Rising production: India factory output hits 17-month peak

NEW DELHI: 

 Indian factory output surged to a 17-month peak in July, according to a key business survey. Car sales accelerated briskly, after falling for two straight years.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey jumped a full 1.5 points to 53.0 last month — its best level since February 2013. A reading of over 50 points suggests expansion while under 50 indicates contraction.

Separate data Friday showing vehicle sales shifting into the fast lane also indicated greater economic buoyancy. Leading carmaker Maruti Suzuki’s unit sales jumped 22 percent in July from the same year-ago month while Honda’s sales leapt 40 percent. Input prices accelerated at their fastest, suggesting high inflation could rise further. Middle East tensions could raise crude oil costs in an economy dependent on imported fuel.

Most economists expect no cut in rates until the first quarter of the next financial year with consumer price inflation riding at 7.31 percent.

Telecom industry: Foley vows to take the ‘innovation’ ladder higher

KARACHI: When it comes to aims and ambitions, there is always room to go higher.

Following the spectrum auction that landed 3G and 4G services in the country, a whole new avenue is now available to cellular mobile operators (CMOs) and has set the stage for further growth and expansion.

Same is the case with Telenor Pakistan. Newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Foley is looking to build on the company’s “innovation”.

“Since its inception, the story of Telenor Pakistan has been of innovation,” Foley told The Express Tribune via email. “I resolve to take this innovation story forward especially in this new exciting times of 3G that Pakistan has been introduced to.”

In his first interview since he joined the company on July 1, Foley shared his views on the opportunities Pakistan’s cellular market has to offer and the areas he would like to focus on.

“It is quite exciting to assume the role at a significant moment in Telenor Pakistan’s history as the country moves into a future where everyone will be able to access the internet, affordably and easily,” the CEO said.

Relatively a new player in the market, the Norwegian telecom giant’s local subsidiary has been growing its market share constantly. Boasting 26% or 36.5 million of the country’s cellular subscribers on its network, the company is closely following market leader Mobilink that enjoys 28% share. However, Telenor Pakistan claims that it dominates the market when it comes to consumers who use internet over their mobile phones.

“My predecessor [Lars Christian Luel] built a strong market position for Telenor Pakistan to capture further market growth. The company continues to grow its market share and is set to further develop its leading consumer internet position following the rollout of its 3G services and it is an honour to drive this transition,” the Canadian said responding to a question.

As he settles down, Foley, who brings with him 30 years of experience in sales, marketing and operations in the telecom and retail sectors in both advanced and growth-stage markets, said he would be focusing exclusively on the company’s mobile internet segment.

“Telenor Pakistan’s mobile internet statistics are very encouraging, highlighting future opportunities for us and the consumers for further data consumption.”

Explaining, the CEO said global observations point out that the next spurt of telecom growth worldwide is expected from data services rather than voice with evidence from the local industry supporting it.

There are 30 million internet users in the country and half of them access it via mobile phones. Internet has a 15% population penetration, showing a year-on-year growth of 43%, Foley said. “We feel that it can be a useful catalyst for sustainably changing lives and supporting socioeconomic development.”

The country has low internet penetration but technology pundits predict that the use of broadband will increase on the back of recently-introduced third-generation mobile internet services. Foley thinks no differently.

The arrival of 3G services represents the beginning of a new age of connectivity in Pakistan, Telenor’s new chief said. Today, barely one in every 10 Pakistani has access to the internet. “While millions of Telenor Pakistan customers are using internet services over 2G today, it is expected that this number will soar with 3G uptake,” he says.

Telenor Pakistan, according to industry sources, was the most-prepared operator in terms of network swap at the time of 3G auction. On June 1, the company commercially launched the service in big cities, while starting the second phase recently.

“We have initiated the second phase of 3G services across the country by adding on 10 more cities last month,” Foley said. These cities include Sarai Alamgir, Gujranwala, Kharian, Multan, Gujrat, Sialkot, Abbottabad, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Sargodha.

While Foley is exciting about market opportunities and Telenor’s market position, he also notes that there are certain challenges that will test his leadership skills as he steers the company towards growth.

“Mobile telecommunication is one of the largest tax collecting and paying sectors. However, we believe the sector is rather heavily taxed both from an industry point of view and for telecom consumers,” Foley said. “Taxation makes it very challenging for us to reach the neediest in the market. It affects our pricing as well as we are not able to pass on some of the relief to the consumers.”

The CEO says the tax burden on cellular consumers is very high, especially keeping in view the average income of a Pakistani citizen. Of the 139 million telecom subscribers, 80% are below the threshold of taxable income.

“We would request the government to consider rationalising various taxes imposed on the industry, both at the federal and provincial level.”

Economic stagnation: Italy expects to miss growth target

ROME: Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Thursday he expected the eurozone’s third largest economy to miss its growth target this year – a failure that will make it tough for the government to balance its budget.

“Growth is certainly much weaker than we expected. We’re not in a position to be as virtuous as we imagined,” he told members of his centre-left Democratic Party, two weeks after the Bank of Italy dramatically slashed its growth forecast.

The admission did not stop the ambitious 39-year-old declaring that Italy – which currently holds the presidency of the European Union – will “lead the recovery” in Europe.

The national statistics institute, ISTAT, agreed with the sombre assessment on Italy’s growth.

“The signals coming from families and businesses appear to portray a phase of substantial economic stagnation,” it said.

While business confidence is on the up, households have yet to begin pulling out of the deepest recession since World War II.

Last week, the government said it would be forced to revise down its initial forecast of 0.8% growth in 2014, but has yet to announce a new target.

This followed the Bank of Italy’s radical overhaul of its January forecast from 0.7% to just 0.2%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also lowered its 2014 growth prediction from 0.6% to 0.3%.

At a meeting between the Italian and French foreign ministers in Rome, the two countries were united in pushing a policy of increased fiscal flexibility despite disappointing eurozone growth rates.

While the situation “in terms of inflation is worrying”, the countries remained “100% in agreement” on how to proceed, French Minister Michel Sapin told a press conference.

He insisted on the importance of policies on a European level which support growth. “There can be no question of turning our backs on efforts to reduce deficits and debts. We need deep structural reforms,” said Sapin.

Analysts forecast France’s economy will grow by 0.7% this year. It has fared better than Italy during the financial crisis, but President Francois Hollande promised the economic ‘turnaround’ has yet to materialise.

Live updates on energy consumption

ISLAMABAD: 

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MoIT) has finished a project that could help businesses conserve energy usage in their office buildings.

Energy conservation, cited as the most important fuel in energy generation, is possible in buildings only if the usage is known in real time — information which is delivered immediately after collection.

Moreover, if devices, which consume large amounts of energy, could be controlled in an automated way, then more power could be conserved by adjusting their usage. National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Research and Development Fund, a department of the ministry, completed the project in collaboration with Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

“With this information, one could plan energy usage, thereby reducing energy consumption and saving bills,” said official sources. They said places such as houses and offices are the biggest consumers of energy. According to a study, in developed countries, 37% of energy is consumed by houses and offices, while consumption in industrial sector stood at 28% and transportation sector at 32%.

Elaborating further, it was stated that in order to conserve energy, the supply and usage in buildings must be treated as a self-managing system.

The Self-Managing Energy System (SES) in buildings is able to get goals, priorities and constraints from the consumers while its key benefits are to develop a localised low-cost Home Area Network (HAN) for controlling heavy duty electric appliances for energy conservation.

They said the SES in buildings is able to get goals, priorities and constraints from consumers and if alternative sources of energy such as solar cells, wind energy or PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) are available then SES will be able to incorporate it into the system

TouchJet Touchpico turns any wall into an Android touchscreen -

TouchJet first revealed the Touchpico this year at the CES in concept form and it comes in the form of a projector that is said to be about the size of a phablet. The device is now ready to go into production.

The Touchpico is actually about the same as two large phablets that have been put on top of each other and it is small enough to fit into a pocket. While you can get it into your pocket it doesn’t mean that you won’t know that it is there, because you will.

The device doesn’t actually turn the wall into an actual touchscreen. Instead what it does is project a screen of up to 80 inches onto anywhere you choose to point it. The system comes complete with a stylus and this has a tip on the end that clicks and which acts as a touch device. You can tap the stylus on the place you are projecting the screen on and in turn this sends a signal via infrared to the projector. You have to use the stylus for it to work, if you try to touch the screen with your finger nothing happens.

During a demo shown recently of the Touchpico in action it was shown with different Android apps. The company showed how it could be used for a whiteboard, as a presentation device with slides, or how it could be used for playing games. Throughout the demo there were no visible signs of the system lagging, however the stylus does have to be held so that any shadow cast from your arm doesn’t cover the object that you want to click.

The Touchpico comes with a dual core processor that runs on stock Android. The tech is a Wi-Fi tablet that comes with a 150 lumen projector and it seems to be able to run any of the Android apps without any issue. No CPU power is used by the Touchpico and this means that, for now at least, the tech isn’t multi-touch.

[Image Courtesy of Gizmodo]

It does come with two speakers which are built into the unit and there is a fan for cooling the system. The system can run wirelessly for around 45 minutes and it then needs to be plugged in.

While TouchJet have finished with the engineering part and the design of the Touchpico they are raising money through Indiegogo for the first run of their product. Anyone who backs the project for $350 will get the Touchpico. The regular retail price will be $500 when the money has been raised and the campaign is complete.

[Image Courtesy of Gizmodo]

Via [TouchJet]

- See more at: http://welldonestuff.com/touchjet-touchpico-turns-wall-android-touchscreen/#sthash.HHzuFcPB.dpuf

UK temporarily bans PIA's cargo service, forces airline to suspend EU deliveries

The ban came unexpectedly as British Transportation Department has 'validated' the airline's operations just last month, a PIA spokesperson said. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: British authorities on Monday imposed a temporary ban on cargo service of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), forcing the national carrier to suspend delivery of goods to the entire European Union, officials said. 

The ban was unexpected after the British Transportation Department had ‘validated’ the airline’s operations just last month, a PIA spokesperson said.

“We are contesting their decision. Our officials met British counterparts in London today to try and figure out what has happened,” PIA spokesperson Mashhood Tajwar said.

After last months validation, another team of English experts was supposed to visit Pakistan to give the final nod of approval to the airline. Instead, a decision to stop the airline’s cargo service was taken.

As per EU protocols, the assessment of the British officials will be accepted by all the members of European Union.

The temporary ban follows a deadly attack on Karachi airport and another aircraft coming under attack while landing at Peshawar airport. But PIA officials claim that it was strange that no such restriction has been imposed on other private airlines operating out of Pakistan.

A delegation of PIA officials led by Director Flight Operations Salman Azhar are now expected to take up the issue with officials in England on July 31.

PIA does not have any dedicated plane for cargo. But it uses Boeing-777 and Airbus-310 aircrafts to haul cargo overseas.

The airlines’ has a cargo business to EU of around Rs2 billion.

Di María: record sale

PABLO POLO. LOS ANGELES07/28/2014

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Ángel di Maríacould soon become Real Madrid's record sale. PSG's signing of the player is virtually a done deal and if we include variables, the French club might end up forking out up to €80 million for the player. If this proves to be the case, this deal beats that of Mesut Özil's move to Arsenal , who was sold for 50 million.

As MARCA previously revealed, the only problem that was in the way of the previously agreed on deal was the Fair Financial Play sanction that was hovering over PSG. The French club had already spent €50 million on David Luiz - all that UEFA would allow, and needed to sell a player to put the balance right.

The more than probable sale of Cavani to Manchester United has freed up money for the Di María transfer to go ahead, giving the green light on Real Madrid's most lucrative deal to date.

On the one hand, the express desire of the player to leave has been key in Real's decision to accept an initial fee of €70 million. The club knows that it is a historic amount, but that said, many at the Bernabéu - Ancelotti included -, wanted the Argentine to stay, as he was an important and central part of the Italian manager's team.

Read more:Di María: record sale - MARCA.com (English version)