GS WEBZONE: “Wal-Mart Accused of “Product Fraud”” plus 5 more

Sunday, November 14, 2010

“Wal-Mart Accused of “Product Fraud”” plus 5 more

Wal-Mart Accused of “Product Fraud”
How China is Sneakily Keeping Its Competitive Advantage in this World Recession
Makar Sankranti Greetings
Yahoo China Profitable Next Year – Challenging Baidu and Google? – Who Knows
How Many Job Seekers Can Line Up at One Job Booth?
American Express Wishlist – 7 Facts about China’s Wealthy

Posted: 14 Nov 2010 12:14 AM PST

This sounds to me like a story of the pot calling the kettle black.

Nevertheless, Wal-Mart has been found guilty and will be reeling from the stiff penalty imposed on the company for 'product fraud.'

A customer bought 10 boxes of tooth whitening powder. The Chinese label said it was made in Japan. The orignal Japanese label said it was made in Thailand.

The same customer bought 10 boxes of cookies with a Chinese label saying the 'date of production' while the English label said 'expiry date.'

It seems somebody doesn't know how to read a dictionary.

At any rate, Wal-Mart has been ordered by a Shanghai court to come up with a 920.6 yuan ($120) refund and, on top of that, pay the customer 187 yuan in compensation for forging details.

I am not sure, but it may be the beginning of the end for the retail giant.

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How China is Sneakily Keeping Its Competitive Advantage in this World Recession

Posted: 13 Nov 2010 08:12 PM PST

Eight, 10, 12% growth is not enough for China.

The Middle Kingdom is pulling out all the stops to keep the economy energized. It will grow at ONLY 9% this year.

China has a Y57 trillion (that’s a “t”) ($900+B) plan for a spending package and has lowered interest rates four times since September. Still, Beijing is sneakily (?) doing more.

In 2005, China changed from a fixed exchange rate for its currency to allow its currency to move. It since lost nearly 20% in value. It was a bit over Y8=$1, and is now Y6.8817 = $1.

The People’s Bank of China has generally guided the change by limiting the maximum amount of fluctuation that can take place in one day.

With the world economy doing the slow dance, China’s exports have taken a beating. So….for the past four days, China has allowed the yuan to depreciate against the dollar by the maximum allowable limit. What happens then is China’s exports become more competitive, eh? Sneaky, sneaky. And, likely to keep on going till China is able to keep its economy chugging along above 10% while the rest of the world’s economy stops or goes backward.

So, who’s going to tell China to stop?

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Makar Sankranti Greetings

Posted: 13 Nov 2010 04:10 PM PST

Makar Sankranti Or Pongal is a national festival of India. Sankranti is also one of the most auspicious day for the people of the Hindu community, and is celebrated in almost all parts of India in different forms , with great devotion and Pomp

Lakhs of people take a dip in places like Ganga river and pray to Lord Sun. It is celebrated with great pomp in southern India as Pongal, and in Punjab is celebrated as Lohri & Maghi. Gujarati’s not only look eaderly up to the sun, but also offer thousands of their colorful oblations in the form of beautiful kites all over the skyline. They may be trying to reach up to their glorious God or bring about greater proximity with the one who represents the best.

It is a day for which Bhishma Pitamah of Mahabharatha kept waiting to leave his mortal coil. Makar Sankranti is the day when the glorious Sun God of Hindus begins its ascendancy and entry into the Northern Hemisphere.

Click Here for Sankranti E-Greetings

Click Here for Pongal Greetings

How to Celebrate Sankranti

1. Get up early in the morning, before sunrise, have bath and be ready with water & flowers for the sunrise. Worship the rising Sun, by offering water, flowers with both the hands & then pray with folded hands by chanting the Gayatri Mantra and pray for knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment to rise in the similar way to greater & greater heights. Pray for blessings to live a dynamic, inspired & righteous life.

2. Do tarpan for your ancestors. Offer water to the ancestors while praying for their blessings. Resolve to redeem the pledges & pride of your forefathers. Live life in such a way that wherever your forefathers may be their head is held high by the life & deeds of their children.

3. Have a special session of Meditation, wherein you bring about the awareness of the self-effulgent subjective divinity. Affirm the greatest importance of your spiritual goal very clearly, and pray to God to bless you with the capacity to constantly revel in your true self. May the graph of your rise like the Uttarayana Sun. May there be greater ‘Love & Light’ in your life & the world.

4. Prepare laddus or other sweets of Til & Gur and offer them to your friends & relatives. See to it that your 'Well-being Prayer for all' gets manifested in action & deeds.

5. Have the lunch of Khichiri. This stands for inculcating simplicity in your life & habits.

6. Give some Daan on this day to someone who truly deserves.

7. Visit your son at his place and give presents to the son and the daughter-in-law. If it is not possible to visit, then organize to send presents to them to express your love & affection to them. Work to properly cultivate the generation, which has to carry forward all the best you cherish & value.

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Yahoo China Profitable Next Year – Challenging Baidu and Google? – Who Knows

Posted: 13 Nov 2010 12:09 PM PST

Jack Ma, founder and CEO of Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba predicts Yahoo China will be profitable by next year.

He doesn’t think Yahoo will challenge Baidu, China’s number one search engine or Google anytime soon. Furthermore, he doesn’t care that they aren’t a challenger yet.

Jack Ma is a small fellow with a big attitude. When told the market-share people have low expectations for Yahoo, his response was, "We don’t care."

When told Yahoo might have but one percent of the market, he responded with, "So, what?"

Right now Yahoo China is focusing on improving the search technology.

Jack Ma took over Yahoo China’s operations in 2005 when Yahoo took a 40% stake in Alibaba in exchange for $1 billion cash.

Alibaba is a business-to-business site. Yahoo China is a search engine. Alipay works like paypal and Taobao is similar to eBay.

Ma said his company is profitable through Alibaba alone. And, for now, that is enough.

Jack Ma doesn’t do things the traditional way. That’s why he has the most desired private internet company in China.

What do you think?

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How Many Job Seekers Can Line Up at One Job Booth?

Posted: 13 Nov 2010 08:06 AM PST

How many angels on the head of a pin?

How many job seekers can line up at a booth in one place?

The answer: All of them.

There are lots and lots and lots of job seekers in China. And, I think they ALL attended this job fair.

China’s Human Resources and Social Security Minister is blaming the ‘grim’ situation on the global economic situation.

The current unemployment in China is 4%, but is expected to get worse before it gets better, sometime next year after the Ten Steps to Spark Growth, the 6 Steps to Create Jobs and $568 billion kicks in.

The top concern – labor unrest.