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The new rules limit the size and phrasing of disclaimers, and also make it illegal to portray the stock market as a “get rich quick plan.”
On Wednesday, the Advertising Stands Council of India (ASCI) issued a set of 12 recommendations regarding the promotion and advertisement of virtual digital assets (VDA), such as cryptocurrency.
According to ASCI, the top advertising watchdog created the new rule after thorough consultation with crypto ecosystem stakeholders as well as the government. The advertising standards are also the country’s first legislative foundation for the digital asset market, coming at a time when the government is still working on a crypto bill.
The new crypto advertising framework is due to take effect on April 1, the same day as the controversial 30 percent crypto tax is set to take effect. Let’s take a look at five major conclusions from the rules that will affect the future of content in crypto company ads.
After April 22, all crypto marketing must include a disclaimer stating that crypto and NFT products are unregulated and “extremely dangerous.” The disclaimer must be displayed in all of the major languages.
A crypto asset cannot be compared to the regulated assets in the advertisement.
When referring to their products or services, crypto advertisements must avoid using terms like “money,” “securities,” “custodian,” and “depositaries.”
In no way, shape, or form, crypto ads should pitch their products as a solution to money concerns.
In order to be profitable, crypto ads must provide clear, accurate, sufficient, and up-to-date information.
The advertising committee also established the print size for disclaimers, as well as how they should be distributed throughout various social media platforms. CEO of blockchain analytics business Crebaco, Siddharth Sogani:
“This is a fantastic effort by the concerned regulators, and it is always beneficial to have disclaimers that provide more market knowledge rather than being promoted as a “get rich quick plan.”
Sogani continued, “The new crypto advertising standards also hint at improved crypto frameworks in the future and show that the government is taking stakeholders’ perspectives into account to better regulate.”
Due to the bull market and a large influx of new users on Indian crypto exchanges, aggressive crypto marketing were the topic of Indian media for the majority of the last two quarters of 2021. In July of last year, the Delhi high court issued an order directing the government to draught proper rules and disclaimers.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.


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Paysafecash enables online cash donations to Verein Kinderhilfswerk
Apr 06, 2021
Austrian children’s charity deploys Paysafe’s online cash solution during the pandemic
The challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic have greatly affected non-profit organisations such as Austrian children’s charity Verein Kinderhilfswerk. To make contributing as easy as possible for donors, Verein Kinderhilfswerk has partnered with leading specialised payments platform Paysafe (NYSE: PSFE) to provide a cash payment option for online donations using Paysafecash.
Verein Kinderhilfswerk supports children and young people throughout Austria who have difficulties in the areas of mental health and emotional and social development. Socially disadvantaged children and their families are supported through counselling, therapy, diagnostics, prevention and experiential education projects. Since 1999, Verein Kinderhilfswerk has helped many children and young people to improve their prospects for the future. With counselling centres in Vienna, Linz and numerous cooperating therapists in many provinces, support is offered throughout Austria.
Not-for-profit organisations are heavily dependent on the funds they receive, and donors being able to make payments using their preferred method plays a key role in this. Paysafecash caters specifically to people who prefer to use cash in their everyday lives and do not want to share personal data such as account or credit card information online. Studies show that almost half of consumers (48%) consider cash to be the safest means of payment, especially in times of crisis (1). And as many as 84% say they would never want to do without cash altogether (2). Cash is also often the preferred payment method for those people who want to make an anonymous charitable donation.
Donations with Paysafecash take a few simple steps:
- Go to www.kinderhilfswerk.at and select the Paysafecash option under ‘Donate’.
- Fill out the online donation form, after which you will receive a barcode (text message, email or via the wallet in the Paysafecash app).
- Use the search function to find the nearest of close to 5,000 participating retailers for payment.
- The barcode is scanned in store and the donation is paid in cash.
“The introduction of Paysafecash as a payment option makes it easier for many potential donors to support our work, especially if they prefer making cash payments online,” says Peter Begsteiger, chairman and managing director of Verein Kinderhilfswerk. “A number of factors supported our decision to form this important collaboration.”
Udo Müller, CEO of Paysafe’s eCash division, added: “Paysafecash provides a digital cash solution for organisations of all sizes and types. We are particularly happy to support the valuable work of Verein Kinderhilfswerk and are convinced that this will attract new groups of donors to the charity by offering a simple and secure alternative to traditional online payment methods.”
(2) ING International Survey 2017
Paysafecash, from leading specialised payments platform Paysafe, is an eCash payment method for customers who want to pay online easily and safely using cash. Available in nearly 30 countries, Paysafecash makes online transactions possible for customers, who do not have a debit or credit card, or who do not want to use them online. Payments are made by generating a barcode during the online checkout, which can then be scanned and paid for in person at one of more than 190,000 payment points. Paysafecash was launched in 2018 by the same Paysafe team who created the award-winning, prepaid cash solution paysafecard in 2000. A market leader in eCash payment solutions, paysafecard allows customers to buy prepaid vouchers that they can then redeem online.
About Paysafe Limited
Paysafe Limited (“Paysafe”) (NYSE: PSFE) (PSFE.WS) is a leading specialised payments platform. Its core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in payment processing, digital wallet, and online cash solutions. With over 20 years of online payment experience, an annualized transactional volume of US $92 billion in 2020, and approximately 3,400 employees located in 12+ global locations, Paysafe connects businesses and consumers across 70 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. Delivered through an integrated platform, Paysafe solutions are geared toward mobile-initiated transactions, real-time analytics and the convergence between brick-and-mortar and online payments. Further information is available at www.paysafe.com.
Sanna Raza, Corporate Communications Manager, DACH | email@example.com
+43 676 765 7202

domain: news


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Substandard ice cream sale posing serious health risk for capital residents as according to reports, some factories are even packing their substandard ice-creams in wrappers of famous brands to make money by deceiving people
The substandard ice-cream sale is posing health hazards among the innocent kids in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi but the concerned authorities have turned a blind eye towards the situation.
Several factories in twin cities are involved in making ice-cream and ice candies by using contaminated water. According to some reports, some factories are even packing their substandard ice-creams in wrappers of famous ice-cream brands to make money by deceiving people.
The capital residents said that the concerned authorities are not taking any action against the manufacturers of the substandard ice-creams. They said people especially children are falling prey to abdominal diseases and throat infection after eating the products.
The residents of many other areas including sectors F-6, G-7, G-9, G-11, of the federal capital and other areas of Rawalpindi said that the vendors sell the substandard ice-cream in their streets.
The children eat the ice-cream and fall ill. The residents demanded the concerned authorities to take action against the manufacturers of the substandard ice-cream.
Children may suffer from deadly diseases like cancer and kidney infection if they take harmful chemical and colour mixed ice creams regularly,” said Dr Aftab A Malik in Polyclinic.
These factories are producing ice creams in most unhygienic way with low quality ingredients due to lack of supervision by the authorities concerned.
Most factory owners are ignorant of the food act as they use harmful ingredients, including impure water, arrowroot, toxic dye, flavour, soda, date expired powder milk and saccharin, in ice creams, he added.


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In addition, the search market is expected to become more specialized, as search focuses more on specific categories, according to the study published last week by JupiterResearch. Specialized search in four categories--retail, financial services, media and entertainment, and travel--accounted for 79 percent of the paid search market in 2004, Jupiter said.
Paid search spending is high in these sectors because a significant portion of commerce in these areas has shifted online, the market researcher said. Jupiter predicted that the online travel market will grow from US$54 billion in 2004 to US$91 billion in 2009, for instance, and online shopping will grow from US$66 billion in 2004 to US$130 billion in 2009.
Jupiter predicts that the success of specialized search will result in broad-based search engines spinning off search tools for specific niches, a similar route taken by television and print publishing markets.
"The trend will cause a sea change in how advertising spending is allocated online," Jupiter analyst Niki Scevak said in a statement. If "media firms do not seize this opportunity, search engines like Yahoo and Google, as well as a number of established and start-up vertical search engines like Shopping.com and Sidestep will enter to satisfy the market demand."
The growth in media and entertainment search engines will be driven by classifieds, Jupiter said. Online classifieds are projected to grow from US$1.9 billion in 2004 to US$3.7 billion in 2009.


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JAKARTA (Jan 25): Indonesia's palm oil exports fell 8.5% last year because of a volatile regulatory environment and sluggish output that is expected to continue this year, the Indonesia Palm Oil Association (Gapki) said on Wednesday.
The world's top palm oil producer exported 30.8 million tonnes of palm oil product in 2022, down from 33.7 million tonnes a year earlier.
To control soaring prices of domestic cooking oil last year, the government implemented various changes in palm oil export policy, including a three-week export ban starting in late April.
A slight drop in palm oil production last year amid rising domestic consumption in the energy sector also contributed to the lower exports, GAPKI Chairman Joko Priyono told a media briefing.
"Biodiesel consumption (last year) jumped because consumption of fuel rose after the pandemic," he said.
Indonesia uses palm oil as a feedstock for its 30% mandatory blend in biodiesel. The blend will be raised to 35% in February and will be known as B35.
Last year, the Southeast Asian nation produced 46.7 million tonnes of crude palm oil, down 0.4% from 2021. It also produced 4.5 million tonnes of palm kernel oil.
"This is the fourth year of stagnant output while domestic consumption continues rising," Joko said.
"In 2023, we expect production to be stagnant again due to high fertiliser prices. Farmers have been using lower dosage, which would affect output this year."
Indonesia's palm oil stocks were 3.65 million tonnes by the end of 2022.
|2021 (mil tonnes)||2022 (mil tonnes)|
|CPO + kernel oil production||51.30||51.29|
|Total domestic consumption||18.42||20.97|


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New venue as Doncaster Classic Car and Bike show returns after Covid break
The Doncaster Classic Car and Bike Show will be held at the Eco Power Stadium on July 9 and will showcase a huge range of vintage motors, attracting hundreds of enthusiasts.
In previous years the event has taken place at the Doncaster School for the Deaf.
A spokesperson said: ‘This is one of the biggest events of its kind in the north of England.
“We usually have around 600 vehicles on display and 5,000 visitors during the day.
“There will be a huge range of vehicles on display, stalls to browse, food and drink to consume and entertainment for the children. A real family day out with something for everyone.”
Ample free public parking is available.
The event is run by the Rotary Club of Doncaster St George’s and any funds raised after expenses are distributed through its Charitable Trust to local charities and groups and other charitable activities.
The spokesperson added: “So not only will people have a great day, but they’ll help raise money for worthy causes.”
This year’s show kicks off at 10:00 a.m. and showcases a wide range of car and motorcycle makes and models from different eras – ensuring there’s something in store for car and motoring enthusiasts, whatever or the age of the participants.
More information about this year’s show HERE


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Businesses are just not prepared for a second wave lockdown: Dan Kelly
The head of a business group says lockdown loopholes are emerging as parts of the country step up restrictions to combat COVID-19, allowing some stores to remain open while similar retailers are forced to close.
Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said only select retailers deemed essential were permitted to remain open during the first wave of lockdowns last spring.
While efforts to expand the definition of an essential retailer or product have helped keep more stores open now, he said most of the retailers that have benefited are bigger stores.
Kelly said the outcome is an uneven playing field, where a smaller, independent bookshop that only sells books is forced to close, for example, while a larger chain that also sells books is open for business.
But Diane Brisebois, Retail Council of Canada president and CEO, said the suggestion that lockdowns only hurt small retailers is a "false narrative."
She said increased restrictions tend to hurt certain retail categories, regardless of size.
Brisebois said the bigger issue right now is the widespread confusion for both retailers and consumers about what the rules are.
She said the lack of clear, harmonized rules -- even within the same province -- is leaving shoppers unsure about what's open or closed.
For retailers, Brisebois said many have invested heavily in creating safe and healthy environments for workers and customers.
"They're frustrated because they've made those investments, they've enforced mask-wearing and hand sanitizing, and now they're being forced to close," she said.
Brisebois said even businesses that remain open but are operating at a reduced capacity are losing income and facing mounting bills.
More regions in the Toronto area entered the COVID-19 red zone on Monday, joining others parts of the country that have ordered tighter restrictions and closures to stop the spread of the virus.
Last week, the Manitoba government shut down large parts of its economy, including non-essential retail outlets.


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By Jacquie De Almeida
Gerry Gilroy isn’t surprised the bead and charm craze is still going strong. In fact, the owner and president of Independent Jewellers in Edmonton says his clients flock to the counters looking for the next piece to add to their bracelet. He also says that while bead and charm buyers may have started out loyal to a particular brand, there tends to be a bit more flexibility these days when price, design, or availability are factored into the equation.
“The great thing is that most bracelets and beads work together,” he says.
No doubt, the bead and charm sector has taken the lead in the last few years as one of the few categories jewellers could bank on for sales, and in some cases, help them stay in business. A simple line of jewellery sold in a small store in Denmark has led the way to a $10-billion industry with countless similar bead lines sold around the world.
Yet, with the news its biggest player—Pandora Jewelry—recorded a 30 per cent decline in revenue in the second quarter of last year due to price increases, many questioned whether bead jewellery had lost some of its previous shine.
John White, Pandora’s president North America, says pricing is a sensitive issue regardless of brand power. When the company upped its prices in the United States by an average of 40 per cent, consumers reacted with fewer sales, and the company soon underwent a strategic review across the board with the help of external consultants. Its response was to reduce its prices in January an average of 20 per cent in North America on 300 design variations of its most popular pieces.
“We believed that if we were going to take action to make a difference, it had to be on our best-selling items to get maximum benefit,” White explains.
Earlier this year, Pandora also offered retailers a one-time, time-limited inventory swap allowing them to return non-sellers for best-sellers without incurring restocking fees.
The global campaign is expected to cost $90 million to $140 million US. To avoid a buildup of slower-selling items in stores, White says Pandora will be using point-of-sale data to analyze retail sell-throughs more regularly, as well as inventory levels.
“We’re going to be much more in tune with our retailers to ensure this sort of thing doesn’t happen again,” he said.


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WASHINGTON — SBC Communications Inc. received federal approval late last week to sell long-distance calling in Texas, marking only the second time a regional Bell telephone company has secured permission to provide that service to its local customers.
The Federal Communications Commission on Friday cleared the application by the San Antonio-based local phone giant, which acquired Chicago-based Ameritech Corp. last year. With the approval in hand, SBC can move toward offering its vision of delivering customers one-stop shopping for their phone and Internet services. Long-distance service in Texas is a $6.2 billion market.
The FCC gave SBC's application the go-ahead after the company received endorsements from the Justice Department and state regulators. All three bodies found that the company had taken the appropriate steps to open its local market to competition--which Bell companies must do before they can secure permission to offer long-distance.
The FCC approval will take effect July 10, and SBC said it's ready to leap into the long-distance business immediately. The company plans to conduct a vast advertising campaign and offer incentives to lure customers. It also pledged not to charge a minimum monthly fee or surcharge.
The action represents the second successful attempt by a Bell to offer long-distance to its local customers. Bell Atlantic became the first company to secure FCC permission to do so last year in New York state.


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Samsung explains how the new Galaxy Z Fold2 hinge works
One of the biggest changes in the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 over the original Galaxy Fold, is the hinge and Samsung just released the video detailing how it was designed and where it improves on the old design.
The redesign allowed Samsung to close the gap between the two folding parts of the device but more importantly, it has made the device considerably sturdier.
Thanks to the dual CAM mechanism that relies not only on a mechanical lock but on magnets, the Z Fold2’s hinge can keep the phone upright and prevent accidental folding when unfolded. The mechanism is similar to Galaxy Z Flip’s so-called Hideaway hinge.
The engineers also came up with the Sweeper technology that fills in the gap to prevent dust or other small particles getting inside the device. The sweeper has been designed to be durable (at least 200,000 folds) and retain elasticity over time.
Make sure to check out the video to see engineers explain how the new hinge came to be and what other hurdles they had to go through.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
, GSMArena.com – Latest articles reports


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Beach Season in New Jersey
As Bruce Springsteen sang, "down the shore everything's alright" - and that sentiment couldn't ring truer this summer in New Jersey, where businesses are gearing up for the height of beach season.
In Atlantic City, boardwalk staple Steel Pier opened its usual Easter weekend and introduced a swinging carousel, a swaying pirate ship and three other new rides for this summer. Nearby sandwich favorite the White House Sub Shop has been serving up its famous hot and cold subs in both its original Arctic Avenue location and its new post in the Trump Taj Mahal. And Boardwalk Hall entertainment center will present a slew of big-name performers throughout the summer.
The Historical Society-run Roundhouse Museum recently received several new items which are now on display, including a cannonball made locally during the Revolution.
Open and ready for visitors, the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville has restored all of its summer areas.
The Noyes Art Museum celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and is presenting four special exhibitions through September.
Nearby eatery Shea's Café is also ready for the season, and has added new seashore and bruschetta omelets to its already enticing menu.


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How and where to shop in San Francisco & Bay area
Here are several top San Francisco shopping experiences you should not miss during your stay at San Francisco.
Jayalalithaa closes 500 liquor shops, cuts liquor shop timings by two hours
J Jayalalithaa's first order of business after taking the oath as...
Google launches Android Pay in UK shops
Google year behind Apple in launching the pay app, no upper limit on the size of purchases while your...
Traveller's diary: Enjoy the Philly beer week & shopping festival in Thailand
These are festivals that will bring colour and fun in your lives. Enjoy the Philly beer week as it is one of a kind.
Fashion advice app to redefine shopping experience at Janpath
Delhi will witness a creative and stylish trial room installation in the heart of the iconic Janpath market this weekend.
Luxury brands Gucci, Zegna shutting shop as Chinese buyers turn thrifty
In mainland China, tenants have the most bargaining power in new malls, particularly in second-tier cities, hit by a slump in demand and plentiful new supply.
Centre asks states to modernise ration shops
In order to make PDS system totally transparent, Paswan said that the government is implementing end-to-end computerization of PDS operation.
Office hour is rush hour at online shops: Sokrati study
Sokrati study took into account over 2 million transactions across 100 online retailers for the key pointers, reports Payal Ganguly.
Online shopping is more popular among 80 per cent buyers
About 28 per cent customers are driven to buy online due to the availability of discounts and promotions.
Shopsense Retail Technology launches Fify - a personal virtual shopping assistant
Fify is now in the beta phase and the startup claims it has seen over 50,000 conversations since its launch on Facebook Messenger a week ago.
Gucci sorry for warning to Hong Kong funeral shops
Gucci apologised fter drawing heavy criticism for warning some Hong Kong shops not to sell paper offerings for the deceased that resembled its luxury products.
Fan of 'Star Wars'? Add this lamp to your shopping list
Featuring ships and characters from 'Star Wars', this glitter lamp is a great new spin on the classic lava lamp.
Palm oil industry's profits slip 25%, small firms shut shop
“Palm oil industry fell by over 50% in last two years due to low prices of crude palm oil and poor rainfall," said Sanjay Goenka, CEO of 3F Oil Palm Agrotech
GoDaddy, ShopClues announce a strategic partnership
For those who already have a domain name, GoDaddy enables customers to quickly connect their domain name to any website or blog or to other pages they control.
ShopClues to help vendors go online with GoDaddy
Under this initiative, merchants can choose the website as per their business, link it to the ShopClues portal, and access the company’s technology.
Mall consumers are browsers, shopping is not priority on their agenda: Ashish Soni
The ace designer, who has spent over two decades in the fashion industry, has recently set up a luxe store for men in Delhi.
New Mauritius treaty signals end of shopping for tax havens
The tax changes could hurt short-term foreign investment inflows, but investors say they may still choose Mauritius if it proves cost effective.
Soon, Facebook 'bots' to help you shop
Facebook also offers the 'buy' button, which appears in its ads and aims to let people purchase stuff without leaving the social network.
Your shopping bag may just be plastic in disguise
This is because these non-woven bags are made using polypropylene fibres, a plastic variant and is non-biodegradable.
Rahul Gandhi bought 2 shops at market rates: Emaar MGF
Emaar MGF said the allegations levelled against it by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya are "completely false, baseless and malicious in nature".
Uttar Pradesh booze shops on new high after Bihar ban
A salesman said earlier, liquor shops in the area placed orders with the wholesale depot once a week or a fortnight to stock up for retailing.
Before defecting, North Korean waitresses shopped for backpacks
Four waitresses from the Ryugyong Korean Restaurant visited the nearby store on April 5 and bought three backpacks, each for the listed 199 yuan (about $31).
Drought makes Rs 100-crore steel firm shut shop in Latur
Malang was already struggling to compete with Chinese products till eight months ago. But he shut shop after it became difficult to afford 3 lakh litres of water daily.
Women outspend men in online shopping, says study
While 74% women said they prefer plastic money while shopping online, around 69% of men said they would rather play safe & opt for cash-on-delivery.
Many jewellers open shops; gold discounts drop
The resumption in business could boost demand from the world's second biggest consumer and support global prices trading near their highest in three weeks.
Checking your fridge before shopping can curb wastage of food
One third of the world's food is lost or wasted, and this has serious environmental implications while contributing directly to global warming.
Alibaba fights fake university, shopping malls
China's e-commerce giant Alibaba said fake universities and shopping malls had illegally used the name of its online shopping sites.
Jewellers on strike may open shops on Gudi Padwa
"We have lost business of around 70,000-80,000 crore in last 34 days due to the strike,” Saurabh Gadgil, vice-president of the India Bullion & Jewellers Association, told ET.
Striking jewelers may open shops on Gudi Padwa
Jewellers protesting the imposition of a 1 per cent excise duty are considering to open their outlets to take advantage of Gudi Padwa festival.
Model law soon for shops, restaurants, cinemas to open 24/7: Labour Secretary Shankar Aggarwal
The move will potentially have a bearing on an estimated 10,200 single-screen cinema halls across the country, over 600 malls and more than 200,000 restaurants.
Liquor shops asked to down shutters on Mahaveer Jayanthi day
Deputy Commissioner (Excise) S.Abel Rozario in a release said all bar attached restaurants should also be closed that day.
No sign of end to jewellers' strike; shops remain shut
Meanwhile, the government has constituted a panel under former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahri to look into the demands of jewellers.
Shy Indians shop sexual wellness products online
Lubricants and condoms were the only two categories where more than 30 per cent respondents felt comfortable in buying from local pharmacies.
Ration shops to be fully computerised by '19: Government
Paswan said ePOS costs around Rs 20,000 and there are different provisions to install them as states can also do so by buying such devices.
Women are behind the success of home shopping in India: Shop CJ Network's Dhruva Chandrie
In home shopping, consumers get a comprehensive demonstration.
Let EPF be: On provident fund and retirement benefits, don’t be a bull in a china shop
Successive governments are unwilling to carry out even a simple income tax reform which would link taxation threshold to inflation.
Brazilian, Indian shopping sites most reliant: SimilarWeb
The highest reliance of PPC emerged in Brazil where 4.14% of all online visits to shopping sites arrived via PPC, followed by India (3.75%).
Indians passionate about shopping lifestyle products online: eBay
It also showed Indians love for photography, gaming and fitness devices, food items and musical instruments, with women being the biggest contributors to these categories.
Are you smart & savvy enough to shop in the financial e-marketplace?
Remember, unlike an Amazon or a Flipkart purchase, neither can these financial products be returned nor will you get a refund if you lose money.
Don't forget the shopping list while heading to supermarket
A list is especially helpful while shopping for things that you do not buy regularly, while you can generally rely on memory while buying familiar items.
Meat shops resist Mumbai airport's chop
Around 100 chicken and mutton shop owners have sent applications seeking permission of DGCA to continue running their businesses within Mumbai airport’s 10-km radius.
ShopClues launches low-cost laptop at Rs 10,999
Pre-installed with Windows 10 operating system, the two-in-one laptop comes with Intel Atom x5 processor clocking a speed of 1.44 GHz.
Jewellers divided on stir call off; shops closed in many parts
Jewellers, bullion traders and artisans are organising 'dharna' at Chandni Chowk to intensify the agitation, he said.
Jewellers divided on calling off strike; Delhi shops still shut
Most jewellery shops and establishments in the national capital remained shut today despite Government's assurance that there will be no harassment by excise officials.
People consuming more internet to shop online; leaves social networking behind: Study
98 per cent Indians voted online shopping as the top reason to access the internet. Social networking came a close second with 96 per cent votes.
Online shopping to rise by 78% this year: Assocham-PwC
Average online purchases are expected to increase by 78 per cent this year on the back of attractive deals and aggressive marketing of merchandise, says a report.
Suicide bomber kills four, wounds 36 in Istanbul shopping district
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the blast was "inhumane" and would not stop Turkey, which has been targeted by Kurdish and Islamic State militants.
DLF gains over 2% on selling shopping mall for Rs 904 crore
The stock ended the day at Rs 107.30, up 2.14 per cent on BSE. During the day, it gained 2.8 per cent to Rs 108.


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ArcelorMittal: Q1 EBITDA better than expected
(CercleFinance.com) - ArcelorMittal has posted a net loss of 1.
12 billion dollars for Q1 2020, compared with a profit of 414 million dollars a year ago, with EBITDA that fell by over 40% to 967 million dollars. Even so, this is well above the consensus of 867 million dollars.
The steelmaker's sales fell by 23% year-on-year to around 14.8 billion dollars for steel shipments of 19.5 million tonnes, down more than 10% compared to the first quarter of 2019.
"Against the backdrop of significant cost savings measures being taken across the business, the Board determined it both appropriate and prudent to suspend dividend payments until such a time as the operating environment normalizes," the group added.
Copyright (c) 2020 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.


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Vendors selected for the “Cool Vendor” report are innovative, impactful and intriguing
San Mateo, CA, November 19, 2019 — Kyndi®, the leading artificial intelligence solution for long-form text, today announced that it has been named a Cool Vendor in the October 10, 2019 report, Cool Vendors in Enterprise AI Governance and Ethical Response by Gartner, Inc.
Gartner predicts that “by 2022, 30% of organizations will use explainable AI models to build trust with business stakeholders.”
Technology vendors are unveiling software to try to address problems with transparency in AI algorithms, as WSJ CIO Journal has reported.
We believe Kyndi is highly differentiated from other AI solutions in the market because it can analyze large bodies of unstructured, long-form text, create concepts rather than only using keywords to find answers, plus it provides explainable, trackable answers to tough questions.
“We have seen phenomenal traction with our customers — digging into their deep and rich documents – mapping their knowledge graphs and helping them answer their critical business questions,” said Kyndi Founder & CEO Ryan Welsh. “We know that we offer the only AI solution on the market that can analyze the bulk of data in an organization – the unstructured data – and trace the process, validate the outputs and provide an auditable trail of reasoning. We feel it’s validating to be recognized by Gartner in this report. Also, we believe it is important for companies to choose AI that doesn’t trap them with a ‘black box.’”
According to the report, “The vendors in this research all apply unique and novel approaches to helping organizations increase their governance and explainability of AI solutions. This is the theme of our selection of vendors for this report, which focuses on profiled companies that employ a variety of AI techniques to transform ‘black box’ ML models into easier to understand, more transparent ‘glass box’ models. Think of this as ‘AI on AI.’”
Kyndi’s software is used across healthcare, government, manufacturing and financial services industries where clarity of the AI outputs, explainability and defendability are mission-critical. Large pharmaceutical companies use Kyndi to address risk and quality issues. These companies are looking for risk that would invalidate the efficacy or safety of their drugs. Dozens of human analysts work on answering these expensive and legally risky questions at most pharma companies with slow and inconsistent results. Kyndi is transforming the costs and outcomes of these teams, helping them find answers — and ensuring that the answers found are explainable and defendable to the executives, to the FDA.
Gartner, Cool Vendors in Enterprise AI Governance and Ethical Response, Jim Hare et al., 10 October 2019
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Kyndi provides leading artificial intelligence software that helps organizations answer their hardest questions. Kyndi can analyze long-form text and find actionable insights in a smarter, faster, and more explainable way than any other AI solution on the market. The mission of the company is to amplify the productivity of knowledge workers around the world.
Kyndi was named to the CB Insights AI 100 for 2018, which includes the most promising 100 private companies working on groundbreaking artificial intelligence technology. Based in Silicon Valley, Kyndi is backed by leading venture investors, including Intel Capital, UL Ventures and Pivot North. Customers include Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies and government agencies. For more information, visit https://kyndi.com/.
Media Contact for Kyndi


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Economist Ben Marapin who usually shies away from the media, piped up this week signaling distress with our economy.
He made a few good points:
He wanted to see significant STRUCTURAL changes, not just cosmetic ones, in the handling of our public finances.
In that respect he sees no difference between the current and the past government, they both continued to treat public finances recklessly.
According to Marapin, the cake is big enough for us all, we could all be successful and thrive, if our resources would be more efficiently used. If productivity increases, we could personally make more money, and our GDP would grow….
But…the moment GOA shrinks its personnel, it seems like a signal to our politicians to hire more people, and we end up with the same inflated, money-wasting bureaucracy, having spent fortunes on paying employees off, and sending them home.
He also totally nixed the ‘refinery’ concept. Our refinery stopped being one, years ago, he says, when it turned into 100-year-old rust bucket, it might perhaps be useful as an ‘upgrader,’ mixing heavy Orinoco gold into naphtha, to be further refined elsewhere, but he doesn’t see any real initiatives in that direction.
The 2020 challenges are huge, and the outlook is grim, he concludes.
AHATA, the Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association, ATIA, the Aruba Trade & Industry Association, KvK, the Chamber of Commerce, and ATSA, the Aruba Timeshare Association held a joint press conference in which they expressed their concerns about the total lack of communication between the public and private sector.
It is not a secret that GOA is working on phase two of a four-pronged tax reform, with zero input from their main stakeholder, the private sector.
Representative of our business community were also totally taken by surprise by a news item, published in the media in which the MinFEC apparently announced that the Foreign Exchange Tax will be increased by 0.6%, from 1.3% in 2019, 1.9% in 2020. The MinFEC mentioned that this tax is being introduced instead of sugar tax, that drew such vocal opposition.
The private sector considers this move detrimental to our economy, as this is not just a tax levied on the rich and famous changing their florins into dollars, this will affect every single person. The banana importer, and the gasoline purveyor, whatever is paid in dollars and imported, will now be more expensive, which means EVERYTHING.
With prices going up, our money falls short, inflation appears, we demand a raise, the merchants hike prices up to stay in the game, and the poor consumer suffers, without GOA cutting anything from its budget, with ZERO effort to reduce expenses and structurally change the way our resources are treated.
Note: The pubic, has not yet received any official notification of this tax decision, we only read about it in a credible news story, which demonstrates fatal lack of transparency on behalf of GOA, and a chronic breakdown in communications.
#cutexpenses #reduceoverhead #takeyourhandoutofmypocket


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Royal Caribbean International’s new $125 million (USD) cruise terminal in Galveston, Texas, has opened its doors and welcomed the Lone Star State’s largest cruise ship, Allure of the Seas.
The cruise line held a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Port of Galveston to mark the state-of-the-art facility’s opening and the Texas debut of its Oasis Class.
The city of Galveston also marked the day with a proclamation, recognizing the cruise line’s commitment to the city and the successful partnership started more than 20 years ago when Royal Caribbean first set sail from Galveston. With the introduction of the Oasis Class, the world’s largest cruise ships, its estimated the new terminal will welcome as many as 630,000 vacationers each year.
“We are thrilled to take family vacations to a whole new level in Texas. Our new, 161,334-square-foot terminal opens up a world of vacation possibilities for families in the Southwest,” said Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “Now our unmatched Oasis Class ships, known as the best family vacations in the industry, can set sail from Galveston. Allure of the Seas is just the beginning, and we thank the Port of Galveston, Ceres and all the teams involved for making this bold vision a reality.”
Royal Caribbean’s Galveston facility is as bold in its sustainable design as the bold adventures that vacationers have in store.
The terminal will break even more new ground as the first LEED Zero Energy facility in the world, generating 100 per cent of the energy it needs through onsite solar panels.
From the start, the design strategies used to develop the terminal were aligned with parent company Royal Caribbean Group’s wholistic environmental goals, its focus to advance the development of sustainable infrastructure as well as its decarbonization strategy – Destination Net Zero.
Welcoming vacationers in the terminal as they make their way to Allure is a new, dynamic art sculpture named the Galveston Beach Trio by Texas-based artists Brad Oldham and Christy Coltrin of Brad Oldham Sculpture.
Allure will set sail from the new homeport on its first cruise on Sunday, Nov. 13.
Vacationers can enjoy all that Allure has to offer on the new 7-night Western Caribbean cruises from Galveston and visit sun-soaked destinations, such as Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; and Roatan, Honduras, for the winter 2022-2023 season.


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has shared a positive insight about the Indian car industry. Currently the world is experiencing a global slowdown, the situation is being termed as worrisome by many economic pundits. Amid such a situation, Maruti Suzuki has issued a statement that the hike in interest rates haven’t impacted the car sales
yet. Many experts are suggesting that India might be one the countries that are least affected by this global slowdown. This statement from Maruti Suzuki reinstates those claims. The Indian car industry is still working its way with the semiconductor
shortage but the demand for cars in India seems to be unaffected. We have witnessed that the demand for new cars in the Indian market is good. Recently Mahindra received over 1 lakh bookings for the new Scorpio-N in under 30 minutes, this speaks volumes about the market situation in India.
Giving this insight was Shashank Srivastava
, Senior Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India. Speaking on the hike on interest rates he said, "Theoretically speaking, it should have a negative impact because interest rates going up (have an impact on) discretionary spending, which also includes spending on cars, but at the moment that we are not feeling that”.
RBI had raised the key interest rate by 50 basis points, earlier this month. Since May 2022 this is the third consecutive hike, now the interest rates are back to the pre-pandemic level.
He stated that following the launch of new products like Brezza and Grand Vitara the company now has a pending order of 3.87 lakh units which was around 2.8 lakh units in the last quarter. He went on to explain how there is a pent up demand because of the disruption of the supply chain due to the pandemic and the semiconductor shortage. This impacted the production and the demand of the market could not be met. The effects of the hike in interest rates aren’t apparent yet but the actual scenario can only be better understood when the production gets back to normal.
He said, “Once you have a large production, then you will get to know the actual demand pattern. We have not been able to produce as per the underlying demand pattern". Addressing the semiconductor shortage he said "We do not have a visibility going forward of the exact availability of chips. When it will become 100 percent, we don't know. The visibility for future availability of semiconductors is actually limited. We keep getting updates every week and we keep modifying our estimate but one thing I can tell you is that in this quarter we will not see 100 per cent normalisation".
(With inputs from PTI)


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The Chinese technology firm Huawei has held talks with Etisalat and du about launching its 4G-compatible smartphones in the UAE.
Huawei has already launched its first 4G phone – the Ascend P1 LTE – in Saudi Arabia through the local telecommunications firm STC. The handset is compatible with local 4G networks, which offer super-fast internet connections more than twice the speed of 3G.
The Chinese firm told The National that it has also held talks with Etisalat and du about launching two 4G smartphones in the UAE.
“We are in close talks with both of them,” said Ali Shi, the vice president of operations in the Middle East for Huawei. “Launch will definitely be within this year.”
Both UAE telecoms operators have made heavy investments in installing faster mobile-data networks, which use a 4G technology called long-term evolution (LTE).
Very few smartphones that work on the 4G network are currently available in the UAE. At the moment, access to the faster networks is mostly through wireless USB modems – so-called ‘dongles’ – which plug into laptops.
Along with the scant availability of handsets, there is also a problem of compatibility concerning 4G devices in the Middle East. Apple was this year forced to drop the term ‘4G’ when marketing the iPad in the UAE, because the tablet does not work on the high-speed LTE networks operated by Etisalat and du.
Mr Shi promised that Huawei’s 4G smartphones would be compatible here.
“Our region is a little bit different. In the 4G area we have different frequencies... Huawei will be the only supplier who will be compatible with all the different frequencies for LTE,” he said.
Mr Shi said he expects the market in LTE handsets to be slow at first.
“For the whole industry globally, the [market in] LTE handsets will take a little bit of time to mature,” he said.
Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, the group chief executive officer of Etisalat, told The National that it expects the LTE-compatible smartphones to be available next year.
“We have grown the LTE network in the UAE as well as in Saudi Arabia,” said Mr Julfar.
“Until now, other than the dongle there are no devices which are available for this region yet. They will be available, hopefully... next year. We will see more usage and more applications,” he added.
Huawei says it is looking to grow its consumer-electronics business in the Middle East, where it has also worked with local telecommunications operators to install networks.
Mr Shi said the company expects the company’s revenues to grow in this region.
“We are confident that the continuous 10 per cent growth will be there in the Middle East,” he said.
“We decided to voluntarily stop acquiring new customers and limit our own activities with the current [customers],” said Mr Shi. “The business has become very small.”
Despite this, the Chinese firm has faced increased scrutiny over its business in Iran. Huawei was last month criticised by the US House Intelligence Committee, for reportedly failing "to provide evidence to support its claims that it complies with all international sanctions or US export laws."
Ken Hu, the rotating chief executive and deputy chairman of Huawei, confirmed that there has been “a sharp drop in our business” in Iran.
However, Mr Hu said Huawei was not looking to pull out of either Iran or the US.
“We are very confident that any of the business we have… we are going to conduct in the future,” Mr Hu said. “We evaluate our business situation independently in these countries… It doesn’t mean that we can freely expand our business in the US, in case we pull out of Iran. And it also doesn’t mean that we’re going to pull out of our business in the US, and then to aggressively expand it in Iran.”


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Honda Cars India have issued a preventive recall for nearly 78,000 cars in India in order to change a faulty fuel pump. The Japanese carmaker has launched a service campaign to replace fuel pumps in 77,954 Honda cars - spanning across several models - that were manufactured between January 2019 and September 2020 in India. As per the carmaker, the fuel pumps installed in these cars may contain defective impellers, which could eventually result in the engine stopping or not starting at all.
The recall will be carried out in a phased manner and has already started from April 17, 2021. The carmaker has released a detailed list of all the models that have been affected, including their production period and the number of units of each model that have been fitted with the faulty fuel pump. Barring the fifth-gen Honda City, the recall has affected every other Honda car in India. The vehicle most affected by this recall is the Honda Amaze with as many as 36,086 units fitted with the faulty fuel pump.
|Model||Production Year||No of Units affected|
|Amaze||Jan - Aug 2019||36,086|
|Last-Gen City||Jan - Sept 2019||20,248|
|WR-V||Jan - Aug 2019||7,871|
|Jazz||Jan - Aug 2019||6,235|
|Civic||Jan - Sept 2019||5,170|
|BR-V||Jan - Oct 2019||1,737|
|CRV||Jan 2019 - Sept 2020||607|
Also Read : No More Spy Pics; Here's The First Official Image Of 11th-Gen Honda Civic
The recall also includes 20,248 units of the fourth-gen Honda City, 7,871 units of the WR-V, 6,235 units of the Jazz hatchback, 5,170 units of the Civic sedan, and 1,737 units of the BR-V. All these vehicles were manufactured between January and October 2019. Additionally, the recall also covers 607 units of the Honda CR-V that were manufactured between January 2019 and September 2020. It must be noted that the Honda CR-V, Civic and BR-V have been discontinued in India.
Vehicles manufactured before or after the above-mentioned time period do not have the suspected fuel pump issue. This recall could actually be a part of a global recall that Honda initiated in March 2021. Earlier last month, Honda had said that they will recall about 761,000 vehicles worldwide to replace fuel pumps that could fail and lead to engine problems. Given the current situation with the pandemic in the country, Honda dealers are operating with limited staff. Customers are advised to visit dealerships with prior appointment to adhere to pandemic protocols.
Honda's authorized dealer partners will be contacting the owners of the affected vehicles individually. The replacement of the part will be carried out free of cost to the customer. Additionally, owners can also check whether their cars are covered under this campaign by entering the 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the special microsite which has been created on the company's website.
Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com for more Honda updates and other four-wheeler news.


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Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 | 11:02 p.m.
Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace is celebrating its first birthday by giving to others this Thursday evening.
Bacchanal, the site of a food challenge last October by five Las Vegas Sun/Greenspun Media Group journalists shortly after it opened, is hosting a five-course dinner with wine pairings in the private dining room to benefit the food bank Three Square.
A casual tasting last week in the kitchen, minus the vino, featured what is planned to be at Thursday’s event, which will showcase current and upcoming dishes at Bacchanal, hands down one of my favorite buffets in Las Vegas.
Highlights included a delicious, silky sweet corn soup with Maine lobster croquette and hazelnut oil; a pan-roasted diver scallop atop a saffron potato mousseline with heirloom tomato; and an intermezzo of honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon sorbets (all were amazing — I love anything watermelon right now — but I would give up a week of Pinkberry and Rita’s Water Ice for a quart of the honeydew).
There was also a pan-seared petite Black Angus filet mignon with chanterelle mushrooms and celery root puree, root vegetable confit and natural demi glaze; and, to finish it all off, a board of decadent cheeses and fruit (and honeycomb!) — the best I’ve ever had, and which is served at Bacchanal.
Meals with cheese offered at the conclusion are awesome. Interestingly, the gourmet cheeses are some of the most popular items, alongside the meats at the carving station, at the 1-year-old buffet.
If I weren’t departing for vacation Thursday morning, I would be at this Three Square benefit dinner, which is seated, full service and $125 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Bacchanal’s participation in Restaurant Week is a first for a buffet.
Space is limited. For reservations, call Bacchanal General Manager Gabrielle Perez at 785-6359. Cocktails are at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7. Go to Three Square’s website for Restaurant Week offerings Friday through Aug. 30.
Don Chareunsy is senior editor for arts and entertainment of the Las Vegas Sun.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
Follow Sun A&E Senior Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.
Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.
Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.
Transport yourself to the opulent and excessive Roman Empire at Caesars Palace. But the ever-changing Caesars Palace is far from ancient. The hotel and casino is constantly raising the bar for what visitors can expect in a Vegas resort experience.
Caesars Palace features 3,348 rooms and suites in five towers, including the new luxury boutique Nobu Hotel and Restaurant, which opened Feb. 4, 2013, in the totally remodeled Centurian Tower. Caesars features 129,000 square feet of gaming space, including the Strip’s largest poker room and a 250-seat sports book. Other amenities include about two dozen restaurants, a four-level shopping mall, four pools, a spa, Pure and Poetry nightclubs and Pussycat Dolls.
Dining options include restaurants from world-renown chefs Guy Savoy, Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay, Gordon Ramsay and, on Feb. 4, 2013, Nobu Matsuhisa.
You never know what characters you’ll run into at Caesars with regular performers like Jerry Seinfeld, Bette Midler, Elton John and maybe even the emperor himself.


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Renault UK has promoted Adam Wood to the role of marketing director, replacing James Boyer.
Car dealers could face widespread refund demands of up to 100% of a used vehicle’s purchase price after publicity surrounding the “misleading” description of former fleet and lease car as having had “one careful owner”.
CitNOW has revealed that 74% of used car consumers feel more confident in a purchase after viewing a video.
Connected car data can be used to sell more cars, parts and accessories while increasing retention and communication with customers.
More than half of marketing specialists do not currently have the skills to succeed in an increasingly data-driven industry, according to a survey of their peers.
Automotive product launches are more memorable to Brits than new breakthroughs in food and drink products, TV shows, video games or music.
Kia is verging on the mainstream in the UK. In South Korea Kia is standing out, with its first 'brand exhibition space', Beat360. Craig Thomas paid it a visit.
Peugeot has been accused of promoting dangerous driving in an advert for the 208 in which the driver reads a text message.
HR Owen’s flagship Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London dealership hosted an evening to celebrate luxury brands as it marked the launch of the all-new Phantom in the heart of Mayfair.
Marketing Delivery created a new app to record customer enquiries via Facebook and issue prompt and appropriate automated responses.
FCA Group’s flagship Motor Village UK dealership has continued to be a draw for visitors with an exhibition of photographs and artwork related to British pop icon David Bowie.
Morgan Motor Company will look to attract new customers to its 15-strong dealer network as the iconic British sports car manufacturer hosts its inaugural National Morgan Dealer Open Day.
Fords of Winsford group marketing manager Nathan Quayle will reveal how data analytics helped drive the business’ online strategy when he takes to the stage at Automotive Management Live.
GForces will aim to help retailers improve their service through transparent customer feedback with the help of a new partnership with review platform JudgeService.
Lookers is among a number of car dealer group’s trialling a 3D virtual showroom tour as part of efforts to engage with a wider audience online.
Alfa Romeo dealers are backing the brand’s return to the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) after an 11 year absence.
BMW Group UK has launched a new digital shop for customers to purchase BMW and Mini parts, accessories and lifestyle products online.
Citroën has appointed Souad Wrixen as its UK marketing director at what was described as an “exceptionally important time” for the brand.
Volvo Car UK’s new marketing strategy director Mike Johnstone is set to “introduce an entirely new product portfolio to an entirely new type of customer” after joining from Harley-Davidson.
Suzuki dealer swill offer £500 off every new car order as part of its #SuzukiSaturdays national sales event.
Automotive Management Live: Where franchised and independent dealers will find everything they need to know about operating a modern showroom and service and repair facility fit for the digital age.
When: November 7 2019
Where: Birmingham NEC
Find out what features are in this month's, and future, issues


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Facebook listens to feedback and tightens up privacy settings -- a bit
Privacy. It's something that we're all concerned about, particularly online. Facebook is one of many companies that comes in for scrutiny and criticism for the way it handles user privacy, and there have long been complaints about the fact that statuses and uploaded photos are made publicly accessible by default. Today that changes. After years of pestering, Facebook has listened to its user base and changed the default visibility setting to "Friends only". At least this is the case for brand new users.
Anyone signing up for a new Facebook account -- can there be many people left who do not yet have one? -- will be able to avoid accidentally sharing private photos with the world. "Going forward, when new people join Facebook, the default audience of their first post will be set to Friends. Previously, for most people, it was set to Public," says Facebook in a blog post. The first time a post is made, users will be asked whether it should be made public or limited to a smaller audience. If no selection is made, it will default to Friends.
This is good news for newcomers to Facebook, but the social network has something in store for existing users as well. In the coming week a Privacy Checkup tool will be rolled out across the network, aimed at helping people to ensure they are sharing content with "the right people". The checkup will guide Facebookers through reviewing the privacy settings of their profile as well as double checking the apps they have installed and, of course, checking the default sharing settings.
Changes are on the cards for mobile users, and Android and iOS users will find that "audience selectors" have been simplified. This is something that will be available to new and old users alike. Unfortunately, the choice between friends and public is as good as it gets for now. Finer tuning is not possible -- for default settings, at least -- but this is likely to be seen as a step in the right direction. "Everything about how privacy works on Facebook remains the same" states the network's announcement. Whether this is good or bad is really a matter of personal opinion.


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Like most of us, you probably made a few resolutions you’re hoping to keep in 2015—eating better, exercising regularly, and reading more. Why not add one more resolution that will help you, your company and more importantly, your customers and agents? Keep your mobile insurance strategy current with new technology; customer, employee, and partner expectations; and pressures that are coming from competitors and more importantly, non-insurance competitors. Because one thing’s for sure—the pace of change in mobile and insurance is crazy, as evidenced by all the new examples of mobile insurance innovation that we uncovered while writing our soon-to-be published update of our 2012 report, “The Future Of Insurance Is Mobile”.
Need some help in updating your mobile strategic plan? Earlier this week, we published a major update to the Strategic Plan chapter in Forrester’s Mobile Insurance Playbook. The report, “Get Mobile Insurance Strategy Right By Designing For Customers' Mobile Moments”, answers two essential questions: How do we build a strategic plan, and what should be in that strategy? It also provides a framework for the plan that encompasses four processes:
Identify mobile moments and context.
Design the mobile engagement.
Engineer processes, platforms, and people for mobile.
Analyze results to monitor performance and optimize outcomes.
In 2013 I wanted to help executives understand some of the fundamental changes that are happening in business because of the digital revolution. Big names capture the attention of the media – who in the USA could have failed to hear about the collapse of Blockbuster or Borders? Who in the UK could have failed to hear of the demise of HMV? When writing about these failures, most analysts highlight the disruptive companies that put them out of business; companies like Netflix, Amazon and Apple. But I wanted to know if there was something more fundamental going on that impacts the ability of an incumbent to defend against digital disruptors. So in 2013 I set out to research digital business successes and failures in an effort to uncover the secrets of digital mastery.
I captured insights from my research in reports published in 2014. Here’s my pick of the top four you should read to gain a deeper understanding of digital business (these reports are available to existing Forrester clients, non-clients can purchase them individually or download a summary from this page):
#1 The Future Of Business Is Digital - The results of 18 months of research into what lies behind successful digital businesses were first published in March in this report. Originally published for CMOs and CEOs, the report was subsequently republished for CIOs as “Unleash your Digital Business”. This report highlights how digital business differs from traditional business; provides an overview of the customer’s dynamic ecosystems of value; and offers six strategies to help transform any business into a digital business.
Chinese businesses have been in a state of digital transformation for the past two decades. Since the early 1990s, many enterprises owned by national or local governments have been privatized, and many of those realized that they could make information technology their key competency. However, traditional retail and manufacturing brands in China are very fragmented. The country lacks a local version of Wal-Mart or Macy’s — large organizations that dominate specific sectors.
The rise of Internet companies and their new business models is digitally disrupting already struggling traditional brands. Internet companies in China are using their strong capital resources to take center stage in many markets, creating new service delivery models, bringing online experiences offline, and making transactions through online marketplaces instead of in physical stores.
Most of the traditional brands that I spoke with in the course of the research for my most recent report were unable to react properly, as they were using immature digital intelligence to understand online users. But traditional brands have now realized the value of doing business online and intend to apply advanced digital analytics to understand customer behavior across the multitude of digital channels — web, social, and mobile. For instance, Chinese banks are starting to employ digital analytics to understand how people use Internet financing.One of the four largest Chinese banksis accustomed to analyzing transactional data but has limited experience in online user behavior analysis; to offset this, the bank recently announced a plan to implement web analytics tools to understand how customers interact with its website, search engine, and social platforms.
[Quick note: If you read my old blog post about gamification, you may hope to earn more Peter Wannemacher Points. Well congrats! You just earned 150 more Peter Wannemacher Points! Plus, you can collect a digital badge if you read to the end of this post and send me an email!]
Fiserv’s current version of CheckFree RXP uses gamification to increase digital bill pay adoption among its bank clients - our research shows online bill pay is a critical secure site feature on banks' websites. So I spoke with Justin Jackson, senior product manager at Fiserv, about the company’s use of gamification. Right away, he made it clear that gamification is not just “building an online game for people to play” but the process of “taking cues from game design to better engage users.”
Last March, we published The Future Of Business Is Digital and predicted that all businesses must evolve to become digital businesses. Since then, many CIOs in government agencies have asked about the role of digital in government. And yesterday, on The White House Blog, the president made it clear where he stands: The future of government is digital!
In announcing the creation of the US Digital Service, President Obama is reinforcing the need to bring greater agility to federal technology management in service of citizen taxpayers who foot the bill.
"A core part of the President’s Management Agenda is improving the value we deliver to citizens through Federal IT. That’s why, today, the Administration is formally launching the U.S. Digital Service. The Digital Service will be a small team made up of our country’s brightest digital talent that will work with agencies to remove barriers to exceptional service delivery and help remake the digital experience that people and businesses have with their government."
More than two years ago, Westpac – a bank in New Zealand – rolled out its “Cash Tank” feature for mobile bankers. Suddenly, customers could view key information like account balances without needing to log in (needless to say, it was and is opt-in-only). This new mobile banking feature immediately made a splash and was hailed as a small-but-impressive innovation. Other banks – such as Société Générale in France and Bank of the West in the US – offer similar pre-login information features.
This led folks like me to wonder: How might digital teams at banks take pre-login information further or make it even better?
Great digital strategy is often about pushing the limits – and not just in big ways. So Citi’s recent update to its smartphone apps is noteworthy for the bank’s decision to push the idea of pre-login information even further with Citi Mobile Snapshot. Citi customers who bank via their mobile phones can view not only balances but recent transactions without the hassle of logging in.
We spoke with Andres Wolberg-Stok, Global Head of Emerging Platforms and Services who shared with us a diagram that demonstrates the evolution of its mobile banking effort before and after Citi Mobile Snapshot (see below).
In “Unleash Your Digital Business”, I highlight the need for all companies to embrace digital business as a new business model – one in which the nature of the value exchange with customers is fundamentally changed. Since then, CIOs frequently asked me what they should be doing to help their firms become a digital business.
The answers lies in the difference between Business Technology (BT) and Information Technology (IT). BT focuses on the systems, technologies, and processes to win, serve, and retain customers. Whereas IT focuses on the systems, technologies, and processes to support and transform an organization’s internal operations. To become a digital business CIOs must adopt the BT agenda.
Our research on digital business highlights the need for the organization to focus on six core digital strategies that drive digital customer experience and digital operational excellencein support of customers. Each of these strategies is an integral component of the CIOs BT agenda:
Digitize the end-to-end customer experience
Digitize products and services inside the customer’s value ecosystem
Create trusted machines
Digitize for agility over efficiency
Drive rapid customer centric innovation
Source enhanced operational capabilities within a dynamic ecosystem
When it comes to mobile banking, customers' expectations are growing faster than the hair on a Chia Pet. So every year, Forrester reviews and scores the mobile banking offerings from the largest retail banks in the US across seven categories: Range of touchpoints; Enrollment and login; Account information; Transactional functionality; Service features; Cross-channel guidance; and marketing and sales. You can read the complete report here or by clicking on the link below:
Here is a sampling of some of our findings:
Chase and U.S. Bank tie for the top spot. With scores of 69 out of 100, Chase and U.S. Bank received the highest overall scores among the five banks we evaluated. Chase delivers the basics superbly, with a wide range of transactional features for transfers, bill pay, and P2P payments as well as strong cross-channel guidance for customers to contact Chase and find ATMs and branches. By contrast U.S. Bank stands out for more advanced features, including marketing and research for additional products, the ability to take a picture of a paper bill to enroll in bill pay, and the ability to pay another person using the contact list in a mobile phone.


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A new report by the U.K.-based independent consultancy, Wearing, claims that many women are “still finding themselves wondering why they can’t wear clothes made with natural fibers.”
Wearing’s report focuses on a few countries, such as China, Japan, the United States, and the European Union, but also examines a wider array of countries.
The report’s authors note that while the United Kingdom is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, many women don’t find it easy to find garments made from natural fibers.
“It’s a question of who is going to pay for it,” said Wearing Director of Policy, Anne Marie Williams.
“We know that there are people who can afford it, but people in the middle class who don’t necessarily have the financial means to buy.”
In the U, for example, most women who are not affluent are not able to afford natural fibers, as their families are not making the necessary purchases.
In China, however, the government has implemented a number of measures to encourage women to use natural fibers in the production of clothing.
One of the latest measures is the creation of a clothing-supply and apparel-distribution company, known as the New Silk Alliance.
The company plans to invest in more than 2,000 new factories in China to create natural fiber garments for women and men.
The new initiative is part of the country’s larger efforts to address global concerns about the growing environmental and health risks of plastic.
The government has also recently implemented an ambitious plan to build more than 1,000 factories for manufacturing synthetic fibers, which have the potential to increase the carbon footprint of textile production by about 30 percent.
Wearing is concerned that the industry is currently in a position to produce high-quality clothing at a low price.
“The majority of clothing and accessories is made with synthetic materials,” said Williams.
For the report, the group looked at the costs of each textile material produced, and then compared them to other products made with non-synthetic materials.
In other words, they looked at what a synthetic textile would cost if it were sold as a product of its material.
The group concluded that synthetic fibers are not as expensive as they are sometimes made out to be, and that many consumers are simply choosing to purchase garments made of less costly materials.
“Most of the women in the United Kingdoms who we talked to were very aware of the high cost of buying clothes made from synthetic fibers,” said Simon Wood, director of Wearing.
“But it was not something they had been aware of until they started looking into it.”


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New research out of Britain shows lockdowns are having at least one positive environmental impact.
A survey conducted by YouGov, in conjunction with Brita, found that the use of single-use plastic bottles had nearly halved among those who were working from home or who had lost employment during the COVID-19 lockdown measures, dropping to 30% from a pre-Covid 58%.
Further, they also found there had been a 45% drop in the number of consumers purchasing water on-the-go since the onset of lockdowns, which was largely attributed to the drop in commuting and in-office purchases.
In Australia, moves are being made to further reduce our reliance on single-use plastics. Including legislation introduced by the Queensland government last month to ban single-use plastics such as straws, cutlery and plates in the state by July next year.
The Sunshine State follows South Australia, who first proposed a move to banning the use of single-use products last year, with the possibility of extending the ban to disposable coffee cups and take-away containers in the future.
According to Clean Up Australia, more than 5 million tonnes of packaging were used in Australia in one 12-month period, of which only half was recycled.


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Fast 100 Class of 2008: Where are they now?
We are quickly approaching the release of this year's 100 Fastest Growing Companies in the Bay Area list. While most people are eagerly waiting to find out this year's fastest, we wanted to know what some of our past winners are doing today.
To find out we went in search of companies who made the list in previous years. Have they continued to grow rapidly? Did they change business models? We posed these questions to two top 25 companies from the Fast 100 Class of 2008. Here's what they had to say.
Cameron Hughes Wine
Then: #2 on the list.
What it does: Wine negociant.
HQ: San Francisco.
Revenue fiscal year 2008: $8.66 million.
3- year growth: 1,010.2 percent.
Now: In 2008, Cameron Hughes Wine topped our list as the second fastest growing private company in the Bay Area with revenue skyrocketing 1,000 percent in the previous three years.
Despite two consecutive years of poor quality vintages, in 2010 and 2011, the company’s revenue has grown steadily and headcount has more than doubled to 35 employees to date. Online sales have grown 150 percent over the past five years.
“As a newer business and brand in San Francisco we’ve always had a voice online,” said co-founder Jessica Kogan. “Now we’re seeing our e-commerce business explode.”
The San Francisco-based wine company’s strategy of buying ultra-high end wines from small wineries around the world and then selling them at huge discounts under its own label has been successful, but also left the business vulnerable to unpredictable ups and downs.
“The way the spot market works is sometimes there is great wine and sometimes there’s not,” said Kogan. “We realized that the market was drying up and felt that it was really important to stabilize our supply.”
Sachiko Yoshitsugu is an editorial intern at the San Francisco Business Times.
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NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) have been rivals in the graphics processor space for quite some time. Right now, NVIDIA holds more than 70% of discrete desktop GPU market share and AMD takes the rest. And while desktop graphics processor units sales are an important business for both companies, there's reason to believe that the next stage of their rivalry will be fighting over which has the better artificial intelligence processors.
The AI market will be worth an estimated $59.8 billion by 2025 -- up from just $1.4 billion last year -- and NVIDIA and AMD are hoping that their GPUs will be a driving force in this growing market. So let's take a look what this means and which stock has more potential in the space.
The case for NVIDIA
NVIDIA believes that its total addressable market for AI is about $40 billion between now and 2025 and is already making some big moves into the AI space with its driverless cars technology and data center processors.
The latter is the company's largest AI opportunity and NVIDIA believes that using its processors for deep learning (where computers learn a new capability using existing data) could tap into a total addressable market of about $11 billion by 2020.
NVIDIA has done a great job of getting its foot in the door for this, and already works with Facebook, Alphabet's Google, and others to provide GPUs for some their powerful AI servers.
One of the other key areas of AI growth for the company is from its self-driving car supercomputer, called Drive PX 2. This system uses computer vision technology to allow cars to process images that help them be aware of their surroundings. The company recently announced that Tesla, Audi, Volvo, and Toyota are all using some of the company's technology in their future semi-autonomous vehicles. NVIDIA believes that its total addressable market for self-driving cars is about $8 billion.
It's worth mentioning that NVIDIA doesn't make much money from its AI pursuits right now. The company brought in just 21% of its total revenue from its data center segment in fiscal first-quarter 2018 and 7% from its automotive business. But NVIDIA's current moves in AI server and the semi-autonomous driving space should help it to continually build up its AI-related GPU sales and expand its revenues as the AI market grows.
The company currently trades at a hefty premium of about 47 times forward earnings, but investors should keep in mind that NVIDIA's AI opportunity has yet to be realized, which means there's likely more room for it to grow.
The case for AMD
There's no getting around the fact that AMD is far behind NVIDIA's AI position. But this former is making some significant moves to remedy that. This year, its server GPUs earned a spot on Google's Cloud Platform, including its Cloud Machine Learning services. Google still uses NVIDIA for these services as well, but the new partnership has helped show that AMD is building hardware that's capable of some AI tasks.
Additionally, the company has expanded its open-source software offering by creating the Radeon Open Compute project (ROCm). The software is meant to compete with NVIDIA's CUDA coding language that's currently used for much of the AI systems on the market. AMD's open-source software allows users to tap into AMD's hardware while also being capable of using NVIDIA processors as well.
Another major step for AMD was the debut of its Radeon Vega Frontier Edition processor at the end of June. The company says the new processor is the "world's fastest graphics card for machine learning development" and says that it has up to 172% faster rendering than one of NVIDIA's leading GPUs. While benchmark comparisons aren't always an accurate measurement of real-life performance AMD's GPU is yet another solid step toward AI for the company.
Unfortunately for AMD, all of these steps have come in the shadow of NVIDIA's huge AI plans and the company's revenue from AI is basically nonexistent at this point. But investors have pushed the company's share price more than 140% over the past 12 months and many are betting that its latest GPUs will put the company on a stronger footing against NVIDIA.
While investors are certainly optimistic about AMD, there's little proof that the company can overtake NVIDIA in the AI space. NVIDIA is already a self-driving car tech leader, is the go-to GPU maker for many AI servers, and has a clear understanding of its market potential in the AI space.
I think AMD will have a place in the AI market over the coming years, and could eventually take some significant market share with its processors, but investors shouldn't expect the company to even come close to NVIDIA's position. AMD is starting too late and hasn't focused its attention enough on AI to take on NVIDIA's growing dominance.


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Post-graduation retail and service jobs are officially the new norm for millenials, who are most likely to be employed in the service industry, according to a recent study by Millenial Branding and Payscale, Forbes reports.
In fact, nearly 30 percent of American workers are expected to hold low-wage jobs in 2020, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In addition, 50 percent of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed with the likelihood of holding those low-wage positions, Forbes reports.
But the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Those who cross over from the retail world and decide to climb the corporate ladder won't necessarily be guaranteed a career. According to the American Staffing Association, the number of temporary or contract positions increased 6 percent during the first quarter of 2012 compared to last year's numbers, and 40 percent more people hold temp jobs now than in 2009.


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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- About 600 boats and recreational vehicles packed the Kentucky Exposition Center over the past five days.
“Dealers are asking for more space,” says Keith Ammons, an organizer with the National Marine Manufacturing Association. “All the dealers are expanding their stuff and I think that is a sign of the economy.”
It is the biggest Boat, RV and Sportshow in Louisville in almost a decade.
“Sales dropped 70% year after year when the recession started,” says Dave Landrum. “It affected the dealer networks and the manufacturers.”
Landrum is a boat dealer with Boating Center out of Crestwood, Kentucky. He says the past year has been a good year for selling boats.
“We are up about 20% from last year, which was up from 25% from the year before,” says Landrum. “We are almost back to normal boat sales before the recession.”
It is buyers like the Mosgrove's, out of Louisville, who dealers are relying on in a rebounding economy
“We are looking for something that can hold four people very comfortably, maybe overnight,” says Scott Mosgrove, who is in the market for a new boat. “And the budget is not an issue.”
RV's of all sizes were a hot item at the show. Larry Cunningham of Cunningham Campers sold 21 RV's at last year's show and expects to sell more this year.
“Yesterday was a zoo,” says Cunningham, as he describes Saturday’s attendance. “You could not even get in and out of the campers. There were lines of people trying to get in and get out. It was pretty cool.”
The official numbers are not out yet. But organizers projected about 40,000 people came to the show this year. Organizers also project that the show will generate $7.8 million of an economic impact.
WHAS11's Johnny Archer has more, just click the video player above and watch.


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Facebook News Feed becomes personal newspaper
(AFP) Facebook began Thursday transforming the stream of updates from friends at homepages into a "personalized newspaper," with news ranging from the personal to the global.
The News Feed on homepages at the leading social network was revamped to get rid of clutter and present "bright, beautiful" stories, such as insights from friends or trending news of the day.
"I think there is a special place in the world for this sort of personalized newspaper," Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said in introducing the overhauled News Feed.
"It should have a front page and top news section or let you drill down into any topic you want."
Facebook is rolling out the new News Feed "very slowly" at its website reached by desktop or laptop, and will begin adding it to smartphone and tablet applications in the coming weeks.
Each News Feed will automatically be tuned to the interests of individual Facebook users, according to technical lead Chris Struhar.
Pictures in the feed will be gleaned from friends' posts or online pages people have indicated they "like."
If a Facebook user follows pages from CNN or other professional media organizations, top shared or trending stories are displayed.
Music or film lovers should see News Feeds touting fresh developments regarding bands, stars, movies, songs or other related subjects.
Struhar told AFP that "we hope you get all you need" without having to leave Facebook to seek stories at websites such as Google News or Yahoo! News.
"We've spent a lot of time talking to the people who use News Feed every day," Struhar said. "They want more choice and more control over stories they are seeing on their homepages."
While the amount of content shared at Facebook has soared, the time people spend at the social network remains limited, inspiring the drive to more efficiently connect people with news they most care about, according to Facebook.
"It is designed for the way we are sharing today and the trends we see going forward," Zuckerberg said. "I don't foresee Facebook offering its own content."
There were no plans to change the number of ads displayed at the website as part of the overhaul.
"Back when we started News Feed, it was primarily made up of text," Zuckerberg said. "Now that we all have cameras in our pockets, in our phones, the majority of this content is photos."
Since late 2011, the percentage of News Feed posts devoted to sharing Web pages has risen to between 25 to 30 percent, according to Facebook.
News Feed will give more prominence to major stories being shared by friends in the social network, trends at third-party applications such as Pinterest or Instagram, as well as weave in important personal bits, such as a cousin with a new job.
"When I wake up in the morning and see all my friends are sharing the exact same news story or video, I know it must be something big," said Facebook director of design Julie Zhuo.
"You get a richer, simpler, more beautiful News Feed focused on the things you care about, what your friends are saying, and what is trending."
Forrester social analyst Nate Elliott was unimpressed with the overhaul, saying it returned control users once had at the social network while alienating companies that have invested in building followings at Facebook pages.
"Marketers have spent billions of dollars in the past two years buying friends and 'likes' on Facebook and Facebook has encouraged them to do that," Elliott said.
"Slowly but surely, Facebook keeps making those fans, those 'likes,' less usable for those brands."
Revamped News Feed will make it easier for Facebook users to avoid posts from brand pages people have "liked" but will still serve up paid ads, according to Elliott.
"If I'm a brand, I'm disappointed today," the analyst said.
As a result of placing ads in its mobile News Feed, Facebook earned more US mobile display revenue than any other ad publisher last year, according to industry tracker eMarketer.
The Menlo Park, California-based company took 18.4 percent of US mobile display advertising market in 2012, eMarketer estimated.
The US mobile advertising market more than doubled to $4 billion last year and was projected by eMarketer to climb to $7.19 billion this year.


text: MADRID (MarketWatch) -- German retailing group Metro AG de:meo on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter sales of 19.7 billion euros ($25.5 billion), a rise of 1.6% from the prior year period. In local currencies, sales rose 0.1%. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires were forecasting sales of €20.22 billion for the quarter. Metro said fourth-quarter sales fell short of the level of the first nine months due to poor weather during the key Christmas season. In Germany, sales fell 2.6% on a reported basis in the period, and rose 1.6% in Western Europe excluding Germany. Sales rose 6.9% in Eastern Europe and 29.1% in Asia/Africa. The company reiterated its forecast for 2010 earnings before interest and taxation of €2.3 billion before special items. Eckhard Cordes, chief executive officer of Metro, said sales trends improved once recent milder weather kicked in. He said profitable growth will accelerate in 2011 due to increased expansion and productivity gains from its cost-cutting program.


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Samsung, the South Korean smartphone maker is reportedly planning to launch its Galaxy Z Flip 3 device later this year. A tipster has revealed the pricing, specifications and launch details of the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 3 on his Twitter account. As per the tipster, the foldable device was slated to launch in Q1 2021 but now, the handset could be released in June or July 2021. Samsung Galaxy SmartTag Will Be Available for Sale This Week: Report.
According to the reports, the foldable device is likely to sport a 6.7-inch or a 6.9-inch dynamic AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 120Hz, the front display could be very small. The phone is expected to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset and could come with a triple rear camera system comprising of a 12MP lens main camera, a 12MP secondary shooter and a 12MP tertiary snapper. The tipster also noted that Galaxy Z Flip 3 might feature thinner bezels, a smaller punch-hole cut and a new hinge.
A previous report suggests that the upcoming handset is likely to carry a similar camera design as of Galaxy S21. A concept photo of Galaxy Z Flip 3 has also been leaked that showcases the device to be a mix of Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy S21. According to the tipster, the phone is likely to be priced at $1,499 (approximately Rs 1,09,600) i.e. roughly $50 (approximately Rs 3,700) more than its predecessor.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 19, 2021 01:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).


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Prominent local industrialist Busisa Moyo has advised Zimbabweans to stock on cash, food and other necessities as these could be in short supply in the next few days following the ongoing riots in South Africa, the country’s major trading partner.
Moyo, who is Chief Executive Officer of United Refineries and chairman of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair company, said the disturbances in South Africa will affect the entire Southern African region considering the fact that the country’s major highways linking the hinterland to Durban Port have been blockaded. Moyo tweeted:
The disturbances in SA will affect the entire region. We will all feel it in the next few days. Conserve cash, food, raw materials and other necessities.
The region especially Zimbabwe is not ready for a life without a functional Durban Port and key roads the N3 and N1.


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The prices of all kinds of chicken, meat, egg, and fish increased while vegetables and other essential commodity prices remained stable at a higher price in the kitchen market in the capital on Friday.
People of limited income groups and job holders are frustrated and back home with half of their consumption basket to maintain a balance with their income and market rate of chicken, meat, fish, and essential commodities.
On Friday the broiler chicken was sold at Tk250 to 260 per kg, marking a hike of Tk 10 a kilogram. The price of broiler chicken has shown a continuation of price hikes during the last month. In contrast, in a month, the price of broiler chicken rose by Tk 100, which is a record according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
Pakistani and Sonali fowl prices have further increased by Tk 10 a kg as retailed at Tk 360-370 based on size. Indigenous (domestic rearing) chicken remained static at Tk 560-600 a kg, according to kitchen market sources.
Rojab Ali, a chicken vendor of Tejgaon chicken market in Dhaka city, said prices have also been increasing at farm level during the last month.
Broiler chicken price has increased to Tk 20,200 from Tk 12,000-13,000 per quintal (100 kg) at farms in Dhamrai, Nawabganj, Savar, Tangail, Sirajganj, Narshingdi, and other hubs countrywide during the period, he added.
"We have no idea about the possible price of chicken during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan starting in the last week of March," Rojab pointed out.
Beef was selling at Tk 750 to 800, while mutton was selling at Tk950 to 1100 in Dhaka on Friday.
Rashedul Haque, a private job holder, went to Karwan Bazar kitchen market for weekly procurement of chicken, meat, and fish items. But he returned with half of the basket as the money allocated for this purpose finished quickly.
He told UNB in an irritated voice that he has to reduce 50 percent of chicken and meat consumption due to the lack of a cap on the price of these items.
Rashedul blamed the failure of proper market monitoring on overpricing the chicken, meat, fish, and egg as the prices of these items went up every week.
Despite the huge supply of chicken, cattle, and fish, there is no control over the price of these protein resources. The butchers and traders are raising the price of this item as they wish, and nobody has to monitor them, Rashedul pointed out.
The correspondent observed that like Rashedul, many other people are cutting purchase volume and engaged in burgeoning in the chicken traders and fish and meat markets to reduce the prices of these items.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) vice-president SM Nazer Hossain said farm eggs, broiler chicken, and cultured fish are key protein sources for millions of limited-income groups of people in the country.
He said these families are cutting intake of these protein-rich foods following their rising prices to adjust to their limited income.
CAB Secretary put emphasis on harsher vigilance to prevent any artificial hike during this tough time.
Talking with UNB a cattle farm owner of Keraniganj (who is owner of a farm of around 2500 cattle) said a number of internal and external factors have led to beef being the most expensive in Bangladesh in all of South Asia.
Factors like India banning the export of beef, the high population density in Bangladesh and the high cost of cattle feed have all led to astronomically high prices.
The butchers are retailing beef for Tk750-750 per kg in Dhaka, while mutton costs anywhere from Tk950-1100 per kg. To put things into perspective, highly prized Australian Angus beef retails for $ 4.90 or Tk550 per kg.
Mohammad Shah Emran, general secretary of the Bangladesh Dairy Farmers' Association (BDFA) said that the average price of per kg beef in the international market is around $5-5.50, but in Bangladesh, it is around $7-$7.50.
Higher prices of cattle feed, gas-electricity bills, higher transportation costs, and some other factors are influencing to increase the in beef meat in Bangladesh, he said.
However, the prices of vegetables, edible oil, sugar, rice, wheat and flour, onion, garlic, and ginger have rained stable this week.
Source: United News of Bangladesh


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Primary school blames Brexit as it charges pupils an extra £20 a year for lunches
- Avanti Court Primary, in London, is charging £20 more for children to eat
- The school blamed the sudden rise in prices on Britain voting to leave EU
- In a letter the school stated that costs would be passed on to the parents
A primary school has begun charging its pupils and extra £20 a year for lunch, blaming Brexit for inflated food prices.
Avanti Court Primary School, in London, claimed that 'post-Brexit' food costs were being passed on to the consumer.
Parents were told their pockets would be hit because of the 'depressed currency exchange rate', and they would have to pay more for their children school lunches.
The Avanti Court Primary School has added £20 to the cost of its school meals, blaming Brexit for the rise in prices
The startling claims come after a public row between Marmite suppliers Unilever and Tesco over product pricing.
The London primary school sent a letter to parents explaining that they would have to fork out an extra £20 due to Britain leaving the EU.
'Marmite-gate' was sparked by a row over Brexit between Unilever and Tesco
Magazine Schools Week received a copy of the correspondence, which states that: 'Commercial food and sundry product price inflation has already started to rise post "Brexit".'
The cost of a children's lunches would therefore be rising, as suppliers begin to charge more due to 'currency fluctuation'.
It is understood that the potentially contentious mention of Brexit in the letter from the school to parents may have been unintended.
A spokesman from the school said: 'Our catering providers have had to review this now and have also recently seen some ingredient prices rise from their wholesale suppliers, some by as much as 10-20%.
'We will be making a small increase to our prices to ensure continuing quality of service.'