazine on how the recession has affected consumers
11 August 2010
Research Magazine spoke to Ben Page about what's changed in the wake of the recession, and what hasn't. The recession has brought real changes in consumer behaviour, says Page, but we mustn’t overstate the impact, and we mustn’t mistake accelerated trends for new ones.
Ipsos MORI on... the Recession
1 April 2010
Economic recovery is likely to be the biggest dividing line between the two parties at the next election. In this latest podcast, Ben Page looks at what the recession has meant for the country and how the public feel it will pan out.
– Your information|How to use this site
© Ipsos MORI. All rights reserved.


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Maersk is Looking for AgriFood Startups Combatting Food Loss in Wake of Two Investments
Maersk, the end-to-end transport and logistics company and the biggest food transporter in the world, is currently accepting applications from agrifood tech startups for the second edition of its equity-free venture program, FoodTrack by Maersk. The focal point of the program is to identify startups with solutions to tackle food loss and improve efficiency across food value chains for a potential investment from the company’s venture arm Maersk Growth.
Ten selected startups will receive a travel and accommodation grant to participate in the program, which runs for four weeks in Copenhagen at the office of Maersk Growth. And the second edition of FoodTrack by Maersk will put extra emphasis on connecting the startups to relevant partners and experts as this proved particularly valuable for the startups in first edition.
Maersk Growth has been actively investing in agrifood tech startups in the last couple of months, recently announcing two investments in startups with solutions that will improve the efficiency in food value chains and drive down food loss. TeleSense, a grain monitoring IoT platform that detects nonoptimal storage conditions and reduce spoilage, raised $6.5 million at Series A as Maersk’s first agtech investment. And Ripe.io, a startup using blockchain technology to create a digital bridge enabling transparency, trust, and honesty for food producers, distributors, and consumers across the supply chain, raised $2.4 million in seed funding with Maersk leading the round.
Read more on AgFunder News.


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Thirteen years ago, Chinese entrepreneur Jia Yueting founded what is today known as LeEco – a sprawling business of TVs, smartphones, streaming video, and even electric cars. It made him a billionaire; one of China’s rag-to-riches legends.
However, Jia’s legacy at LeEco won’t be as rosy as the story of his rise. Earlier this week, the tech magnate resigned from his post as company CEO, following months of shrinking cash reserves and scandal. Top executives have abandoned Faraday Future, the Chinese tech company’s US self-driving car unit. In the span of just six years, the tech conglomerate has burned through more than US$7 billion, leaving its business units precariously strapped for cash.
“The philosophy of LeEco is either to be great or to die, but never to be mediocre,” was Jia’s cavalier response, in an interview with Chinese media.
Here’s a step-by-step look at how Jia turned LeEco into a multi-billion dollar business – and brought it dangerously close to the edge.
2004: Early mover in China’s paid video market
Jia began his empire with online video. In 2004, when he founded Le.com – the roots of his future tech conglomerate – few companies in China were streaming copyrighted movies and TV shows through a paid subscription model. Piracy was rampant. That meant that Jia’s company could obtain licensing deals at a relatively low price.
Leshi went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010. Today, it’s one of LeEco’s only profitable entities, according to LeEco’s head of corporate finance.
2011 to 2013: Selling hardware at razor-thin margins
LeEco prides itself on its array of online services: exclusive content, cloud services, music, and more. They’re part of the tech firm’s hardware bundling strategy, where subscriptions, paid content, and ads make up for the loss of selling hardware at near or below the cost of production. In LeEco’s media-centric approach, hardware – TVs, smartphones, even cars – are all channels for serving content.
The tech conglomerate began selling TVs as early as 2011. In 2013, LeEco jumped into the smart TV business, which tied in nicely with the company’s exclusive content offering. That year, Jia’s stake in his video streaming and smart TV business took his personal wealth to about US$3 billion.
2014 to 2015: The cash-burning begins
Set on building an integrated system of hardware and content, LeEco went on a spending – and scaling – spree.
It entered the smartphone business with Le Phone in 2015 – though it never took off, unable to rival domestic competitors like Xiaomi and Huawei. From 2014 onwards, the tech giant also began producing smart bikes and virtual reality headsets. At the same time it started developing Tesla-rivaling cars.
In 2014, Jia began financing a US-based self-driving car company called Faraday Future. His content business also expanded into sports broadcasting that year with LeSports.
LeEco also doubled down on existing business units, such as Le Vision Pictures, a movie production and distribution company. In 2014, the film unit co-distributed The Expendables III. More recently, it produced The Great Wall, a critically-panned flop starring Matt Damon.
2015: Fundraising and selling shares to slow the hemorrhaging of funds
As Jia’s empire expanded rapidly, he needed more capital, especially as deep-pocketed competitors moved in. Chinese unicorn Xiaomi wanted a piece of the smart TV and content business. Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba were also pushing their own video streaming platforms, driving up the cost and competition for licensing deals and copyright purchases.
Jia sold hundreds of millions of his own personal shares.
In July and October of 2015, Jia sold hundreds of millions of his own personal shares, raising about US$830 million in total. That year, LeEco’s mobile development business raised a US$530 million series A to expand into India, the US, and Hong Kong. The tech firm’s sports unit also raked in US$128 million – and would pull in another US$1.2 billion about a year later.
2016: LeEco’s breaking point
In the midst of fundraising and selling shares, Jia continued to push his business to the max. In 2015, the tech giant invested US$700 million into car-hailing app Yidao Yongche. In 2016, it announced its intentions to buy US television maker Vizio for US$2 billion and became the majority shareholder of Coolpad. It also bought Yahoo’s property in Santa Clara, California.
LeEco also unveiled its own self-driving car brand, apparently separate from Faraday Future, and started making plans to produce the LeSee sedan in the US. Neither LeSee nor Faraday Future have set a firm launch date for their first cars.
Jia slashed his salary to 15 cents.
Not surprisingly, by the end of the year, Jia’s business found itself running out of cash. By November, things were dire. Jia slashed his salary to 15 cents and penned a long, confessional letter to employees, admitting that the company had grown too fast.
“We blindly sped ahead, and our cash demand ballooned. We got over-extended in our global strategy,” he wrote.
It was a starkly different attitude from earlier that year, when Jia scorned Apple as outdated and losing momentum.
Not long after Jia’s letter, the company raised another US$600 million, part of it coming from some of the founder’s business school classmates. Most of the capital went to LeEco’s car unit, which had already cost the company US$1.45 billion in early-stage development.
2017: Miraculous fundraising while LeEco continues to unravel
This year, LeEco’s cash crunch has continued. In January, Jia’s venture got some relief when it somehow raised US$2.2 billion from property developer Sunac.
In order to generate more capital, the tech conglomerate is in talks to sell its real estate assets and is laying off the majority of its US workforce. Meanwhile, LeEco’s purchase of US television maker Vizio fell through in April, and Faraday Future faces lawsuits from unpaid contractors.
With Jia’s resignation this week – though he’s staying on as chairman – it seems like LeEco’s struggles for this year have only just begun. Even if the cash-strapped tech giant raises more funds from investors, at some point, it will need to find a way to generate profit on its own.
Converted from Chinese yuan. Rate: US$1 = RMB 6.89
This post The billionaire who very nearly bankrupted a Chinese tech giant appeared first on Tech in Asia.


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A smartphone brand, OPPO, said it plans to spend about $1.43billion on Research and Development (R&D) this year so as to improve its technological capabilities.
Its Founder and CEO, Tony Chen, said the firm’s commitment to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop a wide range of smart devices including smartwatches and smart home technologies to explore and meet the increasingly rigid demands of consumers in the age of the Internet of Things (IoT).
Read also: Mobile phone users hit 120million, says NCC
Chen said 5G is a trend the firm is already embracing and as a technology firm, the firm is striving to become the first manufacturer in the world to launch 5G smartphones.
OPPO will fully integrate 5G with apps and user insights, and continuously innovate to provide users with revolutionary, necessary, convenient and seamless experiences. Interestingly, OPPO had established a 5G team as far back as 2015 and has continued working backstage till a major breakthrough was achieved in October last year.


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Huawei's Honor brand unveiled its latest high-end handset this week, and the company is keen to emphasize that it will offer top-notch support for the device. The Honor 8 is the latest in a growing number of premium smartphones offered at affordable prices, and it's already made a good first impression on us.
Huawei's Taylor Wimberley said today that "Honor is committed to providing the best possible experience" for its customers. With that in mind, the company has committed to:
- at least one new update with new features every three months for the first year after launch;
- a total of up to 24 months of feature updates after launch;
- security and software updates delivered in a timely manner; and
- continued "safety and security updates" beyond the first 24 months,
...for the Honor 8, and for all future Honor devices.
There's clearly a bit of room for interpretation in Honor's commitments there - for example, what constitutes "a timely manner" for delivering security updates? While some manufacturers, such as Samsung and LG, release security patches for many of their Android devices every month, Motorola has said that it's too "difficult" to do so, leaving its handsets without the latest security fixes for months at a time.
Still, it's certainly a positive step for Huawei to make these commitments, promising buyers of Honor devices that it will give them "the best and safest possible experience" that it can.
Source: +TaylorWimberly / Huawei via GSM Arena
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HBO NOW attracts 800k subs
February 11, 2016
Richard Pleper, Chief Executive of HBO, has revealed that HBO NOW, the broadcaster’s OTT platform, has attracted some 800,000 paying subscribers, with Jeff Bewkes, Chairman and CEO of HBO’s parent company Time Warner, suggesting the service was a significant contributor to HBO’s 2.7 million domestic subscriber additions in 2015.
The figures were highlighted during Time Warner’s Fourth Quarter 2015 Earnings Call, during which Bewkes suggested that the combination of an even stronger original programming line-up and best selection of hit Hollywood movies and ever improving digital products would drive continued subscriber growth both at HBO NOW and with its traditional distributors.
Howard Averill, CFO, said that Time Warner was pleased with HBO NOW’s early progress, with its contribution to subscription revenue increasing sequentially throughout the year. “As we move into 2016, we expect the revenue contributions from HBO NOW to increase further as we rollout new programming and expand distribution allowing us to invest even more aggressively in marketing the product and later in the year, we expect to begin renewing some of our affiliate deal, which should result in improved monetisation of our subscriber base,” he advised.
Pleper noted that HBO NOW was a relatively recent service launch, with the operation learning all the time. “We are at this eight months; we are at about 800,000 paying subscribers. We see an enormous amount of opportunity ahead,” he declared.
“HBO NOW is an additive part of our growth strategy. And what we have seen in the ecosystem where we see the vast amount of growth is that we have huge opportunities there as well. So we are going to work on a multifaceted way to expand our sub base and to expand our sub revenue,” he suggested.


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Following the recent roll out of the Affordable Care Act, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza has teamed up with Covered California and Sen. Holly Mitchell’s office to help connect neighbors to healthcare options offered through California’s new health insurance exchange. A Covered California booth located on the mall’s Macy’s bridge was unveiled on Wednesday with an official ribbon cutting ceremony.
Covered California is the state’s official marketplace managed under the federal Affordable Care Act. Coverage under the new exchange will begin in January 2014, and will feature competitively priced plans for individuals and small businesses.
Under this system, interested participants can compare their options and choose the plan that best fits their needs and budget. At Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., L.A., customers can receive personal guidance from Covered California representatives and purchase the plan that is right for them.
This is the first time Covered California is offering this individualized service within a retail center. Representatives are available, offering free assistance to the public seven days a week through March 2014. Booth hours are 4-9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 3-8 p.m. Saturday; and 1-6 p.m. Sunday.


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A hybrid vehicle has joined Norfolk Constabulary but it doesn't have a quiet undercover role – its job is to be noticed on the streets as much as possible. In addition, Norfolk Constabulary is currently evaluating the whole Toyota Blue Light fleet including a RAV4, Corolla, Land Cruiser and Avensis.
The environmentally friendly Toyota Prius, which is being evaluated by the police over a six-month period, is signwritten with the address of the force's new website. The idea is to encourage people to log on, find out what's happening locally and ultimately provide feedback to the force.
Norfolk Constabulary, which is based in Wymondham, was one of the first UK forces to have a community website, but it wants its redesigned version to have a far higher profile.
"We have a target of 200,000 visits and a million pages visited, and it will be one measure of the Prius's success as a high-visibility vehicle if we achieve that," said Marketing & Communications Manager Peter Steward. The Prius will be used as a pool car mainly by staff from his department, and as such will attend major incidents in the region. It was handed over to Norfolk's new Chief Constable Andy Hayman at the start of January.
A 1.5-litre VVT-i petrol engine drives the Toyota Prius, but a 30kW electric motor takes over at low speeds. This allows it to return more than 60mpg around town, and with the lowest CO2 emissions around at only 114g/km, it already meets European emission standards, which come into force in 2005.
"Norfolk Constabulary is developing a Green Policy for police vehicles that will consider the benefits of using alternative fuels," said Fleet Manager Mark Davy. The first mass-produced petrol-electric hybrid, the Toyota Prius has a 90% share of the world hybrid market, with 100,000 cars sold in the past five years.
This is a 18-year+ news article, from our Toyota archive, which dates back to the year 2000.
If in doubt check with your local Toyota dealer as car prices and technical data will have changed since 2003.
Although our car news is published in good faith, we cannot guarantee it to be error free or complete or up-to-date.
Toyota Images may not be UK specification cars. Colours and exterior and/or interior elements may differ from actual models.
The car news and images remain the copyright of the rights holder and may not be used without their consent.


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As title sponsor of ‘Barclaycard presents: British Summer Time’ since the Hyde Park music festival's inception in 2013, the credit card brand sought to reinvigorate its associations with music.
To stay top-of-mind among young consumers applying for their first credit card, generating buzz and stand-out in a crowded market, augmenting its competitive APR rates with entertainment and exclusivity bonuses.
Strategy and execution
AKQA conceived 'DanceBots', animated dancing avatars representing people's musical tastes. Available in hundreds of thousands of permutations, consumers would be able to share them with friends via social media.
Barclaycard tied up with news site Buzzfeed, which carried a music quiz aimed at its young readership. Users’ answers were used to generate their own bespoke DanceBots, which dressed and danced according to their musical tastes.
Three weeks later, physical versions of the DanceBots appeared at the British Summer Time Festival, with digital screens encouraging revellers to make their own avatar between acts.
The campaign became widely discussed on social media, picking up contributions from UK influencers and celebrities and reaching 20m unique followers. Positive sentiment towards Barclaycard increased significantly, while the campaign site drew 1m unique visits and saw the creation of 100,000 DanceBots.


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BEIJING (AP) — China's auto sales shrank in September as a territorial dispute with Tokyo prompted buyers to avoid Japanese brands, hurting already weakening demand.
Sales of passenger vehicles declined 0.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.32 million units, the state-sanctioned China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Wednesday.
The group blamed the tensions with Japan but the decline also reflects the impact of China's deepest economic slowdown since the 2008 global crisis. Sales in some cities have been hurt by local measures to control congestion by liming new registrations.
Sales growth in the world's biggest auto market by vehicles sold has declined from June's 15.8 percent to 11 percent in July and 3.7 percent in August.
In September, sales of Japanese vehicles plunged as the dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea prompted buyers to avoid Japanese showrooms.
"The decline of Japanese brands is the most important factor in the downturn of the passenger car market this month," said a CAAM statement.
Toyota Motor Corp. said its sales in China declined 48.9 percent from a year earlier. Nissan Motor Co. said sales slid 35.3 percent while Honda Motor Co.'s were down 40.5 percent.
That slump is hurting China as well, because many Japanese vehicles sold in this country are produced in local factories with components bought from Chinese suppliers. Japanese automakers temporarily closed some of their China factories and have reduced production after reopening.
Even without the tensions, sales growth is weakening, said Jia Xinguang, an independent auto analyst in Beijing.
"The situation is still grim," said Jia.
Among foreign automakers, General Motors Co. said it set a new September sales record of 244,266 vehicles but growth slowed to 1.7 percent over a year earlier. Ford Motor Co. reported a 35 percent rise in sales to 59,570 vehicles.
Total vehicle sales declined 1.8 percent in September to 1.62 million, according to CAAM.
In the nine months through September, passenger car sales rose 7 percent over a year earlier to 11.3 million vehicles, while total auto sales rose 3.4 percent to 14.1 million vehicles.


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Oct. 21, 2015, 11:33 AM
- Up yesterday in response to Intel's flash manufacturing plans, chip equipment makers are higher today after Lam Research (LRCX +5.6%) announced it's buying KLA-Tencor (KLAC +22.5%) for $10.6B, with the goal of creating an industry giant on par with Applied Materials (AMAT +1%).
- In addition to Lam, KLA, and Applied, gainers include ASML (ASML +2.3%), Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC +2.9%), Teradyne (TER +4.6%), Mattson (MTSN +2.6%), and Xcerra (XCRA +2.3%). Ahead of the deal announcement, Tokyo Electron (OTCPK:TOELF) rose 4% in Tokyo, aided by the Intel news and a rally in Japanese equities.
- Lam/KLA assert the deal combines "Lam's best-in-class capabilities in deposition, etch, and clean [equipment] with KLA-Tencor's leadership in inspection and metrology." Gartner estimates Lam and KLA respectively had 9.4% and 6.4% of the 2013 chip equipment market. Applied (competes with both KLA and Lam) had 16.2%, ASML (dominant in lithography) 15.7%, and Tokyo 9.1%.
- Lam is paying the equivalent of $32/share in cash and 0.5 shares (current value of $37) for each KLA share. It plans to finance the deal with $1.9B in cash on hand from both companies, and $3.9B in debt. KLA shareholders can elect to be paid solely in cash, solely in stock, or through a mixture of cash and stock.
- The deal is expected to close in mid-2016. Lam CEO Martin Anstice will run the combined firm.
Jun. 8, 2015, 3:42 AM
- While mergers and acquisitions have accelerated sharply since the financial crisis, the government's pace for reviewing proposed deals is slowing.
- In such deal reviews concluded this year, more than 10 months elapsed, on average, between the transaction's announcement and a yes-or-no decision by the FTC or Justice Department. That's an increase from an average of seven months in recent years.
- Notables: Comcast's (NASDAQ:CMCSA) bid for Time Warner (NYSE:TWC) was pending for 14 months before it was dropped in April. Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) walked away from its deal to acquire Tokyo Electron (OTCPK:TOELY) 19 months after it was announced, while the FTC spent more than a year examining Sysco's (NYSE:SYY) planned acquisition of U.S. Foods before bringing a lawsuit against it in February.
Apr. 27, 2015, 2:00 PM
- Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) has tumbled towards $20 following news it has cancelled its planned $29B merger with Tokyo Electron, following a DOJ rejection of Applied/Tokyo's proposed remedies.
- The merger would've created a company that controlled about a quarter of global chip equipment spend, prior to any divestments. Several peers have rallied, perhaps aided by hopes they'll now be targeted.
- In an attempt to soften the blow, Applied has launched a new $3B buyback. It's good for repurchasing 11% of shares at current levels, and lasts through the third quarter of FY18.
- Stifel's Patrick Ho (Buy) is "surprised by the [DOJ's] ruling," given limited product overlap that could've been addressed via remedies. "In our view, persistent customer 'complaints' likely made it more difficult for regulators to approve the deal ... we believe that a great deal of focus has been placed on trying to complete this deal and while we believe Applied Materials is still well positioned to capitalize on these emerging industry inflections, there is a feeling of 'wasted energy' in this long tedious process..."
- Needham's Edwin Mok (Hold) thinks Applied is better off without Tokyo: He argues cultural differences would've limited operational synergies, thinks Tokyo has seen "accelerated share loss" since the 2013 merger announcement, and believes "AMAT alone is better leveraged to increased [etching/deposition equipment] intensity at the leading edge and is likely to see greater growth trajectory ahead."
Apr. 27, 2015, 3:24 AM
- Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Tokyo Electron (OTCPK:TOELY) said they will scrap plans for a merger that would have created a company with a market value of $29B, citing problems with the U.S. Department of Justice.
- The future of the deal was put into doubt earlier this year when the plan was delayed due to regulatory issues in several different countries.
Feb. 19, 2015, 11:54 AM
- South Korea's Fair Trade Commission plans to conditionally approve Applied Materials' (NASDAQ:AMAT) merger with Tokyo Electron (OTCPK:TOELF +5%). The regulator adds it's talking with peers in six countries (inc. the U.S. and Japan) to nail down details for approving a deal.
- A government official says Applied/Tokyo have agreed "not to launch combined chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) businesses in Korea," and to also "establish new entities for fair competition, if necessary."
- The announcement comes after Samsung and SK Hynix had voiced objections to the deal, which stands to create a colossus possessing ~25% of the global chip equipment market. The DOJ was reported in December to be vetting a buyer for assets Applied/Tokyo plan to divest to win U.S. regulatory approval.
- Separately, Applied has filed proxy materials for its 2015 annual meeting (set for April 2). The company discloses CEO Gary Dickerson's compensation rose 59% in 2014 to $16.4M, thanks in part to a cash grant meant to avoid an excise tax that would apply to stock option awards following the closing of the Tokyo Electron deal.
Dec. 2, 2014, 6:52 PM
- The DOJ is "vetting a buyer of assets to be divested" by Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Tokyo Electron (OTCPK:TOELF) to win approval for their still-pending merger, TheStreet reports. The DOJ issued a second request for information back in Dec. 2013, three months after the deal was first announced.
- Meanwhile, the Korea Times has reported Samsung, originally opposed to the deal, is urging Korean regulators to approve it after forming a new partnership with AMAT related to next-gen memory chip technologies. Korean approval is deemed likely to arrive "sometime in March or April."
- Chinese and Japanese regulators also still have to vet the deal, which stands to create an industry giant. Morningstar observed last year Applied/Tokyo will have a 40% or greater share in six chip equipment markets.
- TheStreet observes Tokyo, whose shareholders will own 32% of the merged company, still traded at a 10% discount to the merger price as of Monday.
Oct. 29, 2014, 4:19 AM
- Tokyo Electron (OTCPK:TOELF), which is expected to be acquired by Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), has announced that the completion of their merger could take until next year due to delays in regulatory approvals.
- Applied Materials agreed to buy Tokyo Electron in September of last year in an all-stock deal worth more than $10B, combining the two makers of chip-making gear as demand for their products slowed.
Oct. 15, 2014, 2:43 PM
- Declaring Applied Materials' (AMAT -2.1%) recent selloff has made shares "very attractive," BofA/Merrill's Krish Sankar has upgraded the chip equipment giant to Buy, while reiterating a $25 target.
- Though bullish on the semi capital equipment cycle, Sankar argues Applied is "more of a restructuring story, making it cycle-agnostic in the intermediate term and not as susceptible to the noise around demand/yield."
- He sees the Tokyo Electron (OTCPK:TOELF) merger (still being pored over by regulators) potentially closing in Q1, and thinks the post-merger company will have normalized earnings power of $1.80/share, assuming the wafer fab equipment market is worth $31B - Gartner has forecast $30.8B in 2014, and $34.1B in 2015. That implies shares only trade at 10x-11x normalized EPS.
- Moreover, if the deal somehow fails to clear, Sankar only sees Applied falling to the $17-$18 range.
- The upgrade hasn't done much to lift Applied, which is following the market lower. CLSA upgraded the company last week.
Dec. 13, 2013, 2:50 PM
- Applied Materials (AMAT) discloses the DOJ has provided it with a request for additional info related to its planned merger with fellow chip equipment giant Tokyo Electron (TOELF). AMAT still expects the deal to close in mid-2014 or 2H14.
- Many have expected the Applied-Tokyo deal would face close scrutiny, given it stands to create a company with a dominant position in several chip equipment markets, and a total industry share (25.5% in 2012, per Gartner) roughly twice that of #2 ASML (12.8% 2012 share).
- Morningstar's Andy Ng notes Applied/Tokyo will have a 40% or higher share in six markets - including the key etch (46% 2012 share) and deposition (59%) markets, which are expected to see solid growth as chipmakers ramp production of 3D NAND flash memory and chips featuring 3D/FinFET transistors. Lam Research (LRCX +0.4%) is Applied/Tokyo's biggest rival in each market.
- Nonetheless, Ng argues chipmakers will back the deal, given the rising cost/complexity of chip manufacturing and the need for equipment vendors with huge R&D resources and diverse skill sets.
Sep. 25, 2013, 4:11 AM
- Applied Materials (AMAT) Executive Chairman Mike Splinter is confident that while regulators will take a "close look" at the company's proposed $7.1B acquisition of Tokyo Electron (TOELF.PK), the firm is "confident it will get approved."
- Splinter doubts that overlap between Applied Materials' and Tokyo Electron's product lines will be a problem. "Where we actually compete, there is very, very little overlap," Splinter said.
- Despite Splinter's optimism, top chip manufacturers such as Intel, Samsung, and TSMC could object to the deal.
- The companies believe that they'll gain three points in market share from the merger, as well as improve the supply chain, save money and become more efficient.
Sep. 24, 2013, 6:56 PM
- Given the huge market shares Applied Materials (AMAT) and Tokyo Electron (TOELF.PK) stand to have in a many chip/display equipment verticals post-merger, antitrust regulators are expected to closely scrutinize the $29B deal. Top chip manufacturers such as Intel, Samsung, and TSMC could be among those to object to it, at least in the absence of some asset sales.
- Gartner estimates Applied (14.4% share) and Tokyo (11.1% share) had over 1/4 of the global chip equipment market between them in 2012. ASML is assigned a 12.8% share, Lam Research (LRCX) 7.4%, and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) 6.5%.
- If the deal goes through, it should bring some tax benefits on account of the post-merger company's plans to incorporate in The Netherlands (ASML's home turf). A source tells the FT the combined company will have a tax rate of just 17%.
- Some analysts see the merger, like other recent deals, being motivated by the chip equipment industry's secular challenges. "It's all cyclical and no growth," remarks S&P's Angelo Zito.
- Unsurprisingly, Applied offers a more positive take, arguing demand for cutting-edge mobile chips and the industry's race to commercialize EUV lithography (expected in the second half of the decade) presents growth opportunities for companies with superior products. Pac Crest made a similar argument yesterday, while recommending Applied, KLA, and Lam.
- Gartner thinks chip equipment sales will fall 8.5% in 2013 to $34.6B after dropping 16.1% in 2012. But it also sees sales gradually rising to $49.1B in 2017.
- Previous: merger announcement, details
Sep. 24, 2013, 10:00 AM
- Applied Materials (AMAT +6.4%) continues to shoot higher after announcing a $29B all-stock merger with fellow chip/LCD equipment maker Tokyo Electron (TOELF.PK), a move that stands to create an industry behemoth. Among chip equipment peers, only ASML (ASML +1.4%) comes close to matching AMAT/Tokyo Electron in size.
- ASML and Lam Research (LRCX +2.1%) are up moderately in response to the deal, while KLA-Tencor (KLAC) is nearly unchanged. Tokyo Electron closed up 11.7% in Japan.
- Tokyo Electron had FY13 (ended March '13) revenue of ¥497.3B ($5.03B). Applied is expected to generate FY13 (ends Oct. '13) revenue of $7.53B.
- The combined company will have dual HQs in Tokyo and Santa Clara (there could be both integration and cultural challenges). Tokyo Electron chairman/CEO Tetsuro Higashi will be chairman, while new/well-respected Applied CEO Gary Dickerson will be CEO.
- Applied and Tokyo assert the merged company's unmatched materials engineering capabilities will give it an edge in the mobile chip and display equipment markets. The deal is expected to close in "mid to second half of 2014."
- The chip equipment industry has already seen plenty of consolidation; the Lam Research-Novellus and ASML-Cymer deals are two notable examples. Will Applied-Tokyo Electron fuel additional M&A activity?
Sep. 24, 2013, 6:38 AM
- Chipmaker Applied Materials (AMAT) will merge with Tokyo Electron in an all-stock combination that values the combined firm at $29B.
- "The combination will accelerate our momentum for profitable growth, increase the value delivered to shareholders and create great opportunities for employees," AMAT CEO Gary Dickerson says.
- The terms of the deal call for AMAT shareholders (who will own 68% of the new firm) to receive 1 share of the combined company for every AMAT share they hold.
- Run-rate operating synergies are expected to be $250M by the end of the first year and $500M in three years.
- Taking into account a planned $3B buyback, the deal will be EPS accretive at the end of the first fiscal year after closing. (PR)
- AMAT +3% premarket.
May 10, 2012, 8:37 AM
Applied Materials (AMAT +0.3%) plans to move its solar wafer manufacturing facilities to Asia from Switzerland as part of a restructuring of its environmental solutions ops, which comes in the midst of a solar-industry slump. Applied expects to record pretax charges of $70M-$100M over the next 1-1.5 years related to the restructure.| May 10, 2012, 8:37 AM
Aug. 23, 2011, 5:33 PMGerman chip equipment maker Aixtron (AIXG) rose 10% today on analyst speculation the company could be a buyout target due to the recent decline in its shares. One analyst suggests Applied Materials (AMAT) is a potential buyer, while another thinks the Chinese government could make a bid. | Aug. 23, 2011, 5:33 PM
May 4, 2011, 6:48 AM


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Summary of Action
Specifically, TINA.org’s investigation revealed that Stream and its distributors are using a plethora of deceptive, atypical, and unsubstantiated income claims to market the Stream business opportunity. Such marketing materials include claims of participants quitting their jobs, becoming stay-at-home parents, paying for their kids’ college tuitions without incurring debt, traveling the world, and driving luxury vehicles, among other things. The problem with these claims is that the average distributor lost money last year by enrolling in Stream’s business opportunity.
As a result of these findings, TINA.org notified the company on December 18, 2017 (as part of TINA.org’s DSA-member investigation) of its findings of inappropriate income claims, and asked that the company remedy the deceptive marketing immediately. The company responded on December 21, 2017 stating, in part, that “Stream’s compliance team…is dedicated to teaching our Independent Associates (IAs) how to accurately and transparently represent the Stream brand….When someone misrepresents Stream in any way, we take it seriously.”
However, TINA.org audited its original sampling of deceptive Stream income claims that it provided to the company back in December 2017 and found that, almost nine months later, over a third of the claims were still up on the internet. In addition, TINA.org collected an additional sampling of more than 100 deceptive income claims made by the company and its distributors.
Therefore, on September 10, 2018, TINA.org filed complaint letters with the Federal Trade Commission and Texas Attorney General urging them both to investigate the company and take appropriate enforcement action.
For information on TINA.org’s involvement in civil litigation filed against Stream, click here.


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Gap CEO Peck to leave; earnings forecast cut sends shares tumbling
(Reuters) - Gap Inc said on Thursday Chief Executive Officer Art Peck will step down and also cut its full-year earnings forecast, blaming slower traffic and operational challenges, sending the apparel maker's shares down 7%. Peck's departure comes as Gap prepares to spin off its Old Navy brand, a bright spot for the struggling retailer, into a publicly listed company. He has been with Gap for nearly 15 years and will depart after a brief transition, the company said
(Reuters) - Gap Inc
Peck's departure comes as Gap prepares to spin off its Old Navy brand, a bright spot for the struggling retailer, into a publicly listed company.
He has been with Gap for nearly 15 years and will depart after a brief transition, the company said.
Robert Fisher, the company's current non-executive board chairman, will serve as president and chief executive officer on an interim basis, effective immediately.
The apparel retailer, which estimated a 4% drop in third-quarter same-store sales, now expects full-year adjusted earnings per share of $1.70 to $1.75, down from its previous forecast of $2.05 to $2.15.
"This was a challenging quarter, as macro impacts and slower traffic further pressured results that have been hampered by product and operating challenges across key brands," Gap Chief Financial Officer Teri List-Stoll said.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.
By John McCrank and Anirban Sen (Reuters) -The New York Stock Exchange said on Wednesday it will delist three Chinese telecom companies, confirming its latest reversal on the matter a day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told the NYSE chief he disagreed with an earlier decision to reverse the delistings
(Reuters) - Deal making among oil and gas producers was at its highest for the year in the fourth quarter of 2020 as the pandemic-driven fallout in commodity prices spurred a wave of consolidation between explorers looking to scale up and drive down costs, a report from analytics firm Enverus said. Oil and gas producers made deals worth $27.1 billion in the quarter, up from $21 billion in the third, helped by three multi-billion dollar acquisitions in the prolific Permian basin of West Texas and New Mexico. ConocoPhillips acquired Concho Resources for $13.3 billion, the biggest pure shale acquisition by any company since 2011, topping the list.
By Ritvik Carvalho, Wayne Cole and David Randall NEW YORK/LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) - The growing chances of Democratic wins in two pivotal U.S. Senate contests triggered financial market moves Wednesday that mirror hopes of more COVID-19-related stimulus and increased regulatory scrutiny of tech companies


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Today it was announced that Seagate has purchased Samsung’s HDD business. If Western Digital’s bid to purchase Hitachi’s HDD business goes through (and I would think that allowing Seagate to do the same should grease the wheels a tad), that would bring the entire HDD business down to these three:
- Western Digital
You can guess which one is the minority partner in this relationship.
Couple this with the news that Seagate and Western Digital are cutting the warranties on consumer-grade drives and you get the picture that the “spinning rust” business isn’t as rosy as it used to be, even outside of the drive shortages that have propped up prices for the foreseeable future. It is hard being in a commodity business, especially one that is as driven by price as traditional storage.


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By Cindy Silviana
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's transport ministry has trimmed the maximum fares airlines can charge for domestic routes, effective later this week, as millions of Muslims prepare for homecoming trips at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
The transport ministry, which regulates how much airlines can charge for flights, lowered the ceiling prices for domestic routes by 12%-16% starting this Friday, Polana Banguningsih Pramesti, director general of air transport, said in a news conference on Thursday.
The government of Southeast Asia's largest economy had earlier pressured airlines to cut fares, but ticket prices remained steep due to increasing costs triggered by a weak rupiah and high fuel prices.
The high prices have weakened the appetite for air travel and fed inflation. Lower household spending on travel and accommodation has partly contributed to slower growth than expected in the economy, a rate of 5.07% in January-March.
Airlines should be able to implement these price cuts by improving their efficiency at airport operations, Pramesti said, adding that they should not compromise safety and other "substantial factors".
Pikri Ilham Kurniansyah, commerce director of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, told reporters he has not seen the new regulation, but said "ideally this shouldn't apply to tickets already sold".
Privately owned Lion Air Group will adjust its tariffs and margins according to the new rules, Managing Director Daniel Putut said.
The carrier issued a statement separately on Thursday offering a 50% discount for limited seats between May 16 and June 15, especially for people looking to come home for the Eid al-Fitr festival early-June.
The transport ministry will review its pricing rules every three months for evaluation, its director general added.
(Additional reporting by Wilda Asmarini, Writing by Gayatri Suroyo, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)


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The Republican Social gathering of Texas (RPT) may add a brand new clause to the Invoice of Rights. This new clause would grant folks the precise to personal, possess, and make the most of any sort of medium of trade they select, together with digital foreign money.
The clause states that “The precise of the folks to personal, maintain and use a mutually agreed upon medium of trade, together with money, coin, bullion, digital foreign money or scrip, when buying and selling and contracting for items and providers shall not be infringed.” This may enable them to make use of crypto, bullion, and scrip for funds, aside from money and coin.
The clause provides safety to the Texan residents and states that it’s their “pure proper” to maintain, trade, and retailer their wealth within the medium of trade at will. Moreover, it additionally states that authorities can not limit the folks from preserving any type of cash or foreign money.
Regardless of the issues by some lawmakers that the crypto trade may overburden the already strained energy grid, the Republican state officers are anxious to make sure that Texas builds on its standing as a cryptocurrency hub.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz mentioned “I want to see Texas develop into the centre of the universe for bitcoin and crypto,” on the Texas Blockchain Summit held final October in Austin.
Texas has established itself as essentially the most inviting state for cryptocurrency and blockchain companies. The state has develop into a notable selection for crypto mining as a consequence of low electrical energy and land prices. In response to Lee Bratcher, the creator of the Texas Blockchain Council, there are roughly 40 crypto mining firms working in Texas.
In April, the policymakers of the U.S. Senate Republicans issued a paper on crypto depicting that GOP is making features towards a extra unified stance on digital asset regulation.


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Last month, the famous American newspaper New York Times had a long and interesting article analyzing the not exactly rosy situation of Sanrio. The reporter asked designers and industry experts to find out whether the boom of Hello Kitty is going to last and for how much time. We propose you a translated and summarized version the article (which you can read in full version on this page), hoping that it might interest you as it has interested us.
In Search of Adorable, as Hello Kitty Gets Closer to Goodbye
Despite Hello Kitty enormous popularity in the world, Sanrio starts seeing the first signs of crisis. In fact, sales of brand products are in constant decline since a decade, despite Hello Kitty branded gadgets, thanks to foreign licenses, increased by 9% during the last year.
Interviewed on the subject, Yuko Yamaguchi, the designer of Hello Kitty, says: “We badly need something new. The characters take a long time for development and introduction in different markets, but Kitty was so popular that it has obscured all our other efforts”.
In a market survey, published annually and updated just last month, it was showed that Hello Kitty is only third in popularity (a situation that has been going since 2002), while in the two highest positions of the podium there are Anpanman, a character produced by Nippon Television, and Pokemons. In addition, the research shows that Sanrio is going to be overtaken even by “smaller” companies, like San-x, whose character Rilakkuma classified in fifth position.
Despite the sales drop in Japan, the situation on the foreign market is rosy, thanks to the many licenses related to the celebrations of the 35th Anniversary of Hello Kitty. Currently, the profit of Sanrio is linked to foreign sales for the 30%. However, Susumu Emori, the company executive director, believes a fabulous year, as the previous one, cannot happen again and that the sales are destined to fall significantly. In parallel, a Sanrio theme park, Harmonyland, has recorded a sharp drop in visitors that has caused to the company debts for 4.5 million Euros.
According to analysts, the Sanrio “crisis” is partly due to the overexposure Hello Kitty, now present in every type of product. “Sanrio was initially very careful in making sure that Hello Kitty phenomenon didn’t get out of hand,” said Naohiro Shichijo, professor at Waseda University Institute in Tokyo, who thinks that one of the business rules under is to not to allow a character to become too popular, if you want to bet on longevity.
Hello Kitty Colors line was launched worldwide to celebrate Hello Kitty 35th anniversary of. Sanrio turnover is largely related to foreign licenses: (from top left, clockwise) Tokidoki, Sanrio.com, Loungefly, Camomilla.
In the case of Hello Kitty, since 1974, the year of its creation, the character immediately became a huge success, so much that even the president and founder of Sanrio, Shintaro Tsuji, feared that such popularity could be harmful in the long run. Tsuji’s doubts proved to be well founded, at least until 2000, when Hello Kitty exploded as an international trend. However, as stated by Prof. Shichijo, after the boom in popularity people are begin to be tired of the product.
Sanrio’s Hello Kitty tried to renew. In recent years, the look of the cat has changed from “kawaii” to “cool” (darker colors, more aggressive designs). However, they are simultaneously trying to create a new character that can break the market. In the creative offices of Sanrio, Yuko Yamaguchi is in charge of leading the team of 30 designers who periodically meets together to introduce new characters. At each meeting, each artist has about 20 proposals, but only a dozen of them will be chosen by Yamaguchi to be tested in stores.
Some more “aggressive” designs for the American market.
One of the main aspects to consider during this process is the ability to use the character in different media (for example, television). Hello Kitty, in this case, is a negative example: in spite the production of many animes dedicated to her, the public struggles to accept the fact that the cat could actually talk without a mouth. In addition, the analysis point to the fact that Sanrio characters lack a strong personality, typical of Disney characters, which conversely are having a huge success in Japan.
Stitch debuted in Japan as the protagonist of an anime, while Tokyo Disneyland is recording even more and more visitors.
Finally, the designers of Sanrio characters are forced to develop for a target that consists primarily of children and pre-adolescents, although the bulk of the market, especially in Japan, is represented by adult consumers. In this regard, Miyuki Okumura, designer of the Jewelpet series, says: “If a character captures the heart of a child, she will still love it at least until adolescence. Then, when she will have children, she will buy them the same character. And that’s what we are aiming for”. Jewelpet can be considered just a symptom of Sanrio crisis: to bet on a group of 33 animals different from each other is a like to hope that at least one of them could hit the public.
Hiroko Tabuchi’s article confronts the reality that very often we as consumers tend to forget: kawaii characters are part of a complex mechanism of marketing and they are, essentially, a source of income for companies. In any case, there is no doubt that Hello Kitty is undergoing a strong overexposure, especially in the West, where the character is relatively “new”. Kitty days are numbered for real? Is the “crisis” is not only economic, but above all, creative? What do you think?