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THIS summer, with gas prices less than half what they were last summer, there’s never been a better time to roll up to the rental counter and take out a car for the weekend. Or so you thought.
Reserve your ride and you may notice what seems to be a precipitous rise in the daily price of a car rental (last year at this time, it seemed the rental companies couldn’t give them away).
It’s not just the price of the car that’s high.
Depending on where you pick it up, you’ll find additional new fees where you didn’t expect them (for keeping the car longer, adding a driver) and sky-high taxes that often go to subsidizing a convention or buying a city’s new baseball stadium.
Suddenly, what you thought was a value proposition is, well, not.
In fact, tally up the new, higher prices and it may be cheaper to fly this summer — or at least fly to your rental car.
To wit: A roundtrip ticket for two from JFK to Boston for June 25, returning on Sunday, June 28, totals up to $318, including taxes.
Renting a standard car in Manhattan for the same time period cost in excess of $500.
You can get two business-class seats on the Acela Express from Penn Station to South Station for nearly $200 less than the cost of renting a car that same weekend.
What’s at issue here?
According to Bob Barton, president of the American Car Rental Association, the rising prices are nothing more than normalization.
“You can still rent a car today for the rate you did 20 years ago in some places, while the price of a hotel room has been steadily rising,” Barton points out.
In other words, don’t look for a break any time soon.
AS GOES THE AUTO INDUSTRY . . .
The freewheeling relationship rental-car companies once had with the car manufacturers is gone, too.
“As recently as five years ago,” Barton says, “you could get a car from the manufacturer, drive it for six months and return it. Our cost for the car might be $300 a month from the manufacturer, so in simplistic terms, the total cost would have been $1,800.
“Add to that the incentive check for $500 we would have gotten from Detroit, and our costs were already covered for half the month. If we rented it to you for $25 a day, well, you do the math.”
Sweetheart deals are a thing of the past. So there’s your first blow to low prices.
Add in the commissions that rental-car companies pay online agencies, plus rising airport taxes, rent, payroll, busing and vehicle maintenance . . . voila, your new, higher bill.
Oh, and don’t forget — that unlimited mileage you now mostly take for granted? That’s not free. (Back in the old days, you generally paid for every mile you drove.)
If the car you rented looks more worn than usual, well, blame the credit markets.
Rental-car companies, says Barton, are now in the same boat as everyone else: Credit simply doesn’t exist, meaning that those who wanted to buy new cars were not able to. The number of cars on order in February, he says, added up to one-tenth of those bought one year ago.
THE TOURIST TAX
You may think that your per-day charge has gone higher (and it has — we recently paid about $50 per day to rent a mid-size car in Columbus, Ohio), but that’s not the worst of it.
Once you’re finished paying your rental agency, keep your wallet out for the city.
As nearly all do with hotel stays, municipalities regularly levy taxes on rented cars to cover new convention centers, road construction, even stadiums.
For example, with the help of a 3.25-percent surtax on rental charges, the Arizona Cardinals are now playing in a new stadium, which increased the team’s value over $102 million in 2008.
Benefit to renters or the car companies? Zero.
MORE FEES COMING
At a time when the industry is struggling, there’s a push to bring the car rental booking process more in line with that of the airline and hotel industries.
For instance, making a rental reservation that you don’t show up for may now cost you.
Want to keep your car longer without notifying the company? Your rental rate may change considerably.
These fees that aren’t born from a desire to penalize the customer, Barton says, but to manage inventory better. Companies now average a no show rate of 30 percent.
Consider that the company is on the hook for the $3 per reservation it pays the online travel agency for your booking, and you’re talking $2 million in fees out of a fleet of 250,000.
That’s not exactly chump change.
With higher base prices and plenty of non-optional extras, renting a car without breaking the bank requires more savvy than ever.
* RESEARCH THE MARKET Most online travel companies now break out the base price of a car from the taxes for you on their sites. Look for differences in regions. For example: The city of Phoenix levies more than 13 percent of your total bill, a whopping add-on that includes various surcharges, not to mention up to 9.3 percent retail sales tax. Tucson, on the other hand, charges $3.50 plus 8.1 percent sales tax.
* GAUGE YOUR INSURANCE NEEDS Collision-damage waiver insurance is often more insurance than you need. You likely already have CDW through your credit-card company; call your provider to see if you’re covered. Coverage can be as high as the base price of the car.
* GO OFF-AIRPORT License fees, concession fees, security fees, and energy surcharges all refer to the money the rental company pays to the airport (and therefore you pay to the company) for rent, busing, and a host of other services that should be included in the base price. In some cases, even taking a cab into the city or farther off airport grounds will defray costs.
* OPT OUT WHERE POSSIBLE Car companies may charge more (up to $20 per day) for an additional driver, even though most waive the fee for a spouse. Have a roadside assistance program of your own? Make sure you don’t pay for another.
* LOOK FOR PROMOTIONS Alamo is offering 10 percent off the daily rate on some rentals, Budget will slash rates by up to 40 percent, and Enterprise gives 15 percent off in some cases. You won’t find news of these promotions on the big online travel agencies; go to the car-rental sites themselves.


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Former Home Depot Employee Arrested For Allegedly Stealing Up to $90,000 From Customer’s Credit Card Between 2019-2021
ST. CROIX — A former Home Depot employee on St. Croix appeared before a V.I. Superior Court judge Wednesday to face charges after allegedly stealing between $80,000 to $90,000 from a Home Depot customer’s credit card in the span of nearly two years.
Wendy Roberts, age 41, was arrested Tuesday morning at Plaza Extra East without incident. She was charged with obtaining money by false pretense, grand larceny and access to a computer for fraudulent purposes.
Her arrest follows a report filed by Home Depot in reference to an incident that occurred between October 2019 and July 2021.
According to the documents before the court, the V.I. Police Department’s Economic Crime Unit initiated an investigation into the incident on October 12, 2021, when detectives made contact with a representative at Home Depot.
Home Depot stated that at some point in 2021, a case was initiated by the company’s Central Investigation Team in Atlanta, where it was discovered that multiple orders were being refunded to a specific credit card from October 17, 2019. After a review of the case, Home Depot was able to confirm that no merchandise was present while the transaction occurred, and Roberts — a coordinator for special orders at Home Depot at the time — was the individual that the money was being refunded to.
Roberts’s duties included taking special orders and processing credit card transactions.
Home Depot’s investigating found that Roberts would make the unauthorized transactions by reopening orders that were already closed for several months, then refunding the money to her personal credit card. The investigation further found that the transactions were made when there were no customers present at the service desk.
Roberts was interviewed by Home Depot staff about the incident and she admitted that from October 2019, she had been refunding money from the service desk cash register to her credit card. She admitted doing so for at least two years to pay for her medical expenses. Home Depot is claiming that Roberts stole between $80,000-$90,000 for the nearly two-year duration.
The company said the surveillance footage only goes back three to four months, and at the time showed Roberts conducting an unauthorized transaction of $5,000.
Detectives were provided with records of Roberts’s unauthorized refund orders from October 17, 2019 to July 23, 2021 and several photographs of her at the service desk committing the act.
On October 14, 2021, Roberts was interviewed by detectives and admitted to making the unauthorized transactions at least twice a month. She was asked if anyone else was involved in the transactions and she said no. She said she did not know how much money was refunded but that it was used to pay medical bills as well as discover credit cards. Detectives showed Roberts photos of a woman at the Home Depot service desk conducting the unauthorized transactions. She was asked if it was her and she said yes.
On January 7, 2022, a subpoena was served on Roberts’s records at Bank of St. Croix. Upon reviewing the documents, it was discovered that the checking account belonging to Roberts had four returned transactions from Home Depot totaling over $12,900. A warrant was issued for Roberts’s arrest on October 12, 2022.
In court on Wednesday, a judge ruled that Roberts would be released pending trial if she’s able to post an unsecured bond for the full bail amount of $20,000. She is barred from leaving St. Croix without the court’s written permission, and Roberts must report to the Office of Probation every Tuesday. Her pre-trial conference is scheduled for January 23, 2023.
This post was originally published on this site

domain: news


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Fast food chain McDonald's is rolling out an innovative kiosk-based system that has already been implemented successfully at its Paris restaurants.
The system, developed by Romanian company Kepler, runs on a Wincor-Nixdorf kiosk platform and provides customers with a self-service ordering and payment facility.
Customers are able to select and pay for orders at the kiosks before collecting their selection at the till point. 'McDonald's in Paris was losing customers at peak times because of the queues,' said Kepler project manager Florin Haszler. 'Using a kiosk has solved this problem.'


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Children that spend more than two hours a day watching TV ‘lose four months of schooling in both maths and reading’, study finds
- Australian scientists studied 1,239 8- to 9-year olds in Melbourne over two years
- Looked at connection between screen time and academic attainment
- Found two hours of TV a day or one hour of computer time is equivalent to losing four months of schooling for reading and numeracy, respectively
Parents should limit their pre-teens to less than two hours of television a day to improve their achievement in school, new research suggests.
A study of more than 1,200 8 and 9-year-old children in Australia assessed academic performance over two years as well as tracking their screen time habits.
At least two hours of telly a day lowered reading performance by approximately four months of schooling over the two-year study period.
Just one hour of computer time a day was also associated with a similarly impaired level of academic success, but for numeracy.
The analysis by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne showed no links between use of videogames and academic performance.
Two hours of telly a day or more lowered reading performance by approximately four months of schooling over the two-year study period (stock)
The research team say their findings could help guide parents, teachers and clinicians in restricting screen time of children.
While lots of research has been done into the impact of electronic screen time on obesity, sleep and other health issues, little has been done on academic attainment.
Dr Lisa Mundy, who led the research, said the team used national achievement test data to measure the children’s academic performance.
The analysis by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne showed no links between use of videogames and academic performance (stock)
Data on children’s screen time was provided by parents.
Dr Mundy said: ‘The debate about the effects of modern media on children’s learning has never been more important given the effects of today’s pandemic on children’s use of time.
‘This is the first large, longitudinal study of electronic media use and learning in primary school children, and results showed heavier users of television and computers had significant declines in reading and numeracy two years later compared with light users.’
She added: ‘These findings could help parents, teachers, and clinicians refine plans and recommendations for electronic media use in late childhood.
‘Future research could build on these results by examining continued associations in later secondary school.’
The findings were published in the journal PLOS One.
Staring at a computer screen for six hours a day is as bad for your skin as 25 minutes in the midday sun without sunscreen, study warns
Staring at a computer or mobile phone screen all week can be as bad for your skin as standing outside in the Sun without protection, a new study claims.
Scientists working for Unilever examined the effects of ‘blue light’ emitted by electronic devices on the skin and found it can cause premature ageing.
A study by the consumer goods giant found that 60 per cent of people now spend more than six hours per day in front of a digital device that emits blue light.
Five days of exposure to blue light for at least six hours per day can have the same impact on the skin as spending 25 minutes in the Sun without cream, they found.
To combat the worst effects of blue light exposure, experts recommend having breaks from the screen and using skin creams with antioxidants.
Researchers still don’t know the full effects of longer term exposure to blue light on the skin, but a number of studies, including this one, are trying to find out.
It is already known that blue light exposure can cause hyperpigmentation and premature ageing but the exact amount of exposure is unclear, researchers say.
Two in three people are unaware of the effect that blue light can have on their skin, Unilever has found as part of their study into exposure levels and their impact.
The blue light emitted from screens not only affects the skin but can also disturb our biological clocks, study authors explained.
Blue light can penetrate the skin far deeper than the UV light from the Sun – passing through the epidermis and dermis to the subcutis layer.


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The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) recently kicked off its annual Amazing Thailand Grand Sale (ATGS) campaign. The event will be held for the 18th year from 15 June 2016 to 15 August 2016.
This year, there will be a special focus on female customers to celebrate the TAT’s Women’s Journey Month being held in August.
Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of TAT said: “The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale encourages more local spending and creates jobs. We always look forward to welcoming the world to our sale and hope they take home happy memories as well as some great bargains.”
Taking part in the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2016 will be 15,000 tourism business operators in more than 110 department stores and shopping centres in seven major tourist destinations of Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai, Hua Hin and Udon Thani.
Here at TD, we put our best efforts to provide the latest and most valuable content to our readers. It is a true labour of love - where we work hundreds of hours each month - to make sure we offer meaningful content. If you value what we do, please consider a donation of any amount.
This would mean the world to us! Thank you and click here to proceed!


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- News tagged "ios"
Tuesday, 20 Mar 2012
The newest iPad on the block does run a little hotter than its predecessor, 10 degrees more to be exact, according to Tweakers.net.
Friday, 16 Mar 2012
A list of third-party apps that have been upgraded to complement the new iPad's screen has been released to Tech Crunch. Click the jump for more details.
Thursday, 15 Mar 2012
New iPad apps, such as KeyNote and iMovie, have been upgraded to support the 2048 x 1536 Retina Display. Bad news? These apps look to be up to fives times larger in storage, TinHte reports.
Tuesday, 13 Mar 2012
M1 has made a formal announcement about its upcoming iPad (2012) price plans. The local telco will be subsidizing the new Apple tablet with 21Mbps HSPA+ data plans, priced at S$40 per month.
If you are still contemplating whether to get the new iPad, you may want to make your decision quick as demand for the tablet has been "off the charts". Currently, the earliest shipping dates range from March 19 to three weeks.
Monday, 12 Mar 2012
When you have 27 million users, all of which are using iOS, how do you double, or even triple that growth? By building an Android version which according to Instagram founder Kevin Systrom, is even better than the iOS version.
At the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Marvel Entertainment announced and previewed Marvel AR, a new app designed for Android and iOS devices which opens up extra content when you point your camera at the comic book.
Thursday, 8 Mar 2012
Though Apple's recently announced iPad will come with LTE support, we've just gotten confirmation that Singapore users won't enjoy the LTE speeds in due to the different spectrum used by the telcos in Singapore.
Monday, 5 Mar 2012
Apple's App Store has breached over 25 billion downloads, and to celebrate Apple is picking one lucky winner to get a US$10,000 App Store gift card - enough to satisfy his or her app supply for a lifetime. In the meantime, Apple has revealed the top 25 all-time paid and free apps for both iPhone and iPad.
Sunday, 4 Mar 2012
For all the kids (and adults) who love first person shooter games, you'll definitely be interested in the AppTag Laser Blaster. The toy gun uses a combination of augmented reality with a focused infrared beam and high frequency sounds, connecting your iOS or Android devices for a laser tag game.


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Cryptocurrency Jobs in High Demand
With the exploding crypto-market and Wall Street strategist Tom Lee predicting bitcoin will hit $20,000 in mid-2018, there has also been a much higher demand for cryptocurrency jobs. The number of crypto-related jobs have gone up by 306% on LinkedIn over the past year or so. This rise has a strong positive correlation with the rising prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In another report published by AngelList, an American website for job-hunters and startups, there has been a 100% increase in cryptocurrency jobs.
AngelList’s report is already three months old, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that the number of cryptocurrency jobs available right now might be even higher. According to LinkedIn, their data indicates that there were nearly 5,000 job listings that mentioned bitcoin in 2017. This is a jump of literally thousands of percents. One key thing to note here is that this number doesn’t even take into account the number of cryptocurrency jobs that could be out there related to blockchain technology and other cryptocurrencies.
Crypto-Jobs Dominated by Technology Sector
It has been determined that the bulk of these jobs can be found in the financial and technology sectors. While the demand for jobs in the finance industry has risen at a faster rate than in the tech sector, 70% (the majority) of jobs needed to be filled are still tech jobs. This should be good and welcoming news for skilled programmers and other technology specialists.
Coinbase has stated that it had to hire twice as many people as it already had in 2017 alone. The average salary for cryptocurrency jobs is estimated at a respectable $122,000 per annum. The Financial Times has noted that the numbers of ads for cryptocurrency jobs or crypto-related information has gone up significantly. Princeton and Coursera are offering crash courses on cryptocurrency. Prestigious institutions like MIT and Stanford are also offering courses on crypto. Students from Harvard and Wharton have even made specific requests for more courses on blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
Growing Awareness of Crypto As Job Skill
These courses are designed to prepare students for various cryptocurrency jobs that are both technical and non-technical. Jobs dealing with the regulations of cryptocurrencies have also popped up. Since the legal and regulatory framework around cryptocurrencies is sketchy right now, law firms like Latham & Watkins have realized the need to give more attention to the cryptosphere.
There is also a growing rate of awareness among working professionals about cryptocurrency. The number of people listing cryptocurrency as a skill on LinkedIn has gone up nearly 30 times over a four-year period. Just like many people had to work hard at becoming computer-literate, it’s now time for people to become crypto-literate as well. A rise in the number of cryptocurrency jobs, any kind of jobs for that matter, is usually a good sign for the economy.


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Retail cashback set for post-Brexit boostby
The government wants to encourage retailers to provide cashback services to those who do not buy goods, but the proposal raises some interesting questions for shopkeepers and their advisers.
The government set out its cashback plan in a call for evidence last month that aims to ensure those who are less able to use digital payment methods can still rely on cash.
Until now, EU regulations made it difficult for retailers to offer cashback when people were not paying for goods or services, but once this barrier is out of the way on 31 January, the government is keen to free up retailers to offer cash.
Contactless preferred during crisis
Brexit aside, the plan is running up against the effects of Covid-19. Cash trading has been a major causalty during the coronavirus crisis, with many businesses opting for contactless card payments rather than have staff handle notes and coins. To support this hygiene measure, the contactless card payment limit was increased to £45.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen commented that the dive in hard cash circulation “serves to heighten the risks to those that continue to rely on cash”. However the government would ensure “those people and businesses don’t get left behind”, he added.
Retail cashback was the second only to using ATMs to withdraw cash in the UK during 2019, helping to recirculate £3.8bn of cash in local areas.
Swoop co-founder and chief operating officer Ciaran Burke backed the government’s proposal as a way to keep notes circulating as bank branch networks contract as a result of the economic downturn.
“Where retailers used to be able to pop down to local branches to deposit cash, this new scheme offers an incentivised solution to keep cash reserves lower from a security perspective and to reduce the number of trips that need to be made to far away branches to make deposits,” said Burke.
Burke’s colleague, Simon Bolan, the advisory development manager at Swoop, added: “Whilst Covid-19 has driven the need for more contactless payments, there are still many people and retailers in the UK who rely heavily on cash to function, especially those who do not have access to digital cash solutions and some of the more vulnerable members of society.
“Napoleon once said that ‘the UK was a nation of shopkeepers’, so empowering those retailers to help their customers access cash appears, on the face of it, to be a very good thing.”
But there are some practical issues to consider if the scheme goes ahead as planned. The amounts of card transactions processed each month can be used as a basis for merchant cash advances, but retailers will need to hold higher levels of cash to meet any peaks in demand and account for these ‘non-sale transactions’ correctly.
“This is something accountants will need to be conscious of when offering support and guidance to clients in this sector,” said Bolan.
While broadly supportive of the scheme, Peter McNamara, chief executive of ATM operator NoteMachine called on the government safeguard ATMs as the main source of cash.
“The safest and most economical way to provide access to cash is through ATMs. It’s not always viable or safe for small business to keep large reserves of cash in store and so businesses shouldn’t be forced to fund this service. The government must ensure ATMs remain genuinely accessible,” McNamara said.
Contact Swoop directly to find out more about the online finance options available to your retail clients.


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Snapchat Publishes New Report on Opportunities for Automotive Marketers on the Platform
Snapchat has published a new report, in association with location data company Factual, which looks at auto buying and browsing trends among Snapchatters, which could help car dealers make better use of the platform to reach interested buyers.
And while the report doesn’t necessarily denote Snapchat as a key platform of choice for auto marketers, it does highlight some relevant considerations – particularly when you consider, as Ad Week notes, that Snapchat’s core audience (13-34 year-olds) make up some 32% of new car registrations in the US.
Here’s an overview of the findings.
First off, Snapchat says that its users are more likely to take a hands-on approach to the car buying process:
“Compared to non-Snapchatters, Snapchatters take more test drives, and are more likely to visit multiple dealerships and consider a broader set of auto brands.“
Adding to this, Snapchat has tapped into its location tracking capacity to highlight which dealerships, specifically, Snapchat users are visiting most often across the US.
That’s some interesting insight into younger audience buying trends. though likely unsurprising for those in the sector.
The same can probably be said for Snap’s visiting insights.
Car dealers are likely well aware of these peaks already, though it may give them more specific targeting insight on how and when to reach younger buyers, or run special events in-store.
Snapchat also notes that Tesla is popular among younger audiences, but likely also out of their reach.
Overall, the report offers some valuable insight into younger audience car buying trends – though as noted, probably not any major surprises or revelations. Snap remains a key platform for reaching younger audiences in any sector, but this latest report doesn’t specify any significant, major opportunity for car marketers, though the insights do offer value for planning.
So which social platform/s should auto marketers be focused on?
According to eMarketer, digital spend across the auto industry is expected to reach $15.9b this year, and $18b by 2020, so clearly, the sector is paying attention to the increasing focus on digital platforms for auto discovery.
That, logically, has lead to each social platform presenting its credential for auto ad spend, as they seek to get a piece of that increasing pie.
Earlier this month, Pinterest published a report, in conjunction with Oracle, which found that Pinterest users are 28% more likely to buy a new vehicle within the first 90 days of a release, and the platform now reaches 1 in 2 US adults who plan to buy a car within the next six months.
That sounds impressive, but a report published by Twitter UK, which looked at car buying stats among Twitter users in 2018, actually found similar, with 54% of people in the market for a new car also being Twitter users.
Granted these are UK stats, though you’d assume the trends would hold to a significant degree in other markets. And either way, it makes the fact that Pinterest reaches 1 in 2 new car buyers a little less impressive.
According to Twitter’s report, there were over 5.6 million UK automotive-related Tweets in 2018, while 83% of people in the market for a new car said that Twitter influenced their decision-making process.
Over on Facebook, a report published by The Social Network last year found that 78% of people in the market for a new car found social media content useful in the process, while more than half of people aged 13-34 discovered car-related content within Facebook’s apps.
That’s the same market Snapchat is focused on, and given that Facebook influences more than half of that market, and has significantly more reach, it may be a better option – though really, you would likely achieve best results by tapping into both apps, using Snapchat’s insights and Facebook’s ad tools to put together a more effective, cross-platform strategy to influence this market.
That would likely also incorporate Instagram – according to Facebook’s data, 60% of auto shoppers use Instagram in their process, while Instagram has also previously provided advice to assist auto brands in reaching car fans on the platform.
So which platform is best for auto-targeting? As always, it depends on the brand, it depends on the model, it depends on the audience you’re trying to reach – practical, luxury, etc. There’s no way to give an overall response which points to the right answer for every business, but by tapping into the various insight reports available, and using your own market understanding, you can start to map a more effective digital marketing strategy to reach the audience you need.
You can read Snapchat’s full “High Gear: How today’s car consumer navigates the auto buyer journey” report here.


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In these roles, Mr. Gibson will be responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction of the Company’s internationally known portfolio of premium spirits brands.
He also will serve as a member of the Bacardi Leadership Team and report to Bacardi Limited President and Chief Executive Officer Ed Shirley. Mr. Gibson joins Bacardi in late April and will be based at the Bacardi Global Brands headquarters in London.
“Andy’s proven track record of accomplishment is based on a great marketing and brand-building foundation,” said Mr. Shirley. “His experience, depth of industry knowledge and proven leadership ability will be strong assets, as we broaden the awareness of our family of iconic Bacardi brands, further expand market opportunities and, ultimately, drive growth.”
Mr. Gibson has achieved notable success during a more than 20-year career in consumer products marketing and sales that has included assignments in Australia, Asia, the United States, Latin America and Europe.
Most recently, Mr. Gibson served as Chief Marketing Officer for Carlton United Brewers (CUB), Australia’s leading brewer ─ part of Foster’s Group Limited ─ with a market share of more than 45 percent in the beer category.
At CUB, he oversaw the strategic reframing of Australia’s biggest beer brand Victoria Bitter to turn a decade of decline back into growth over the first quarter of its implementation.
Before CUB, he worked for Diageo for 13 years in a series of general management and marketing leadership positions on five continents, including General Manager, Innovation, Asia Pacific; General Manager, Germany/Austria/Switzerland; Marketing Director, Australia; Senior Vice President and Global Brand Director – Rums based in North America; and Marketing Director, Mexico.
Mr. Gibson began his career in 1990, working for Mars/Masterfoods in Australia/New Zealand in a range of sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility.
“The brands in the Bacardi portfolio are all category leaders with amazing authenticity that really connects with consumers,” said Mr. Gibson. “Joining Bacardi is a brand marketer’s dream job. I look forward to engaging consumers in new brand experiences while driving the enviable Bacardi portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels to new levels of growth.”
Mr. Gibson succeeds Ms. Silvia Lagnado, who left Bacardi at the end of 2012.


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Pricing and investment arguments are wrong.
Ethos Capital and Internet Society are working overtime to spin the deal to sell .org for $1.35 billion as a good thing. There are certainly some good things about it, but I cringe when I read certain talking points.
One is around pricing. Yesterday, from ISOC board member Mike Godwin:
But could it be at the public’s expense? What about the argument that the prices for domain-name renewals will soar? This argument ignores common sense — you don’t take over a successful business and price most of your customers out of the market or spur a mass migration to an alternative product. Not only would that permanently destroy any faith in .ORG — the business you just bought — but it also would undermine TLDs generally. (I’ve suggested, not entirely jokingly, that the proper response if anybody tries to extort huge renewal fees for .ORG is to launch a mass one-time conversion to the .WTF top-level domain. I’d happily lead any charge in the .WTF Resistance.) In any case, demand for TLDs isn’t inelastic, despite what the deal’s critics say — there are hundreds of TLDs and customers aren’t locked in. It takes only a few minutes of studying PIR’s year-by-year financials to see that jacking up domain-name renewal prices in the way the critics fear would be suicidal for PIR or any other registry that depends primarily on predictable renewal rates, and it would destroy the value of .ORG as well. I don’t think any of the companies that sought to buy PIR were dumb enough to invest a billion dollars in buying the .ORG business in order to destroy it.
And from Vint Cerf:
Moreover, as a for-profit company, PIR has a clear rationale for not driving away its customer base by any excessive raising of prices. Given current .org pricing, a 10% increase in price would be less than $1. Even if an organization had registered a dozen .org domain names, it is hard to believe that such an increase would be viewed as unsustainable for most non-profits. Of course, companies that hold domain names in the tens of thousands for speculative purposes might find such increases more troubling, but I don’t have much sympathy for that business model in the context of the organizations the .org brand is intended to serve.
This thinking ignores the economics of domain names. Godwin suggests that .org customers aren’t locked in. OK, then ISOC should figure out what would be involved with switching from InternetSociety.org to InternetSociety.charity. It would cost lots of money and time, and the headaches from switching email would last for years. True, there is price elasticity to domain demand. But for renewals, it takes a huge price increase to change demand.
Cerf is correct that most charities won’t blink an eye at a $1 increase in the cost of renewing their domain name, at least in the first world. But this assumes that Ethos and whoever owns .org in the future won’t raise prices more than 10% per year. Calling on Godwin’s words, jacking up .org renewal prices would not be ‘suicidal’ to .org. Even if renewals were $100 a year, it wouldn’t be worth the pain for most non-profits to switch.
The other issue I have is with the idea that Ethos can invest in .org to create new products and services for non-profits. It certainly can, but there’s no reason PIR can’t under the current arrangement. Cerf writes:
Second, when the operation of .org was transferred to the Internet Society, it created the non-profit called Public Interest Registry, or PIR. PIR’s primary objectives were, first, to operate .org and, second, to provide significant support for the Internet Society by essentially allocating any surplus from the operation of PIR to fund the Internet Society’s work in promoting a more accessible and secure Internet. This amounted to about $50 million a year, which was hugely helpful to the Internet Society but limited PIR’s ability to invest in improvements to the operation of .org or even the creation of new products and services for the non-profit community.
The idea that Public Interest Registry is cash-strapped because it has to send its profits to ISOC doesn’t hold water. PIR has been able to increase prices 10% per year for the past decade but hasn’t always done so. If it raises prices 10% this year, it gets another $10 million in its bank account that ISOC isn’t depending on. That’s not enough to invest in new products or services?
This isn’t to say the deal isn’t good for ISOC. Godwin does a good job explaining that domain name revenues aren’t certain, and this endowment gives ISOC certainty. That’s a selling point for ISOC and its constituents. But let’s be honest about possible ramifications of this deal.


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The next big tech launch is almost upon us, and this time it’s Google’s opportunity to dazzle us with new gadgets and upgrades that you may want to purchase later in 2020.
Its big Launch Night In event is themed around how it’s a totally virtual event, and it’s designed to be online-only. The event is set for September 30, and it’s due to start at 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm BST (that’s 4am AEST on October 1).
You can tune in along with us as we cover the event, but if you’re here you likely want to know about what to expect.
The Google Pixel 5 is confirmed to be landing later this year – and we’re almost certain it’ll be a part of this big launch – but we’re expecting a variety of other products that aren’t smartphones too. Here’s what we reckon will happen.
Google Pixel 5
The name is confirmed already by Google, and it’s very likely we’ll be hearing about the Google Pixel 5 at this launch event. It’s a bit earlier than when Google usually unveils its new flagship device – in previous years they’ve been unveiled in October – and this year it’s expected to just be the one phone.
Rumors of a Google Pixel 5 XL did exist at one stage, but more recently leaks have pointed toward the company streamlining to the one device. It’s expected to cost
£615 (around $790 / AU$1,095) after a big price leak, and it may be out before the end of October.
One big thing is that it’s expected to sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 chipset, which isn’t a top-end processor. If that’s true, this device may have lower specs than previous versions of Google’s handsets.
Other leaks point toward the same 12.2MP main camera and 16MP that we saw on the Pixel 4, and it’s expected to get a Full HD 6-inch display as well.
Google Nest Audio
We’ve actually seen a lot of the Google Nest Audio in recent weeks, after the tech giant released a teaser video that showed off the wireless speaker’s new design, with a loaf-shaped build and fabric grille.
Said to offer superior sound to its predecessors, the Nest Audio has even been mistakenly sold by Walmart in the US, as one Redditor discovered.
“Audio quality blows the original Google home out of the water by a very, very wide margin,” the Redditor reports. “Highs are super clear and crisp, lows are remarkably delicate and defined whereas heavy bass items seem to have definition rather than just heavy output. Seems competitive with my Sonos IKEA Speakers at lower volumes.”
Of course, we’ll need to test it out for ourselves to find out whether the Nest Audio delivers in terms of audio quality – as well as its onboard Google Assistant’s smart home integration – but we’re excited to hear more about it at the big event.
New Google Chromecast
Since June, we’ve heard rumors that the new Chromecast (codenamed Sabrina) will use a remote and a rejigged interface, and we’re expecting to see it finally surface at Google’s Launch Night In event.
Details are incredibly sparse on the specs right now, but the thinking here is that Google is making a device for both its tech-savvy users who know how to Cast as well as some less technical folks who still enjoy using a remote control to peruse their streaming devices.
Early leaked images of the device show that it’s not a massive departure in terms of design from its predecessors and still connects to your TV through an attached HDMI cable. An XDA leaker says that the new Chromecast will come in three colors – white, black and peach – but couldn’t confirm if it would support high-end AV formats like Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
No word on pricing or release date yet either, but if it’s anything close to the Chromecast 3rd-Gen ($35, £30, AU$59) or Chromecast Ultra ($69, £69, AU$95) then the new Chromecast could be the new de facto streaming device for most people.
Google Pixel 4a
Remember the Google Pixel 4a from earlier this year? It’s getting 5G, and that’s something Google has already confirmed. At the same time as when it unveiled the Google Pixel 5 name, the company introduced a Google Pixel 4a as well.
We’ve yet to hear if any of the specs will change, but the most recent rumors suggest it’ll be the existing device but without any major changes.
We may see some surprises from Google. The products above are just what is rumored to be unveiled, but it may be that Google has kept something close to its chest and we’ll see something entirely different at the launch.


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ARLINGTON, Va. – The American Trucking Associations (ATA) said today it will support the new North American Commercial Vehicle Show (NACV).
“As the nation’s foremost trucking industry association, it only made sense for ATA to support our supplier community, many of whom have committed to this endeavor,” ATA president and CEO Chris Spear said. “The North American Commercial Vehicle Show promises to be an excellent event and we are pleased to be a part of it.”
The biennial show will debut at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center Sept. 25-29.
“ATA is a well-known and respected name in the trucking industry, and we are excited to have their support as we launch this new show,” said Joe Glionna, president of Newcom. “We look forward to their participation in what promises to be a first-class event this September.”
“Commercial vehicle manufacturers and suppliers have eagerly embraced the North American Commercial Vehicle Show, which has almost sold out of exhibitor space for 2017,” added Larry Turner, president and CEO of Hannover Fairs USA. “We are proud of the progress we’ve made since announcing the show last year and appreciate ATA’s support.”


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2022 KIA Niro is still in testing. Korean firm’s crossover has once again posed for some interesting spy photos in Germany.
Niro will inherit forward styling in HabaNiro concept.
The new 2022 KIA Niro will go on sale next spring , with hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines , all front-wheel drive .
KIA Niro EV Next Generation?
Kia Next Generation Nero (SG2) Interior Spy
Rendering the next generation of Kia Niro.
Kia niro full led Headlight.
2022 kia Niro SG2 New Rendering.
Here is the Niro EV(SG2) variant
DRL Clear Niro SG2 SpyShot.
2022 Niro SG2 Spy Shot with Headlights of Different Designs.
Next-Gen Kia Niro EV Spied
The next-generation Kia Niro is expected to hit the market in 2022, with an official presentation coming in late 2021. The American market is expected to get this generation of the Kia Niro in the second part of next year as an MY2023 car.
Inside the kia niro full change (SG2) equipped with a large HUD and curved monitor.
The new KIA Niro loses camouflage and more details of its design come to light.
The electrified mechanics of the new KIA Niro 2022
As we have pointed out at the beginning of the article, the new Niro will keep its commitment to electrification intact . It will be available in a hybrid (HEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and 100% electric (BEV) version . The all-electric model is known as the KIA e-Niro. By the way, as an additional detail, the photographed prototype makes use of hybrid mechanics since the exhaust system can be clearly seen at the rear.
When will it hit the market? At the moment the specific date for his debut in society is unknown. However, the presentation is expected to take place before the end of this year. The commercial launch will take place in the spring of 2022. At first it will go on sale in South Korea and later it will be introduced in other markets, including Europe.
Niro’s next generation model including interior photos.


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Sara Rush, Associate Editor
Published in Restaurant Business newsletter
Local sourcing will be the dominant influence on restaurant menus next year, according to an NRA survey of chefs. See what other trends ranked highest.
Peter Romeo, Vice President & Editorial Director
Some of the industry’s most interesting developments weren’t the big headline-grabbers. But any savvy restaurateur wouldn’t want to miss these developments.
Kelly Killian, Executive Editor
As "Breakfast Queen" Ina Pinkey prepares to retire and close her iconic Chicago restaurant this month, she shares some parting views on women in the industry, owning a restaurant and the future of her brand.
Beer is still consumers' favorite type of alcohol, but the demographics of beer lovers is changing.
12-08-2013 | Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Opponents of a tax intended to cut soft drink sales are gearing up for a decisive battle in San Francisco.
12-06-2013 | Source: The Huffington Post
Politicians on either side of the issue are proposing more radical ways to prevail.
Bison promoters like entrepreneur and rancher Ted Turner...
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The Asus Transformer Prime Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich is one of the most anticipated upgrades yet (the first tablet running ICS – you’ve got to be excited about that) and for good reason, because Ice Cream Sandwich not only brings new features (like face unlock, hardware acceleration and improved multitasking) and an improved UI but also superior stability and speed (not that the Asus Transformer Prime lacked in that department, but the more, the better).
And even tough the Asus Transformer Prime Android 4 ICS release date was scheduled for the 12th of January, the manufacturer has surprised its customers and released the update a couple of days earlier (yep, the update it’s rolling out as we speak).
Asus Transformer Prime Ice Cream Sandwich
Early reports are confirming that the update process goes smooth and that the improvements brought to the Prime are really noticeable.
The guys at Engadget are reporting that the browsing experience has been improved significantly (much lower page-loading speeds, less stuttering on Flash intensive web-pages). Also ICS’s swipe-to-close is reported to greatly improve the user-experience, as expected.
Thanks Engadget for bringing us the news about the Asus Transformer Prime Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich update.


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Opinion: US needs to start protecting self, economic distancing from China
Americans, particularly African Americans, are losing big to COVID-19 and dealing with job loss due to the virus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China late last year. According to Axios, if China had acted three weeks earlier to contain COVID-19, the number of cases would have been reduced by 95%. As America fights to overcome this virus, we need to start economic distancing from China once and for all.
Would you prefer a manufacturing job that pays around $40 an hour, including benefits, over retail jobs that pay an average of $10.60 an hour?
China's average wages have grown 11% each year since 2001 (when China joined the World Trade Organization), while U.S. wages have remained the same, only keeping pace with inflation. Millions of high-paying manufacturing jobs moved to China, taking that country's middle-class population from 2% in 2000 to a projected 75% by 2022. China is providing its people with a lifestyle that once belonged to countless blue-collar American workers. Bringing these jobs back would help our country's inner-city, Rust Belt and high school graduates by replacing low-paying warehousing jobs with high-paying manufacturing jobs.
The Chinese government threatened to cut off America’s access to vital drugs, which could have led to the death of millions of Americans. Ninety-seven percent of antibiotics sold in the U.S. are made in China. Eighty percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients come from China. In 2010, the U.S. bought just over $60 billion in pharmaceutical products. Fast forward to 2019, the U.S. bought over twice 2010 levels, at $130 billion.
We must focus on products imported from China that are crucial to our national security, welfare and economic prosperity. Automobile manufacturing provides great-paying jobs that have left our country for China. In 1980, China made 5,148 cars, while the U.S. made 9.9 million around the same time. In 2019, China made 21.3 million cars (not including SUVs) and the U.S. made only 2.5 million (not including SUVs). These jobs in the past helped create middle-class jobs for people with or without a high school degree.
We won World War II aided by the fact the United States was the largest steel and automobile producers, so we could replace cars with tanks and airplanes. Tax incentives, tariffs and addressing China's currency manipulation are the keys to bringing back middle-class jobs for high school graduates. Forcing China not to subsidize these industrial jobs has destroyed our middle-class. China and Japan are the largest lenders to the U.S. Today we owe China $1.08 trillion. In total, since 1985, we have bought $5.5 trillion more in goods from China than they have from us.
People cannot invest in U.S. manufacturing under current circumstances since our government is supporting foreign manufacturing by not stopping currency manipulation. One motor vehicle manufacturing job generates 14 indirect jobs, while one retail job at food and beverage stores would generate only 0.7 indirect jobs.
So what do we need to do to reverse our fortunes?
Every American must hold the 2020 presidential candidates, senators and other political candidates accountable to bring back manufacturing jobs and not buy trillions of dollars of manufactured goods from overseas.
Force China to stop the production and sale of fentanyl to the U.S. Selling fentanyl in their own country would result in a death sentence, but China is able to illegally sell it to the U.S. without being convicted of a crime.
Every American should contact their local elected officials and urge them to pass legislation to bring back our high-paying manufacturing jobs. We must stop China’s plan to replace us as the strongest country in the world and their growing influence on America, especially their economic stranglehold on African Americans.
Charlie Winburn lives in Mount Airy and is the Republican candidate for Hamilton County treasurer and a former Cincinnati councilman.


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Tokyo – Bridgestone Corp. is working with synthetic rubber manufacturer JSR Corp. to develop gloves for wheelchair athletes, according a recent announcement by JSR.
The two companies are collaborating under a ‘sport and health innovation consortium’ started to developing gloves for para-athletes in 2015.
As one of their activities, consortium participants are working on 3D technology and materials-development for such sportswear.
“Gloves for wheelchair competitions are time consuming to produce because each of the athletes handmade,” explained JSR in a 21 Nov statement.
With the use of 3D data…


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PepsiCo and Nestlé have come under pressure after large-scale rainforest clearance for palm oil production in Borneo was linked to their joint venture partner Indofood.
An explosive new report published by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) this week claimed over 10,000 hectares of peat forest in Borneo’s Sintang district had been cleared over the past five years by two palm oil plantations, in defiance of new regulations imposed by the government, which had essentially issued a “stop work order” while it mapped out conservation areas.
Over 97% of the cleared area was subsequently marked as conservation peatland prioritised for protection on maps completed by the Indonesian Peat Restoration Agency (BRG).
The report claimed both plantations responsible for the deforestation were “controlled by or associated with” Anthoni Salim, the head of Indonesian conglomerate The Salim Group, which also owns Indofood.
Although RAN did not suggest PepsiCo or Nestlé had sourced any palm oil from the two plantations, it argued they were “complicit” in the deforestation for continuing to do business with the Salim group despite “years of exposés”. It wanted the fmcg giants to “take the action needed to convince Salim as the owner and head of the conglomerate to change his practices,” said Gemma Tillack, forest policy director with RAN.
PepsiCo recently suspended palm oil sourcing from IndoAgri, another subsidiary of the group, amid concerns over workers rights and forestry stewardship. However, it had “neglected to address the fact it still has a business relationship with a high risk company”, Tillack said.
The two mills closest to the cleared areas in Borneo were among those on PepsiCo’s recently published lists of suppliers, putting it at risk of “sourcing from these companies as they become productive”, she added.
However, PepsiCo stressed it remained committed to its goal of sourcing 100% sustainable palm oil with no development on peatland and was working”vigorously”
“Our sustainable palm oil policy applies to our joint venture operations and across our entire supply chain,” said a spokesman. “Any non-compliances found are dealt with swiftly, and suggestions to the contrary are false. This report covers palm fruit that has not entered the supply chain, but all new information helps us to enforce our policies.”
Nestlé said it had taken over the sourcing of palm oil for products manufactured under its joint venture with Indofood to ensure it met its ambition for all oil in its supply chain to be fully traceable back to responsibly managed plantations that complied with High Conservation Value (HCV), High Carbon Stock (HCS) and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) standards.
“The transition started in January 2017 and we are pleased to share that this work has been completed,” said a Nestlé spokeswoman.”For the palm oil that Indofood procures itself, independently of Nestlé, we continue to share best practices with the company in order to contribute to wider industry knowledge sharing and transformation.”
The Salim Group did not respond to requests for comment.


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Cadillac’s $1.9 billion purchase of Chevy Trucks will bring the Detroit automaker to the U.S. market for the first time in more than a decade.
Chevy’s pickup truck has long been a mainstay of the auto industry.
Cadillac has been building trucks since 1955, when it acquired the company from General Motors.
The Chevy brand was renamed Cadillac in 1993.
The company sold off all its trucks in the 1990s, but has been aggressively expanding its production and selling its pickups to buyers overseas.
Cadillac’s Chevy pickup truck, an all-wheel drive version of its Cruze line, will be the first of its kind to hit the U., and it will be sold with a full-size bed, four doors, and four-wheel-drive, according to a release from the company.
It will be available in five different trim levels, including a base model, a Sport trim, a Tour trim, and a Deluxe trim.CADillac will make about 10,000 of the trucks a year.
It is not immediately clear how many of those trucks will be made in the U or how many will be built in other markets.


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Just like the invention of the airplane, the emergence of automobiles has had a profound impact on our everyday lives. The first production of automobiles was by Karl Benz in 1888 in Germany and, under license from Benz, in France by Emile Roger There have been numerous others, together with tricycle builders Rudolf Egg , Edward Butler , and Léon Bollée 6 :p.20-23 Bollée, using a 650 cc (forty cu in ) engine of his own design, enabled his driver, Jamin, to average 45 kilometres per hour (28.zero mph) within the 1897 Paris-Tourville rally.
No person in the chemical business or the automobile industry dreams of speaking about out of date technologies. The Two Wheelers section with eighty per cent market share is the chief of the Indian Automobile market owing to a rising middle class and a young inhabitants.
Some commercially successful automobiles offered mass transit till a backlash in opposition to these large automobiles resulted in the passage of laws such because the United Kingdom Locomotive Act (1865), which required many self-propelled vehicles on public roads to be preceded by a man on foot waving a purple flag and blowing a horn This effectively halted highway auto improvement within the UK for a lot of the rest of the nineteenth century; inventors and engineers shifted their efforts to improvements in railway locomotives The regulation was not repealed till 1896, although the necessity for the crimson flag was removed in 1878.
The variety of cars entering the town has fallen by 20% over the previous decade, with out even a congestion-charging scheme (Vesco says it would impose a disproportionate burden on the much less well-off, who are inclined to drive higher-polluting automobiles).
Two-wheelers and passenger vehicles accounted for seventy eight per cent and 15 per cent of production volume in FY17 respectively. Tata Motors at the moment stated it would hike prices of its passenger automobiles (PV) by as much as Rs 60,000 from April 1 to offset rising input costs.


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Google has revealed an ambitious new expansion plan at its annual developers conference in San Francisco.
The internet search giant has announced it is working with manufacturers to develop a smartphone that will sell for the equivalent ofaround €70 for the Indian market.
Google has said its Android software, which already runs on more than three out of every four smartphones, is coming to cars and televisions.
Its new smartwatches made by Samsung and LG and running on Android Wear technology have just gone on sale.
Google also revealed the first cars running on Android Auto software for navigation, music and messaging will be in showrooms later this year. More than 40 car makers had already signed up.
Android TV aims to give viewers an easy interface to search for and display video content.


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Google announced the latest updates coming to Chrome on Android devices. The updates were designed, in part, to help users save data and access content even when they’re offline.
First, Google announced that it has brought its Data Saver technology to videos, which it said allows users to save up to 67 percent of their data when viewing MP4 format videos through Chrome. In addition, when users are on slow connections, Google said the Data Saver technology will automatically optimize HTTP websites “to their essentials.” Google said these optimized websites save up to 90 percent of a user’s data, and will load two times faster.
Elsewhere, Chrome’s new download feature will allow users to download web pages, music, pictures or videos that they’d like to browse later on. If users are downloading content and they lose their connections, the downloads will automatically resume when they reconnect. Users can browse the content they’ve downloaded in a Downloads list within the app.
This downloads feature is now available in the Chrome Beta app, and Google said it will launch for all Chrome users soon.
Finally, Google announced that it will add content suggestions to the new tab page in Chrome in Chrome’s next release. With this update, users will be able to scroll down on the new tab page to view recommended articles from a variety of websites. As users continue to use Chrome, the application will learn the types of content they’re interested in, and it will recommend personalized content for users to view.
In a blog post, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, vice president of product and data minimalist at Google, commented:
We believe that our focus on data savings, offline capabilities and content discovery will make Chrome an even better place for you to experience the mobile web. Download the latest version of Chrome to be one of the first to try these features as we roll them out.
The Chrome app is available to download for free on Google Play.


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Hapag-Lloyd has reached a major milestone in its mission to create the world's largest smart container fleet, with the installation of its 700,000th tracking device. The company is on track to have all of its 1.6 million dry containers equipped with real-time tracking devices by early 2024.
This investment is part of Hapag-Lloyd's broader digitalization strategy, which aims to improve customer service and supply chain efficiency. By providing real-time data on the location and condition of their cargo, Hapag-Lloyd can help customers to better plan their shipments and make informed decisions.
The company's smart container fleet will also provide valuable insights into the global shipping industry. By tracking the movement of containers, Hapag-Lloyd can identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies, and work with other stakeholders to improve the flow of goods around the world.
The installation of the 700,000th tracking device was marked by a ceremony at Hapag-Lloyd's headquarters in Hamburg, Germany, attended by Dr. Volker Wissing, Germany's Federal Minister of Digital and Transport. In his remarks, Wissing praised Hapag-Lloyd for its commitment to innovation and its role in leading the digitalization of the shipping industry.
"Hapag-Lloyd is setting new standards for supply chain transparency and customer service," said Wissing. "The company's smart container fleet is a game-changer that will benefit all stakeholders in the global shipping industry."
Hapag-Lloyd's investment in smart container technology is just one example of how the company is working to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing industry. By embracing digitalization, Hapag-Lloyd is well-positioned to continue to provide its customers with the best possible service.Return to Articles


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Now this is the kind of bouquet we can get behind. New York City’s Doughnut Plant has a new product that’s perfect for Mother’s Day (and Instagram!) — the Doughflower.
Shaped like a rose, the doughnut is available with a variety of glazes. There’s strawberry, which is made from fresh berries; rose, which features rose water and crushed edible petals; and Italian blood orange, which is made with orange blossom water.
The Doughflower is just one of many foods that seem to have been made for Instagram recently. The picture-perfect bite joins the ranks of fellow Insta-worthy culinary treats such as the spaghetti doughnut and Starbucks’ unicorn Frappuccino.
We’re placing a bet that these rose-shaped fried cakes could be the next big Instagram sensation. And they're definitely in the running to be the big gift for Mother’s Day. (Watch out, bacon and avocado roses… there’s a new bouquet in town.)
Jeff Magness, chief creative officer of Doughnut Plant, describes the Doughflower as having some crunchy bits and some soft doughy parts. “They have layers,” he told TODAY Food. “Each one is made individually by hand. No two are alike.”
Doughnut Plant owner Mark Israel developed the unique technique over five months. “Even after 23 years in business, he is still innovating,” Magness said.
The sweet treats are on the store’s regular menu for now, so it’s not just a Mother’s Day exclusive. Unfortunately, Doughflowers are only available in Doughnut Plant's New York shops and can't be shipped, so if you think Mom would really love one and doesn’t live nearby, you might just have to take her on a trip to the Big Apple (there are worse ideas).


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How the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) is Providing Stronger Data Protection for Employees
The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) represents an evolution in data protection. Although it builds upon previously existing law, the twist with CPRA is that it seeks to extend protection rights beyond consumers, demonstrating a shift in thinking about data privacy.
The CPRA is an amendment and expansion of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which was enacted in 2018, and was one of the most sweeping data privacy laws in the United States. It granted Californian consumers the right to know what personal data companies collected about them, decline the sale of their data and request their data be deleted.
But the CPRA, which passed in 2020, takes these protections even further with amendments that allow the exemptions on business-to-employee (B2E) and business-to-business (B2B) data under the CCPA to expire, as of January 2023. This expiration of exemptions is significant as it broadens the scale of data protections from being consumer-centric to encompassing employees, too.
This aspect of the CPRA conveys an understanding that in the modern digital age, data protection should not be limited to consumers alone. Employees across organizations are also vulnerable to data breaches and privacy intrusions, necessitating the provision of comprehensive rights and safeguards.
Under the extended rights provided by the CPRA, employees have similar rights to consumers concerning the usage, disclosure and sale of their personal information. This could potentially reshape the digital landscape by holding corporations more accountable for the protection of their employees' data.
However, there are certain exceptions to this scenario as well. The CPRA does maintain certain business-related exemptions, recognizing that in some scenarios, the sharing or use of employee data might be necessary for regular business operations or employer responsibilities.
For instance, employers can still collect necessary information to administer benefits, carry out obligations under employment law or maintain an emergency contact list. These exceptions construe a balanced approach, acknowledging that protecting privacy is crucial without hindering necessary business operations.
The California Privacy Rights Act marks a pivotal point in data protection laws. While many other nations have comprehensive digital privacy laws in place, the CPRA puts California — and by extension the United States — at the forefront of broader data protection rights. And as we continue to navigate a world where data is a valuable commodity, the need for strong privacy rights will only grow.
The CPRA's focus on expanding consumer rights to employees is a progressive step that recognizes the changing nature of digital privacy and sets the stage for further improvements in data protection.


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There was a measure of luck Fox caught with this year’s Super Bowl.
As detailed in VIP+’s Super Bowl audience preview, the 2023 event was the beneficiary of two top-ranked teams making it to the NFL championship as well as pop megastar Rihanna’s first live appearance in years for the Super Bowl halftime show.
These helped to contribute to the highest total TV and streaming audience for the total viewing era, though as noted in the chart above, prior to 2017 Nielsen did not measure out-of-home viewing (but did not report until 2018), meaning like-for-like comparisons with other years aren't possible. For comparison, VIP+ included all available years with the number of streaming devices viewing in our chart, starting with 2012, the first year that was available.
It’s worth noting that Fox opted to allow consumers to stream the Super Bowl via connected apps without needing to authenticate a Pay TV service, allowing those without Pay TV to still watch (and presumably still be monetized for ads). This novel approach saw the the number of streaming devices reach the greatest figure yet recorded, and is in contrast to last year, when the Super Bowl was available only on NBC TVE-authenticated apps as well as Peacock (which, it should be noted, gets to have one exclusive regular-season game from 2023 to 2028).
Prior Super Bowls have been available on Peacock and Paramount+/CBS All Access, as their corporate owners look to boost subscriber counts as much as possible for the next earnings call. Fox wisely avoided short-termist approaches to content when it sold much of the company to Disney and opted to get into the free, not subscription, streaming business with the purchase of Tubi.
The decision not to simulcast on a streaming service has financial dividends for Fox. CTV ad spots even for big matchups in the regular season on Peacock and ESPN’s TV Everywhere app saw very few ad breaks fully sold, with many "Sunday Night Football" spots completely unsold. While the Super Bowl will likely have a greater success rate than regular-season matchups, limiting CTV inventory to be sold will have made Fox’s job a lot easier.
With CBS and Paramount+ airing next year's Super Bowl, we may see a drop in overall viewership. Of course, there are many variables at play we cannot yet predict that will also impact audience: Who will be performing the halftime show, will the number one seeds make it again, will there be less marketable teams/players in the final, will there be a pandemic?
But one thing that's certain is the next Super Bowl will not be viewer-centric, and given the demonstrable power that TV still has, combined with making the game available to anyone who could stream, that may be a mistake.


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Erwin Hymer Centre Travelworld has capped a record-breaking 12 months by being shortlisted for two prestigious business awards.
The leading motorhome dealership is in the running for the Business of the Year and Training Excellence accolades in the Stoke-on-Trent BusinessLive Awards 2022.
The family-run company, which has a 40,000 sq ft facility including one of the biggest motorhome showrooms in the UK, will find out if it has been successful in the awards at a glitzy ceremony at King’s Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, on April 28.
Ross Edwards, managing director at Erwin Hymer Centre Travelworld, said: “We’re delighted to be shortlisted in these two categories and will be keeping our fingers crossed that we emerge victorious against stiff competition.
“The last two years have been very challenging as a result of Brexit and the pandemic but, nevertheless, we have been able to continue our growth and have enjoyed several record-breaking months.
“We’ve brought in new members of senior staff as we continue to deliver customer service excellence and staff development remains vitally important, with 70 percent of our 70 employees currently undergoing some form of training.
“Everyone at the business has worked extremely hard and it’s brilliant to receive recognition like this, which is a boost for the whole team.”
Amongst the 12-strong judging panel deciding on the shortlist were Simon McEneny of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Sally McGill of Staffordshire University and Marc Waddington of The Sentinel.
Travelworld has been serving the motorhome industry for more than 40 years and has a purpose-built, state-of-the-art showroom located just off junction 14 of the M6.


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Effects of a trade war sparked by the Trump administration’s recent tariffs on various imported materials and products continue to unfold.
The U.S. imposed tariffs on steel, aluminum and other goods from Canada, Mexico and the European Union in early June and on China in early July. These countries imposed tariffs on U.S. goods in retaliation.
The impact of steel and aluminum tariffs is particularly strong and far-reaching. Media reports say there is little foreign steel and aluminum coming into the U.S. now, allowing domestic producers to hike their prices.
Corey Sheets, co-owner of Meadows Mills Inc. in North Wilkesboro, said American steel manufacturers started raising prices when tariffs were simply mentioned. Plate steel prices are up 30 per cent and structural steel prices rose 20 per cent recently, he said.
Meadows Mills makes sawmills, agricultural implements, grain mills and other products, with mostly domestic sales currently. Sheets said the company’s sales are strong and costs may be leveling off.
“While there may be wisdom to the plan, because business is strong, for now there is only pain from higher costs resulting from the tariffs. I was always using domestic plate (steel). I am using the same domestic plate now and paying more,” said Sheets.
Tony Johnson, co-owner of Cutting Systems Inc. in Union Grove, said some American manufacturers of steel equipment components have taken advantage of the tariffs in the way Sheets described and some haven’t.
Johnston Casuals in North Wilkesboro buys steel for making contemporary steel furniture from Charlotte-based Nucor Corp. and was experiencing stable prices until about a month ago, said owner Joe Johnston.
Johnston said that since steel is a commodity, price increases due to tariffs on certain countries cause higher steel prices across the board. He said Johnston Casuals has seen double digit increases in steel prices.
Nucor CEO John Ferriola said recently that Nucor supports the tariffs to help “stop the flood of illegally subsidized and dumped steel imports into the U.S…. Tariffs send a strong message that dumping artificially cheap steel products into our market will no longer be tolerated.”
Mark Vitner, senior economist for Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, told the Charlotte Observer that steel producers like Nucor benefit as prices rise and win back market share lost to overseas producers.
According to media reports, tariffs on imported Canadian lumber and wood products boosted American timber and lumber industries. Canada has been accused of dumping subsidized, cheaper lumber into the U.S. market for years.
“It’s really too early to fully understand what the ramifications might be for North Carolina’s forest products exports in our current climate of trade tariffs and pending trade wars. The biggest impact so far has been imposed on other agricultural commodities,” said Clayton Altizer, a utilization forester with the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
“Forest products have yet to appear on any list of banned products. However, it’s fair to say there is a lot of apprehension within the industry right now. China is North Carolina’s biggest trade partner (for the forest products industry) by a large margin. And U.S.-China trade relations are certainly contentious right now. If further tariffs are imposed, there’s likely a good chance forest products could be impacted.”
John Hatcher, executive vice president of the N.C. Forestry Association, agreed that it’s too early to full understand the impact of the tariffs on the forest products industry.
“Long-term, tariffs are not good for our country because they create distortions. The preference is to have free trade unless a country is accused of dumping,” said Hatcher.
People in the forest products industry in Wilkes say demand for timber and stumpage prices remain up locally.
There is growing concern about higher construction costs due to rising steel and wood prices. N.C. Home Builders Association said tariffs on Canadian lumber caused a $9,000 hike in the price of an average single family home.
Canada is a major source of newsprint—the paper on which newspaper are printed—and newsprint prices have skyrocketed since a 22-per-cent tariff was placed on newsprint imported from Canada. This led to layoffs at some newspapers.
U.S. auto manufacturers oppose the tariffs, although sales of American made autos are up due to tariffs on imports. There is concern about higher steel and aluminum prices upping domestic car prices and curtailing sales. USA Today estimated that the tariffs would add $4,000 to $5,000 to the average price of a car.
Last week, Trump agreed to delay tariffs on autos from European Union nations during a period of negotiations.
An adverse impact on North Carolina’s aircraft manufacturing industry, which includes the GE Aviation plant in West Jefferson, has also been cited.
A study by Trade Partnership Worldwide, a Washington, D.C.-based economic consulting firm, estimated that the tariffs would cause an overall net loss of 146,000 jobs due to contractors, manufacturers and other firms having to cut costs.
Americans can expect to pay more for craft beer due to tariffs on the aluminum used in cans, brewers say.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that prior to the recent trade war, North Carolina exported products worth about $495 million to Canada annually, about $351 million to China, about $146 million to Europe and about $98 million to Mexico.
The U.S. Chamber said N.C. exports to Canada most vulnerable to a trade war are iron, non-alloy steel, dishwashing machines and fungicides.


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Broken Arrow is about to begin a streetscaping project in the community's "Rose District."
That's the makeover of its Main Street in downtown Broken Arrow.
Thursday, city leaders showed off the area to developers, entrepreneurs and small business owners, hoping to get them excited about the possibilities for the area.
"We have some great restaurants down here, some boutique stores, so it's an opportunity to add to what we already have," said Warren Unsicker, with BA Economic Development Corp.
"We think it's a great project that the city's done here, and we support it, and if there are opportunities here, we want to bring out tenants and our expertise to maybe help," said developer Bruce Bolzle.
Broken Arrow modeled Thursday's tour after a concept used by other cities to attract conventions and other events to their communities.


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A new technology is being introduced that will make it possible to fully charge your phone in nine minutes. This could also mean companies do not have to continue designing bigger and thicker phones to fit in giant batteries.
Discover our latest podcast
The SuperVooc charging tech
The technology was showcased at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week by Chinese phone maker Oppo. The company is the fourth biggest in the world and has been gaining grounds in the UK with its sub-brands OnePlus, Realme and Vivo.
Industry watchers say Apple and Samsung are already working on replicating the unique feature of this technology, as fast charging and long battery life is a key selling point for mobile devices.
Stuart Miles, founder of tech website Pocket-Lint.co.uk, told the MailOnline:
Companies are saying if you cannot make it last longer, let’s make it charge quicker. The new technology from Oppo only takes nine minutes – less than it takes to shower and brush your teeth in the morning – to have a full charge.
He thinks with this new technology, smaller batteries will be developed, allowing slimmer and lighter phones.
According to Miles, iPhone has become heavier over the years due to the growing size of its battery.
Super speedy charging like this means smaller batteries – after all, if you can fill them up in a matter of minutes, then you don’t need a giant one.
Not just speed
Oppo’s new technology has been in development since 2014 during the tech show, they demonstrated through a video how using 240 watts of power allowed a 4,500mAh battery to go from one percent to 100 percent in nine minutes.
A 150-watt version will charge a phone in 15 minutes. As is the case now, most phones can only take in ten to 30 watts because too much power can cause batteries to overheat and damage devices.
A particular case in point is Samsung recalling millions of phones in 2016 due to overheating batteries, with some getting too hot, they burst into flames.
Neil Monger, Oppo’s UK product manager, said:
It’s not just about speed – it is also about doing it in a way that is safe for our customers. For example, if you just try to put more power into a battery without the relevant safeguards, it may cause longer-term battery damage that causes it to degrade quicker over time. We test and test to avoid that.


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“Four Wheels” and the World Of Fractional Asset Ownership”
Rare and exotic cars are a treasured commodity worldwide. The thought of possessing one of these vehicles has become a tantalizing dream for many.
Then reality sets in:
Ownership has historically been restricted to those with the financial means to invest in them.
Today, with the acceleration of blockchain technology, an innovative company is now providing the opportunity for fractional ownership in one of the fast growing and best-performing asset classes of the past decade.
Established in 2015, BitCar is a blockchain-based auto trading platform with a mission of providing access to these cars for the masses. Now in a groundbreaking global first, BitCar recently announced that it was opening up direct ownership of this asset class to the public for the first time.
Bitcoinist had the chance to interview by email Dr. Gov Van Ek, co-founder of BitCar about this announcement and what it means for the future of crypto driven, fractional asset ownership. Here’s what he had to share
Share with us the details of BitCar your newest project launch. In other words, what is BitCar and why are you so excited about it?
Our mission is to empower everyday people with the ability to fractionally own a piece of a high-end exotic car, which has been the highest-performing asset class over a ten-year period, followed by coins, wine, and jewelry. We successfully launched our platform onto the mainnet this month.
Briefly take us on a test-drive of how it works.
In short, users can buy a fraction of a $500,000 value collector’s edition Ferrari 599 GTO via our dual-token platform. We intend to expand our options to include a larger collection of exotic cars so that people can purchase fractional ownership of vehicles that align with their individual interests.
How is cryptocurrency integrated into this?
Our ecosystem includes an asset token (CAR), which is a digital receipt for ownership in the car, and a utility token (BITCAR), used to pay for in-ecosystem actions, including voting on decisions pertaining to the cars (such as whether to sell or hold the asset).
So what excites you most about this project?
The fact that our platform is the fact that for the first time in history one of the historically highest-performing asset classes of exotic cars, previously only affordable to the wealthy, is now affordable for people to participate. We are fully committed to the spirit of decentralization, and so, not only does our platform reside on the Ethereum blockchain, but the front end interface is also hosted on a decentralized network comprised of multiple peers akin to blockchain nodes.
BitCar is tied to a concept called “Fractional Assets.” What exactly is this and how can it benefit today’s consumers?
Fractional asset ownership means that an asset that only retains value in its “whole” form can be owned by multiple parties. To put that into context, if a Monet painting was physically shredded into thousands of tiny pieces, it would lose all value. But if portions of the Monet painting could be digitally divided into fractions that could be bought and sold without physically impacting the work of art itself, that’s a game-changer for people who cannot afford multi-million dollar assets, like fine art, commercial real estate, or luxury collectibles like classic and exotic cars.
You have said that blockchain can help break the vicious cycle of income equality by enabling fractional ownership of high performing asset classes. Can you elaborate a bit more about this?
In today’s times when the gap between the super-rich and everyone else continues to widen, it is paramount to economic and societal stability to find ways of bridging that divide. One way the vicious cycle of income inequality is perpetuated is that those in the 1% possess the means by which to leverage their financial resources to generate yet more wealth. At the same time, opportunities for wealth generation are shrinking for everyone else.
Yes, this issue seems to be generating a great de global attention?
No doubt. Take for example the gig economy. We’re hearing that things aren’t panning out to be as great for the Uber and Lyft drivers and Airbnb hosts as it is for the companies they’re working for. As a result, there’s been a growing movement around putting real financial power into the hands of everyday people, which blockchain enabled fractional ownership allows.
So in your view, how can blockchain bring about the next sharing economy (2.0), one that’s based on ownership rather than gig labor based on giant intermediaries?
The tech giants that came out of the app revolution like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb base their business model on being the intermediary that facilitates the transaction between customer and service provider (driver or host). Blockchain technology helped us to realize that we don’t really need these intermediaries. People are realizing these large platforms mostly take money out of the pockets of workers without providing the key benefits in the legacy transportation and hospitality industries.
So you appear to be saying that blockchain technology can offer a game-changing solution here?
No doubt. Blockchain technology allows people to engage in a peer-to-peer manner, allowing workers to retain more value from the transaction and make their own decisions. Some crypto enthusiasts have hailed the possibilities of users gaining value from data sharing and the tokenization of online actions as a new avenue for wealth generation, but the reality is that the biggest opportunities for wealth generation reside in the ownership of assets — like real estate or classic cars — that have been proven to gain value over time.


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A new sport exhaust for the five-door and SC Cupras for 2016 opens up a shouty new bellow on throttle — and ramps up max power by about 10 ponies.
The wagon appears to miss out on the new sport exhaust — but is bumped up to 290 all the same. Vmax? 156MPH! 0-60? 5.7-seconds on its best day, and 6.2-ish like clockwork on other days. Both are a half-second beyond what the fastest GTI can deliver.
As before on the Cupra 280, this wagon/coupe/hatch family is the quickest front-drive production car to ever lap the Nurburgring. Standard LED lighting all around, customizable colors and locking differential set the Leon Cupras far beyond the standard-fare Golf GTI in 2016. Of course, that GTI is also down about 80 horsepower versus its Spanish cousins. Yet pricing for all has been near-identical.
The value and chic style of the Leon Cupras make it a no-brainer for many shoppers. This sportier exhaust update and available 2016 Performance Pack only reinforce that strong position for the SEAT triplets.
Seat’s CUPRA range is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2016 via this 290 flagship.
And the proof of how close the Cupra 290 is to the Eurocup racecar version? That car is only up about 40 ponies versus the new 290!
2016 SEAT Leon CUPRA 290


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Iowa-based Casey’s General Stores (CASY) is slated to report its 1Q18 results on Wednesday, September 6, 2017. Wall Street has predicted a 15% YoY (year-over-year) fall in Casey’s earnings to $1.45 per share, and total sales are expected to rise 9.5% YoY to $2.2 billion. The company fell short of Wall Street’s earnings and revenue expectations in all quarters of fiscal 2017. In this series, we’ll look at Casey’s recent financial performance and expectations for the coming quarter.
Casey’s General Stores (CASY), along with its subsidiaries, operates 1,963 convenience stores in the United States. The company sells fuel and a wide variety of grocery items and prepared foods in 15 Midwestern states. Casey’s makes up ~1% of the portfolio holdings of the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT).
Stock market performance
As a result of weaker-than-anticipated results, Casey’s stock has fallen 12% this year. The company is trading at $104.11, ~30% below its 52-week high. In comparison, convenience store peer Murphy USA (MUSA) has gained 5.6% year-to-date. Supermarket players Kroger (KR) and SuperValu (SVU) have lost 36% and 39% of their value so far this year, while retailing giant Walmart (WMT) has gained 13.6%.
Casey’s is currently trading at a one-year forward PE (price-to-earnings) ratio of 23.5x, versus its three-year average of 21x. It is expensive compared with supermarket peers Kroger (KR) (11x) and SuperValu (SVU) (7.9x), as well as convenience store peer Murphy USA (MUSA) (15.6x).


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Napoleon Perdis launches NP Set collection with Target
By Melissa Meisel
What’s got 83 SKUs, available at one of the top bargain retailers nationwide and is aimed toward glamour girls on the go? The new mass market makeup collection, NP Set for Target from Napoleon Perdis for Fall 2008.
Drawing inspiration from the world’s fashion capitals, with products named for notable destinations, the extensive color cosmetics collection includes lip and eye colors, foundations, concealers and powders as well as brushes. It is also 98% paraben-free and lets consumers know “what’s in it for me” with a list of all active ingredients contained in each product. To catch the eye of the sassy shopper, NP Set also features art-inspired packaging—graphic white boxes splashed with vibrant palm trees and star motifs concealed within the box.
The line will retail through 1,400 Target stores, as well an e-commerce website, www.npsetcosmetics.com. Target selected the brand as one of its new breakthrough “masstige” beauty launches. Prices range from $12-$30.
The past year has been favorable to the Australian native and seasoned makeup artist. Besides launching NP Set, the company will reprise its role as official makeup partner to the Primetime Emmy Awards. The company is also celebrating the fifth anniversary of the release of its cult classic, Auto-Pilot Pre-Foundation Primer, with the appointment of model-turned-DJ Sky Nellor as the face of a new marketing campaign.
With four concept stores in California, the beauty brand continues its association with electronic retailer HSN. The company currently has 59 stand-alone concept stores and over 800 point-of-sale locations across Australia and New Zealand and 63 independents in the U.S. In 2006, Napoleon Perdis expanded into Canada as well. Since its launch in 2005, the brand has gained an impressive celebrity clientele that includes Evangeline Lilly, Winona Ryder, LeAnn Rimes, Rose McGowan and Amanda Bynes, among others.
More info: www.npsetcosmetics.com


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The Indian economy has faced a slowdown since the early 2010s, further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving the goal of a $5 trillion economy by 2025 necessitates further economic reforms.
Key Reforms for Achieving the Target
- Simplify and Streamline the Tax System: India ranks 115th out of 190 countries in the ease of paying taxes, according to the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report 2022.
- Boost Manufacturing: Efforts should be made to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP, which currently lags behind other major economies.
- Increase Foreign Investment: India should strive to improve its attractiveness to foreign investors by creating a conducive investment environment.
- Encourage Entrepreneurship: Efforts should be made to address the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in starting and scaling businesses.
- Increase Agricultural Productivity: India's agriculture sector has untapped potential that needs to be harnessed.
- Invest in Education and Skills: India's human capital quality ranks 116th out of 174 countries, according to the World Economic Forum's Human Capital Index 2020.
- Promote Exports: India's export performance needs to be enhanced to remain competitive in the global market.
Target of $5 Trillion Economy by 2025
The goal of achieving a $5 trillion economy by 2025 was set by the Government of India to propel the country's economic growth. To reach this target, several areas of focus have been identified:
- Infrastructure Development: Massive investments in infrastructure are planned to create employment opportunities, attract foreign investment, and improve productivity.
- Digital Transformation: Promoting digitalization across sectors can drive innovation, improve efficiency, and create new business opportunities.
- Skill Development: Skilling programs aim to create a skilled workforce capable of meeting industry demands and contributing to economic growth.
- Promoting Entrepreneurship: Support for entrepreneurs through access to funding, mentorship, and resources can foster innovation and create new business ventures.
- Ease of Doing Business: Simplifying regulations, reducing bureaucratic hurdles, and streamlining processes to improve the ease of doing business in India.
Schemes Launched by the Government
The Government of India has implemented several economic programs to promote growth, development, and social welfare. Some notable programs include:
- Make in India: Launched in 2014 to promote manufacturing and attract foreign investment.
- Digital India: Launched in 2015 to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
- Skill India: Launched in 2015 to provide skill training and vocational education to the youth.
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: Launched in 2014 to promote financial inclusion and provide banking services to all.
- Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan: Launched in 2020 to promote self-reliance and self-sufficiency in various sectors.
While achieving the $5 trillion economy target is challenging, the government continues to implement reforms and measures to boost economic growth and development in India.


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There is need for companies to embrace a multi-stakeholder approach in order to facilitate and promote the development of sustainable, innovative and globally competitive industrial and commercial enterprises, a Cabinet minister has said..
Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza said last week that this could be done through exploring at opportunities arising in the country, in terms of production under the local content strategy and export development.
Dr Nzenza was speaking during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Company’s 33rd annual general meeting that was eld virtually.
She said the meeting had come at a time when the company’s major event had been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with negative impacts on revenue and tourism income for the Bulawayo community.
“Be that as it may, we now need to embrace the “New Normal”, advancing new innovations and embracing technology to ensure that the ZITF Company continues as a going concern,” she said.
“This will encompass operational review bearing in mind the precepts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the recently concluded Africa Continental Free Trade Area in order to strategically place ZITF at the center stage of Trade in Zimbabwe.
“We meet at a time when the outbreak of this global pandemic has caused unprecedented widespread disruptions to every facet of life. Globally, the Meetings, Incentives, Events and Exhibitions (MICE) industry has suffered either cancellations or postponements of several big-ticket events with estimated costs running into millions of dollars.”
Dr Nzenza said the ZITF was an attractive destination and offers an opportunity for companies to meet and compare notes on trade and investment.
She said she was aware that the local industry in Bulawayo was geared to increase capacity in providing goods and services and this assisted the local community to benefit from the high level visits at the premiere show.
“It is in this context, that I would like to urge the board and management to conclude a five-year strategic plan as required by the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act which takes into account the foregoing circumstances,” said Dr Nzenza.
“In formulating the strategy, all parties must be cognisant of the need for innovation around a modern, relevant and globally attractive company that is a pacesetter in the region. “To enable this, I wish to also urge the Board to finalise the process of assembling a strong forward looking management team.”
Dr Nzenza said despite these fundamental disruptions to the core-business of ZITF Company which have been induced by the pandemic, she was confident that the board of directors will deliver on its mandate to reposition ZITF and creatively guide the company towards Vision 2030 of attaining investment and trade. “The universality of this crisis demands all hands on the deck, it demands wide collaboration and it calls for entire value chains to tackle the challenge from multiple angles,” she said.
“Beyond the evaluation of the risks presented by the pandemic, ZITF must also look at the opportunities arising as the country continues to look inward in terms of production through the local content strategy and export development.
“To enable this, we need to embrace a multi-stakeholder approach in order to facilitate and promote the development of sustainable, innovative and globally competitive industrial and commercial enterprises.”
Dr Nzenza said the ministry remained committed to supporting ZITF in delivering its mandate and ensuring its contribution towards President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 of achieving an upper middle income economy.


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World News: 17:00 GMT Tuesday 13th March 2018. [Proof Analytics via Globe Newswire via SPi World News]
AUSTIN Texas March 13 2018 GLOBE NEWSWIRE -- SXSW is going all quantum” with and his new computing start-up the launch of which was announced this morning at SXSWwhurley is a high heterosis combination of mad geek scie ntist a...
Globe Newswire: 17:00 GMT Tuesday 13th March 2018
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