Category: Business

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FAMILY FUN AT THE CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL AUTOSHOW

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February long weekend is packed with activities for all members of the family

There is something for every member of the family at the Canadian International AutoShow.

From family vehicles to special features to the North American debut of the life-sized LEGO® TECHNIC Bugatti Chiron, the Family Day weekend at the AutoShow, presented by Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, is packed with activities and interesting exhibits to see.

    • The Volkswagen Family Pass — Start by taking advantage of a 10% discount when you buy a Family Pass of tickets. Get admission for two adults and two children for only $50.
    • LEGO® Discovery Zone — There are few children who haven’t played with LEGO®, and chances are their parents played with the ubiquitous building blocks as well. Challenge your imagination at the Discovery Zone, and be among the first in North America to see the life-sized, and operational, Bugatti Chiron made entirely out of LEGO® TECHNIC pieces.
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City of Markham and Bell partner for Smart City initiative

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The City of Markham today announced the launch of the Smart City Accelerator Research Program, a new partnership with Bell. The program will deploy Bell’s Smart City platform, an advanced solution of interconnected Internet of Things (IoT) applications, to improve the efficiency of municipal operations and enhance City services for residents.

Through its Digital Markham strategy, Markham aims to create a “frictionless city” through innovation and adoption of emerging technologies that will enhance the customer experience and improve the overall quality of life for Markham residents. The Smart City initiative with Bell will advance Markham’s digital journey and provide the opportunity for the City to test various sensor technologies in a number of different business areas.

“Markham will serve as a living lab and an incubator for innovation,” said Frank Scarpitti, Mayor of Markham. “By embracing smart city technologies, we will continue to deliver exceptional services to our residents at lower costs and improve the quality of life. This partnership with Bell speaks to Markham’s commitment to leveraging the latest digital tools and assets; keeping us connected in an age of great transformation while reinforcing Markham’s position as a municipal leader in the heart of Canada’s innovation corridor.”

“We’re proud to partner with Markham to extend the City’s technology leadership in the management of municipal operations and enhanced delivery of city services,” said Bell Senior Vice President Gary Semplonius. “By leveraging the Bell Smart City platform to monitor and manage critical infrastructure and services, Markham’s program will lead to more efficient operations and improved services for everyone who lives and works here.”

Bell is also partnering with IBM Canada to implement it’s components into the Bell Smart City platform. Supported by Bell’s advanced broadband networks, IBM technology helps to aggregate data gathered from the various IoT monitoring solutions from Bell with the city’s open data to provide a consolidated digital dashboard view of city operations. Continue reading “City of Markham and Bell partner for Smart City initiative”

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The Palm Marks First W Escape In The Middle East

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The desert just got hotter. W Hotels Worldwide, part of Marriott International Inc., today announced the opening of W Dubai – The Palm, located on the Palm Jumeirah, the largest man-made island in the world and one of Dubai’s most iconic attractions. W Dubai – The Palm is the newest W Escape, the W brand’s playful spin on the traditional resort experience and is set to add a new beat to the already dynamic and pulsating city. With its electrifying style, evocative design and eclectic destination restaurants led by world-class chefs including Massimo Bottura and Akira Back, W Dubai – The Palm will shine bright in the famed City of Gold.

“Much like W has redefined modern luxury, Dubai is a city that is firmly in charge of writing its own narrative, fearlessly embracing the future through design, technology and global culture,” said Anthony Ingham, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels Worldwide. “The energy and marvel of this incredible city make it the perfect destination for a W Escape – our unique take on a resort holiday – where the bold style, iconic service and signature scene of a W come to play.”

Splendor of Sight and Sound

The breathtaking design of W Dubai – The Palm celebrates the evolution of one of the most dynamic cities in the world, seamlessly juxtaposing the organic, natural curves of sand dunes and coastline with the marvel of the geometric lines of the city’s skyscrapers. It begins with the hotel’s iconic “W” sign patterned to resemble an evaporated desert river bed and the WHEELS (valet) area reminiscent of a falage, a cavernous riverbed covered by palm fronds. Leading guests into the hotel is a stunning display of Orsoni glass tiles in colors inspired by overgrown foliage which reflect the golden sun on the horizon. A head-raising, five-story atrium envelopes the Welcome Desk, a nod to desert fortresses and citadels of long ago. Golden trusses comprised of framed boxes sparkle throughout the space, representing different stages of modern construction in Dubai, a common sight of the ever-changing cityscape, and sit upon carpets that depict the island’s surrounding waters reflecting both construction and clouds. Continue reading “The Palm Marks First W Escape In The Middle East”

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Canadian International AutoShow Introduces Inaugural Luxury & Supercar Forum

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Toronto is a North American leader in sales of luxury and supercars, and the Canadian International AutoShow helps drive that reputation forward with one of the most comprehensive showcases of exotic vehicles on the auto show circuit.

Two days before the 2019 AutoShow opens to the public, it will play host to the inaugural Luxury and Supercar Forum, featuring luxury and supercar designers from McLaren, Rolls-Royce and Devel Sixteen. This exclusive event will not only provide an early look at some of the most exotic cars appearing at the AutoShow, but will also provide a unique insight into how the designers of the most exclusive cars in the world see the super car genre evolving.

“Toronto has quickly become a super car mecca,” says Jason Campbell, General Manager of the AutoShow. “We are a continental leader in sales of luxury cars. Pfaff McLaren is one of the world’s largest McLaren dealers, and Grand Touring Automobiles is one of the North America’s largest retailers of Rolls-Royce, Lamborghinis and other super premium luxury products. The strength of this marketplace is well known within the luxury and exotic brands, and those that want to get a foothold in this space.”

Two years ago, Aston Martin picked Toronto for the global auto show debut of its AM-RB 001 — the hypercar it developed in partnership with Red Bull and since re-named the Valkyrie. Last year, Swedish luxury car maker Koenigsegg brought its record-setting Agera RS to open the AutoShow — the world’s fastest production car that can reach speeds approaching 450 kilometres per hour. Continue reading “Canadian International AutoShow Introduces Inaugural Luxury & Supercar Forum”

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‘2019’ is the ASEAN India- Year of Tourism

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Tourism Minister of India co-chairs the 7th ASEAN-India Tourism Ministers meeting at  Ha Long City, Viet Nam

India’s Union Minister for Tourism, Shri. K. J. Alphons attended the Seventh Meeting of Tourism Ministers of ASEAN and India held in Ha Long City, Viet Nam today.               Shri. K J Alphons co-chaired the Tourism Ministers’ meeting with the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien. The Ministers’ meeting noted the strengthened tourism performance of ASEAN and India in 2018 with preliminary numbers of  139.5 million tourist arrivals to ASEAN and India in the year with an increase of   7.4 per cent as compared to the previous year.

During the meeting, the Ministers welcomed the decisions of the ASEAN-India Informal Breakfast Summit held on 15 November 2018 in Singapore. As a follow up to the Summit, the Ministers launched the ASEAN-India Tourism Cooperation Year 2019, and looked forward to enhancing cooperation with a view to increasing two-way tourist visits and promoting greater people-to-people exchanges between ASEAN and India. Earlier, during the ASEAN – India Commemorative Summit in January 2018, the Prime Minister of India had proposed designating the year 2019 as ASEAN-India Tourism Year. This was also discussed during the 20th ASEAN-India Tourism Working Group meeting in Thailand, and it was decided to prepare a calendar of activities commemorating the ASEAN – India Year of Tourism. The Ministry of Tourism has prepared and shared a calendar including various events for celebrating tourism year. Continue reading “‘2019’ is the ASEAN India- Year of Tourism”

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RIU Hotels & Resorts is coming to Canada

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RIU Hotels & Resorts has announced the construction of a hotel in its Riu Plaza urban line, in Toronto, the largest city in Canada and the cultural, business and financial centre of the country. The Spanish company intends to invest around 100 million dollars in the project, that will establish the first RIU hotel in Canada and will add continuity to the hotel company’s plan to expand into the world’s great cities.

The project, designed in a sophisticated avant-garde style, as a part of the Riu Plaza line, is now near the end of the design phase and is set to open in 2021. The building, a newly-built modern tower block, will be located in the city’s financial district and is mixed use. RIU’s investment in the part intended for the hotel will have 350 rooms, meeting rooms, a gym, bar and restaurant; while the upper floors will be for residential use.

Luis Riu, CEO of RIU Hotels & Resorts, has made it clear that the opening of the first hotel in Toronto “is a big step forward in our commitment to expanding the Riu Plaza hotel line in the world’s key cities, establishing the RIU brand beyond more traditional vacation destinations. We hope this hotel attracts RIU customers around the world to discover the city of Toronto with us, and also hope that the loyal customers we have in Canada decide to discover our urban product. This project means a new drive to raise awareness of our brand within and beyond the country.” Continue reading “RIU Hotels & Resorts is coming to Canada”

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India, a bright spot in global economy

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Right time for foreign investors to tap the huge potential; World community must chalk out strategy to extradite economic fugitives

The Vice President of India Shri M Venkaiah Naidu said that a steady growth rate of almost 7% coupled with a series of reforms made India, the most favourite destination for investments in the world. Shri Naidu said that it was the right time for foreign investors to tap the huge potential offered by India in various sectors from real estate to healthcare.

Shri Naidu said that government’s initiatives and reforms helped India achieve 11th rank in the Global FDI confidence index 2018. Referring to a report by UBS, he said that the annual FDI inflows would rise to $ 75 billion over the next five year and added India with its growth momentum would soon become $5 trillion economy.

Describing India as a bright spot in the world economy, he said India would continue to be the fastest growing major economy in the world, quoting the World Bank’s latest forecast. It said the GDP is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent this fiscal year and at 7.5 per cent in the following two years.

Shri Naidu said that the robustness of India’s institutions, resilience of its policy frameworks, the reforms initiated by the government and the responsiveness of Industry bodies such as CII have insulated its economy from stagnation and helped in achieving the dual distinction of being a stable democracy and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Continue reading “India, a bright spot in global economy”

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Federal Tax Changes coming into effect in the New Year

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Ms. Ruby Sahota, Member of Parliament for Brampton North, wants to share information about new tax  changes at the federal level that will positively affect our
middle class and those working hard to join it. These changes include:

-Decreasing the Small Business Tax rate from 10% to 9% which will provide up to $7500 in
savings for small business owners a year. When we formed government the small business tax was
11.5%; now it is one of the lowest small business tax rates in the world. Small businesses make up
98% of all Canadian businesses and employ 8 million hard working Canadians.

-Changing the Canada Pension Plan premium from 4.95% to 5.1% on earning between $3,500 and
$57,400. These enhancements will increase the maximum CPP retirement benefit by about 50%
for those who make enhanced contributions for 40 years, supporting Canadians as the cost of
living increases.

-Decreasing Employment Insurance premiums from $1.66 to $1.62 per $100 of insurable earnings.
-Increasing the Canada Workers Benefit for lower income workers, which helps low income
earners stay employed as experts say that more than half of all Canadians who live in poverty are
working. Continue reading “Federal Tax Changes coming into effect in the New Year”

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Ontario Delivers Historic Weekday GO Train Service to Niagara Falls

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Ontario’s Government for the People continues to deliver on its promise to get people moving faster by adding regular weekday GO train service to Niagara Falls and St. Catharines for the first time.

Today, Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation, Kinga Surma, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, Sam Oosterhoff, MPP Niagara West, along with Leslie Woo, Chief Planning and Development Officer, Metrolinx, visited the rail station in St. Catharines to announce that the government will introduce long-asked-for weekday GO train service to Niagara Falls and St. Catharines on the Lakeshore West line.

“Our government is keeping our promise to get people moving and make life better for everyone in Ontario by expanding GO train service to Niagara Falls,” said Yurek. “We are working with our railway partner, CN, to use the existing rail infrastructure to expand GO Transit service for people in Niagara Falls and St. Catharines four years sooner than promised.”

Beginning on January 7, 2019, people travelling by GO Transit between Niagara Falls and Toronto’s Union Station will benefit from a new morning trip with an evening return every weekday. The morning train that currently starts from West Harbour station in Hamilton at 6:39 a.m. will now start in Niagara Falls at 5:19 a.m., stopping at St. Catharines before continuing on to Toronto. In the evening, the existing train from Union Station at 5:15 p.m. to West Harbour will continue on to serve St. Catharines and Niagara Falls. Continue reading “Ontario Delivers Historic Weekday GO Train Service to Niagara Falls”

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Mississauga Joins Global Network of Data-Driven Cities

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The City of Mississauga has been awarded the International Organization for Standardization 37120 (ISO 37120) platinum-level certification from the World Council on City Data (WCCD) – a global leader in standardized city data. Mississauga is one of ten Canadian municipalities to receive the certification. The City joins more than 60 municipalities that are part of the WCCD global network.

“We are pleased to be recognized with this honour alongside other world-leaders including London, Dubai and Buenos Aires,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “Increasing transparency and fostering innovation are important priorities for us as we continue to create a connected city for the 21st century. Data-driven decision making is vital for us to deliver high-quality programs and services to our citizens.”

Mississauga reported 96 out of the 100 indicators, earning platinum-level ranking.

“Mississauga is now part of an international standard,” said Janice Baker, City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer. “Not only does it show how we are doing compared to other cities, but also serves as a benchmark in our planning process. It is important for us to be able to learn from other cities as we continue to build a world-class city.”

The standard includes a comprehensive set of 100 indicators that measures a city’s social, economic and environmental performance. The Region of Peel, local school boards, utilities and Trillium Hospital contributed data as part of the assessment. Continue reading “Mississauga Joins Global Network of Data-Driven Cities”