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New Delhi: The Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD
) and Invest India, the investment promotion and facilitation agency of the union government, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to transform India into a global medical devices
manufacturing hub in keeping with the government’s ‘Make in India’ mission. The MoU was signed by Rajiv Nath
, forum coordinator, AiMeD and Deepak Bagla
, managing director, Invest India.
Under the agreement, AiMeD and Invest India will jointly work with various central government and state government departments and agencies to establish appropriate policies and regulatory framework to promote manufacturing of medical devices and components on a day-to-day basis.
AiMeD and Invest India will also reach out to Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 companies in major medical devices destinations like Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Israel, Germany, USA etc with the objective of technology sourcing and manufacturing joint ventures for India.
The two organisations will also jointly host international road shows including conferences, seminars, exhibitions to promote manufacturing in India and to apprise potential investors of the policies, investment and manufacturing opportunities available in India related to medical device and component sector, according to a statement.
After signing the agreement, Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator, AiMeD, said, “We are honoured and delighted to join forces with Invest India to work as their knowledge partners on practical strategies to realize Make in India. This landmark public-private partnership will help India become the top five global hub for medical device manufacturing.”
Nath further said, “We know the roadblocks that need to be addressed for both Indian and overseas investors and will focus on getting collaborations and joint ventures with midsized Indian companies with midsized overseas manufacturers and OEM relationships with large overseas companies.”
Deepak Bagla, managing director, Invest India, said, “We look forward to work with AiMeD to bring in investment to the medical devices sector in India and convert India into a global medical devices manufacturing hub.”
According to industry estimates, India imports over Rs 30,000 crore of medical devices, which is nearly 70% of the country’s requirement. In addition, there is an equally huge export potential to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore.
“The medical devices sector is being seen as the next big thing after IT and defence sectors and India has the potential to emerge as a major exporter on the lines of pharma products. The government has now added medical devices as one of the flagship sectors to catapult its ambitious ‘Make in India’ mission. The MoU between AiMeD and Invest India is in tune with realizing these national objectives,” said Rajiv Nath.
AIMED is an umbrella association of Indian manufacturers of medical devices covering all types of medical devices including consumables, disposables, equipments, Implants, instruments and diagnostics. AIMED claims to have a primary membership of over 350 manufacturers and additionally of over 150 associate members representing the interest of over 800 manufacturers of medical devices to address the manufacturer’s problems.
Invest India is the official Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of the Government of India, mandated to facilitate investments into India. Invest India has a team of domain and functional experts who provide sector-and state-specific inputs, and hand-holding support to investors through the entire investment cycle, from pre-investment decision-making to after-care.


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Financial Services (FinServ)
Deutsche Bank innovates supply chain financing for BASF
Deutsche Bank has just announced the creation of a new supply chain financing solution that will benefit BASF China and its suppliers...
How fintechs can help businesses manage late payments
Ian Duffy, CEO of Accelerated Payments, discusses how fintechs can help businesses manage delayed customer payments at a challenging time of year
Alliant Credit Union is attracting new customers with new technologies
In 2003, Alliant Credit Union diversified. Since then, it has embarked on a digital transformation journey to draw in new customers...

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Signet taps into growing rental market with acquisition of Rocksbox
Global jewelry retailer Signet Jewelers Limited announced on Tuesday that it has acquired online jewelry rental service Rocksbox as part of its efforts to boost its digital presence and expand its services offering, hitherto focused on repair, warranty services and piercings. The terms of the acquisition have not been divulged.
Launched by current CEO Meaghan Rose in 2012, San Francisco-based Rocksbox is an online platform allowing monthly subscribers to rent and swap designer jewelry pieces. Touting accessibility and circularity as its main draws, the marketplace mirrors similar rental platforms offering luxury apparel, footwear and accessories, such as Rent the Runway and Le Tote, both of which have achieved solid growth over the past few years.
With the purchase of Rocksbox, Signet Jewelers, whose portfolio includes Kay, Zales and Jared in the U.S., and H. Samuel and Ernest Jones in the UK, as well as digital-first jeweler James Allen, said that it hopes to offer “an additional point of entry for self-purchasing women customers, a segment where Signet is currently under-developed.”
“I'm delighted to welcome the talented Rocksbox team to our Signet family and am confident this union will generate exciting opportunities to accelerate our growth in services and reach new customers,” said Signet CEO Virginia C. Drosos in a release.
“We look forward to bringing Rocksbox's outstanding services to more customers, and to introducing those new customers to the balance of Signet's banners,” she added, after highlighting the newly acquired company’s strengths in personalized, data-driven customer experiences.
In March, Signet announced that it was entering a new phase of its Inspiring Brilliance growth strategy, a development which involves the company focusing on accelerating its services revenue and doubling down on digital commerce.
The acquisition of Rocksbox fits neatly into these objectives, while its promotion of the circular economy also supports Signet’s renewed emphasis on corporate responsibility – another spoke of the Inspiring Brilliance wheel.
In the fiscal year ended January 30, 2021, Signet’s net sales totaled $5.2 billion, falling 14.8% from $6.1 billion in the previous year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite a 57.9% year-over-year increase in the company’s annual e-commerce sales.
The retailer’s annual net loss came to $48.7 million, or $0.94 per diluted share, compared to income of $72.6 million, or $1.40 per diluted share, in the prior year.
Signet currently operates approximately 2,800 stores in the U.S., Canada and the UK.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations has unveiled the first of the six new Lightweight E-Type prototype, ahead of its scheduled debut at Pebble Beach this weekend.
The new Lightweight E-type is the first recreation to come from Jaguar Heritage
Earlier this year, Jaguar announced that it would recreate six new Lightweights, each built by Jaguar Heritage, part of Jaguar Land Rover's new Special Operations division. Jaguar’s Lightweight E-type project started back in 1963, with the last car assembled in 1964. The company had initially planned to build 18 of these models, however only 12 were built so Jaguar is following through and completing the remaining six units.
In recreating the Lightweight, Jaguar Heritage has drawn on Jaguar's unique engineering and design resources, including the company's world-leading aluminium body technology. Also the new Lightweight E-Types will be built to the exact specification of the original cars. To preview the design, the engineers have prepared a prototype Lightweight - 'Car Zero' which will be on display during the Pebble Beach Automotive event.
The handcrafted model features an aluminium monocoque, aluminium body closures (bonnet/doors/trunk) and a removable aluminium roof. Much of Car Zero's interior - floor pan, sills, rear areas - have intentionally been left unpainted, to emphasise the car's aluminium bodywork, while Connolly leather is used to trim the competition-type aluminium bucket seat base as well as the centre console.
Power comes from an aluminium 3.8-litre six-cylinder engine that produces 253 kW and 380 Nm of torque, and is connected to a four-speed manual gearbox. In addition, the aluminium-block engine has a 10:1 compression ratio and is based on the engine that powered the D-type to Le Mans victory in 1957. The six cars will be sold as period competition vehicles and all will be suitable for FIA homologation for historic motorsport purposes. Pricing? Well, if you have to ask you probably can't afford it.


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Tag Archives: sales
Thu, Nov 21, 2013 | 14:14 GMT
Amazon has announced its deals for Black Friday will kick off a bit early this year, starting this Sunday, November 24.
Tue, Oct 29, 2013 | 17:10 GMT
Tue, Oct 29, 2013 | 13:00 GMT
Sat, Oct 26, 2013 | 14:43 BST
Green Man Gaming has a sale going on featuring various discounts on Capcom titles. The sales is going on now through October 28 so you have plenty of time. A list of games on sale is below the break.
Wed, Sep 25, 2013 | 13:15 BST
Sales of Grand Theft Auto 5 may well have topped 15 million units worldwide, according to Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz. He expects the figure to pass 25 million within the game’s first year.
Tue, Sep 24, 2013 | 21:58 BST
Tue, Sep 10, 2013 | 04:02 BST
Fri, Aug 02, 2013 | 08:16 BST
Tue, Jul 16, 2013 | 18:11 BST
Steam has updated its Summer Getaway sale with more deals. Flash sales include the scary Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Serious Sam 3, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and Assassin’s Creed 3. The Community Sale choice is Skyrim: Legendary Edition for 25% off. Get the deals through the link or look at the screencaps below to decide if you want anything available.
Wed, Jun 26, 2013 | 14:30 BST
From now until July 10, Somy has put select PSone titles on sale through the PS Store. Plus members will get an additional 10% off. Have a look at the list of offerings below.
Mon, May 13, 2013 | 22:53 BST
Irrational’s Bioshock: Infinite has shipped more than 3.7 million units to date, publisher Take-Two Interactive revealed in its year-end financials released today.
Thu, May 09, 2013 | 13:25 BST
Hit mobile puzzle title The Room has now sold over 2 million copies since its launch in September of last year, it has been revealed.
Thu, May 09, 2013 | 10:16 BST
Tue, Jan 29, 2013 | 18:15 GMT
Xbox 360 sales in the UK look set to overtake the Wii. According to GFK Chart-Track, Microsoft’s console was just 200,000 units behind at the end of December, having outsold Nintendo’s product by over four times in 2012.
Wed, Jan 02, 2013 | 04:54 GMT
Look, this isn’t news by now, as Steam has been slashing prices pretty much continually since October, but today’s offerings are wonderful 2D MOBA Awesomenauts; medieval multiplayer affair War of the Roses; the Max Payne, Transformers and Total War franchises; and Torchlight 2. Yesterday’s deals – the Fable and Alan Wake franchises; F1 2012; Terraria; Deus Ex: Human Revolution; and The Binding of Isaac – are still available for a few more hours, and at time of writing six flash sales were available. If there are any PC or Mac games left you do not yet own, go forth and save.
Fri, Dec 21, 2012 | 04:40 GMT
Oh god not another sale. Square Enix has discounted a range of iOS titles to mark the holiday season including Final Fantasy titles, Chaos Rings, The World Ends With You and the controversially expensive DLC for Demon’s Score. Here’s the full list. Go spend slightly less money on individual items, adding up to more money than you really should: that’s the holiday sale way.
Sun, Dec 09, 2012 | 23:30 GMT
Fri, Dec 07, 2012 | 08:24 GMT
Even with Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4 and Assassin’s Creed III topping sales charts, the NPD’s November report shows double digit declines for the industry.
Sat, Nov 17, 2012 | 22:20 GMT
Tue, Oct 30, 2012 | 19:39 GMT


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Guess Who’s Back?
Great Stuff’s back — tell a friend. Seriously, you’re not hogging this Stuff all on your own, right?
I know, it was only a weekend, but it’s felt like forever since we’ve caught up on the market goodness, Great Ones. Also, if you want to know a secret … I’m not Joe, aka Mr. Great Stuff. Gasp!
The nameless and faceless Great Stuff team is on deck this week, no longer behind the scenes. Joe decided to relish in the summertime sunshine (lol, as if) and head out for vacation. Shocking, isn’t it? Even Mr. Great Stuff himself has to recharge his greatness batteries sometime … or something like that.
You actually hear from us a lot more than you think. So, rest assured: Your dream meme team is still at Great Stuff HQ, holding down the fort here. But suffice it to say, we’re keeping things quick and dirty today … and most of this week. Just the way y’all Great Ones dig … you dig?
Now, you know who else is back (back again)? Earnings season! The time for corporate revenues and earnings to shine is nigh. This week’s slate of reports packs some heavy hitters from across the market, and things are only getting hotter throughout the rest of July.
Here’s the week ahead in earnings, courtesy of the cool cats over at EarningsWhispers on Twitter:
It’s bank week … oh boy. In fact, this week’s earnings lineup is almost a mirror image of the first week of last earnings season. (Go check out April 12’s earnings, play spot the difference and get back to me.)
The who’s-who of the banking milieu will strut their stuff all this week, from the institutional big wigs like BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to the banking sector’s relatively small fry, like First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC) and PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC).
So, what are we looking for here? With the bank brigade, it’s all about outlook and guidance this time around. I want to know what economic headwinds the banks see for the rest of the year, going into next year. Sure, last quarter’s financial deets are welcome … but the banks usually have as much to say as a post-game sports news conference.
Yes, in our last quarter, we uhh traded a lot … made tons of dough. ‘Twas nice. Next quarter? Yeah, we’re probably going to do it again … try and make more money.
Fascinating as always. Anyway, I’m mainly watching to see which banks talk up their inflation/deflation/reflation concerns. You’ll want to watch which banks are actually concerned about something … and which are just going with the program.
While we’ve not mentioned Cintas (Nasdaq: CTAS) much in these here digital pages, it’s definitely on the watchlist for the week. With Cintas’s role in outfitting and supplying both small and large businesses with uniforms, safety products and cleaning supplies, you’d think that the Great Reopening™ would be a boon to the company, what with business owners hiring more staff (or trying to).
But just how much hiring, supplying and perspiring actually made it to the company’s bottom line is for Cintas to tell.
It’s been a rough few quarters (years?) for pot stocks, which is why I eagerly await hearing from Organigram (Nasdaq: OGI) tomorrow. Organigram almost always surprises analysts whenever it hotboxes the earnings confessional, just … never in a positive way.
Just once, I want to hear a pot stock that had blowout earnings or revenue growth or increased its market share — something uplifting from the cannabis sector. “We’ll knock ‘em out next quarter!” is almost the pot stock anthem by this point.
Last but definitely not least is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM). When it comes to the dang chip shortage that everyone’s probably going to blame in the coming weeks, TSM is the company you want to pay attention to — this literally is the chipmaker’s chipmaker.
But above all, no matter the sector, we’ll still have to keep in mind that year-over-year comparisons are wonky right now with the pandemic … and Wall Street’s amped-up expectations for storming recovery growth in stocks might already be priced in.
Which reports are you holding out for? Are any of your portfolio companies entering the earnings spotlight this week? Better yet … got any earnings plays in your sights? Share what you’re up to these days: GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com.
By the way, if you need some trade ideas around earnings … you’re in luck!
If you follow Great Stuff Picks — and who wouldn’t?! — you know we’ve been gung ho about Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD) for years now.
But going into AMD’s earnings on July 27, you have options on how to play the trade. Two options trades, in fact. Click here to see not one but two options strats you can use for AMD before it reports earnings.
But hey, maybe you’re not the type of Great One to mess around with options before the earnings report drops. That’s OK — I won’t hold it against you … this time!
My colleague Chad Shoop created a system that provides trade signals on 75 specific stocks after their earnings report.
They’ve captured far more consistent moves with this system, such as 244% in five days, 175% in eight days and 289% in three months.
It’s an invaluable tool for earnings season, which is just getting started. Learn more right here!
Some people call me Branson, ‘cause I speak of the pompatus of love. Wait, that’s not right at all, hang on a sec… Branson is the space cowboy, apparently. The dude took his protein pills, put his helmet on and went to space yesterday, leaving all us Earth-bound peons behind.
The Virgin Galactic (Nasdaq: SPCE) CEO beat Bezos in the race to the great beyond, and just like with every other ballyhoo-fueled event for investor optics, Virgin stock initially took off like a billionaire’s rocket.
That is … until Virgin announced today that it will take advantage of its rally over the past two months to, you guessed it, sell more stock! Up to $500 million worth, all told. While Branson relishes in his space oddity fantasy, SPCE stock fell back down to Earth today, crashing 15%. I guess no public-relations hype bender is complete without the hangover of surprise share dilution.
Editor’s Note: You need to watch this video as soon as you can.
In the first 30 seconds, you’ll discover a little-known technology that’s set to drive the greatest investing mega trend in history.
It’s called “Imperium.” And according to experts, Imperium is set to go from virtually unknown … to having 2 billion users in the next four years, launching a stock market gravy train almost nobody sees coming.
There’s hardly ever this much commotion in the chicken market. Right after we told you about Beyond Meat’s disturbing plans for imitation chicken domination on Friday … my appetite was dashed even further. Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) announced a major frozen chicken recall due to a listeria outbreak. Tyson says up to 9 million pounds of chicken may be at risk of contamination.
Since the potentially problematic poultry was produced from December 26, 2020, to April 13 of this year, there’s a good chance many grocery shoppers (and institutions like restaurants, schools, hospitals and military bases) already have tainted chicken in their freezers.
This might be a good chance to remind you to, you know, go check your freezer. (Let me know if your fridge is running, too…) Here are the Tyson products to look for. Tyson stock is down about 2% today as everyone hunts down the contaminated chicken. And while the fallout may be short-lived for TSN shares … I really don’t want any of y’all catching the listeria cooties.
Monday morning court appearances? Not a fan…
Elon Musk is up on the witness stand today regarding Tesla’s (Nasdaq: TSLA) buyout of SolarCity in 2016. Well, Musk calls it a “buyout” — the plaintiffs would rather call it a “bailout.” SolarCity was founded by Musk’s cousins, and the Tesla CEO owned a 22% stake in the company until Tesla dropped $2.6 billion to acquire the solar panel maker.
According to Elon: “Since it was a stock-for-stock transaction and I owned almost exactly the same percentage of both there was no financial gain.” Tesla shareholders said “nay nay” and sued, alleging that Elon used Tesla’s coffers to bail out his family’s company. Now, if Elon Musk doesn’t convince the trial’s judge that the deal was fair to Tesla shareholders, he may personally have to pay back the billions that Tesla spent on the deal.
I personally won’t speculate one way or another until Elon Musk has his day in court … but really? Are people shocked by the notion that nepotism is alive and well in the public markets? That’s the more surprising story here.
Anyway, what do you think about Tesla’s SolarCity buyout? Do you have strong opinions on *shuffles deck of cards* chicken contamination? And how about that whole “earnings season” shebang?
Feel more than free to rant away, Great Ones. Write to us whenever the market muse calls to you! GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com is where you can reach us best.
In the meantime, here’s where you can find our other junk — erm, I mean where check out some more Greatness:
- Get Stuff: Subscribe to Great Stuff right here!
- Our Socials: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
- Where We Live: GreatStuffToday.com.
- Our Inbox: GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com.
Until next time, stay Great!


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Now more than ever, the competition is thick concerning who can produce the most sustainable consumer goods. And that’s across every vertical, from celebrity skincare brands to home decor accessories. That’s especially true in the fashion and footwear space, and eco-conscious consumers have plenty of cash to spend and are hoping their purchasing power can have big environmental benefits. New sustainable brands like Cariuma are proving that eco-friendly footwear can be comfortable and stylish, and they’re not alone.
The latest footwear company to get in on this ongoing trend is sneaker titan ASICS, who has announced the upcoming release of GEL-LYTE III CM 1.95. The innovative footwear will emit merely 1.95kg of CO2e emissions across its life cycle, marking it the lowest carbon footprint ever in a sneaker launch (at least, according to ASICS).
More than a decade in the making, following research and development with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the newest creation is set to represent a fraction of ASICS’ mission to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
“At Asics, we have long been committed to exploring and testing more sustainable methods through our value chain to reduce our impact on the planet,” said Minako Yoshikawa, Senior General Manager of the Asics Sustainability Division. “While the GEL-LYTE III CM 1.95 is a hugely significant milestone on this journey, this is only the beginning. Our ambition now is to continue applying the learnings and build on the blueprint of this shoe in a way that can be rolled out on an even bigger scale in the future,” he added.
An impressive new feature is the carbon-negative foam decorating the midsole and sockliner of the shoe. The manufacturing process encompasses a mix of bio-based polymers slightly obtained from sugarcane, which permits the sneaker to offer a stellar level of comfort and quality.
The GEL-LYTE™ III CM 1.95 sneaker is expected to be available for purchase in store and online at asics.com by Fall 2023.


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Today’s a huge day for the entire cryptocurrency because from yesterday up until now, over 50 new cryptocurrencies have been launched. This means that almost 2 cryptocurrencies are being launched every hour, which is increasing the number on the crypto-verse.
At present, the most recently launched cryptocurrency on the crypto-verse is Floki One (floki). It is the first Floki token that has been launched through the Harmony blockchain. In the upcoming days, the asset is aiming to launch its line of nonfungible tokens into the industry.
As of now, floki is trading at a price of $0.0000000008567 per floki, after experiencing a 0.08% drop in it in the past 24-hours. For now, there is no trading volume recorded for floki as it may take time to collect the data from the Harmony blockchain. However, as Floki One is destined to be a nonfungible token-creating protocol, it may soon catch the attention of the entire NFT community.
The next newly-launched cryptocurrency is CheeseDAO (CHEEZ) that has been launched through the Harmony blockchain as well. As it is the Harmony blockchain, therefore, no data has been retrieved in terms of its trading volume. CHEEZ will be acting as a bond currency that will be operating with the decentralized ecosystem. In the past 24-hours, CheeseDAO’s price has plunged by 2.25% and it is currently trading at a price of $402.42 per CHEEZ.
Given the current market and demand for bond tokens, CHEEZ may be plagued with a slow growth rate as compared to floki, which is an NFT-based protocol.
The next crypto in line is NFTinder (NFTNDR) that has been launched through the Binance Smart Chain. As the name suggests, NFTNDR has been launched within the NFT space, which is currently among the highest profiting crypto-based industries. In the past 24-hours, NFTNDR’s price has surged by 19.86% and it has surged by 20.36% in the past hour. As of now, NFTNDR’s price is trading at a price of $0.00002057 per NFTNDR.
Shinomics (SHIN) comes next in the list, which is also based on the Binance Smart Chain. SHIN’s price has surged by 25.21% since its launch and 21.56% in the past hour. After the surges, the price of SHIN is revolving at $0.000001953 per SHIB price tag. Although developed as a meme token, SHIN aims to achieve the same goals as DOGE and SHIB by becoming a commercial token. Just like the largest meme coins, SHIN aims to be adopted by mainstream institutions as a mode of payment.
As the number of cryptocurrencies continues to grow larger with time, it is being noticed that most of the tokens launched are targeted at two major sectors. The first sector is the nonfungible space and the second sector is the metaverse. Therefore, the investors must keep a close eye on these major markets.


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Amazon exploring best format for physical grocery
Jassy in the letter called Whole Foods Market, which is focused on natural, healthy and organic foods and specialty items, “large and growing” and on an “encouraging path.” Still, Jassy said Amazon needed to search for another format to more broadly scale its ambitions in the mass grocery category.
Jassy noted Amazon’s efforts in brick-and-mortar grocery during the past several years had been centered around its Amazon Fresh concept, which focuses on reducing friction for customers by offering advanced technology like its Just Walk Out. But Amazon in February said it would close underperforming Fresh stores, as well as some Amazon Go convenience store locations. Amazon currently operates 44 Fresh stores, according to the retailer.
“While we’re pleased with the size and growth of our grocery business, we aspire to serve more of our customers’ grocery needs than we do today,” Jassy said. “To do so, we need a broader physical store footprint given that most of the grocery shopping still happens in physical venues.”
Jassy added: “Grocery is a big growth opportunity for Amazon.”


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After the "around-the-clock" curfew of the past three days, supermarkets and a limited number of establishments (including pharmacies and gas stations) re-opened today, Saturday 28 March. This in line with the Attorney General's regulations outlined at Friday's press conference (see below for details).
Shoppers were seen getting in line as early as 6.30 am as they waited for their turn to enter the supermarket. According to a security officer on the scene, customers arrived as early as 5.30 am to start their grocery shopping, RCIPS will be working alongside supermarkets and their private security companies to ensure the safe flow of traffic, a smooth flow for customers, as well as the prioritisation and protection of vulnerable individuals. In support of Saturday's efforts, RCIPS Commissioner Derek Byrne issued a statement to news media, accompanied by a video for social media and a message on Radio Cayman.
Commissioner Byrne stated:
"The RCIPS is working in partnership with the supermarkets and retailers to deploy extra uniform patrols at various supermarket locations around the island on Saturday March 28th to create a more positive and safe environment for persons to move around and conduct their business all in compliance with the new Public Health Regulations passed on Friday March 27th.
"Please be assured that the major retailers are well stocked to meet the demands of the community. We remind all members of the community that we are operating in a soft curfew period between 5:01 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. each day for the next 10 days starting Saturday March 28th. Hard curfew from 7:00 p.m. each night continues as previously advised.
"The RCIPS is out to assist and provide public reassurance during this extremely challenging period. We thank the community for their cooperation and continued support as we work through this difficult period to contain COVID19."
Mr. Byrne references new regulations that were passed on Friday, 27 March - the Public Health (Prevention, Control and Suppression of COVID-19) Regulations, 2020 which are available online at http://www.gov.ky/coronavirus. The aim of these measures is to ensure that community spread of COVID-19 within the Cayman Islands is thwarted for the longest possible time. (Community spread means patients have no travel history and no contact with persons that do.)
Regulations are available at: http://www.gov.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/12940549.PDF
For information on various retail establishments, including banks and pharmacies, the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce has launched a new website - http://chambercovidupdates.ky
Going forward, this website will be updated daily in line with the private sector response to government's announcements and changes in policy.
Supermarket hours in the curfew period are as follows:
• Cost-u-Less 8AM-6PM, Monday through Saturday. Dedicated shopping hour for vulnerable: 7AM to 8AM
• Fosters 6AM-6PM, Monday through Saturday. Dedicated shopping hour for vulnerable: 6AM-7AM
• Hurleys 9AM - 6PM for the general public. Dedicated shopping for elderly/vulnerable, HSA staff and first responders: 7AM- 9AM
• Kirk Market 6AM-6PM, Monday-Saturday, for the duration of the curfew. Dedicated shopping lanes for elderly/vulnerable individuals
Even though the parking lots were filled and the lines were increasingly long, the customers were well behaved and waited patiently at the time of reporting.


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The Organising Committee of the London 2012 Olympic Games (Locog) is planning to open branded retail outlets where it will sell licensed products, as part of its strategy for the sale of merchandising rights to London 2012.
The sale of merchandising rights is a key source of revenue for Locog, and the organisation says it aims to raise £65m from such deals.
It is considering a competition to design the mascot, which will play a core role in the merchandising programme (MW June 12).
It has not yet been decided whether the outlets will be standalone shops or possibly franchises in department stores.
It has also been suggested that London 2012 commercial partners with their own retail outlets could take part.
Licensing for a raft of London 2012-themed products will be sold, with three deals already made. Adidas, a Tier One London 2012 partner, has acquired the rights to produce co-branded apparel. The Royal Mint has purchased the rights to produce London 2012 coins and minted a new coin to mark the official handover from Beijing to London last month.
Meanwhile, Chinese company Honav has won the contract to supply souvenir badges and pins, in the second-biggest merchandising deal to date, after Adidas.
Many more licences are available for items such as stamps, video games, computer software and toys, including the highly lucrative Olympic mascot.
Locog director of commercial negotiations Charles Wijeratna says it is expected that about £1bn-worth of London 2012-themed products will be sold.


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Transportation-Logistics company Gati announced Q1FY24 results:
- Q1FY24 vs Q1FY23:
- Revenue of Rs 367 crore in Q1FY24 compared to Rs 365 crore in Q1FY23, up 1% YoY
- EBITDA of Rs 18 crore in Q1FY24 compared to Rs 19 crore in Q1FY23, down 8% YoY
- Profit Before Tax of Rs (5) crore in Q1FY24 compared to Rs 5 crore in Q1FY23
- Q1FY24 vs Q4FY23:
- Revenue of Rs 367 crore in Q1FY24 compared to Rs 356 crore in Q4FY23, up 3% QoQ
- EBITDA of Rs 18 crore in Q1FY24 compared to Rs 12 crore in Q4FY23, up 48% QoQ
- Profit Before Tax of Rs (5) crore in Q1FY24 compared to Rs (9.9) crore in Q4FY23
Commenting on the results Pirojshaw (Phil) Sarkari, MD, and CEO, GESCPL said, “Our express business continues to deliver a resilient performance driven by positive momentum in volumes. Q1FY24 volumes were up 5% YoY despite a strong base quarter. The base quarter (Q1FY23) benefitted from exceptional volumes driven by industry consolidation that benefitted a few players. We expect the positive sales momentum to continue in the coming months and to augment our infrastructure buildup efforts, Gati will launch its Bangalore hub in the week of August 15th.
On the technology front as well, Gati continues to take large strides. We recently signed an LoI with a large domestic IT Company to build a best-in-class Gati Enterprise Management System (GEMS 2.0) on a microservices platform.
Continuing our sales acceleration efforts, we appointed Rajesh Gowrinath as Vice President of Sales. Rajesh comes with 20 years of experience across large logistics companies like DHL and BlueDart. We also started a nationwide GA training program to create an image of our Gati Associates as the company's brand ambassador.
With this background, we are happy to report a rebound in our profitability sequentially, clocking an EBITDA of Rs 18 crore for our express business. The volume outlook appears supportive of our growth plans as we saw a pickup in orders from large customers as preparations for the upcoming festive season gather pace."


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HTC had a press conference at CES 2019 today as well, and it was a much smaller one, compared to the other companies making headlines today. This was mostly a VR press conference, where HTC announced the VIVE PRO EYE, and then later teased a new virtual reality headset that will be coming later this year, the VIVE Cosmos. This is going to be the virtual reality headset that will be mass produced and aimed at everyone. This is a headset that does not do eye tracking, but it does have a bevy of cameras around the outside of the headset, so it can tell where you are. There are two front-facing cameras, two side-facing cameras and then a pair of handheld wands.
Instead of using sensors and webcams that are separate from the headset – like some of the other headsets out there – HTC is using these cameras to track where you are and what you are doing. This is what is known as “inside-out tracking”, which is something Oculus is using on its upcoming Quest headset. That’s going to make it much easier (and cheaper) to get into the world of virtual reality, especially high-end virtual reality.
Desktop PCs or Smartphones can power the Cosmos
According to HTC, and there wasn’t much details announced regarding the Cosmos yet, it can get its 3D imagery from a Desktop PC or a smartphone. That is something that definitely shocked everyone in the room when it was announced. Typically it’s one of the other, but not both. And typically, desktop PCs would provide better imagery than a smartphone. Though, like we mentioned, there is very little details here, so it’s unclear if the smartphone will just be connected, or if it would be inside the headset. As the Cosmos could have a display built-in that is higher-resolution than your smartphone. There’s still a whole lot of questions to be asked about the VIVE Cosmos, and it’s unclear when those questions will get answered.
Likely being talked about again at Mobile World Congress next month
HTC did say that it would be sharing more details “soon” about the Cosmos, but no word on when exactly that might be. HTC does usually head to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with VIVE and has a huge booth dedicated to VIVE (very little area for smartphones, though given HTC’s recent past, that’s not too surprising) demos and products. So it is very possible that HTC could announce the VIVE Cosmos at MWC next month. Though HTC could also wait for something like E3, which is a gamers’ trade-show and where VIVE might make a bigger impact. Either way, this is likely to be a pretty popular virtual reality headset for VIVE, but that will depend on pricing as it always does. It also announced the VIVE PRO EYE today, and neither of which had many details, nor pricing and availability announced. So many that attended the VIVE press conference today left with more questions than answers. Hopefully those will be answered soon.
— HTC VIVE (@htcvive) January 7, 2019


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Cathay Pacific has launched a massive flight sale to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
The Hong Kong-based airline will cut prices from Manchester to Hong Kong, China and Australia for four days starting from 15 February.
Tickets for economy flights between Manchester and Hong Kong will start from £469 during the sale, while destinations in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia will cost from £479 and £589 respectively from UK airports.
Return flights to Perth in Australia start from £619 and business class seats on the same route will go on sale from £2,869.
The sale will end on midnight 18 February 2018.
Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, takes place on 16 February. This year will signal the year of the dog in the 12-year Chinese New Year cycle.
In late 2017 it was announced that Cathay Pacific would be increasing its direct flights from Manchester to Hong Kong from five per week to daily.
The airline also replaced the Boeing 777-300ER introduced on the route in 2014 to a more modern A350-900 aircraft.
To book flights go to www.cathaypacific.com. The sale will run until 23:59 on Wednesday, 18 February.


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News Articles for "Shipping Company"
A German shipping company says four crew members from one of its vessels have been released a month after being kidnapped by pirates off Equatorial Guinea...read more
Bell Bay funding secured but exporters still wanting
The Federal Government's decision to spend $5 million on a new freight terminal at Bell Bay is being questioned by exporters. The Prime Minister, Julia Gi...read more
FedEx, Williams-Sonoma, Adobe are big movers
Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE FedEx Corp., down $7.33 at $9...read more
Shipper: 3 sailors kidnapped off Nigeria are freed
Three sailors — including two Russians — have been freed following weeks in captivity after pirates raided their cargo ship off the coasts of Nigeria ...read more


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Ex-Michael Jordan marketing manager joins Racing Point
Racing Point has announced "industry heavyweight" Jefferson Slack will join the team as managing director, commercial and marketing with immediate effect.
In his 30-years of industry experience, Slack has managed the marketing activities of Basketball legend Michael Jordan and, in 2000, became the first American CEO of a 'top European football club' with Inter Milan.
As for experience in motorsport, Slack most recently acted in a commercial advisory role to Dorna, the commercial rights holders for MotoGP.
In his new role with Racing Point, Slack will be responsible for all commercial and marketing activities and will report directly to team principal Otmar Szafnauer as the team evolves into Aston Martin in 2021.
“I believe this is one of the most exciting commercial opportunities, not just in Formula 1, but in the whole of the sports industry," said Slack.
"We are looking to build an iconic new sports brand in Aston Martin F1 Team, and in the process we believe we will create a unique global marketing platform for other brands and partners.
"I am looking forward to working with Lawrence and Otmar, and building a world-class commercial and marketing team.”
Team owner and chairman Lawrence Stroll commented on Slack's appointment: “With the progress we have made this season on the track and with our upcoming relaunch as Aston Martin F1 Team, we have a unique opportunity to create an iconic new sports property that’s at the forefront of Formula 1.
"We are delighted to appoint Jefferson Slack to help us realise the full global commercial and marketing opportunities that lie ahead.”
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.
We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.


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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch consumer watchdog is challenging the fees that Apple (NASDAQ:) charges dating app providers in the Netherlands as part of its long-running case against the U.S. technology company over the dominance of its app store, according to a filing seen by Reuters.
Bloomberg News reported on the filing earlier on Tuesday.
Although the case is limited to dating apps in the Netherlands, it is seen as having potential to set a precedent for other markets.
The Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in 2021 fined the company 50 million euros ($53 million) for failure to comply with changes it had ordered to Apple’s app store to end practices it said violated European Union antitrust laws.
Apple denied wrongdoing and appealed the fines in a case still before a Rotterdam Court. Apple did agreed to make changes to the app store including opening it to alternative forms of payment for dating apps in the Netherlands.
In February 2022 Apple cut commissions for dating app makers in the Netherlands to 27% from 30%. The ACM never disclosed whether it believed that was a satisfactory change.
This month, the ACM published a summary of its rebuttals to Apple objections dated July 13, 2023, noting there was one remaining dispute it could not disclose publicly for legal reasons.
According to the ACM’s fuller July 13 arguments now seen by Reuters, the undisclosed dispute was over commissions.
“Apple … harms dating app providers by charging them an additional, and inexplicably higher, fee for the same services” it does other types of app makers, it said in the document.
A spokeswoman for the ACM said on Tuesday the agency cannot comment while the case is before the court. No decision date has been set.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment.


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BrightTag acquires SiteTagger. The technology platform provider BrightTaghas announced its acquisition of SiteTagger. With the acquisition, BrightTag adds UK and EU-based brands such as Allianz, British Gas, Sainsbury’s, The Guardian, TimeOut, ASDA, and Boots to its client list. The Cardiff-based SiteTagger creates a centerpiece for BrightTag’s UK and European expansion.
Tribal DDB New York hires creative director. The advertising agency has announced the hiring of Jason Milano as creative director. Milano, who was previously VP/creative director at Digitas, has worked with many notable clients such as 2k Games, Adler Planetarium, Ally Bank, American Express, Beer Nuts, The Chicago Building Commission, Ford, Nivea, Omnicom Group, Sony, Starwood Hotels and W Hotels.
David&Goliath names digital account director. The creative agency has named Josh Crick as digital account director. Crick joins the team from North Social where he held the position of VP of client services. Throughout his career Crick has worked with brands such as Ford, Nissan, Vizio, Hilton Hotels, Red Bull, Beats by Dre, Golf Channel and Royal Caribbean.
Adconion direct named one of best places to work in San Diego. The multi-channel digital distribution platform has been named one of the 2012 Best Places to Work in San Diego. The rankings include 85 of the top employers in the San Diego area and will be published in a special edition of the San Diego Business Journal.
Syncapse partners with Reckitt Benckiser. The social performance management platform Syncapse has announced its partnership with Reckitt Benckiser, the consumer packaged goods company. Syncapse will be managing the company’s social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for more than twenty brands such as Clearasil, Durex, and Lysol.
Nurcin Erdogan Loeffler, head of strategy and innovation, Vizeum China, outlines the seven ways businesses can future proof their digital strategies.
Every brand would love to see its hashtag trending on social media, but what if it’s for the least expected reason? Should you ... read more
In today's multichannel world how can marketers use data to ensure the experience a customer receives is relevant to them?
Mike Andrews Ph.D is Chief Scientist (Forensiq) at Impact Radius, and is carrying out some fascinating work around digital marketing and ad ... read more


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- The Last of Us: Part II, Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima will be released on PlayStation 4;
- The current generation is expected to be the main source of PlayStation earnings for at least three years to come;
- Sony has high hopes for the backward compatibility of PlayStation 5 with its predecessor.
Sony's absence at this year's E3 and the lack of any information about the release dates of the most anticipated Japanese titles made many people wonder whether The Last of Us: Part II, Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima were quietly transferred to PlayStation 5. This wouldn't be the first case of this kind - The Last Guardian, which was announced on E3 2009 as an exclusive title for PS3, eventually came out seven years later only on PlayStation 4.
During a recent investor call, Sony's representative assured that PlayStation 4 would play a key role in the company's strategy for a long time to come. The console manufacturer assumes that the PS4 will remain the company's main source of revenue for the next three years, and the platform will feature a number of exclusive AAA titles. When Sony mentioned the upcoming high-budget productions on the current generation console, the screen showed draft versions of The Last of Us: Part II, Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima game covers.
Sony has repeatedly pointed out that PlayStation 5 will be backward compatible with its predecessor, so it makes sense to provide longer support for the current generation. Productions from PS4 will be faster and probably look much better on PS5. So you won't need to release cross-gen titles, because from now on you can run one release on three Sony devices - PS4, PS4 Pro and PS5.
In addition, the investor presentation compared Spider-Man loading speed on PS5 to PS4 Pro, and reported that over the past 12 months, up to 90% of PlayStation 4 devices has at least once connected to the network, meaning that 94 million users (36 million of whom are PS Plus subscribers) are already active on PlayStation Network.
- PlayStation official website
- The Last of Us: Part II official website
- Ghost of Tsushima official website
- Kojima Productions official website


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The Open Beta builds for the OnePlus 3/3T keep on rolling and this time we've got a couple of nice new features and improvements that should please those of you who like to try out new features before they're ready for the general public.
The new builds are 19 for the OnePlus 3 and 10 for the OnePlus 3T and they carry version 2.1 of the all new OnePlus Launcher, which we started seeing back in March. This new version has dynamic icons for the Weather and Calendar, new settings to change the homescreen's grid and icons, and a Pixel Launcher-like history to display the most recently used apps on the top row of the app drawer. Read More
May has just begun and we already have a new Open Beta for the OnePlus 3 and 3T. It's certainly more exciting than the last one, bringing a changelog that includes more than bug fixes and optimizations (they're still there, but whatever). As usual, I've posted the changelog below. Read More
It's that time again, folks. OnePlus 3 and 3T users who are in the Open Beta program should be checking for an update. Version 5/14 is available to download and install, with the OTA likely to roll out in the next few days. Read More
OnePlus phone owners can probably agree that the company needs to work on faster OS updates. (It's a safe bet: pretty much everyone can agree on that, including Nexus owners.) OnePlus is trying. To that end, the company has announced that its two disparate Android software builds will be merged into one: Oxygen OS and Hydrogen OS. I'll pause for a moment to allow the chemistry nerds to make an H2O joke before we continue. Read More
For a phone that was supposed to "kill" high-priced flagships, the OnePlus 2 seems to have taken its sweet old time in upgrading to the latest version of Android. Whether that has to do with a smaller development team over at OnePlus, or the idiosyncrasies of the company's custom "Oxygen OS" ROM, we couldn't say. But it appears that the wait is finally over: according to a post on the OnePlus user forum, the Oxygen OS 3.0.2 over-the-air release (based on Marshmallow 6.0.1 code) is heading out today. Read More
The build of OxygenOS that shipped on the OnePlus 2 is good, but it's still very light on features compared to Cyanogen OS. The OTA update announced today should improve things a bit, though. There are some changes to the camera, display, and the usual smattering of bug fixes. Read More
Owners of the OnePlus One tend to be among the most dedicated (read: rabid) Android fans out there - they have to be, since it still takes no small amount of legwork to actually buy the phone. That being the case, those owners have waited a long time for the final, official update to Android 5.0. They won't have to wait much longer: an official OnePlus representative told members of the company forum that the updates will begin on March 27th, just a little over a week from now.
First up is the in-house OxygenOS ROM developed by the new OnePlus software division (including members of the popular Paranoid Android community ROM development team). Read More


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Star Trek tech will let people meet virtually, researchers say
Edmonton researchers are developing a virtual reality technology for business meetings that they say is pretty close to science fiction — specifically, like Star Trek's famous holodeck.
In the television hit, the holodeck let spaceship crew members enter holographic computer-simulated environments that seemed like the real thing.
Computer scientists at the University of Alberta havespent the past yearworking ontheir own3-D virtual reality technology that they saywill make it seem as though participants of a video conference are all in the same room —evenif they're sitting in different countries.
"As engineers and scientists, we look at these futuristic things and we say, 'Well, we can build that,'" said David Antoniuk,the director of business development for TRLabs in Edmonton,a partner onthe project. "So we're trying to develop this holodeck technology."
The new technology is being developed with Hewlett-Packard in California. Participants will meet in a virtual space and will even be able tosee virtual products, such as cars, that will seem like they're in the room, the researchers say.
Pierre Boulanger, the lead researcher and a computer scientist at U of A,said the technologywill be so realistic users willbe able to see an eye twitch or a bead of sweat —important non-verbal cues people often rely on when making business decisions.
Boulanger said that kind of realism is lacking in current teleconferencing and video conferencing technologies.
"It doesn't convey the sense of presence," said Boulanger.
"To feel you are in contact with the person not just on an intellectual basis, but also anemotional basis. So in some ways, we are the first phase of this telepresence revolution."
Boulanger said that, for many people, tighter deadlines and faster technology has made business travel more tiring and frustrating than exotic and fun.
Hebelieves that his team's technology will make virtual meetings so realistic thatbusiness people will opt for more of them.
That, in turn, will make people moreproductive, as it will allow them to "meet" more often without worrying about jet lag.
"People won't have to travel so much, which will certainly reduce the fatigue of a lot of people," Boulanger said.


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Electrical equipment maker Crompton Greaves Ltd said on Monday it will sell its business-to-business automation business to Saudi Arabia’s Alfanar for an enterprise value of 120 million euros ($133 million, or about Rs 886 crore).
The B2B automation business comprises ZIV Aplicaciones y Technologica SL of Spain, its subsidiaries and related business in the UK, Ireland, France and India, the company said in a stock-exchange filing.
The company has accepted the binding offer from Alfanar and will now hive off the business to a wholly owned unit to complete the deal by the end of January 2017.
Riyadh-based Alfanar has more than 22,000 employees and annual revenue of $2.5 billion. Its business includes manufacturing of electrical construction products and related engineering services.
The deal is part of efforts to cut debt and focus on the company’s core operations in India that will drive growth, Crompton Greaves said.
The company had earlier this year said it was looking to sell the B2B automation business when it agreed to sell its international power business to US private equity firm First Reserve International Ltd for an enterprise value of 115 million euros ($126 million).
Crompton Greaves is part of the Gautam Thapar-led Avantha Group, which has been consolidating its business over the past two years to cut debt and focus on its core businesses.
Last October, Crompton Greaves sold its power transformer business in Canada to PTI Holdings Corp for about C$20 million ($15.18 million then). Avantha has also sold an asset under the power generation arm to Adani Power.
Last year, Crompton Greaves decided to hive off its consumer appliance business into a separate listed firm. In a parallel deal, Avantha said it would sell its entire stake in that demerged business to PE firm Advent and Singapore government's investment arm Temasek.
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Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that manufactures products on contracts is set to invest $5 billion in India. It is the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer with notable customers such as Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Google, and Sony.
Foxconn official told Times of India, that import duties on mobile phones are discouraging brands to source devices from other countries. At the same time, the government is offering tax benefits for companies that opt for local manufacturing. Nodding to the government’s make in India initiative, Foxconn chairman & CEO Terry Gou has already committed more investments in India during his visit. Major investment would be for setting up of a display fab.
The company will invest millions of dollars to set up CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling machines. These are essential for manufacturing classy metal phones. Foxconn will also manufacture lithium-ion batteries and PCBs (Printed Circuit Board) locally. Needless to say, the investment will boost the jobs creation in India. Economy too will benefit. However, considering how China’s soil has been destroyed by too many manufacturing plants, India better be cautious about these things.


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Cyber Monday lived up to its fame, as American consumers jammed online shopping sites Monday, Nov. 26.
ComScore reports consumers spent 733 million dollars online.
That's a 21-percent gain over the same day a year ago.
While this year's Cyber Monday figure was good, traditionally it's not the busiest day.
For instance, the busiest online shopping day last year was Wednesday, Dec. 13, when $667-million in sales were generated.
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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On one the busiest weeks of the year, I managed to persuade a few top retailers to divulge the names of their favorite and/or best-selling holiday wines.
Here’s a look at what’s selling well in New York, Washington DC, Miami and California.
The Wall Street Journal’s On Wine blog provides incisive criticism and accessible advice, both professional and personal, on the world of wine. Jay McInerney (left), Lettie Teague (center) and Will Lyons (right) are the lead writers. Ms. Teague and Mr. McInerney write the On Wine column Saturdays in Weekend Journal. Mr. Lyons writes a weekly wine column for the European edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Have a comment, question or suggestion? Write to firstname.lastname@example.org.


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For some reason, Android just can’t seem to shake its reputation for having worse apps than iOS.
While the iPhone got a jump-start on app development by opening the doors to developers in 2008, Android app makers have done an amazing job at playing catch-up.
From tracking your heart rate when you exercise to buying shoes, developers have created apps that take advantage of the features that make Android unique, including the minimalist aesthetic of the operating system itself and the large screens that are prevalent on many flagship devices from the biggest manufacturers.
That’s why Google’s Abhilash Kuduvalli created Android Niceties, a Tumblr page where he curates the Android apps with the best design. He hopes it can cause “inspiration and insight into Android UI conventions” for those looking at developing on the platform. We decided to follow his lead and picked out what we think are his best examples.


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Sony has revealed the first details of the PS5, giving a wide-ranging look at what's inside the brand new console. The console will include a whole host of new hardware including CPUs and GPUs that can power technologies never before seen outside of the highest end computers, PlayStation claimed. But perhaps it's most significant new feature, which it says will be "a true game changer", is a new hard drive. The much faster solid state drive will allow the console to work far more quickly than existing hardware. An operation that once took 15 seconds will now take less than one, according to its architect Mark Cerny, who revealed the plans in an interview with Wired.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has teased a major announcement for the electric car maker, prompting speculation that a new vehicle may be unveiled this week. The serial entrepreneur, who has inexplicably changed his name to Elon Tusk on Twitter, posted a series of cryptic tweets on Wednesday that revealed there would be a Tesla event taking place on Thursday, 28 February, in California. Tesla has not made a new product announcement in 16 months, when it unveiled the new Roadster and semi-truck. During their unveiling in November 2017, Mr Musk also hinted that a Model Y utility vehicle was also being developed. In July 2018, Mr Musk revealed in an interview with Bloomberg that the Tesla Model Y was on track for a launch this year.
Twitter boss Jack Dorsey said the company has been too aggressive in banning right-wing activists from the site, despite some of them apparently being connected to harassment campaigns. Mr Dorsey and his company have been repeatedly criticised over the decisions it makes around who should stay on Twitter and who should be banned. Activists on both the left and the right have accused the site of hosting extremists, and having either too strict or too weak policies on banning users from the site. Now he has taken to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast for an interview with the comedian, during which he suggested the company could be more lenient with such bans in the future. We'll tell you what's true.
India should ban cryptocurrencies like bitcoin outright rather than even attempt to regulate them, one of the country's most influential financial experts has argued. The business of policing the ever-changing virtual currency market - now comprised of over 1,500 varieties of coin - and monitoring private and anonymous transactions is so fraught with complications that India would be better off prohibiting them altogether, ex-Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das has said. "Let us accept that it would not be possible to regulate it effectively. Because they will do transactions from their houses," he said in an interview with Quartz. "You cannot enter every home to check what transactions are going on.
Autoblog recently went to Japan to drive cars, ride trains, and talk to carmakers about automotive history and the future of mobility. This video is part of a larger in a series of special reports from Japan. YOKOHAMA, Japan -- On our recent trip to Japan, we spent a day driving the new Nissan Leaf through some unfamiliar territory. Despite the challenges of driving in a foreign country on the opposite side of the road, the Leaf proved to be a calm and willing companion thanks to its smooth electric powertrain and ProPilot driver assistance system. Following our drive, we met up with Nissan's EV director, Nicholas Thomas, at the company headquarters to talk a bit about the future of electrification and automated driving, pillars of what the automaker calls "Nissan Intelligent Mobility."


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Doughnuts, men’s suits and coal are three of the items being removed from the “basket of goods” used to work out the annual inflation rate, after pressure from campaigners to change how it should be calculated.
Jack Monroe, a food activist and writer, called for changes to how The Office for National Statistics (ONS) approached the figures, arguing they often do not take into account how poorer households are hit by rising food costs.
Now, the ONS has announced that 15 items would be removed from the basket it uses to calculate inflation with another 19 added in.
Many of the changes are as a result of lifestyles post-pandemic.
For example, men’s suits were removed and replaced with a man’s formal jacket or blazer as people continue to work from home.
Meanwhile, doughnuts had been removed as sales have fallen whilst coal was taken away in light of the Government’s decision to ban sales next year to combat climate change.
Items added to the basket include meat-free sausages, canned pulses, sports bras, pet collars and antibacterial surface wipes as these are now more in demand since Covid.
Consumer price inflation (CPI) is the main measure of inflation in the UK and has been rising strongly as economies open up after the pandemic lockdowns.
Global supply chains and shortages of raw materials have pushed up prices, alongside rising oil and gas prices – leaving inflation at 5.5 per cent in January.
The Bank of England predicts it could hit 7 per cent by the spring, while economists warn it could breach 8 per cent as the Ukrainian conflict impacts even more prices.
Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The pandemic may have changed how we live, and shop, forever. We’re continuing to embrace new passions in life we picked up during lockdowns, with the rise of pet ownership, cleaning and crafting.
“Meanwhile, working from home has precipitated the demise of men’s suits and the death of the doughnut. Next year, we can expect cost-cutting to dominate our shopping choices, and many of the changes in the basket.
“In 2022, the most dramatic trend is likely to be for cost cutting. More than half of us have cut back on non-essential spending so we can stay within our budgets, and 37 per cent are shopping around more.”
However, not all experts believe the changes are reflective of the current state of society.
Myron Jobson, Senior Personal Finance Analyst at interactive investor, added: “Inflation data is not an exact science, but some of this year’s virtual ‘shopping basket’ additions are out of touch with the everyday expenditure of the masses.
“A climbing session, for example, a new addition to this year’s basket, is unlikely to rank highly on the list of spending priorities among those struggling to make ends meet amid the cost-of-living crisis.
“Official statistics also dramatically underestimate the extent of real-world inflation amid the once in a generation type hike in the cost of living.
“You only have to wander around any supermarket and look at how much fresh food has gone up in price, to see that official inflation figures don’t reflect reality. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has exacerbated matters, adding further pressure to the squeeze on household budgets.”
Currently, around 180,000 separate quotes are collected every month to compile the figures, covering around 730 representative consumer goods and services.
The contents of the basket and the associated expenditure weights are updated annually.


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Earlier this year it was announced that global video game sales would amount to over $150 billion in revenue by the end of 2019. That figure has recently been amended.
According to a new report from research firm NewZoo (via MCV), gamers are heading more towards the pre-pay route and giving up on using credit cards.
Newzoo has found that 36% or 14 million of 39 million active MMO gamers in the US play games that have a SciFi or Space theme, while in European and emerging markets, SciFi is less popular with 27% (9.5 million) and 26% (11.5 million) of all MMO gamers playing the genre.
Market analysis firm NewZoo has issued a report stating that US users spent 24% more on free-to-play MMO in 2011 compared to 2010. The firm predicts $1.2 billion will be spent on the games this year.
A March 2011 study conducted by Distimo and Newzoo, surveyed iOS users living in the US and six countries in Europe, and found that 63 million iOS users are downloading 5 million games on a daily basis.
Newzoo has concluded that approximately 30 percent of folks don’t pay to play games.


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K Vaitheeswaran, known as the father of e-commerce in India, has said he can understand why an entrepreneur in India would take his life. He was talking particularly about VG Siddhartha (VGS), the founder of Café Coffee Day. “He may have told himself, I have not slept for so many days. If I just jump, I can sleep in peace forever,” said Vaithee (as he is affectionately known) to The Times of India. Siddhartha’s body was recovered from Nethravati River in July this year, two days after he had gone missing. The soft-spoken VGS was passionate about his coffee retail chain, hoping to make it one of the top three in the world. But the fear of not keeping his word and losing his pride might just have been too much to bear.
Indian entrepreneurs | Mental resilience
Failure is the worst that could happen to an Indian entrepreneur, and it could also be the best thing. What flips the story?
C-suite|mental health|K Vaitheeswaran|VG Siddhartha|Mahesh Natarajan|Mariwala Health Initiative|Ascent Foundation|CK Kumaravel|Groom India Salon and Spa|Naturals|CK Ranganathan|CavinKare|Ajit Panicker|Rajvi Mariwala|Sandeep Goyal|Mogae Media|Prakriti Poddar|Poddar Wellness|Shree Shivkumar|Kersi Chavda|Hinduja Hospital|Shruti Chakravarty|Rudyard Kipling


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When THQ's UFC Undisputed
hit shelves in 2009, its surprise breakout -- 3.5 million units sold -- success revealed an enormous audience for the license. But the reason that the publisher's second UFC game didn't sell as well, moving 2.6 million units and disappointing projections, isn't due to saturation or fatigue, the publisher's core games boss Danny Bilson tells Gamasutra.
"I think we didn't have as big of a differentiation from [UFC Undisputed
] 1 to 2," he reflects. For the third title, which the publisher teased at E3, "the mission for this game was you have to want to buy this one."
It adds two new weight classes and over 150 fighters, plus a PRIDE mode that lets players compete using Japanese MMA rules, among other new rules. Most importantly, the control set's been modified to expand the game's audience, helping UFC Undisputed 3
aim more broadly than the prior iterations.
"There's a brand new control set so that everybody can play, and now it reaches to a broader audience," Bilson says. "Let's put it this way: Even I can play now... and I also think it's going to play well to the audience. It's a brand new package."
The company's confident that UFC Undisputed 3
represents a clearer value add over the second game than the second game represented over the first, and with features aimed to expand the audience THQ is relying on the game to help it meaningfully grow that licensed brand.
"I think we've solved any issues in terms of upgrading the software," Bilson adds. "Now you can look at it as a game that's been in development for five years."
Gamasutra's full interview with THQ's Bilson will run in the coming week.


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Android Pay won’t kill off Google Wallet; “brand new” app promised
Yesterday brought us the announcement of Android Pay, Google’s new system for integrating mobile payments at a deeper level throughout the company’s platform. If you’re already a heavy Google Wallet user, it probably sounded pretty good, but some of the details may have given you pause. For instance, Android Pay won’t require users to manually start up its app, and instead will go active whenever you unlock your phone. Well, fine, but what if you don’t use a lockscreen at all? Will Android Pay still work for you? We’re waiting to find out, but now we’ve got one fewer reason to be concerned, as we get confirmation that not only is the stalwart Google Wallet not going anywhere, but there’s a major new version on the way.
Citing enormous growth, the Google Wallet team posted a message last night that it’s hard at work on “brand new” Wallet apps for both iOS and Android.
While that seems to imply a whole mess of new features, for now we’re only hearing about one: the ability to use a debit card to send and receive money to or from anyone, including non-Wallet-users. Full details on how that system would work aren’t being shared just yet, but it would rely on bank transfers or the Google Wallet card to access funds.
Google says that it will start talking specifics “in the coming months.”


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MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: Happy solstice! That’s right, today is the first day of summer and you know what that means: It’s time for summer camp for lots of kids. Rachel Dornhelm tells us camps are now a booming business.
RACHEL DORNHELM: Think of summer camp and you might imagine skits or singalongs. But probably not $20 billion in revenue.
This steadily growing industry now boasts 12,000 camps around the US. The biggest jump has been in day camps, with enrollments up more than 20 percent in the last five years.
Marla Coleman, with the American Camp Association says camps are finding the big draws now are new adventure specialties, like mountain biking or caving.
MARLA COLEMAN:“The other interesting program additions are around mind and body activities such as yoga.”
Companies running multi-site camps are also gaining a foothold. They can build brand identity with families. And buy everything from marshmallows to art supplies in bulk to make their financial load lighter.
I’m Rachel Dornhelm for Marketplace.
Marketplace is on a mission.
We believe Main Street matters as much as Wall Street, economic news is made relevant and real through human stories, and a touch of humor helps enliven topics you might typically find…well, dull.
Through the signature style that only Marketplace can deliver, we’re on a mission to raise the economic intelligence of the country—but we don’t do it alone. We count on listeners and readers like you to keep this public service free and accessible to all. Will you become a partner in our mission today?


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California Study Shows Licensed Cannabis Shops Don’t Sell to Minors
Compliance is crucial in Cali’s cannabis sector, and one of the main motivations of strict regulation is to keep cannabis out of the hands of children. According to a new study commissioned by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, this is where California’s licensed marijuana shops excel.
A promise was made: to keep recreational cannabis for adults 21 years of age and older. This is a promise that the industry has kept.
“Licensed marijuana retailers are clearly keen to follow the rules,” said Angela Eichelberger, an Insurance Institute research scientist who took part in authoring the report. “They’re away that the industry hasn’t won everybody over yet, and they don’t want to get shut down.”
Through this study, the researchers uncovered isolated violations of state law at some of the legal shops. These issues include free samples of edibles, among others. Despite these shortcomings, the shops did not sell to minors. However, the researchers have some ideas to ensure protection for underage people.
The study’s authors claim that California’s unlicensed retailers are causing trouble, selling to underage consumers. Throughout the state, the cannabis black market still operates at three times the legal market’s capacity. This is the result of taxation and regulations that give these unlicensed shops an advantage, allowing them to offer cheap cannabis products to everyone, including minors interested in making a purchase.
“The legal market is solving these problems,” explained Elliot Lewis, CEO of Catalyst Cannabis Co., a company operating five licensed shops throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties. “But in the illicit market, it’s obviously open season.”
Giving a minor cannabis in California without a doctor’s recommendation for medical utilization comes with a penalty of up to six months behind bars and a fine not exceeding $500 for first-time offenders. But legitimate business owners who decide to sell or give cannabis to minors risk losing competitive state licenses that may have taken months and hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire.
While some feel legal cannabis is a problem, the real problem is the businesses operating outside the law. Legitimate cannabusiness operators have too much to lose. But for the cannabis black market, selling to anyone willing to buy allows it to continue thriving.


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Government announcement supports lubricant packaging recycling plansHundreds of tonnes of recyclable plastic from oil drums and other lubricant containers will no longer end up in landfill, following an announcement by Government today (29 July).
The announcement, made by Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage, declared single-use plastic packaging a priority product under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. This means regulated product stewardship schemes for packaging with plastic resin types 1-7, including lubricant containers, will have to be created and then accredited by Government.
The lubricant industry is ahead of the curve, with key stakeholders having formed a voluntary product stewardship project in February 2018 to tackle the estimated 4.5 million lubricant containers discarded each year in New Zealand.
Trevor Tutt, of 3R Group who managed the project, says they welcome the announcement. “This fully supports the work stakeholders have been doing to create a product stewardship scheme for lubricant packaging,” he says.
Product stewardship sees importers, producers and retailers accept responsibility for reducing a product’s environmental impact, particularly at the end of life by ensuring they are reused, repurposed, recycled or properly disposed of. Regulated product stewardship allows for the removal of ‘free-riders’ – those currently unwilling to play their part in looking after their products at end of life.
Z Energy Sustainability Manager Gerri Ward says the announcement is very welcome. “We’ve worked with our industry partners for over two years to create a scheme that can manage the collection and recycling of lubricant oil bottles that considers a whole of life cycle approach.
“The announcement declaring plastic packaging as a priority product gives us confidence to progress the scheme. Z Energy currently operates New Zealand’s biggest privately funded, public place recycling scheme. We look forward to be able to facilitate the recycling of lubricant oil bottles in the near future.”
Declaring packaging a priority product should level the playing field by removing free-riders as all of industry should have to participate in regulated stewardship schemes for the various packaging types, Trevor says. “This is as opposed to voluntary schemes where free-riders impact on the effectiveness of a scheme.”
While a small number of the containers, mostly drums, are currently recycled, the majority go to landfill, despite the packaging mostly being made of highly recyclable plastic (HDPE – plastic resin code 2). “The problem is the level of contamination from the residue left inside when they are empty,” Trevor says.
The project working group recently completed the design phase of a stewardship scheme, which mirrors the accreditation requirements for a mandatory product stewardship scheme, he says.
Stakeholders who have worked on scheme design at various stages include Aegis Oil Co, Allied Petroleum Ltd (Mobil Lubricants), Castrol NZ Ltd, Farmlands Co-Operative Society Ltd (Gulf Oil), Oil Intel Ltd (Total Lubricants), Penrite Oil NZ Ltd, TransDiesel Ltd (Shell Lubricants), Valvoline NZ Ltd and Z Energy.


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Here’s a look at the biggest stories and the best content from just-drinks this week.
Earlier this month, PepsiCo declared a quarterly dividend increase versus the same time last year, at a time when many companies have cancelled dividends altogether in 2020. Furthermore, PepsiCo’s share price has rebounded to a position higher than pre-pandemic levels.
In just-drinks’ data centre:
Beam Suntory has expanded the footprint of its Legent high-end Bourbon brand in the US. Twenty-one months after launching the whiskey, the group yesterday added nine more states to the list of markets in the country to stock Legent.
Rémy Cointreau has released details of an extension of its St-Rémy French brandy portfolio in Canada. St-Rémy Signature, announced this week, targets spirits consumers in the country aged between 30 and 40.
Cuervo-owned Irish whiskey brand Bushmills is launching a limited-edition line of single malt whiskies. The Causeway Collection comprises ten expressions, including 2001 Feuillette Cask – a UK exclusive. The other nine, which include whiskies that have been finished in new American oak, ex-Cognac, ex-wine and ex-fortified wine casks will be sold across France, Germany, China, Portugal, the Nordic markets and in the Global Travel Retail channel before the end of the year.
Stock Spirits has credited its absence from the Global Travel Retail channel for helping sales to rise by almost 7% in the group’s most recent fiscal year. In a results statement earlier today, Stock’s 12-month sales to the end of September were described by CEO Mirek Stachowicz as having been “resilient”. Breaking the year into two halves, the company had to deal with excise increases in its main markets of Czech and Poland in the first six months, while COVID-19 made its presence felt throughout H2.
On our news pages:
Treasury Wine Estates is to consider sourcing grapes from China, among other substantial changes, as the group attempts to mitigate the effects of recently-announced Chinese import taxes on Australian wine. TWE’s plans are part of a revised strategy for China, which last week announced a preliminary import tariff on Australian bottled wine of up to 212% as part of an ongoing anti-dumping investigation.
Diageo has launched an augmented-reality Instagram filter in a new responsible-drinking campaign. The filter, which is being rolled out a week after Diageo issued a ten-year sustainability programme that included a pledge for more responsible-drinking messaging, encourages consumers to swap an alcoholic drink for water.
Three of Anheuser-Busch InBev‘s Canadian breweries will brew Corona from next year as the group continues to expand the beer brand’s international production footprint. A-B InBev’s brewery in London, Ontario will start brewing Corona late next year, a spokesperson for the company’s Canadian unit, Labatt Brewing Co, has told just-drinks.
The Coca-Cola Co CFO has blamed an overweight staffing “bureaucracy” for a company restructure that aims to funnel funds to its front-line staff. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference this week, John Murphy said Coca-Cola had built up “too many hands at the till, too much bureaucracy locally”.
The head of Remy Cointreau has challenged the wider Cognac category to catch Tequila in the US, with Cognac growing its share of the country’s spirits market during the coronavirus pandemic. In late-October, the group reported a 4% dip in sales from the three months to the end of September, with the US earning a namecheck for its “excellent performance” in the period, specifically for the Remy Martin Cognac brand. Speaking to analysts last week, when the company announced its profits for the quarter and first half of fiscal-2021, CEO Eric Vallat noted that Cognac’s share of spirits in the US rose from 6% prior to the COVID-19 outbreak to 7% currently.
Molson Coors Beverage Co is to boost the US production capacity for its portfolio of sparkling flavoured alcoholic drinks, including Coors Seltzer, by more than 400%. The company this week confirmed the completion of the installation of new equipment at its Milwaukee and Fort Worth breweries that will allow it to significantly ramp up production next year.
Beam Suntory has trimmed its Canadian whisky portfolio, offloading the Windsor brand to Prestige Beverage Group. The transaction, for an undisclosed fee, was confirmed by Minnesota-based PBG this week. In a subsequent statement, Beam Suntory described PBG as “the right partner to build this brand in the future”.
An acrimonious fall-out between Bang Energy owner Vital Pharmaceuticals (VPX) and distributor PepsiCo has escalated, with VPX filing a lawsuit against the soft drinks giant. In legal papers lodged last week, VPX alleges PepsiCo failed to meet agreed commitments and engaged in “gross misconduct” after the two sides had agreed a US distribution deal in April. VPX founder & CEO Jack Owoc said in a subsequent statement: “We were blindsided and bamboozled.”
Heineken expects China to become one of Amstel’s top global markets within three years as the Dutch brewer launches the brand in the world’s biggest beer market. The group announced this week that China is now Amstel’s 117th market after launching there from last month.


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Gov't vows to protect local exporters under EPA
This is according to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah.
According to him, the Ministry is currently seeking cabinet’s input and support on options opened to Ghana in the wake of the October 1, 2016 deadline under the current EU regulation granting Market Access to Ghana.
“In the coming weeks, hopefully in May, government will announce its position on the EPA. Let me however assure all exporters and their employees that government has much interest in ensuring economic growth, increase in employment as well as an expansion in export trade and industry and will do whatever it takes to protect Ghanaian exports into the EU”.
Dr. Spio Grabrah made these comments when a delegation of the major exporting companies in Ghana paid a courtesy call on him in Accra, to express their concerns over a possible lack of Market Access into the EU by October 1, 2016 deadline.
Explaining the situation, the Director of Foreign Relations at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr. Anthony Nyame Baafi said with the exception of Nigeria, the Gambia and Mauritania, 13 of the 16 ECOWAS countries have signed the EPA.
“Unfortunately in order to ratify the EPA, all the West Africa countries need to have signed in line with the modalities in the EPA negotiations before its implementation could commence,” he emphasized.
Mr. Baafi indicated that there were four policy options opened to Ghana under the current circumstance which included seeking an extension of the current EU regulation granting Market Access to Ghana and other Interim EPA (IEPA) eligible countries from October 1, 2016 to October 1, 2017.
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Xiaomi has revealed the launch date of Redmi Go in India. This new budget smartphone will be launched in India on March 19. It’s worth noting that the Redmi Go is the first Android Go phone from Xiaomi and has already been launched in the Philippines in January this year.
Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi India VP tweeted the news in Hindi, but he did not reveal the name of the device.
अब करोड़ों भारतीयों को मिलेगा स्मार्टफोन का अनुभव. इस नयी दुनिया में आपका स्वागत है!
उन्नति, प्रगति और सबसे जुड़े रहने की दुनिया. स्वागत है आपका #AapkiNayiDuniya में!
— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) March 15, 2019
In December 2018, the phone got certified by Infocomm and Media Development Authority, IMDA in Singapore under the model number M1903C3GG. As mentioned above, the phone is already official in the Philippines so we know the technical specifications of the device. The Xiaomi Redmi Go price in India is not official yet, but it’s expected to be priced between Rs. 3000 and Rs 4000.
Xiaomi Redmi Go Specifications
Xiaomi India has not revealed the specifications of the Redmi Go but it did hint some of the features such as a big battery, Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC, big display, etc. The handset will be running on Android Oreo (Go Edition) and will come pre-installed with 20+ regional languages. You can use the Google Assistant in Hindi also.
The smartphone will have a 5-inch LCD display offering a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratio. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 chipset will be powering the handset.
The for graphics and gaming, the Xiaomi Redmi Go will feature Adreno 308 GPU and will have 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage with expandable storage up to 128GB. Additionally, the Redmi go will feature Bluetooth 4.2 and single-band Wi-Fi (2.4Ghz).