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Small Swiss publishers have an important cultural role – but they suffer from inflation and the strong franc.
If you want to make a film, start a food truck or build a skate park and don’t have enough money, you can turn to crowdfunding these days. Ideally, hundreds of people will donate a sum of money so that the corresponding project can be started.
A special crowdfunding is now causing a stir in the cultural scene: the traditional Rotpunkt publishing house needs money. And not to finance a specific project, but simply to secure its future.
Slump in sales after the pandemic
We were able to sell a lot of books during the corona pandemic, says Patrizia Grab, publishing director of Rotpunkt-Verlag. “But after Corona came the diver.” Since then, far fewer books have been bought. Added to this is the increase in prices, which the publisher cannot simply pass on to the prices.
After Corona came the diver.
In order to stabilize the publisher’s financial situation, crowdfunding was used. “This arose out of necessity,” says Grab. The positive result of the call shows that many people want Rotpunkt-Verlag to continue to exist.
More than 125,000 francs collected
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More than 600 people have smaller or larger amounts donated, so that Rotpunkt-Verlag continues to exist. This means that the goal of 125,000 francs was reached several days before the deadline. According to publishing director Patrizia Grab, the publisher benefited from the good network and the many authors who supported it. “Almost more gratifying than the money is the great response: the book trade, other publishers and readers want us to continue to exist as a publisher.”
Rotpunkt Publishing publishes literature by Swiss authors such as Christoph Keller, Leta Semadeni and Matthias Zschokke, as well as political and historical non-fiction.
Publisher with a cultural mission
A specialty of Rotpunkt are thematic hiking books based on culinary or cultural-historical characteristics. Although these books find a certain audience, they do not achieve huge circulation.
If 20,000 books are sold, as was the case with the recent novel “Getting There” by Fabio Andina, then that is already a lot. Publishing director Graf also emphasizes that the Rotpunkt publishing house has a cultural mission.
This is precisely why the federal government supports Swiss publishers with two million francs annually. But more is needed, says Grab. The book industry is hoping for a significant increase to 2.8 million annually. But the Federal Council didn’t get involved; now the industry is hoping for parliament.
A number of Swiss publishers are suffering
The Rotpunkt publishing house, which has existed for almost 50 years, is not the only one that is doing poorly financially, says Tanja Messerli, managing director of the Swiss Booksellers and Publishers Association.
She also cites inflation as one of the reasons for the difficulties. In addition, since 2009, the strong franc has made it difficult to sell books abroad, even if one has a good reputation there.
So finding a living in the small Swiss market is difficult; Entering the large German market is complex and risky.
Successful authors change publishers
The book industry is an important economic factor, emphasizes Messerli. According to its own information, the industry generates sales of more than 800 million francs per year. The Swiss publishers are contributing around 150 million francs.
They also secure jobs and promote young literary talent. But when an author makes a breakthrough, major foreign publishers often bear the fruits of their success.
That’s good for Swiss literature, but not necessarily for Swiss publishers.
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‘No fee to settle insurance claims’
– 2024-05-02 13:10:18
Insurance companies cannot charge any commission, fee or service charge for settlement of insurance claims. Time limits should be set for each step of the process for speedy settlement of insurance claims of customers. The claim must be settled within 90 days from the date of submission of the last document by the customer. Customers have to send the information along with the amount of money through SMS on the phone.
The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority has formulated ‘Insurance Claims Management System Guidelines 2024’ to ensure the interests of insurance customers by reducing the length of time and suffering in receiving insurance claims. This guideline was published last Sunday.
It is to be noted that the late former Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith once said while talking to the journalists about the sufferings he faced while collecting insurance claims, common people have to suffer extreme sufferings to collect insurance claims and pension money in the country. This has happened in my life too. Both these systems should be simplified so that they can easily withdraw their own invested money. After that, the initiative to simplify the insurance law was taken. Insurance Claims Management Procedure Guidelines have been formulated, albeit with some delay.
It is known that the guidelines prepared by insurance companies, reinsurers; surveyor or insurance agent or insurance intermediary or insurance service provider; It shall apply to the insurance customer and any other person or organization as prescribed by the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority. Insurance companies must maintain policy and claim registers.
According to the guidelines, each insurance company shall prepare its own manual covering the necessary issues related to insurance claim management in the light of laws, regulations and the guidelines of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority and publish it on the website of the insurance company.
The manual to be prepared by the insurance company must include the procedures required by the customer from raising the claim to settlement and the time frame for each step. A clear and concise description of responsible officers and procedures at each step. A clear and concise description of financial empowerment procedures in insurance claim settlement. Simple and clear claim settlement form or template for each policy. Expedited surveyor appointment and investigation procedure in cases where appointment of surveyor is required for settlement of insurance claims. Procedures for notifying the policyholder if there is scope for appeal or reconsideration at any stage and ensuring procedures for payment of insurance claims by collecting reinsurance and reinsurance proceeds as soon as possible.
Apart from this, some other principles have to be followed in paying insurance claims. Notable among them is that the insurance company cannot ask for any document other than the documents mentioned in the insurance contract from the insurance company and the document cannot be asked repeatedly. In cases where surveyors are not required to be appointed or investigated, the insurance claim payment procedure should be mentioned in the manual immediately and the procedures should be ensured accordingly. No commission or fee or service charge shall be levied on payment of insurance claims. As per law, the insurance claim has to be paid within 90 days after the last document is submitted by the insured. When the insurance claim is paid, a message should be sent to the mobile phone of the insurance customer immediately with the amount of money due in the insurance claim.
In the guidelines made, it is stated about what the insurance customer should do, to inform the insurance company promptly within the period specified in the insurance contract after the loss or accident and to submit the related documents; The Insured shall acknowledge receipt of all documents submitted to the Insurer or Surveyor and shall retain the same as authentic. The insured must give an accurate description of the actual event and refrain from resorting to lying and cheating or providing false documents. After raising the insurance claim, before settling the insurance claim, the insurance customer shall cooperate with the insurance company or the surveyor, as applicable, to conduct the necessary inspection and assess the damage. After settling the claim, if the compensation is insufficient or for any other appropriate reason, the insurance customer can take recourse to the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority or the court if necessary as per the law.
The Best Plug-in Hybrid Cars: A Comprehensive Guide
If we are talking about complexes in general, we must mention the main reason. They have a dual power unit – an internal combustion engine (diesel or gasoline) and an electric drive with traction battery. At the same time, when you drive, the electronic connects to the driving wheels the installation that will be more profitable at the moment.
For example, an internal combustion engine is not as efficient in idle and during acceleration – it needs a lot of fuel, actively poisoning the air, and providing, to put it mildly, no very active acceleration. But when you drive quickly on the autobahn, when you need to deliver more power for a long time, an internal combustion engine is more profitable.
For its part, the electric drive behaves better when driving in traffic jams and during acceleration, because the electric motor develops the maximum torque right from zero rpm . In addition, the electric motor can recover energy, returning it to the battery during braking and coasting.
What is a plug-in hybrid
Plug-in Hybrid (English) – plug-in hybrid, also known as PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle). The main difference from other hybrids is a larger capacity traction battery (5-12 kWh), which is recharged not only from the internal combustion engine when the car is run, but also at home from a revolution (if the driver wants). Therefore, such a car can travel from 30 to 100 km as an electric car, without consuming fuel from the tank. It is not for nothing that plug-in hybrids in many countries are officially classified as electric vehicles and receive corresponding benefits.
Usually, the average owner uses such a car during the work week as an electric car, after recharging overnight, driving around town just an electric drive. And on weekends, going, say, to the country or just on a long trip, the car automatically activates the internal combustion engine, which charges the battery and giving power to the wheels.
From an engineer’s point of view, a PHEV is similar to a conventional full hybrid FHEV, but because of the larger battery, it is significantly more expensive. The second major drawback is that many plug-in hybrids have a small trunk, as part of it is a large battery. As a rule, on the outside, plug-in hybrids are no different from conventional cars or current hybrids of the same model; The personal characteristic of a PHEV is the charging port and the corresponding nameplate on the body.
Ford Fusion Energi (2012 – 2020)
The American version of the Ford Mondeo had two hybrid versions in every generation – FHEV and PHEV, with the word Energi added to the name of the latter. But we recommend that Ukrainian drivers buy this model in the latest generation. Ford Fusion Energi can travel 30 – 60 km on electric power alone. Among the obvious shortcomings of this sedan is a small trunk with a volume of 232 liters; due to the presence of a large battery, it was reduced by almost half, which was really almost a record in this class. In any driver, the car shows that it is fast and powerful, although it is positioned as a family model only.
Chevrolet Volt (2010-2019)
Hybrid model only with no powertrain options other than PHEV. In Ukraine it is known in both generations, depending on which car has electric autonomy up to 60 or 80 km (maximum data). Just like the previously mentioned Fusion Energi, the Volt comes to our country from American auctions of used cars, which did not stop the Volt from gaining popularity. An interesting, although not very pleasant, feature of the model is that it only has a 4-seater cabin configuration, since the traction battery is located in the central tunnel and there is no place for the middle passenger to put his feet on the back. .
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (2012)
The current generation of the popular crossover has a plug-in hybrid version for the first time in Ukraine. Which, among other facilities, brings the car to the four wheels, which, with a ground clearance of 190 mm, gives the Outlander the legal right to move from the asphalt to the dirt road. A car can travel around 50 – 60 km using only electric power. The interior of the model is spacious, and the trunk of the “hybrid plug-in” has decreased a little, with 463 liters very adequate. Anyway, it is the Outlander in the PHEV version that has been used by the Ukrainian police for several years, and this says a lot.
Volvo XC90 T8 (с 2015 g.)
The car is luxurious both from a user and technical point of view. Actually, conceptually this is not an XC90 package for thrifty owners, but an ultimate version of the Swedish flagship (okay, Swedish-Chinese). The seven-seat hybridy has a 4×4 drive and dynamic characteristics that are hard to believe with its dimensions (length 4.8 m) and weight (about 2 tons): 5.6 seconds to 100 km/h. The PHEV-Volvo is driven accordingly, although from the outside it does not at all resemble the crossovers that are now fashionable. The range of autonomy on electricity is not higher than 25 – 40 km, but for this class, you have to admit, it is not bad either. Note that in Ukraine, this car was also sold through the network of official dealers, which adds advantages in its favor.
Kia Niro (2017г.)
Convenient, comfortable and pleasant to drive, the crossover is now sold in Ukraine in its second generation. Interestingly, there are three versions of the Niro: petrol, electric and PHEV. The appeal version is popular among other things among fans of high-quality design solutions. So, the compact model has a full-size 1.6-liter gasoline engine with 180 hp. And unlike most other hybrids, the Niro PHEV does not have a simple CVT, but a sophisticated transmission with a pre-selectable gearbox. True, the Korean does not have a 4 × 4 configuration and makes do with front wheel drive.
In short
Owners of plug-in hybrids say their cars are very convenient for everyday use thanks to their “electric vehicle component”. And also that they consume very little fuel. This may be true, but it is very difficult to convert these benefits into money. After all, you have to take into account a wide range of factors: the high price of the car itself, the cost of energy at home and at public charging stations, additional fuel consumption due to the extra weight of the car, the need to order some spare parts overseas, etc. So, if you want to buy a PHEV hybrid just to save money, this is a dubious idea. That is, after calculating all the costs, say, after three years of operation, savings can appear. But there is no doubt that the plug-in hybrid is very easy to use.
2024-05-02 05:30:06
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