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This I Believe: I Believe In Party Dresses

I believe in party dresses. My mother and I both use clothes to make a statement. For 26 years, my mother, Margaret Simmons, worked as a high school home ec teacher. She can sew anything: business suits, wedding dresses. She must have altered a hundred prom dresses over the years for her students who were not conventionally sized. My mother loves fabric in bright colors, purples and reds. But she went to work every day in rather conservative business suits. That was her cry for some modicum of respect from school administrators who thought nothing of interrupting her class to get a cup of coffee from the home ec room kitchen. My mother started college in the 1950s. Teaching and nursing were pretty much the only fields that were open to her. Like most of her female classmates, she dropped out to get married. Three kids later, she finished her degree at the age of 40, staring down the difficult reality of single parenthood. She needed respect and a living wage. She didn’t get either.




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This I Believe: I Believe In Mental Health Awareness

I believe in mental health awareness. I believe that one cannot be physically healthy without being mentally healthy. Mental health has always been something I take very seriously. One’s emotions and mental stability can change their whole life, for better or for worse. And in doing that, it can change the lives of individuals around them. After being diagnosed with anxiety in the summer of 2017, I was immediately put on medication and placed into therapeutic and psychiatric help. Once I started talking things through and getting used to my medication, I realized that this thing called “anxiety” had been living in me for longer than I thought. I always assumed it was normal to have trouble breathing before major events, while meeting new people, or in a situation of sadness or stress. It was what my mind and body were used to. Once I found myself not being able to leave my dorm room, excessively sweating through the night and losing my appetite, I knew that this had gone way beyond a




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End the coronavirus lockdowns, skeptical experts tell Congress

Billed as a roundtable of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Wednesday's hearing included some of the nation’s most prominent dissenters on mainstream measures like business closures, stay-at-home orders and calls for widespread testing.





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Liquor stock in excess of Rs 10 crore to expire: Maharashtra Hotels & Restaurants request for permission to liquidate stock

The association has stated that allowing liquidation of the unsold stock will minimize the losses and introduce working capital by encashment of the existing liquor stock.




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Downtown Phoenix homeless shelter has first known COVID-19 case

An individual who had been staying at Arizona's largest homeless shelter tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

       




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Coronavirus Arizona: Some businesses defy Ducey stay-at-home order

Gov. Doug Ducey this week extended what had already been a month-long shutdown of nonessential services, but some small businesses have attempted to reopen on May 1.

       




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BookMark: "The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie: A Flavia De Luce Mystery"

“It was as black in the closet as old blood. They had shoved me in and locked the door. I breathed heavily through my nose, fighting desperately to remain calm.” So begins “Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie,” the first book in the “Flavia de Luce” murder mystery series by Alan Bradley. What appears to be a rather violent kidnapping is actually just the latest episode in a running battle between 11-year-old Flavia and her two older sisters, 13-year-old Daphne and 17-year-old Ophelia. Fortunately, Flavia turns out to be quite capable of holding her own against her sisters by using her love of chemistry to inflict the odd rash or occasional bout of indigestion on them. Set in rural England in the early 1950s, the series follows Flavia as she travels the countryside seeking adventure on Gladys, her trusty two-wheeled steed and partner in all adventures. In many ways, Flavia is a youthful reincarnation of Don Quixote. Her ability to imagine all kinds of possibilities in ordinary situations




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How chef Sanjeev Kapoor built a business empire that is valued at over Rs 1,000 crore

Sanjeev Kapoor's business ventures range from premium cookware and appliances brand Wonderchef to TV channel FoodFood to a chain of restaurants across India and abroad.




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Indigo Paints takes to aggressive advertising to improve brand recognition

Established in 2000, Indigo Paints is a relatively new entrant to the decorative paints industry that is dominated by the like of Asian Paints, Berger and Nerolac.




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Ikea recalls 'Made in India' mugs due to excessive chemicals

“There are no medical issues and this is purely a proactive initiative keeping the safety of our customers in mind,” the Swedish furniture and home products retailer said on its website, urging consumers to stop using the Troligtvis-branded travel mugs immediately.




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Pepperfry to aggressively add local furniture players now to expand supply

The Mumbai-based startup is currently in talks with local furniture players in the country. It is looking to add 8-10 new partners every month and take the count to a total of 150-180 suppliers by the end of 2020.




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Take Note: Jessie Sage And James Tison On Fighting Stigma Against Sex Work And LGBTQ Community

Jessie Sage is a sex worker who writes and speaks publicly on issues related to sex work, feminism, and social justice. James Tison is a stand-up comedian in New York who uses humor to fight stigma against his LGBTQ identity and life with HIV. Sage and Tison recently spoke at an event at Penn State called “Facts not Fear: A Night to Fight Stigma,” and talked with WPSU about fighting the sigma their communities face. This Take Note interview talks about sex work and might not be suitable for children to hear.




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Take Note: PSU Professors On "More Rivers To Cross" Report, Which Outlines Shortage Of Black Faculty

A new report titled "More Rivers to Cross: A Report on the Status of African American Professors at Penn State University" finds that there's a shortage of black faculty at the university and offers some reasons for why that is. Penn State professor Dr. Gary King, and associate professor Dr. Darryl Thomas prepared the report with the input of other black faculty. Dr. King teaches in the College of Health and Human Development, and Dr. Thomas teaches African American Studies. We talked with them both about this report, which you can read below. "More Rivers to Cross:... by Emily Reddy on Scribd TRANSCRIPT: Emily Reddy: Welcome to Take Note on WPSU, I'm Emily Reddy. A new report titled "More Rivers to Cross: A Report on the Status of African American Professors at Penn State University" finds that there's a shortage of black faculty at the university and offers some reasons for why that is. Penn State professor Dr. Gary King, and associate professor Dr. Darryl Thomas prepared the report




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Take Note: Penn State Prof. Nita Bharti On Public Health Messaging Around Coronavirus

On this Take Note, we talked about public health messaging, specifically how the U.S. government has communicated about and reacted to the coronavirus outbreak. Also, how dealing with a pandemic is different in a democracy than in an authoritarian country. Our guest was Nita Bharti, an assistant professor of biology and the Lloyd Huck Early Career Professor in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State. This interview is from the Democracy Works podcast, a collaboration between WPSU and the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. TRANSCRIPT: Jenna Spinelle: This is Jenna Spinelle here today with Nita Bharti. Nita, thanks for joining us on Democracy Works. Nita Bharti: It's my pleasure. Thanks Jenna. Spinelle: We are going to talk today in the midst of the corona virus outbreak about the relationship between information, government and the public in the midst of an outbreak. That's a complex topic. We're going to kind of come at it from a couple of different angles




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Carteret County Maintained Beach Accesses Reopen

Carteret County officials on Monday reopened all county-maintained beach access points, including Salter Path, Radio Island and Harkers Island beach accesses. A news release from the Carteret County Department of Human Services said those who visit the beach should continue to practice social distancing and avoid mass gatherings to reduce the spread of COVID-19.




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Perspective: Educators Are Essential

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is one unexpected silver lining that I just have to share. Teachers are finally getting some of the love and respect that they so sincerely deserve from parents who now have that role – at least temporarily. Praise for educators is all over social media right now, and even celebrities and sports stars are acknowledging how challenging it is to teach and how appreciative they are for their children’s teachers. Teachers of all levels – from preschool through college – have shifted their instruction online while also demonstrating their compassion and concern for their students. Teacher car parades are driving through neighborhoods with signs to remind children and families that their teachers care about and miss them. Teachers are calling students to show they care, and online class sessions are routinely beginning with “check-ins” to make sure everyone is OK. Has the shift to at-home learning been perfect? Absolutely not, but educators across




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Payments platform Simpl records about 35% upsurge in daily essentials transactions through online orders

Green Visor Capital backed-Simpl, that allows users to buy now and checkout with pay-later function, said the surge in the number of transactions done for daily essentials increased despite supply and workforce issues by merchant partners.




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Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh may levy COVID cess on liquor

Assam finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “We had an informal discussion with these states and we may increase the tax on liquor. Tomorrow we are having a cabinet meeting in Assam and a decision in this regard will be taken.”




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Corona blues to take the punch out of liquor business in FY21: Pernod Ricard

Pernod Ricard, estimated to have revenues of Rs 21,000 crore in India in 2019-20 on sale of around 55 million cases, sells imported brands such as Chivas Regal, ABSOLUT, Glenlivet and Jameson, apart from the locally-made large-selling ones such as Royal Stag, Blenders Pride, and 100 Pipers.




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Rising fitness a boost for women’s activewear sales

Women’s share in the activewear category has gone up for sports brands such as Nike, Reebok, Adidas and Puma because of an increase in their participation in sports and other activities such as running, yoga, pilates and Zumba.




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Puma ropes in actress Kareena Kapoor Khan as brand ambassador

Khan will be the face for Puma’s soon-to-be launched collection of low-intensity training apparel collection targeted at workouts such as yoga, barre, and pilates. The new line will be launched in April and retailed both online and offline.




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Smartwatches help Titan turn around business

“Titan phased out its older models and launched Fastrack’s Reflex 2.0 in the 2018Q3. It helped the brand to get a healthy 70% sequential growth in its overall shipments in the overall wearable segment,” IDC said.




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Covid lockdown: Smartphone makers ping government for essentials tag

Industry bodies Manufacturers’ Association of Information Technology (MAIT) and India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) have written to the government seeking concessions in the delivery of smartphones among other electronics devices and removal of restrictions on the movement of components for inland and export purposes.




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'Essentials tag' call divides handset makers, retailers

All India Mobile Retailer Association (AIMRA), which represents 1.5 lakh such retailers across the country, wrote to commerce minister Piyush Goyal to not consider mobile handsets as essential items.




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Instant messaging app LINE to foray into gaming space

Soni said that the company wants to keep users engaged through localised stickers, deals and future products like games.




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Star Chef - India's most successful mobile game developed in Udupi

With 35% users each in the US and Asia Pacific region and the remaining in Europe, 99Games is one of the first Indian gaming studios to hit this success.




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Free Download by Lydia Loveless

Free download of Really Wanna See You from Lydia Loveless ' new CD "Somewhere Else", currently featured on The Sound. Find out more about the artist here .




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An inside view of India's pencil business and the four families that control it

Complicated manufacturing and investment needs may have a role in keeping new players out of the business.




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Expect stationery business to get back to double digit growth from Dec: ITC

The company had also brought the Classmate Pulse Selfie notebooks, allowing personalisation of notebooks with a selfie on the cover.




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Bombay Dyeing draws strategy to revive retail business

The reinvention started more than a decade ago, soon after the company decided to exit textile manufacturing.




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Lacasa store concept will grow our business 2 times by 2020: Manish Bhatia, HSIL

We will be investing approximately Rs 2-3 crore each in setting up 10 Lacasa stores covering around 40,000-50,000 sq. ft. area till 2020.




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Jaquar aims to make lighting Rs 1,000 cr business in 2-3 yrs

The capex for FY'18 is about Rs 300 crore to expand lighting and bathroom fitting plants




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Sanjay Kalra appointed as President of HSIL's Bath Products Business

Kalra was earlier associated with HSIL as Senior Vice President – Sales. Prior to joining HSIL, Kalra has held leadership positions at Sintex Industries, Somany Ceramics, and Pidlite Industries.




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Bed Bath & Beyond shakes up board amid investor pressure, co-founders step down

Shares of the New Jersey-based home furnishing retailer fell about 3 percent in mid-day trade.




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The mystery in your mattress

The memory-foam bedding market is projected to be worth Rs 300 crore by next year.




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Stationery business on rise in Koramangala

The business of fine writing instruments is growing in tandem with other luxury segments in Koramangala and its surroundings.




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200% import duty hike to hit toy business in India: Importers

The Centre, in the Union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has proposed raising the import duty on toys from 20 per cent to 60 per cent from the next fiscal, saying that the step would support the MSMEs and promote local manufacturing.




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Good Earth, Anita Lal-founded family-owned luxury home decor company, credits focus on Indianness for its success

Good Earth is now a prominent go-to destination for home decor enthusiasts and interior designers alike as it offers something for everyone.




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Four-flanked pressure for gold jewellery retailers

The revenue growth of organised gold jewellery retailers could halve to 5-6% (compound annual growth rate) in the current and next fiscals, compared with 12% in the preceding three fiscals, a CRISIL study of 44 such retailers it rates shows.




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Jewellers witness encouraging response from customers on their digital platforms for Akshaya Tritiya

Mr. Ajoy Chawla, CEO, Jewellery Division at Titan Company Limited said, "All 328 Tanishq stores remain shut this year and hence it would be unfair to compare numbers with last year. But the overall customer response to tanishq.co.in from key metros and even with tier-2 and tier-3 towns has been extremely encouraging.




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Garment exporters' body expresses inability to pay workers' pay for April, May

The body has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief ministers to facilitate payement of wages to workers for these two months. GEMA president Vijay Jindal also sought intervention of Textile Minister Smriti Irani and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the matter.




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Textile players to witness substantial fall in topline, operating profits: India Ratings

The continued lockdown in April 2020 (from late March) has impacted the entire textile industry and disrupted exports, Ind-Ra said in a report.




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Covid-19 Impact: Stylish face mask is the new focal accessory of India’s top fashion brands

Several apparel makers and fast-moving consumer goods companies had earlier stepped up to produce medical-grade masks as a philanthropic act when Covid-19 struck but now it is apparent that the pandemic is set to alter lifestyles for at least some time to come.




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No child’s play: Secrets to creating a successful kids’ clothing line in India

The shift in preferences from gender-specific colours and home-grown labels to branded outfits has led to a phenomenal growth in kids’ clothing in India.




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Lockdown 3.0: People place orders online for non-essential items; staff crunch may delay deliveries

E-commerce companies have been permitted to sell all items in Orange and Green Zones starting from Monday, the first day of the third phase of the nationwide lockdown that began on March 25.




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Non essential e-commerce in the red even in green & orange zones

As per estimates by Forrester Research, regions in Green and Orange zones accounted for 30-35% sales of ecommerce firms prior to the lockdown.




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COVID-19: Amazon to deliver essential items in containment zones in Mumbai

Under the initiative, Amazon will deliver orders to a designated delivery point in the vicinity of the containment zone, from where volunteers will further deliver the packages to customers' doorstep, the company said in a statement.




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Demonetisation: Old money can still buy you hairdos and spa sessions

Salon chains and wellness providers look to spur sales and attract new clients.




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Health and wellness the new luxury?

Aware of the changes in customer preferences, hotels, resorts and online platforms are working to cater to the demand for healthier diets and rejuvenation treatments.




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Twinkle Khanna to endorse salon hair brand L'Oreal Professionnel for India

The announcement was made at the L'Oreal Professionnel Indian Hairdressing Awards, held in Bambolim on Wednesday.