Farmers need individualised, end-to-end solutions: ITC Agri Business Head 

Early life: John Newton was born in Wapping, London, in 1725, the son of John Newton Sr., a shipmaster in the Mediterranean service, and Elizabeth Newton (née Seatclife), a Nonconformist Christian. His mother died of tuberculosis in July, 1732, about two weeks before his seventh birthday. Two years later, he went to live in Aveley, the home of his father's new wife. Newton spent two years at boarding school. At age eleven he went to sea with his father. Newton sailed six voyages before his father retired in 1742. Newton's father made plans for him to work at a sugar plantation in Jamaica. Instead, Newton signed on with a merchant ship sailing to the Mediterranean Sea. In 1743, while on the way to visit some friends, Newton was captured and pressed into the naval service by the Royal Navy. He became a midshipman aboard HMS Harwich. At one point, Newton attempted to desert and was punished in front of the crew of 350. Stripped to the waist, tied to the grating, he received a flogging of one dozen lashes, and was reduced to the rank of a common seaman. Following that disgrace and humiliation, Newton initially contemplated suicide. He recovered, both physically and mentally. Later, while Harwich was on route to India, he transferred to Pegasus, a slave ship bound for West Africa. The ship carried goods to Africa, and traded them for slaves to be shipped to England and other countries. Newton proved to be a continual problem for the crew of Pegasus. They left him in West Africa with Amos Clowe, a slave dealer. Clowe took Newton to the coast, and gave him to his wife Princess Peye, an African duchess. Newton was abused and mistreated along with her other slaves. It was this period that Newton later remembered as the time he was "once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in West Africa." Early in 1748 he was rescued by a sea captain who had been asked by Newton's father to search for him. And he made it to freedom. In 1750 he married his childhood sweetheart in St. Margaret's Church, Rochester. -- Spiritual conversion: He sailed back to England in 1748 aboard the merchant ship Greyhound, which was carrying beeswax and dyer's wood, now referred to as camwood. During this voyage, he experienced a spiritual conversion. The ship encountered a severe storm off the coast of Donegal and almost sank. Newton awoke in the middle of the night and finally called out to God as the ship filled with water. After he called out, the cargo came out and stopped up the hole, and the ship was able to drift to safety. It was this experience which he later marked as the beginnings of his conversion to evangelical Christianity. As the ship sailed home, Newton began to read the Bible and other religious literature. By the time he reached Britain, he had accepted the doctrines of evangelical Christianity. The date was March 10, 1748, an anniversary he marked for the rest of his life. From that point on, he avoided profanity, gambling, and drinking. Although he continued to work in the slave trade, he had gained a considerable amount of sympathy for the slaves. He later said that his true conversion did not happen until some time later: "I cannot consider myself to have been a believer in the full sense of the word, until a considerable time afterwards." Newton returned to Liverpool, England and, partly due to the influence of his father's friend Joseph Manesty, obtained a position as first mate aboard the slave ship Brownlow, bound for the West Indies via the coast of Guinea. During the first leg of this voyage, while in west Africa (1748-1749), Newton acknowledged the inadequacy of his spiritual life. While he was sick with a fever, he professed his full belief in Christ and asked God to take control of his destiny. He later said that this experience was his true conversion and the turning point in his spiritual life. He claimed it was the first time he felt totally at peace with God. Still, he did not renounce the slave trade until later in his life. After his return to England in 1750, he made three further voyages as captain of the slave-trading ships Duke of Argyle (1750) and African (1752-1753 and 1753-1754). He only gave up seafaring and his active slave-trading activities in 1754, after suffering a severe stroke, but continued to invest his savings in Manesty's slaving operations." -- Anglican priest: In 1755 Newton became tide surveyor (a tax collector) of the port of Liverpool, again through the influence of Manesty. In his spare time, he was able to study Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac. He became well known as an evangelical lay minister. In 1757, he applied to be ordained as a priest in the Church of England, but it was more than seven years before he was eventually accepted. Such was his frustration during this period of rejection that he also applied to the Methodists, Independents and Presbyterians, and applications were even mailed directly to the Bishops of Chester and Lincoln and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. -- Writer and hymnist: The vicarage in Olney where Newton wrote the hymn that would become "Amazing Grace". In 1767 William Cowper, the poet, moved to Olney. He worshipped in the church, and collaborated with Newton on a volume of hymns, which was eventually published as Olney Hymns in 1779. This work had a great influence on English hymnology. The volume included Newton's well-known hymns "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken", "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds!", "Let Us Love, and Sing, and Wonder", "Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare", "Approach, My Soul, the Mercy-seat", and "Faith's Review and Expectation", which has come to be known by its opening phrase, "Amazing Grace". Many of Newton's (as well as Cowper's) hymns are preserved in the Sacred Harp. He also contributed to the Cheap Repository Tracts.

Let's look at Sir Francis Bacon: The content in the Shakespearian dramas are politically recognized viewpoints of Sir Francis Bacon (His "enemies" are frequently caricatured in the plays.) The religious, philosophic, and educational messages all reflect his personal opinions. Similarities in style and terminology exist in Bacon's writings and the Shakespearian plays. Certain historical and philosophical inaccuracies are common to both (such as identical misquotations from Aristotle.) Sir Francis Bacon possessed the range of general and philosophical knowledge necessary to write the Shakespearian plays. Sir Francis Bacon was a linguist and a composer. (Necessary to write the sonnets.) He was a lawyer, an able barrister and a polished courtier and possessed the intimate knowledge of parliamentary law and the etiquette of the royal court revealed in the Shakespearian plays. Bacon furthermore visited many of the foreign countries forming the background for the plays (Necessary to create the authentic local atmosphere. There is no record of William Shakspere's ever having travelled outside of England). ... Why the secrecy? Manly Palmer Hall writes: "Sir Francis Bacon knew the true secret of Masonic origin and there is reason to suspect that he concealed this knowledge in cipher and cryptogram. Bacon is not to be regarded solely as a man but rather as the focal point between an invisible institution and a world which was never able to distinguish between the messenger and the message which he promulgated. This secret society, having rediscovered the lost wisdom of the ages and fearing that the knowledge might be lost again, perpetuated it in two ways: (1) by an organization (Freemasonry) to the initiates of which it revealed its wisdom in the form of symbols; (2) by embodying its arcana in the literature of the day by means of cunningly contrived ciphers and enigmas."

In A.D. 637 Jerusalem was surrendered to the Saracens. The caliph of the Saracens called Omar gave guarantees for the safety of the Christian population and because of this pledge the number of pilgrimages to Jerusalem still continued to increase. In 1065 Jerusalem was taken by the Turks, who came from the kingdom of ancient Persia. 3000 Christians were massacred and the remaining Christians were treated so badly that throughout Christendom people were stirred to fight in crusades. The Knights Templar were formed to to ensure the safety of the pilgrims of the Middle Ages who flocked towards Jerusalem. Their original name was the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ. ... the Temple of Soloman At first the Knights Templar had no church and no particular place of to live. In 1118, nineteen years after the freeing of Jerusalem, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, granted the Knights Templar a place to live within the sacred enclosure of the Temple on Mount Moriah. This place was amid the holy structures which were exhibited by the priests of Jerusalem as the Temple of Solomon. The "Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ" became colloquially known as "the Knighthood of the Temple of Solomon" and subsequently the Knights Templars. ... They were received with great honour by Pope Honorius, who approved of the objects and designs of the holy fraternity. The Knights Templar History moved on and in 1128 the ecclesiastical Council of Troyes gave the Knights Templar official recognition and granted their rule of the order. The Council of Troyes was instigated by Bernard of Clairvaux and the Knights Templars were represented by Hugues de Payen and Andre de Montbard. The Papal approval at the Council of Troyes resulted in many new recruits joining the order - the Rules of the Knights Templar Order: In 1130, Bernard of Clairvaux drew up the rules for the new Knights Templar order. Bernard set up the order with two main classes of knighthood, the knights and sergeants or serving brethren. Sergeants or serving brothers wore a black or brown mantle to show their lower status, whilst the Knights wore a red cross granted by Pope Eugenius III. Married men who joined the order could only join as sergeants, their property coming into the possession of the Order rather than to their wives upon their death. - A Papal Bull was issued in 1139 by Pope Innocent II, a protege of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, stating that the Knights Templar should owe allegiance to no one other than the Pope himself. - The Knights Templar History saw 1146 as the year when the Knights Templar order adopted the splayed red cross as their emblem. The Battle cry of the Templars was "Beau-Séant!" which was the motto they bore on their banner. - The Knights Templar order supported the second crusade in 1148. The decision was made to attack Damascus and armies were assembled in Acre. ... The army of Jerusalem and Guy of Lusignan, the King of Jerusalem, was beaten by Turkish forces in 1184. All Knights Templar and Hospitallers who survived the battle were executed afterwards. This event prompted the Third Crusade headed by Richard the Lionheart who was supported by the Knights Templar order. The city of Acre is taken by the Crusaders in 1191. Richard the Lionheart dies in 1199 and is succeeded by his brother John. - The Knights Templar History goes on and in 1263 problems in England lead to the Baron's revolt led by Simon de Montford opposing Edward I. On the pretence of removing his mother's jewels, Edward I entered the Knights Templar Temple in London and ransacked the treasury, taking the proceeds to the Tower of London. In 1271 Edward leads another crusade and is attacked by an assassin with a poisoned knife. He survives the attack and his life was saved with drugs sent by the master of the Knights Templar, Thomas Bérard. In 1272 King Henry III of England died and the English Council met at the Temple in London and draft a letter to Prince Edward informing him of his accession to the throne, illustrating the political importance of the Knights Templar in England. - King Philip IV of France (1268-1314) who was already heavily in debt to the Knights Templar requested a further loan. The Knights Templar refused his request. King Philip IV subsequently ordered the arrest of all Knight Templars in France. The order to arrest the Templars was sent out several weeks before the date possibly giving the Templars time to hide their wealth. On 11 October, two days before the arrest of many Templar Knights, it is recorded in French Masonic history that Templar ships left La Rochelle, heading to Scotland. On Friday the 13th, in October 1307, Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and 60 of his senior knights were arrested in Paris. They were charged with heresy and accused of homosexual acts. Admissions of guilt were extracted due to the use of torture. Pope Clement V initiated enquiries into the order and thousands of Knights Templar were arrested across Europe. The Medieval order of the Knights Templar become extinct in 1312 when the order is dissolved by the Council of Vienne. Anyone found sheltering a Templar was under threat of excommunication. Much of the Templar property outside of France was transferred by the Pope to the Knights Hospitallers, and many surviving Templars were also accepted into the Hospitallers. - The Death of the last Medieval Master: The Knights Templar leader Jacques de Molay and Geoffroi de Charney were burnt at the stake on March 18th 1314 for rescinding their former admission of heresy under torture. Jacques de Molay cursed the Pope and King Philip and prophesied that they would soon die. Pope Clement V was dead within 40 days and King Philip died that year. Jacques de Molay was the last Master of the Knights Templar.

We are going to begin to look at some of the aspects of Holy Week regarding what actually happened during the final Amazing events of Jesus Christ while He was physically here on earth. We will be considering what His events accomplished and how His completed events affect us today both personally and individually as Christians and as a whole in the Christian Church. - God bless you ~ David Anson Brown

An Ancient Holy Week Timeline, Bible Study, Devotional & Personal Journal for Easter Week 2012. ... Follow along with Jesus in the current Resurrection (Easter) holiday dates of 2012 during the last Ten days leading up to and including His Cross and His Glorious Resurrection. It also marvelously explains and demonstrates that Jesus did indeed die and remain deceased for a total of 3 days and 3 nights and that He then Resurrected' returned from death' just as He prophesied that He would. This is a Personal Study-Journal encouraging the reader to include their own devotions during this 10 day journey with Jesus. ... It will change your life!

Nexon has announced their new Starter League, the first serious attempt to create a DotA 2 league in  South Korea. The NSL will be an open league which will lead to the creation of new DotA 2 teams and increase competition within the country's borders, although the event coverage will also be done in En...

Today we have the first game of the new SLTV StarSeries season VI, an event that will deliver something like $15 000 to the best teams.  K1ck is among the 16 teams that will play the group stage, but the kick off will be between zNation an...

The "Star Spangled Banner" Story

In April 2003, I attended an affiliate marketing event on a cruise ship out of Miami. This was the third year it took place on a ship after an inaugural version on land. Over those years, I met Missy Ward at these events and became conference friends. While sitting at a bar on the ship […]

The post Affiliate Summit Sort of Started as a Spite Store appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

The actress was the last surviving original cast member of BBC Radio 4 serial The Archers.

The MTV Europe Music Awards take place in the UK for the first time in seven years.

Catherine Flanagan is trying to get her son David back after he was taken by his father and family.

RHEACELL announces "First Patient In": EB-Haus in Salzburg, Austria starts pivotal study for stem cell therapy for severe forms of Epidermolysis bullosa that is longed for by those affected

iDenfy's real-time document and live face-matching services will secure CyberstarPay's network.

World's slimmest and lightest high-fidelity active noise cancelling Bluetooth earphones, portable battery that supports both iPhone and Android devices with built-in turbo charge cables, ultra-mini Bluetooth speaker. All three of these can be magnetically attached, combining into one simple and convenient package. This was the core concept behind the product they have developed.

Coming soon, a coworking offer from rent24 will be available at 14 of the LGH Holiday Inn Hotels. The global operating coworking and coliving provider is expanding its location network in the UK to enable business travelers to work comfortably while traveling.

Thousands of people celebrated on Monday Nov. 11th the opening of the nationwide campaign "Germany-does-not-fly" and gave a clear statement not to use any domestic flights between Feb. 10th until Feb. 16th 2020.

GSB hires Sophia Thomalla as Blockchain Ambassador: Since the morning hours of today, December 8th, 2020, one of the most exciting commercials of the year 2020 has been running in the middle of Times Square in New York.

Applications accepted until September 19 on www.douglasbeautyfutures.com

H.C. Starck adjusted annual sales increased by 23 percent to 581.7 million euros. The most important external success factor was the positive economic environment in the end industries

Ostara Systems are proud to welcome NCP as their newest CAFM software client.

StarWind, Intel, Mellanox, and Supermicro present the industry's fastest hyperconverged cluster built to demonstrate outstanding hardware utilization efficiency.

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 23, 2024 ) How to bring in cash from anywhere in the country Access to returns from major retailers Learn how to sell STUFF in your closet, your neighbors' closet. Consult with Darrell W Tolbert aka Dr E has been a top EBAY seller since the late 90's earning $1.1...

Take a good look at that store on the corner. There is a 10 percent to 12 percent chance it will not be there next year, according to the Office of Advocacy for the Small Business Administration.

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Gaining customers. Producing a quality product. Finding new markets. These are the things that small business owners focus on when starting their latest venture. But while entrepreneurs are busy planning for the future, many fail to prepare for the worst.

Businesses large and small are loaded with risk. Liability is—or should be—a chief concern. Too many entrepreneurs, however, overlook the need to plan for and manage risk when launching their businesses.

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Even experienced managers can suffer from this tendency, so don't beat yourself up if this is your first time managing people and you find yourself slipping into these bad habits. Just like anything else, the first step is recognizing that you have a problem.

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Need a reason to start your own business? Here are 20 of them.

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Many of us dream of starting a small business. Whether it s the romantic ideal of being your own boss, or the desire to build something from nothing, having a dream is different than actualizing it. Often, it is the fear of failure or the daunting amount of work that keeps us from being bold enough to launch that next brilliant startup.

START SMALL

An effective way to build confidence and remove the fear of failure is to break down the basics of starting a small business into smaller tasks. By completing these tasks one at a time, you may soon find you’re well on your way to laying a solid foundation for your bold, lean startup to thrive.

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Have a killer business idea? A killer business plan can help you turn it into a successful business. Creating a well-crafted business plan is no easy task, however. You will need to not only flesh out your idea, but also have a deep understanding of the different aspects of running a business — before you even start one. Figuring out how to do this correctly is hard enough, but there are several tools available to make this arduous task a little bit easier for would-be entrepreneurs.

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In a recent study by the financial advice tech company SmartAsset, it turns out Omaha is the top pick. The biggest reason? The cost of living in Omaha is almost half that of San Francisco about 58 percent and less than half that of New York 40 percent. That means renting office space is going to be quite a bit cheaper, not to mention buying a home and paying expenses.

Other surprises include the fact that seven of the 10 top cities are all in the Midwest. Places like Columbus, Ohio, and Springfield, Illinois, rank higher than Chicago and Minneapolis. Iowa scored two cities in the list, Cedar Rapids and Dubuque.

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Officially a month into my new business venture, I have fully immersed myself in my company. While each day is an incredible learning experience, I have certainly felt a vast range of emotions over the past few weeks (and I am sure there is more to come).

So, what is it like giving up a steady paycheck and benefits to start your own endeavor?

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2014 was a great year for consumer tech, so we decided to take a look at the best startups that launched this year.

When looking at the best startups, we took into account factors like funding, revenue, growth, and investor interest

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There are a lot of articles out there telling you to go forth and start a business! But the truth is, not everyone should start a business. If more of the 80 percent of small businesses that fail had but hesitated and considered why they were getting into business, we would probably have fewer businesses and more successes in those that did exist.

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When a good business plan pays off at home, it’s natural to want to take the show on the road. Introducing your small business to an international market has the potential to pay off in a big way, especially when it opens the door for your company to expand and grow like never before, not to mention the opportunity for higher sales in a new market.

Of course, new territory means new challenges. Most people do their homework before they visit a country, so you can imagine how much research is involved when deciding to take a company global. Are you prepared?

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From Silicon Valley to Silicon Alley, mind-numbing startup jargon is stopping for no one. It winds up in TED Talks, pitch meetings and every tech journalist’s inbox in between.

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Small business startups may fuel the economy, but that does not mean that they always succeed. In fact, according to a study published by Bloomberg, 80 percent of businesses fail within the first year and a half, which is a pretty dismal outlook for aspiring entrepreneurs.

The reason that so many businesses fail, in large part, is due to poor financial planning. In order to beat the odds and to get your business moving on the right track, consider the following financial advice.

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Women playing a bigger role in small businesses is no longer big news, of course. In 2014, there were roughly 9 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., employing nearly 8 million workers and recording nearly $1.4 trillion in sales that year, according to data from the National Association of Women Business Owners.

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After seeing the dreams of so many wonderful people end with a closed store sign, we were determined to find out how to help so we enlisted the aid of several resources for business owners to come up with a list of what they need to know.

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In 1938, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard began working part-time in a Palo Alto garage. With $538 just in working capital, the pair developed an audio oscillator: it would become the first product for the fledgling Hewlett-Packard HPQ +0.00% partnership. Today, Hewlett-Packard sits at #35 on Forbes’ list of most valuable brands, with an estimated worth of $57.9 billion.

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There are many books available on the market to read about starting a business and how to structure a business startup.

I have many favorites, but my advice to friends and students is one that I came across all the way back in October 1987. My business desires started and I read almost every book that was available in my local Memphis, Tennessee, library at the time. The book has been revised and reprinted many, many times and continues to be a good read to this day.

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One of the most intimidating things entrepreneurs face is the fact that some of their competitors are massive multi-billion dollar corporations. Everyone knows the story of David and Goliath; occasionally the underdog wins.  But in the real world, the giant wins a lot (if not most) of the time.

This was a reality I faced when I started GMM Nonstick Coatings in 2007, a manufacturer of nonstick coatings for cookware, bakeware and appliances. We were a true startup: no employees, clients or products.  

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Brainstorming ideas for a small business can be a fun yet frustrating experience. It requires a serious analysis of areas of expertise and interests, and consideration of where those areas intersect in such a way that can make a business viable.

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Enthusiasm—it can be both a blessing and a curse for new entrepreneurs. Passion for your business can fuel your success, but it can also drive you to operational and financial ruin if you do not take the time to think decisions through.

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Over 51% of businesses will fail in their first five years (U.S. Census data), and even 25-30% of venture-backed businesses fail.

If you want to innovate and put yourself out there, you have to accept that every entrepreneurial venture is a risk.

But how can you reduce that risk of failure for your next startup?

Often, it helps to turn to the experience of others, to learn what lessons we can from their failures, and cut the learning curve for ourselves. Even if you feel like you are reaching (or surpassing) your prime, it is never too late! Jeffrey Brotman, founder of Costco, didn't launch that successful company until he was into his forties.

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The passion that spurs someone to dream of starting a business is not reserved for the techie Millennial in the torn jeans and hoodie. Even the person in the relaxed-fit khakis and reading glasses can feel the zeal.

Research shows Baby Boomers may have a greater passion for entrepreneurship than younger generations. One report showed that, in 2014, those ages 55 to 64 had a higher rate of new entrepreneurial activity than the stereotypical risk-taking 20 to 34 age group.

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Some people think starting a business will be this great thing to do and then as they move forward with the process quickly learn it is not always rainbows and unicorns.

Sure, it has it perks - you become your own boss, choose your own hours and the clients you would like to work with along with how much to charge them. Then, theres one of my personal favorites - you choose the dress code!

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More new businesses fail than succeed, according to the Kauffman Foundation. And U.S. Small Business Administration data shows that it is only a matter of time before at least half of all businesses go under: Nearly two-thirds of businesses with employees survive at least two years, but only about 50 percent survive at least five years.

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If you want to start a small business but you do not have large cash flow, there are still many great opportunities available.

These jobs can be side businesses to start, but they may eventually replace your entire income.

A small business on the side was once a novel idea, but it has become more mainstream with the help of the internet and social media.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that freelancers and self-employed individuals may make up 20% of the workforce by 2020. The Small Business Association estimated in February 2015 that there are about 28,443,856 small businesses in America. Nearly 23 million of those businesses are single worker operations.

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Small business owners have a problem with thinking big.

Thinking big doesn't mean getting a big head.

Small business owners mistake successful crowdfunding campaigns with success.

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