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July 14 (Reuters) – The Russian and Iranian energy ministries signed a “road map” on Wednesday outlining long-term energy cooperation and said they would aim to set up a joint bank to help fund bilateral projects.
The text of the pact said the two countries would aim to increase cooperation in transit, swaps and marketing of natural gas as well as sales of petroleum products and petrochemicals.
(Reporting by Jessica Bachman, writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Melissa Akin)
London, May 20 (ANI): Yahoo has taken over Associated Content, a user-generated news site, to improve its engagement with its users.
Associated Content boasts of over 380,000 contributors who receive a market-determined fee for their stories.
“Combining our crowd sourced content with Yahoo”s distribution, world class editorial team and online marketing leadership will accelerate our growth,” the BBC quoted Luke Beatty, Associated Content founder, as saying.
The site, which proclaims itself as “The people”s media company”, claims to offer content on over 60,000 topics, ranging from product reviews, through how-to advice, to local news.
More than 16 million unique users access the site per month, according to comScore.
Yahoo is now hoping to bring together its advertisers with relevant local news and information from Associated Content.
The financial terms of the deal are not known, but the price tag for Associated Content was reportedly around 100million dollars. (ANI)
There are reports of an advertising scam involving the state Ambulance Service at Cooma in the New South Wales South East.
The Ambulance Service says small businesses and community groups in the town have been contacted by telephone salespeople, who are offering advertising in the organisation’s publications.
The service says the people are not endorsed, and the organisation never engages in selling and marketing activities.
Ambulance spokeswoman Penelope Little says the scam feeds off the reputation of the service.
“We become aware of a number of different avenues by which people believe that they are soliciting on behalf of Ambulance,” she said.
“It’s very important for people to understand that the Ambulance Service of New South Wales does not solicit funds from the public in any way.
“I guess they use a good brand, and that’s why they target the Ambulance Service.”
For more, go to the South East News blog at http://bit.ly/dgL1SN
St. Lucia, Apr 29(ANI): Australian skipper Michael Clarke has made an astonishing claim that Twenty20 cricket has the same status as one-day and Test cricket.
“It’s the same – it’s exactly the same. For me, it’s as serious as a one-day match or a Test match. There are blokes in this squad who haven’t played Test cricket. They haven’t played one-day cricket. It’s the ultimate for them,” the Fox News quoted Clarke, as saying.
“It’s become exactly the same as one-day and Test cricket. It’s a form of the game that we want to be the best in the world at. We’re not there yet, we’re improving, but this is a way for us to start,” he added.
The 29-year-old further said that from a player’s point of view the shortest version of the game is no more a marketing vehicle to swell audiences and attract new fans.
“There’s no such thing as a game of hit and giggle. That’s something that has changed. It used to be about putting on a show, entertaining the crowd. But from a player point of view, that is no longer the case,” Clarke said.
Clarke also revealed that he has approached the Cricket Australia (CA) management over altering its contract system to include Twenty20 specialists.
“I’ve told Cricket Australia that they should have contracts. I think there should be a Twenty20 contract introduced. I know once you play a certain number of Twenty20 games you can get upgraded to a Cricket Australia contract,” he said. (ANI)
The Victorian Bushfire Royal Commissioners have questioned a favourable assessment of a new community education campaign that has been brought in since their interim report.
The man monitoring the State Government’s implementation of the interim recommendations, Neil Comrie, says a new community education campaign is “proceeding well”.
But research shows 80 per cent of people in high-risk areas still take a “wait-and-see” approach rather than leaving early as the campaign says.
Commissioner Bernard Teague questioned putting all the emphasis on getting out rather than pointing to lifesaving refuges like dams, when, he said, the reality was people would not necessarily go.
Commissioner Ron McLeod suggested all the marketing in the world would not work if people did not believe in the message.
Mr Comrie said a new stay-or-go policy was in development but the best advice was still not to be there.
He said the state had “done what it could” to try to change the attitudes of those who took a wait-and-see approach.
Refuge frustration
Mr Comrie also told the inquiry the establishment of fire refuges as recommended in the interim report has been held up by the development of a new stay or go policy.
Commissioner Bernard Teague said there was a need to quickly and clearly identify refuges, as distinct from neighbourhood safer places, but said “We can’t even get to the stage of refuges”.
Mr Rush questioned how any potential changes to stay or go would justifiably hold up refuges.
Mr Comrie said he was aware of no attempt to deliberately delay.
HOBOKEN, NJ, Apr 02 (MARKET WIRE) —
Project Working Mom, a full-tuition scholarship program and information
resource for working parents offered by eLearners.com, has identified six
myths of the working parent. The list condenses many of the untruths
often perpetuated about working parents and dispels these falsehoods in
an effort to empower parents and combat the myths that diminish their
work and family contributions. eLearners.com (http://www.eLearners.com)
is a web resource of EducationDynamics, which connects prospective
students with online classes.
“Project Working Mom gives us a unique opportunity to engage parents in a
dialogue about the challenges they face juggling work and family
responsibilities and from our conversations we recognized myths that
working parents frequently encounter,” said Terrence Thomas, Executive
Vice President of Marketing for eLearners.com. “By addressing these myths
directly, we can expose their inaccuracies while also acknowledging the
commendable job of working parents both at work and at home.”
The six myths of the working parent identified and dispelled by Project
Working Mom are:
– We are either good parents or good employees; we can’t be both.
– The parent who is employed outside of the house is the only “working
parent.”
– Parents who work do not spend enough time working with their children
on homework and projects that build character.
– Working parents care more about their needs than those of their
children.
– Mothers who hate to clean and cook choose to work outside the house.
– Work should be the responsibility of the “man of the house.”
A complete list of the myths with responses can be found by visiting
http://www.elearners.com/projectworkingmom/resources/whats-new/6-myths-of-the-wo
king-parent/.
“As a mom who works full-time it is frustrating to know that some people
believe these myths and stereotypes,” said Stephanie Clark, the National
Director of Project Single Moms and the organizer of the “Women Who Rule
the World” empowerment series, a part of Project Working Mom 2010. “It is
great to have the truth revealed and the discussion sparked about what
makes parents powerful role models and leaders for their children. Good
parents, as well as bad parents, work outside the home and have careers,
this is not a deciding factor in effective parenting.”
Project Working Mom 2010 is a full-tuition scholarship program that
offers parents a second chance at education. The program, which runs
through September 2010, will award more than 280 full-tuition
scholarships totaling nearly $5 million to participating accredited
online institutions. The previous four cycles have awarded approximately
$6 million in full-tuition scholarships to more than 150 parents. Parents
can currently apply to receive a Project Working Mom 2010 scholarship.
The deadlines to submit an application are April 27 and September 30. The
scholarships are for online programs from the certificate to Ph.D. level.
Additionally, Project Working Mom offers information and resources
related to balancing work, life, family and education. Visit
www.projectworkingmom.com to learn more and to apply for a scholarship.
About eLearners.com(R)
eLearners.com is one of several high visibility
websites operated by EducationDynamics. Since 1999, eLearners.com has
been successfully connecting learners to online education, including
online degree and certificate programs, specialized career training, and
a variety of online courses. For prospective students, eLearners.com
provides a powerful search engine for users to find thousands of online
degree program offerings, as well as educational evaluation tools and
financial aid resources. eLearners.com also offers an exclusive
seven-point support system, which provides guidance and resources for
current and prospective online students. For online colleges and
universities, the eLearners.com website offers a low-cost,
performance-based method to provide national exposure and increase
enrollments in their online learning programs. For more information on
eLearners.com, visit http://www.eLearners.com.
About EducationDynamics
EducationDynamics is higher education’s leading
marketing information and technology services company dedicated to
helping institutions find, enroll and retain students. Its content-rich
and highly visible education websites, including EarnMyDegree.com,
eLearners.com, GradSchools.com, StudyAbroad.com, and its more than 50
special interest microsites, make EducationDynamics the premier provider
of qualified prospective students for colleges and universities. In
addition, the company offers a full suite of Web-delivered services
proven to drive enrollment growth and reduce student attrition. Through
its Market Research and Advisory Services division, the company brings a
decade of proprietary research, unparalleled market and student
intelligence, and best practice insights to its clients.
EducationDynamics is a portfolio company of Halyard Capital. For more
information, visit http://www.educationdynamics.com.
Contact:
Jenny Foust
Communications Strategy Group
Email Contact
(303) 433-7020 or (720) 244-4268
Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.
SPOT Announces Partnership With RaceTracker for the 25th Sultan Marathon Des
Sables Adventure Race
MILPITAS, Calif., April 2, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Spot LLC, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Globalstar Inc. (Nasdaq:GSAT) and a leader in personal satellite
messaging and emergency communications, today announced that it has partnered
with RaceTracker to provide a safety and tracking solution to competitors at the
25th annual Sultan Marathon Des Sables adventure race in Morocco. The enhanced
next generation SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger(TM) will be carried by competitors
in order for race organizers and fans to track their progress online between
April 4 and 11th 2010 on www.darbaroud.com.
The Sultan Marathon Des Sables features international teams of co-ed athletes
competing in a grueling 200 km adventure race through the Moroccan Desert. One
hundred competitors will be equipped with the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger(TM)
which sends location-based signals via a global satellite network allowing for
real-time public viewing on SPOT enhanced Google Maps(TM).
Due to the remoteness of the race, the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger(TM) will
also provide competitors and race staff with satellite-based messaging and
emergency communications, independent of mobile networks to assist with
on-course safety.
“SPOT is the perfect partner for the RaceTracker solution that we have developed
for the extreme conditions of the Marathon Des Sables race,” said Tracking
Solutions Business Development Manager, Quim Tomas. “Their new SPOT Messenger is
ideal for tracking the competitors in real-time online. Additionally, its
smaller size and ruggedness makes it highly desirable for the athletes and the
race organizers.”
The new handheld SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger(TM) is the second generation in
the SPOT product line following the award-winning SPOT Satellite Personal
Tracker(TM) offering a robust and intuitive user experience in a smaller, more
compact size. New features include advanced GPS, a new Custom Message mode and a
dedicated button for GPS Tracking. Additionally, the new SPOT comes equipped
with GPS acquisition and message sending LED confirmation. In an emergency, SPOT
will transmit an SOS message alert to an International Emergency Response Center
with the SPOT owner’s GPS location updated every 5 minutes. Since market
introduction, the SPOT product line has initiated more than 550 rescues in 51
countries and at sea.
“The Sultan Marathon Des Sables is one of the most intense and demanding human
endurance races in the world and we are pleased to partner with RaceTracker in
order to provide a vital safety and tracking solution to such a prestigious
event,” said Spot LLC Global Marketing Director, Katie Schoeben.
About RaceTracker
RaceTracker is an online tracking and communication solution developed by
Tracking Solutions S.L. for the outdoor activities market. It provides an
innovative way to follow online sports activities and events anywhere in the
world in real time. RaceTracker gives outdoor competitors and event management
all the tools needed (live online tracking, customized image, exclusive
communication channels and multimedia content management, etc.) to ensure fan
loyalty, maximum visibility and increased audience penetration. RaceTracker is
also a perfect platform to manage and guarantee the security of outdoor
competitors as well as an innovative marketing platform. The platform enables
perfect brand visibility amongst core target audiences including competitors and
the wider outdoor consumer market. For more information about RaceTracker, visit
www.racetracker.es.
About Sultan Marathon Des Sables
This year, the Sultan Marathon Des Sables celebrates its 25th anniversary. Since
1986, the event has welcomed over 10,000 competitors from over 40 countries.
Behind this great event lies a great cause. For several years, the Marathon Des
Sables organizational team, in collaboration with other associations, has been
contributing equipment to the local people including solar powered pumps, school
materials, sanitary development and craft work-shops. During the 25th Sultan
Marathon Des Sables (which will take place from April 4th to 11th 2010), race
organizers will undertake a full scale trial of the RaceTracker solution.
About Spot LLC
Spot LLC, a subsidiary of Globalstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:GSAT), provides lifesaving
communications technology that allows users to communicate from remote locations
around the globe. The SPOT product family uses both the GPS satellite network to
determine a customer’s location and the SPOT network to transmit that
information to friends, family or an emergency service call center. Thanks to
this affordable, cutting-edge personal safety device, the company offers people
peace of mind by allowing customers to notify friends and family of their
location and status, and to send for emergency assistance in time of need,
completely independent of cellular phone or wireless coverage. For more
information on how Spot LLC is helping users live to tell about it — from
disaster preparedness to outdoor adventure purposes — visit www.findmespot.com.
CONTACT: SPOT LLC
Media Contact:
Derek Moore
(408) 933-4112
derek.moore@findmespot.com
Tracking Solutions, S.L.
Media Contact:
Quim Tomas
+34 636-781-224
quim.tomas@racetracker.es
DUBLIN, CA, Apr 02 (MARKET WIRE) —
Taleo (NASDAQ: TLEO), the leading provider of on-demand talent management
solutions, today announced that Shail Khiyara, a global technology
executive with more than 15 years of experience, has been appointed
Taleo’s Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.
Khiyara brings rich executive leadership expertise to Taleo. He has
demonstrated success in sales and marketing, strategy and corporate
development across domestic and international SaaS markets.
“Taleo is at an inflection point in our company’s history in terms of
market leadership, growth and potential,” said Michael Gregoire, Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer at Taleo. “We have in place a full suite of
innovative products, a blue-chip customer base and healthy business
fundamentals. We’re in a unique position now to invest in sales and
marketing to drive exponential growth in our own business, as we help
businesses worldwide drive their own growth through better talent
management. Shail’s broad-based strategic and operational expertise
extends Taleo’s ability to catalyze and scale our expansion efforts. We
are extremely pleased to add him to our management team.”
Before joining Taleo, Khiyara was Senior Vice President and General
Manager at i365, the cloud services business unit of Seagate. There he
drove innovative product positioning and marketing, put a successful
channel strategy in place and achieved 40% revenue growth in 12 months.
Previously, Khiyara was Managing Director at VeriSign where he
established the European go-to-market strategy and managed Verisign’s
brand and product positioning, sales, marketing and operations in Europe.
His prior experience includes leadership roles at Autodesk and Bechtel.
Khiyara is also a founding member of the Cloud Security Alliance, which
promotes best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud
Computing. Khiyara holds an MBA from Yale University, completed the
Strategic Leadership Program from Harvard Business School and has an MS
in Engineering.
“Taleo has built a formidable business by delivering the industry’s first
on-demand, integrated talent management suite that serves thousands of
global businesses of all sizes,” said Khiyara. “The need for companies to
turn their workforce into a competitive asset creates extraordinary
potential for Taleo. I am thrilled to be part of a business that has laid
a fantastic foundation upon which to build our sales and marketing
efforts and is poised to expand its leadership position globally, in a
rapidly evolving space.”
Taleo has headquarters in California and offices in the UK, France,
Netherlands, Australia and Singapore. Taleo was recently named as a
talent management market leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide
Integrated Talent Management 2010 Vendor Analysis report and as the
revenue and market share leader in the Bersin & Associates Talent
Management Systems 2010 report.
About Taleo
Taleo (NASDAQ: TLEO) is the leader in on-demand unified
talent management solutions that empower organizations of all sizes to
better understand and engage their best talent for improved business
performance. More than 4,400 organizations use Taleo for talent
acquisition, performance and compensation management, including 47 of the
Fortune 100 and over 3,600 small and medium sized businesses across 200
countries and territories. Known for its strong configurability and
usability, Taleo runs on a world-class infrastructure and offers 99.9%
availability. Taleo’s Talent Grid harnesses the resources of the Taleo
community of customers, candidates, and partners to power the talent
needs of companies around the world.
Forward-looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking
statements, including statements regarding the demand for Taleo’s
solutions, market growth, results from use of Taleo’s solutions and
general business conditions. Any forward-looking statements contained in
this press release are based upon Taleo’s historical performance and its
current plans, estimates and expectations and are not a representation
that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These
forward-looking statements represent Taleo’s expectations as of the date
of this press announcement. Subsequent events may cause these
expectations to change, and Taleo disclaims any obligation to update the
forward-looking statements in the future. These forward-looking
statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that
may cause actual results to differ materially. Further information on
potential factors that could affect actual results is included in Part I,
Item 1A of Taleo’s Annual Report on Form 10K, as filed with the SEC on
March 11, 2010, and in other reports filed by Taleo with the SEC.
Media Contact:
Jaime Spuhler
Tel: 904.520.6251
E-mail: jspuhler@taleo.com
Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.
Tourism operators will gather in Mackay in north Queensland today to discuss some of the biggest issues facing the industry.
The annual tourism conference will be held at the convention centre as part of Tourism Week activities, with speakers addressing issues including marketing and quality.
The general manager of Mackay Tourism, David Phillips, says the confidence of the local industry has been affected by Cyclone Ului.
“The wet season’s always the wet season and we prepare for a downturn and expect it some degree of course, but this has knocked a few people around very seriously,” Mr Phillips said.
“But tourism particularly has a history of resilience and being able to bounce back pretty fast.
“You know once it’s off the front pages and people realise that most of the industry is functioning quite normally, I think the confidence is restored fairly fast.”
Mr Phillips says local operators are reporting widespread cancellations and are very keen to move on.
“People down south, particularly, are a little nervous about what’s going on north of Rockhampton, they get an impression that a lot more is out of action or damaged than really is the case,” he said.
“Our estimate is about between five and 10 per cent of our industry has been materially affected … we need to get out there now and convince everybody down south that our region and the Whitsundays are up and open for business.”
New data from the National Visitor Survey shows there has been a dramatic drop in the number of people visiting the Whitsundays in north Queensland.
The survey found 100,000 fewer people visited the region in 2009 compared to 2008.
Tourism Whitsundays chief executive Peter O’Reilly says the figures are not completely accurate and says the decrease is about 8 per cent over three years.
He says all tourism businesses need to make more of an effort to improve marketing.
“We did it very well as a region in that immediate period following the launch of the 74 islands brand and that’s sort of eased in recent times,” he said.
“I think we sort of sat back and said, ‘look how well we’re doing’.
“Domestically we’ve really slowed dramatically and so we need to look at ways of addressing that.”
Mr O’Reilly says the region has a lot of work to do to attract domestic travellers.
“We’ve seen huge increases of Australians into Bali and Fiji – I think that’s certainly hurting us,” he said.
“If you look at the increase in outbound tourism since 2003, it’s just gone up and up and there’s no doubt that that’s going to impact on us as well.”
Washington, Mar 16 (ANI): People will choose a more environmentally friendly product over one with more comfortable features in order to improve their own reputations, claims a researcher.
“Green purchases are often motivated by status,” says Vladas Griskevicius, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. “People want to be seen as being altruistic. Nothing communicates that better than by buying green products that often cost more and are of lower quality but benefit the environment for everyone.”
In the recently published paper “Going Green to Be Seen: Status, Reputation, and Conspicuous Conservation,” Griskevicius and co-authors find that people will forgo luxury and comfort for a green item.
“Many green purchases are rooted in the evolutionary idea of competitive altruism, the notion that people compete for status by trying to appear more altruistic,” says Griskevicius.
His research finds that when people shop alone online, they choose products that are luxurious and enhance comfort. But when in public, people’s preferences for green products increases because most people want to be seen as caring altruists.
“A reputation for being a caring individual gives you status and prestige. When you publicly display your environmentally friendly nature, you send the signal that you care,” states Griskevicius.
Interestingly, the study also shows that status motives increased desirability of green products especially when such products cost more—but not less—relative to non-green products.
The paper “Going Green to Be Seen: Status, Reputation, and Conspicuous Conservation,” has been published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (ANI)
Bhubaneshwar, Mar 5(ANI): Adhikar, a non-governmental organisation facilitated the third Cooperative Convention which brought together more than 500 members of self help groups (SHG) from across Orissa on one platform in Bhubaneswar.
The objective of the two-day event that began on Thursday was to provide self-help groups marketing and financial assistance.
Each group displayed its products in a stall and shared the experiences and problems related to products with members of other self help groups.
Despite the state government””s efforts many such groups in the state are not linked with financial institutions. They are facing problems in getting the marketing platform.
“A SHG can””t solve problems alone. We have organised this fair so that one member can learn from other member””s experience. Members can also share their experience and tell their problems,” said Malanjari Mishra, convener, Adhikar.
Elina, a Pondicherry-based researcher introduced participants to the benefits of bio mass stove, an eco-friendly stove. They were also advised to market this stove on commission basis.
“Absolutely fantastic, I think getting women to have more power and more control in whatever they can do, and being able to afford, to purchase things that improve living conditions, and to start business on their own is really fantastic. Adhikar and organistions in other regions are stepping forward for the cause,” said Elina.
Participants were motivated to bring changes in their policies to empower themselves.
Orissa has 3.87 lakh women SHGs with a membership of 46 lakh. Besides, SHG federations have also been constituted at the district, block and gram panchayat levels. (ANI)
Sydney, Sep 18 (ANI): The Indian Premier League would be benefited after Andrew Flintoff rejected the ECB contract, said Chennai Super Kings, the team the England all rounder plays for in the IPL.
Chennai Super Kings manager VB Chandrasekhar said Flintoff’s decision to reject the contract would greatly benefit Chennai, but only if he was fit.
“But the thing is,” he said, “it’s not just about what a cricketer can give on the field. ‘Fred gives us a full package – in terms of marketing he is very valuable. Last time he was of great value to our dressing room, even when he wasn’t playing; someone of that aura can lift the team,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, as saying.
The development comes amid bizarre reasoning by his manager, Andrew Chandler, that Flintoff rejected the ECB contract because he might have to go “bungee jumping”.
With Flintoff’s troubled injury history and the unproven results of his radical treatment in Dubai, any further damage to his knee could be career-threatening and he may be forced to pay for his own treatment.
The Super Kings pay Flintoff 1.55 million dollars a season and expressed sympathy with his plight, saying they may pay for rehabilitation depending on the circumstances, but did not guarantee it.
“There is a rule that says if it is a pre-existing injury, then the IPL team is not liable,” Chandrasekhar said.
“If you have taken a player in and if it is a serious injury and has occurred during the IPL, sometimes you have to weigh that up. We pay him on a match-to-match basis,” he added.
Under the IPL regulations, players must declare previous injuries, but Chennai is fully aware of the well-publicised knee problem that kept Flintoff out of the fourth Ashes Test.
Flintoff’s IPL future after 2010 is also in doubt, as he requires a No-Objection Certificate from the ECB. Granting him one would set a dangerous precedent for the board, as other players could follow his lead – precisely what the certificate is designed to prevent. (ANI)
London, Sept 18 (ANI): Lap dancing has become a part of British working life, a campaign group has said.
According to The Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women’s rights, companies in the UK are turning a blind eye to the use of sex clubs by workers.
The group found that some firms knowingly authorise the use of staff expenses for entertaining clients in lap dancing and strip clubs, reports The Telegraph.
After studying lap dancing clubs’ websites and contacting them directly to ask about their work with corporate clients, Fawcett researchers identified more than 300 such clubs in the UK.
Some 41 per cent of UK lap dancing clubs directly target employers through marketing on their websites, the researchers found.
Kat Banyard, the Fawcett Society researcher who wrote the report, described the sex industry as “a major threat to women’s equality at work”.
She said: “The sex industry is increasingly targeting the corporate market, with lap dancing clubs marketing themselves as ideal venues to host meetings and client entertaining. Yet lap dancing clubs are a form of commercial sexual exploitation and fuel sexist attitudes towards women. Their use in a work context discriminates against female employees and undermines women’s status at work.
She added: “For too long, employers have engaged with the sex industry without due regard for the impact on female employees, and have failed to prevent the illicit use of the sex industry by employees in a work context.” (ANI)
Maradu (Kerala), Sept 18 (ANI): Agricultural Urban Wholesale Market at Maradu in Kerala has become popular among residents and farmers alike.
Fresh and cheap agricultural products are available here and the farmers have the storing, testing and other facilities.
The market is run by the Kerala Government and is financially aided by the European Union (EU). Fresh fruits, vegetables, spice and other agriculture produces are sold in the market.
The place is attracting hordes of customers, as the prices of products are cheaper compared to other shops.
“Most of the products sold in this market are fresh and of a good quality. Earlier, I used to go to main market. But this place is cheap, easy and products come directly from the farms as compared to other shops,” said Sebastian, a customer.
The setting up of warehousing, packaging and marine testing units for frozen or dried fish, vegetables and fruits at the Urban Market are some of the facilities available to farmers.
Prices are low since the farmers directly supply their produce in this market and own shops.
“Compared to other markets here, the prices are low as we have no labour cost involved During festival and other occasions, sellers used to charge high but here prices always remain low because we ourselves produce and later sell and for customers,” said Saji Kumar, a farmer and a shop owner.
Recently, various programmes and exhibitions have been introduced with the help of the State Government and horticulture mission to make the market more farmer-friendly.
The market was set up to improve the marketing infrastructure and enabling farmers to get a better price for their produce.
The market is developed at an area of 46 acres that can handle more than 2,500 tons of produce.
Facilities such as internet access enable the farmers keep track of the daily prices, Agmark certification for the produce is also available at the Agmark Testing Laboratory functioning at the market. By Juhan Samuel (ANI)
London, Sep 16 (ANI): A technology that was claimed as the ultimate solution to give a boost to women’s breasts by using fat removed from thighs is not viable as it seems, say experts.
Mel Graham, chairman of the Harley Medical Group, recently claimed that the “two for one” procedure could extract excess fat from where it was not wanted – the belly, hips or thighs – and relocate it to the bust.
However, rival cosmetic surgeons criticised the “hype” surrounding the new operation, insisting that it was “premature”.
“(This) is setting consumers up for disappointment and there are many reasons for vigilance,” the Independent quoted Dai Davies, of Plastic Surgery Partners in Harley Street, as saying.
He said that doctors have long been experimenting with innumerable aids to give women larger busts, including using body fat as a procedure.
The technique of removing fat by liposuction, and then injecting it into the chest has been tried for almost 20 years but with limited success, said Davies.
“Where you are injecting small amounts of fat into the face, which has a good blood supply, there is good evidence that it works. Most plastic surgeons would agree there is a place for it. But this involves injecting a large blob of fat into the breast area. Fat consists of living cells and living cells must have a blood supply, otherwise they die,” he explained.
In a Japanese study last year, 230 women underwent fat transfer, and it was found that, on average, half the fat injected was lost and all the women needed a second procedure after a year.
There are also fears that dying fat cells could cause micro-calcification in the breast leading to difficulties in breast screening and an increase in biopsies – an invasive procedure to remove tissue to check for cancer.
“I don’t think we should be a testing ground for all these techniques. You are feeding on a susceptible group of people. There should be controls but, sadly, the Government has decided it won’t implement regulation,” said Davies.
Professor David Sharpe, a plastic surgeon in Yorkshire and the founding chairman of the breast special interest group of BAAPS, said: “This sounds like another example of creative marketing. Breast implants are a well-tried and tested method. At the moment, I would stick with that.”
Mel Braham, chairman of the Harley Medical Group, said results of a US trial to be presented next month would demonstrate the success of the operation.
“The results will be assessed by our medical board and, if approved, the operation will be introduced next year. I don’t take risks with patients. I am confident this is a safe procedure,” he said. (ANI)
Srinagar, Sept 16 (ANI): Sale of trout fish in Kashmir has been witnessing an upward trend, as Muslims prefer nutritious alterative to meat varieties during the holy month of Ramadan.
Normally people eat trout fish during whole year at different occasions. But in the month of Ramadan demand for trout fish automatically increases because of its health benefits.
Long queues of customers were seen outside the sales counter in Srinagar to take home their share.
“During Ramzan, people like to eat good food. Before Ramzan, the shop is open once a week but during Ramzan it opens twice a week. It has become preferred food,” said Kaiser Ahmad, a customer.
“I think trout fish is the best food available of all the food options available to us and that is why so many are buying it. There are no scales also. It has protein and vitamins,” said Mohammed Ashraf, another customer.
The state fisheries department is providing two kilograms per head at the rate of 150 rupees per kg.
“We have to order fish again later in the day as stock lasts only few hours. We try to supply fresh fish to our customers,” said Mohammed Hussain Wani, fisheries marketing officer.
Trout is a delicious and a very energetic food. It has a number of vitamins and doctors also advise people to use trout fish in large quantities in place of meat. By Afzal Butt(ANI)
Kuala Lumpur, Sept 14 (ANI): After being detected in coffee mixtures and sweets, Viagra has now been found in fruit juices.
After raiding more than 30 retailers and distributors dealing in the fruit juice, enforcement officers from the Health Ministry in Malaysia seized several hundred thousand ringgit worth of the product.
This followed after the ministry sent samples of the product for tests which confirmed the presence of sildenafil, reports The New Straits Times Online.
Sildenafil citrate, sold as Viagra, Revatio and various other trade names, is a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction.
According to a Health Ministry source, this was the first time they had encountered a case where sildenafil had been mixed with fruit juices.
The mixture is potent and deadly to people suffering from heart disease and high blood pressure.
“It was brought to our attention after several people complained to the ministry about the suspicious fruit juice,” the source said.
“The producer and distributor had claimed that the fruit juice had been produced from selected natural herbs which could improve sexual performance of men and women,” the source added.
Following test results, investigations were conducted to identify retailers and distributors involved in selling the fruit juice.
“More than 30 simultaneous raids were carried out nationwide. Officers were also concerned that the retailers and distributors would hide their stocks as the product had also been sold via direct selling,” the source said.
“At the raid at the company’s headquarters in Subang Jaya, three marketing officers and the store caretaker were questioned by authorities,” the source added.
Investigations revealed that the fruit juice had been in the local market for the past six months and had received good response from consumers.
The consumer needs to mix the powder with water before drinking. (ANI)
Chambaghat (HP), Sep 11 (ANI): Over 600 farmers from across the country learned about mushroom growing and marketing in a one day festival held at Chambaghat in Himachal Pradesh.he Directorate of Mushroom Research (DMR) had organised the fair at Chambaghat in Solan district where farmers from 14 states, including Sikkim, Jharkhand and southern Tamil Nadu, had taken part.
The primary aim of the fair was to disseminate the latest information and data acquired at the research centre and promote mushroom farming as a business crop. The research centre has developed new varieties of mushrooms including, Austere, Adistra and Shiitake.
Manjeet Singh, Director, the Directorate of Mushroom Research, said such fairs are important to bring mushroom growers at one platform and equip them with the latest development taking in the field.
“I think when you go to such fairs you get a chance to directly interact with experts and scientists and secondly you interact with other mushroom growers who are into this business and both these interactions are very important for starting or proliferating into mushroom production business,” Manjeet Singh added.
Farmers said such should be organised more often and in various places.
“Such fairs are very important for us because farmers, scientists and experts come here from different states and exchange their information. They learn about mushroom growing and marketing and find solutions to related problems,” said Basant Kumar Gupta, a mushroom farmer.
Farmers were seen interested in learning about cultivating Ganoderma mushroom variety, which is known for its medicinal properties.
The fair which has been organised for the past 15 years has popularised and motivated farmers to grow mushrooms. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 11 (ANI): India and Nepal signed here a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for review of Air Service Agreement (ASA) and a technical accord.
As per the understanding reached between the delegation from the two countries, the weekly seat capacity has been increased to 30,000 from the existing 6,000. This step can safely be expected to give a whole new boost to tourism as well as trade between the two countries.
Three new points have been granted to Nepal, namely Dehra Dun, Gorakhpur and Bagdogra and for India, Pokhara, Lumbini, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Janakpur, Dhangadi and Bhairahawa.
However, within their overall capacity entitlements, the designated airlines of Nepal shall be entitled to operate not exceeding 10,000 seats per week to/from Mumbai and Bangalore each and not exceeding 15,000 seats per week to/from Delhi. This restriction will become null and void from January 1, 2011.
Regarding the revised route schedule, the Nepali delegation stated that barring Kathmandu, there is no other airport in Nepal which is suitable for operation of international flights.
The designated airlines of each party shall be entitled to operate any number of all-cargo services between each other’s territory with any type of aircraft with full 3rd, 4th and 5th freedom traffic rights. Such all-cargo services may also be operated under co-operative marketing arrangements such as code sharing blocked space.
The delegations took note of the Technical Co-operation Agreement signed between the Airports Authority of India and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Both sides agreed to take further action for implementation of this Agreement.
The Indian side reiterated its request that permission for the deployment of sky marshals on the flights operated by the designated airlines of India to/from Nepal may be expedited.
The Nepal side took note of the request and informed that the matter had already been referred to the appropriate authority of the Government of Nepal. The Nepal side will pursue the matter. This Memorandum of Understanding shall super cede all previous arrangements to the extent applicable and shall come into force with immediate effect.
The Indian delegation was led by M. Madhavan Nambiar, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Nepal side was led by Nagendra Prasad Ghimire, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. (ANI)
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