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Washington, DC –The latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue will hit stores next week. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) denounces Sports Illustrated for its legacy of sexual objectification of women and its crass exploitation of cultural diversity to sanitize its actions. Hijab and burkini model gimmicks notwithstanding, the 2019 Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue carries on in its sexist and repugnant tradition of normalizing and profiting from the sexual objectification of women.
“To say we are used to Sports Illustrated’s (SI) raw sexual exploitation and pornification of women is sad but true. But SI’s exploitation of the hijab and burkini to feign cultural relevancy shows just how far it will go to sanitize its actions,” said Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. “With its 2019 Swimsuit Issue, SI sinks to a new low in its crass exploitation of cultural diversity.”
Hawkins continued, “This year SI shrewdly peddles the idea that featuring a model lounging seductively on a beach while clothed modestly in a hijab and burkini is a celebration of diversity and women’s empowerment. Clothing a SI swimsuit model is, indeed, a novel and welcome development, but what is not, is SI’s phony brand of female empowerment. As per usual, SI’s reductionist version of ‘female empowerment’ perpetuates the message that women exist as mere props for male sexual fantasies.”
“The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues’ legacy of sexual exploitation has rightly earned it a place on the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s 2019 Dirty Dozen List. NCOSE calls on all retailers to remove it from checkout lanes. We are also especially grateful to retailers like CVS which, out of concerns about female objectification, decided last year to remove this annual publication from their checkout areas and promotional displays,” Hawkins concluded.
Since 1964 the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue has sexually objectified women for sport and profit. NCOSE is asking the public to demand that companies like Target, Walgreens, and Safeway to stop profiting from blatant sexual objectification by removing the Swimsuit Issue from their stores. Patrons have a right to shop free from exposure to soft-core pornography in the checkout line.
Take Action: Concerned citizens can contact Target, Walgreens, and Safeway here.


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IHS said that last year the market became supply driven. That trend will continue until 2019 when the use rate of module projection will exceed the peak usage rate in 2010. That is when the global market really started to soar.
As this chart from IHS shows, China leads the pack in using solar panels, followed by Japan, the USA, the UK, Germany and India.
And there’s good news if you’re in the mood to buy, because the average selling prices of standard modules will fall by 27 percent between 2015 and 2019.
Thin film modules aren’t experiencing stellar growth patterns, but IHS believes that this year market share for those will be around seven percent.
That market share is likely to remain at around seven percent between now and 2019.

domain: news


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Marvel’s Avengers failed to meet its sales expectations, according to Square Enix’s latest financial results.
According to the English translation of the financial results briefing, Square Enix is not impressed with the method. Marvel Avengers It has been performing well since its launch earlier this year.
Square Enix’s HD gaming segment posted a loss of JPY7bn in the last quarter of the fiscal year, according to the latest data. That’s about $ 67 million.
Yosuke Matsuda, president of Square Enix, points out the combination of sluggish sales at Marvel’s Avengers and expensive marketing campaigns as the main reason for the loss.
“In addition to amortizing the game’s development costs, another key factor related to the title was a large advertising campaign at launch to compensate for the delay in marketing activity caused by COVID-19. It was a fact. Pandemic, “said Mr. Matsuda (Japanese translation).
“We still have development costs that need to be amortized in the third quarter, but we want to grow sales and recover them in the future.”
So how does the publisher fix this issue? Square Enix seems to be considering an incoming DLC to recoup some of the spending that has been devoted to the game so far.
Mr. Matsuda is eager to “make up for the slump in initial sales with sufficient additional content” in the second half (finished on March 31, 2021).
However, it is not yet known whether the expansion of Kate Bishop will be realized in the future.
Although not directly confirmed by Square Enix, it seems that more heroes have appeared, including Black Panther, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Winter Soldier, and War Machine.
It’s unclear if Square Enix will have enough of the expanding crew of the strongest heroes on Earth to turn the game around. Especially because there has been a noticeable outflow of PC players since the game started, but at least for game fans there is a lot more to look forward to.


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If there's an iPhone of showers, the Nebia Spa Shower 20 must be it. From its patented nozzles that atomize water into a perfect mist to an installation system that uses no screws, this shower head sounds and feels amazing.
At least according to Fast Company’s Mark Wilson, who installed the Nebia Spa Shower at his home: “I close my eyes, and I can picture five arms reaching inside my shower curtain, spritzing my body with hot hairspray. I’m definitely getting wet, but it barely feels like water. When I open my mouth to catch the aerosol, it seems to evaporate as it hits my tongue.”
It seems that everyone who tries it falls in love with the Nebia, which promises to save you up to 65 percent on water. It’s no coincidence that the company is backed by a who-is-who of Silicon Valley, which include Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and Google’s ex-Chairman Eric Schmidt.
The new Nebia 2.0 — which comes in chrome and jet black — has been re-engineered with a new nozzle design that solves the main problem of the first version: since its nozzles turn water into an aerosol, the tiny drops lose heat very quickly.
The result is that some people felt that the Nebia wasn’t hot enough. The company claims that the new nozzles have been designed using a simulated thermodynamics modeling software, solving the heat issue.
The shower doesn’t require any screws to be installed either, which Nebia claims is an exclusive feature in the industry. Instead, it uses a new 3M adhesive that they say can secure it safely to any wall surface without drilling holes. And the removable head attaches to a metal holder using a powerful neodymium magnet.
The original Nebia sold 16,000 units, raising $3 million in its 2015. The company claims that so far their showers have saved 100 million gallons on water. Seems like a lofty achievement. But helping to save the planet from ourselves comes at a high end-user cost: $500 a pop.
If you are into fancy titilating showers and helping Mother Earth, however, you can support the new model in Kickstarter now.
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Jesus Diaz founded the new Sploid for Gawker Media after seven years working at Gizmodo, where he helmed the lost-in-a-bar iPhone 4 story and wrote old angry man rants, among other things. He's a creative director, screenwriter, and producer at The Magic Sauce, and currently writes for Fast Company and Tom's Guide.


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Business tourism is in the spotlight at Meetings Africa, which markets the sub-continent and its destinations and offerings to the international meetings, incentives, conference and exhibitions industry.
THE Sandton Convention Centre in northern Joburg was abuzz with activity as scores of exhibitors, buyers and tourists milled about the concourse and scrums of international and local journalists jostled for best pictures and interviews.
JTC CEO Lindiwe KweleJoburg is the leader in destinations, says JTC CEO Lindiwe KweleThey are in town to attend South Africa’s biggest business tourism gathering – Meetings Africa – to learn about and discuss tourism trends, products and innovations in the meetings, incentives, conference and exhibitions industry. The many exhibitors are there to promote their brands and services.
Meetings Africa opened on 21 February and ends on 23 February. The Joburg Tourism Company (JTC) is hoping they will stay longer and experience Joburg’s lifestyle and other tourism attractions. Among those attending are business tourism stakeholders and international buyers.
Exhibitors include tourism authorities, convention and visitor bureaus, conference hotels and accommodation providers, event management specialists, transportation companies, luxury trains, cruise liners, spa and wellness resorts, trade associations and travel trade publications, to mention a few.
Inside the convention centre, the welcome party included singers draped in colourful African traditional garb, singing soothing African melodies; dancers, mascots, drummers, harp and marimba players also entertained visitors.
Joburg’s head of economic development, Jason Ngobeni, said the impact of the conference on Joburg’s economy was “huge”. The City was looking into leveraging this market to grow its economy, promote various attractions and get tourists to increase their stay and expenditure.
The Joburg stand at Meetings AfricaThe Joburg stand at Meetings AfricaHe said the conference was a good platform to promote Joburg as a destination for investment. “We have a suite of everything, from leisure to world class infrastructure, and we have a lot to offer.”
Opening the conference, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said Meetings Africa was pivotal in growing South Africa’s economy. “It is clear business tourism has been bolstered by a new sense of energy and direction and I believe this will make a significant contribution to consolidating our continent’s position in the global arena and demonstrate our capabilities in terms of hosting international events,” he explained.
Meetings Africa targets the business tourism industry, acting as a platform to market brands and countries. It aims to expose local and international buyers to the range of services and products in southern Africa’s meetings, incentives, conference and exhibitions industry.
Lindiwe Kwele, the chief executive of the JTC, said her entity’s primary focus was on business tourism and using that to increase leisure tourism. The company would use the conference to promote some of Joburg’s recent developments, especially in the inner city. “We want to give people an authentic Joburg experience.”
Joburg’s major competitive advantage is its international recognition as the business and commercial capital of the continent. Given its accessibility by air and that 75 percent of corporate headquarters are based in the city, Johannesburg’s success as a tourism destination pivots on business.
Jason NgobeniExecutive director of economic development in the City, Jason NgobeniIts tourism sector was faring well and was leading in the country, Kwele said, adding that it held a 49 percent market share. “We are the leader in destinations, but the challenge is to ensure that we convert the increase in arrivals to rands and cents.”
Meetings Africa is focused on increasing the number of corporate visitors, while building strong networks and educational platforms and enriching the international hosted buyer programme.
“For us it is about entrenching Joburg as Africa’s premiere business and lifestyle destination. But ultimately, it’s about retaining and growing the market share; we are very excited and things are looking good,” she said.
There are a range of new initiatives this year, including a golf day, educational seminars, an exhibition on greening in line with international standards, and an exhibitor categorisation to help visitors navigate the show better and maximise limited time. There is an association day for learning and sharing for national associations and a networking function. Issues to be highlighted include business tourism’s growing importance to South Africa’s tourism industry.
The visitor target market is anyone who travels for business or who books business travel as well as organisers of events, conferences, meetings, team incentive trips or teambuilding activities. For more information about Meetings Africa, visit its website.
Expo for business tourism
Campaign sells Joburg
Great shops in Joburg
Ama’visitors love Joburg
Tourists spending in Jozi
Tourism was World Cup success
Joburg is still tops


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Tags: Equipment OEMs
Briggs & Stratton on April 27 announced financial results for its third fiscal quarter and first nine months ended April 1, 2012. Highlights: Third quarter fiscal 2012 consolidated net sales were $720.1 million or comparable to third quarter fiscal ...
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Advancements in technology, particularly in the music recording aspect, enabled artists to produce their own records. Digital technology has practically liberated many musicians from the need to enter into stifling contracts with established record label companies, by having their own recording business and using their proprietary labels.
The CEO of the Association of Independent Music (AIM), Paul Pacifico, commented that technology has reduced many of the barriers in the music industry, resulting to lowerings of production equipment costs and costs of support services, as well as improved the efficiency of supply chain resources. Mr. Pacifico says
Today, artists are pretty much music entrepreneurs in their own right, building and running owner-operated companies.
Not a few artists though, who nurture hopes of becoming independent music entrepreneurs, have the capital funding to use in seeding their own music business. Yet a company called Amuse has recognized this need, as well as the changes that have been taking place in the music industry.
According to the latest report by MIDiA Research, a company fielded by Amuse to evaluate how independent music producers are faring, there are now more musicians who succeed in penetrating the music business without the help of established labels. The report further stated that on a global scale, independent music artists are in fact, the fastest-growing sector of the music recording business. The MIDiA study found out that independent musician entrepreneurs were able to generate over $643 million in 2018, which represents a 35% increase from the figures noted in 2017. .
About Amuse Record Label and Distribution Service Company
Founded by a group of experts in music and technology as Amuseio AB in Stockholm, Sweden, this record label company, provides music entrepreneurs a free platform with which to distribute their work. At the same time, Amuse permits artists who use their free service, to retain 100% of whatever royalties they make at their own rate.
Amuse CEO Diego Farias, co-founded the company in 2015 with Christian Wilsson – Director of Product and Technology Jimmy Brodd – Director of Technology, Andreas Ahlenius – Chief Product Officer and Guy Parry – Head of Products. In 2017, Black-Eyed Peas member and 7-time Grammy Award winner, will i.am, joined the Amuse board as a co-founding member; rendering his expertise as creative innovator and entrepreneur.
The reason why Amuse is providing a free platform, is that the approach enables the company to discover new talents whom they believe will help them generate better record label. Using data collected by its free distribution platform, the company is able to identify artists to whom they can offer a licensing deal that covers branding, public relations, marketing strategic planning and financing. In any project undertaken under a short-term licensing deal, Amuse shoulders all upfront costs then later splits the profit 50-50 with the artist.
CEO Farias remarked that younger musicians are less knowledgeable when it comes to the concept of management, as most of them are into music production out of passion for music; and not so much on the commercial success. That is why they see short-term contracts as a better way of empowering new artists in having control of their work.
Still, the MIDiA report found that 59% of independent music artists they surveyed, indicated experiencing frequent worries over their financial position. Forty-eight percent of label artists made the same admission.
Perhaps, one thing the new breed of independent artists is overlooking is the need to have a business plan, which is essential for any kind of entrepreneurial venture. Since most of their time and effort are devoted to their passion for music, it would be wise for independent music entrepreneurs to hire a professional business plan writer


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Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes was recently interviewed on the KUNM radio program Women’s Focus.
October 31, 2018
Santa Fe, N.M. – Today, the Economic Development Department announced that Catalyst Fund recipient NMA Ventures has made its first seed investment. The fund has invested $300,000 in Santa Fe-based company Fusion Funnel, LLC. The company is a software-as-a-service company that offers an automated solution for gathering sales intelligence.
October 25, 2018
Santa Fe, N.M. - Today, New Mexico MainStreet (NMMS) announced that MainStreet Truth or Consequences and the City of Truth or Consequences have been selected to participate in the "Great Blocks on MainStreet" program. They will receive services from a team of landscape architects, architects and design professionals to redevelop a section of their MainStreet District. The program was developed to provide comprehensive design assistance to high-capacity MainStreet Districts with an economic revitalization project. Truth or Consequences will address a major redesign of three blocks within their district, beginning with an innovative and intensive redesign/public infrastructure project on Foch Street between Main Ave. and Broadway St.
October 22, 2018
Albuquerque, N.M. – Today, Governor Susana Martinez announced that homegrown high-tech manufacturing company, 3D Glass Solutions (3DGS), will expand their headquarters location in Albuquerque and create up to 139 new high-wage, high-tech manufacturing and technology jobs. The average salary for positions at 3DGS is $60,000 a year. The company also plans to invest more than $23 million over the next five years. The expansion is being supported by New Mexico's closing fund, LEDA, as well as the Job Training Incentive Program, JTIP.
October 11, 2018
Santa Fe, N.M. – Today, Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Matt Geisel announced that Santa Fe pet food company Marty’s Meals will expand operations, creating up to 11 new manufacturing jobs. Marty’s Meals will also invest over $2 million over the next ten years to expand to an 8,000 square foot storefront and manufacturing facility which opens in November.
October 01, 2018
Santa Fe, N.M. - Today, Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Matt Geisel and Descartes Labs celebrated the grand opening of Descartes' new renovated headquarters location in downtown Santa Fe. Descartes Labs is investing over $2 million to renovate the facility as well as creating 50 new jobs. The expansion was supported by New Mexico's closing fund, LEDA, as well as the Job Training Incentive Program, JTIP.


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AFA has learned of another sexual assault against a female Target shopper – this time in Texas.
A Texas woman filed a report with the Harris County Sheriff's office after a man entered the women's fitting room area and took pictures of her as she was changing clothes.
The woman said she noticed that a cell phone camera was being held and pointed right at her from under the fitting room door.
"It's an invasion of privacy. I feel like no one should go through that. It was horrifying," she told television news station KTRK.
What's also disturbing is that Target refused to allow the woman to view the store's surveillance tape of the incident. Only after the sheriff's office became involved did Target release the video.
Ironically, Target gave the same talking points it gives every time something like this happens ... Target claims that "the safety of our guests and team members is our top priority."
The dozens of recorded sexual assaults on women in Target's fitting rooms and restrooms are almost 100% preventable. Apparently, Target's "top priority" is to allow men to continue entering women's fitting rooms and restrooms. So in this case, the man who got away is free to return to the store and commit the crime again.
There are still people you know who are unfamiliar with Target's dangerous policy. Will you help spread the warning and let your family and friends know about the Target boycott?
- Forward this information to friends and family. Invite them to sign the boycott pledge at www.afa.net/target.
- Call Target headquarters at 612-304-6073 and personally let them know you are boycotting its stores.
- Voice your concerns on Target's Facebook page.
- Support our ongoing efforts to promote the Target boycott. Make your tax-deductible donation today!


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However, given the rally in share prices over the past few weeks, one analyst believes that expectations may "have gotten overly pessimistic."
According to Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, the recent 30 percent rally could result in "upside surprises" given the "overly pessimistic expectations" that analysts, Wall Street, and pundits have had with regard to the company lately.
With this in mind, he is predicting $11.3 billion in revenue and a loss of $1.05 in earnings per share for the 2013 fiscal year, compared to the consensus estimates of $11.1 billion in revenue and a loss of $1.26 in earnings per share.
Another upside is carrier interest in the platform, which seem to be hedging their bets.
"Carriers are growing increasingly leery with the growing dominance of iOS and Android," says Wu, "and have been looking for a viable third or potentially fourth platform with the hope that either BB10 and/or Windows 8 takes off."
But it's not all good news. Wu is concerned that RIM has been able to hold on to a $2.3 billion cash balance despite big operating losses through, "changes in working capital and its conversion of accounts receivable."
"It is not clear how sustainable this is as this is an accounting maneuver as opposed to an improvement in its fundamentals," writes Wu. He also has concerns about whether there's room for another mobile platform, questioning the need for, "a third or fourth mobile OS touchscreen platform," and whether there is enough to differentiate what BlackBerry has to offer from iOS and Android.
"To us, it's not just the number of apps, but the quality of apps and whether developers are making money and customers are using them," concludes Wu.
Analysts seem to be undecided as to where RIM is headed, but ultimately it all rests on whether users -- both consumer and enterprise -- are willing to look beyond Android and iOS and put their faith in RIM to deliver solid hardware backed by a robust ecosystem.


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Jim Butler and Guy Maisnik’s blog article, “Hotel-Retail mixed-use: hospitality industry trend for 2013,” was published by Hotel Online and ehotelier.com.
Matt Hinks’ blog article, “California Property Owners Lose Ground — And ‘Goodwill,’” was republished by Real Estate Law360. It discusses a recent California Court of Appeal ruling affecting property owners.
Jim Butler and Guy Maisnik’s article titled, “Hotel-Retail Mixed-Use, The Rebirth of Bricks and Mortar,” was published by GlobeSt.com.
The Thrill of The Historic Bugatti By Tim Lappen This article was originally published in the October 2012 edition of Haute Living. www.HauteLiving.com Reprinted with permission. Tim Lappen was recently asked to join Haute Auto’s prestigious team of guest contributors. His article begins below. For a PDF version, click here. Italian au to designer Ettore Bugatti […]
Bob Braun’s article, “Hotel transactions in foreign countries or involving foreigners – Can you buy someone a cup of coffee or is that a bribe?” was published by Jim Butler’s Hotel Law Blog, and was picked up by Hotel Online, ehotelier.com, Hospitality Net, and Hotel News Resource.
Bloomberg BNA has published the 2012 update to the BNA Portfolio, “Records Retention for Enterprise Knowledge Management,” authored by Bob Braun, Stan Gibson, Michael Gold and Dan Sedor. The portfolio was first released in 2007.
David Sudeck’s article, “Seller representations and warranties in a hotel purchase agreement — What are the big issues today?” was published by Jim Butler’s Hotel Law Blog and picked up and published on Hotel-Online.
David Sudeck’s article, “The hotel purchase and sale agreement: What do representations and warranties in a hotel purchase and sale agreement mean? Are they really worth anything?” was published by Jim Butler’s Hotel Law Blog, and was picked up by Hotel Online, Hospitality Net, and HOTELS.
A version of this article was first published in the Malibu Times. Download the PDF: The Malibu Times: Who’s On First? Defining the Roles of Entertainment Representatives I have been asked by the Malibu Times to write a few columns on the current state of the entertainment business. There have been many changes in the […]
Jim Butler’s blog, “U.S. Hotel Owners could lose $2.1 billion in hotel value with new Expedia program,” was picked up by Hospitality Net.


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Digital and E-commerce Cooperation Training Course was officially launched in the afternoon on September 11th, 2021, in Nanning, Guangxi, China.
See how Yunnan create "green energy", "green food" and "healthy living destination" from the joint research of National Development and Reform Commission and World Economic Forum.
The World Economic Forum is regarded as the "highest unofficial international economic forum" and attaches great importance to China's economic development.
Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of NDRC and H.E. Mr. Septian Hario Seto, Deputy Minister of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (CMMAI) jointly held a video conference on September 17, 2021.
On 3rd September, H.E. Ning Jizhe, Vice Chairman of NDRC held a video meeting with Mr. Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry, Republic of Singapore.


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Older Euro fans will appreciate this one. A once dormant, but still iconic, brand of wheels is making its grand return. Kinesis Motorsport’s roster of forged 3-piece wheels is back in production thanks to a new ownership and creative direction. After a fun relaunch at Luftgekühlt, the Kinesis brand will soon be in the hearts and minds of an entirely new generation of enthusiasts.
For more Kinesis Motorsport information, visit www.kinesismotorsport.com.
As seen on PASMAG's Tuning 365 TV Show (Season 3 Episode 14) on REV TV.
Additional footage courtesy of Kinesis Motorsport


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McDonald’s and daily deal website LivingSocial recently teamed up to deal out up to one million vouchers this holiday season — the largest national fast food daily deal ever offered. The deal involves a $13 voucher booklet which is redeemable for five individual Big Mac sandwiches and five individual Large French Fries.
Members will receive physical vouchers in the mail, which can then be redeemed at participating McDonald’s restaurants nationwide. The deal is currently live and a few hours into the promotion, over 140,000 of the deals have been purchased.
The best part about this $26 value is that it can be shared and redeemed over multiple visits at participating McDonald’s throughout America.


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In order to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), it is essential and imperative that we devote the time to First Develop India and to do so effectively, we need to First Discover India, in what it can offer!
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his "Make in India" campaign in the presence of host of Indian and foreign business tycoons. There was no standing space in the Vigyan Bhavan at Delhi and millions watched the proceedings in the comfort of their own homes, and heard the PM speak with awe and attention.
In his hour-long extempore speech, Modi mentioned that the government had identified 25 sectors in which India has the potential of becoming a world leader. This list included automobiles, Information technology, pharma, ports, aviation, tourism, hospitality, wellness and railways.
Narendra Modi assured the audience that the government would take steps to make governance more effective and investor friendly, both in the states and at the Centre. These, he said would be fully visible soon on the ground.
The campaign highlights global vision through both "look east" and "link west" approach. "Such a move would be mutually beneficial for many countries, for employment generation. It will enable exchange of talent and expertise," according to Naomi Isshi, managing director of Toyota Kirloskar Motors.
The cream of the Indian business community was present. Among them, mention may be made of Cyrus Mistry of Tata Sons; Mukesh Ambani of Reliance; Azim Premji of Wipro; KM Birla of Aditya Birla group and bankers like Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank, besides a host of government officials who would make the wheels go into motion. Among the foreign dignitaries, mention may be made of Keruchi Ayukawa of Maruti-Suzuki, Franz Hauber of Bosch India, Vittorio Colao of Vodafone, Kemichiro Hibi of Sony India and Phil Shaw of Lockheed Martin.
It may be noted that, in the World Bank's "Ease of Doing Business Rankings", out of 189 countries in the list, India stands pitifully by holding 134th rank. India's manufacturing sector accounts only for 16% of the GDP, and is posting a negative growth now, while it is 36% in China, 34% in South Korea and 22% in Germany. We need to catch with these countries, as our aim is to reach 25% by 2022, as stated in the National Manufacturing Policy as well as create 100 million jobs. At the moment, it takes, according to the press reports, 12 procedures and 27 days to start a business; 35 procedures and 168 days to get construction permits and 1,420 days to enforce contracts in India. All these have to change and be brought down to the least possible levels, if we are to succeed in "Make in India" campaign a success.
The reaction from the leading executives present on this occasion has been encouraging. Mukesh Ambani, CMD of Reliance, confirmed that, in the next 12 to 15 months, they have plans to invest Rs1.8 lakh crore and create job opportunities for 125,000 people. Cyrus Mistry, chairman, Tata Sons, felt that stable policies and competitive tax structure would be needed apart from giving priority to e-governance, cost effective energy and flexible labour laws with safety net for workforce.
Arvind Panagariya, professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University is reported to have said, "Indian labour laws and interventions have gone too far even by the standards of democracies. Today, Indian corporates avoid labour-intensive industries such as apparel like the bubonic plague! When they do invest, they go for machines for tasks that workers could readily perform. It is time we reconsidered our labour laws."
There were other favourable reactions too. Phil Shaw, Lockheed Martin India CEO spoke of how, within a year, the company's joint venture with Tata Advanced Systems set up a factory and was manufacturing parts of the company's Hercules C 132 J aircraft.
Sony India MD Kemichiro Hibi mentioned that they had shut down operations in 2004, having preferred to import their needs from Thailand, Malaysia, china and Japan, may now reconsider India as a potential base to restart a manufacturing base. This is also because of the free trade agreement India has with some countries.
Overall, industry experts and analysts have termed the "make in India" campaign as "extremely progressive", but to make this happen, they point out, rightly, hurdles in infrastructure development; bottlenecks in environmental clearances and unfriendly tax regime have to be removed to create a level playing field. The scrapping of coal licences, for instance, due to the Supreme Court's verdict may also instil fear in the minds of investors. They would need some kind of guarantee that these would not happen again.
There is no doubt in the minds of investors, both domestic and foreign, that the government needs to create a sense of "trust" in its policies. Government needs to bring about a goods and services tax (GST) regime to reduce the cascading of taxes and comprehensive labour reforms.
However, in order to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), it is essential and imperative that we devote the time First Developing India and to do so effectively, we need to First Discover India, in what it can offer! If it is coal as a source of energy supply, we need to completely overhaul this sector by inviting the very best in the world to begin the coal mining operation in the country. Licence to operate should cover both coal and methane gas that is being needlessly wasted and which evaporates into thin air at a great loss to the country. This has to be tapped. With a heavy hand, power pilferage that goes undetected needs to be stopped. Solar power, which is perennial and free, needs to be tapped on a national scale.
Let us First Discover India and its potential. Armed with this information, we can Develop India.
(AK Ramdas has worked with the Engineering Export Promotion Council of the ministry of commerce. He was also associated with various committees of the Council. His international career took him to places like Beirut, Kuwait and Dubai at a time when these were small trading outposts; and later to the US.)
A confidential report and a fired examiner’s hidden recorder penetrate the cloistered world of Wall Street’s top regulator—and its history of deference to banks
Barely a year removed from the devastation of the 2008 financial crisis, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York faced a crossroads. Congress had set its sights on reform. The biggest banks in the nation had shown that their failure could threaten the entire financial system. Lawmakers wanted new safeguards.
The Federal Reserve, and, by dint of its location off Wall Street, the New York Fed, was the logical choice to head the effort. Except it had failed miserably in catching the meltdown.
New York Fed President William Dudley had to answer two questions quickly: Why had his institution blown it, and how could it do better? So he called in an outsider, a Columbia University finance professor named David Beim, and granted him unlimited access to investigate. In exchange, the results would remain secret.
After interviews with dozens of New York Fed employees, Beim learned something that surprised even him. The most daunting obstacle the New York Fed faced in overseeing the nation's biggest financial institutions was its own culture. The New York Fed had become too risk-averse and deferential to the banks it supervised. Its examiners feared contradicting bosses, who too often forced their findings into an institutional consensus that watered down much of what they did.
The report didn't only highlight problems. Beim provided a path forward. He urged the New York Fed to hire expert examiners who were unafraid to speak up and then encourage them to do so. It was essential, he said, to preventing the next crisis.
A year later, Congress gave the Federal Reserve even more oversight authority. And the New York Fed started hiring specialized examiners to station inside the too-big-to fail institutions, those that posed the most risk to the financial system.
One of the expert examiners it chose was Carmen Segarra.
Listen to excerpts from the recordings Carmen Segarra captured at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Segarra appeared to be exactly what Beim ordered. Passionate and direct, schooled in the Ivy League and at the Sorbonne, she was a lawyer with more than 13 years of experience in compliance – the specialty of helping banks satisfy rules and regulations. The New York Fed placed her inside one of the biggest and, at the time, most controversial banks in the country, Goldman Sachs.
As ProPublica reported last year, Segarra sued the New York Fed and her bosses, claiming she was retaliated against for refusing to back down from a negative finding about Goldman Sachs. A judge threw out the case this year without ruling on the merits, saying the facts didn't fit the statute under which she sued.
At the bottom of a document filed in the case, however, her lawyer disclosed a stunning fact: Segarra had made a series of audio recordings while at the New York Fed. Worried about what she was witnessing, Segarra wanted a record in case events were disputed. So she had purchased a tiny recorder at the Spy Store and began capturing what took place at Goldman and with her bosses.
Segarra ultimately recorded about 46 hours of meetings and conversations with her colleagues. Many of these events document key moments leading to her firing. But against the backdrop of the Beim report, they also offer an intimate study of the New York Fed's culture at a pivotal moment in its effort to become a more forceful financial supervisor. Fed deliberations, confidential by regulation, rarely become public.
The recordings make clear that some of the cultural obstacles Beim outlined in his report persisted almost three years after he handed his report to Dudley. They portray a New York Fed that is at times reluctant to push hard against Goldman and struggling to define its authority while integrating Segarra and a new corps of expert examiners into a reorganized supervisory scheme.
Segarra became a polarizing personality inside the New York Fed — and a problem for her bosses — in part because she was too outspoken and direct about the issues she saw at both Goldman and the Fed. Some colleagues found her abrasive and complained. Her unwillingness to conform set her on a collision course with higher-ups at the New York Fed and, ultimately, led to her undoing.
In a tense, 40-minute meeting recorded the week before she was fired, Segarra's boss repeatedly tries to persuade her to change her conclusion that Goldman was missing a policy to handle conflicts of interest. Segarra offered to review her evidence with higher-ups and told her boss she would accept being overruled once her findings were submitted. It wasn't enough.
"Why do you have to say there's no policy?" her boss said near the end of the grueling session.
"Professionally," Segarra responded, "I cannot agree."
The New York Fed disputes Segarra's claim that she was fired in retaliation.
"The decision to terminate Ms. Segarra's employment with the New York Fed was based entirely on performance grounds, not because she raised concerns as a member of any examination team about any institution," it said in a two-page statement responding to an extensive list of questions from ProPublica and This American Life.
The statement also defends the bank's record as regulator, saying it has taken steps to incorporate Beim's recommendations and "provides multiple venues and layers of recourse to help ensure that its employees freely express their views and concerns."
"The New York Fed," the statement says, "categorically rejects the allegations being made about the integrity of its supervision of financial institutions."
While the PM has announced ‘Make in India’ with great fanfare, innovative companies like Uber and Amazon are getting a taste of laws made in India
This is not what prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi had in mind when he launched his high-profile ‘Make in India’ programme on 25th September. Yet, ironically, two multinational companies, Uber and Amazon, seem to have fallen prey to the large swathe of ‘made in India’ regulations that make it very difficult to do business in India.
Uber and Amazon are considered two of the most innovative companies in the world, so it would have been a big surprise if they had not fallen foul of India’s notoriously turgid bureaucracy.
Not only has the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) taken objections to Uber’s payment model and the Karnataka tax authorities with Amazon’s e-commerce model, but, typically, the Enforcement Directorate is also investigating Amazon.
The Department of Revenue Intelligence may also jump in to raise issues of violation of forex laws. That we, the people, find their services excellent, efficient and cost-effective, is of no interest to the rule-makers nor push them to find a quick solution. That is how the ‘Made in India’ legal and enforcement system works.
Uber is a global tax cab company. In order to hire a car, you need to download a phone application, supply credit card details and call a car. Once your ride is booked, the hi-tech system allows you to track the car to your pick-up point. At the end of the journey, your credit card is automatically debited and the invoice mailed to you.
Uber’s clean and easy transactions and aggressive pricing (almost on par with auto-rickshaws for an air-conditioned sedan ride) was growing fast enough to unnerve the competition. They complained to RBI which immediately said that the absence of a two-stage authentication on the credit card transaction and use of a foreign payment gateway violated Indian rules.
In Amazon’s case, the tax authorities in India decided that, since Amazon pre-orders certain popular products and stocks them in its warehouses, it is not an electronic marketplace but a reseller and falls foul of sales tax.
To expect Indian regulators to anticipate and permit an innovative business model is to be out of touch with reality. The two MNCs would have been better advised by their lawyers and consultants, based on the experience of a series of technology companies in the past five years—that they should be prepared for draconian coercive action, including raids and worse, which could shut down their business in India.
Commentators, who argue that India will send the wrong signal by attacking Uber and Amazon, are out of touch with everything that was happening in India in the past 10 years. Yes, we have a new government that promises change, but to expect the elephant to move with the speed of a gazelle is unreal.
In fact, although the PM launched a high wattage ‘Make in India’ campaign just before leaving for the United States, nothing has changed on the ground when it comes to cutting red-tape.
Medium to large companies are forced to spend significant sums of money on legal fees only to deal with the harassment by tax and enforcement agencies. Most of them have legitimate money blocked by endless tax-related litigation. Please notice that the retrospective legislation following the Vodafone case has been left untouched by Modi sarkar and the dispute is still not settled.
Doing business in India means that Uber and Amazon should be prepared for similar skirmishes with numerous municipal and state level regulators and law enforcers, whose rulebook often dates back to the 19th century. Indian businesses have learnt to live with these hassles or to ‘grease’ their way forward—all this adds to the cost and hassles of doing business in India.
Coming back to the Uber case, some commentators have argued that RBI cannot be a regulator, supervisor, investigator and enforcement agency, all rolled into one. But it has combined those roles for over 65 years and Indian banks and companies have lived, and died, by its capricious rules.
Let’s not forget how a sudden change in RBI’s rules in the mid-1990s caused most non-banking finance companies to go belly up leading to thousands of depositors losing hard-earned savings invested with them. Nobody held RBI accountable because that is how India has worked.
Uber gives dignity to millions of Indians who, in the absence of adequate public transport, have to beg and plead and give in to extortion by auto-rickshaws and taxi-drivers. Amazon delivers products to your doorstep cheaper and faster. All this cuts no ice with Indian lawmakers or regulators. They are not obliged to look for a solution that helps people; they’d rather stick to old rules—even as those rules are violated with impunity.
But there is a slight chance that things may be different this time. Public pressure for better services, conveyed directly to the PM via social media, could make a difference.
Mr Modi’s own experience of using technology innovatively to reach the people should make him sympathetic to innovators. I believe that only a direct request from the PM will push government agencies to re-work rules quickly so that people benefit from innovation.
It is RBI’s stated policy to push people to switch from cash and cheque to electronic transactions. Based on this, Uber’s payment process should have been held up as the model for others to follow. But there is a big gap between RBI’s stated goals and its actions.
According to media reports, Uber is working at integrating a digital-wallet into its payment process through a tie-up with a couple of mobile payment gateways. Will this work? Remember, in the eight years since it closed down the Times of Money’s e-wallet or stored value payment card, we have yet to see an effective e-wallet with low transaction costs attract sizeable customers in India.
RBI has also been impervious to consumer protests about ‘convenience charges’ levied on electronic transactions. A workable e-wallet system, with low transaction charges, is the ideal solution for small-value online transactions to buy movie tickets, books, flowers or pay taxi fares, where the value at risk is low and there is no need for two-stage authentication. But, there again, RBI is worried that these low-denomination transactions will be used for gambling, lottery tickets and worse, to launder money.
But e-commerce in India is a $2.3billion business, which is growing at a scorching pace and companies will keep innovating for a piece of the action. While existing e-wallets offered by some banks are tedious, worth the effort only for high denomination transactions, new ones are being announced every day.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched an e-wallet which is structured as a rolling-deposit scheme where customers can maintain an account with IRCTC for e-bookings, which is topped up from time to time. This is to reduce the current hassles and risk involved in using credit and debit cards on the IRCTC system. The Citrus Pay app is another one that allows users to load value on an e-wallet from a credit or debit card.
It remains to be seen if Uber will find its way around RBI regulations or we will see the dawn of a new era, where the ‘Make in India’ is not just a slogan but a signal to regulators, policy-makers and investigation agencies to also move with the times to help and facilitate businesses that consumers want.
(Sucheta Dalal is the managing editor of Moneylife. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2006 for her outstanding contribution to journalism. She can be reached at [email protected]


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Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has said it is working to establish a modern Test Laboratory in Tamale for effective operations of businesses in the northern sector.
Professor Alex Dodoo, Director-General GSA said the modern Test Laboratory was expected to help industries from the northern sector to test their products to ensure that they conformed to the country’s standards and also for exports.
Professor Dodoo said this in an interview with Ghana News Agency.
He said the establishment of the Test Laboratory in Tamale would be the first of its kind in the northern sector to promote growth of industries and improve the economy of the area.
He said it would also provide the necessary assurance that goods and services were of acceptable quality and to also enhance sustainable development.
He said it would reduce the delays associated with products sent to the GSA Head Office in Accra for testing.


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By June Soh | Voice of America
WASHINGTON — In recent years food trucks have proliferated in big U.S. cities. As the popularity of the mobile kitchen continues to grow, a small business in the Washington D.C. suburbs is also profiting. East Coast Custom Coaches is a builder of food trucks.
“You’ve got to come in, go around in this truck, and back out that window in three to four minutes, period,” says Lee Campbell, owner of East Coast Coaches who believes that is how long it should take for a chef to prepare food for customers.
“That is how we design our trucks to the chef. They are made for the chef,” Campbell said. “Are you right-handed or left-handed, are you real tall …,”
East Coast Custom Coaches is based in Manassas, Virginia, outside Washington. Over the past several years, his team of 15 employees has built about 200 food trucks.
Gauri Sarin sells Asian fusion food in downtown Washington. Her mobile kitchen, Something Stuffed, was built by Campbell’s team.
“I love the inside of my truck,” she says. “I am very happy with all the equipment and where everything is located.”
Campbell says each truck has a different design depending on the cuisine. One of his biggest challenges is finding the best use of the small space.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven pieces of equipment [are] right here,” he said. “We maximize every square inch of it. That is why I have a top-notch engineer on my staff.”
That engineer is Tom Mayhew. He met Campbell many years ago when they were working as volunteer firefighters.
“I have 26 years in a fire department. So I have a keen eye for safeties,” Mayhew said. “When I look at a design or a drawing, I take safety in consideration first. Is it safe? If it is, then we can design the way they [customers] feel like they want to make it.”
Jeff Kelly, of the D.C. Food Truck Association, says the trucks must also comply with local government regulations.
“So working with somebody like Lee and East Coast Custom is important in that way because regulations are really hard to understand for someone just opening a truck for the first time,” he said. “They know the rules, they know the regulations. They build quality vehicles.”
That is why Carmen and Chris Morse came to East Coast Custom.
“We are going to serve gourmet mini-burgers,” said Carmen.
“We have worked in restaurants since we were young teenagers, things like that,” Chris said. “This is our first venture on a mobile food truck. We are super excited.”
Campbell says most food trucks in the Washington area are used vehicles from FedEx or the post office. The re-outfitting process takes two to three months and costs, on average, around $45,000 – a fraction of the cost of opening a regular restaurant.
“We have about 31 trucks to build,” Campbell said. “We try to get four to five trucks out a month.”
Campbell expects to stay busy for many years to come, as the curbside restaurant industry keeps growing.


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by Brenon Daly
When Google and Salesforce announced their recent blockbuster software acquisitions, we had to check the date of the deals. The two high-multiple purchases of analytics vendors didn’t look like anything that’s been printed in 2019. Instead, the pair of transactions looked like something of a 2018 vintage.
Both Google-Looker and Salesforce-Tableau share all of the hallmarks of the significant deals that pushed software M&A to record levels last year: Deep-pocketed, brand-name software giants top an already high valuation for a company in a key segment of the emerging tech landscape. Consider the transactions fitting that description that 451 Research‘s M&A KnowledgeBase had already recorded at this point in 2018:
Microsoft’s seminal $7.5bn acquisition of DevOps kingpin GitHub.
Adobe’s $1.7bn purchase of e-commerce software provider Magento Commerce.
Salesforce’s $6.6bn reach for integration specialist MuleSoft, which had been the cloud company’s largest transaction until Tableau.
SAP’s $2.4bn pickup of CallidusCloud, a SaaS sales compensation management vendor.
All of those transactions went off at double-digit multiples, as did the Salesforce-Tableau and Google-Looker pairings. (Clients of the M&A KnowledgeBase can see our full estimates for both the trailing and forward valuation that the search giant paid in its largest deal in more than five years.)
Rather than the expansive (and expensive) software transactions of 2018, corporate acquirers so far this year have looked to consolidate much more mature markets. For instance, the M&A KnowledgeBase already lists three semiconductor acquisitions valued at more than $1bn in 2019, along with a similar number of massive deals in the electronic payments industry. Compared with those down-to-earth moves, the cloud plays of Google and Salesforce seem to belong to a different era of dealmaking.


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On Tour in the U.S.With China’s New Rich
Farra, Lara. “On Tour in the U.S.With China’s New Rich.” 11 Apr. 2011
The article stipulates that the number of Chinese visiting outside countries is on the rise despite the difficulty in acquiring U.S visa and restrictions on living extravagant life by Chinese authority. The number of Chinese travelling to U.S has increased by 3 million compared to previous years; this is a reflection of $6 billion spent more on overseas trips compared to 2010. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan and South Korea has been marred by natural catastrophes thus resulting to growing number of Chinese visiting Europe and U.S. According to Lara, Chinese are attracted to U.S cities; Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York due to diverse and presumed original products in their markets.
Chinese go as a group of millionaires or billionaires most of them known not to have gone through higher education but are top notch investors in China. One of them Mr. Yan Jiehe is known for his flamboyant lifestyle and spending on shopping and trips overseas. Mr. Yan Jiehe is always accompanied by a group of other wealthy men and women who go in and out of malls and outlets in U.S cities shopping for expensive vitamins and herbals, suits worth more than $200, jewelry, coach bags, Norelco razors; women clothes from Prada, Gucci and Chloe; men clothes from Ermenegildo Zegna and Giorgio Armani. Chinese tourists don’t fear spending on things they deem valuable to themselves though according to the article the exact amount spent is never disclosed.
The author suggests that Chinese wealthy persons are marked by the type of watch they wear some worth $40, 000 and $50, 000. Those with expensive watches are the most successful and so each one of them yearns for a distinct and good watch. Despite not knowing to speak or read English, they presume every product in U.S market is original and will not spare a chance of buying anything they lack though they have them in their domestic market. Their lack of knowledge in English has contributed to exploitation from stores and outlets which sell the same products made in China to them.


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New Californian games bill under-fire
A bill first proposed by member of the Californian assembly Leland Yee looks set to be imminently scuppered after Yee revealed his disappointment at his proposal's reception. "I think there is tremendous political pressure being exerted," admitted Yee. "I don't think [the bill] is going to survive at all." Apparently, key videogame industry players have been lobbying heavily against the bill which aims to restrict the sale of violent videogames further in the state, ahead of a vote by the Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Tourism and Internet Media tomorrow.
Yee had hoped to encompass specific violent games alongside films and pornography, making it illegal for retailers to sell them to minors, and targeted titles like Postal 2 and GTA 3 specifically. The industry hit back stating the amendment was futile as most violent games were purchased by parents for kids anyway, though in his offence Yee did mention both US and Swedish studies linking graphic games will aggression in minors.
Yee is a Berkeley-educated psychologist, though admits to having played scant videogames himself. "I did not simply jump into this issue without a lot of care and consideration," he commented, and has suggested another bill forcing retailer to explain ratings better, and cut-down on displays of violent titles in stores, too. More on this as we get it.
- Classic PC survival horror series returns with Alone In The Dark: Illumination
- Resident Evil: Revelations 2 confirmed with a concept trailer
- Xbox One owners, Destiny wants to eat your hard drive
- Saints Row IV modding tools released for PC
- Volition's Steve Jaros: Sarkeesian was right to call out Saints Row
- Playable Silent Hill teaser P.T. downloaded 1 million times
- Blooborne gets a Japanese release date
- Rockstar says no delay to next-gen GTA V, November release date rumoured
- Harmonix announces A City Sleeps, their new music-driven shooter


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Media outlet threatened a lawsuit over Bitcoin scam adswritten by Bella Palmer
The legal team for electronics entrepreneur Dick Smith is threatening to sue a major media outlet after discovering the advertisements
Electronics entrepreneur Dick Smith — who is a household name in Australia — has threatened a lawsuit against a major media outlet after it hosted ads that linked to fake articles suggesting Smith is promoting a fake Bitcoin and crypto investment scheme.
According to an Oct. 8 report from The Australian, the legal team for millionaire Dick Smith is threatening defamation proceedings against The Guardian Australia after discovering the advertisements.
The ads themselves do not feature cryptocurrency directly, however they link to stories featuring written interviews with celebrities such as Smith who purportedly made a fortune by investing in crypto. In Smith’s case the articles were about “how to make money easy” and “get rich in a few days” using cryptocurrency. Smith has been battling the ads on various platforms for months.
The multi-millionaire is well known in Australia as the founder of Dick Smith Electronics, Australian Geographic, and Dick Smith Foods, in addition to holding a number of aviation records.
Mr. Smith is determined to ensure the cryptocurrency scam promptly comes to a permanent end, said Smith’s lawyer Mark O’Brien.
Smith’s legal team has stated it will begin “defamation proceedings” if they do not receive a satisfactory response within 14 days. They are pushing for the news outlet to ensure its advertising algorithms are updated to prevent such ads from being included on The Guardian Australia’s website again.
Many online ads promoting fake Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto platforms have cost users millions of dollars, and the hosting platforms often seem helpless to stop them. The use of fake endorsements from a variety of high-profile figures has become endemic over the past two years, with examples including Dutch billionaire John de Mol, the creator of Big Brother, as well as Colombian president Ivan Duque and actor Hugh Jackman.
John de Mol sued Facebook over such ads in 2019, alleging that they were used to scam users out of more than £1.47 million ($1.9 million). British financial expert Martin Lewis settled a similar lawsuit with the social media giant that same year, only to see his likeness used to defraud unsuspecting Instagram users in early 2020.
News outlet ABC reported in July that the millionaire had been reporting the ads to state and federal police for some time, only to hear they were "basically impossible to stop." The Australian reported that The Guardian’s “own efforts to block the ad failed.”
The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of UK Investment Guides. The information provided on UK Investment Guides is intended for informational purposes only. UK Investment Guides is not liable for any financial losses incurred. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions.


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Listen to article
The Nigerian Naira on Friday has slightly crashed to the dollar while getting to exchange at ₦436.33 as compared with the exchange rate of ₦436.32 on Thursday.
The open indicative rate had also closed at ₦433.83 to the United States dollar on Friday.
An exchange rate of ₦437 to the dollar was the highest rate which had also recorded within the day’s trading before it had also settled at ₦436.33.
The Naira had also sold for as low as ₦425 to the dollar within the day’s trading. A total of 66.02million dollars was traded at the official Investors and Exporters window on Friday.
Meanwhile, over the past month, Nigeria’s commercial banks have openly declared reduced limits on international transactions using naira debit cards to $20 per month.
It means Nigerians would be unable to use their naira debit cards to make any transactions more than $20 in a month.
Reports reaching Africa Daily News, New York have it that, since its inception in October of last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) e-Naira virtual currency network has seen over ₦4 billion in transactions.
Mr. Godwin Emefiele who is the CBN Governor disclosed this to the public, yesterday, at e-Naira’s Hackathon grand finale, hosted in Abuja.
In his words, ‘Since the launch of this great initiative, the e-Naira has reached 840,000 downloads, with about 270,000 active wallets comprising over 252,000 consumer wallets and 17,000 merchant wallets.’
‘In addition, volume and value of transactions on the platform have been remarkable, reaching above 200,000 and N4 billion, respectively.’
Godwin Emefiele revealed that even with the initiative’s proven track records, the bank has begun another round of the e-Naira in partnership with private sector executives.
He further said: ‘Notwithstanding this appreciable progress, the second phase of the project has begun and it is intended to drive financial inclusion by onboarding unbanked and under-served users leveraging offline channels.’
‘Hence, greater success is envisioned for the project with phase two expected to deliver more gains with a target of about 8,000,000 active users based on estimations using the diffusion of innovation model.’
Emefiele claimed the CBN maintained its corporate strategy in determining the Naira’s fate by striking a balance between currency advancement and sustainability.


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1. UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit will acquire the primary care division of DaVita, a for-profit chain of dialysis centers, for $4.9 billion. DaVita operates about 300 clinics in six states. (NYT)
2. In a Phase-III trial, 37% of lung-cancer patients treated with a combination therapy of Roche’s Tecentriq, Avastin, and chemotherapy survived a year without the disease worsening, compared to 18% of patients treated with Avastin and chemotherapy. (Reuters)
3. The FDA’s breakthrough and fast-track programs helped reduce drug-approval durations by nearly a year, a new study found. (Los Angeles Times)
4. Amazon canceled a pharmaceutical wholesaler application in Maine. Analysts believe the move indicates that the tech giant may not enter the pharmacy business. (CNBC)
5. A study of 1,500 cancer patients and caregivers found that 89% go online to search for cancer-related information and that millennials are three times more likely than boomers to join online support groups.


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Tenth China International Tourism Commodities Fair Opened
The 4-day 10th China International Commodities Fair was opened at the Yiwu International Expo Center. The Fair exhibited the new ideas, fashion, products, and technologies of tourism industry in an all-round way and led a new trend of tourist commodity innovation and tourist consumption service.
The Tourism Commodities Fair this year attracted 1,500 exhibitors from 34 foreign regions and countries, 29 domestic provinces (regions and cities), and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps of China. It was divided into five exhibition areas, namely, Environment-Friendly Toilet Hall, Cities and Provinces Hall, Theme Hall, Local Specialty and Handicraft Gift Hall, and Tourist Equipment Hall, and expected to be visited by merchants from more than 80 regions and countries.
The opening ceremony was attended by the tourist department leaders of various provinces (regions and cities), the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and various county-level cities of Zhejiang Province and the representatives of exhibitors and purchasers from over 80 regions and countries, including Russia, France, Hungary, Argentina, Pakistan, Australia, the Philippines, etc.
TRADE AGENT, EXPORT AGENT, SHIPPING AGENT


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Apple has unveiled iPad mini, 7.9inch tablet with a redesigned look. The device which is the scaled down version of the flagship tablet iPad by Apple is a smaller and comes with a 7.9-inch screen and runs Apple’s iOS 6 software.
All software that runs on iPad runs on iPad Mini. The device is available with a display screen resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels, matching the first- and second-generation iPad.This will ensure that the designers and programmers don’t have to redesign their apps for the new iPad Mini.
During the launch event Apple executive Phil Schiller, wasted no time to compare the new iPad mini with Google Nexus 7.He says that the iPad Mini’s screen will come with a 35 percent larger screen and 50 percent larger than Android for surfing Web.
New iPad is powered by Apple’s A5 processors. A 5-megapixel iSight camera on the back and a FaceTime HD camera on the front. In terms of connectivity, it comes with Wi-Fi and LTE support. According to Apple the iPad Mini will come with 10 hours of battery life, with the largest and thinnest battery Apple has ever designed for an iPad.
This 4th generation of Apple’s flagship Tablet iPad mini is set to start shipping form on Friday. The Wi-Fi-only model will ship on November 2. Two weeks later, the LTE-equipped versions will be available.The iPad Mini with 16GB of storage retails for $329.The company is adding $100 for each 16GB in additional storage and the LTE options adds an additional $130 , the highest iPad Mini price to $659.
Along with iPad mini Apple has also launched 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display and a smaller iMac that makes the desktop portable.The new MacBook Pro is lighter and thinner than the current 13-inch laptop.
|iPadMini||1024 X 768||Dual-core 1GHz Apple A5X||Wi-Fi and 2G, 3G, 4G LTE; Bluetooth 4.0||$329- $659||iOS 6|
|iPad 3||2,048 x 1,536||Dual-core 1GHz Apple A5X||Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and 2G, 3G, 4G LTE; Bluetooth 4.0||$499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB (Wi-Fi); $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, $829 for 64GB (Wi-Fi + cellular)||iOS 6|


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Shelby SuperCars (SSC), an American supercar company and the creator of the ‘Ultimate Aero’, has launched the $740,000 ‘2010 Ultimate Aero’ at the ‘Dubai International Motor Show 2009’, which is ending today (December 20).
Acclaimed as the
Zenvo Automotive, a top Danish manufacturer of supercars, has unveiled its Zenvo ST1 supercar at the ongoing Dubai International Motor Show 2009.
The company said that it is targeting to sell five of its limited-edition production supercar
Liquid Glass Powerboats, a leader in custom powerboat building, has unveiled its ’41 Luxury Cat’, a $760,000 41-foot powerboat, at the ‘Dubai International Motor Show 2009’.
This luxurious, recreational catamaran is capable of safely reac
Ultimate Motors, a leading distributor of exotic and luxury sports cars, is set to unveil world’s fastest production car, the Ultimate Aero TT 2010 by Shelby SuperCars (SSC) at the upcoming Dubai International Motor Show 2009, says a report.
Three brands of Super Hyper Cars (SHCs), including the world's fastest car, Ultimate Aero, are all set to storm Indian roads by the end of this year, said a report.
Dubai-based Ultimate Motors, one of the leading distibutors of exotic


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Funko appears to essentially be skipping the virtual [email protected] week this year, to instead host their own event called FunKon on Wednesday, August 4 – Friday, August 6. The good news for attendees is that this new event is also essentially combining many of the elements you love about Funko’s SDCC presence into a new hybrid event, which combines exclusives, giveaways, and even an in-person component hosted at Funko Hollywood. Perhaps most importantly, Fundays is back — virtually.
The in-person portion of FunKon will be held at their brick-and-mortar LA location, and fans who have pre-registered and received ticketed confirmation will be allowed to enter and shop. Those lucky few will be assigned a wave and a wristband, with each day divided into 8 waves spaced between 10AM-6PM. Attendees of the first 7 waves of each day will have 90 minutes to shop, while the final wave each day will have 60 minutes. No standby line will be allowed, inventory is not guaranteed, and not all exclusives will be available for purchase at Funko Hollywood.
If that’s of interest to you, pre-registration will open on Thursday, July 1 at 10AM PT (at Eventbrite, with more details on this Blog post) — and will be first come, first serve. You may only register once, and the name you register as must exactly match the name on your ID.
Of course, you don’t have to physically attend to purchase Funko’s exclusives. Just like every year, Funko’s exclusives will be available for sale across various retail partners, as well as on funko.com and loungefly.com. Look for those exclusives announcements to start on July 12.
Now, onto the moment you’ve all been waiting (and eating a lot of corn) for — Fundays. Funko’s annual offsite is possibly the hottest ticket at San Diego Comic-Con in a normal year, and this year, it’s going virtual. The event will be held on Friday, August 6, and Funko’s Fundays Box of Fun will be available for purchase prior to the event, to “arrive in time for you to represent your team during the virtual event and is the perfect way to participate with us”. It’s unclear if this year’s Box of Fun will include exclusive Pop!s (though it’s probably a safe bet), but the event will be a competition in which four teams face off in a variety of challenges, with more details still to be announced.
You can read more about the event on Funko’s website.


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Iowa City Marketplace bought by Nashville real estate firm for $14 million, promises major new retailer
The Iowa City Marketplace has been purchased by Brookwood Capital Advisors, a real estate development firm based in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Iowa City Marketplace, previously called the Sycamore Mall, is located on Sycamore Street in southeast Iowa City with tenants that include Dollar Tree, Planet Fitness, Panera Bread and Marcus Theatres.
The previous owners, Core Pacific Advisors, sold the marketplace for $14.2 million to Brookwood Capital’s LBD Properties LLC.
The more than 237,000-square-foot retail center was owned by Core Pacific Advisors since 2008, when it was bought for $18.6 million, according to the Gazette.
Ben Hamd, founder of Brookwood Capital Advisors, told the Press-Citizen the idea for the center is to redevelop it and bring back a large retail store.
More:Former Iowa City schools counselor awarded $12 million after being wrongfully imprisoned for 6 years
Nearly a decade ago, the mall saw its anchor tenant, Von Maur, move to the Iowa River Landing in Coralville, followed by the opening, and closing, of Lucky’s Market.
Brookwood works “only on redeveloping shopping centers,” according to its website, which includes finding empty sites and leasing those to full capacity.
One such site is Northland Mall in Sterling, Illinois, whose anchors include Planet Fitness and Dunham’s Sports.
The Sauk Valley News reported that Brookwood purchased the mall at 30% occupancy for $1.7 million. It was put into auction in June.
In September, it was sold for $8.3 million with Hobby Lobby set to open next year, the Sauk Valley News reported. The newspaper also reported that in May, Ross Dress for Less and Big Lots had signed letters of intent to join the mall lineup.
Hamd said the firm is in negotiations with a “huge, publicly traded company” that will sign a 10-year lease at the Iowa City Marketplace. He declined to name the business at this time but expects to have something announced within the next six months.
More:At Iowa City elementary school, two former students teach lessons about nature in new garden
Current tenants will remain at the mall, and be joined by the restaurant the Turkey Pit. It is owned by Gerald Seals, who also owns Crab Attack Cajun Seafood Shack, Lydia Chernitsky-Hamd, director of leasing, said in an email to the Press-Citizen. The restaurant will go into the space once occupied by Pizza Ranch.
Crab Attack Cajun Seafood Attack is based in Cedar Rapids.
Hamd, who used to live in Iowa City, said he was familiar with the Iowa City Marketplace.
“It's always been an interesting piece of the Iowa City retail landscape, Iowa City in general. I mean, this space should not be vacant. Iowa City in general is a really, really good market, decent income, it's good demographics, growing population base,” he said.
“So it really just takes a hands-on owner that knows retail to do something with that box, which is where we come in.”
Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach her at firstname.lastname@example.org or (319) 519-9731. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.


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In a forthcoming study from the Journal of Consumer Research, researchers from Indiana University explore the process by which consumers evaluate new products, be it a new razor with an unprecedented number of blades or an even mintier chewing gum. The researchers argue that when a multi-product brand – such as Nike, which recently added electronic gadgets to its core of athletic apparel – releases a new product, the consumers evaluative process is significantly different than when a brand strongly associated with one product – such as Gillette – releases a new product.
"[The] attitude transfer process may be more complex than suggested by current models," write Huifang Mao and H. Shanker Krishnan. "For a multi-product brand, multiple referent points exist to judge a brand extension, resulting in more complex evaluative processes."
For multi-product brands, the researchers distinguish between the two measures consumers use to decide what they think of a newly released product: brand fit and product fit. "Brand fit" is the degree to which a new product is consistent with the overall brand image, and knee pads would fit well with the athletic Nike persona. However, certain new products that do not mesh with the Nike brand might still garner a positive consumer reaction if they demonstrate "product fit." A Nike car audio system, for example, would have high product fit with Nikes existing line of audio equipment for joggers. Surprisingly, this second type of association is often easier for consumers to make, the researchers found. "Consumers tend to transfer attitudes from varying sources to a brand extension," explain the authors. "[But] consumers may transfer their liking for an existing product to an extension in a spontaneous fashion."
Suzanne Wu | EurekAlert!
New study: How does Europe become a leading player for software and IT services?
03.04.2017 | Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung (ISI)
Reusable carbon nanotubes could be the water filter of the future, says RIT study
30.03.2017 | Rochester Institute of Technology
More and more automobile companies are focusing on body parts made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). However, manufacturing and repair costs must be further reduced in order to make CFRP more economical in use. Together with the Volkswagen AG and five other partners in the project HolQueSt 3D, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) has developed laser processes for the automatic trimming, drilling and repair of three-dimensional components.
Automated manufacturing processes are the basis for ultimately establishing the series production of CFRP components. In the project HolQueSt 3D, the LZH has...
Reflecting the structure of composites found in nature and the ancient world, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have synthesized thin carbon nanotube (CNT) textiles that exhibit both high electrical conductivity and a level of toughness that is about fifty times higher than copper films, currently used in electronics.
"The structural robustness of thin metal films has significant importance for the reliable operation of smart skin and flexible electronics including...
The nearby, giant radio galaxy M87 hosts a supermassive black hole (BH) and is well-known for its bright jet dominating the spectrum over ten orders of magnitude in frequency. Due to its proximity, jet prominence, and the large black hole mass, M87 is the best laboratory for investigating the formation, acceleration, and collimation of relativistic jets. A research team led by Silke Britzen from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, has found strong indication for turbulent processes connecting the accretion disk and the jet of that galaxy providing insights into the longstanding problem of the origin of astrophysical jets.
Supermassive black holes form some of the most enigmatic phenomena in astrophysics. Their enormous energy output is supposed to be generated by the...
The probability to find a certain number of photons inside a laser pulse usually corresponds to a classical distribution of independent events, the so-called...
Microprocessors based on atomically thin materials hold the promise of the evolution of traditional processors as well as new applications in the field of flexible electronics. Now, a TU Wien research team led by Thomas Müller has made a breakthrough in this field as part of an ongoing research project.
Two-dimensional materials, or 2D materials for short, are extremely versatile, although – or often more precisely because – they are made up of just one or a...
28.04.2017 | Event News
20.04.2017 | Event News
18.04.2017 | Event News
28.04.2017 | Medical Engineering
28.04.2017 | Earth Sciences
28.04.2017 | Life Sciences


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Diversity is set to become the new disruptor in the U.S. economy, corporations and business leadership. The Asian American Business Development Center today announced that their second annual Asian American Business Roundtable, “The New Majority: Igniting the Future through Inclusion and Partnerships” will be held at The Venetian, Las Vegas from January 11 to 13.
The rise of a multicultural community comprising African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and Asians to form a “New Majority” in America means changes, challenges and new collaboration strategies for businesses and organizations that seek to thrive in the coming decades.
PepsiCo, Kaiser Permanente, Univision, Cisco, JPMorgan Chase and The Conference Board are among the organizations who have put this significant demographic transformation onto their agendas, and who seek to provide insights, ideas and solutions on how they are embracing the emerging changes.
“Diversity and inclusion have been a mantra for many U.S. companies for some time,” said John Wang, founder of the Asian American Business Development Center. “What’s different now is the growing realization that the so-called minorities in America are evolving into a majority population, and that businesses need to reinvent their approaches toward this new base of consumers, employees and leadership.”
The buying power of minority ethnic groups is growing at an exponential rate. Taken together, the consumer power of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Native Americans is forecast to reach over $4.1 trillion in 2019. If it were a separate country, this New Majority would be the third largest economy in the world, after the U.S. and China.
The Asian American Business Development Center, a New York–based non-profit group formed to promote business and professional advancement for Asians, is convening a summit to address the powerful and transformational trends associated with the New Majority.
Organized by the Asian American Business Roundtable, “The New Majority: Igniting the Future through Inclusion and Partnerships” will be co-hosted by PepsiCo’s Vice Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Mehmood Khan. "The markets and consumers we serve are becoming increasingly diverse, creating vast new opportunities for companies across industries. This shift demands that companies foster a strong spirit of diversity, inclusion and engagement within their organizations. By embracing diversity and working to promote greater respect, understanding and appreciation across cultures, we will strengthen our communities and enhance our ability to meet the needs of the consumers we serve,” Dr. Khan said.
Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Permanente, a recognized leader in diversity, who was recently named the second most influential leader in health care by Modern Healthcare Magazine, will be a keynote speaker at the summit, which is expected to draw participants from across the business spectrum.
Summit goers can expect to be inspired by the story of Andrew Cherng, who as a Chinese immigrant to America in the mid-1960s, grew his Panda Inn fine-dining restaurant into the Panda Express empire, which by the end of 2016 will record $2.8 billion in sales. They can also learn about the social, political and economic identity of the New Majority, how to build sustainable partnerships for future collaboration, the importance of supplier diversity, how multi-culture inspires innovation, what New Majority consumers want, and strategies to bring more women into C-suites.
News and information presented in this release has not been corroborated by WTWH Media LLC.


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The Covid-19 Import Boom Conundrum
Despite still-high unemployment, no federal government support package in place, lack of investment by U.S. companies and over 210,000 COVID-related deaths, the U.S. economy is beating forecasts with consumer consumption up and imports setting new records.
Retail sales are a big part of consumer spending, so one would expect to see an increase when the economy improves and consumers are confident. But less than six months after the biggest decreases on record this spring, retail sales have bounced back to pre-crisis levels with year-over-year gains every month since June, including a 2.6 percent increase in August.
The inventory-to-sales ratio reached its highest level when most stores were forced to close in April, well above levels seen during the Great Recession. By July, however, the ratio had dropped to a level not seen since November 2014 as stores reopened and consumers responded with pent-up demand. The inventory buildup and the dramatic drop have been reflected in import container volumes at the ports, particularly on the West Coast, and we’ve seen a new buildup of inventory in the August-September period as importers re-stock.
Online sales with next-day delivery are certainly one of the drivers of the import boom and the high levels of inventory. Large online traders such as Amazon, WalMart and Target are being forced to hold a larger inventory in order to support consumers’ demand for short-term delivery. This gives a new meaning to the concept of just-in-time delivery.
The uncertainty in the timing of a government stimulus package – brought to a screeching halt this week by President Trump only to have him say he might sign something after all – is causing concern about the economic recovery, as voiced by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. With less than four weeks to the election, there is doubt whether agreement can be reached.
The strong import numbers seen during the second half of this year have changed the outlook for 2020’s totals. We now expect to see a drop of 4.4 percent compared with 2019 – less than half the decline we expected recently. Imports are expected to bounce back in the first half of 2021 with year-over-year growth of 5.8 percent, most of it in the second quarter.


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Bulgarians are Driving the Oldest Cars in Europe
Bulgarians drive the oldest cars in Europe, according to data from the European Automobile Importers Association for the age of cars in the EU in 2016, reports investor.bg.
The average age of cars in the EU as a whole was 10.7 years, in Bulgaria it is over 20 years, according to data from the association. Thus, in just 10 years, the "age" of cars in Europe has risen sharply, with the average age of the automobiles on the Old Continent in 2007 at around 8 years.
Experts commented on this with the global economic crisis that has prompted Europeans to drive their cars for longer.
According to actual data of the Ministry of Interior, about 40 per cent of the automobiles in Bulgaria last year was over 20 years, with a total of over 4 million vehicles registered in the country, which means that about 1.6 million cars over 20 years are moving on the roads in Bulgaria. Only 17% of the cars in Bulgaria are under 10 years of age.
Just over last year, in Bulgaria over 26,000 new cars have been purchased and registered in the EU while more than 266,000 used cars were imported.
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A salesman quits his job in New York to design shirts sold at RodeoHouston
Colleen Tuohy lived in a canvas tent while she created the designs that now make up Wyatt Outdoors.
HOUSTON – Jewelry, skins, crafts and coffee aren’t the only things you’ll find among the vendors at RodeoHouston. You will also find some very good stories.
“I put all the chips on the table,” says saleswoman Colleen Tuohy.
Her story stands out, and so do the shirts she designs.
“(They’re) UPF 50 plus, moisture-wicking, quick-drying, cut to fit a woman, and made in America,” says Tuohy.
Two years ago, she was working for Ralph Lauren when the pandemic sounded the alarm.
“I gave up my apartment in New York,” says Tuohy. “I bought a canvas wall tent. I headed up the Catskill Mountains to my brother’s farm, where I pitched the tent.”
Then she got to work plotting her next move.
RELATED: RodeoHouston Ranch Showcases Western Heritage and Food
“I love the outdoors and have always been disappointed with the offerings we have as women, so I decided it was time for fashion to meet function,” Tuohy said.
Living off the grid with no electricity or running water, Tuohy designed, tested and re-engineered.
The result is Wyatt on the outside.
“It’s for women who love the outdoors, women who are looking for fashion and functionality,” says Tuohy. “It’s for someone who likes to ride a bike, fish, garden, eat lunch.”
The shirts are available at ML Leddy’s at the Houston Rodeo and at its Fort Worth flagship store.
RELATED: 3rd Generation Cowboy Rides Houston Rodeo For First Time
“They’re celebrating 73 years at the Houston Rodeo and 100 years in business, so being here really means the world to me,” Tuohy said.
Her story is one she didn’t even know she would start writing two years ago and now she’s adding a chapter to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
“It’s humbling,” Tuohy said.


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Day of Pink, April 12, 2017
To commemorate Day of Pink, RBC Wealth Management-U.S. Employee Resource Groups invite all employees to celebrate RBC WM-U.S.’s Value of Diversity & Inclusion and rally against bullying by wearing pink and organizing activities at your workplace and in your local communities and schools. Over the past six years, more than 84,000 RBC employees from 30 different countries have stood up for respect and kindness and participated in Day of Pink.
Paramus makes strides against breast cancer
On Friday, October 4, the Paramus Branch of RBC Wealth Management-U.S. hosted a bake sale raising money for the American Cancer Society - Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
This idea sprung from Senior Investment Associate Dawn Castro who had the idea to organize a bake sale based on her personal experience with losing a dear friend to breast cancer.
"Sometimes we feel helpless and we don't know what to do. But I felt like I needed to do something," said Dawn.
The entire branch supported the event by donating various homemade treats. We sold - caramel and candy apples, brownies, cupcakes, cookies, banana bread, Irish soda bread, muffins - and there was even an old-fashioned popcorn machine. The theme was pink, of course, with pink balloons, pink ribbons, pink bracelets and pink shirts including the "Finish the Fight Against Breast Cancer" T-shirts. The bake sale was a huge success with over $1,100.00 raised for the fight against breast cancer.
Paramus Branch Director Scott Fergang is proud of the branch support for this cause: "We always talk about our culture or what makes us different from all the other firms on the street. Well here is just one example. Every person in the office either baked or brought in a baked product. We truly are a family and when there is a cause we always come together."


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03 April 2018
Marston’s voted Best Ale Supplier 2018
We’re thrilled to have continued our winning streak in The Morning Advertiser’s Readers’ Choice Awards (formerly known as the Publican’s Choice Awards).
Before The Morning Advertiser (MA) took a break from the awards in 2017, Marston’s was voted the nation’s favourite ale supplier three times in a row. This year, the awards are back under a new name, and we couldn’t be prouder to have retained our title of Best Ale Supplier.
The prestigious awards are split into nine categories that reflect the essential services needed to run a great pub – everything from food and drink, to waste management and garden furniture. Publican’s vote for their favourite suppliers in an online survey, before the MA reviews all of the feedback and names the winners.
The awards give licensees the chance to recognise the very best in the trade. So it’s not just any industry award we’ve won; it’s the taste of approval from our customers – publicans and beer enthusiasts up and down the country! They voted us best for our customer service, reliability, product range, and for always going the extra mile.
Thousands of pub owners vote, and hundreds of suppliers are named in the survey; but only a handful are crowned winners. It’s endorsement from our customers that there’s no better supplier than Marston’s to support their businesses – and another reason why we’re ‘best for beer’!
We’ve got some of the best people in the industry; from our customer service teams, to our brewers and drivers, a big thank you to everyone for all your hard work. This award wouldn’t have been possible without you!


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Sony officially apologized for the pre-order fiasco which left several PlayStation followers without pre-order for the new generation console of their choice. The apologies comply with a pre-order launch for PS5 where lots of individuals could not get their hands on a pre-order for the new generation playstation, while numerous scalpers have actually been able to capture one and also publish it on ebay at prices inflated.
On September 17, several various other stores put their pre-orders online, consisting of the Chief executive officer and head of state of Sony Interactive Enjoyment, Jim Ryan, said he was not mindful. While the preliminary pre-orders might have been a lot a lot more fluid, Sony could not explain exactly how lots of scalpors were able to obtain their hands on a console pre-order just to return it online at a filled with air pace.
Allow’s be sincere: PS5 pre-orders can have been far more fluid, claimed Sony on his official Twitter account. We really ask forgiveness for it. Over the following few days, we will release much more pre-order PS5 gaming consoles, stores will share even more information. Sony added the significant caution that extra PS5 will certainly be readily available by the end of the year. Playstation fans are pleased, other PS5 pre-orders will certainly soon get here as well as, ideally, they will certainly not sell in a couple of minutes as in the preliminary release.
Are you mosting likely to pre-order a PS5 with more pre-orders live? Let us understand in the remarks listed below!
Sony officially apologized for the pre-order fiasco which left numerous PlayStation followers without pre-order for the brand-new generation console of their selection. The apologies follow a pre-order launch for PS5 where several individuals could not obtain their hands on a pre-order for the new generation playstation, while a number of scalpers have been able to capture one as well as release it on ebay.com at costs pumped up. While the first pre-orders could have been much extra fluid, Sony could not clarify how several scalpors were able to get their hands on a console pre-order just to return it online at an inflated speed.