Consumers usually perceive higher priced products as

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has hailed the government’s decision not to pass through a higher surcharge rate to consumers despite the recent sharp increase in fuel and other electricity generation costs. “The FMM is pleased that the government had positively considered its call for assistance to help curb one of the industries’ major operational input costs, i.e. energy cost,” said FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai on Saturday (June 25). On Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Putrajaya had decided to maintain the electricity and water tariffs in Peninsular Malaysia in efforts to fight the rising cost of living. In a statement, Soh said: “The government’s decision to absorb the cost of the fuel price which amounts to RM5.8 billion and hence maintain the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) surcharge at the current rate as well as to maintain the current water tariffs would ease the cost … [Read more...] about FMM hails govt’s decision to absorb fuel price increase

Trade Watchlist Portfolio Message Set Alert live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × With his steadfast focus on R&D, PR Venketrama Raja has played a pivotal role in steering the Ramco Group, which has interests ranging from cement to IT services, and winning recognition for its products and services. PRV, as he is known in industry circles, established Ramco Systems with the goal of creating a world-class information technology company focused on enterprise applications and emerging technologies. For him, institution-building is far more important than playing the valuation game. Quiz him on his favourite company in the group and he says Ramco Cement , Ramco Systems and Rajapalayam Mills are equally important. In a free-wheeling interaction with Moneycontrol at the Ramco Systems office in Chennai, the Group Chairman opened up on a range of topics. Edited … [Read more...] about All our companies are equally important for us: Ramco Group’s Venketrama Raja

The is one of the most common words in the English language. But two separate entities want consumers to associate them with the word. advertisement advertisement Fashion designer Marc Jacobs and Ohio State University separately filed applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2019 to trademark “the,” which would allow them to emblazon it on merchandise like T-shirts and bags—and prohibit anyone else from doing so. This week, the USPTO granted the university the trademark, and while it may seem ridiculous to try to trademark such a common word, experts say it’s actually a clever bit of branding. In some ways, the entire concept of sticking “THE” on a shirt began as a joke. Back in 1986, Ohio State University wanted to move away from the acronym OSU because it’s also used by Oregon State University and Oklahoma State University, which creates a lot of confusion. So the school tried to rebrand itself as The Ohio State University in a … [Read more...] about Why Marc Jacobs and Ohio State both fought to trademark the word ‘the’

Metro Brands, according to the company’s Draft Red Herring Prospectus filed before launching its IPO last year, operated about 598 exclusive and multi-brand outlets across 136 cities in the country. Footwear retailer Metro Brands, which sells footwear and accessories under in-house brands such as Metro Shoes, Mochi, Walkway, and partner brands such as Crocs, embarked on an omni-channel journey during the pandemic, which led to exponential surge in its sales. According to the company, it currently draws about 10 percent of its sales from digital channels, such as marketplaces, compared to 2 percent in the pre-pandemic period. Alisha Malik, president, e-commerce and marketing and a member of the promoter-founder family, in a conversation with Anuradha Sengupta, said two years of pandemic made people digitally savvy and pushed the growth of the channel. “The pandemic also taught people how to understand what they really want in terms of the comfort of their footwear and how they … [Read more...] about How Metro Brands’ massive offline presence is helping its online journey

PETALING JAYA: You buy a bottle of your favourite fruit juice, slurp it down and then throw it into the nearest bin. The whole process may just take 10 minutes – but that glass bottle could be here for 1,000,000 more years. Glass is not being recycled, at least not in a major way. ALSO READ: No market for recycled glass bottles Most recyclers are business-driven and only focus on materials that give them the most returns, like plastic and paper. Environment and waste management specialist Dr Theng Lee Chong said the reason plastic is favoured over glass is because it can fetch a better price in terms of reselling and production cost. “Other factors that turn recyclers off from glass are that it takes up more space, weighs more and is harder to handle in terms of transportation and logistics. “Not all types of glass can be recycled. Bulbs, sheet glass, windshields and car accessories as well as windows cannot be recycled because some may contain hazardous material like … [Read more...] about No money to be made in recycling glass in this age of plastic

The larger job market in India remains buoyant across sectors – even amid layoffs by a clutch of startups in recent months – and employees will generally continue to call the shots through FY23. “We see FY23 to remain an employees’ market with some amount of adjustments. Employees still have the bargaining power, opportunities and enjoy the benefit of demand,” said RP Yadav, chairman of Genius Consultants, a staffing and human resource company. While information technology and IT-enabled services will continue recruiting, e-commerce, logistics and export-oriented sectors including textiles and leather goods are doing well in terms of hiring. The consumer goods sector will increasingly do well, as will the retail and hospitality segment, according to staffing firms, HR experts and talent managers. The near-normal level of economic activity in retail and hospitality is indicative of a revival in these sectors after a prolonged phase of weakness due to the pandemic and offers a … [Read more...] about Amid startup layoffs, larger job market remains buoyant across sectors

Wall Street, New York City (File image: Reuters) Wall Street's main indices soared on Friday in a broad rally as signs of slowing economic growth and a recent pullback in commodity prices tempered expectations for the Federal Reserve's rate-hike plans. The S&P 500 rose over 3% for its biggest one-day percentage rise since May 2020. All 11 of the benchmark index's sectors ended at least 1.5% higher. Stocks rebounded this week as financial markets have been roiled over worries that rapid rate hikes by the Fed to rein in 40-year-high inflation could cause a recession. Still, investors have been gauging when the market might hit its bottom after the benchmark S&P 500 earlier this month recorded a 20% drop from its January closing peak, confirming the common definition of a bear market. "Some of the moves, the sellers just get exhausted so you don’t have as much capital moving out," said Shawn Cruz, head trading strategist at TD Ameritrade. "This might be a … [Read more...] about Wall Street mints big gains to end a strong week

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin It's going to be a busy summer travel season. And different. The summer travel advice from experts is different, too. Domestic travel volume will rise 16% over last year, with almost 75% of Americans planning to travel domestically for summer vacations, according to Allianz Partners' Top 10 Summer Destinations review . And travel to Europe will soar 600% over last year. ​​ "The floodgates have opened," says Valentina O'Kane, owner of Incognito Global Travel , an affiliate of Embark Beyond. "People are rushing to get out there again. The popular tourist destinations are overbooked, with little if any availability. They are going to be overcrowded and overpriced this summer." I just interviewed 200 top travel experts about what lies ahead for travel. Here's part one of my series , which outlines what to expect in the next three months. There are two important takeaways. Covid is far from over, so you may … [Read more...] about Expert Summer Travel Advice For Your Next Vacation