Indonesia’s largest online marketplace, Multiply.com released its revamped Ramadan Camera Market in conjunction with the Ramadan season. Through the program, Multiply offers price cuts from Rp 100,000, Rp 250,000 to Rp 500,000 for diverse camera products and accessories. Renowned camera brands offered through the program include Sony, Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Polaroid (for its Instax line), Olympus to various Lomo cameras. All products for the program are curated and provided by three of Multiply Indonesia’s top trusted merchants, Focus Nusantara, Aneka Foto and Instax Polaroid. Since all products are provided by sellers already verified and labeled as trusted by Multiply Indonesia, purchases done via the Ramadan Camera Market are covered by Buyer Protection.

“With the release of this promotion program, we hope that online shopping enthusiasts continue to have access to various superb deals available on Multiply, in addition to experience the convenience, comfort and security of shopping online at the largest online marketplace in Indonesia,” noted Andy Djiwandono, VP Marketing & Merchant Acquisitions of PT Multiply Indonesia.

Aside from the Ramadan Camera Market, Multiply Indonesia is also running two other programs. One is the Gadget Clearance Sale in which Multiply offers discounts from Rp 200,000 to Rp 2,000,000 for curated products provided by its partner Erafone. The other is a 10-day virtual shopping festival, Multiply.com SHOPFEST Ramadhan, scheduled to attract hundreds of thousands virtual visitors form all over Indonesia.

In Indonesia, Multiply.com is presently the largest online market with 90,000 sellers, 2.4 million registered users and 7 million unique monthly visitors. Having operated for a year and a half, the Indonesian office is the company’s largest operational unit. The Multiply team in Indonesia has been actively participating in educating the market on e-commerce and supporting the Sellers’s community. Offering comprehensive online shopping features which enables social interaction between buyers and sellers, the Multiply platform also accommodates the way Indonesians transact by implementing payment methods ranging from bank ATM, e-banking, mobile payment and credit cards. Multiply also offers buyer protection which eliminates the worry of shopping online, even for first time users. Presently, Multiply, Inc. is under the leadership of CEO Stefan Magdalinski. As Country Manager of its Indonesian office is Daniel Tumiwa.

SOURCE: red orbit

Leaders whose plans for an Islamic center were rejected want to increase understanding of their faith in St. Anthony.
Muslim supporters of a proposed Islamic center rejected by St. Anthony elected leaders plan to host a Ramadan meal Thursday in an effort to share their faith with non-Muslims, organizers say.

Dozens of people are expected to participate in the traditional meal known as an iftar, which ends the daily fast, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the St. Anthony Community Center at city hall.

Advocates for the Abu Huraira Islamic Center decided to hold the iftar to “develop understanding” after anti-Islamic comments were made by St. Anthony residents at a City Council meeting where members voted down the proposed center. The center had been planned for the basement of the former Medtronic headquarters.

“This is great opportunity for us to … get to know our neighbors,” said Sadik Warfa, a spokesman for the Islamic center. “We want to reach out to our neighbors of all faiths in the St. Anthony Village area. It’s really meant to create a positive atmosphere and friendships with our neighbors.”

The Minnesota Council of Churches is helping sponsor the iftar, which recently was added to the list of public iftars being held at metro-area mosques during Ramadan. Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during the month-long sacred period, which this year began July 19. Iftar meals often are open to non-Muslims.

Gail Anderson, a director at the Council of Churches who helped organize the iftars, said the St. Anthony iftar could bring “the fear level way down” and help Muslims “build relationships in the community.”
“It’s just a lot people really wanting to know each other better and understand each other better,” Anderson said.

Incompatible with zoning?

The St. Anthony City Council rejected plans for the Islamic center in June, arguing it was incompatible with the building’s light-industrial zoning. At the meeting, some St. Anthony opponents of the plan said the Muslim center was not welcome and made disparaging remarks about the Muslim faith. At least one resident said Islam is “evil” and embraces violence.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate allegations of anti-Muslim bias in the council’s action. The U.S. attorney’s office has visited the proposed Islamic center site and is interviewing people about the council action, said spokeswoman Jeanne Cooney. She said her office hopes to “resolve this matter to the satisfaction of all parties,” but could pursue litigation if it finds that the council action violated federal law.

Nationally, the Justice Department has launched investigations into 28 similar cases, according to the American-Islamic Council. In the case of St. Anthony, it asked federal authorities to determine whether the action violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which “protects religious institutions from unduly burdensome or discriminatory land-use regulations.”

City leaders say they did not discriminate against the Muslim group in denying the Islamic center.

Warfa, the spokesman for the Islamic center, said he hopes City Council members and other St. Anthony government leaders will attend the iftar. Since the council’s decision, St. Anthony churches have held an interfaith gathering that encouraged Christians and Muslims to learn about the two faiths. St. Anthony City Manager Mark Casey said Tuesday he was not aware of the iftar and did not know whether city officials would attend.

Lori Saroya, executive director of CAIR-Minnesota, said the iftar is a “great idea” that can lead to better understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

“It was so horrible to see all those comments [at city council meeting],” Saroya said. “I think it’s a positive thing to have this gathering … sharing their faith and culture with others.”

SOURCE: Star Tribune

Pizza Hut has withdrawn its all-you-can-eat offer in Pakistan during Ramadan, prompting a furious response from thousands of families.

It says it wants to “reduce gluttony” by limiting customers to a single regular pizza in its Ramadan Fiesta offer.

The former all-you-can-eat format served as an unrestrained invitation to gluttony and waste, colliding with the very spirit of Ramadan.

In previous years, its 44-strong chain of restaurants would be packed for the evening meal of Iftar, as diners hungry from a day of fasting would fill up with pizza after pizza for as little as £7 – a figure industry analysts said was unsustainable.

Fast food fans have taken to social media to complain at the new, cheaper deal, which is still advertised as an “all-you-can” offer.
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“Pathetic and a misleading deal. It’s only one regular pizza with bottomless Pepsi, not all you can eat,” said one post on Pizza Hut Pakistan’s Facebook page.

“This should be ALL YOU CAN DRINK… not EAT. your deal SUCKS,” said another furious comment. Imran Khan, a student and regular customer at a branch in Karachi, said: “We come here a lot at this time of year. The place was always packed in the evening. For a lot of people it had become a Ramadan tradition so this change is very sad.”

Muslims in Pakistan are forbidden from eating during the day throughout Ramadan – a stricture that has been enforced by police in recent years.

A handful of the coffee shops in the capital Islamabad still open during the day were raided at the weekend and warned not to serve Muslims.

As a result, breaking fast at sundown is often a big family occasion or a chance to entertain friends and colleagues.

The all-you-can-eat controversy has even reached Pakistan’s national newspapers, forcing Pizza Hut Pakistan on to the defensive.

Marya Khan, the chain’s head of marketing, insisted that a single regular pizza was big enough for two diners and that the new, restrained offer was more in keeping with the spiritual side of the holy month of Ramadan.

“The former all-you-can-eat format served as an unrestrained invitation to gluttony and waste, colliding with the very spirit of Ramadan,” she said.

“For those who do not consider Iftar deal as a means of just gorging after sunset, then the new Ramadan Fiesta offered by Pizza Hut is a well-balanced and valuable deal to enjoy finest pizza at a value price.”

Pizza Hut in Pakistan was one of many fast food restaurants to have benefited from a move away from the traditional Iftar meal of spiced fruit salad, chickpeas and dates.

Instead, many people are turning to Chinese buffets or burger joints.

Even McDonald’s offers a Ramadan special of burger, chips and a drink for just under pounds 3, although pakoras – vegetable or chicken fritters – remain the most popular way to break the Ramadan fast, according to a recent survey by Gallup Pakistan.

SOURCE: theage.com.au