Walmart surrenders to Amazon, decides to close down 269 stores in the US and Latin America

Walmart is in trouble - unable to compete with online giants Amazon, it has decided to close down 269 outlets in the United States and Latin America. Walmart has admitted that it was reviewing its store network as it faced stiff competition especially from online rival Amazon. The closures will affect 16,000 workers and a majority of them (nearly 10,000) are in the US, where 154 locations. These would be the small format stores called Walmart Express.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 15 January 2016.

The remaining 115 sites out of the 269 are in Latin America - most of them in Brazil.
Walmart, which in the UK owns third-biggest supermarket Asda, has a total of 11,600 stores worldwide and it has indicated that it would open more than 300 stores around the world next year. As Chief executive Doug McMillon said - it is necessary to maintain a healthy business. While closing stores is never an easy decision, but it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future.
There was a time when people in the US looked upon the local Walmart as the go-to destination for certain products, mainly because of an absence of alternatives. However, the growth of online marketing has changed that perspective because of inline entities like Amazon, one has a greater choice of products before him.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Abhi Shake for industries to boost Bengal’s image (satire)

Rum Mudda reminds Moody about temples (satire)

Lord Shiva’s solution for global warming – go under water (satire)


Beautiful diners get tables near windows or high visibility areas in restaurants

Ahmedabad hosts 13th edition of 'Sattvik' - the pan-India food festival

53-year-old British woman flew 13000-mile in 1942 bi-plane from Farnborough to Sydney


Shah Rukh Khan’s fond wish - to see Ethan Hunt and James Bond in one movie

'Avatar 2', sequel to 'Avatar' of 2009 expected to release in Dcember 2017

Aamir Khan no longer the face of Incredible India


Motorcycle riding gunmen open fire upon tourists as they boarded bus in Cairo

Woman with fake passport in a British Airways flight from Ibiza leads to panic

German police hunting for seven suicide bombers who planned to blow up Munich railway stations

Brazil sets up ATTO in Amazon rainforest to save the world

#ATTO #brazil #rainforest #Amazon #ClimateChange Brazil has installed a 325-meter high tower in the pristine Amazon jungle with a mission to save the world – this newest skyscraper is a white and orange metal frame called Amazon Tall Tower Observatory, or ATTO. It is touted as a bold new tool to understand climate change and the vital role of rainforests.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 26 August 2015.

The tower is one meter (3.3 feet) higher than the Eiffel Tower and is also taller than London`s loftiest building, the Shard. However, it will be surrounded not by the typical city din of honking horns and engines, but probably of the chatter of cicadas and tropical birds.
The cost of the tower is about $7.4 million and it consists of 15,000 pieces. It was inaugurated last week, but will begin operation of collecting data only later in the year.
It has been constructed deep in the Uatuma nature reserve, 350 kilometers (217 miles) from the city of Manaus and is reachable only after hours of rough roads and a boat ride. Obviously, the ATTO is remote and a joy for the climate scientists because, that way, it would be possible to collect pure data.
The Max Planck Institute of Chemistry is partnering with Brazilian research agency Inpa on the German-Brazilian funded project.
There is a similar structure known as ZOTTO in Russia`s Siberia region. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


Some more interesting 'must reads'-

Anaconda in a pothole of Bengaluru to galvanize the authorities to act

Cochin airport goes ecofriendly – to become only solar powered airport in the world

V Festival in Chelmsford could face tornadoes, hail and thunderstorms


Ice Cube would love to have dinner with Barack Obama once he leaves White House

Indian names of Pallavi Sharda and Dev Patel in Hollywood film ‘Lion’

Hugh Jackman of Wolverine fame could portray the role of Greek hero Odysseus


White House discloses – 2nd in command of ISIS killed in drone strike in Mosul

Bomb blast outside temple of Lord Brahma in Bangkok leaves at least 27 dead

Scuba diver smuggles cocaine across US-Mexico border via underwater tunnel


Indian kitchens must have ‘besan’

The lost world of ‘kabiraji cutlets’

Growing up days – I begin to go to the daily market