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Home Standard Year: smart bathroom Can foresight?
Looking back in 2015, to the history of the most stringent "environmental law" January 1st marked the official implementation, opened China's domestic industry "standard years." December 1 "water-saving sanitary ware," the official implementation of the "environmental law" a one, the home industry, especially the bathroom industry into a more standardized the fast lane. During this period, as well as new, "Advertising Law", "product quality supervision and inspection of substandard products manufacturer reprocessing work rules" and other standards or regulations in succession purposes, from more segments of the level to the bathroom industry spoke the magic spell.
However, the bathroom companies now more concerned that in 2015 the sudden emergence of smart bathroom especially smart toilet, standard still in their infancy, although in contrast, after all the dust undecided. This reporter has learned that many people thought it was something new smart toilet cover, in fact, has been developed in China for nearly 20 years, but the market opportunity for a large outbreak now come. Since China has been smart bathroom lack of standards in the field, so in 2015 the State Council for review of "intelligent sanitary standards and norms", has become the home of people are concerned about the standard big hits.
Market Illuminati, after the standard sleep
No standard no standards, the development of Chinese smart bathroom must call industry standards, however, the road to standardization in the areas of home always seem to "belated" market Illuminati, after standard sleep. For example, in 2015 the smart toilet lid boom, before making the figurines from the beginning of Wu Xiaobo, overstating the national level subject to during the two sessions, the smart toilet cover the event has continued to ferment more than a year, is still not brake the car. During that despite the "intelligent sanitary standards and norms" to be introduced early last year the news is well known, but the year has been cross, yet the floor, which means that standardization of the road China is smart bathroom market Illuminati, after standard sleep.
However, reporters gather information to display, there are a number of industry associations, research institutes and enterprises to actively participate in GB bath formulation. "Water-saving sanitary ware" standard December 1, 2015 formally implemented, that is, by the National Standardization Technical Committee building and sanitary ceramics, building and sanitary ceramics National Quality Supervision and Inspection Center, led constant clean bathroom and other industry leaders involved in the drafting. Also the above-mentioned institutions and enterprises drafting of a "sanitary ceramics" GB, also will be formally implemented October 10, 2016.
In contrast, early in 2015 he declared that "the introduction is expected during the year," the "smart sanitary standards and norms" has not yet been introduced. Inevitable that somewhat disappointed sanitary sector, is still highly anticipated collective. According to an authoritative interpretation of the State Council for review of "intelligent sanitary standards and norms" will break the ceramic and electrical industry standard two barriers, reference the original ceramic national standards and integrate into the indicators standard electronic hardware products, integration of smart bathroom in production tailored to the actual situation of respect, will be formally implemented effectively boosting the healthy development of Chinese smart bathroom.
Smart sanitary standards, along with large enterprises go Market Illuminati, that is business Illuminati, Language market the first line of bathroom large enterprises, always foresight. Standards or lack of them, the bathroom large enterprises only reference to foreign standards, or according to their own established standards of production enterprises. For example, "efficient water-saving toilets," the national standard of ceramic sanitary ware and plumbing products Quality Supervision Center and other institutions through accreditation, that is the constant clean bathroom of corporate standards. This is just a standard water-saving aspects, not the standard of intelligence. But it is worth mentioning that companies take the initiative to develop the implementation of sanitary standards more stringent than the international and national standards.
According to the reporter, China in particular, intelligent smart bathroom toilet standard, is currently followed by a large business to go. Since 2015, the field of smart toilet "that hot" and "thermal storage" of the dispute, which is the most typical example.
According to the status of China's smart toilet market development, as well as domestic water quality more cases containing impurities, in the end it should be temporarily encouraged Conventional thermal storage, or step to stimulate more advanced technology that is hot? In this regard, smart bathroom industry have different perspectives on "the tank easy to breed bacteria" problem, has caused widespread concern of consumers, until during the 20th Shanghai International Kitchen & Bath Show last June, constant clean bathroom toilet with six fourth-generation smart upgrade redefine the smart toilet standard, be considered basically reached a consensus: Tankless superior thermal storage. This consensus, which is a standard smart toilet go along with big business results. Currently, all of the smart toilet thermal storage, belong to improve or upgrade from an earlier technology.
Standard did not stand, universal advance
2015, smart toilet as China's high-end home life people "darling", has rushed to unite a lot of popularity. This is a universal hot smart toilet of the year, its biggest gain is to make smart toilet really touched people, focusing the attention of consumers. In such favorable market conditions instigation, the strength of bathroom companies are naturally unwilling to wait for the standard, so smart toilet market "standard did not stand, universal first" phenomenon, which is almost inevitable development of the market.
Read about several large smart bathroom incident occurred in the field in 2015, the industry can understand the popularity of smart toilet impulse: July whether China Ceramic Industry Association smart bathroom club formation, or October Constant clean bathroom Zhiai 999 Smart Toilet Seat fully experience sweeping action terminal, or is China Household Electrical Appliances Association smart bathroom appliances professional committee set up on October 9 with the aim, invariably point to improve China smart bathroom penetration.
Standard did not stand, universal first, the market for smart toilet is undoubtedly gratifying situation, because it is a foresight, but this is only the market level of foresight, it is still only in accordance Laiheng Jie and several other big companies dominate the bathroom. As some as standard rear vision industry insiders, to a certain extent, the popularity of smart bathroom dragged back. Perhaps, it is because the market after the Illuminati standard sleep, only led to the industry's collective thinking about this bathroom: smart bathroom of the development of China in the end is the industry standard is more important, or more important admission criteria?
Quality assurance, access standards is more important?
The idea that China smart bathroom now the most urgent need is not only the industry standard, as well as admission criteria. Because the current home environment mouthing, smart toilet is one of the few bright spots, not only the size of the bathroom toilet companies have promoted smart strategic focus, other areas of giants "cross-border robbery" message also frequently heard, the rapid expansion of the battle group, size warlord uprisings, to avoid vicious competition, discern fish in troubled waters of the South Guo, access standards seem to be more important than the industry standard.
In other words, the smart toilet market hot, desperate intervenors filed, and quality assurance may become a big problem. In fact, in 2015 the sanitary quality problem often found in newspapers, on September 25 the Shanghai Bureau of Quality Supervision sample of 10 batches of smart toilet has two batches of substandard, November 24 Guangzhou Inspection and Quarantine detected four batches import smart toilet lid there are two batches of substandard, Huangdao district of Qingdao City Inspection and Quarantine also sampling the nine batches imported intelligent toilet cover, yet there are seven batches failed.
It is understood that, as early as in 2013 that is the national launch of the "building and sanitary ceramics industry access standards", but smart bathroom areas without such access standards. Of course, in 2015 the domestic industry not only point to a variety of standards or norms green, and more concerned about the quality. For example, on July 1, the State Administration of Quality Supervision issued "product quality supervision and inspection of substandard products manufacturer reprocessing work rules" official purposes, is designed to urge enterprises to implement the main responsibility for product quality. Chinese smart bathroom in the spring just arrived, too early to say the reshuffle, but the huge space for development is about a thousand men lure has been inevitable melee. To guide and promote the development of healthy competition, there must be standards to regulate and escort, but some people say, the standardization of the road home industry seems always belated, this time, after the market perception of the Illuminati standard smart bathroom, I do not know whether the pace go far a little faster?


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Abhimanyu Pradhan, a farmer of Takarada village under Buguda block in Ganjam district, has successfully turned his patch of land into Thailand's red apple and green apple berry orchard.
Abhimanyu Pradhan showing berries laden on tree
Fruits of foreign countries can never be grown in Odisha. One may call it either a myth or a misconception but it has been proved wrong by a farmer of Ganjam district.
You will agree to it when you see Thailand's red apple and green apple berry trees laden with juicy fruits in his garden. Meet the farmer who has made the impossible possible. He is Abhimanyu Pradhan, a farmer of Takarada village under Buguda block in Ganjam district.
Abhimanyu said when he was surfing the internet, and YouTube channels, he came to know about this fruit grown in Thailand. Then the urge inside him to give it a try grew inside him.
“After coming to know about Thailand red and green apple berries from watching several YouTube videos, I made up my mind to give it a whirl. I placed an order for 650 saplings at Rs 55 with a nursery in Kolkata. Nine months have passed since I planted the saplings and they are now laden with fruits,” said a visibly happy Pradhan.
Pradhan said he planted the saplings the way he learnt from YouTube channels. He planted the saplings on his land measuring two acres with a gap of eight feet between each sapling.
Pradhan’s months-long labour has finally borne fruits. There are bunches of these tasty and juicy berries on the trees, bringing cheer on Pradhan’s face. In fact, the villagers are too happy at Pradhan’s success.
“It is a matter of great delight that the berries of Thailand are now growing in Takarada village. We hope, more fruits will come in the second year as the trees will shoot out more branches. And, the good thing is that more farmers will be inspired by Pradhan’s successful story,” observed Takarada sarpanch Dilip Kumar Pradhan.
These barriers will be ready for consumption next month. Given the demand of these fruits in the local market, Pradhan is optimistic that the fruits will fetch him good return.
Meanwhile, Pradhan’s success story has reached the neighbouring villages. On a regular basis, curious farmers and common people have been paying visits to his farmland to see for themselves how three-feet-high Thailand berry trees are laden with fruits.
“I would like to thank Abhimanyu babu for his effort. Now he has become a source of inspiration for others. I will tell the farmers of my area to plant Thailand berry plants,” said Prakash Maharatha, a resident of Buguda area.
“After coming to learn that Thailand fruit trees are bearing fruits, we have come here to see the trees and fruits as well. It is really inspiring,” said Bijay Pradhan, a local resident.
(Reported by Pitabasa Das from Buguda, Ganjam)

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By Brianna Rhodes, Special to the AFRO
The sixth annual Faith & Fashion Week grand finale took place Nov.16 at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Silver Spring, to celebrate the incorporation of faithful fashionistas.
Showcasing many local and east coast talents, the event offered attendees and participants the space to show their love of Christ through fashion.
Faith & Fashion Week runway models. (Photo by Brianna Rhodes)
Founded by Quintaria Brunson in 2013, Faith and Fashion Week was created with the intention that artists, designers and entrepreneurs in the Christian community would network and showcase their talents through clothing, beauty, entertainment and more, according to its site.
The theme of this year’s event, “Exodus: From Bondage to Freedom,” was set to celebrate people’s individual creation by God and set new trends.
Faith & Fashion Week runway model. (Photo by Brianna Rhodes)
The events leading up to the finale began Nov. 10 with a Prayer Luncheon and continued with A Mind, Body and Spirit Conference and A Body Type Workshop.
“Everything that we’re doing tonight is intentional on taking us from places where we do the same ol’ same ol’ and trying to push us to be exactly who God would like us to be through fashion,” Brunson said while hosting the event.
Faith & Fashion Week children runway models. (Photo by Brianna Rhodes)
Attendees from all over were present at the finale, with some visiting locally and others visiting from places like California and Las Vegas to see the “trendy, tasteful and hot trends” Faith and Fashion week had to offer.
“I like that God is getting glory and I think that people need to see people as Christians look good and have fun,” audience member Amira Haynal said at the event. “People have stereotypes about how we’re supposed to look and present ourselves and I believe this platform allows people to see us in more than just long skirts and trying to be conservative all the time. God is a God of diversity and creativity and so for me, that’s what this experesses.”
Xpressions International Dance Group. (Photo by Brianna Rhodes)
Designers and vendors such as Jewels By Joan II, Temple Apparel and Lifestyle Brand, Men’s Wearhouse and Aramide showcased their luxurious brands of shoes, accessories and clothing at the event and on the runway.
“When I committed to this, I didn’t know how special this was going to be and I’ve got to tell you that my heart was filled with so much joy that I almost shed a tear,” Manuel Ferrufino, the assistant store manager of Men’s Wearhouse in Columbia said at the event. Men’s Wearhouse was one of the many sponsors for Faith and Fashion Week.
The Faith & Fashion Week team. (Photo by Brianna Rhodes)
Participants were also able to enjoy a variety of entertainment acts such as spoken word, raffles, dance performances by Xpressions International Dance Group and musical performances by artists, Edward Byrd, Lomina Balawa, Terri Cann and Tamika Joy.
The Faith & Fashion Week team members thanked people for participating and also expressed their gratitude to Brunson for creating such an impactful event during the end of the show. They announced that they will be taking The Faith and Fashion Week on the road to traveling across the country in the future.
Brandi Nichole, Faith and Fashion Week’s editorial director described the event as prophetic. She said she believed the Lord is calling his people to break from the many forms of bondage such as mental bondage, generational cycles, causes and more.
“The Lord has called us to break those things and so I’m just excited that we were able to execute this and be in alignment with the kingdom of heaven,” Nichole said.


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LONDON -- Apple has made its music streaming service available in its second-biggest market, China, for the first time, offering free three-month trials.
Apple said customers in what's fast becoming the most important market for the world's most valuable company would be able to access Apple Music, iTunes and iBooks as of Wednesday.
“For the first time, customers in China will have access to Apple’s entertainment ecosystem, with music, movies and books right at their fingertips,” Apple said in a statement.
Customers in China will be able to get the same three-month trial Apple has offered to customers in other markets. Following the trial, customers will have to pay 10 yuan ($1.57) a month, which is a fraction of the $10 monthly subscription U.S. customers have to pay. Films on iTunes will start at 5 yuan for a HD rental and 18 yuan to buy a new release.
"Customers in China love the App Store and have made it our largest market in the world for app downloads," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "One of the top requests has been more great content."
The launch in China is happening on the same day many people will see their three-month trial come to an end, with Apple sending emails to urge them to subscribe rather than cancel. Apple said it signed up 11 million subscribers in just five weeks, but that includes those who signed up for the free trial, and that number is likely to drop significantly once the trial ends.
Apple said in August that just 21 percent of users would not continue to use the service after the free trial ran out, but independent research from MusicWatch puts that figure at almost 50 percent.
Apple Music's main rival, Spotify, currently has 75 million users, 20 million of whom are paying subscribers.
The challenges Apple faces in China include tweaking the content on Apple Music to Chinese tastes as well as replacing the content portals Chinese users already use on their iPhones and iPads. There is also a significant portion of the market that is used to illegally download music and movies for free, despite the seemingly low price of under $1.60 a month.
"People definitely buy Apple's phones and tablets, but it's not such a big brand in media," Sandy Shen, a Gartner analyst, told CNBC. "People already have local services installed on their Apple devices. Unless they have exclusive content craved by local users, it will be difficult to establish [the service] in such a crowded market."


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As predicted, bitcoin quickly recovered and gained momentum, rising back to the $900 trading margin for both the Chinese and global bitcoin market.
Beijing News, a prominent Chinese mainstream medi... Read More
On the other hand, market analysts are betting on a decline of yuan this year to 7.15 from the current 6.8125, according to Bloomberg, as the Chinese economy is expected to slow down with a state appr... Read More
It is more likely that China has now learned from the significant strategic advantage the foresight of UK’s government gave to Britain when in 2014 they embraced Fintech symbolically shown by the then... Read More
LedgerX, an institutional trading platform that hopes to be the first federally regulated derivatives clearing organization for digital-based options, recently received an investment from Miami Intern... Read More
DAO.Casino Automates Trust in Online Gambling with Blockchain Technology
The increasing number of online gambling platforms has made it hard for people to differentiate between the ones that are genuine and those that arenât. However, there is a solution that makes
131 Countries: BitPay Goes International With Bitcoin Prepaid Visa Card
BitPay is expanding its prepaid bitcoin card offerings to more than 100 new countries.
Unveiled today by BitPay chief commercial officer Sonny Singh at Consensus 2017, the Visa-branded offering ena
Consensus 2017: 'The Future Is Here' For Blockchain's Cross-Border Impact
The use of blockchain to conduct business across international lines has long been seen as a major application for the tech – but where it offers the most benefits is still open to debate.
Consensus 2017: Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Puts Blockchain Privacy Into Focus
Privacy and confidentiality are big-ticket priorities for the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, ethereum-focused consortium launched in February.
The group – which last night announced the addition of


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Facebook has formed a 12-member client council that will give the social network input on advertising and marketing. The invitation-only group, which was announced at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, will consist of agency leaders as well as Facebook's biggest global clients. The members will rotate yearly in order to give different companies a chance to influence Facebook's various ad offerings.
"We need a way for the clients to have a formal mechanism to give us input," Carolyn Everson, Facebook VP of Global Ad Sales, said during her Cannes keynote according to Ad Age. "So we can learn from them and so they can get a glimpse of what we're doing ahead of the general public. I would expect an actual dialogue where we bring our engineering team and our marketing team in and get feedback directly. It's important to get kickback from the market. I'm interested in having us solve our clients' problems and how to help make their business more social at the core."
Everson expects the council to hold confidential meetings four times a year at industry events. The first meeting is planned for the Association of National Advertisers' confab in October. Two of the first 12 members are Nick Brien, CEO of McCann Worldgroup, and Wendy Clark, Coca-Cola's head of integrated marketing and communications.
Advertisers will be able to discuss their mutual interests and figure out how they can work together to better monetize social media. They may also have the option of comparing results of their different social media attempts, not just against themselves, but against other advertisers.
Major clients could see Facebook's ad products as they are developed. Facebook, in turn, gains by learning what it can do to improve advertising on its platform. In terms of revenue, Facebook is like Google: it makes the majority of its money from ads, and it needs to watch that ball closely if it's going to be profitable.


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British Virgin Islands tourism set a new record in 2016, according to the latest data from the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization.
The archipelago reported a total of 406,027 stayover visitors last year, the first time the British Virgin Islands topped the 400,000 visitor mark in a single calendar year.
That represented a 3.3 percent increase compared to 2015.
On the cruise side, thanks to a major new cruise pier, the territory saw a 35.4 percent increase in cruise traffic, with a total of 699,105 cruise arrivals in 2016.
— Caribbean Journal Staff


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The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) report new car registrations in the UK in September were 469,696 – the highest ever.
We’ve got used to new car registrations constantly growing in recent years, and September was no different, with a total of 469,696 new cars registered – a record for September – and passing the 2 million mark for 2016 in the process.
Of course, September sales are one of the biggest in the year because of car buyers’ fixation with the plate change, but a year on year increase of 1.6 per cent is a healthy and sustainable level of growth – just as long as you don’t listen to the doom mongers.
True, on the negative side there will be some price adjustments in new car prices as a result of the Pound’s decline after the Brexit vote, but that should be less of a problem for cars made in the UK – depending on the location of their supply chain.
As for Brexit, it’ll be at least two years before there’s any change in tariffs with Europe, but even if it’s the 10% currently paid by non EU imports it’ll have less effect than the Pound’s decline, although it could see sales heading to cars manufactured in the UK.
The biggest loser from that scenario will be Ford – which produces no vehicles in the UK – but firms like Nissan, Honda, Vauxhall (although the bulk of Vauxhalls are imported Opels), MINI, Toyota and JLR could see a bit of a UK sales boom. We’ll see.
As for the details of September’s sales, diesel sales were up a bit and petrol sales down a bit. AFV (hybrid, EV etc) were up a lot, private sales fell a bit and fleet sales rose a bit more.
And the Fiesta was, for now, the best-seller.


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Blockchain-based lending platform Bitbond is launching a security token offering (STO) that it says is the first to be approved by a regulator in Germany.
Through the sale, the firm aims to raise €3.5 million ($3.9 million), allowing it to continue providing loans to small businesses, Germany-based Bitbond announced Tuesday. The STO is open until July 8 for investors everywhere except the U.S. and Canada.
The security token, called BB1, works like a bond, and Bitbond will buy back the tokens after 10 years. The prospectus of the STO has been approved by German financial regulator BaFin, the firm said.
Bitbond provides working capital loans to small businesses that use e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon in Asia, and claims to have already processed over $15 million-worth of business loans.
Radoslav Albrecht, Bitbond founder and CEO, said:
BaFin image via Shutterstock
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KARACHI: M/s Al-Hamra Trading Company approached The Sindh High Court (SHC) against alleged illegal detention of its imported consignment of natural raw rubber RSS on the basis of Valuation Ruling 1092/2017 dated March 18, 2017.
On September 7, 2019, counsel for the petitioner argued that importer has imported a consignment of natural raw rubber SRR and filed goods declaration on transaction value of 1600 per metric ton and on arrival of the goods at Karachi Port, filed goods declaration according with law.
He further argued petitioner is seriously aggrieved and highly prejudiced by the actions of the respondents, who have been denied to accept the declared transaction value of the imported consignment of natural raw rubber RSS and is illegal assessing the duty and taxes on the basis on Valuation Ruling No 1092/ 2017 despite the fact the impugned valuation ruling in not applicable on the imported impugned goods and without prejudice its validity has being beyond the period of 90 days.
He submitted that requested respondents to allow provisional release of the consignment pending the final decision by the director of customs valuation, however, no response to has been given on his application so far the petitioner’s consignments are lying at port incurring heavy port demurrage despite other charges incurring on containers.
Citing chairman Federal Board of Revenue, the Collector of Customs Appraisement West, East and Director, Directorate of Customs Valuation as respondents, petitioner pleaded the court to declare that the denial of declared transaction value under Section 25 (1) of the Customs Act, 1069 is arbitrary and illegal to the Customs Act, 1969.
Importer further pleaded the court may direct the respondents to release the impugned consignments arrived yet to arrive, on way to arrive and shipped on transaction values in terms of Section 25 (1) of the Customs Act, 1969.


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June 28, 2021 - Our portfolio company RideOS (a San Francisco-based advanced routing, on-demand dispatch and fleet optimisation company for the AV and logistics industries) has just been acquired by Philadelphia-based GoPuff in a deal valued at about $115m. GoPuff, an app that delivers convenience store items in 30mins or less, intends to use their technology to power multi-modal deliveries and reduce delivery times as they expand to denser cities and add new product verticals.
Launched eight years ago, Philadelphia-based GoPuff grew from an app to deliver snacks to college students to become a last mile delivery service for convenience items, focusing on a few key niches in in-the-moment desires (late night cravings, alcohol), sudden essentials (diapers, antacids), overnight travel needs, prescription meds and embarrassing OTC purchases (condoms) etc. It commits to delivery in 30mins and under for a flat $1.95 fee and is available 24/7 in most cities, leading to a highly compelling proposition for customers. It buys a curated list of inventories (~3000 SKUs) from brand owners at bulk prices and sells them through its 250 micro-fulfilment centers across 550 cities. They rely on gig workers for delivery; drivers make ~$15/hr on average. The pandemic has sent their revenue soaring, sales grew from $120m in 2019 to $340m in 2020 and is on track to do $1b (excl. BevMo!) this year.
GoPuff’s growth has been supercharged by almost $2.3B in funding over 3 rounds in under 2 years (with a most recent $1.2B Series G round valuing them at $8.9B) by investors like Softbank and D1 Capital. Their recent rounds have provided them the war-chest to acquire BevMo! and Liquor Barn (giving them immediate access to a physical footprint and liquor licenses in the US) as well as Fancy (a mini GoPuff) in the UK. According to The Information, they have strong ambitions; intending to scale to $5B and 4x new customers signups in 2021 (from 1m to 3.7m). They are also interested to move into fresh foods and household goods, bundling even more product verticals into their app.
Strong Secular Megatrend
The pandemic has accelerated demand for last mile delivery solutions. Between the first week and the last week of 2020, convenience store online spending grew 4.46x, or a 346% increase, grocery grew 2.21x, or a 121% increase, and restaurant grew 2.12x, or a 112% increase. The convenience store market is expected to grow 5% in 2021 to hit $33B. At 8% online penetration currently and with surveys indicating 70% interest in purchasing convenience online, there is a lot of room for online delivery to grow.
The stickiness of online grocery delivery can also shed light on the stickiness of online convenience delivery post-pandemic. Even when stay-at-home orders ended in states like Georgia, Texas, and Florida, spending on grocery delivery have stayed 100% or more above pre-COVID-19 levels.
The strong secular trend has attracted more players into this space, both from established last mile delivery players who are moving into the convenience category (DoorDash, Uber) as well as new entrants promising ultra-fast delivery within 10mins (Gorillas, Getir). Although GoPuff is currently #2 in this space (23% market share as of Jan ’21), we believe the size and growth of the market can support more than 1 winner.
Unlike food delivery peers who make revenue largely through the delivery fee, GoPuff makes their spread off the low cost of goods they sell and are contribution positive (revenue — variable cost) on first sale. Cities typically turn profitable after about 18mths. That said, the company itself is not profitable yet and might stay loss-making for longer as they invest in scaling and new product verticals.
Last mile delivery super-apps
There is a trend in the US last mile delivery space where the larger companies (Uber, DoorDash) are trying to be super apps — bundling multiple functions and daily services into one user experience with convenience and embedded payments at its core. Investors in this space believe that scale/market dominance and the ability to provide value through different channels engender customer stickiness and gives the company latitude to raise prices and attain profitability over time. Multiple product and service verticals also provide revenue diversification. As a result they trade at higher multiples compared to the pure-play food delivery companies (e.g Deliveroo). DoorDash in particular is seen as the 3rd banner ecommerce company after Amazon and Walmart. By moving into product categories outside of convenience, GoPuff is embracing some elements of this in its growth strategy.
Companies in developing countries have been early movers in building super-apps (Meituan, Wechat, Grab), most of whom are still loss-making. Meituan Dianping is the success story in this super-app strategy. Food delivery is notoriously loss-making but very useful as a lead generation tool for its other services. 85% of Meituan users first come onto the app for scouting restaurants or food delivery but more than 50% of its users on the platform for >3yrs have bought from 4 other top-selling services. This leads to greater customer retention and therefore more merchants and brand owners on the app who then spend more on advertising to increase visibility. Having the ability to bundle more non-perishable items with hot food delivery increases order density and revenues. This combination of advertising revenue growth and operational efficiency helped Meituan attain profitability. That said, it was a long slog; it took an end to the cash-burning subsidy wars with its main competitor Ele.me and 6 years before Meituan was profitable.
US last mile delivery companies are attempting a similar playbook, building moats in scale/market share, partnerships and execution. Partnerships have been critical for the US market in establishing dominance in verticals. Instacart has made it difficult for other online grocery delivery companies to make headway given their exclusive partnerships with large grocery chains like Costco. DoorDash has a tie-up with Chase where credit card holders are given complimentary DashPasses for 2yrs and enjoy free delivery on most orders. (Loyalty members in last mile delivery companies tend to order at greater value and at higher frequency.) GoPuff has recently partnered with Uber where customers can order convenience products on the Uber app to be fulfilled by GoPuff. It provides GoPuff with an immediate large new customer base and increased revenue per new micro-fulfillment center. I am excited to see how this partnership will evolve.
In addition, many US last mile delivery apps have had to deal with hyper-competition particularly in food without the benefit of high population density (the likes seen in Asia) that helps in increasing order densities. The leaders (DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart) have thus learnt to optimise to the cent and have very strong execution capabilities. In fact DoorDash white-labels their fulfillment solutions where customers keep branding front and center, retain customer data but pay a fixed fee to DoorDash to deliver. In the case of GoPuff, RideOS will greatly enhance their ability to batch, route and deliver more efficiently.
Investors have so far been patient with these high growth, loss-making companies and that optimism needs to hold for future rounds to be accretive. While we do expect some level of blitzscaling, the other 2 largest competitors in the online convenience space — DoorDash and Uber — are public and have been demonstrating greater financial discipline in recent quarters. In 2Q21, we also started seeing a greater pass-through of increased driver costs (due to lower supply as US opens up) to the consumer. (GoPuff does not have surge pricing and has to absorb the higher driver costs.) These upcoming months will be a good litmus test of how demand and these gig business models hold up as an era of significant subsidies come to an end.


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- Over 70,000 consumers have filed Zantac lawsuits against the drug’s makers—Sanofi SA, Pfizer Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline, as well as generic-drug makers, retailers, distributors and active pharmaceutical ingredient makers. Plaintiffs allege that Zantac (ranitidine) contains a carcinogenic compound, NDMA.
- After researchers found that a single dose of Zantac could contain as high as 3 million nanograms of NDMA per dose, Zantac was pulled from the market on April 1, 2020. The FDA’s allowable daily limit for NDMA is 96 nanograms of NDMA
- Approximately 1,300 Zantac lawsuits have been consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) in Florida before U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg.
- Zantac litigation is scheduled to begin in 2022.
The above-named defendants argued in a hearing last week before Judge Rosenberg that some of the MDL plaintiffs’ claims should be dismissed because they lacked specificity or an actual injury, Law360.com reported.
Defendants’ attorneys argued that consumers who filed suits based strictly on economic loss claims have not suffered an actual injury.
However, plaintiff attorney, Elizabeth Fegan of FeganScott said that this type of economic injury has precedence.
Per Law360.com reporting, Fegan said during the hearing, “The economic loss plaintiffs didn’t receive the benefit of the bargain.”
Fegan added, “They didn’t receive what they bargained for, an effective heartburn drug that did not cause cancer.”
The suits accuse the defendants of false advertising, failure to warn and other claims associated with NDMA, levels of which were found to increase when the heartburn medication is stored above room temperature; levels of the carcinogen were also found to increase over time.
Law360.com says that at last week’s hearing an attorney representing Pfizer said the consumers alleging claims for costs associated with monitoring their medical conditions have failed to state what threshold levels of NDMA cause harm. In addition, the Pfizer attorney said the plaintiffs didn’t plead whether they were exposed to a level sufficient to increase their cancer risk.
But being that specific is not necessary in this stage of the litigation (motion to dismiss), plaintiff’s attorneys argued.
Another argument defendants’ attorneys made during the hearing was that bodily injury claims should also be tossed. That’s because the plaintiffs presented a hodgepodge of incoherent facts with unspecific allegations. As such, defendants were not notified what specific claims to defend.
But being a part of a consolidated group of cases (the MDL) “defeats the efficiency afforded by being an MDL,” an attorney representing the consumers said. That argument, however, was countered by the defendants, who suggested that the statement of facts (pleading requirements) should not be relaxed simply because the caseload is voluminous.
According to LawShelf.com, federal rules and states’ rules require the more fact-heavy inquiries for motions and trials.
The hearing continues with motions to dismiss from three additional defendant categories: ranitidine distributors, retailers and pharmacies.


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Network attendees will participate in two intensive one-week sessions on the Northwood University campus in Midland, Michigan, beginning this fall with a course featuring lectures by respected industry leaders.
Automotive Distribution Network Announces Passing Of Industry Leader Wilson McMillion, CEO Of W M Automotive
McMillion will be remembered as a family man, a man of faith and a successful businessman whose office door was always open to anyone who worked for the Fort Worth-based Parts Plus member.
Prior to accepting this new role, Schuurs served 30 years in various positions involving software, SaaS and e-commerce – primarily in sales and management.
Auto Pride Extends East Coast Footprint With Signings Of New York’s Quick Auto Parts, Concord Auto Parts
“Located within two miles of each other, these businesses have been owned and operated for decades by the Shochat family, who have established a distinguished reputation for providing first-rate, personable service in the area,” said Cora Roark, director of Auto Pride.
Automotive Distribution Network Enters Into Strategic Agreement With Federal-Mogul Motorparts Across All Product Categories
The Network’s shareholders and members plan to leverage the name recognition of products under the Federal-Mogul Motorparts umbrella to develop robust marketing programs that will grow their businesses.
Integrated with the group’s NetIntell data warehouse and WebShop connectivity to service dealers, Stratus helps Network members more effectively manage their business.
During the Network’s recent national convention in Orlando, the group’s members donated $2,500 to help the Dream Factory of Memphis provide a dream trip to the Magic Kingdom for an 11-year old from Tennessee.
Clark Enterprises plans to utilize Auto Pride’s inventory management expertise and Network Products Warehouse, the Network’s co-man facility, to stock hard-to-source parts, said Richard Clark, president of Clark Enterprises.
Automotive Distribution Network Awards 2018 Ford F-150 Truck To Grand-Prize Winning Service Dealer At National Convention
Richard Feagle, who previously won $500 at the group’s 2015 gathering in New Orleans, became eligible to win the Ford F-150 truck after completing his convention game card.
The Network recently welcomed its ninth Parts Plus Mexico distributor into membership: Monterey-based Accesorios y Refacciones Martinez.
This year, The Network will host more seminars than ever – 66 in all – featuring 15 different instructors and more than 35 topics.
“Our group continues to grow, and with the addition of these gentlemen, we look forward to continuing our success and expanding our program offerings as we head into 2018,” said David Prater, president of The Network.


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A leading member of the Garda Síochána has urged all homeowners and business owners to continue to be vigilant throughout the holiday period.
Sergeant Paul Wallace also urged people to care of the elderly during this cold spate of weather.
He said: "If you are leaving your home for a period or going on holiday you should tell a neighbour to keep an eye on your house."
Srg. Wallace urged people not to post news of their impending holidays on social media sites.
The Dungloe-based garda urged business owners to check on their businesses, from time to time, throughout the holiday period to ensure that everything is as it should be.
If people urgently need to call the gardaí, they should call their local district headquarters in Milford, Buncrana, Ballyshannon or Buncrana.


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GT is an award-winning, Nevada-based cannabis company with a strong brand portfolio of high-end dried flower and luxury derivative products. GT was co-founded by former MedMen president – and current Australis COO - Duke Fu and is led by a strong team of medical professionals and pharmaceutical manufacturing experts.
The company operates an 8,000 square foot facility in Nevada and its brands are carried by 52% of Nevada-based dispensaries, with further market penetration expected as production capacity is expanded. GT also has a manufacturing license in Oklahoma and a 25% interest in an extraction and processing license in Missouri.
READ: Australis Capital unveils significant expansion moves with plans to acquire both Green Therapeutics and ALPS
Australis said the transaction, once completed, will be immediately accretive to its results as the current Nevada assets - which are the subject of the settled legal dispute - are non-operational. It is anticipated that GT's brands will be scaled up across multiple US jurisdictions.
According to a statement Friday, the transaction will be completed in two parts: the first being the acquisition of a subsidiary of GT containing a number of unregulated assets including the GT brands and certain ancillary agreements, including brand licensing and management agreements. Following that, Australis will complete the acquisition of GT itself.
The parties have also agreed to settle a previously announced legal dispute which will be formally discharged contemporaneously with the initial closing, expected later this month.
In total, Australis will pay to the holders of the GT membership interests between C$8 million and C$10 million for 100% of the outstanding membership interests of both GT and the subsidiary.
"Entering this definitive agreement to acquire GT marks another kept promise to our shareholders," said Australis CEO Terry Booth in a statement.
"With its award-winning brands, excellent operational team and assets across three states currently, combined with the leverage ALPS brings to secure novel streaming agreements, we are positioned exceptionally well to execute on our expansion strategy and develop AUSA into a top-tier MSO. The structure of the transaction aligns the GT principals with the AUSA shareholders' interests, and we look forward to communicating with our shareholders frequently on our progress as we execute."
Duke Fu, co-founder of GT and AUSA COO, added: "Executing on the transaction with AUSA brings us the network, capacity and capital markets access to fuel our growth across the nation. We are working on a number of exciting growth initiatives that we expect to execute on following closing of the transaction.”
Contact Angela at email@example.com
Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas


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While some people may want to give that special someone a piece of their heart on Valentine’s Day, there are those who can send their partners packing with a piece of pizza.
Pizza Hut announced Feb. 6 that it will sell “Goodbye Pies” this Valentine’s Day to help disenchanted people break up with their romantic partners. The restaurant will send its Hot Honey pie to a person to help break the news that you’re dumping them.
The restaurant chain explained the promotion by citing “Red Tuesday,” shorthand for the Tuesday before Valentine’s Day, in which a person other is most likely to call it off with his or her significant other. So, the company is encouraging customers to send a hot honey pizza, which is ironic, given how cold a move this is.
“That’s why starting this Red Tuesday, February 6, through Valentine’s Day, Pizza Hut is launching new, limited-edition Hot Honey ‘Goodbye Pies’ to help deliver spicy news in a sweet way for FREE,” the chain said in a press release.
“By sending a Goodbye Pie, Pizza Hut will help you break up with your significant other by delivering a personalized, simple message on custom packaging with a sweet and spicy Hot Honey pizza to ease the pain. The custom Goodbye Pie pizza boxes also leave a space on the top for the break-upper name to be added.”
So, yes, while lovebirds will be sending chocolates, you can send a pizza to get out of your relationship. It’s not just any ol’ pizza, either. It’s a hot honey pizza, which, if it doesn’t leave a bad taste in your soon-to-be-ex’s mouth, it will probably leave a spicy one.
“With crispy, cupped pepperonis & a drizzle of habanero-infused honey sauce, Hot Honey Double Pepperoni Pizza is spicy, sweet & savory,” the company says on its website.
If you’re too cheap to cough up the cash or too much of a coward to end things in person, you can win a free Goodbye Pie at GoodbyePies.com, at select locations in New York City, Chicago or Miami. If you don’t live in one of those cities, but are desperate to get out of your current relationship, the website can help you request Pizza Hut to write a breakup text you can send, as well as a link to a gift card for a free Hot Honey pizza.
“The rising popularity of the sweet-heat flavor profile has led to Hot Honey becoming the most requested test item by our team members and we are thrilled to have it as the newest addition to our menu,” Pizza Hut chief marketing officer Lindsay Morgan said.
“With the launch of Goodbye Pies, we are bringing that perfect blend of sweet and heat experience to real life, delivering spicy news in the sweetest way for Valentine’s Day.”
Not to mention guaranteeing that the dumper and dumpee will have a story to tell for the rest of their lives about the most unusual breakup they’ve ever been part of.


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Hyderabad: From literature to fantasy, from adult fiction to spirituality, it's no less than a carnival for book lovers. The 33rd Hyderabad Book Fair, which began on December 23 at NTR Stadium, promises to spread a delectable spread for those who derive pleasure from pages.
The 300 bookstalls at the fair will remain open from 2.30 pm to 8.30 pm on weekdays and from noon to 9 pm on Sunday, December 29. It will end on January 1. The event will have books of almost all Indian languages. According to the organisers, they expecting a footfall of about 10 lakh during the fair this time.
Along with the book fair, visitors will be able to enjoy and be a part of many other events. For kids, a ‘Bala Mela’ has been organised where the children can participate in competitions like dance, storytelling and painting for free.
‘We, With Science Ventriloquism’, a workshop on craft and puppetry, will be held on December 31.
The event this year was inaugurated by Governor of Telangana Tamilisai Soundarajan. Speaking at the inauguration, the Governor said that she herself is an avid book reader and has a personal collection of around 2,000 books. She also said that even though she is busy, she makes it a point to something before going to bed every day.
The Hyderabad Book Fair was first held in 1985 at the City Central Library, Ashok Nagar. Later, it expanded and since the last four years, it is being held at the NTR stadium, said the organisers. Julluru Gowri Shankar is the president of the book fair. Other than the Governor, the inauguration event was attended by, Minister for Tourism V Srinivas Goud, State planning board Vice-Chairman B Vinod Kumar, and TSPSC Chairman Ghanta Chakrapani.


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DUNKIN’ DONUTS’ EFFORTS TO INCORPORATE MORE SUSTAINABLE SINGLE-USE PRODUCTS INTO THEIR RESTAURANTS FAIL TO ADEQUATELY ADDRESS OCEAN POLLUTION BECAUSE THEY OVERLOOK THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND THE DETRIMENT OF DEEMING ANY SINGLE-USE PRODUCT SUSTAINABLE
Currently, one of the biggest concerns on this changing planet is that of ocean pollution. Since the United States lacks sufficient recycling infrastructure now that the Chinese government has banned all trash imports into China, mismanaged waste is a major concern, and a lot of it is disposed into bodies of water that eventually feed into the planet’s oceans. Although individual purchasing decisions play an important role in ocean pollution, large corporations are a major culprit of single-use plastic waste. At Dunkin’ Donuts, a coffee chain with a 12,900 storefront reach globally, a lot of the focus in the last year or so has been on making the switch from polystyrene coffee cups to ones made of double-lined paper. While effective in eliminating polystyrene waste, there are underlying issues with single-use paper products that still exist. Blue technologies and beach cleanup efforts have grown in popularity worldwide as the climate crisis has worsened. Many of these technologies, like the Seabin, pride themselves on cleaning up a lot of the pollution that exists around populated waterfront areas like harbors, marinas, and yacht club docks. Once an area of the waterfront has been cleaned up, another environmental question arises; what is to be done with the collected plastics and other pollution? Overall, it seems that embracing a circular economy and transitioning away from single-use products in general is the only way to sufficiently halt the supply of plastics and other products into the oceans and the surrounding ecosystems and environment.
If there’s one thing that Americans can’t seem to live without, it’s coffee. Coffee is embedded into daily life, with most Americans living within a couple of miles of the nearest coffee shop. According to the American Psychological Association, “caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world, consumed by some 80 percent of American adults every day” (Lu). Of that 80 percent, many don’t keep it to only one cup, but consume multiple caffeinated beverages throughout their day. In 2014 alone, 27.5 million bags of coffee were imported to the United States, so that American consumption of coffee accounted for almost 25% of all imported coffee worldwide” (Scott). Americans in business have capitalized on this national addiction, like William Rosenberg, founder of the 70-year-old multinational coffee and donut company known as Dunkin’ Donuts. On a global scale, Dunkin’ Donuts sells about sixty cups of coffee per second on an average day (Newsday.com). Up until May of 2020, this meant sixty polystyrene foam cups were being thrown away by the second. Considering polystyrene foam is usually unrecyclable and landfilled, and its widely known to expand in water, this is an incredible risk to the health of the environment and oceans. This year, Dunkin’ Donuts announced their full transition to double-walled paper cups in all stores globally, eliminating polystyrene foam from the cup across the board (Holbrook). Though efforts to alter materials, clean up ocean waste, and find end markets for materials considered unrecyclable are frequently in the headlines, it’s imperative that the issue of ocean pollution be solved at the source.
Polystyrene is a synthetic aromatic hydrocarbon polymer and a near cousin of Styrofoam, a material invented in the 1940s to build boat docks and insulation for buildings. It is one of the most widely used plastics, as its benefits to consumers are numerous. Polystyrene was created in the 1950s and lauded for being incredibly inexpensive and light. The material can be solid and brittle, or it can be foamed to create a lot of common everyday items. The polystyrene cups that we know well today are “made through an expansion process in which small beads of resin are warmed and then squeezed together into the desirable shape…the foam’s base material, styrene monomer, is a carcinogen; plastic- and rubber-industry workers exposed to the unreacted monomer suffer higher rates of some types of cancer” (Clay Cansler is managing editor of Distillations.). These disposable foam cups are readily available and popular for their ability to conserve the heat of the liquid they contain, but there are dangers associated with it. The presence of carcinogenic qualities in the styrene monomer means that disposed-of polystyrene products can leach out of the material, causing immense harm to ocean waters and the living creatures that rely on it for survival. There’s also a high likelihood of marine wildlife consuming disposed Styrofoam, mistaking it for fish and other food sources, which can build up in the animal’s system and lead to death. The material rapidly disintegrates into smaller pieces in water and can be spread widely throughout ecosystems as it breaks down. The lightweight material and disintegrative properties make it easy for polystyrene to be transported by wind across coastlines and throughout a region. One polystyrene cup can take thousands of years to biodegrade, which officially classifies it as a nonbiodegradable material. This means that a person who disposes of a Styrofoam coffee cup will be outlived by the cup’s presence, and the material will break down until it becomes nearly impossible to clean up. As a type of plastic, the rampant use of polystyrene single-use containers is leading to immense detriments to the environment, that will only continue to grow if not addressed. The material’s lack of recyclability and high desirability makes it incredibly high-risk for the planet’s oceans. Recalling the sixty cups of coffee a second statistic from Dunkin’ Donuts, the situation seems truly dire. It’s difficult to comprehend how the planet and its oceans can sustain that much of an influx of harmful waste from one multinational food chain alone.
The simple solution that Dunkin’ Donuts has sought out has been changing the material used to create their cups. The company has relied on Styrofoam coffee cups since its birth, so the change was slow and arduous. It was in May 2020 that they announced that “100% of [the] restaurants globally have transitioned from polystyrene foam cups to paper cups, meeting the timetable established by the brand two years ago…the new cups are made with paperboard certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Standard and are currently used to serve all Dunkin’ hot beverages” (Holbrook). The Sustainable Forestry Initiative is a non-profit organization that certifies forests and organizations that source forest materials based on a variety of different criteria. It’s important to note that, in order to meet the SFI Standard, a company must be able to prove that the material they purchase comes from sources that are both legal and responsible, but the forests don’t necessarily have to be certified by the SFI (“SFI Standards and Certifications”). The outlook on transitioning out the polystyrene cups is an outwardly positive one, as it eliminates the incredible demand for the material from Dunkin’ and halts the company’s destructive foam waste stream. The question then becomes how beneficial it really is for the company to transition from one disposable material to another in terms of environmental concerns. The more widespread concern of single-use paper cups is their impact on the world’s forests, and the global deforestation that occurs when paper is in high demand. According to National Geographic, between the years 1990 and 2016, 502,000 square miles of forest were lost to deforestation, which is a larger area than all South Africa (Nunez). The alarming rate at which the Earth is losing its forests, which are absolutely vital to the survival of not only humans but the majority of life on Earth, is indicative of the risks that come from relying on paper as a sustainable alternative to other types of materials, especially if that paper isn’t in an ideal state to be recycled. Yet another issue with paper cups is the energy that is requires to produce and transport them, as well as the chemicals that are emitted through these stages of the product’s life. Studies have shown that the production and transportation of one single paper cup leads to an emission of about 0.11 kilograms of CO2 (“The Environmental Effect of Paper Coffee Cups”). Comparing this again to Dunkin’ Donuts’ daily global sales, the company alone could be releasing roughly 23,760 kilograms of CO2 per hour, solely through the production and transportation of their new, more sustainable coffee cups. When combining the detrimental impacts of harvesting trees for paper cups in the first place and noting the planet’s reliance on trees as a method of carbon sequestration, a destructive cycle appears. As forests are depleted by the increase of paper cup production and emissions are released in the manufacturing and transportation stages, the increased CO2 can’t be sufficiently sequestered by the depleted forests.
It’s no secret that plastic pollution is a major environmental challenge that desperately needs to be solved. The United States used to rely heavily on China’s collection of its waste, shipping about 7 million tons of plastic waste to the country every single year (Joyce). Ever since the Chinese government cracked down on American waste and banned all imports of trash in 2018, it has become glaringly apparent how underequipped the United States truly is to deal with the sheer amount of trash it produces. American recycling centers severely lack the infrastructure to recycle most forms of plastic waste, meaning that many items everyday Americans put in their recycling bins never actually get recycled into new materials. According to an analysis by the World Wildlife Fund, “as of today, a third of plastic waste ends up in nature, accounting for 100 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2016…if nothing changes, the ocean will contain 1 metric ton of plastic for every 3 metric tons of fish by 2025” (de Wit). Not only does plastic – and polystyrene counts as plastic - take a toll on our environment, but all our waste that isn’t responsibly disposed of, composted, or recycled can have a major impact. Though paper is easier than plastic to recycle – or even compost in some cases – still “26% of solid waste dumped in dumping sites is discarded paper and paperboard” (Shisia). The next step after plastic and paper enters the environment is its ingestion by animals and sometimes humans. Animals frequently mistake pellets of plastic and paper waste as food, which then blocks their digestive systems and can oftentimes lead to injury or death. Humans on average have been found to digest approximately 5 grams of plastic every week, which equates to about the size of a credit card, just from day-to-day activities like eating food, drinking beverages, and breathing the air (de Wit). The trash that the average person disposes of daily will not only likely outlive them on Earth, but also can make its way back around into what they regularly consume.
There are organizations that are working to fight this build up of pollution, specifically in the planet’s fragile ocean ecosystems. One invention used to clean up ocean debris is the Seabin, an invention by Australians Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski that was created in 2014 and has grown to over 719 Seabins in 50 countries worldwide. The Seabin “acts as a floating garbage bin skimming the surface of the water by pumping water into the device…[it] can intercept: floating debris, macro and micro plastics and even micro fibres with an additional filter” (“The Seabin V5 – The Seabin Project – For Cleaner Oceans”). The Seabin attaches to the side of the dock of a marina or yacht club and collects organic and inorganic ocean waste. With technology like the Seabin, an estimated 1.4 tons of debris can be collected globally every year. Other technologies can perform the same functions, such as Skimmers and FiFish. Organizations like 4Ocean have developed harbor Skimmers that collect any floating surface debris or plastic in and around a harbor. Besides technology, there is also a growing worldwide movement for beach and ocean cleanup events, where large groups of people get together to pick up trash along their local beaches and dispose of it. The Interceptor 002 from The Ocean Cleanup is a solar-powered catamaran with a long arm that guides waste into the vessel. The Great Bubble Barrier is creating a technology that pumps a curtain of bubbles into the water that pushes plastic waste towards the riverside and into collection containers. All these solutions are certainly effective in terms of removing ocean pollution from harbors, marinas, and beaches, and creating a cleaner ocean around populated waterfront area. With the prevalence of plastic pollution in our oceans and horrifying visuals like the Great Pacific garbage patch, there’s no doubt that the oceans need these technologies and volunteers to make a dent in the problem of plastics in our oceans.
Despite all these efforts, the larger issue remains ever important. Sander Defruyt from the New Plastics Economy program at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation explains that “with a plastic and plastic-packaging market that is continuing to grow exponentially…ocean leakage is expected to triple in the next 20 years if we don’t change anything…you need to change the entire global economy and there’s no one silver-bullet solution” (“The Pros and Cons of Blue Tech in Tackling Marine Plastic Waste – World Ocean Initiative”). In the next twenty years, the current plastics industry is expected to double because developing countries are now providing whole new markets for plastics manufacturers. This means that the current rate of ocean pollution will speed up significantly, despite attempts to clean up the oceans. In essence, Defruyt is arguing that the focus should be on vastly improving the current recycling infrastructure and recyclable products, as well as an overall shift away from single-use plastics and a focus on reusables. Ocean cleanups are just a Band-Aid on the larger systemic issue, and there admittedly isn’t much of a point to focusing on creating products that can remove plastics from the ocean if the rate of replacement is accelerating. Not to mention that everything collected must be disposed of again in some way. Although some plastics that are collected from the oceans can be recycled into new materials, a lot of ocean waste can end up contaminated by fuel, oils, and other wastes. In August of 2019, Dutch non-profit The Ocean Cleanup came under fire for announcing that they would burn any materials they collected that couldn’t be recycled, in order to avoid sending anything to landfill (Fairs). While this makes sense in theory, waste-to-power plants and waste burning infrastructure in general has its flaws and burning collected waste will emit more carbon dioxide and other potentially toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. Organizations that champion ocean cleanups need to be transparent and responsible when it comes to what they plan to do with the collected material, so that the trash doesn’t continue to create further problems for the environment.
Overall, the impacts of buying one Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in a single-use cup, whether polystyrene or paper, has massive impacts on the planet. In a time when individual actions seem fruitless and are rapidly counteracted by the actions of others, the change needs to come from a higher level. As Defruyt said, systemic change needs to happen throughout society, in order to mitigate ocean pollution concerns at the source. Transitioning completely away from the use of fossil fuels to create plastic materials would be the most effective approach to take to solve this problem. Society needs to learn how to embrace a circular economy and a reusable lifestyle, and everyone needs to chip in to avoid the harmful production of single-use plastics. At a corporate level, the most effective – and admittedly most drastic – change that Dunkin’ Donuts and other major coffee chains could make would be eliminating all single-use cups from their stores and requiring customers to bring reusables. Blue Bottle Coffee, a Nestle-acquired third wave coffee roaster and retailer with 91 stores worldwide, announced in December of 2019 that they would make it their goal to be zero waste in one year (Ivanova). The intention is to require customers to bring their own cups in order to purchase to-go coffee, so that the chain could eliminate single-use cups. While this move is risky and can take a toll on a company’s business, consumers who are passionate about the product will likely be willing to take the risk. With Dunkin’ Donuts reach, at 12,900 locations in 42 countries, a change like this could have a dramatic impact on waste. If heavy-hitter coffee chains like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts decided to make this switch, they could likely withstand the potential detriment to their sales, while also encouraging all of their avid coffee drinkers to live more sustainably. Though the financial feasibility of this kind of transition is a whole other topic of its own, it’s impossible to deny that this kind of a change would really be a positive for consumers, oceans, and the store itself.
Blue technology, ocean and beach cleanups, and anti-littering campaigns all have their time and place in the fight against global climate change. As society nears the unfathomable metric of more plastic in the sea than fish in 2050, any changes that can be made now to avoid that dreaded goal are very welcome. But as with all environmental regulations, change needs to come from the beginning of the production line, and from the major corporations that wield the most power. It’s going to take everyone working together in some way or another to combat global climate change. Putting the pressure on the major manufacturers and corporations is the most effective way to mitigate climate change and eliminate those sixty single-use coffee cups per second.
Clay Cansler is managing editor of Distillations., Clay. “Styrofoam, a Practical and Problematic Creation.” Science History Institute, 19 Apr. 2019, www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/styrofoam-a-practical-and-problematic-creation.
de Wit, Wijnand. “No Plastic in Nature: Assessing Plastic Ingestion from Nature to People.” WWF Analysis INT 2019, 2019, d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/downloads/plastic_ingestion_web_spreads.pdf.
“The Environmental Effect of Paper Coffee Cups.” EPS Distribution, 14 Jan. 2014, www.epsdistribution.com.au/the-environmental-effect-of-paper-coffee-cups/.
Fairs, Marcus. “Plastic Collected by The Ocean Cleanup Will Be Burned to Generate
Electricity.” Dezeen, 19 Aug. 2019, www.dezeen.com/2019/08/19/ocean-cleanup-plastic-burning-electricity-news/.
Holbrook, Emily. “Dunkin’ Donuts’ Restaurants Replaces Foam with Paper Cups.” Environment + Energy Leader, 8 July 2020, www.environmentalleader.com/2020/05/dunkin-donuts-says-all-of-its-restaurants-have-transitioned-from-foam-to-paper-cups/.
Ivanova, Irina. “Blue Bottle Coffee to Test Eliminating Disposable Cups and Packaging.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 13 Dec. 2019, www.cbsnews.com/news/blue-bottle-coffee-to-eliminate-disposable-cups-and-packaging-by-the-end-of-2020/.
Joyce, Christopher. “Where Will Your Plastic Trash Go Now That China Doesn’t Want It?” NPR, NPR, 13 Mar. 2019, www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/12/702501726/where-will-your-plastic- trash-go-now-that-china-doesnt-want-it.
Lu, Stacy. “Too Much Coffee?” American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/gradpsych/2015/11/coffee.
Newsday.com. “Dunkin’ Donuts Add Gluten-Free Item, Other Facts You Didn’t Know.” Newsday, Newsday, 3 Aug. 2018, www.newsday.com/business/facts-about-dunkin-donuts-including-munchkins-coffees-iced-coffee-quincy-and-first-store-1.10435725
Nunez, Christina. “Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet.” Deforestation Facts and Information, 25 Feb. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/.
“The Pros and Cons of Blue Tech in Tackling Marine Plastic Waste – World Ocean Initiative.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 2019, www.woi.economist.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-blue-tech-in-tackling-marine-plastic-waste/.
Scott. “The United States’ Coffee Drinking Habits.” Driftaway Coffee, 11 Apr. 2016, driftaway.coffee/much-coffee-america-drink/.
“The Seabin V5 – The Seabin Project – For Cleaner Oceans.” Seabin, 2020, seabinproject.com/the-seabin-v5/.
“SFI Standards and Certifications.” SFI Standards and Certifications – Sustainable Forestry Initiative, 2013, web.archive.org/web/20130216004701/http:/www.sfiprogram.org/sfi-standard/index.php.
Shisia, Maureen. “What Is the Environmental Impact of Paper?” WorldAtlas, WorldAtlas, 14 May 2018, www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-environmental-impact-of-paper.html.


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G-III Apparel to buy eponymous label of the late Karl Lagerfeld
US fashion group G-III Apparel has announced plans to acquire the namesake brand of the late Karl Lagerfeld.
The group said Monday it will snap up the remaining 81 percent stake in the label for 200 million euros (210 million US dollars) to become its sole owner.
It said Karl Lagerfeld’s current leadership team will continue to lead the company, and it expects the deal to add in excess of 200 million dollars in initial annual sales.
G-III first snapped up a stake in Karl Lagerfeld back in 2015. Since then, the group has built the brand into an “important and rapidly growing part of our North American business”, G-III chair and CEO Morris Goldfarb said Monday.
“This transaction marks yet another significant milestone for G-III,” he said.
It comes after G-III, whose portfolio already includes brands DKNY, Donna Karan and Vilebrequin, bought iconic Parisian luxury label Sonia Rykiel last year.
Karl Lagerfeld, who served as creative director of storied French fashion house Chanel from 1983 until his death at the age of 85 in 2019, “was an icon of the fashion industry”, Goldfarb said.
G-III takes full control of Karl Lagerfeld
Goldfarb continued: “[Karl Lagerfeld's] namesake brand embodies his spirit as a designer while also appealing to a broad range of consumers throughout the world.
“We have great respect for Karl Lagerfeld’s experienced and talented leadership team, led by Pier Paolo Righi, with whom we have worked closely for the last seven years.”
Goldfarb said the Karl Lagerfeld brand’s global potential represents a retail sales opportunity in excess of 2 billion dollars.
Karl Lagerfeld CEO Pier Paolo Righi said: “As proud custodians of Karl’s legacy, we are guided by his mantra to ‘embrace the present and invent the future’, and I am looking forward to building the future of his namesake brand with the combined strength of our team and G-III’s expertise in the industry.”
The transaction is expected to close in the second or third quarter of fiscal year 2023.


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Crypto Currencies are not doing what they are supposed to do
In today's news Google just joined Facebook to band Crypto related advertisements. Along with other news about crack down or regulation of ICO and Crypto Exchanges, it is even more clear that what the cryptocurrencies originally set out to do is simply NOT doing its job, at least not in its current form or will stay in a niche segment.
The reasons why I think Crypto has a difficult job in doing what it's supposed to do is due to one simple factor: Open Source technologies. As long as crypto is based on open source technologies, it means that anyone can use it to create yet another crypto currency. That goes against the original objective of establishing a highly trust worthy and value protected limited supply currencies.
Crypto is supposed to give the power back to the people where every transaction is to be completely transparent and nobody can lie to anybody. However, the very act that so many company can create crypto will create quality variations which lead to trusts issue. When customers don't trust the products or platforms, regulation and supervision will be needed. Some we cannot just kick out the government or central power entity that manage the currency and exchanges.
The demand for every computer to keep and cross check on every transaction is simply over use of network bandwidth, CPU and electricity. So much storage across the millions of devices across the globe is used to store duplications of the ledger. Obviously it's a bit too much to maintain the check and balances. Image how much resources will be used if crypto currencies transaction is wildly accepted in future. I say this is simply not sustainable as a technology for mass transactions.
The check and balance quality as suggested by the Blockchain technology is good. The way it is adopted into bitcoin with an objective for mass market transaction is perhaps an overly optimistic attempt. If we are to deploy crypto currency for the mass, some kind of changes of the deployment is likely needed.
I have not invested in the past and will likely not to invest in Crypto currencies. I have to be frank that I was very much attracted to the potential of appreciation last year. However, the associated retracement risk and the technical issues I have discussed above stopped me from investing into crypto. Blockchain may be a technologies worthy for investment but I only see it as a way to improve efficiency in transaction execution. So it will the companies that uses the technology that can drive substantial profit. It would, by my wild speculation, be the incumbent financial institutions who already has millions of transactions to be benefited from the new technology. I believe it would be hard to find good sizeable investment from companies which "sell" the blockchain technologies.


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Dear valued HUB SmartCoverage client: The ongoing COVID-19 crisis is causing extremely high traffic volume and wait times may be longer than usual. We recommend that you register for online self serve to submit your request. Be sure of one thing, we’ll take care of you!
Despite the drop in sales of new condos in Toronto, people who are still buying are spending more than ever.
The benchmark price of a new condominium apartment in Greater Toronto jumped 18.8 per cent over the past year, to just short of the $1 million mark, at $990,880, according to numbers for October from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).
However, sales of new condos in the metro area were down nearly 32 per cent compared to last year. The city of Toronto led the way with a 46 per cent drop in sales.
Buyers are also showing signs of shifting to larger homes in outlying areas amid the pandemic. Detached home sales jumped 44 per cent from last year, and the benchmark price rose 12 per cent in the past year, to $1.21 million.
That kept the decline in new home sales in October to around 10 per cent, BILD said to Huffington Post Canada.
“When we look at the overall numbers so far in this very unusual year, it’s clear that the demand for the homes our industry builds is not going anywhere,” BILD president David Wilkes said in a statement.
But that demand is shifting rapidly. Realtors say supply is soaring and buyers are vanishing in the downtown core, where there used to be many short-term rentals before the pandemic.
House prices have soared during the pandemic in many parts of Canada and elsewhere, and economists say it’s due to lower interest rates, generous government income supports in the crisis and deferred debt payments.
Lower interest on mortgage payments means housing is becoming more affordable even as prices soar, the National Bank of Canada said in its latest affordability monitor.
The cost of carrying a home in Toronto and Vancouver, as a share of income, dropped to its lowest since 2016.
Additionally, with large parts of the economy shut down this year, many households were able to save more money than usual, giving them more for a down payment on a house.
Canada’s household savings rate – the percentage of disposable income households don’t spend – spiked to 28 per cent in the second quarter of this year, from a long-term average of around 3 per cent. It’s the highest savings rate in records going back more than 50 years.
The question is whether this run can last.
“With extraordinary government support to household income phasing out and (mortgage) payment deferrals not at play in 2021, the housing market is facing some headwinds given the still recovering labour market,” economists Kyle Dahms and Alexandra wrote in National Bank’s affordability report.
With restrictions on activity still in place headed into 2021, the economists said immigration rates could be weaker than expected ahead, meaning less demand for housing than expected.


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BijouRocks by Reine Krief have been hand-selected by RAW Artists San Diego to exhibit at their next highly anticipated artist showcase called "Magnify"!
The event will be held at House of Blues San Diego (1055 5th Ave, San Diego, CA 92101), Tuesday April 17th 2018 from 6:00PM- 10:00PM. The event is 21+ and the dress code is cocktail attire. There is going to be local artists exhibiting art over a variety of genres and mediums including visual arts, photography, hair & make-up, fashion, accessory design, music and performance art.
You can purchase tickets right from my RAW artist profile:
Tickets must be purchased by April 10th!


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Ever since the royal wedding of the century, the Kate Middleton effect has become infectious with her beauty look now one of the most iconic and sought after styles around the world.
And this year the craze has barely settled, as beauty fans everywhere fawned with admiration as the Duchess of Cambridge attended many events throughout the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year – which included the London 2012 Olympic games when she looked as immaculate as ever.
CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR FULL GALLERY
Since receiving professional lessons from London-based make-up artist Arabella Preston for the royal wedding, the Duchess of Cambridge now personally takes care of her own beauty regime.
And this year, Kate has shown she is more expert than amateur in the makeup department.
Known for her flawless, bronzed skin and dazzling smile, the Duchess consistently ensures she looks at her best by complementing her features with pearlescent pink lipsticks and sporting strong, sophisticated brows that frame her face.
She never looks less that perfect so it will come as no surprise that the young royal won the public's approval for style, being voted with the "Most Envied Hair" of the year.
Seven hundred female participants were asked to rate which star’s hair they envy the most in the survey carried out by haircare retailer Fabriah.com, and Kate triumphed with a clear margain.
Her lovely, luscious locks have even got their own title, the infamous 'Chelsea Blow-dry', named after the stylish part of London where the Duchess' favourite salon is situated.
But the mother-to-be also showed that she was not afraid of a bit of experimentation. Swapping her tumbling trademark curls for an elegant braided bun the Duchess stunned her fans at the London Olympic Gala with intricate details put in place by a team from Richard Ward's salon in Chelsea.
As the Queen's female ambassador abroad, Kate did the nation proud producing a number of other envious hairstyles whilst touring South East Asia with her husband, Prince William.
From half-up tresses and glorious curls, the Prince's wife also sported a spectacularly delicate chignon which was adorned, as is tradition for women in Malaysia, with intricately woven pearls for the Diamond Jubilee tea party in Kuala Lumpur.
After a year of the 30-year-old's iconic locks, Kate also turned to her favourite snipper, Richard Ward, for an update on her famous do with a long, sweeping fringe.
Reminiscent of the famous choppy hairstyle from which Lady Diana would peak beneath, the Duchess of Cambridge's cut not only marks a new era of style, but also her journey into motherhood.


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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If you have an extra yuan, peso, euro, Canadian quarater or any other foreign currency lying around, it’s time to break it out of the piggy bank for free food at McDonald’s.
(So, yes, technically not free, but until your local McDonald’s starts regularly accepting that Icelandic króna you forgot you had, for all intents and purposes, it’s free.)
To promote its new line of international menu items, the fast-food chain is holding an international currency exchange. On June 6 from 2-5 p.m., customers can exchange any amount of foreign currency for one of the new offerings.
Choices include the Netherlands’ Stroopwafel McFlurry, Spain’s Grand McExtreme Bacon Burger (single only), Canada’s Tomato Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich or Australia’s favorite Cheesy Bacon Fries.
Sorry, “Pulp Fiction” fans, the Royale with Cheese isn’t on the special menu.
“As a global restaurant leader, we’re excited to bring fan-favorites from abroad to the U.S. this summer with our new Worldwide Favorites menu,” said McDonald’s Director of Communications Molly McKenna in a release. “To welcome these new flavors, we created the McDonald’s International Currency Exchange event. This unique event provides our customers with an international experience that only a brand with our global scale could create, all without having to hop on a plane.”
McDonald’s Worldwide Favorites menu is available at participating restaurants for a limited time starting June 5.


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This year, the M-department of BMW 50 blowing out candles, a birthday they celebrate with the first specific M model since the BMW M1. But those who hoped for an electric reincarnation of that supercar dating back to 1978 were disappointed: they opted for the BMW XM, a plug-in hybrid SUV. But what is not, may yet come. So says Frank Webber, the development head of the German constructor. After all, he made it clear that the Neue Platform, which will be launched in 2025, could also lead to an electric-powered super sports car. Towards a 100% electric production version of the hybrid BMW Vision M Concept from 2019, perhaps?
And there was even more good news, as Webber also stated that the rather unusually designed i Vision Circular Concept would not bore to the successor to the BMW i3.


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Market Opening - An Overview
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange were trading 0.53% higher at 17,933, signalling that Dalal Street was headed for a positive start on Thursday.
Japanese shares opened lower on Thursday after the US-based Nasdaq index dropped following tepid results from Microsoft and Google’s parent company Alphabet. Nikkei 225 index was down 0.19% and Topix fell by 0.52%. Meanwhile, Chinese shares were trading higher. Hang Seng index jumped 2.74% abd CSI 300 in was up 0.28%.
Indian rupee stood at 82.73 against the US dollar.
FII/DII Trading Data
Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, SBI Cards and Payment Services, Indus Towers, PNB Housing Finance, Tata Chemicals, Anupam Rasayan India, Balaji Amines, REC, Latent View Analytics, Lloyds Steels Industries, CE Info Systems, PC Jeweller, Supreme Petrochem, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Vaibhav Global and V-Guard Industries will report their quarterly earnings on October 27.
Stocks in News Today
Dabur India: The FMCG company ended the second quarter of FY23 with consolidated profit of Rs 490.1 crore, down 3% compared to year-ago period. Its consolidated revenue stood at Rs 2,986.5 crore, up 6% YoY for the quarter ended September FY23. The company said it will buy 51% stake in Badshah Masala for Rs 587 crore and the remaining 49% stake will be acquired after five years. Badshah Masala is engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing and export of ground spices, blended spices and seasonings.
Tata Steel: The company has inked an agreement with American carmaker Ford to supply “zeremis green steel” from its Netherlands-based IJmuiden plant after the unit shifts to hydrogen-based steel making. In Europe, Tata Steel is working to switch to low-carbon technologies to manufacture steel in the UK and the Netherlands.
Reliance Retail: The retail arm of Reliance Industries is expanding its business into the fast-growing toy sector through its brand Rowan to operate in the affordable segment with a smaller shop size. The company has now brought this homegrown brand to the front end by opening its first EBO (exclusive brand outlet) at Gurugram in NCR in the last quarter with a store size of 1,400 sq feet. Under this new format, Reliance Retail will have a range of affordable toys not only from the brand Rowan on its shelves but also from other brands.
Hero MotoCorp: The two-wheeler maker is set to commence its operations in the Philippines. Terrafirma Motors Corporation (TMC), a part of the Columbian Group of Companies, announced partnering with Hero and it will be the exclusive assembler and distributor of Hero MotoCorp motorcycles in Philippines.
Chennai Petroleum Corporation: The refiner recorded a 99% sequential decline in standalone profit at Rs 27.88 crore for the quarter ended September FY23, due to windfall tax on exports. Revenue declined nearly 17% QoQ to Rs 22,894 crore for the quarter. The government on July 1 levied duties on export of petroleum products at the rates notified on fortnightly basis, which have been reduced in the refinery transfer pricing. This has resulted in lower revenue and profitability for the quarter, the company said in a BSE filing.
Tata Power Solar Systems: The company announced the launch of cost-efficient solar off-grid solutions in West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd (TPSSL) is a subsidiary of Tata Power. The off-grid solutions provide a combination of high-efficient solar modules, inverters and batteries and are available in 11 variants ranging from 1 – 10 Kw with 5-year warranty, the company said.
DLF: The realty major plans to launch new projects worth Rs 3,500 crore during the second half of this fiscal, mainly in Gurugram and Panchkula to meet the rising demand. The company plans to launch around 3 million square feet area across residential projects.
Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals: The appliance maker reported a drop of 18% in net profit to Rs 131 crore for the September quarter. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 159 crore for the July quarter. The consolidated revenue of the company grew by 23% to Rs 1,700 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 1,385 crore a year ago. The company’s EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs 193 crore, a decline of 10%. The EBITDA in the year ago period was Rs 214 crore.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL): The company and Sony India have agreed to sell three Hindi channels — Big Magic, Zee Action and Zee Classic — to address anti-competition concerns due to their proposed merger. The CCI made public its detailed 58-page order, specifying the channels that would be dropped.
Route Mobile: The company said its board has approved providing corporate guarantee in favour of Standard Chartered Bank for a term loan facility proposed to be taken by subsidiary Route Mobile (UK) of up to $15 million. The corporate guarantee will be treated as a contingent liability for the company.
Ramkrishna Forgings: The company has reported 27% growth in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 64 crore for September quarter 2022 on account of higher revenues. It had clocked Rs 50.11 crore profit in July-September period a year ago. Revenue rose to Rs 762.55 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 578.93 crore in the year-ago period.
Power Finance Corporation: HDFC Mutual Fund through its several schemes sold a 2.07% stake in the company through open market transactions on October 21. With this, its shareholding in PFC reduced to 6.94%, down from 9.01%.
Trident: The company said it has completed a solar power project of 8.87 MWp at Budhni in Madhya Pradesh. With this, it has commissioned both phases—Phase 1 of 5.48 MWp and Phase II of 3.39 MWp solar power plants—for captive use. The company is moving towards a greener planet as the group aims to use renewable and clean energy for reducing carbon emissions, it said.
CSB Bank: Maybank Securities Pte Ltd acquired 26,39,673 equity shares (1.5% stake) in the private sector lender via open market transactions at an average price of Rs 232.3 per share. However, Nomura Singapore which held 1.84% shareholding in the bank as of September 2022 was the seller for shares in a transaction on October 25. Meanwhile, SBI Mutual Fund on October 21 had acquired additional 1.78% shareholding in the bank, raising is total stake to 7.21% from 5.42% earlier.
IIFL Finance: The company reported a 36% year-on-year growth in consolidated profit at Rs 397 crore for the quarter ended September FY23, driven by higher revenue as well as operating performance. Revenue from operations grew by 21% to Rs 2,023 crore compared to year-ago period.
Gland Pharma: The pharmaceutical company has reported a 20% year-on-year decline in profit at Rs 241.2 crore for quarter ended September FY23, dented by weak topline as well as operating performance. Revenue for the quarter fell 3% to Rs 1,044.4 crore compared to year-ago period, impacted by lower business from India and Rest of World, while core markets (US, Europe, Canada and Australia) recorded 3% YoY growth.
Ahluwalia Contracts (India): The company has secured orders for construction work of Amity Campus Hyderabad (Telangana) from Ritnand Balved Education Foundations worth of Rs 60 crore and construction of civil, structural and external development work from Muthoot Hospital worth of Rs 43 crore. The order inflow during the FY23 stood at Rs 3,114.72 crore, till date.
Zydus Lifesciences: The company has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market Micafungin for injection in the US. Micafungin is indicated to treat variety of fungal infections. It is also used to prevent fungal infections in patients who are having a stem cell transplant. The drug will be manufactured at the group’s injectable manufacturing facility at Jarod in Gujarat.
Century Textiles and Industries: The company recorded consolidated profit at Rs 70 crore for the quarter ended September FY23, up 118% over profit of Rs 32 crore reported in year-ago period, driven by strong operating performance. Revenue during the quarter grew by 20% YoY to Rs 1,242 crore aided by pulp and paper business.
PCBL: The company has reported a 4.6% year-on-year decline in consolidated profit at Rs 116.5 crore for the quarter ended September FY23, dented by higher input cost. Revenue for the quarter at Rs 1,628 crore increased by 52.5% compared to year-ago period.
Jammu and Kashmir Bank: The lender is planning to sell its non-performing assets worth Rs 960 crore, as part of its efforts to improve its balance sheet, PTI news reported citing sources in the bank. The bank is hoping that the process of sale of these non-performing assets to the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) will be completed by the end of this month, the sources said.


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In the second major content play since it agreed to sell myriad assets to Walt Disney Co. late in 2017, 21st Century Fox Inc.'s FOX News Channel (US) will debut a news opinion-driven, over-the-top streaming offering in the fourth quarter, the programmer said Feb. 20.
Ad-free at launch, Fox Nation will dive into the issues of the day with live, exclusive daily streaming content and long-form programming available only to subscribers. While the streaming product — pricing for which has yet to be determined — will be offered directly to consumers, FOX News said the company will also work with traditional distributors in marketing the new service.
Although hiring for the new venture is set to begin in the second quarter, the new service, to be housed within 21st Century Fox headquarters in Manhattan, will include interaction from FOX News Channel hosts and personalities, according to the company.
FOX News said the new service is designed as an enhancement, an add-on product, for its audience. In appealing to FOX News "superfans," Fox Nation is "not a replacement for the cable subscription."
Ali Choukeir, an analyst at Kagan, a unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in an interview that while all of the particulars of the new service have not been detailed, offering a lot of original content to supplement FOX News Channel should put it in "a good place as a niche offering.”
Choukeir said that in surveying the landscape, "the niche interested in conservative news information is passionate. If it's priced at $5 or $6 per month, [Fox Nation] should be able to draw from a fairly broad group with a significant interest in that kind of content."
FOX News Channel has vaulted to the top of all cable ratings in prime time and total day the past two years in this heightened political climate. FOX News Channel averaged 2.42 million viewers in prime time during 2017, even with its delivery during the 2016 presidential year, and boosted its average audience 8% to 1.50 million watchers in total-day in 2017.
The Fox Nation direct-to-consumer gambit follows 21st Century Fox's $3.3 billion, five-year rights deal it signed with the NFL last month for an 11-game "Thursday Night Football" package, kicking off with the 2018 season.
The expanded NFL slate and the launch of Fox Nation, which looks to draft off of FOX News Channel’s leadership position, underlines the company’s commitment to re-emerging as a sports-focused and news-driven operation in the wake of its $52.4 billion deal to sell its film and TV studios, international properties and some of its domestic cable holdings to Disney.
When the Disney deal was announced Dec. 14, 2017, 21st Century co-executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch said the "New Fox" business would explore different, potentially disruptive distribution and monetization strategies. "We've been pretty open for some time in saying that we believe that all of our content and channels will ultimately have a direct-to-consumer distribution element, as well as a traditional distribution combined," Murdoch said at the time. "So we would expect that the New Fox channels to have a direct-to-consumer platform as actually part of the deal."
Fox Nation is the latest development in the spate of recent direct-to-consumer news from traditional media players. "A lot of the traditional media players are using their portfolios to court new users with niche offerings," said Choukeir.
During its Feb. 8 first-quarter earnings call, Viacom Inc. announced that it plans to launch a direct-to-consumer product, featuring tens of thousands of hours from across its global library in the U.S. before the close of its fiscal year.
On its Feb. 15 earnings call, CBS Corp., which now counts some 5 million streaming subscribers between its CBS All Access and Showtime OTT products, said it will launch CBS Sports HQ, a free ad-supported sports news and analysis service later this month, before the start of the "March Madness" men’s college basketball tournament. It is also planning an ad-based, entertainment news-oriented service tied to its "Entertainment Tonight" franchise this fall.
In the meantime, Walt Disney Co.'s direct-to-consumer game plan calls for a spring bow of an ESPN Plus, which will retail for $4.99 per month and include thousands of events that are not available on the sports' programmer's linear service, and a Disney-branded entertainment service that is scheduled to debut late in 2019. Upon completion of the deal, Fox properties will be incorporated into the new streaming services.


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Billie Eilish lost 100,000 Instagram followers yesterday (29 December) over a drawing of some breasts, and she reacted in the best way by calling the haters "babies".
Yesterday (29 December) Eilish gave in and participated in the latest "post a picture of..." Instagram trend, but not all her followers enjoyed her photo choices.
100,000 people unfollowed Eilish yesterday (29 December) after she shared her phone lock screen and some artwork she's proud of. Her phone lock screen featured two naked women, and the artwork she shared from her personal sketchbook featured drawings of breasts and women's naked bodies.
Eilish wrote alongside her sketchbook drawings, "these probably lol i love boobs."
billie eilish loving boobs exactly pic.twitter.com/2ZcesSGCTP— j (@asterchus) December 29, 2020
It turns out not all her fans wanted to see the nude drawings, as Eilish lost a staggering 100,000 Instagram followers, dipping to 72.9 million followers after posting her sketches. Eilish responded in the best way in a now-deleted Instagram story, writing, "LMFAOOO y'all babies smh."
Earlier this month Eilish unveiled the first official trailer for her upcoming Apple Original Films documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry. The full documentary will arrive on Apple TV+ in February 2021.