2013

Rat disguised as lamb meat sold in china

May 6, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

In a new meat scandal after the UK horse meat scandal china has been rocked with a incident where rat meat has been used instead of lamb.

According to Indian newspaper NDTV that has reported on this incident

A criminal ring in china was accused of taking meat from rats and foxes and selling it as lamb in china the country’s latest food safety scandal.

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63 people were supposedly involved in this food scandal in which they ran an operation in Shanghai and the coastal city of Wuxi that bought fox, mink, rat and other meat that had not been tested for quality and safety, processed it with additives like gelatin and passed it off as lamb.

Guess whih is fake lamb?

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The top one is fake

This fake meat scandal in china has embarrassed the Chinese government once again. China has food scandals before with – milk contaminated with an industrial chemical to the use of industrial dyes in eggs and other similar scandals.

After a baby food scandal rocked the country , Adulterating baby food so that it severely lacks nutrition is also punishable as a crime under the guidelines. Negligent government food inspectors are also targeted for criminal punishment. Many people have resorted to buying baby products from the internet and overseas

Australia’s best hotels for corporate meetings and conferences

May 2, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

Whether you’re a businessman, public servant or representative of an organisation, one task that will come up every so often is arranging a conference for both internal and external figures. It’s a task that usually eats a large amount of one’s time as organisers find information on a range of hotels and other meeting spots before checking them against myriad attributes. Fortunately, however, top hotels for conferences exist in every major Australian city, meaning it is not impossible for you to impress colleagues and stakeholders with your choice of hotel.

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Hotel Lindrum, a Melbourne hotel situated in the heart of the city, provides a classy, yet value-for-money option, which is great for those organising a meeting or conference on behalf of a small business. The Lindrum’s Australian Room offers a cosy but highly professional setting for meetings of up to ten people. At $400 for a full day or $280 for a half day, and with a tailor-made menu for meetings offering food and beverage options from $15 per person, a corporate meeting in the Australian Room can boost a small business’ clout without eating its hard earned profits.

The Sebel Pier One in Sydney has breathtaking waterfront views that will charm even the fussiest of conference guests. Overlooking Sydney Harbour, Pier One’s main conference venue is able to fit 440 guests, which makes it a great choice for large conferences of a high-level and prestigious nature. Alternatively, Sebel Pier One has seven smaller conference rooms, allowing for an elegant, yet more intimate atmosphere for corporate small business meetings. While it is on the expensive side, the highly sophisticated atmosphere and the first-rate views make Pier One an excellent choice.

The Crowne Plaza Canberra is in a central location close to the National Convention Centre, giving guests easy access to any large functions occurring there. The Plaza has six meeting rooms which cater for conferences and corporate meetings with few or many guests. Its largest room, The Glebe, fits up to 50 guests in a meeting setting while the smallest room in the Crowne, Pods 1, fits up to 17. Such diversity of rooms in a prime location gives Crowne Plaza something to offer for large and small businesses alike.

The Crowne Plaza in Canberra is not the only one excellent for conferences; Adelaide’s Crowne Plaza also offers outstanding facilities for those in Australia’s south. Like its Canberra counterpart, Adelaide’s Crowne Plaza has a diverse array of meeting rooms, with seven being offered by the hotel. Along with luxury, the Plaza’s state of the art technology in its function rooms is its major strongpoint. The Hindmarsh Ballroom, for instance, includes a built-in data projector and screen which has been deemed as the “latest in technical facilities” by the hotel.

When it comes to size, Brisbane’s Pullman Hotel is unrivalled in the Queensland capital. Located in the centre of the city, the Pullman has the capacity to fit up to 1000 people in its largest ball room, an easy fit for even the largest of corporate functions. For smaller corporate meetings, the hotel also has two boardrooms. On top of all this, the Pullman Hotel also boasts the 50-seater King George Room, which overlooks Brisbane’s King George Square, giving it character for those hosting a conference with a sophisticated touch.

Over in the country’s west, the Duxton Hotel in Perth is an attractive hotel venue for conferences given its five-star facilities and location near the Swan River in the city centre. With nine meeting rooms, ranging from a function floor on the Lower Lobby Level and the six-seater Duxton 5 meeting room, the hotel appeals to those hosting large and small conferences and meetings. The Duxton Hotel is located on St Georges Terrace, which has public transport connections to Perth’s Domestic Airport, making it a great choice if catering to interstate guests.

In Australia’s north, the Vibe Hotel Darwin Waterfront offers four flexible conference and meeting rooms within walking distance of Darwin’s Central Business District. The Vibe is situated in the recently developed Waterfront precinct, which contains many top alfresco restaurants and entertainment areas. Vibe Hotel is also 20 kilometres from Darwin Airport, making it a great hotel to hold a conference if attendees are flying in from elsewhere.

Australia boasts some of the best hotels for conferences and corporate meetings. Hotels in every major city in the country contain conference rooms to cater for both small and large conferences as well as professional atmospheres for even the highest-level of meetings. With central, easily accessible locations and state of the art technological facilities in these venues, a business can easily consider flying into a new location for the annual company conference or function.

Carla C. Burton is a self-employed Travel and Hospitality writer with a BBA in Business Administration from Bond University. Although a Gold Coast native, Carla moved to Melbourne in 2008 to further her writing career in the Travel industry. Carla has become a top contributor to many Travel blogs world-wide and thoroughly enjoys the freedom that self-employment has provided her. To find out more about Carla or to follow her other posts, follow her on Twitter @CarlaCBurton.

Who Pays for Online Credit Card Fraud?

May 2, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

In this age of new technology, we have begun to live our lives between the online world and the real world. There are now so many ways that we can communicate with our customers, through social media, our websites and ultimately through the transactions that we make. It has never been easier to make the connections we need to keep our businesses above water; but this does come with new ways that criminals can gain access to our companies and customers details and sometimes this can leave all parties involved out of pocket. The main and most common ways that this happens is through credit cards, mainly due to the amount of sites that now accept our credit card details. Here we will look at how and who this fraud relates to and ultimately, who carries the cost.

The Credit Card Company

The majority of credit card fraud issues includes fraud, theft and expired cards. In the case of online fraud, currently the easiest way to commit this form of crime, many credit card processors have a zero liability policy that will return the card holders cash to them. Many times the card provider will not allow the transaction to be processed, and the person making the transaction will become aware of this. This allows the bank to investigate the transaction and determine the best course of action.

If a transaction is processed then this will usually leave the credit card company paying the money back to the cardholder and will be covered by their insurance; the turnaround time for reimbursement is, on average, 48 hours.

The Merchants Responsibility

There are times when credit card fraud can be attributed to the merchant, mainly for letting the crime happen on their site. This usually occurs due to a lack of onsite security during the payment process.

One scenario when a merchant is most likely to be charged to foot the bill, is when it can be a proven mistake on their part. A prime example of this was a recent merchant fraud case involving Apple in the UK, was a case of a child using his parent’s credit card to pay for online games. Apple had not integrated this liability into their planning and as the parent’s card details were stored, there were no restrictions to stop the child from using it. Apple had to reimburse the full cost as it was indeed a fault of theirs.

There are ways that, as a merchant, you can make sure that you are protected; the most obvious is to make sure that you have adequate SSL security on your site. This should be displayed throughout a variety of you pages and be obvious at the transaction point. This will, at least protect you if a customer’s details are stolen from your site.

The Customer

The bulk of online fraud transactions are now covered by the banks and credit card companies, but there may be times when the customer is just as liable as the merchant. The majority of credit card fraud cases will need to be proven by the customer and merchant in order for the creditors to make the reimbursement. If you have found fraudulent activity on your account, or one of your customers has experienced this, then it is imperative that you find out what the credit card company classes as an ‘authorized’ transaction as they can differ between companies. In essence, if you have presented your card for payment, then you could be liable for the charges that apply directly to this activity.

The issues with customer liability within this arena is that there are now so many ways that you can pay for things using your card, Paypal, online, offline and many people store their bank statements on their computer. If you then allow someone to use your computer and they take your details, then you are liable – it really is as easy as that.

In conclusion, we are all liable at some point to pay for the crime of credit card fraud, so we need to work together to make sure that we are all as secure as we can be.

Housing price growth in Australia is over

May 1, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

Price rises in the Australian housing market have slowed, according to new reports, and they won’t show any signs of picking up again in the near future.

In an important speech to the Citibank Property Conference in Sydney last week, the Australian Reserve Bank’s head of financial stability Luci Ellis said that home prices in Australia are likely to grow more slowly than they have for the past 30 years.

She stated that “trend housing price growth will be slower in future than in the previous 30 years”, and is unlikely to rise rapidly again.

House prices are definitely rising – but not “booming”

These new statements from the Reserve Bank come just a month after the latest RP Data-“Rismark Home Value Index” showed that capital city house prices rose by 2.8 per cent on average in the March quarter of 2013 – the strongest quarterly result in almost three years. According to The Australian, this slow rise can also be seen in both the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ established house price index, which rose by 2.1 per cent, and its consumer price index, which rose by 2.2 per cent throughout 2012.

However, RP Data research director Tim Lawless admitted that we are unlikely to see such growth rates continue throughout the year, with growth likely to normalise over the coming months.

What’s to blame for the slowdown in housing price growth?

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the low-inflation targets imposed by the RBA meant that consumers could borrow around twice as much as they previously had been able to. This in turn contributed to the huge rise in home prices and housing price problems in australia that was observed during this period, both in absolute terms and relative to consumer income.

However, now that this inflation-targeting period is over, housing prices are believed to have leveled off to a “new normal”, according to Dr Ellis.

What does this mean for potential homebuyers or investors?

Those scoping out new home loans for a home or investment property may be wondering what this latest news means for them, and the answer may not be such a positive one. In her speech, Dr Ellis suggested that these slower growth trends in housing prices meant that total returns on rental properties would fall, and that today’s homebuyers would most likely not receive the same capital gain on the family house as the previous generation did.

The Reserve Bank also warned that a slow housing market may see more periods where house prices actually fall, meaning that both purchasers and financial institutions should be cautious of borrowing or loaning a high percentage of the purchase price of a new home. This is so borrowers can try to avoid a situation in which their outstanding loan is larger than the actual value of their home – or what’s known as negative equity. The RBA is also opposed to banks lowering their lending standards to try and incentivise borrowers and boost loan growth and profits.

While a downturn is possible, there’s a low possibility of a property price crash

Those worried about the property market ‘crashing’ shouldn’t be – it’s unlikely that the price of property will crash any time in the near future, even though the RBA says that a downturn is possible. Ellis said that the RBA was “pretty sure that the boom we saw in the early 2000s managed to end with a fizzle, not a bust. So we don’t expect a sharp reversal from a starting point described by the situation we face now.”

Those interested can read Luci Ellis’s full speech here.

Distinguish Your Business with Smart Online Marketing

April 30, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

There are millions of websites on the internet, and sometimes it can be tough for business to rise above the crowd. A business owner might offer great services and products, but if they can’t differentiate their business from the many others in the industry that also have websites, it is unlikely they will improve their business much.

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Part of a “smart online marketing campaign”, though, focuses on distinguishing your business from all the competitors and imitators. The most effective online marketing will leave you with a memorable brand and impactful online presence.

1. Polish Your Website

The first step in distinguishing your website is to project a distinguished image. Web users should navigate to your site and immediately think they are dealing with a professional, reliable company.

If your business doesn’t have a website, or if the website you do have is dull, you won’t be able to take advantage of the benefits the internet can have for business. Fortunately, setting up a website has gotten easier and easier over the years. Now, many sites offer templates and low-cost site hosting, so you need neither design skills nor a huge budget for online expenses to run a professional-looking website.

You might think about setting up a blog. Blogs can be very effective because they allow businesses to communicate directly with readers, and with more content (and more page views), the company’s search ranking will improve. To do that, Premium WordPress themes look through some and choose one that is suitable for your company’s brand. Modify the colors and graphics to fit your style, and you will be good to start blogging.

2. Have a Clear Message

Confusion on your website is only going to encourage users to click over to other sites. If you have five million products posted to your front page, your visitors will be overwhelmed and turned off. If, on the other hand, you are not clear enough about any of the services you offer, your visitors will be similarly discouraged from purchasing your products.

WordPress theme

Strike a balance by giving customers a clear idea of what your business does and how they can use your website. The shotgun approach to advertising—putting as many products on the screen as possible and hoping for success—will not pay off. Instead, provide an honest account of what your business is and how you can help. Also, don’t over-exaggerate your services. With all of the hyperbole on the net, users can easily recognize it when they see it.

3. Connect with Users

Does your company offer awesome services that can help lots of people? Prove your confidence in the brand by reaching out directly to your potential customers. Engagement is a central part of online marketing, and it is a great way for businesses to express their personality and bolster their reputation.

Get involved in social media. It can feel a bit empty at first, because building a community is slow and you won’t actually sell any products on your social media feeds, but it’s a great way to get noticed. Active social media will eventually result in a larger audience online, with more potential customers coming to your business’s website rather than that of a competitor.

In addition, be sure that you use every opportunity to boost customer service by communicating with customers and addressing their needs. Be proactive in offering answers and advice regarding your field, and get back to customers quickly whenever they have a question or concern. In addition, thank customers for any positive feedback, and always work to modify your company and its online activities according to feedback you get from your visitors.

About author Anny Solway is a dedicated writer at ThemeFuse – a leader in the Premium WordPress Themes area. She likes to discover new ideas about internet marketing, social media and blogging.

Australian stock market and new IPO & Floats

April 22, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

Companies that have listed on ASX in the previous two months. Click the Company asx code in 2nd column in table below to check out the current price on Australian markets

Initial public offering (IPO)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An initial public offering (IPO) or stock market launch is a type of public offering where shares of stock in a company are sold to the general public, on a securities exchange, for the first time. Through this process, a private company transforms into a public company. Initial public offerings are used by companies to raise expansion capital, to possibly monetize the investments of early private investors, and to become publicly traded enterprises.

IPO and recent floats on the australian stock market

Company name	ASX code	Listing date	1st day’s trading
Company name	ASX code	Listing date	Open	Close
CHINA INTEGRATED MEDIA CORPORATION LIMITED	CIK	25/02/2013	0	0
LION SELECTION GROUP LIMITED.	LSX	13/03/2013	0.65	0.69
MALABAR COAL LIMITED	MBC	28/03/2013	1.04	0.84
NAOS EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES COMPANY LIMITED	NCC	26/02/2013	0.98	1
NATIONAL RMBS TRUST 2012-2 SERIES 2012-2	NAH	15/03/2013	N/A	N/A
PERPETUAL RESOURCES LIMITED	PEC	28/02/2013	0	0
SERIES 2012-1E REDS TRUST	RFB	14/03/2013	N/A	N/A
SERIES 2013-1 WST TRUST	WSQ	03/04/2013	N/A	N/A
SPDR S&P WORLD EX AUSTRALIA FUND	WXO	19/03/2013	N/A	N/A
STRATA-X ENERGY LIMITED	SXA	12/03/2013	0.33	0.35
SWALA ENERGY LIMITED	SWE	18/04/2013	0.2	0.19
TALON PETROLEUM LIMITED	TPD	28/02/2013	0.1	0.105
TLOU ENERGY LIMITED	TOU	09/04/2013	0.5	0.53
TORRENS SERIES 2013-1 TRUST	TNB	14/03/2013	N/A	N/A
US SELECT PRIVATE OPPORTUNITIES FUND II	USG	09/04/2013	1.6	1.6

Reasons for listing as an ipo

When a company lists its securities on a public exchange, the money paid by the investing public for the newly issued shares goes directly to the company (primary offering) as well as to any early private investors who opt to sell all or a portion of their holdings (secondary offering) as part of the larger IPO. An IPO, therefore, allows a company to tap into a wide pool of potential investors to provide itself with capital for future growth, repayment of debt, or working capital

Upcoming new floats on the australian market

The entities listed below have made application for admission to the official list of ASX Australian shares. Part of this application process includes the allocation of a provisional ASX code.

It is advisable to obtain investment advice before making any investment decisions relying on information provided on a third party site, and the entity’s offer document should be read in its entirety before any decision to invest in the entity’s securities is made.

Company	Proposed ASX code *	Proposed listing date/time
Austral Resources Limited	AZW	24 April 2013 #
Classic Minerals Ltd	CLZ	TBA
Coke Resources Limited	CKE	TBA
IPB Petroleum Limited	IPB	30 April 2013
Kin Mining NL	KIN	TBA
Laramide Resources Ltd	LAM	TBA
Longreach Resources Limited	LOR	22 April 2013 #
Macquarie Gold Limited	MQX	24 April 2013 ##
Mighty River Power Limited	MYT	10 May 2013 #
Perth Resources Limited	PRD	TBA
Priority One Network Group Limited	POR	Application Withdrawn
Rental Management Investment Trust	RTI	TBA
Shine Corporate Ltd	SHJ	15 May 2013 #
Sino Australia Oil & Gas Limited	SAO	28 June 2013 #
Tropicana Gold Limited	TPO	TBA

*Listing dates are anticipated dates for first quotation of securities set by ASX following completion of admission procedures and proposed dates for first quotation of securities set out in the entity’s prospectus or information memorandum. However, they are subject to change without notice and you may not rely on this information in any way

Public offering
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A public offering is the offering of securities of a company or a similar corporation to the public. Generally, the securities are to be listed on a stock exchange. In most jurisdictions, a public offering requires the issuing company to publish a prospectus detailing the terms and rights attached to the offered security, as well as information on the company itself and its finances. Many other regulatory requirements surround any public offering and they vary according to jurisdiction.

Public offering without listing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A public offering without listing, often called a POWL deal or a POWL, is a form of public equity offering by non-Japanese firms in the Japanese market, without the previously required simultaneous listing on a local exchange. Equity offerings via POWL have been a common part of Asia regional public offerings since the early 1990s, with Japanese investors often taking more than 20% of the offering through this format

if you need more stock tips on the australian stock market you can visit australianstockwatch.com or www.australianpennystocks.com for penny stocks tips and hot shares

Crime linked to Asylum seekers by Liberal Party ad

April 16, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

"Under Labor, crime is out of control in western Sydney," the ad states.
"If Labor can’t even control our borders, then how can they control street crime in our suburbs?"….Liberal ad links asylum seekers to street crime – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The banner was posted on the Liberal Party of Australia’s Facebook page yesterday and was ‘liked’ by more than 680 people.

What this liberal ad did ?

"Putting boat people and crime in the same sentence”
Accompanying the text is an image of a boat at sea and a picture of police crime scene tape

The majority of the more than 430 comments on face book were critical of the ad, but others showed support or sought to explain the ad’s meaning.

While on other forums questionable comments have been made that will offend many people

Mortgage Tips and building you own Business

April 6, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

More and more Australians are taking the plunge and starting their own home-based businesses. There are currently over 1 million individuals operating a business from home, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This number looks set to grow even larger with the easy availability of website building software.

The best website templates allow new business owners to create a professional ecommerce site from scratch, with little to no prior knowledge of web design. Recently there has been a surge in Real estate Start ups in Australia

However, starting a home business requires more than simply setting up a website. You’ll need to think of legal issues like registering for company names, business licences, and taxation. Using your residence as a place of business will mean that you must comply with all state, territory, and federal government regulations. To get started with this process, it’s best to contact your local council for more information.

At the same time, home business owners in need of a new mortgage may find that they face some unique issues. Applying for a home loan when you are self-employed can involve a completely different process than the usual one for salaried workers. There may be zoning issues that could affect your mortgage, as well as different standards for assessing your income. It’s best to weigh all these issues to finance a home that will be suitable for your business needs as well.

Choosing the Right Live/Work Property

One of the first unique challenges that a home business owner faces is choosing a property that provides adequate room for business needs. If you have just started up a basic ecommerce site using a Shopify website builder, you will most likely only need one spare room. However, those who plan on meeting with clients could need a full floor of the home. This could also impact your mortgage rates if a significant percentage of the property is used for commercial purposes. The exact percentage will depend on the lender.

How Lenders Assess your Finances

Every lender uses its own methods for assessing your income. In most cases they’ll look at your income using one of three basic methods.

1. Using the most recent year’s income – Although most lenders will use an average over a greater time period, some will only look at earnings from the past year to assess your income.

2. Using the average income from the past two years – Calculating the average income from the past two financial years gives lenders a well-rounded picture of your self-employed earnings.

3. Using the lowest income out of the past two years – If the most recent year’s income is lower than the previous year’s, it may worry a lender who will assume that this downward path could continue into the future. In this circumstance, they may use the lower figure out of the two years as the basis of their assessment.

To assess your earnings from a home-based business, lenders will look at your most recent tax returns as well as other expenses and financial information. Income from other sources, such as rental income, will usually be deducted from the figure that is scrutinized.

Low Document Loans

If you’re unable to find a lender who will help finance a mortgage using traditional methods like tax returns, you may qualify for a low doc home loan. These are available to home business owners who don’t have adequate financial proof available to satisfy income requirements. However, they usually require a higher down payment of at least 20% of the purchase price, and incur higher interest rates than traditional mortgages.

Fat tax introduced by Samoa Airlines

April 3, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered if that fat person sitting in the aircraft has possibly left you with less luggage allowance.

Well Samoa airlines have taken steps so that everyone gets charged fairly. Samoa Air has become the world’s first pacific airline to introduce the ‘fat tax’, which will see overweight passengers paying more for their seats.

The Pacific island nations have some of the “world’s highest rates of obesity”, with Samoa usually included in the top ten countries for obesity levels.

The airline’s chief executive Chris Langton, has said that the fee is the “fairest way of travelling” with the added benefits to promote health and obesity awareness to locals.

How the fat tax works

Passengers will be required to type their weight and the weight of their baggage into the online booking section of the airline’s website.

Passengers will also be weighed on scales at the airport

The rates will then vary depending on the length of the trip and will see travellers paying $1 per kilogram on short haul flights to about $4.16 per kilogram on flights between Samoa and American Samoa.

The Samoa Air homepage reads "We at Samoa Air are keeping airfares fair, by charging our passengers only for what they weigh. You are the master of your Air’fair

According o Fiji times.com “The world’s first airline to charge passengers by their weight rather than per seat says the policy has helped to raise obesity awareness and improve public health”

Samoa Air flies from Samoa to American Samoa, North Tonga, Niue, North Cook Islands and French Polynesia. The airline does not fly large commercial aircraft, but rather small planes that are more susceptible to weight variances.

Do you find this Fair or just plain rude?

Let us know !!

Gillard crew Puts media speculation to end

March 21, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

The time line of events leading from media speculation created by the media of a split in the labour party to the proposed caucus vote to choose a new leader and Kevin Rudd refusing to challenge Julia Gillard in a leadership if given below.

"The leadership has been settled in the most conclusive fashion possible," Ms Gillard told a press conference.

Major Media Corporations threatened by the new media laws reforms have been publishing on News channels, Print and Online websites of a split brewing in the labor party, which is likened to a destabilising of the running government

Time line of events

1. Government announces Media law reforms

1. Medial TV channels repeatedly announce/speculate of a split brewing in the labor party

2. Coverage backed up and escalated by radio news, Online websites and Local tv channels leading to a proposed caucus vote in labor party.

3. Julia gillard calls for caucus vote to put a end to a challenge if any raised or intended to be raised and puts a end to speculation with no challenge to the leadership .

4. Media agencies report that this is not the end of the issue, even though Kevin Rudd Announces that he will no challenge and support the current leadership into the coming elections

While the political instability has been terminated by the caucus vote outcome , this whole event has damaged the Image of the labour party even if it was brought upon by external agencies and speculation on the part of the media

Questions raised by the political drama

Was this motivated by media agencies or corporations who did not like the current government reforms ?
Was this done to destabilize the current government ?
Was there bigger powerbrokers orchestrating he whole drama behind the scenes?

Now what remains to be seen is if Labor party can come through and repeat a win like in the last elections, when Kevin Rudd was elected :0

2013

Rat disguised as lamb meat sold in china

Australia’s best hotels for corporate meetings and conferences

Who Pays for Online Credit Card Fraud?