Latest news with #V20
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
I test appliances for a living, and the best handvac I've tried is a record-low $59
As someone who tests and writes about home appliances for a living, I have a confession: I hate vacuuming. I can usually rely on my cheap little robot vac to keep my floors clean enough, but a little over a year ago, when I was getting ready to sell my house, I realized I needed something a bit more powerful to make them spotless. A hefty upright was out of the question (I'm 5 feet tall with limited upper body strength). My requirements? An affordable, lightweight, cordless number — and I found it in the Craftsman V20 Cordless Hand Vacuum. It's on sale for just $59 (down from $100) at Amazon. Related: The best car vacuums of 2025, tested and reviewed At over 40% off, this dirt destroyer is down to its best price on record — and that includes the battery and charger (which are often sold separately these days). My advice? Zap it up while you can, since this is a steal if I've ever seen one. (The vacuum itself is just $20 less; I'd recommend grabbing the whole shebang.) When it first arrived, I thought, Wow, this looks intense for a hand vacuum. It's bright red with a lot of angular features, which give it a rather heavy-duty appearance. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite lightweight — less than 5 pounds with the battery attached — and an absolute cinch for my not-so-tech-savvy self to figure out how to use. There are only two buttons: one to turn it on/off and another to empty out the dust container. Speaking of dust, I quickly discovered that the Craftsman V20 is an absolute beast when it comes to sucking up debris off the floor. Upon trying this bad boy out, I realized just how much dirt my robovac — which I often have to untangle from shag rugs and the like — was probably leaving behind. The V20 zapped up everything from clumps of dust to straight-up wads of hair like they were nothing. (I don't have pets, but I'm a big shedder. Sorry, TMI?) Its 20-volt battery is at the high end of the range for handvacs; no wonder it did such a bang-up job in mere minutes. (For comparison, this top-rated Black + Decker hand vacuum has only a 10.8-volt battery.) It really feels like an industrial-strength vacuum that happens to be ideal for home use. The battery itself lasts a pretty long time — by my count, about 45 minutes to an hour before needing a charge — and I was happy to find that I could clean all of the floors in my house before needing to empty out the dust collector. Getting the battery juiced up takes about 60 to 90 minutes, but because I'm usually able to get all of my cleaning done with one full charge, I haven't really found myself waiting around for it. Now that I've had the V20 for over a year, I can honestly say it's the best hand vacuum I've ever used. It's so much more powerful than its lightweight feel would imply, and I appreciate that I can use it to remove dust from furniture and higher surfaces in addition to my floors. Is it bulkier than some of the other hand vacuums out there? Yes, but that's to be expected given its performance. That said, it's portable enough for me to bring from room to room without it feeling like a workout, and that's all I can ask for. I'm in good company; Amazon customers are loving this lightweight lint-lifter as well. "[This] little machine has great suction power!" exclaimed a fellow enthusiast. "[I'm] using for car vacuuming and [it] works especially well on those nooks and crannies around a heavily shedding Shiba Inu crate without clogging. More convenient than [a] standard vacuum when clearing the carpeted stairway as well." Planning any beach trips this summer? One content cleaner said it's a must: "Got this for my wife [for] Christmas and she loves it! Perfect for the truck and small spaces. We use it every time [we're] leaving the beach, great for getting all the sand." Even the pros use it, as evidenced by this reviewer: "We have a detail business, and this [is] perfect for a quick vacuum! Easy to use and clean. Highly recommend for either car or home!" "Would be even better if it had a light on it," said a generally pleased buyer, adding, "Works so much better than any rechargeable dust-buster I've previously bought ... I'd consider buying more 20V Craftsman tools after getting this." "Love the Craftsman V20 series in general, but this handvac is the best we've encountered," raved a final fan. "[It's] easy to use, compatible with other V20 tools, easy to clean and very powerful. We did have trouble getting replacement filters, but they are available at Ace Hardware." And if you could use something for those wet messes... If you have Amazon Prime, you'll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.) The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
eNCA
03-05-2025
- Business
- eNCA
Flurry of engagement during SA's G20 presidency
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa takes up the leadership of the V20, as it builds up to November's G20 Summit. This is under the theme Living Values: Enabling Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainable Development. The country will present its vision for values-based leadership, highlighting dignity, ethical governance and equity, to address the nation's social and economic challenges effectively. According to Dr Dumisani Magadlela says V20 brings ubuntu and values of humanise into the centre of doing business globally. "We can't have economic growth if we are not moving together." he said.
Express Tribune
26-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
FinMin meets global rating agencies' teams, IMF
Listen to article Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, met with the Fitch Ratings team in Washington, DC, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings. According to a press statement released on Friday, the finance minister expressed gratitude to Fitch Ratings for upgrading Pakistan's sovereign credit rating from CCC+ to B-, describing it as a reflection of the country's improving macroeconomic outlook and fiscal discipline. He explained that this positive revision would pave the way for Pakistan's return to international financial markets. During the meeting, Aurangzeb also updated the Fitch team on the government's structural reform agenda, especially in the areas of energy, taxation, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), public finance, and debt management. The engagement included detailed responses to Fitch's inquiries regarding ongoing tariff reforms, tax administration improvements, and broader revenue mobilisation strategies. On the same sidelines, the finance minister met with representatives from Moody's, where he reiterated the government's commitment to a structural reform agenda aimed at ensuring Pakistan is firmly set on the trajectory of long-term economic stability. He cited positive economic indicators including low inflation, current and primary account surpluses, exchange rate stability, and record-high remittance inflows as evidence of Pakistan's steady economic footing. Aurangzeb highlighted a comprehensive tax reform initiative currently underway, aimed at expanding and deepening the tax base through improved processes, technology integration, and personnel development. Regarding tariff reforms, he expressed the government's readiness to engage constructively with the United States administration. In another significant engagement, the finance minister met with Jihad Azour, Director for the Middle East and Central Asia at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He reiterated Pakistan's commitment to stay the course on reforms and to build on the achievements of the past eighteen months. As per the statement, Aurangzeb described the credit rating upgrade by Fitch as an external validation of the reform programme's success, and a critical boost to investor confidence in Pakistan's economic trajectory. Speaking at the Vulnerable 20 (V20) Ministerial Dialogue on "Enabling Climate Prosperity," Aurangzeb also outlined Pakistan's Climate Financial Strategy. He said the country was working on a Climate Prosperity Plan and had reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a new RSF arrangement.
Express Tribune
07-02-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
FinMin for moving beyond policy prescriptions
Listen to article ISLAMABD: Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday stressed the need for adopting the policies framed to address climate change-related challenges on a fast-track basis by moving beyond "policy prescriptions." "There is no dearth of policy prescriptions; it is all about how and who. I sincerely hope this conference will address the operationalisation issues," he said at an international climate change conference titled "Breathe Pakistan." He said Pakistan was one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and urgently needed to make mitigation efforts. However, the real and bigger issue was the adoption of policies in true letter and spirit. In that regard, he cited the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and the National Climate Finance Strategy (NCFS) that Pakistan announced in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024. The launch of the strategy took place at the United Nations-led global climate conference, COP29, setting forth a framework to scale up climate-related investments, attract international financing and strengthen domestic financial systems. It also called for enhancing resilience of different sectors, clarifying institutional roles and improving access to diverse funding channels. He said the NCFS had been aligned with Pakistan's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement with the aim of closing the estimated $348 billion climate finance gap by 2030. The minister expressed gratitude to the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) group, which was working on a comprehensive climate prosperity plan, expected to be unveiled in April. Aurangzeb mentioned that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) would issue comprehensive guidelines on a green economy framework, including how to structure, monitor and finance green initiatives. "It is important to have a green economy framework as we move forward," he remarked. He also commented on the pledges made by donors, world-leading financial institutions and countries at various sessions of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Turning to the national economy, the finance minister noted that Pakistan had made significant progress on the macroeconomic front in the last 12 to 14 months with inflation dropping to 2.4% in January. "More importantly, on the back of this macroeconomic stability, we are executing structural reforms and strengthening the tax net," he said and praised the provincial governments for passing legislation on the agricultural income tax, which was "a key step towards expanding the tax net." He talked about the government's austerity measures, highlighting the rightsizing efforts targeted at the federal ministries and attached departments, in addition to abolishing the vacant posts as part of earlier announcements to curtail state expenditures. During the day, Finance Minister Aurangzeb also held separate meetings with former caretaker finance ministers Shahid Javed Burki and Shamshad Akhtar at the Finance Division. In the meetings, views were exchanged on Pakistan's economic progress and the government's strategic efforts to restore macroeconomic stability and lay the foundation for sustainable economic growth.
