On March 23, 2017, a grand Pakistan Day parade was celebrated in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. At the ceremony, the first appearance of the Combined Honor Guard of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) attracted the audiences. Far more excitedly, the CATIC’s exported F-7P/F-7PG, K-8P, Z-9EC and JF-17 made their public appearances These aircraft attracted the audience and were highly appraised while flying in the sky.
Picture 1 The JF-17s cooperated by China and Pakistan make public appearance at the Pakistan Day parade
Picture 2 The K-8P trainers at the parade
Picture 3 The F-7 jet fighters exported by CATIC
Picture 4 The Z-9ECs helicopters
The history of CATIC and Pakistan can date back to the 1980’s. Through more than 30 years of sincere cooperation, CATIC has delivered several hundreds of various aircraft, including trainers, transports, fighters, helicopters and UAVs to the Pakistan’s army, navy and air force. Furthermore, through the strengthening trust, the cooperation has turned from the aircraft sales and spare parts support to the establishment of aircraft and engine overhaul capability, aircraft R&D as well as cooperative production, which are playing a significant role in the Pakistan’s defense power and aviation industry.
On March 7, 2017, the Aircraft Rebuild Factory (ARF) of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) celebrated its No.1000 overhauled aircraft rollout and K-8P overhaul capability completion ceremony in Kamra, Pakistan.
At the ceremony, the PAF Chief of Air Staff and the Minister of Defence Production delivered their addresses, giving a high appraisal to the achievements that ARF has achieved in the past over 40 years. They also expressed their thanks to the China’s support. The Chinese representative said that the ARF’s No.1000 aircraft overhauled had seen the aviation friendship between China and Pakistan. He wished a great success in the future FC-1/JF-17 overhaul project.
The ceremony not only signifies the successful operation of the K-8P overhaul project between China and Pakistan, but also strengthens the trust and confidence between the both sides, which lays an important foundation for the future FC-1/JF-17 overhaul project.


SUPERHERO DAUGHTER DAY
This event, held to celebrate International Women’s Day 2017 promotes technology as a career path of choice for young females
SheSharp, OMGTech, Colab AUT and Tech Girl Movement collaborated for Superhero Daughter Day 2017
The event celebrated International Women’s Day and took place in AUT. Years 1 to Year 7 girls were invited to participate in workshops that involved Coding, Robotics and Unmaking. We saw 140 girls from different backgrounds come through for an action-packed day ready to learn and get techy.
The attendants also got to hear from Mikayla Stokes, Bright Sparks winner, who shared her story about how she developed her interest in technology.


Reports of the recent plague outbreak in Madagascar were scary. But what about other diseases and epidemics we should be looking out for?
Month: January 2019
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa are advising travellers returning from the southern African region should be aware of a number of infectious disease risks related to travel to include malaria, cholera, typhoid, African tick bite fever, East African trypanosomiasis and various mosquito-borne viruses (e.g. dengue, chikungunya, West Nile).
The mosquito-borne virus that causes Rift Valley fever may severely injure human fetuses if contracted by mothers during pregnancy, according to new research.
In late December, two teams of researchers reported that fruit bats in Sierra Leone tested positive for the Marburg virus, marking the first time the deadly disease has been detected in West Africa. Like Ebola, Marburg is a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever virus that can be transferred to humans. Because of the work of scientists like Thomas Geisbert, Ph.D., a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB Health) who has dedicated his career to these hemorrhagic viruses, the threat of an outbreak seems more manageable than in years past. TMC News Senior Writer Alexandra Becker spoke to Geisbert to discuss the importance of ongoing surveillance efforts, fears about the current Ebola outbreak in the Congo, the lifesaving vaccines he helped develop and what remains to be done to prevent a Marburg epidemic.


Photo: Incoming National Fellowship President Leigh Anne Taylor, right, presents the 2019 Roger Deschner Award plaque to Brittney Stephan, left, who accepted the award on behalf of Ruth C. Duck. (Fellowship photo by Daniel Craig)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In a celebration that opened The Fellowship's 2019 Convocation in Kansas City, prolific hymn writer Rev. Dr. Ruth C. Duck was named the recipient of the 2019 Roger Deschner Award on Monday, July 15.
Receiving the award on Ruth's behalf was her student and Fellowship member, Brittney Stephan, who is currently serving as the Associate Director for Multi-Cultural Vibrancy for the Michigan Conference.
"I consider it an immense privilege to have been one of her students during her tenure at Garrett-Evangelical," Brittney said, "and continue to have opportunities to glean wisdom from her as I live into my ministerial call."
In a recorded video, Ruth shared her appreciation for the honor.
"I am very much in prayer with United Methodists now," Ruth said. "It's a hard time, a lot of changes, and a lot less clarity about what's going to happen before you. ... I appreciate you honoring me in this way and wish you the best."
Brittney presented the award to Ruth on The Fellowship's behalf at the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada event, which was held concurrently in Dallas, Texas.
Ruth is an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ, a prolific hymn writer, a greatly admired scholar, and professor emerita of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary where she taught for almost 30 years. Her areas of study have included congregational song, healing and reconciliation, as well as worship and the arts. She began her hymn writing career by adapting older hymns with language that was more inviting and inclusive. Her pioneering work as a hymn text writer has now spanned over 40 years, and she has written close to 200 hymns.
The Fellowship began awarding the Roger Deschner Award in 1991 to recognize the outstanding contribution of those colleagues among us who have spent a lifetime involved in service to the church in the area of worship, liturgy and/or music.


From July 1, 2023, Mr. Stefan Schwarz, a graduate business administration, will take over the role of Chief Executive Officer as the successor to Carina Schiestl-Swarovski, who has been Chair of the Advisory Board and Supervisory Board of Swarovski-Optik AG & Co KG since January 1, 2023. With the appointment of its new CEO, the Tyrolean family-owned company is gaining an expert with a proven track record, a strong focus on quality, and a wealth of international experience. SWAROVSKI OPTIK can look back on decades of successful development. In 2022, the company recorded the most successful year in its history, with turnover of 216.4 million euros. Innovation, digitalization, international growth with existing and new target groups, and continued forward integration are the key themes for the future at SWAROVSKI OPTIK.
“I am very pleased that we were able to recruit Stefan Schwarz as the new CEO of our company. We are gaining a leader with a wealth of international experience and extensive expertise in branding and sales, combined with a strong focus on quality. His great affinity with nature and deep understanding of the outdoor sector make him an ideal fit for the family corporate culture that underpins our activities worldwide, He has the ability to motivate and inspire others. Stefan Schwarz will continue to fulfill SWAROVSKI OPTIK’s mission: to inspire people to love and care for nature by bringing them closer to the preciousness of the moment. We are convinced that he is the right person to successfully lead our company into the future and continue to consolidate our position as a global market leader,” confirms Carina Schiestl-Swarovski, Chair of the Advisory Board of Swarovski Optik AG & Co. KG.
Stefan Schwarz, who is married with two grown-up sons, has over two decades of management experience in the outdoor sector. In his role as General Manager at Amer Sports, he structured the complete brand portfolio: Salomon, Arc’teryx, Wilson, Suunto, Peak Performance, Atomic, Precor. His key achievements for Salomon included successful development of the brand in the Far East and management of Global Omni Channel Business, most recently also in his role as a member of the Board. He has demonstrated his international marketing and sales expertise on a global level for many years. “Together with my colleagues on the Executive Board and all employees, I am looking forward to my new task of aligning SWAROVSKI OPTIK’s future strategy with the challenges of the day and unlocking the resulting potential. Together, we will lead this visionary company and strong brand with its high-quality innovative products into the next growth phase and continue its successful trajectory as a global market leader. SWAROVSKI OPTIK’s vision, values, and raison d’être will remain the foundation for this”, explains the born Bavarian.
Over the last fifteen years, SWAROVSKI OPTIK, a family-owned company founded in 1949, has demonstrated an impressive success story, more than doubling its turnover in the course of this period. The company’s turnover last year was 216.4 million euros (+6% from the previous year). 91% of products are exported. SWAROVSKI OPTIK is represented globally in 92 countries, with direct sales in 47 countries. Europe and North America are its core markets. SWAROVSKI OPTIK currently employs over 1,100 people around the world, with around 900 based in Absam. As a visionary company, the premium supplier of high-quality long-range optics sets clear goals to drive its continuous growth. Surprising customers with innovative products, international growth in the three target groups of hunting, birdwatching, and outdoor, as well as forward integration and digitalization throughout the entire company are SWAROVSKI OPTIK’s key priorities for the coming years.


Stage Crasher Learns The Hard Way During Gucci Mane Set
Updated: Aug 25, 2020
By now, it seems like common sense not to rush a stage — security is going to do its job. That’s exactly what happened during Friday night’s (November 16) Gucci Maneconcert at the Brooklyn Mirage and a fan was forced to learn proper stage etiquette the hard way.
In video footage captured of the incident, a fan jumps on stage and before he even knows what hit him, a member of Gucci’s entourage shoves him off the stage.
The fan was no contest for the security guard who flung him like a slingshot. No injuries were reported and EMS wasn’t called.
Meanwhile, Gucci continued to performed the song “Wasted” like nothing happened. The track comes from 2009’s The State Vs. Redric Davis.
Gucci’s next project, The Evil Genius, is expected to arrive on December 7.


The Federal Trade Commission’s Pro-Consumer Proposal to Update the Contact Lens Rule
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed adding a new requirement under the Contact Lens Rule that optometrists obtain a signed acknowledgement when the patient receives their prescription after a contact lens fitting. While this may seem like a small change, this step would in fact mark a major victory for contact lens consumers. It would help ensure that optometrists comply with their legal requirement to release prescriptions, allowing contact lens wearers to shop for lenses from alternative retailers, And it would help maintain freedom of choice and convenience in the contact lens market, and help keep prices low.
UPDATE: To inform the FTC’s decision on whether to finalize its proposed update to the Contact Lens Rule, the agency held a public workshop in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2018. In conjunction with the workshop, the FTC also opened a new comment period, allowing the public to weigh in again on its proposal and other issues to be discussed at the forum.
The comment period is now closed and we are currently waiting for the agency’s final decision. We will update this page when more is announced.


Winners are Grinners!
We are pleased to be able to announce that the film “I’m Out” are winners of the 2020 Outreach Campaign of the Year for the UK Content Awards. This short film was a part of a campaign with Haringey Council and Casual Films.
“I’m Out” is a bold series of three short films on the impact knife crime has on the people involved and those close to them. This film was created and made by Haringey Sixth Form College Media Students, for young people, “I’m Out” addresses the issue of youth violence which often makes headlines across London. The news coverage for this film and its powerful message has been incredible with several news channels and newspapers interviewing our Media students and was premiered at Cineword Cinemas in Wood Green in February.
Chris Brown, Media Teacher coordinating project said, “The professionalism, creativity, skill and confidence demonstrated by our students to produce I'm Out is nothing short of incredible. They dazzled the media professionals they worked with to produce and promote this pivotal and, now, award winning project. Our learners took every challenge in their stride and achieved excellence. The award they have received is no more than they deserve for their outstanding performance. The sky is the limit for each and every one of them.”
Russ Lawrance, CEO said, “Winning this is the icing on the cake, so many emotions, delighted, proud of the students of Haringey Sixth Form College. Everyone who has seen the film agrees that our students took on a challenging topic and supported by our amazing staff in partnership with Haringey Council and Casual Films produced such an outstanding impactful film, so just desserts in terms of the award. Winners are grinners! Thank you everyone and again so well done.”
Florina Iosif, Director of Creative Media & A-Levels said, “This achievement brings me so much joy, these students have now graduated from H6 and they are now on their own paths. They were with us for two years- two years full of laughter, pride, joy - just the typical feeling you have towards your family. At H6, we encourage our students to be themselves and we support them not in changing, but becoming more themselves. They are an incredible group of young people and I trust the world is a better place because of them. I hope this achievement confirms to them just how amazing they are and how much of a difference they can make by just being themselves.”
I’m Out puts the power into the hands of those most affected by knife crime – young people – and shows there are other routes out there. Young people are taking a stand.
You can view the film here: www.imout.org.uk


By Ryan Deal posted July 21, 2010, 2:47 pm | 2
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have identified the three protein fragments that make gluten – the main protein in wheat, rye and barley – toxic to people with coeliac (spelled Celiac in North America) disease.
Their discovery opens the way for a new generation of diagnostics, treatments, prevention strategies and food tests for the millions of people worldwide with coeliac disease.
When people with coeliac disease eat products containing gluten their body’s immune response is switched on and the lining of the small intestine is damaged, hampering their ability to absorb nutrients. The disease is currently treated by permanently removing gluten from the patient’s diet.
Dr Bob Anderson, head of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s coeliac disease research laboratory, said it had been 60 years since gluten was discovered to be the environmental cause of coeliac disease.
“In the years since, the holy grail in coeliac disease research has been to identify the toxic peptide components of gluten; and that’s what we’ve done,” Dr Anderson said.
The research, done in collaboration with Dr Jason Tye-Din, Dr James Dromey, Dr Stuart Mannering, Dr Jessica Stewart and Dr Tim Beissbarth from the institute as well as Professor Jamie Rossjohn at Monash University and Professor Jim McCluskey at the University of Melbourne, is published in today’s issue of the international journal Science Translational Medicine.
The study was started by Professor Anderson nine years ago and has involved researchers in Australia and the UK as well as more than 200 coeliac disease patients.
The patients, recruited through the Coeliac Society of Victoria and the Coeliac Clinic at John Radcliffe Hospital, UK, ate bread, rye muffins or boiled barley. Six days later, blood samples were taken to measure the strength of the patients’ immune responses to 2700 different gluten fragments. The responses identified 90 fragments as causing some level of immune reaction, but three gluten fragments (peptides) were revealed as being particularly toxic.
“These three components account for the majority of the immune response to gluten that is observed in people with coeliac disease,” Dr Anderson said.
This knowledge has already been used by Melbourne-based biotech company, Nexpep Pty Ltd, to develop a ‘peptide-based’ immunotherapy that aims to desensitise people with coeliac disease to the toxic effects of gluten. Nexpep’s Phase 1 trials of the therapy were completed in June and final results are expected in coming months.
The immunotherapy works by exposing people with coeliac disease to small amounts of the three toxic peptides and is based upon the same principles as desensitisation for allergies.
Dr Anderson said although coeliac disease could be managed with a gluten-free diet, compliance with the diet is often challenging and nearly half the people on the diet still have residual damage to their small intestine. “Consequently, the immunotherapy and three other drugs are under development to help people with coeliac disease.”
Full Press Release
Photo Credit: Czesia Markiewicz, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
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FEATUREDLEAVE A REPLY
On July 22, 2010 at 1:25 am Josh said:
My wife has Coeliac disease and I am truly happy for this breakthrough! I can’t wait until we see the medicine and how it will all affect her intestines!
THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!
On July 22, 2010 at 2:56 pm dhkinil said:
My mother, who passed away more than 12 years ago, suffered terribly from this disease. I know first hand how terrible it is and can only hope this is truly the answer.
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The global carbon dioxide market size is predicted to reach USD 12.15 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 2.5% during the forecast period. The growing construction of water treatment plants in developing nations will spur the demand of the market in the forthcoming years. The rising oil exploration and drilling activities will necessitate the use of solvents in the process, which, in turn, will boost the carbon dioxide market growth during the forecast period, states Fortune Business Insights in a report
The increase in carbon dioxide levels has led to concerns about climate change, as higher concentrations of greenhouse gases are expected to lead to global warming and changes in the Earth's climate patterns. Efforts are being made to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through a variety of means, including the use of renewable energy sources, carbon capture and storage technologies, and policies to promote energy efficiency and conservation.
We are taking continuous efforts to help your business sustain and grow during COVID-19 pandemics. Based on our experience and expertise, we will offer you an impact analysis of coronavirus outbreak across industries to help you prepare for the future.
March 2019: Air Products announced that it has acquired ACP Europe SA, one of the largest biggest carbon dioxide manufacturers in Europe. The acquisition will aid the company to cater to the demand for carbon dioxide and better serve its customer across the European continent.
The Report Lists the Main Companies in the Carbon Dioxide Market:
- Linde plc (Ireland)
- Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (U.S.)
- Air Liquide (France)
- Sicgil India limited (India)
- Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc.(U.S.)
- Universal Industrial Gases, Inc.(U.S.)
- The Messer Group GmbH (Germany)
- SOL Spa (Italy)
- POET, LLC(U.S.)
- Reliant Gases(U.S.)
- India Glycols Limited (India)
- Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/carbon-dioxide-market-102866


NTA has postponed NEET 2021 to September 12.and the application process has started on July 13. Candidates preparing for NTA NEET UG 2021 can find information pertaining to the registration process, dates, syllabus, pattern and more here in this article.
NEET 2021 will be conducted on September 12. The application procedure for NEET 2021 has started on July 13 and the last date of application is August 6. This year, NTA has introduced a number of changes in the application process, exam pattern, exam centres and cities, to name a few. This article will bring detailed information regarding NEET 2021. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is the biggest medical entrance test for admission to MBBS, BDS and several other medical and paramedical courses in India. NEET is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which is an organisation set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. NEET 2021 will be conducted in 198 cities across India. The number of exam centres will also be increased from that of last year.The NEET 2021 exam date was announced by the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 12, wherein he mentioned the date of the exam and the application process commencement and details regarding exam centres and COVID-19 safety protocols. Check the NEET 2021 important dates and other information.
NTA NEET 2021 Overview
The following table brings the highlights of NEET 2021.
|Name||National Eligibility cum Entrance Test|
|Popularly known as||NEET|
|Conducting Body||National Testing Agency (NTA)|
|Language options available||13 – English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam and Urdu|
|Total number of questions||180|
|Subjects/sections||Physics, Chemistry and Botany and Zoology|
|Number of exam cities||198|
NTA NEET 2021 Courses Offered
As mentioned above, NEET 2021 is the only entrance test for admission to undergraduate medical courses in India. Admission to AIIMS and JIPMER MBBS courses will also be on the basis of the marks obtained in NEET 2021. Apart from these institutes, 83,075 MBBS seats across the country will be filled through NEET 2021 marks. Admission to 27,285 BDS seats and 52,720 AYUSH seats will also be filled using NEET 2021 scores. Recently, JIPMER has also announced that it will grant admission to JIPMER BSc Nursing and other allied courses on the basis of the NEET 2021 score.
NTA NEET 2021 Dates
The NEET dates (which have been announced so far) have been provided in the table below to help the students track the events of this examination.
|NEET 2021 Events||NEET 2021 Dates|
|Application form will be released||July 13, 2021|
|Deadline to register online and submit the application||August 6, 2021|
|Last date to pay application fee||August 7, 2021|
|Application correction window||August 8 to August 12, 2021|
|Admit card will be released||September 9, 2021|
|Result will be announced||To be announced|
NTA NEET 2021 Eligibility Criteria
NEET 2021 eligibility criteria were defined by the Medical Council of India (MCI). Candidates willing to apply for the examination must read the eligibility criteria of NEET 2021 before filling their applications. The points given below summarise the NTA NEET 2021 eligibility criteria.
- The applicant must have completed Class 12 or equivalent from a recognised institute. This will be considered as a qualifying examination for ascertaining the eligibility of a candidate.
- An applicant who belongs to the general category must secure a minimum aggregate of 50 per cent in the qualifying examination.
- An applicant who belongs to the SC/ST category must secure a minimum aggregate of 40 per cent in the qualifying examination.
- An applicant who belongs to the PwD category must secure a minimum aggregate of 45 per cent in the qualifying examination.
- There is no upper age limit for candidates appearing for NTA NEET 2021. However, an applicant must have to be at least 17 years old as of December 31, 2021.
NTA NEET 2021 Application Form
NEET 2021 application form can be filled in an online mode only. However, NTA made an exception for the candidates residing in Kashmir valley or Leh last year. Such candidates could fill the NEET 2021 application form in an offline mode. This year, there has not been such mention in the NEET information bulletin.
NEET 2021 application process is fairly simple and can be divided into five steps. They are-
Registration: Candidates who wish to apply for NTA NEET 2021 will have to register themselves on the official website of NTA. To complete the registration process, they will have to enter a valid email ID and mobile number
Completing the application form: Using the credentials generated during the registration process, candidates have to log in to their accounts. They have to complete the application form by filling in personal and academic details
Uploading the documents: After filling in all the necessary details, candidates have to upload the scanned copies of a recent passport-sized photograph, signature and a postcard-sized photograph
Paying the application fee: To submit the application form, candidates have to pay a non-refundable application fee online
Printing the confirmation page: Once the application is successfully submitted, candidates must save a copy of the confirmation page for future reference
Change in NEET 2021 Application ProcedureThis year, NEET has made a change in the application procedure. The application form has been divided into two phases to ensure that candidates’ data is submitted quickly. The first set of information needs to be filled up before the last date of submission of the online Application Form. The second set of information needs to be filled up by the candidates before the declaration of the Result/ downloading of Score Card during the period that would be notified separately through NEET (UG) Portal in due course.
NTA NEET Syllabus 2021
NEET 2021 syllabus is again defined by MCI. NTA does not play any role in determining the syllabus for NEET 2021. It broadly consists of three subjects – Physics, Chemistry and Biology. NEET syllabus 2021 largely overlaps the syllabus from class 10 to class 12 for the respective subjects.
NTA NEET 2021 Pattern
According to the exam pattern of NEET 2021, the examination will be conducted in an offline mode. NEET question paper will comprise 200 multi-choice questions from Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology, but candidates will have to attempt 180 questions only. Each question will carry four marks and there will be one mark negative marking for each wrong answer. The total duration of the examination will be three hours. The structure of NEET 2021 is given in the table below.
|Sections||Number of Questions||Total Marks|
|Physics Section A||35||140|
|Physics Section B||15||40|
|Chemistry Section A||35||140|
|Chemistry Section B||15||40|
|Botany Section A||35||140|
|Botany Section B||15||40|
|Zoology Section A||35||140|
|Zoology Section B||15||40|
Each subject will consist of two sections. Section A will consist of 35 questions and Section B will carry 15 questions. Out of these 15 questions, candidates can choose to attempt any 10 questions. Hence, the total number of questions and utilisation of time will remain the same.
NTA NEET 2021 Admit Card
NEET 2021 admit card will be released three days prior to the exam. NEET 2021 admit card will be released online and candidates will have to download it by logging into their registered accounts. NEET admit card 2021 is a crucial document. Not only is it the entry pass on the exam day, but the admit card of NEET 2021 will also act as identity and eligibility proof during the counselling process as well. Candidates are, thus, advised to keep their NTA NEET 2021 admit card safe until the admission process is over.
NTA NEET 2021 Result
NTA is expected to announce NEET result 2021 within a month of conducting the exam. The result of NEET 2021 will be announced online and can be checked by logging into the accounts created at the time of registration. Candidates who qualify for NTA NEET 2021 will be eligible to participate in the counselling process. However, the role of NTA is limited to conducting the examination and announcement of the results. NEET counselling will be conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). Various other organisations will also conduct counselling for NEET 2021 on state levels.
NTA NEET 2021 Cut Off
The cut off for NEET 2021 will be announced alongside the results. Only those candidates who score more than or equal to the NTA NEET 2021 cut off will be considered qualified. Candidates aspiring to appear for NEET 2021 can refer to the table given below to get an idea about the cutoff.
|Category||NEET Qualifying Percentile||NEET Cut Off Marks 2021 (Expected)|
Hello, Everyone My Name Thilagar And I Am A Website Developer And Blogger We are here to provide update on daily basis about Indian Government Jobs in various sectors, We provide all this information as User-Friendly Content to job Seekers.


ATX Television Festival is reuniting the casts of two TV faves at the 2020 festival. ATX Season 9 will include reunions of Scrubs and Cougar Town.
Creator/ director/ executive producer Bill Lawrence will join “Scrubs” cast members Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley, Judy Reyes, Neil Flynn and Christa Miller for a reunion panel celebrating 10 years since the series finale.
Lawrence and co-creator Kevin Biegel will also take part in a panel with Cougar Town cast members Josh Hopkins, Christa Miller, Ian Gomez, Busy Philipps, Dan Byrd, Brian Van Holt, and Robert Clendenin to celebrate five years since the Cul-De-Sac Crew aired their final episode.
Hopkins won’t have to travel far for the event. He set up residence in Austin in 2019.
Additionally, Gomez is no stranger to the fest. He hung with the ATXgossip crew when he attended season one of the festival.
A Parenthood reunion was previously announced. Stay tuned for more announcements in the coming months.
In the meantime, check out these posts from previous years of the ATX Television Festival:
- Veronica Mars Could Have Been Set at Westlake High – ATX Television Festival 2019 Recap
- Five Favorite Things About the ATX Television Festival 2019
- Top 10 Things About The ATX Television Festival 2018
- Meghan Markle Attended the ATX Television Festival in 2015 & 2017
Featured photo via Buena Vista Television.


In a move that resembles a vote of confidence for the start-up, Allianz Africa renewed its multi-year partnership with OKO. Allianz and OKO initially signed an agreement in 2019 to test OKO’s concept in Mali. OKO offered an affordable and automated climate insurance accessible for the first time via mobile phone to smallholder farmers. 4 years later it is the most popular crop insurance in Mali. OKO uses parametric insurance technology, meaning that insurance claims are automatically validated and paid if satellite data shows that the weather conditions were very detrimental to the agricultural activity. It covers events such as droughts and floods.
As previously, the collaboration consists in OKO bringing its data-science expertise and its mobile distribution technology, while Allianz will assist in underwriting and re-insuring the crop insurance products. This new version of the partnership is meant to prepare for geographical expansion to new countries in the continent, and to strengthen the link between the two organizations. In fact, OKO already expanded to Uganda (with Jubilee-Allianz) and Ivory Coast (with Allianz Côte d’Ivoire). OKO and Allianz also won together the Ambitious Insurer award at the 2023 InsurTech Insight conference.
OKO’s activities have also widened, and OKO now works with agro-industrial companies such as AB InBev, Olam and Touton. OKO’s insurance protects farmers from the consequences of droughts and floods, and therefore secures the supply chain for large buyers. OKO also demonstrated its ability to generate positive impact in financial inclusion and climate resilience for vulnerable populations, which helps large food, textile, or beverage companies to achieve their sustainability objectives.


Newsletters and LinkedIn articles
I distribute a newsletter regularly. For regular updates on newsletters, LinkedIn articles, and project news, follow Modasti Consulting on LinkedIn.
The archive of newsletters is as follows.
- Newsletter 15 (Jun 2022): Bus Rapid Transit news from Europe and the MENA region
- Newsletter 14 (Mar 2022): Public transport news from around the world
- Newsletter 13 (Dec 2021): Public Transport and the Climate Economy: The Key to Success
- Newsletter 12 (Oct 2021): What will the COP26 climate summit mean for public transport?
- Newsletter 11 (Aug 2021): Public transport news from the Netherlands and the MENA region & more
- Newsletter 10 (May 2021): Public transport and the climate-neutral economy
- Newsletter 9 (Dec 2020): Digitalisation of Public Transport: The Key to Success
- Newsletter 8 (Oct 2020): Public Transport Sector Will Overcome The COVID-19 Crisis
- Newsletter 7 (Apr 2020): Will Public Transport Operators Survive the Corona Crisis?
- Newsletter 6 (Dec 2019): Public transport news from the MENA region, Europe and more
- Newsletter 5 (Aug 2019): The largest electric bus fleet in Europe & more
- Newsletter 4 (May 2019): Public transport news from Europe and the MENA region & more
- Newsletter 3 (Sep 2018): Risk management in public transport, new projects & more
- Newsletter 2 (Apr 2018): Electric buses, governance of public transport systems & more
- Newsletter 1 (Dec 2017): Public transport strategies & more
I have also authored a number of LinkedIn articels (two of them with my ex-colleague Petra van den Boorn who was associated with Modasti Consulting in 2019 and 2020). The most recent ones are listed below.
- Jun 2021: COVID-19, COP26 and the Future of Public Transport (LinkedIn article by Arjen)
- Apr 2021: A new operator for Dubai Metro (LinkedIn article by Arjen)
- Jun 2020: How urban public transport can benefit from COVID-19 (LinkedIn article by Arjen)
- May 2020: COVID-19: How to achieve 10% additional revenue in public transport operations? (LinkedIn article by Arjen)
- Nov 2019: How to implement electric Bus Rapid Transit (eBRT)? (LinkedIn article by Arjen)
- Mar 2019: Public transport in Dubai: the future is autonomous (LinkedIn article by Petra & Arjen)
- Oct 2018: Risk management in public transport operations (LinkedIn article by Petra & Arjen)
- Feb 2018: The right governance model for urban public transport (LinkedIn article by Arjen)
- Apr 2017: Electric buses: the new normal? (LinkedIn article by Arjen)


We are happy to announce our participation in MEORGA Südost – 2019 exhibition in Landshut on the 23rd of October at Niedermayerstrasse 100.
MEORGA Südost is one of the important exhibitions for the process industry in Germany and is being exhibited by more than 150 companies. This exhibition attracts attention of several OEM companies, EPC’s, multiple vendors and customers from across Europe.
Kindly pay a visit to our booth A7 and you will be able to see our highly reliable TORRIX level sensor and self-testing LS300/LS500 overfill prevention sensors working live!
We are looking forward to meeting our partners and customers and demonstrate the functionality of our products.


Elections are highly salient events, not just to citizens who participate but also to foreign observers. For citizens of many authoritarian regimes with constrained media environments, their understanding of democratic elections can be entirely mediated by their consumption of state media. Autocracies have a powerful incentive to use their control over this information to shape perceptions of democratic institutions in a way that makes their regime appear relatively acceptable. Moreover, it is in their interest to focus their negative coverage on foreign elections that are likely salient to their citizens. In this study, I investigate whether the state media of a particular autocracy, China, strategically shapes its coverage of democratic elections to make democratic institutions appear less desirable. To this end, I analyze China’s state media coverage of autocratic and democratic elections using a three-way fixed effects identification strategy. Additionally, I contrast China’s media coverage with a baseline media agency based in Taiwan. I find significant evidence that not only does China’s state media cover democratic elections more negatively than illiberal elections, it also focuses its negative coverage on highly salient executive elections.


31 Mar, 2018
Unlike residential real estate, which is still recovering, commercial real estate is roaring with M&A deals, corporate funding and even companies taking up office space. In the last one month alone, a spate of transactions in the commercial category has added heft to the realty market.
Industry watchers note that the high gestation period of commercial projects notwithstanding, developers too are increasing their pipeline of commercial real-estate projects.
IDBI Bank is the latest to have sold its office property at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), to SEBI for ?1,000 crore. The deal is being billed the second-largest end-user office-space transaction by value after Abbott India’s ?1,480-crore purchase of 4.35 lakh sqft space at BKC, in September 2015.
The IDBI building has a built-up area of 3.41 lakh square feet.
Private-equity major Blackstone is also steadily increasing its portfolio of commercial projects. In a major real-estate deal, Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL) has executed a definitive agreement with Blackstone Group to divest 50 per cent stake in its prime commercial properties in Mumbai for ?4,750 crore.
IBREL has executed transaction documents with the entities controlled by Blackstone to divest its entire holding in certain subsidiaries and thereby indirectly divesting 50 per cent stake in Indiabulls Properties and Indiabulls Real Estate Company at an aggregate enterprise value of around ?9,500 crore, IBREL said in a regulatory filing. The transaction is expected to be completed by March 31.
Indiabulls is the owner of two commercial office assets in Mumbai — Indiabulls Finance Centre and One Indiabulls Centre.
Last month, Ghodawat Enterprises concluded the sale of its fully leased building, Pinehurst, to an overseas fund. The asset, which was fully leased to an MNC client, was sold at an approximate value of ?350 crore.
Gagan Randev, National Director, Capital Markets and Investment Services, Colliers International India, which executed the deal, said: “We received strong interest from a host of bidders which clearly underlines that international and domestic funds and institutions are aggressively looking at acquiring grade-A pre-leased office assets.”
Last month, Indiabulls Dual Advantage Commercial Assets Fund reportedly bought a commercial office tower in Gurugram from real-estate firm Hines India, marking the first transaction from its new office fund.
Indiabulls partnered with co-investor Interglobe Real Estate Ventures, the real-estate arm of InterGlobe Enterprises, for this acquisition.
Indiabulls Dual Advantage Commercial Assets Fund is an alternative investment fund that was launched by Indiabulls Asset Management in 2017 to raise around ?1,500 crore, including ?500 crore from co-investors. The fund will invest in buying out office properties that generate regular stable rental income, with capital appreciation on exits.
Real estate PE
A fortnight ago, Godrej Fund Management (GFM), the real-estate private-equity arm of the Godrej Group, announced a first close of its $450-million office development fund and a first close of its $150-million office investment fund. Jointly, the funds can invest/develop office assets worth over $1 billion in value.
Godrej Build to Core (GBTC) – I is a $450-million ‘club style’ office investment platform that will invest in developing world class, Grade-A office buildings in leading locations across key office markets in India.
APG Asset Management, which has invested in previous funds managed by GFM, will be the cornerstone investor for GBTC-I.
The other newly raised fund is Godrej Office Fund - I, a $150-million discretionary blind pool fund that will invest in core and core-plus office and commercial properties across the country.
Pirojsha Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Investment Advisers, said: “We are pleased to enter the commercial real-estate private-equity space. There is a lot of opportunity for our fund management company in both residential and commercial real estate in India, and we are happy to see the business quickly reach the $1-billion AUM (assets under management) milestone.”


Listen to the “One Nation” Finale!
To the producers, composers, musicians, organizers, conductor, volunteers, donors, and attendees,
I thought you all might enjoy this recording of the “One Nation” finale. Over 1200 gathered at American Heritage School last Friday and Saturday for the world premier of “One Nation.” I was deeply moved by the whole production. It’s been two years in the making, and we are eternally grateful to everyone that had a hand in this historic project. No doubt, it will be a legacy that will touch hearts for generations to come. Mr. Brown said it will be shown again at AHS in 2016 – and I sincerely hope it will be sooner than that! Honor and gratitude to veterans and their families (including our very own American Heritage School teachers Jared, Rich, and Wendy), and to each of you who spent countless hours helping us to remember with “One Nation.”
Grant Beckwith, Head of School


In a delightful celebration of the holiday season, the Calvert Headquarters office recently gathered at Spezia Italian restaurant to unwind and connect. The evening was filled with joy, celebration, and comradery.
Spezia’s talented chefs did not disappoint as they showcased their culinary talents with a diverse menu that pleased every palate. From mouthwatering antipasti, like Fried Ravioli, to delectable main courses, like Chicken Parmesan, there was something for everyone to enjoy. The meal was then finished off with dessert, with the Limonetta Bella Cake taking the win for the most popular.
Throughout the evening, chatter and laughter echoed through the private dining room as colleagues shared stories and celebrated accomplishments, but it wouldn’t have been a true Calvert Christmas without the creativity of Calvert’s own, Joe Spivey. Joe sent staff on a scavenger hunt and tested their knowledge of “Holiday Cuisine”. He even played the part of Santa Claus and gave away gift cards to a few lucky Calvert employees.
Reflecting on the evening, the Calvert team expressed gratitude for the individuals who helped make the evening a success and gave employees the chance to come together in a different setting and strengthen the bonds that make our workplace a true community. Calvert looks forward to more opportunities to connect with each other and continue our success into the New Year.


John Battelle (author of “The Search”– covering Google’s rise) recently described an experience that vividly shows how quickly the marketing landscape is changing given the impact of social media. I’d recommend anyone involved in the advertising and marketing world read his account, as a powerful reminder to become fully immersed in social right now to stay relevant as the landscape shifts. In his post, Battelle recounts his recent visit with GM CMO Joel Ewanick, whose marketing group offices feature a real-time video wall with a constant stream of consumer conversations related to the auto maker on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, as well as breaking posts and articles. During the visit, Battelle asked about a Facebook post that had just appeared on the video wall criticizing a local GM dealer. Ewanick casually related that his team would quickly engage with that customer and respond as part of their normal process of doing business, and sure enough Battelle later followed up and saw that the team had rapidly engaged the detractor- expertly addressing the customer’s situation.
Battelle described his perspective on this and the implications for marketing:
As someone who has spent many years visiting CMOs in tall buildings, I can tell you, this is nothing short of a revolution, and it’s happened in what amounts to an eyeblink in our business….In the normal course of business over the past two weeks, I’ve met with half a dozen Fortune 500 CMOs – men and women running massive marketing businesses for some of the best known brands in the world. Every single one of them now takes the idea of “conversing with customers at scale, leveraging technology” as a north star. It’s an extraordinary shift.
Two to three years ago– according to Battelle- the average CMO was no where near this point: still held back from actively engaging consumers via social by concerns that it was too much of a risk and not worth the investment. I would add that many have been tentative in the past– and many are still holding back today– because they personally don’t use social media (I’ve written in the past about Forrester’s conclusions that CMO’s are inexperienced with Social and that fact is impacting its effective use in Marketing programs).
Right now, the playbook for how to execute marketing and advertising programs in the modern social world is being completely re-written. As a marketer (or an agency exec, or anyone involved in the media world), social media now needs to be the center of your existence. You need to live it and breathe it, in order to be an expert on how to execute it across an organization. This is now your job one.


Johnstown Midsummer Concert Series announces lineup for third season
JOHNSTOWN — The Johnstown Midsummer Concert Series will launch its third season Thursday with a concert featuring Jim Gaudet & The Railroad Boys in the park on West Main Street. Local singer-songwriter Jonathan Blake will open the show.
The free, public concert series is sponsored by the Johnstown Citizens Band, and made possible with a Community Arts Grant provided through Saratoga Arts, with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York state Legislature. Local donations and sponsorships also have been key funding sources for the concert series, said series coordinator Bill Ackerbauer.
“Due to the turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic this year, we came dangerously close to having to cancel this year’s Johnstown Midsummer Concert Series,” Ackerbauer said in a news release. “However, as our region has moved into ‘Phase Four’ of the recovery effort, we are able to proceed with outdoor concerts. Johnstown Mayor Vern Jackson, Saratoga Arts Grant Coordinator Diane Swanson and all our performers and donors have been wonderfully helpful — and cautiously enthusiastic — about making this season’s concerts possible despite the challenges.”
In accordance with New York state’s Phase Four guidelines for low-risk outdoor activities in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, audience members will be required to position themselves at least six feet away from others who are not members of their own households. Guests are asked to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets. Masks are not required while seated but are encouraged while moving through the park. Anyone who has tested positive for the virus or is experiencing symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath or loss of taste/smell is asked not to attend.
In the event of rain, performances will be live-streamed on the Johnstown Midsummer Concert Series’ Facebook page. The live-streaming will be done from inside St. John’s Episcopal Church, but no live audience will be permitted inside the church because of public health restrictions.
The full lineup for the concert season will be as follows:
∫ Thursday: Jim Gaudet & The Railroad Boys, an acoustic Americana band based in the Capital Region. Gaudet pens most of the band’s material, and he is backed up by Sten Isaacsen on mandolin and electric guitar, Bob Ristau on bass, and Amsterdam native, Sara Milonovich, on fiddle. Jonathan Blake, a local singer-guitarist, will open the show with a set of acoustic rock. This show will be sponsored locally by Main Motorcar.
∫ July 30: Hanzolo, a funk-and-soul band hailing from Cooperstown. The band recently released its debut LP, “Table Butter,” and has gotten air play on Capital Region radio stations. Local singer-guitarist Nicole Campbell will open the show. This show will be sponsored locally by Bradley Yerdon, licensed real estate salesperson with Howard Hanna Real Estate.
∫ Aug. 6: The North & South Dakotas, a bluegrass ensemble based in the Albany-Saratoga region known for its laid-back vibe and instrumental jams. Johnstown’s own Matthew Bosworth will open the show with a solo acoustic set. This show will be sponsored locally by Townsend Leather.
∫ Aug. 13: Drank the Gold, the Saratoga Springs-based Irish-American duo of Oona Grady and James Gascoyne, who will be joined by accompanist Chris Carey. The Adirondack folk duo of Keanen Stark and Orion Kribs will open the show. This show will be sponsored locally by the law office of Michael Viscosi.
For more information, visit the Johnstown Midsummer Concert Series on Facebook or email firstname.lastname@example.org.


New Video: Monkeypox
To help you educate your patients about the current monkeypox outbreak, we just launched a new video.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently declared the current monkeypox outbreak to be a public health emergency. That came a little less than two weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) called the outbreak an emergency of international concern.
While the monkeypox virus has been known for decades, this worldwide outbreak is new. And it is important for people to understand what it is and how it spreads.
That’s why ViewMedica just published a video explaining the monkeypox virus. As the situation with this outbreak changes, we will be updating this video and adding more related videos as needed.
Users of ViewMedica On-Demand or VMcast waiting room TV can now add the monkeypox video to their subscription by logging in to their ViewMedica.com account and clicking the “Video Subscriptions” link under “Content.”


The Buffalo News
By KEVIN PURDY
NIAGARA FALLS - When this city's newest gambling venture opened, there was no fanfare, no visit from Gov. George E. Pataki, no accolades from local officials, not even a single billboard.
That's because Charlie's Palace Casino employs one person, is mostly run from the Caribbean and is not expected to have any impact on the local economy.
Charles M. Haick, proprietor of what his fliers tout as a "locally owned" online casino - the servers for his site's host are located on the island of St. Martin - believes Charlie's Palace will give residents yet another gambling option, and perhaps give Seneca Niagara Casino some competition.
Whether it's legal is another matter.
"As far as I know, there are no laws in cyberspace," Haick said. "You can't keep people from logging onto the Internet, so you can't keep them from gambling."
Like hundreds of other online and offshore sites worldwide - which are expected to take in $3 billion in profits this year - Haick's site wheels and deals in a legal gray area. The future of such sites depends on a World Trade Organization ruling, challenges to the more than 40-year-old Federal Wire Act, and whether federal and state authorities believe Haick "owns" his casino.
State Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer's office has taken a hard stance on Internet casinos, pressuring financial institutions to halt gambling-related transactions and urging media companies - including search engines such as Google and Yahoo - not to accept casinos' advertisements.
Kenneth Dreifach, chief of the state attorney general's Internet bureau, said that Haick or anyone else involved in online gambling might be prosecuted.
"It is illegal to operate or profit from an Internet casino if it's not authorized in New York State," said Dreifach. And New York has no authorized Internet casinos, according to the state Gaming and Wagering Board.
Is Haick worried about attracting so much attention from the legal community? Not exactly.
"I hope to attract as much attention as possible," he said. "I want people to know that it's out there, I want people to know it exists, and I want people to really know that they have another alternative to going to the Seneca Niagara Casino."
Setting up a casino
No one can say for sure how many online casinos are out there. But Haick's entry into the field came from "Big Hitters," a brochure for home-based businesses. For $895, Haick received his own Web domain, which leads visitors into a gambling site operated by TopCatCasino.com where they can bet on sports and casino-style games.
Haick said he receives 30 percent of the profits from gambling transactions made at his site. To bring in business, he has tacked up fliers advertising "Big Payouts," "Locally Owned," and including his full name at the bottom.
Because he advertises locally, his site may violate the state's gaming and wagering laws, said Bennett Liebman, a former state racing regulator and head of the Albany Law School's program on racing and wagering law.
"In New York, the crucial issue seems to be, "Where is the bet made?' " Liebman said. "Even if your site is run from another country where online gambling is legal, if you're working locally to attract gamblers, you could be prosecuted."
Lawrence G. Walters, a Florida-based attorney who represents a number of online gambling sites and runs the Web site GameAttorneys.com, said, however, that "referral sites" such as Haick's are no different than advertisers who are paid by performance.
"If I wanted to put up a Web site, or even put up a billboard, that said, "Visit the brothels in Nevada,' why can't I do that?" Walters said. "What he's doing is commercial speech, advertising, and he cannot be suddenly turned into a gambler or casino operator."
In one of the most prominent cases involving online gambling, Jay Cohen, a former options trader who launched the Antigua-based World Sports Exchange in 1997, was convicted in 2000 of violating the 1961 Wire Wager Act and sentenced to 21 months in prison. He was released in March.
Though the judge noted weaknesses in the U.S. Department of Justice's case against Cohen, pending legislation may make it easier to prosecute online casinos. The bill, introduced by Sen. John Kyl, R-Arizona, would make certain types of online gambling illegal.
At the same time, the World Trade Organization ruled in March that U.S. policies banning online gambling violate international trade laws. If the United States loses its appeal, continuing to enforce the ban could start a trade war with casino-friendly countries like Antigua and Barbados.
Mark Balestra, vice president of publishing for the River City Group, an online gambling trade group, said that while the WTO ruling was "a major victory" for offshore-based casinos, it wouldn't lead to lesser enforcement.
"I don't think the WTO is going to prevent the U.S. from telling people they can't gamble online. No way," said Balestra. "But it's hard to say how this is going to play out. You're looking at a lot of gray areas."
When Haick launched Charlie's Palace, he said, nobody at either Big Hitters or TopCat Casino discussed the site's legality. All he saw, he said, was "the best opportunity in Niagara Falls."
"I wanted to start my own business, and I thought this area could use another casino," said Haick. "The price of gas is going up, and some of these old people in town don't want to drive to the casino. With this, you can sit at home and do it, and nobody will bother you."
But more than anything, Haick said, he felt "the Senecas shouldn't have a lock on gambling in Niagara Falls."
Not seen as competition
Seneca Gaming head Mickey Brown said he doesn't see online gambling as competition for the Seneca Niagara Casino.
"It's the same thing as if you walked in off the street to a local bookmaker and placed an illegal bet on a sports event. It's illegal," Brown said. "So I don't consider illegal gambling to be any serious threat of competition."
Dreifach said that while the state attorney general continues to investigate the casinos, the office's strategy has been to target credit card companies, online payment brokers and other businesses that support Internet gambling, to protect residents from losses that can't be recouped.
"The most harmful edge to this occurs when people gamble on their credit cards," Dreifach said. "The people we'd heard complaints from, they were mortgaging their entire future on online gambling."
If his site's visitors have problems with slow payment or false charges, Haick said he would refer them to TopCat Casino representatives. TopCat Casino has its headquarters in San Diego and its Web servers in St. Martin, and uses a credit broker based on the Isle of Man.
Still, Haick said, he has no problems saying his site is "locally owned."
"When you go to my Web site, it says Charlie's Palace Casino," he said. "I'm Charlie; it's my casino."


Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) is currently working on a way to liven up the journey for its future passengers using Augmented Reality. CEO Dirk Alhborn gave a talk at South by Southwest this week demonstrating the concept according to this article by Karissa Bell at Mashable. A video of the idea is shown below.
— Karissa Bell (@karissabe) March 13, 2016
For those that don’t know, the Hyperloop is a high-speed transportation system where capsules blast through tubes on an air cushion at proposed speeds of 760 mph. It was originally put forth by a team working with Elon Musk. The design could get a person from LA to San Francisco in about 30 minutes.
Travelling through enclosed tubes could get pretty boring and induce claustrophobia in some people. A big part of reducing these effects while travelling is the ability to view the scenery and landscapes a person is travelling though. The technology HTT is working on would not only have a digital display on the window but it would also have head tracking. This allows the scene to change as your head moves around to mimic a person looking out of a real window. This gives a more natural look and feel. HTT said it could also be used for advertising opportunities and the video seems to demonstrate other potentially important travel data displayed on the window.


Social Security Advice: Don’t Claim Based on Worries about the Solvency of the Trust Fund
On July 22, the Social Security Administration released the latest Trustees Report on the status of the Social Security Trust Fund. The Trustees forecast a small but positive uptick in the long-term projections for the fund as compared to a year ago.
In the 2014 report, the Trustees had estimated that the combined asset reserves the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds would be depleted in 2033, and would be able to pay 77% of benefits after that time. The 2015 report estimates that those asset reserves will become depleted in 2034, one year later than projected last year, with 79 percent of benefits payable at that time.
The projections regarding the Disability Insurance (DI) trust funds are much less optimistic: that fund is expected to become depleted in the fourth quarter of 2016, with 81 percent of benefits still payable.”
You can download and view the news release at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/news/press/releases/#/post/7-2015-1, and the entire report at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/TR/2015/tr2015.pdf.
Predicting the state of the Social Security Trust Fund 20 years from now is likely to be far more difficult than predicting the weather next month or timing the market. The Trustees’ current estimates assume that Congress does nothing to shore up the system. Even if our congressional representatives in Washington do nothing and the reserves are depleted by 2034, it is highly debatable as to whether those who “take the money and run” will fare better than those who stay the course.


Sometimes the Golden Gate Bridge just isn’t enough. While the California Bay Area and California as a whole have experienced a population boost, due to housing availability and increased job opportunities (the ocean views can’t hurt, either), this boost is somewhat mitigated by people leaving the Bay Area for different parts of the country. Here are the top five move-out destinations for former Bay Area residents.
- Phoenix, Arizona
The dry heat of Phoenix seems to have the most appeal to Bay Area residents (perhaps sick of fog?). Phoenix actually tied for the #8 spot on Forbes’ Top 10 Fastest Growing Cities of 2013, with a population growth of 2.7% fueling (and fueled by) a job growth rate of 2.5%.
- Portland, Oregon
The second highest percentage of Bay Area residents are moving north to Portland, which, not coincidentally, shares the #8 Forbes’ ranking with Phoenix.
- Huntington Beach, California
This California city ranks in the top 4% for population growth among all U.S. cities, due to high-quality housing and outstanding school districts. No wonder it comes in at #3 for outbound Bay Area residents.
- Dallas, Texas
While Dallas comes in at #4 on our list, it actually ranks #3 on the Forbes’ Top 10 Fastest Growing Cities of 2013, with a job growth rate matching its population growth (both at 2.1%).
- Austin, Texas
Everything is bigger in Texas -- including population growth and number of job opportunities. The bottom entry in our Top Five list is the very top entry in the Forbes’ Top Ten list.
Of course, you don’t need to search high and low for reasons to move to California. With a Mediterranean climate, miles of beautiful beaches, and some of the most breath-taking sunsets in the country, the Golden State is known the world over as a great vacation destination, as well as a popular place to move for people all over the United States. Focusing again on just the California Bay Area, we found the five U.S. cities that send the largest percentages of their residents to San Francisco, Fremont, and the surrounding area.
- Huntington Beach, California
In addition to receiving its fair share of Bay Area residents, nearby Huntington Beach also tops the list of cities that send their citizens to the Bay Area. This city boasts a high cost of living and a relatively low percentage of job growth, which appears to be enough to convince these CA residents to relocate just a little farther north.
- Foxborough, Massachusetts
Coming in at #2, Foxborough is the first of two MA entries, as relocating citizens make the cross-country trek to seek their fortunes on the West Coast.
- Billerica, Massachusetts
Billerica, near Boston, rounds out the East Coast entries as the #3 spot in America for emigration to the Bay Area, as residents swap out the Atlantic Ocean for the Pacific.
- Mt. Prospect, Illinois
Our Top Five list is finished off by a few Midwestern cities -- both in Illinois. Mt. Prospect comes in at #4, once again citing high housing costs and low job growth as motivating factors.
- Bolingbrook, Illinois
Bolingbrook saw the fifth highest percentage of its citizens relocate to the Bay Area. Overall, the state of Illinois had a 59.5% move-out rate in 2012.


Cricket Wireless partnered with CSE to target a sports sponsorship opportunity that would provide national scale with extensive local activation opportunities to increase brand consideration, drive traffic to stores and incentivize sales. Knowing the cluttered sponsorship landscape for wireless brands in sports, CSE honed in on a unique, if not unorthodox opportunity with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
For both brands, it’s all about the experience they provide to their consumers centered around creating smile worthy moments. Cricket gives consumers Something to Smile About by providing a better choice in wireless. WWE’s stated mission is to “put smiles on people’s faces” and attracts passionate, diverse and family-oriented consumers who are an ideal target for Cricket Wireless. With over ½ billon social media followers and reaching over 650MM homes worldwide on a weekly basis, WWE provides an ideal platform for Cricket.
A SPONSORSHIP TO SMILE ABOUT.
With an enormous reach both digitally and over the air, WWE provides Cricket an important platform to educate WWE’s passionate fan base about a better choice in wireless. Retail promotions, celebrity store appearances, and special incentives, such as free trials to experience the WWE Network, will give consumers an opportunity to engage deeply with entertainment they love and a brand that will make their wireless experience better.
“Fans came to our stores in mass, showing incredible passion for the family-friendly entertainment WWE offers and the superstars that ignite the kind of excitement only they can produce,” said Janna Ducich, vice-president and chief marketing officer, Cricket Wireless. “It’s time to take it to the next level. This sponsorship enables us to reach 650 million homes worldwide through events that have been staples in living rooms for decades. We are in an incredible position to introduce the simplicity, transparency and dependability that sets Cricket apart from all of its competitors.”


On 24th February 2018, Fundaţia ADEPT repeated for the 8th consecutive year, its popular annual event dedicated to Family Farmers and Small-scale Producers from the Târnava Mare area, bringing together around 200 local farmers with the specialists who have contributed to the survival and prosperity of their landscapes.
The event has been organised every year, since 2011, by Fundatia ADEPT, who identified the need of the local farmers and producers to have an open dialogue with the authorities and specialists.
During the event, Fundatia ADEPT presented the ongoing projects and the impact they have on the local communities: Ecosystem services generated by High Nature Value agriculture, RBABS – a pilot project for agro-enviroment schemes, Development of a European Private Land Conservation Network – LIFE ELCN, how the brand of the area could bring added value to traditional products. Invited speakers were: Florentina Calugar presented the Local Development Strategy of the Local Action Group GAL Dealurile Târnavelor and a few examples of projects implemented so far and Cristina Iliescu made a short description of the eco-tourism destination – Colinele Transilvaniei (Transylvanian Hills). Mr Ovidiu Săvășcă, Director APIA Târgu Mureș had an interactive presentation on Agro-environment financial opportunities.
The joy of the event was fulfilled with the presence of the traditional dancing troup „Românașul” who made a demonstration of their art.
The event closed with the raffle in which Fundatia ADEPT Transilvania and their parteners offered different household gifts to the farmers .
THANK YOU to this edition’s partners for supporting the organization of our “Family Farmers and Small – Scale Producers Meeting” in 2018:


JANUARY 14th Selected for the Global Voices Film Festival UN Women USA
(San Francisco, CA) - June 17, 2021 - JANUARY 14TH was recently named an Official Selection of the Global Voices Film Festival UN Women USA to be held virtually on September 13-18, 2021.
UN Women has long been the global advocate for women during times of crisis, and today the work of UN Women is needed more than ever. UN Women is a voice for women health care workers, for care providers, for refugees, and for the displaced. UN Women will address the disproportionate economic impact on women’s livelihoods, to battle the upswing in domestic violence under quarantine, and the reduced access to justice, health services, and education.
For more information visit https://www.globalvoicesfilmfestival.org/.


I don’t want to jump on the exposé bandwagon, but there is something about the lack of accountability and transparency in our food system that is really unsettling. The issue is definitely complicated, but Iowa’s effort to ban undercover investigative reporting doesn’t seem like a good way to move forward. There are food safety issues like contamination that deserve to be addressed. While I don’t believe sensational videos posted on YouTube is necessarily the answer, I do believe public awareness is critical for change to occur. And maybe the public should be riled up. I know I get angry when I drive down I-5 and smell manure for miles on end. These are not the happy cows from California. But I’m willing to bet the Clover cows are- I’ve seen them when driving around Sonoma County.
As consumers, we have a lot of power. We all eat, and when it comes to food, we can definitely vote with our forks. There’s been a severe dissociation between the food on our table and where it grows. Michael Pollan covers this issue in The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Moreover, consumer demand of aesthetically perfect produce fuels increased pesticide use because of low pest tolerance. Choosing organic is a great practice if you can afford it, but it doesn’t always solve the problem. Likewise, being a selective-sometimes-eco-vegetarian/flexitarian doesn’t really get you far. But I have found that the conversations sparked when responding, “I’m a flexitarian,” can be informative and educational for both sides involved.
If you want more, there’s Food Politics by Marion Nestle, The Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky, and so many more. You could find hundreds of publications on issues related to food security, food sovereignty, food policy… It’s not just about industrial and commercial production, it’s a systemic issue that affects every individual, in the US and world-wide. Even Michelle Obama.


The OpenArchive team is proud to announce the launch of Save, our new mobile application that integrates privacy-enhancing technologies with digital media preservation to make media findable, verifiable, and archived for long-term access.
Save enables individuals and organizations to streamline their management process for managing mobile media documentation, enhance their digital content collaboration, and make it easier to securely archive community and sensitive media. From social networks to video hosting platforms, many of the go-to media hosting platforms are monetized by invasive adtech, driven by surveillance features, and subjected to arbitrary content takedowns. We created Save to authenticate and safeguard media for long-term preservation and protect the identity of those sharing their documentation. While researching and creating the tool with the communities it serves, we paid special attention to threats that we increasingly encounter when posting citizen journalism online, such as internet shutdowns, targeting journalists online, device confiscations, censorship, limited bandwidth, and data loss.
While embarking on OpenArchive’s journey to launch our new flagship tool Save, we were deliberately careful to incorporate feedback from our extensive ethnographic research and incorporate emergent digital archiving practices. With a mission to provide an alternative hosting framework to commercially available products, Save puts control of the lifecycle of mobile media back in the hands of those who created the media: citizen journalists, human rights defenders, and others risking their freedom to share their stories. With native functionalities that include adding nuanced metadata for verification and Creative Commons licensing, Save was built to streamline a user experience that is intuitive for both individuals and organizations.
We couldn’t be where we are today without a wonderful community of supporters, many of whom have volunteered their time to help us design Save with our end-users’ safety, security and diverse circumstances in mind. We are also grateful to generous support from the Open Technology Fund and Knight Foundation who have helped OpenArchive continue to develop tools, integrate best practices, and improve usability over the past years.
In the coming year, the OpenArchive team will continue to engage with our community, offer trainings, improve documentation, share our expertise, and advocate for open archiving frameworks that allow people to store and manage their content outside the walled gardens of proprietary Silicon Valley companies.
Last month, OpenArchive’s founder Natalie joined panels and hosted a workshop to share Save with the Human Rights community at RightsCon in Tunis. We want to take every opportunity we have to engage with the communities we serve so we can continually improve the functionality and usability they require and ensure that people can manage their digital media outside of the surveillance capitalism-driven media management systems currently on the market. If you know of great places we should be, let us know!
Follow us on Twitter for updates and more at @open_archive


Bled, June 7, 2023: This year’s traditional international conference Trends in CSR 2023: Beyond social responsibility was held on June 6, 2023, in Bled in co-organization with the Network for Social Responsibility of Slovenia, Ekvilib Institute, IEDC - Bled School of Business and WISE Institute.
The 115 conference participants were welcomed by Prof. Drikus Kriek, Dean of IEDC-Bled School of Management and Aleš Kranjc Kušlan, Director of Ekvilib Institute, followed by three keynote speeches by Prof. Arnold Smit, professor at Stellenbosch Business School and IEDC devoted his lecture to the values of socially responsible leaders.
This was followed by a lecture by Dr. Robert Biloslav, PhD in Business Informatics and lecturer at the Faculty of Management of the University of Primorska, who researches the development of sustainable business models, dualities in management and wisdom as a virtue for achieving happiness.
The last lecture was given by Lavinia Muth, a German speaker, activist and consultant in the field of social responsibility.
A roundtable entitled ‘Social responsibility - part of the solution or part of the problem?’ was led by Aleš Kranjc Kušlan, Ekvilib Inštitut and the following speakers gave very valuable contributions to the topic: Bojan Ivanc, Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije, dr. Roberto Biloslavo, Fakulteta za management, Univerza na Primorskem, Živa Kavka Gobbo, Društvo za sonaraven razvoj Focus, Alenka Recelj Mercina, NLB d.d.
And two interactive workshops one led by Marina Schmitz and a second by prof. dr. Roberto Biloslavo made the conference even more applicable.
It turns out that the red thread of all topics is trust – trust in one in others and in (business) intuition.
With trust, the conference also closed. To develop social responsibility, we need to dare to go beyond the horizon of normal business practices – to trust each other and to hope that this will have positive effects for a more solidarity society and a cleaner nature.


From Ray Hair, AFM President, March 27, 2020:
Legislation that will extend unemployment benefits to those who rely on contract work and freelance jobs just passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The third Coronavirus (COVID-19) relief package already passed the U.S. Senate and now heads to the president’s desk for his signature.
We will share information about how to access the expanded benefits as more details become available, but highlights of the relief package for musicians include:
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
• Temporary 39-week program to provide payment to freelancers, gig workers, and others not traditionally eligible for unemployment benefits who are unable to work for reasons related to COVID-19 emergency.
• The minimum benefit equals one-half of your state’s average weekly unemployment benefit plus $600.
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
• Additional 13 weeks of unemployment insurance for employee-classified workers who have exhausted or will exhaust state unemployment benefits.
• Provides an additional $600 per week for anyone receiving regular state unemployment insurance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).
2020 Recovery Rebates
• This is a one-time cash benefit to households of $1,200 per adult ($2,400 per couple) and $500 per child.
• People earning $75,000 ($150,000 jointly) or less will receive the full amount. This phases-out for people earning more than $99,000 ($198,000 jointly) with no children.
• $150 million to state agencies to provide grants and support to arts organizations.
• $75 million for the National Endowment for the Arts and $75 million for the National Endowment of the Humanities.
• $75 million for the the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) which supports PBS and NPR.
I am so proud of all the union musicians who made calls, sent emails, and tweeted to reach their elected officials. Gig worker benefits were not included in this legislation until lawmakers received your calls, emails, and tweets. Never forget that musicians standing together have power!
AFM International President


Comedian and Join In patron Eddie Izzard led the nation’s biggest ever thank you to sport volunteers at the 2014 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
During the show, Eddie asked the TV audience and everyone at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro to add their thanks and the response was enormous! The #BigThankYou hashtag was the top trend on Twitter – first in the UK, then worldwide – beating the X Factor final on the same night.
I designed the brand and produced content across channels, driving the ask of thanking sports volunteers. Read more about the 2014 campaign on the Join In site which was nominated for a Social Buzz Award from The Drum.
The 2015 #BigThankYou campaign also trended worldwide on Twitter, second only to the BBC Sports Personality hashtag #SPOTY on the night.
Watch the #BigThankYou film produced by the BBC:
Sports stars made phone calls from a gold phone box on the BBC Sports Personality red carpet:


OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has recently made headlines with the removal of CEO Sam Altman from his position, sparking curiosity and concern across the technology industry. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and rival to OpenAI through his AI company xAI, has called for transparency regarding this sudden and significant change within the organization.
Musk took to X, previously known as Twitter, stating, “It’s crucial for the public to understand the reasons behind this decision. If it pertains to AI safety, it could have far-reaching consequences for humanity.” He emphasized the non-publicly traded nature of OpenAI, highlighting the importance of AI safety irrespective of financial implications.
In a blog post, OpenAI attributed Altman’s dismissal to the board’s loss of confidence in his leadership abilities, citing inconsistency in his communication. Mira Murati, the former chief technology officer (CTO) of OpenAI, has stepped in as his replacement.
However, Ilya Sutskever, the company’s chief scientist and board member, defended Altman’s removal, asserting that it was necessary to safeguard OpenAI’s mission of ensuring beneficial artificial intelligence for humanity. Contrary to employee concerns suggesting a “hostile takeover,” Sutskever maintained that the decision was crucial for the organization’s mission alignment.
Upon learning of Sutskever’s significant role in Altman’s removal, Musk expressed apprehension, stating, “I am deeply concerned. Ilya has integrity and isn’t driven by power. Such drastic steps wouldn’t be taken unless absolutely warranted.”
Interestingly, investors are rallying to reinstate Altman as CEO. Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, the largest investor in OpenAI with a stake exceeding $10 billion, reached out to Altman post his ousting, offering support for his future endeavors.
Following the controversy, Altman returned to the OpenAI premises for the first time, sharing a selfie on X with a visitor’s badge labeled “Guest.” His caption hinted at the unusual nature of his visit, implying it would likely be his first and last time wearing such a badge.
The circumstances surrounding Sam Altman’s removal as CEO of OpenAI continue to generate significant interest and speculation within the technology and investment spheres, highlighting the critical role of leadership and transparency in organizations working on transformative technologies like artificial intelligence.
- Elon Musk’s Grok AI vs. OpenAI’s ChatGPT
- Mastering Dream11: Strategies to Earn 1000 INR Daily in Fantasy Sports


First Online Moscow Finance Conference
On October 23-24, the International Moscow Finance Conference will open its doors for the ninth time, organized by ICEF in cooperation with the London School of Economics. This year’s speakers include editors of two major economic journals. We talked to Alexei Boulatov, ICEF Full Professor to find out how the quality of scientific events has been influenced by online format, how academic life has changed over the recent months and what themes the research community pursues these days.
Why conferences aren’t trending
The organizing committee, consisting of ICEF Associate Professor Vladimir Sokolov, London School of Economics Associate Professor Christian Juilliard and myself, have been consistent in the view that fundamental science defies global agendas or trends. So, the conference is not to be expected to bring up COVID-19 or give its feedback on what is happening in the world at the moment.
Scientific thought follows its own logic and operates independently of popular trends. We designed this upcoming conference to be led by eminent academics with diverse backgrounds in financial economics – corporate finance and asset pricing, their empirical and theoretical sides.
And we seem to have succeeded. This year’s conference features some influential world-class speakers who see ICEF as an interesting venue and a promising research community. Its having been moved online has played its role in selection of participants.
How going online boosts quality
A conference, in its traditional form, is about flights, tours – of the universities and cultural sites – and cuisine. Unlike earlier, when academic tourism was an integral, and sometimes even most favoured, part of research, the modern-day conferencing is cutting down on entertainment to focus more on the research per se.
Those who haven’t slacked off academically and research-wise are exactly the people we are targeting. And in this sense the online format has only added to the quality: the conference has a team of prominent personalities who find it important to be interacting with ICEF and its research community.
Vladimir Sokolov, ICEF Associate Professor, conference organizing committee member
This year we are running the Ninth International Moscow Finance Conference which over years has grown into a significant academic event. The fact that many prominent speakers will be presenting this year is due to the growing academic reputation of the conference.
We will have presentations by researchers from the United States and Europe, as well as by two of our colleagues at ICEF, Professors Sylvain Carré and Dmitry Makarov. Also many of our colleagues will be acting as discussants which generates the feedback and networking and is very conducive for future publications.
Interestingly enough this year’s conference has a significant focus on the banking research topic. Economic consequences of the 2008 financial crisis are still being investigated quite actively which allows us to learn about the current impact of the banking sector developments on the real economy. The mechanism of how financial institutions influence the real sector is an active research area, and I hope that our conference will provide a significant contribution to it.
The online format is, however, not without flaws. The university – a real place with its unique atmosphere and people who may not be part of the conference but are still an essential part of the research community – is hidden. In the future, we will try to achieve a combination of online and face-to-face communication. The offline interaction, in so far as it has been an established practice with its culture, traditions, even code of conduct, is indeed embedded in research community.
Can we expect enlightening takeaways
The participants will share some of their latest deliverables and research ideas they are currently working on. It’s a pleasure for me to have known that prominent figures in the industry gravitate towards ICEF and that its connections in the academic world have grown strong.
The conference features editors of two top journals of financial economics, Toni Whited of the Financial Economics Journal and Itay Goldstein of the Review of Financial Studies. Not so long ago, ICEF hosted Chris Hennessy, the editor of top financial and economic magazine RFS, who unfortunately isn’t able to join us this time.
My personal research interest lies in microstructures of financial markets, and I will be especially delighted to follow Haoxiang Zhu of MIT Sloan School of Management, a young speaker who we have been waiting for quite a number of years. Haoxiang is doing research on, among other things, high frequency trading, a topic highly relevant at the moment.
To explore this topic in more detail, we have teamed with Sylvain Carré and Vincent Fardeau to test a hypothesis that this information is not as important in trading as liquidity. But, unlike Zhu, we analyze high-frequency trading algorithms from the perspective of its optimal operating speed. Also, I work with practicing financial experts and, specifically, BlackRock which in my line of research is an absolute asset. And, by the way, many of these practicing experts have backgrounds in physics and research, like one of my co-authors from Berkeley, and I really think we are on the same wavelength.
How lockdown changed scientists’ routines
Since a great part of research work is based on interaction between co-authors, the recent months have undoubtedly had a negative effect. Having to use your home as an office can be a strenuous experience for many. These months may have their good effect, though, in the long run. For the time being scientists are simply overexcited about being able to contribute to as many as three conferences during one week. But still, the online format is badly missing out on the excitement of energy-filled face-to-face interaction.
It's time to invent ways to make discussions safe and easy
The society in general is changing its perception of communication and relationship with time as professional venues gain in efficiency and ergonomics. Scientists value their time. Their mode of communication needs to be offered a new “product”. Like everything else in the world, academic conferences are in for a big upgrade.


Aero Crash Avoided
A Boeing 737-500 aircraft, belonging to Aero Contractors, Nigeria’s oldest commercial carrier involved in domestic and regional air transport business, on Sunday, suffered a technical malfunction that led to the release of smoke in the cabin.
The aircraft, flight AJ 320, which left Port Harcourt with 84 adult passengers, an infant, and five crew members on board, was said to have encountered an abnormal landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. “We thank God that we are all alive though the landing process was a bit abnormal from the usual pattern I know,” said a traveller, who wished not to be named.
The airline, in a statement, however, said that it “successfully” evacuated the passengers, adding that the cause of the incident is being investigated. “Aero was able to successfully evacuate all passengers and crew as the aircraft landed at the international airport,” the statement said. “The airline with officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) have been invited to investigate the cause of the incident.”
Efforts to contact Sam Adurogboye, the Media Head for the civil aviation regulatory body, were unsuccessful as calls made to his mobile phone did not go through.


February is American Heart Month
Feb 9, 2021
Heart disease awareness is celebrated annually each February. The American Heart Association states that 80% of heart disease can be prevented, with changes to health and diet.
Many companies today have adopted heart health programs into their organizations. By instituting employee wellness programs that focus on overall wellness, diet guidelines and exercise programs, a workplace can help in the battle against heart disease.
Did you know?
Heart disease is the #1 cause of death worldwide
785,000 Americans have a heart attack each year
58% of people put no effort into improving their heart health
83: of people believe that heart attacks can be prevented but aren’t motivated to do anything
(source: American Heart Association)
Prevention starts with education. Employers can help institute change by implementing heart health incentive and awareness programs. Prevention can become part of your company culture.
What kinds of things can you do to help get your employees on a heart healthy program?
Smoking is a leading cause of heart disease. It damages arteries which can then lead to heart attack or stroke. But starting a smoke-free workplace policy should also come with a smoking cessation program.
Offer Heart Healthy Meals and Snacks
Whether it’s a workplace cafeteria, vending machine or company potluck, it’s important to make heart healthy options available to your team. According to Million Hearts, 90% of Americans consume too much sodium, which increases their risk for high blood pressure – a major contributor to heart disease and stroke (source: Forbes). Avoid the salty snacks, deep fried goodies and focus on more fruits, vegetables and proteins.
Develop Heart Healthy Meetings and Breaks
Exercise is one of the best ways to prevent heart disease. The heart is a muscle and needs exercise, just like the rest of the body. By developing walking meetings, group walks on lunches or breaks, you can help your employees increase their activity level. So many jobs these days cause people to be sedentary. Movement increases blood flow to the heart, decreasing the chances of dangerous heart related events.
Offer a Gym Reimbursement Program
By offering a monthly stipend or reimbursement program, you are allowing an opportunity for people to join a gym that may not due to cost concerns. You may pay for those costs up front, but your organization will reap the benefits in lower insurance premiums when you have a smaller amount of health related claims.
Implementing a wellness program is no small feat, and many times, your employees need an extra push in the right direction. That is why many workplaces choose rewards and incentives programs that recognize health accomplishments like weight loss, blood pressure and regular check ups. If you are interested in starting a workplace wellness program and are interested in what kinds of products to reward your heart healthy employees with, reach out to our team! We are experts in wellness rewards and gifting programs.


COVID-19 Outbreak: Ben Nevis Braveheart Triathlon 2020
As a result of the ongoing situation surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic and due to participants not having the opportunity to train as a result of restrictions in place, having consulted with the event organiser No Fuss Events, Kelsey Media has concluded that we have no option but to reluctantly cancel the 2020 Ben Nevis Triathlon.
All entries will be deferred to the 2021 event and we will announce the scheduled date at the earliest opportunity.
We are disappointed to cancel this year’s event but the safety of participants, the public and event staff is our number one priority.
If you have any questions please contact us via email at firstname.lastname@example.org or call 01959 543 747


Nvidia, the renowned US tech giant, has made waves in the industry yet again with the announcement of its latest artificial intelligence (AI) chip, promising a significant leap in performance over its predecessor. Revealed by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at an event in San Jose, California, the B200 “Blackwell” chip boasts the capability to perform certain tasks a staggering 30 times faster than its forerunner.
With an impressive 80% market share, Nvidia aims to solidify its dominance in the AI sector with this groundbreaking innovation. Alongside the introduction of the B200 chip, Huang also unveiled a suite of new software tools at the company’s annual developer conference, further enhancing its offerings in the AI landscape.
Despite fierce competition from tech giants like Microsoft and Apple, Nvidia has emerged as the third-most valuable company in the US, signaling its pivotal role in shaping the future of technology. Over the past year, Nvidia’s shares have surged by an astounding 240%, propelling its market value to an impressive $2 trillion.
As Huang took the stage to kick off the conference, the atmosphere was electric, with attendees buzzing with excitement. Bob O’Donnell from Technalysis Research remarked on the palpable energy, likening the event to the iconic presentations of tech luminaries like Steve Jobs.
Nvidia’s latest chip is poised to revolutionize various industries, with major players such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI set to integrate the flagship chip into their cloud-computing services and AI offerings. The company’s new software tools, dubbed microservices, promise enhanced system efficiency, streamlining the integration of AI models into businesses’ workflows.
In addition to its advancements in AI, Nvidia also unveiled a new line of chips tailored for automotive applications, capable of running chatbots within vehicles. Partnerships with leading electric vehicle manufacturers like BYD and Xpeng underscore the widespread adoption of Nvidia’s cutting-edge technology.
Furthermore, Huang showcased a new series of chips designed for humanoid robots, underscoring Nvidia’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of innovation across diverse sectors.
Since its founding in 1993, Nvidia has evolved from a graphics chip manufacturer into a trailblazer in AI technology. With fierce competition from rivals such as AMD and Intel, Nvidia remains at the forefront of the AI revolution, driving progress and innovation at an unprecedented pace.
As the market for AI-powered technology continues to expand rapidly, Nvidia is poised to capitalize on the myriad opportunities that lie ahead, cementing its position as a key player in shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
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