Hikmet Ersek, chief executive officer of Western Union Holdings Inc., a US-based global money transfer company, is not willing to write-off cash transfers in a hurry despite technological advances. The company’s net profit fell 14% to $212 million (around Rs.1,270 crore) in the March quarter from $247 million a year ago, as traditional money transfer routes face competition from new digital and mobile products. But Western Union, too, Ersek said in an interview on Tuesday, is slowly but surely embracing digitization by allowing people in India, for instance, to receive remittances from the US and the UK directly into their bank accounts instead of as cash transfers.
Omer Asik, the Houston Rockets’ starting center last season, has formally asked the team to trade him in the wake of the Dwight Howard signing, ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst is reporting. The Rockets have “no plans” to trade Asik, however, and have turned down all offers so far, according to the report. The 27-year-old, who started all 82 games last season after serving as Joakim Noah’s backup in Chicago for two years, contacted the team to ask for a trade “shortly after” Howard announced his decision on Friday night.
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) have begun qualification testing on the hybrid rocket motor that will provide propulsion to their Dream Chaser vehicle in space. The initiation of testing is part of the company’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) milestones, as they continue to set their sights on transporting NASA astronauts to the ISS. The ETA – provisionally named “Eagle”, per L2 – was recently shipped to California from her home in Colorado, ahead of a series of tests that will be conducted through the summer.
