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OTT growth in India 2016; leaves no stone unturned in charming users
New Delhi [India], Dec 29 (ANI): 2016 will be remembered as the year when the OTT industry came into its full bloom. From live cricket broadcasts to internet premiers of recently released movies; from the best of Hollywood shows and movies being available solely on OTT platforms to several startups and brands investing in creating original content, OTT industry left no stone unturned in charming their users.
With active OTT users crossing 66 million and the industry accruing over 1.3 million subscribers, nimble and futuristic OTT players were successful in carving a niche for themselves in 2016. The same inspired foreign giants like Netflix to take the leap of faith and enter Indian subcontinent. Quite recently, we also witnessed the launch of Amazon Prime, and the ecommerce giant has the right marketing and customer acquisition strategy in mind to claim its share from the pie.
The user base of OTT viewers is on a rise internet is now set to reach millions of households in rural India. Besides, it is getting cheaper than ever for ambitious users to own a smartphone, a trend witnessed in India's transition towards a mobile-first economy. In fact, post demonetization, there is now an increased emphasis on digital literacy, which would further bring new users on-board, possessing the right wherewithal to opt for OTT viewership.
"With mobile phones fast becoming primary screens for entertainment consumption in the country, the digitally-oriented consumer base is migrating from televisions to smartphones for catching up on its preferred entertainment solutions. Meanwhile, given the rate at which digital adoption within the country is increasing, there is great scope for growth in the Indian OTT video content space which has been well tapped in 2016 and will continue to be explored in the coming year," said COO nexGTv, AbheshVerma.
"The disruptive pricing announcements on unlimited data and aggressive internet plans for end users from key players in the market has undoubtedly benefitted the OTT industry," said CEO founder YuppTV Largest OTT player for South Asian Content, Uday Reddy.
As per the predictions, active OTT and VOD subscribers are going to increase to 105 million by 2020. While the industry prepares itself to have a more successful run in 2017, let us now look into some of the trends that shall govern 2017.
Need for Superior Customer Experience
Even though the infrastructure promises to grow in times to come, one cannot deny the existing challenges posed by the same. Hence, it has fallen upon the OTT players to invest in technology to make the content delivery smoother and seamless.
Global Content Available on Fingertips
Hollywood shows, such as House of Card and Game of Thrones have found their audience in India. The shows, which are part of global rage and phenomenon, have their dedicated audiences in India as well. Moving forward, we shall witness more of popular Hollywood shows and movies being available in India. This is further reaffirmed with Amazon Prime and Netflix going head-on in the subcontinent.
Demands for Regional Content Shall Rise
Considering how the new user base is expected to grow from tier II and III cities and rural India, it is safe to assume a prolific increase in the demand for regional content. Besides, we need to also understand the fact that 2016 is not only the year when several foreign giants crossed over Indian territories but several homegrown OTT brands also went global in 2016. And global audiences, especially the South Asian expat community have a higher affinity towards regional content, one that helps them relive their childhood or connect back to their roots. With more than one taker for regional content, it is surely going to be one of the trendsetters of 2017.
"2016 was the year when OTT went mainstream in India. The industry witnessed a number of OTT startups disrupting the industry, along with leading production houses taking the plunge with their respective OTT channels. Further validating the proliferation and massive opportunities lying in the OTT domain, we witnessed several key international players make their foray in India. The industry is brimming with innovation, creativity and originality. Further in 2017, we anticipate a close competition within the leading players of today, hence offering the maximum gains to the end viewers. Furthermore, while international players have made high quality Hollywood content accessible on the smart devices, OTT players will have to diversify and go regional, in order to ascertain their pan-India importance. Original content has already caught the fancy of the audiences and one should anticipate growth of the same in the coming years," said CEO and founder YuppTV, Uday Reddy. (ANI)


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Tactical Tips From Abroad for an Incremental Reopening
MAY 15, 2020
As business leaders form their plans to reopen offices, prevailing wisdom suggests making incremental changes—taking small steps—so they can assess the success and shortcomings of individual procedures and modify as necessary. Everyone from Bill Gates to NY Governor Andrew Cuomo have emphasized the need to take small steps that are each tied to a plan for evaluation. At Inspire, we are giving our clients similar advice on a daily basis.
As we enter the second half of the year, we can pull great insight from how companies abroad slowly began the process of reopening several months ago. Below are examples of the initial steps companies in China and Europe took to safely bring their workers back to the office.
Lessons learned from China
In China, a person’s access to everything from the subway to an office building is dictated by a red-yellow-green app that ranks their risk of spreading the virus and assigns appropriate restrictions on their movement. At a typical workplace, tape on the floor directs workers where to stand, lunchrooms include dividers to keep people isolated when they remove their masks to eat, and elevators are limited in capacity.
Foxconn, best known as a producer of iPhones, has taken quite restrictive measures in its reopening. The manufacturer has divided workers into teams of 20 who live in the same dorms, take the same shuttles to work, and sit together at lunch. In the lunchroom, each person logs their location into an internal app via a QR code on their phone.
But looking at Universal McCann offices in Shanghai, conditions are remarkably similar to what they were pre-COVID, with the addition of temperature scans and masks.
Between the two extremes, there are many other examples of how companies are approaching reopening. Here is a run-down:
Sinochem, a petrochemical company, has closed their cafeteria and instead has arranged for food to be delivered to workers’ desks.
Microsoft China represents the test case for all other Microsoft offices, Bill Gates admits. According to Gates, about half of Microsoft’s workers in China have returned to the office with company-provided masks and sanitizer, while the software giant also supports employees working from home.
Baidu, a search engine company, is requiring employees to make an appointment before entering the building.
Didi Chuxing, a ride-hailing service, have painted feet on elevator floors to indicate where people must stand to maintain physical distance.
Meituan, a food-delivery service, has created A, B, and C teams to limit employees’ exposure to the entire team.
Toyota has installed plexiglass dividers between bathroom sinks.
Lessons learned from Europe
In Europe, where governments have led the world in protecting individuals’ data privacy, app developers are producing solutions that will notify a person who was in contact with someone affected by COVID-19, but keep that information otherwise confidential and inaccessible to governments. European countries are issuing papers to those who can prove they possess antibodies, and therefore are considered a much lower threat to public health than the rest of the population. Fortune shares an extensive list of reopening timelines for eleven European countries here.
Here is how various industries in Europe have taken measures to reopen in the last few weeks:
Hair salons: Salons were allowed to reopen in Germany, but walk-in services are no longer available. All customers must make an appointment and also complete a health questionnaire in order to receive any services.
Retail: Apple reopened its first European store in Vienna, Austria with a limited scope. With a strict limit on the number of people allowed in the store at any time, Apple is encouraging product sales to remain online, and focusing it’s in-store priorities on service by appointment.
Manufacturing: Volkswagen introduced more than one hundred procedural modifications in order to reopen their production facilities. The auto manufacturer is asking employees to take their temperatures at home, staggering times for shifts that are entering with those who are leaving to avoid crossing paths, and passing tools to one another by setting them into containers for cleaning first, among other distancing and sanitation measures.
Knowledge workers: Media consultancy, Digital Decisions has converted its once open floor plan into cubicles separated by plexiglass. And, the first person in each day is responsible for opening and propping every door then thoroughly washing hands—limiting door handle contact to just one person per day.
Your Next Move
We recently shared our advice for companies to keep their knowledge workers remote as long as possible, and to concentrate their energy on optimizing the remote experience. It’s not going anywhere. In “White-Collar Companies Race to Be Last to Return to the Office” The New York Times points out that companies like Google and Facebook are delaying their reopening dates—now targeting the beginning of 2021 at the earliest.
We can learn from our own remote working experiences to optimize for the future of work.
But of course, waiting isn’t always possible. As you make plans for a gradual reopening, others’ successes and challenges can serve as a useful guide. In addition to what has now become standard operating procedure: supplying hand sanitizer and masks, distancing work stations, and staggering shifts, look to examples like VW asking people to take their temperature before they even arrive, or Baidu introducing an appointment-only workspace to spark ideas for your next brainstorming session.
While there is no playbook for our incredible circumstances, we are seeing generous knowledge-sharing among businesses across the globe. We can learn from those who find themselves even a couple of weeks ahead of us.

domain: news


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Every day, 137,000 businesses are started, and most fail.
Steve Blank, a serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur and a professor at Stanford University, understands why.
Before committing to starting a business, “you need to test your understanding of the customers’ needs and whether your solution matches them,” he said. Blank came up with the “lean startup method” to help you. The method emphasizes data-driven decisions to build companies that last.
Join Blank along with experts Donna Harris, co-founder of 1776, an incubator for startup businesses, and Blake Stevens, a senior associate of venture capital firm Harris & Harris Group, at a live, interactive webchat. Innovation consultant Kerry Rupp will moderate.
The webchat will be May 10 at 11 a.m. EDT (15:00 UTC). Tweet your questions in advance by tagging @GISTNetwork or using hashtag #GISTTechConnect.


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The International Creative Festival and Brand Communication Awards for the Middle East and North Africa region, Dubai Lynx, which is part of the Cannes Lions Festival, announced the composition of its jury for 2022. Representatives of the jury in each category will evaluate campaigns in 20 different categories .
In the updated category “PR Lynx” will be judged by a representative from Bulgaria – Iva Grigorova, Managing Director of MSL Sofia, which will represent the MSL network, part of Publicis Groupe. The other updated category is “Creative Effectiveness Lynx” and the newly introduced category “Social & Influencer Lynx”, which will highlight the creative ideas of social media campaigns and strategic solutions for influencer marketing.
The full list of juries in the individual categories of 2022 Dubai Lynx can be viewed here.
For more information, please visit the Festival’s website.


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Kimberly-Clark has announced executive changes designed to enhance its focus on executing its global business plan and driving global expansion. Elane Stock, group president of Kimberly-Clark Professional (KCP), has been elected group president of K… Read More »
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Kimberly-Clark has made several executive changes to further enhance its focus on delivering its global business plan commitments and drive global expansion. Christian Brickman, currently president of Kimberly-Clark Professional, has been elected pre… Read More »
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Kimberly-Clark has made executive changes to further enhance its focus on delivering its global business plan commitments and drive global expansion. Christian Brickman currently president of Kimberly-Clark Professional, has been elected p… Read More »
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Fiberweb plc, Simpsonville, SC, has made several recent appointments. Among them, the company has promoted Pamela Lewis and added Robert Baldy and Hollynn Moody to its Hygiene/Medical Americas sales and marketing teams. In June 2006, Pamela Lewis was… Read More »


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Perth’s first ‘creatives class’ has launched a $1 billion business in Perth, setting up an art gallery and retail shop, a beach cafe and a theme park.
The $50 million facility in Seascape will feature a 250,000 square foot ‘creativity studio’ with a focus on digital design and a “multi-disciplinary” design team that will be responsible for “art, design, photography, digital design, retail design and other related activities”.
A $500,000 state grant will be used to buy land in the central city, including a building on the Swan River.
The project is a “first of its kind” in the country and the first in Western Australia.
It will create “500 jobs”, said Seascapes CEO and chief executive Peter Geller.
The facility will feature “an innovative and creative mix of art, design and retail” in its design and production processes, said Geller, adding the facility will “provide the world’s best experience for creatives”.
The facility, located in Perth’s north-west, will employ about 500 people.
It is also the first to be developed in Australia with the help of a state grant.
“It is a very big and complex project and it takes a long time to build a facility,” Geller said.
“There are many other projects we’re talking about in the world but this is the first one of its type in Western Australian and we’re really pleased to be a part of this.”
“The design of the facility, the production, will be based on a concept that is completely new and is completely innovative,” Geller said.
The ‘creators’ class’ was announced by Geller and Seascenes chief executive, David Boulter, last week, but they said they had no details on the project until today.
“The first thing we wanted to do was ensure we could deliver this to the community,” Boulters said.
Geller says the facility has attracted attention from the world over, with a number of international companies, including BMW, Bunnings, Disney and Nike, already visiting.
The Perth Art Gallery has been a regular visitor to the facility and will host the first of the ‘creatively’-designed exhibitions at the facility.
The “creative” design will be a result of “a long-term vision for this facility that we have worked on for the past three years”, Boulting said.
He said the company is “confident” the facility’s success will be tied to the “intense community support” from the region.
“We want to be very specific about that support because it is going to be incredibly valuable in the years ahead,” Boulster said.


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US cord-cutters begin to grow
Joseph O'Halloran | 23-04-2014
Their affect on the business of pay-TV may have been overstated to date, but an Experian survey is suggesting that the number of cord-cutters is beginning to grow.
In its latest cross-device video analysis examining how consumers are increasingly viewing online video, Experian Marketing Services found that as many as nearly half (48%) of all US adults and two-thirds of young adults watch streaming or downloaded video during a typical week. The analyst adds that with what it describes as an 'explosion' of smartphones and digital tablets and the steady rise of Internet-connected home devices, consumers are watching more video when and where they want than ever before. Mobile, it suggests, is the first screen for watching, streaming or downloading video, with almost a quarter (24%) of all US adults and 42% of smartphone owners watching this type of video each week.
Experian claculates that up to 7.6 million US homes can be considered cord-cutters, up from 5.1 million homes in 2010, a relative increase of 44%. Users of the Netflix and Hulu over-the-top (OTT) were, not surprisingly, the most likely to be cord-cutters. Overall, the top three video properties across desktops and smartphones were YouTube, Netflix and CNN.
The survey also found that online video viewers were generally are more receptive to advertising, though only 27% of adults who watch video on a smartphone and 31% of those who view video on a tablet say that they find video ads on these devices useful.
"While we are seeing the way we view video drastically changing, television is likely to remain the primary device for consumer video; we just are witnessing the transition of the definition of television," said John Fetto, senior analyst, marketing and research, Experian Marketing Services. "A third of Americans live in households with Internet-connected TVs, giving them the option to stream or download video to the television either directly or with devices such as Kindle Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV and Google Chromecast. While the growing trend in cord-cutting is understandably disturbing to cable and satellite companies and disruptive to the television advertising revenue model overall, the growth in online viewing creates opportunities for marketers."


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Is it a big enough jump from MV?
After teasing it last week, the developers of the RPG Maker franchise pulled back the curtain on the newest entry in the game-making franchise, titled RPG Maker MZ. Unfortunately, there is a lot to be desired from its product page on the company’s website. It lists a lot of the features you’ll encounter in the software, most of it returning from previous entries, but the new features and enhancements are really nowhere to be seen. Those are being saved for a later date to the chagrin of many people on Twitter.
This announcement could have gone a lot better, but it is what it is. While we wait for all these new details, there are some aspects of the product that need to be worked out, including why Steam is listing the Mac version as not being compatible with Catalina 10.15 when it’s listed as a 64-bit program on the RPG Maker website. They’re also asking for 8 GB of RAM for MZ, double what was required for MV.
Hopefully, the new features are significant enough to warrant an upgrade. RPG Maker MV is still an exceptionally sound product with a crazy amount of DLC readily available for it. RPG Maker MZ is expected to launch this summer.
RPG Maker MZ [RPGMakerWeb]


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Nissan plans to recall 118,000 Nissan Juke crossovers worldwide for issues relating to turbocharger malfunctions and defective power door locks.
Read This Article
Recently, Nissan has shuffled its car, truck, and SUV lineup from plant to plant in North America to better streamline what each one makes and cut down on costs.
Upon its introduction into the American market, the electric car was supposed to curb foreign oil dependency.
Earlier this year, we posted a video where Nissan teases the viewer which vehicles would be heavily updated over the next 15 months.


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Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. announced its results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009. The Company reported revenue for the third quarter of $49.8 million, compared to $66.5 million in the third quarter of 2008. The decrease was attributed by the company to declines in advertising revenue and lower merchandising revenues partially due to the final “revenue true-up” from Sears Canada in last year’s third quarter.
Operating loss for the third quarter of 2009 was $11.7 million, compared to $3.5 million for the third quarter of 2008.
Adjusted EBITDA loss for the third quarter of 2009 was $5.6 million, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $0.6 million in the prior-year period. The third quarter of 2008 included charges related to staff reductions and other non-recurring corporate costs, which negatively impacted the operating loss by $3.5 million and Adjusted EBITDA by $3.2 million. Net loss per share was $0.22 for the third quarter of 2009, compared to $0.07 for the third quarter of 2008.
Merchandising revenues were $8.9 million for the third quarter of 2009, as compared to $14.6 million in the prior year’s third quarter. The prior-year results benefited from the final revenue true-up from Sears Canada, a relationship that ended in the third quarter of 2008. In addition, the 2009 third quarter results include expected lower royalty revenue from Kmart as the relationship winds down. Operating income was $3.5 million for the third quarter of 2009, compared to $8.6 million in the third quarter of 2008. Adjusted EBITDA was $4.3 million for the third quarter of 2009, compared to $8.8 million in the prior year’s third quarter. Excluding Kmart and Sears Canada in both periods, Adjusted EBITDA increased 27% from the prior year’s third quarter.
Robin Marino, president and CEO/merchandising, stated: “Retail sales of Martha Stewart products were solid in the quarter, with a strong performance by the Martha Stewart Collection at Macy’s and Martha Stewart Crafts at Michaels. Our new relationship with The Home Depot and our upcoming pet accessories line at PetSmart further diversify our business and broaden our reach.”
The Martha Stewart Living brand of home improvement products will launch at The Home Depot in select categories, including Outdoor Living, Home Storage and Organization and Home Decor, rolling out beginning in January 2010. MSLO’s multi-year relationship with Age Group Ltd. to manufacture, market and sell pet-care products will launch at PetSmart in the second quarter of 2010.


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Electronic waste is accumulating faster than anyone knows what to do with it, almost three times faster than ordinary household trash. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University estimate that at least 60 million PCs have already been buried in U.S. landfills, and according to the National Safety Council, nearly 250 million computers will become obsolete between 2004 and 2009, or 136,000 a day. Where will all these gizmos go, and what impact will they have when they get there?
Before I started studying garbage for my book Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, I had no clue that the computeron my desk was such a riot of precious-but-perniciousmaterials. A cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor contains two toeight pounds of lead; e-waste, including CRT televisions, is one of the largest sources of this toxic heavy metal in municipal dumps. Printed circuit boards are dotted with antimony, silver, chromium, zinc, tin and copper. My computer, if crushed in a landfill, might leach metals into soil and water. Burned in a trash incinerator, it would emit noxious fumes, including dioxins and furans. Though scrubbers and screens would catch much of those emissions, scientists consider even minute quantities of them, once airborne, to be dangerous. Prolonged exposure to some of the metals in electronic devices has been shown to cause abnormal brain development in children, and nerve damage, endocrine disruption and organ damage in adults.
The processes that give birth to computers and other electronic devices are also cause for concern. A 2004 United Nations University study found that it takes about 1.8 tons of raw materials—including fossil fuels, water and metal ores—to manufacture a desktop PC and monitor. Mining, the source of the semiprecious metals in electronics, is the nation’s largest industrial polluter; 14 of the 15 largest Superfund sites, designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as containing hazardous waste that poses a threat to people or the environment, are metal mines.
And we are a nation that has environmental laws. To supply the demand for new copper, gold, silver and palladium—stuff that fuels our ’lectronic lifestyles—African and Asian nations are tearing up their lands. Some gorilla populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been cut nearly in half as the forest has been cleared to mine coltan, a metallic ore comprising niobium and tantalum that is a vital component in cellphones. (A couple of leading cellphone companies have said they are trying to avoid using coltan from Congo.) Americans discard about 100 million cellphones a year, and though entrepreneurs refurbish and sell many overseas, and many cellphones in the United States are donated to charities, tens of millions of cellphones nonetheless end up in the trash.
Can a computer be recycled? I had a chance to find out when my network router quit connecting me to the Ethernet. I relegated this mysterious black box, the size of a hardcover book, to my basement until a local recycling group organized an e-waste drop-off.
I arrived at the collection site, in Brooklyn, to find several folding tables shaded by white tents. They were laden with unwanted monitors, scanners, TVs, cellphones, keyboards, printers, mice and cables, many of which had absolutely nothing wrong with them beyond a bit of dust and, in the case of the computers, a processing speed that only yesterday seemed dazzling. Passersby pawed through the electronics casbah, free to take what they wanted. Per Scholas, a nonprofit computer recycler that supplies schools and other nonprofits with hand-me-downs, was allowed the leftovers. But its representative could only look on stoically as the good stuff—which he could refurbish and sell—disappeared. The bad stuff, like my router, was headed his way. So was I.
After climbing through a dim stairwell in Per Scholas’ rehabbed brick factory building in the South Bronx, I walked through a low defile of shrink-wrapped computer monitors stacked upon wooden pallets. Angel Feliciano, the company’s vice president for recycling services, led me into a large open room, where technicians wiped computer hard drives clean. He told me that the reconditioned Pentium III-outfitted computers, collected from corporations and institutions that paid Per Scholas $10 a machine to haul them away, would be resold, at low cost, to “technology-deprived families.” According to Feliciano, Per Scholas’ efforts keep some 200,000 tons of electronic waste from landfills and incinerators each year.
Feliciano then took me to see the darker side of the computer recycling revolution, where monitors were being smashed, one by one, to smithereens. The broken-down (or merely out-of-date) Dells, Apples and Gateways trundled up a conveyor belt and into a shredding machine. Hidden inside the machine’s carapace, magnets, eddy currents and trammel screens separated the shards and spat them into yardhigh cardboard boxes: ferrous metals here, nonferrous there, plastic on one side, glass on the other. Feliciano said the metals went to a local company that resold them to smelters for separation and reuse; the plastic went to a company that palletized it for resale. Disposing of the glass, which contains lead, presented the biggest headache.
“Glass is a liability, not a commodity,” Feliciano told me. “We save it up until we’ve got a truckload, then we pay $650 a ton to a smelter who’ll haul it away.” Lately, the glass had been landing at the Doe Run Company, in south-central Missouri. The company recovers lead from glass through a process that begins with smelting and refining. One result is pure lead, made into 60-pound ingots, says Lou Magdits, Doe Run’s raw-materials director. The company also salvages lead from car batteries, ammunition and wheel weights. And where does it all go? “Into car batteries, ammunition, wheel weights and new CRTs,” says Magdits. (Doe Run operates a lead, copper and zinc plant in La Oroya, Peru. In 1999, that nation’s Ministry of Health determined that 99 percent of the children in the area suffered from lead poisoning. The company, which bought the smelter from the Peruvian government in 1997, has entered into an agreement with the Health Ministry to reduce blood-lead levels in 2,000 of the most affected children and says that improved safety measures have decreased blood-lead levels in workers by 31 percent.)
Per Scholas seemed to be handling my e-waste responsibly. But 60 to 80 percent of e-waste collected for recycling is shipped overseas, mostly to China, India and Pakistan, according to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC), an advocacy group. Perhaps half of those computers are cleaned up and resold. But the remainder are smashed up by laborers, many of whom scratch for precious metals in pools of toxic muck. Investigators from SVTC and the Basel Action Network—formed after the 1992 Basel Convention, an international treaty that limits trade in toxic waste, which the United States declines to sign—videotaped men, women and children in the Chinese village of Guiyu extracting copper yokes from monitors with chisels and hammers. Squatting on the ground, they liberated chips and tossed them into plastic buckets. Black smoke rose from burning piles of wire. The workers, who wore no protective gear, reportedly swirled a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acid—caustic, highly poisonous chemicals—in open vats, trying to extract gold from components. Afterward, they dumped the computer carcasses and the black sludge into fields and streams. Tests on the soil and water showed levels of lead, chromium and barium that were hundreds of times higher than those allowed by U.S. and European environmental health standards. The accumulating chemicals have contributed to high rates of birth defects, infant mortality, blood diseases and severe respiratory problems, according to Chinese media.
Why is it so difficult to recycle computers properly? For starters, it is dangerous, labor-intensive and expensive, and markets for the materials aren’t always large or reliable. The incentives are for new production and the disposal or export of old components. Some computer manufacturers reportedly lobby to make “gray market” refurbishing illegal in developing nations where they sell new models.At the state level, governments spend bond money on incinerators and landfills, but most recycling centers have to balance the books on their own. Federal mining subsidies further skew computer economics. “If we were paying what we should for virgin resources, e-waste recycling would be much more economical, and local governments perhaps could break even on e-waste recycling,” says Eve Martinez, a recycling activist in New York City.
As public awareness of the hazards of e-waste has risen, some computer manufacturers have begun take-back programs in which consumers wipe their hard drives clean and return the units to manufacturers. But the cost and the inconvenience to consumers discourage widespread participation. Computer retailers aren’t wild about the idea, either. When I asked staffers at one of the largest computer merchants in New York City about taking back my gently used notebook computer, they said they didn’t do it, didn’t know anything about it and had never before been asked about it.
Still, some states are forging ahead with e-waste reforms. Massachusetts bans televisions and computers from landfills. ElectroniCycle, a company based in Gardner, Massachusetts, processes the state’s e-waste, recovering ten million pounds of components a year. Technicians refurbish 5 to 10 percent of the computers for resale; send another 5 to 10 percent to specialty repair houses; and smash the rest into 50 types of scrap, including plastic, copper, barium glass, and leaded and mixed glass. Reusable integrated circuits and memory cards are gleaned, while circuit boards are sent elsewhere for recovery of gold, palladium, silver and copper. In California, which bans e-waste from landfills and also from being shipped overseas, retailers that sell hazardous electronic equipment are now required to pay the state an “advanced recovery fee” (collected from consumers) of between $6 and $10 per device to cover recycling. Almost half the states have active or pending e-waste take-back legislation. Maine recently passed a law that will require manufacturers of computer monitors, video display devices and televisions to finance a system for environmentally responsible recycling.
In 2001, more than a dozen social justice and environmental groups formed the Computer TakeBack Campaign, which calls for manufacturers of anything with a circuit board to make “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) part of their credo. EPR would shift collection and recycling costs from taxpayers and government to companies, theoretically giving them an incentive to make computers and other gadgets that last longer, are made of reusable or recyclable materials, contain fewer toxics, and are shipped in less packaging. In Europe, EPR is gaining support. The European Union has adopted a directive requiring producers of electronics to recover and recycle e-waste. In Switzerland, the cost of recycling is built into the purchase price of new equipment; consumers return e-waste to retailers, who pass it on to licensed recyclers.
But in the United States, electronics recycling is in an awkward in-between stage, neither fully regulated nor completely understood by a tech-obsessed public that wants to do right by its e-waste. Still, there have been some recent improvements: spurred by U.S. advocacy groups and European nations that restrict the use of certain materials, computer manufacturers have reduced or eliminated some toxins in their products and made their computers easier to take apart. The Electronic Industries Alliance promotes recycling but opposes regulations that would make manufacturers alone bear the costs. The Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition, which also promotes recycling, opposes systems, like that in California, in which retailers collect fees to cover recycling programs.
Speaking in 2002 at an industry trade show called Waste Expo, a Sony executive suggested dumping e-waste into open-pit hard-rock mines. One pit would hold 72 billion PCs—enough to make it worthwhile to mine the waste for copper, gold, iron, glass and plastics. Eyebrows were raised. Wouldn’t deep pits of toxics-laced computers add insult to ecosystems that were already injured? Would miners extract the valuable metals using cyanide and arsenic, then walk away from what remained? The idea, mercifully, sank. Visionaries imagine a day when electronic devices are shipped back to their makers, who design all components with safe reuse in mind. Until then, maybe shoving the stuff in the basement or attic isn’t such a bad idea after all.


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Subway fights for sandwich tax equality
FAST food chain Subway is preparing to recommence battle with HM Revenue & Customs over the decision to charge VAT on toasted sandwiches, in a move that could reheat the furious row that surrounded last year’s pasty tax.
The company has won the right to take a test case to the Court of Appeal, despite a judge ruling in October that it is fair to levy a 20 per cent sales tax on toasted subs such as its meatball marinara sandwich.
Subway argue this interpretation of the law is illegal because it puts them at an unfair disadvantage when competing with other high-street fast food rivals, such as pasty shops.
The dispute centres on the definition of hot food. Items that retain heat from the cooking process – such as a pasty baked on the premises and left to cool while on display – have traditionally not been classed as hot food and so escape the tax.
Food that is heated specifically for the benefit of the customer – such as rotisserie chickens and most takeaway meals – has always attracted VAT.
However there is a grey area regarding cold foods that are warmed to “above ambient temperature” – such as a toasted sub – prior to consumption.
An attempt was made to clear up this confusion by introducing VAT on most pasties and hot pies in the 2012 Budget. However this collapsed after chancellor George Osborne was forced into an embarrassing U-turn, following a successful campaign led by bakery firm Greggs.
“HMRC understands that Subway has been given leave to appeal, however we cannot make any further comment while litigation is ongoing,” a spokesman said yesterday.


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A Kent shop owner has been caught in the midst of a race row after his advertisement of “immigrant bags” depicted with a cartoon drawing of a black man caused offence.
The advert, which is displayed in Benefactors Hardware shop in Crowborough, is for a selection of checked laundry bags (known to some as Ghana Must Go bags), shows a sweaty black man carrying the bags singing “Zippadydoodah, zip up immigrant bags”.
Despite the local MP Charles Hendry saying that the advert should be taken down, the shop owner has since responded to the criticism saying he doesn’t understand what all the fuss about and claiming that people are being “touchy”.
Ah, that classic defence of blaming others for being sensitive.
The owner spoke to local paper The Kent and Sussex Courier and said:
They are called immigrant bags, so I drew a picture of an immigrant to go with them.
I’ve never heard them been called that. And obviously all immigrants are black.
I don’t really see the problem, people get so touchy about things these days.
Well, Mr Shopkeeper, the phrase might have been okay in the 50s but sometimes certain phrases go out of fashion because they’re just not okay any more.
Sussex Police are currently looking into the situation to see if any offences have been committed.


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In my last article, I covered the very basics in security to consider before investing in cryptocurrencies. It may feel like a chore, but it is absolutely vital. Unless you take your security seriously, you’re wide open to hacks and malware attacks. This article covers steps to ensure you are ‘layered’ up and create the […]
If you’re serious when it comes to trading and investing in cryptocurrencies, keep security at the forefront of your mind, before you even think of starting to invest. Avoid falling into the trap that many do of buying your coins before ensuring your computer, network and physical security is as strong as it can be. […]
As cryptocurrencies draw more attention from global regulators, BitcoinBro’s CEO Oliver von Landsberg Sadie talks with Nejra Cehic on Bloomberg Market TV’s ‘Rules and Returns’. In the UK there is a huge opportunity, right now, for banks and the FCA to embrace innovation in this space.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the unidentified author of the Bitcoin white paper, described the cryptocurrency as a, “peer-to-peer version of electronic cash [that] would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.” Those “financial institutions” that Nakamoto wished to bypass when conducting online commerce referred not only […]
What is Tether? According to Tether’s website, “Tether converts cash in digital currency, to anchor or tether the value to the price of national currencies like the US dollar…” The primary manifestation of Tether is the “USDT”, the cryptocurrency coin which is pegged to the American dollar. In other words, in theory, for every USDT […]
If you are one of the lucky few individuals to have bought Bitcoin or another digital asset six months ago, 12 months ago or (and, if so, congratulations) 5 or more years ago, you are, in all likelihood, sitting on some very large paper profits when the value of your holdings are calculated in fiat […]
Pump & Dump Schemes (P&D) There’s a delicate balance for regulators to put into place measures that don’t stifle innovation while at the same time ensuring consumer protection, and with cryptocurrency, that crosses multiple jurisdictions. I welcome regulators not rushing into the marketplace but taking a more considered approach, but it does mean investors need […]


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BILOXI, MS (WLOX) - Biloxi police are looking for a man who broke into a Walmart cash register while the store was open.
Around 9:30 Saturday night, investigators say this man was captured on surveillance video using a tool to pry into an unattended cash register. We're told the man was able to break into the money drawer and steal some cash.
Police said he then left the store and got away in a silver or gray sedan.
If you recognize this man or have any information that could help investigators, call (228) 392-0641.


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A favourite Newcastle independent has topped the charts for the most ordered takeaway in the two years Deliveroo has been bringing food to Newcastle’s front doors and offices.
The on-demand delivery service has revealed the most popular dishes its riders take to customers in Newcastle.
It’s North East burger kings Fat Hippo who have Deliveroo’s number one order, with the app’s customers requesting its ‘Fat Hippo Burger’ more than any other dish.
For the uninitiated, that’s a double 4oz beef burger, topped with streaky bacon, chorizo, cheese, onion rings and Fat Hippo sauce.
The homegrown, independent burger joint - which has restaurants in the city centre, Jesmond and Durham - beat big chain rivals Byron and Five Guys, who also featured in the top five orders.
Newcastle’s most popular Deliveroo orders since the app launched in the city:
- Fat Hippo Burger - Fat Hippo
- Burrito - Tortilla
- Byron Burger - Byron
- Katsu Curry - Wagamama
- Cheeseburger - Five Guys
A spokesman for Fat Hippo said: “Deliveroo helped us answer the cries of the burger fanatics across the North East who were begging to have their Fat Hippo fix brought straight to them.
“With the successful launch across Durham and Jesmond, office workers, students and burger lovers alike have all relished their chance to have our delicious burgers delivered.”
Deliveroo has also revealed - un-surprisingly - that Saturday is its busiest time in Newcastle. Around 75% of Deliveroo’s partners around the country are independent outlets.
Deliveroo managing director Dan Warne said: “After two years of delivering hundreds of thousands of meals across Newcastle, we’ve learnt a thing or two about what locals like to eat, like how American food reigns supreme with The Fat Hippo Burger being the most popular dish in Newcastle.
“We’re proud to support so many of the very best local restaurants in the town alongside national favourites too. It’s been truly amazing to hear stories about how local restaurants have been able to expand their businesses to other areas because of the additional revenue Deliveroo is generating for them.
“We will continue to provide the best service possible for our Newcastle customers, riders and restaurant partners as we grow.”
Interested in North East jobs? Find job vacancy listings across a range of sectors here.


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“We’re approaching the Chinese New Year holidays, which suggests decreased company activity on major of the production limits presently in spot the weeks prior to.
“While getting departments are effectively informed of this and would have taken it into account, with extensive manufacturing and supply arranging in progress, this year’s crazy freight market place indicates provide chain specialists stay concerned about timely deliveries, and the document charges associated with sea, but also air, freight.
“Some of people believe that trade could be similarly, or even more adversely, affected this year in comparison to 2020, when COVID-19 strike the globe for the first time,” commented Stefan Schmidinger, lover, Kemiex.
It could be a financially rewarding quarter, although, for nearby European or US producers, as very well as traders who crafted up strategic stock in the 2nd half of 2020, as they would be much less affected by disruptions in sea freight and are, so, established to benefit then from responsible and timely provide, he additional.
The US dollar is acquiring closer to the lows of 2018 versus Renminbi, creating purchases in greenback conditions far more expensive, claimed the Swiss feed, food stuff additives and API trading platform.
“USD/CNY weakness carries on with lows all around 6.43 in the initial 7 days of January, now retrenching fairly to 6.47, down -6.1% in just one particular yr, and shut to levels previous witnessed in June 2018.”
Sea freight: A further 7 days of growing highs and congestion
Freight rates climbed appreciably to reach new data in the final weeks, pushed by ongoing potent demand from customers and the future Chinese New Calendar year, mentioned those analysts.
Most hikes were noticed on routes from East Asia to Americas, while freight rates for the Asia to Europe routes climbed moderately, observed the Kemiex team.
“Surcharges make the genuine expense significantly greater. Producers of very low-price tag items are reporting currently being priced out of the marketplace as transportation expenses for [goods of] China origin can make up to 30% of complete outlay.
“We are also acquiring mixed reports of some companies in China preparing to shut early for the getaway considering that products can not be shipped in the coming months,” Schmidinger told us.
Containment measures in location as COVID-19 scenarios arise in China
China recorded its most significant daily leap in COVID-19 circumstances in a lot more than 5 months this 7 days, issuing in containment steps in some places, as a final result, with a few cities set below lockdown.
Qiqihar, the 2nd most significant town in the Heilongjiang province of China, which is household to a major producer of lysine and other amino acids, Longjiang Fufeng Biotechologies Co Ltd, among the other firms, is dealing with tighter command measures, though the city of Shijiazhuang in Hebei province, has been place less than lockdown. The nearby container port of Dalian, which was closed in December, is now on a go-gradual, with port congestion rates remaining imposed.
Hebei’s Langfang city is also less than lockdown. The headquarters of Meihua Holding Group Co Ltd, a major amino acids producer, is found there. The corporation is claimed to have withdrawn marketplace offers as its administrative workforce are functioning remotely, stated the analysts.
Factories situated in other regions have not but been influenced, but Kemiex is listening to stories that some major Chinese producers are failing to fulfill contracts in due time.
NHU methionine projects progressing
In other Chinese producer developments, Chinese feed additives corporation, NHU, unveiled its 2020 functionality forecast, with it expecting a web income of US$540-600m, a 12 months-on-12 months improve of 60%-80% driven by vitamin E, biotin, vitamin A and Dl-methionine gross sales.
The enterprise also disclosed that its methionine and other fermentation projects are progressing nicely.
China imposes anti-dumping duties on m-cresol imports
Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Commerce is initiating anti-dumping obligations from right now on imports of m-cresol, an intermediate in the manufacturing of vitamin E and other products and solutions, originating in the US, the EU, the United kingdom and Japan.
China’s ministry mentioned the domestic business has experienced considerable destruction thanks to the dumping of this kind of items by the US, the EU, the Uk and Japan, soon after it issued a last ruling primarily based on an anti-dumping investigation it released in July 2019.


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Count the Angry Birds franchise mavens among those excited about the Mars Curiosity rover landing, as they have added more levels to their Utopia planet, Mashable reported. Everyone's favorite cranky birds will be flying through the "air" on Mars.
Finnish game maker Rovio Entertainment Ltd. collaborated with NASA, as it did with its last launch in March, to produce a teaser about the "Red Planet update" to be released in the fall. The video has been released just days before the rover touches down on Mars, Mashable said.
The 350-million-mile interplanetary portion of the real-life mission to Mars is expected to be completed on Monday at 1:31 a.m. EDT, according to PC Magazine. The site also noted that the rover's mission is to discover if Mars might have supported life at one point, study the geology and climate on the Red Planet, and determine whether it would have potential for a "manned mission."
Rovio released an update with 20 new levels to the game last week, PC Magazine reported.
Angry Birds Space was a huge hit for the Finnish company upon its release in March: More than 50 million copies were downloaded in only 35 days.
Rovio's new 30-second video begins with a notice that says the Angry Birds are about to land on the Red Planet, according to Pocket Gamer. The video then asks the question everyone has about the landing of the Mars Curiosity rover: "What will it find?"
The clips in the short video shows the bird's shadows passing on the surface of the planet closest to Earth.
Are the creators of Angry Birds attempting to say the Mars Curiosity rover will find Angry Birds in space? If so, where there are Angry Birds, there have to be sinister piggie enemies, as well.
The current version of Angry Birds Space can be bought for iPhone:0" class="GRcorrect">iPhone and the Angry Birds Space HD can be purchased for iPad in the iTunes App Store for $0.99 and $2.99, respectively.
Take a peek at the Angry Birds teaser.
To contact the editor, e-mail:
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Since establishing their Copenhagen design studio in 2000, Flemming Busk and Stephan B. Hertzog have made their name in the design world, winning numerous major international awards.
Most recently the pair were last year awarded the Danish Design Prize – an award previously won by Arne Jacobsen, Paul Kjaerholm, Hans Wegner, and Verner Panton.
The pair draw obvious inspiration from the shapes and forms of nature – a perfect example of this can be seen in their ‘Wishbone’ stand [pictured below] resembling a small grove of saplings.
Their designs exemplify the new wave of Danish designers making a name for themselves internationally and at home, where Denmark’s ‘golden age’ of design, from the likes of Fritz Hansen and Kjærholm, continue to hold great influence.
Busk and Hertzog will be guests of honour at two luncheons to be held in Melbourne and Sydney next week. “This is an unprecedented opportunity to ask such successful design luminaries all the things that you ever wanted to know,” says Scully.
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Deals: Get Apple's M1 MacBook Air for Best-Ever Price of $799.99 ($199 Off)
Apple's 2020 M1 MacBook Air has hit its best-ever price on Amazon today, with the 256GB model on sale for $799.99, down from $999.00. Silver and Gold colors are available at this price, and the former color has a quicker shipping estimate of March 14-15.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
This version of the MacBook Air sports a tapered design and does not have the updated chassis of the newer M2 MacBook Air models. It has the M1 chip and a 13-inch Retina display, and today's sale matches the previous all-time low price seen on Amazon for the computer.
You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook. Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.
Apple says iOS 16.4 is coming in the spring, which began this week. In his Sunday newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the update should be released "in the next three weeks or so," meaning a public release is likely in late March or early April.
iOS 16.4 remains in beta testing and introduces a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone. Below, we have recapped five new features ...
As previously rumored, the next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a unified volume button and a mute button, according to leaked CAD images shared in a video on the Chinese version of TikTok and posted to Twitter by ShrimpApplePro.
Instead of separate buttons for volume up and volume down, the iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have a single elongated button for...
The iOS 16.4 update that is set to be released to the public in the near future includes voice isolation for cellular calls, according to notes that Apple shared today.
Apple says that Voice Isolation will prioritize your voice and block out the ambient noise around you, making for clearer phone calls where you can better hear the person you're chatting with and vice versa.
The iOS 16.4 release candidate version that was provided to developers today appears to hint at a new set of AirPods that could be coming in the near future. According to @aaronp613, the beta features references to AirPods that have a model number of A3048 and an AirPods case with a model number of A2968.
There have been no rumors that new AirPods are on the horizon, and it is early for...
Nothing today announced the launch of its second-generation wireless earbuds, the Nothing Ear (2), which offer many of the same features as Apple's AirPods Pro 2 at a lower price point. We went hands-on with the Ear (2) earbuds to see whether they're a viable alternative to the AirPods Pro 2 for those who want to save some cash.
The Ear (2) earbuds are the successor to the Nothing Ear (1),...
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after the launch of the fourth betas. The RCs mark the final version of the software that will be provided to the public in the near future. Registered developers are able to download the iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates...
Apple is tracking the attendance of its employees at offices using badge records in order to ensure they are coming in at least three times a week, according to Platformer's Zoë Schiffer.
Since April 2022, Apple employees have been operating on a hybrid home/office work policy as part of a gradual return strategy following the pandemic, with staff required to work from the office at least...
While the iPhone 15 series is still around six months away from launching, there have already been plenty of rumors about the devices. Many new features and changes have been rumored for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in particular.
Below, we have recapped 10 changes rumored for iPhone 15 Pro models that are not expected to be available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus:A1...
Top Rated Comments
What you give up when you buy an M1 MBA instead of an M2 MBA is a better webcam, brighter and slightly bigger display, and magsafe charging. (The M2 also has modestly improved performance over the M1, but the M1 is already as much as most non-power-users could ever want.) I think these sacrifices are well worth it for the price difference, especially with this $799 sale.
If I didn't already have one, I'd grab this deal.
MacBook SE using old M1 body: $850
13" MacBook Air: $1200
15" MacBook Air: $1400
14" Macbook Pro: $2000
16" Macbook Pro: $2500
It'd be a very strong lineup from top to bottom.
A Macbook SE with an M3 at $850 would destroy cheap Windows laptop competition. Today, the average selling price of a Windows laptop is around $700. At $850, a MacBook SE would provide insane value and would entice people to switch to Macs en mass. There are more iPhone + Windows laptop users than iPhone + Mac users today because the base price of a Mac has been so historically high.
Steve Jobs used to say that Apple didn't know how to make a cheap laptop that is also good. Apple knows now. It's with Apple Silicon.
Clearly, Apple's margin for the old Macbook Air is high enough that it can afford to sell it for $799.
Apple already makes the iPhone SE, Watch SE, and iPad 10" (SE in spirit). Macs shouldn't be the exception.
Today, the two most important Macs are the 13" Air and the 16" MBP. In the future, the two most important Macs will be the MacBook SE and the 15" Air.
I'm a pig, so I have the absolute opposite laptop (M2 Max/ 8TB)...yet I'm amazed at the snappiness (and light weight) of the M1 Air...and for only $800.
If anyone is still suffering through Intel MacBook heat & fan noise, check these out.


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The full agenda for the first annual Anti-Counterfeit & Currency Conference has been announced, featuring a stellar line-up of speakers set to share their unique perspectives on cash management, currency, and secure documents.
More than 2,000 professionals will be in attendance, making the conference an unmissable opportunity to network with industry peers, win new business, and stay at the vanguard of developments in anti-counterfeiting and currency. Free to attend, the conference is a chance to engage with and learn from the top minds in the industry.
The conference agenda is broad in scope and divided into two tracks. The first focuses on currency and secure documents, delving deep into the future role of central banks, the latest trends and challenges within banknote and ID security features, and the rising role and influence of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. The second track concentrates on cash management, exploring best practices and trends in anti-counterfeit techniques for commercial banks, retailers, and casinos, as well as innovations in smart safes, cash visibility, and ATMs.
Click here to see the full agenda.
Leading companies from around the world are scheduled to share their expert knowledge. Among the dozens of speakers billed to take the stage are:
Robert Norman, Senior Product Manager at Fifth Third Bank comments “I am really looking forward to gathering with the industry experts at a focused conference on an important topic. The smart safe solutions can have a real meaningful impact on cash handling in the retailer’s front and back offices lost prevention practices. With a free-to-attend event available to industry experts to gather and share knowledge while enabling retailers to engage through the education, this is a must attend event.”


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Search results for "Indonesia tourism"
Jokowi Urges Asean to Open Travel Bubble by March 2021
... country seeks to rejuvenate its tourism sector that has been ... on the plan since Indonesia submit the framework proposed ... up immediately," Jokowi said. Indonesia currently has a travel corridor ... 56 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia in the January to ...
12 Nov 2020 | 05:46 PM
Hitting 65: Indonesia-Poland Relations to Grow Even Stronger
... the 65th anniversary of Indonesia-Poland diplomatic relations, ... investment as well as tourism. Polish and Indonesian parliaments ... statistics, Polish export to Indonesia reached $213 million while ... economic department, said Indonesia-Poland play an important ...
10 Nov 2020 | 08:25 AM
Bali Tourism Struggles to Survive during Pandemic
... halt since March. Indonesia’s most popular tourism destination, globally ... government to adopt new tourism regulations more related to ... restrictions are lifted. Garuda Indonesia continues the Bali flights ... a flight with Garuda Indonesia heading for Bali on ...
27 Oct 2020 | 05:24 PM
AstraZeneca Vaccines to Arrive in Indonesia in H1 2021
... secured vaccine supply for Indonesia from AstraZeneca," Retno said ... discuss wider cooperation between Indonesia and the United Kingdom. ... said. Indonesia and UK agrees to develop health tourism in a ... ," he said. Also, Indonesia and UK would improve cooperation ...
15 Oct 2020 | 12:19 PM
Global Dive Community Shares Insights into Business Survival
... conference hosted by the Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry from ... after the pandemic ends,” Deputy Tourism Minister Rizki Handayani told the ... packages, especially Southeast Asia, including Indonesia,” she said. Overseas recreational travels ...
14 Oct 2020 | 11:25 PM
Pandemic Hits Bali's Tourism Harder than the 2002 Attacks
... at two popular nightclubs devastated tourism industry in Bali, so ... in April followed by Indonesia's decision to close ... designated for Bali,” Deputy Tourism Minister Rizki Handayani told a ... head of Bali's provincial tourism department. “The Covid pandemic ...
12 Oct 2020 | 09:44 PM
Indonesia Adopts Guidelines to Make Dive Safer During Pandemic
... bring recovery to the tourism industry, namely cleanliness, healthy ... congratulate the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy for ... safety in Indonesia … to further enhance Indonesia's position ... head of the provincial tourism department, said that during ...
03 Oct 2020 | 02:17 AM
Jakarta Leads Daily Count, Bali Sees Resurgence in Coronavirus Cases
... cases continued to surge in Indonesia on Tuesday after the country ... East Kalimantan and North Sumatra. Indonesia reported 2,775 new cases ... . With huge reliance on the tourism sector, Bali is the hardest ...
01 Sep 2020 | 10:08 PM
Indonesia Has a Month Left to Prevent Recession
Bogor. Indonesia has a month left to ... economy depends largely on the tourism sector, was the hardest hit ... is ready to help. Overall, Indonesia is able to keep the ...
01 Sep 2020 | 03:06 PM
Jokowi Inaugurates First Toll Road in Aceh
... boost their economy and increase Indonesia’s competitiveness. The ongoing coronavirus ... stimulate other sectors such as tourism to recover quickly," State-Owned ...
25 Aug 2020 | 06:13 PM
Indonesia Passes 14,000 Coronavirus Cases in a Day
“What You Share Defines You”: Indonesia Has World’s Biggest Fact-Checking Network
Gov't Warns Against Major Aftershock in West Sulawesi as Death Toll Climbs to 42
At Least Five Killed and Thousands Displaced as Floods Hit North Sulawesi, South Kalimantan
How Tempo Outrages Jokowi Supporters
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Researchers at MSF described mortality rates for the total population as "substantially" exceeding the emergency threshold. For example, deaths associated with children under the age of five have more than doubled the emergency level. Diarrhea accounts for more than 90 percent of the deaths, with malnutrition cited as the primary contributing factor. At least 28 percent of children under five are malnourished, and 10 percent face severe malnutrition. The statistics become more dire in children under two. Among this segment, 44 percent are malnourished and 18 percent have already progressed to the most life-threatening stages of the disease.
"It's especially hard when you hear about infants and toddlers suffering slow, terrible deaths," Walmart HR representative Effienne Kierter told reporters, wiping away tears. "These kids are the future. They're the next generation of workers who'll be manning the assembly lines, the sewing machines, the packing plants. You can train them early, and when they hit the
Once the older slaves reach 15, Kierter said, they will also lose out on opportunities to earn income through forced prostitution.
"American and European businessmen looking to indulge in these more exotic carnal pleasures won't consider sex workers beyond that age," Waybill noted. "Most buyers tend to shy away after a child reaches puberty. So these teens will probably die of starvation or disease too, which then depletes the pool of potential baby makers. In the end, it's a vicious circle that leads to the equivalent of workforce genocide, with Walmart customers standing in the cinders of the holocaust. It could take years to sort everything out and move forward again."
Walmart shares slumped 3.3 percent after investor confidence soured when the company reported disappointing earnings in fiscal sales, losing the war of low prices to its competitor, Target. Analysts and Walmart executives expect to lose an even greater edge on maintaining low prices if mortality rates in other third world countries continue to ravage the remaining populations of slave labor.
Marketing teams have reportedly issued warnings to prepare investors for possible production problems, which could force the company to procure more expensive American-made goods, with the increased costs being passed through to consumers.
"At some point Walmart may have to purchase locally and raise prices, as un-American as that sounds," Waybill said.
(c) 2012. See disclaimers.


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Acting harsh, MC destroys 70 kg unhealthy sweets, challans shopkeeper
Though the Ludhiana health department is yet to start checking of unhealthy sweets, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) acting against the unsanitary conditions destroyed 70 kg unhealthy sweets at Parkash Sweet Shop near Mat Di Chakki at Shimlapuri on Saturday.cities Updated: Oct 10, 2015 20:09 IST
Though the Ludhiana health department is yet to start checking of unhealthy sweets, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) acting against the unsanitary conditions destroyed 70 kg unhealthy sweets at Parkash Sweet Shop near Mat Di Chakki at Shimlapuri on Saturday.
The MC team conducted a surprise raid and found flies in sugar syrup for sweets. They also found insects in the boxes in which prepared rasgullas and other sweets were displayed.
The team led by MC additional commissioner Rishipal Singh, health officer Dr Vipal Malhotra and others also found that food items were being prepared under unsanitary conditions, thus giving open invitation to multiple health problems.
Malhotra said, “The team destroyed 70 kg unhealthy sweets and also issued a challan to the sweet shop owner.”
“The team was shocked to see waste and filth at the kitchen. The containers in which sweets were kept were not even covered. Flies were there inside the covered storage cabins kept at the shop,” he said.
He said, “We are already running a campaign against sale of unhealthy food items in city. We have challaned more than 200 eateries, meat shops and street vendors for serving unhealthy food items recently.”
It is pertinent to mention here that the food samples were collected by Ludhiana district health officer, but they are yet to proceed in the matter. An MC official claimed that they could not take samples as it was the responsibility of district health department.
Sources said the sweetmeat shops owners have already started arrangements to prepare sweets for the festive season. They claimed that many sweet shops prepare low-quality sweets in absence of any proper check. Sources also claimed that the health department is not serious in collecting samples from shops.
When contacted, district health officer Dr Abnash Kumar was not aware about the MC raid. However, he claimed, “We are collecting samples to check quality of food items. We will also launch a special drive to check the preparation and quality of sweets at different sweetmeat shops in the district.”
First Published: Oct 10, 2015 19:57 IST


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You have searched for "South China"
Showing 11-20 of 1102
TikTok maker ByteDance launches a new casual game store and indie publisher to take on Tencent and NetEase
The mobile game store Danjuan Games and indie publisher Pixmain represent a renewed focus on less complex games for ByteDance. The social app giant has struggled with mid-core games Art of War: Infinity Evolution and JJ Street Basket in its effort to take on its Chinese rivals.
There have been 85 reports of unlawful sexual intercourse between January and September this year, compared with 71 over the same period last year. ‘Sextortion’ cases jumped to 616 during the first three quarters of this year from 171 over the whole of last year.
Experts say deepfakes have the potential to disrupt financial markets and aid fraud, but there remain few real-world examples so far. People in China are growing increasingly concerned about deepfakes and biometric data leaks as the use of facial recognition grows.
Meituan’s new WeChat mini-program MLive features live-streams by merchants including hair salons, dental clinics and beauty parlours.
Privacy, usage issues mark lukewarm response to Hong Kong’s Covid-19 contact-tracing app ‘Leave Home Safe’
Public response to the Hong Kong government’s newly launched Covid-19 contact-tracing app has been lukewarm, with usage difficulties and privacy fears among top concerns.
China now has more gamers than the entire populations of the US, Japan, Germany, France and the UK combined. Mobile games accounted for nearly three quarters of the sector’s total revenue, raking in 50.8 billion yuan.
Singles’ Day: Livestreaming e-commerce draws in viewers using giant pancakes, VR gaming and other gimmicks
Sellers use livestreaming to sell everything from bags of sweet potatoes to Cartier jewellery during annual Chinese shopping festival, the largest of its kind. Livestreaming e-commerce sees a burst of activity this year after getting a boost from the Covid-19 pandemic.
A 5G pioneer, China is one of the few countries that can already make an initial assessment of the uses of this new mobile phone standard.
The PlayStation 5 does not have a release date in China yet, but scalpers are already accepting pre-orders for for US$1,500 to US$2,000. Consoles are not nearly as popular as PC or mobile gaming in China, but avid gamers are eagerly awaiting Sony’s next-generation device.
Local and central governments have spent billions of yuan building camera surveillance networks but it’s not an all-seeing system, researchers say. The technology is not linked nationwide but it may be just a matter of time, they say.


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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On Saturday, September 10, New Orleans will host its EV Day 2016 event at the Whole Foods Market at 300 North Broad Street.
The event will include city council members as well as electric vehicle (EV) experts and advocates. The event will run from 10:00 to 2:00 and will include charging demonstrations and a drawing to win a Nissan LEAF for a weekend.
New Orleans EV Day is part of the National Drive Electric Week which runs Sept. 10-18. The eight day campaign will include events around the country aimed at raising awareness of the financial and environmental benefits of electric vehicles.
Earlier this week, the New Orleans City Council passed a motion encouraging to use of electric vehicles. Supporters of electric vehicles in city government are hoping New Orleans will eventually install fast chargers on public property and add electric cars to the city’s fleet.
A growing number of car makers are beginning to manufacture EVs. WGNO profiled some electric car options in this report in 2014.


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The brand will commit a minimum of $5 million in annual funding for the next three years to the program, which aims to uplift Black, indigenous and people of color working within the fashion and creative industries.
The United States on Friday unveiled heavy import duties on France in retaliation for the country's tax on American tech giants, but will hold off on collecting the fees to allow time for the dispute to be resolved.
The struggling British fashion and accessories brand, which is axing its Paris and Hong Kong comms teams, is also on the verge of discontinuing its ready-to-wear and footwear licences from Spring/Summer 2021.
The owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger has released its annual corporate responsibility report, emphasizing transparency and disclosure, and detailing the its progress with its sustainability and diversity goals.
Few fashion organizations have had a busier spring than the Fédération de la Couture et de la Mode. FashionNetwork.com met with Pascal Morand and Séverine Merle to discuss Paris' upcoming digital menswear fashion week.
There were no special giveaways for the retail sector in the UK government's latest spending drive on Wednesday, although some measures to boost jobs could help the sector and others could benefit it indirectly.
Global affluent consumers are beginning to question their consumption of luxury goods in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, but the Chinese are still very pro-luxury, even though they're demanding sustainability too.
Boohoo is moving quickly to protect its business as a supply chain scandal causes e-tailers such as Asos and Zalando to delist its brands. But the firm also said its wholesale ops are small as D2C is its focus.


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Netflix hiked monthly fees for its streaming service in the United States, sending the stock up more than 3% in Friday trading.
The shares of Netflix eventually increased 1.25 percent to $525.69 on Friday.
According to Netflix’s website, the monthly cost of the basic plan increased by $1 to $9.99, the standard plan increased by $1 to $15.49, and the premium plan increased by $1 to $19.99. Prices in Canada have also risen.
The adjustment was confirmed by a Netflix official. In a statement, the spokesman added, “We’re changing our fees so that we can continue to offer a wide choice of quality entertainment alternatives.”
Netflix has raised its fees in the past few years as part of its long-term strategy. Netflix’s pricing in the United States was already hiked in 2019 and 2020.
Netflix has been expected by Wall Street to raise rates as customer growth slows. Netflix’s pricing increases also reflect the company’s belief that its plans are deeply embedded in the lives of its consumers, and that they will not cancel or churn as a result of price increases.
Customers will receive an email about the price increases 30 days before they see them, Netflix announced on Friday.
Netflix is up against more competition than ever before, particularly from newer streaming services such as Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+. Netflix announced last October that it has over 213 million subscribers throughout the world, far more than any of its new competitors. As a result, Netflix has been substantially investing in content creation for its service, estimating that it will spend $17 billion on content in 2021.
Next Monday, Netflix will release its quarterly profits report.


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Mexico City – Pirelli is planning to invest an additional $200 million (€177 million) in a new factory, in addition to its existing car tire plant in Silao, Mexico, the Italian tire-maker announced on 20 April.
The announcement comes four years after the inauguration of the Pirelli factory within the Silao “Puerto Interior” industrial hub, in Guanajuato state.
The investment will begin in 2016 and will be in addition to the $360 million invested to date and the $50 million already earmarked for the 2016-2017, said Pirelli.
The company expects to have made a total of $600 million of investment in its two plants in Silao by the end of 2018.
Production at the new plant is scheduled to begin in 2017.
The Silao site is focused on production for the premium segment, mainly high performance and ultra high performance tires for passenger cars and SUVs, locally and throughout NAFTA.
The Silao plant, which currently covers 140,000 square metres, produces 3 million tires annually and will increase capacity to 5 million tires a day once its production phases are complete.
The new investment in the new plant will add another 2.5 million tires annual capacity to raise the total production to 7.5 million by the end of 2018.
The plant currently employs 1,400, and employment is forecast to grow to over 1,800, excluding the already existing 400 ancillary workers.
According to Pirelli, Mexico is an important international operation due to its “strategic position”. The company has significantly developed its presence in the Nafta area, a market which, it said, has been one of the “most promising for the success of the premium strategy”.
In 2015, Pirelli’s premium sales in the region grew by 24.3 percent and accounted for 90 percent of the total at the local level.
Overall, last year the area registered sales of €861 million, a year-on-year increase of 21.7 percent and representing 13.7 percent of total group sales.


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Global Ethyl Acrylate Market Wobbles with Collapsing Demand
- 27-Jul-2022 4:21 PM
- Journalist: Rene Swann
The pricing curve of multiple commodities has started facing the base in the global market, as the demand dynamics have plunged effectively. As per the data, Ethyl Acrylate prices have slipped in Europe and the USA during the month of July 2022.
The latest data shows that the price of Ethyl Acrylate has declined marginally in the USA by around 0.5%, owing to stagnated offtakes amidst ample product availability in the country. This price decline has primarily been driven by a significant fall in demand from the domestic market amidst ample product availability in the country.
Similarly, the German market also witnessed similar market sentiments in the meantime, where the Ethyl Acrylate prices remained dull post tumbling by 1.2% during July 2022. Recently, it was observed that, under the influence of high energy value, producers in Germany have started cutting their production. Consequently, demand for several commodities has declined, leading to a consistent fall in their prices in the country.
As per the latest intel, the supply curb of Natural gas imposed by Russia on Germany through Nord Stream has shattered the market activities of the country. Producers in the country are very cautious about the future procurement of raw materials, as the demand outlook of downstream derivatives chemicals is highly skeptical. Meanwhile, US Natural gas prices have again picked up pace in last few weeks.
On the other side, the US market has been slowly moving toward recession for the past couple of months, which injected negative market sentiments in the country. Furthermore, international demand has also been hampered, as the threat of recession is not limited to the country and has become a global concern.
As per ChemAnalyst, “demand fundamentals for the product is not likely to revive in the US and German market soon. Thus, the recent price trend might remain persistent, and prices may keep tracing a downtrend in the near term.”


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Luxury houses have joined forces with artists over the years with many of the top companies collaborating with artists - Louis Vuitton has recently linked up with US artist Jeff Koons on a range of handbags. Artist Mark Dickens worked with Bernie Ecclestone to produce a major Formula One collaboration of works spanning the globe. He discusses how the deal came about as well as the legal aspects of putting together the collaboration. Mr Dickens will join artist Philipp Humm, the former European CEO of Vodafone who is using his business acumen to carve out a career as an artist. They will be joined by Trino Verkade, who started out with the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen and is now a trustee at his foundation Sarabande. The event will be held at the Luxury Law Summit in London.
15 May 2017 at 13:19 BST
Art and Luxury join forces at the Luxury Law Summit 2017
Luxury and art have long been bedfellows. As 200 luxury leaders arrive in London for the annual Luxury Law Summit, artist Mark Dickens discusses doing a collaboration deal with Formula One maestro Bernie Ecclestone.


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Brexit: What’s next for independent retailers?
In a time of political turbulence for retailers and traders across the country, we bring you the latest of all you need to know regarding Brexit.
Last night, there were two significant votes.
- In one, MPs in the House of Commons voted in favour of an amendment that made it clear that a “No Deal” Brexit is simply not an option for the UK. Following that vote, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn agreed to meet Prime Minister Theresa May to discuss what Parliament should do.
However, the UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March, and will continue to do so whether a deal is agreed with or not unless legal changes are made before then.
- MPs also voted in favour of amending the Irish border backstop in Theresa May’s deal. The backstop has already caused a significant deal of controversy, with some critics saying it leaves Northern Ireland needing to follow more EU rules than the rest of the UK, and could create a “hard border” with checks and high security in place. Many also worry it could cause conflict across the border, depreciating the Good Friday Agreement.
Prime Minister Theresa May is set to go back to EU leaders to try to rework this part of the deal to a version that will meet the approval of Parliament. However, various EU leaders have said this part of the deal cannot be renegotiated.
What happens next?
If the EU refuses to reopen negotiations and the British parliament cannot compromise with what has already been agreed, the UK faces a “hard Brexit”. This means that the UK would crash out of the EU with no deal or transition period on March 29.
There are real concerns over the damage a “No Deal” could do. Delays in bringing food and materials into the UK could be caused, and the price of goods in British shops could sky rocket.
How has the Irish retail industry responded?
Many key players in the Irish retail industry have raised their own concerns about this to Parliament.
Glyn Roberts, Chief Executive Retail NI said: “It is not acceptable for Parliament to continue to create uncertainty. This is having consequences as is apparent in our businesses and in our high streets. I will be pleading with the leadership of the Opposition parties that they need to reach across the chamber and avoid a calamitous crashing out of the EU which will have dire impact on consumers and jobs”.
Meanwhile Stephen Kelly, Chief Executive Manufacturing NI said: “Our business community, farming representatives, trade unions and voluntary sectors agree that the Withdrawal Agreement whilst not perfect is workable and much better than no deal and its approval would secure the critical transition period, protect jobs and allow everyone to move to the more positive future relationship negotiations and agreement with the EU.”
For Owen Reidy, Assistant General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, it is simply vital that workers should not have to pay for the price of Brexit. He said: “The trade union movement represents over 200,000 workers across all areas of economic activity in Northern Ireland. We must have an agreement that safeguards jobs and workers rights’ and avoids a hard border in the island of Ireland, a border in the Irish sea and a border between our islands.”
Theresa May has promised the government will “redouble its efforts to get a deal this House can support”. The Prime Minister is to revise the deal before returning to the House of Commons to bring it to a vote. If no new deal is agreed by Parliament by 13 February, she will table an amendable motion for debate the next day.


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At Slush Singapore 2018, Techsauce had the opportunity to attend a panel discussion on China and South East Asia (SEA) investments, as well as China’s Belt and Road Project. The panelists invited are venture capitalists from diverse countries like US, China and Singapore.
One of the panelist is Paul Ark, is the Managing Director of Digital Ventures, who was a former Apple employee. Started in early 2016, Digital Ventures is a subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) that focuses on Fintech.
Another panelist, Lu Zhang, was born & raised in Mongolia. She is the founder and Managing Partner of Fusion Fund and does investments in Silicon Valley. Fusion Fund provides support to entrepreneurs in the early stage and its area of interests include connected industry, artificial intelligence, network technology and health.
Grace Yun Xia is also a panelist from China, who now lives in Singapore. She is the Principle of Jungle Ventures, who invests in SEA startups mainly in series A & B, including both consumer and enterprise types.
The panel discussion was moderated by Jan Smejkal, China & APAC Community Director of Startup Grind.
SEA Investment Rationale
Paul: There is a lot going on between China and SEA, there has always been a lot of economic flow between the 2 regions. But what is seen as of late is literally a battle of titans. Alibaba, JD, Tencent, Baidu are running all around SEA, and Thailand in particular. They are partnering up with local companies and battle lines are being drawn. There is going to be a very interesting cage match between the Chinese tech giants and SEA emerging giants.
Perception and Plans for China and SEA market
Lu: It is important to have a global perspective. A US based founder would have to think about how to navigate between partners in SEA and China to be able to build their interest. There is a big market for new tech apps, but the growing power is in emerging markets like China and SEA.
Paul: It is less about investment dollars flowing into China. As these Chinese tech companies are growing fast at a scale so great that very large cheques are required just to get into China. Currently, the Chinese are flushed with cash and the valuations are also getting very rich. They are also aggressively hunting around Silicon Valley, Israel and SEA for investment. Hence, a lot of investment dollars will be flowing out of China and into the rest of the world.
Strategy for Startups in the face of China’s emergence
Grace: Always ask startups to consider their value proposition market and method to compete, knowing that the big players coming to their home country. There are 2 groups of companies. The first group does very similar things before the Chinese money comes in, and a good strategy is increase their scale quickly. International investors come and see they realise the complexity of operations, so they tend to acquire or invest in those operating with a decent pool of customers. As for the latter, they need to think about how they can build the product that is complementary to the international giant.
Image: The National
China and Data war Influence on SEA and the World
Paul: China is going to become the dominant power of AI. AI is basically 2 components namely, the development in algorithms, and the accumulation of massive amount of data. There is phenomenal talent in development around the world, but almost impossible to find as much data as in China. For better or worse, due to the strong government, companies can accumulate data without considering some of the concerns that might affect western countries.
Moreover, they are very creative in their applications that cover use cases across the board such as finance, education, health and credit scoring. This makes it very challenging, or even an unfair advantage in a startup’s perspective. The focus should then be on the opportunities more on development side, as it is rare to see tech hubs catching up to the volume of data in Chinese hubs.
Protectionism in Thailand
Paul: Not as much. Thailand is still thinking through how to deal with privacy and data ownership. In fact, these issues also plague the Singapore government. It is easier for China because they prioritise their time to think about these issues, which gives them a phenomenal head start.
Future of AI – Cooperation or Protectionism
Lu: A lot of cooperation in AI has happened before, like how Google AI Global Centre is based in China, which helps them to take advantage of the application use case. However, Silicon Valley still has strong advantage in terms of AI, research, and application.
When investing in B2B, it is believed that the AI app can show a business’ full capability in industry app. In B2C, it is more difficult to predict individual users using the current technology to satisfy everyone’s needs. Companies using AI in healthcare are doing great, as it is not replacing doctors and nurses but instead, assisting them to increase efficiency. This the advantage of Silicon Valley and US.
On the other hand, China has a huge advantage for data. The challenge is the collecting of the data. Now, it is not only big data that matters, China has huge data for sure, but it is questionable whether they have high quality. Especially for industry app, there is a need to level the data. The digitalisation of data in china is also growing fast. These are not only the pros and cons of developing AI tech, but also an opportunity for both sides to work together.
Companies and the government are very sensitive about AI, because it is not only a challenge for startups, but also a potential threat to society if there is a monopoly of data. In the short term, more competition is to come as each side is worried about the owner of the data, and how to protect themselves.
Image: IEEE Spectrum
Capital control effect on Chinese bonds
Paul: Everything done by the Chinese government has a very strategic rational reason behind it. If there are capital controls, it is because they do not want to see hot money flowing in and out of the country. However, if they see investments in mission critical tech, it is unlikely that they will give it a miss. When acquiring key enabling technology like in Silicon Valley and Israel, they will be more than happy to push capital out. Now, the Chinese government is reaching out to companies like Google for collaboration to work around issues like immigration, which takes care of a lot of issues on both sides.
Belt and Road project’s radical effect on the Global economy
Paul: China has been very good at extending their soft power globally. There was a lot of hard power before, but recently, they are more aware about extending economics. In places like Africa, China has been extending loans and building infrastructure, which have given them access to physical resources. Belt and Road is like an extension of that model economic soft power policy to create ties across the region.
General mindset of SEA on Chinese Investments
Grace: So far, people see the money in a very positive way. Most entrepreneurs do not view Chinese money just as capital. They are more interested to know how the Chinese investors can bring in the money. This is very critical knowledge, especially for startups scaling from Series B to E.
Why Asia Matters
Paul: By the virtue of scale. Anyone who wants to build a viral startup cannot ignore Asia’s huge market. The Chinese are becoming an increasingly wealthy and tech savvy customer base. 95 to 97% of transaction are still largely based on credit card and cash, not digital money. On the other hand, the number in China is easily 10 to 15%. To know what can drive consumer behaviour or how society will react to new tech, China is the one to look at.
Lu: Another factor is Asia’s growth potential. Healthcare makes up 20% of US GDP, but only 5% of China GDP. It may not be as big as US but it shows potential, and market with potential means opportunity for new startups. However, a big market with dominating existing players would make it harder for startups to grow, attract and become new players.
Silicon Valley and US has good environments to grow a business, but in future, there may be a bottle neck in revenue flow. They can then think about emerging market like SEA or China to grow to a bigger stage quickly. Even big tech companies are looking into that direction. For example, JD and Google partnered up recently and used each other to penetrate into US, China and SEA.
Grace: SEA is one of the largest growing economy in the world with a massive market. On one hand, they have 4 million new internet users monthly in the region, but on other hand, they have metro cities with GDP per capital considered developing countries. This creates a very sustainable opportunity for both startups and investors in the region.
Method of Investment
Grace: In a consumer-business perspective, the way to look at market is not by countries, it is by customer segmentation. Consumers in metro cities are divided by their income level. Each level has very similar user behaviours. The market is fragmented on the surface, but when the users are divided, there is a very massive market in every layer. Then think about the opportunity and ways to serve each layer of consumers.
In an enterprise perspective, there is a huge opportunity in serving SMEs. A big trend of digitalisation is happening in SEA, where every country has about 60% of GDP generated by SME, and the majority of these businesses are now moving from traditional to digital. There are spaces where companies create software and tech backbones to support the SME, which create tremendous opportunities in both sectors.
Popping the Bubble myth of SEA
Paul: There cannot be 3 to 4 years of explosive growth without the need for a recalibration. There a lot of room to grow fundamentally, but pricing needs to be aligned. There may not be a massive correction but a lot will be going off as reality catches up with fantasy.
Lu: People talk about Silicon Valley having a bubble, but the good thing is that they have it under control as they are able to use power from investor and founder to create a very healthy ecosystem. When comparing among the countries, Silicon Valley’s valuation is much lower. But in Asia, the valuation is very high. There is a bubble valuation in SEA and China, and it has to be changed, otherwise it will become a big problem.
With the raging economic activity in Asia transiting to competition between China and emerging SEA, it has become more critical to be equipped with a global perspective, idea of a business value proposition market and strategies to compete with the big players. China’s dominance on AI is certain with its wealth of data, hence the opportunities lies in the area of development. Other areas to tap on are in customer segmentation and SMEs.
The key in having your eye on the prize is to leverage on the scale and growth potential of Asia, while adapting and keeping a close watch on the moves of the Chinese giant.


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ACI Worldwide to Spotlight Digital Wallet, Mobile and Alternative Payments at Ellucian Live 2022
ACI experts to share insights from latest research revealing increasing student demand for digital and alternative payments; experts to present on meeting new student expectations while reducing costs and leveraging a mobile-first approach
“Serving medium and large colleges and universities, Ellucian is a strategic partner for ACI in the higher education vertical, and we’re excited to participate at Ellucian Live again this year,” said
ACI experts will speak on topics including mobile payments, digital wallets and alternative payments that will shape higher education over the next five years:
Al-Tereek Battle, solution consultant will participate in a solution showcase session titled, “Three Ways to Use Digital Wallets to Engage Students and Simplify Campus Commerce,” at
Attendees will benefit from this interactive session by learning how to leverage the digital wallets already installed on today’s smartphones to drive engagement and easier payments for students, parents and staff. Attendees will find out how Apple Pay and Google Pay wallets can be used for identification, passes, permits, and instant alerts, as well as how quickly funds can be received and sent using digital wallets.
During this session, attendees will discover how today’s students prefer to receive and pay their tuition bills, and how higher educational institutions can meet their expectations for a fast, simple, and secure experience while reducing costs. The session will share new survey data from ACI that shows how students expect flexibility and choice when it comes to how they pay their bills. For example, the survey reveals that more than half would pay with an alternative payment method if offered, yet nearly 24 percent of these tech-savvy students keep track of their bill payment passwords on paper.
This interactive session will provide attendees with insights from the latest research on mobile expectations. From payments to passes, the Class of 2025 expects to be able to manage all aspects of college life on a mobile device. In fact, over 61 percent use mobile wallet payment methods to make a payment at least once a week, and over 40 percent store non-payment items like tickets and passes in their mobile wallets. Attendees will also gather best practices in engaging with students, parents, and alumni within the mobile wallet already on their phone.
ACI has been an Ellucian strategic partner for more than 20 years, providing campus commerce services to more than 250 higher education institutions in