How Swede it is: King Carl goes back to Tacloban

 General
Nov 202015
 
How Swede it is: King Carl goes back to Tacloban

Inquirer Visayas By: Joey Gabieta, November 21st, 2015 03:28 AM King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf (C) salutes as he visits the Boy Scout monument in Tacloban City on January 26, 2014. AFP TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—For the second time in two years, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will visit this city as part of his country’s commitment to the survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan). King Gustaf was expected to arrive on Saturday for a seven-hour private visit as honorary chair of the World Scouting Foundation, said Chito Morante, director of the Philippine Boys Scouts (BSP) Leyte council. New marker The Swedish king, who first visited Tacloban on Jan. 26 last year, will unveil a marker at the new Boys Scout building of the Leyte council, a two-story P- million structure he was funding. The repair work was expected to be finished by February 2016. The old Boys Scout building located along M.H. del Pilar Street was destroyed during the onslaught of Yolanda on Nov. 8, 2013. The king will hold a 30-minute press briefing with the local media upon arrival at Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport at 9 a.m., according to Alice Nicart, regional director of the Philippine Information Agency. He will also make a short visit to the shipwreck located in Anibong district that had been converted into a memorial park, Nicart added. At the airport, Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla, Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez and Palo town Mayor Remedios Petilla will meet King Gustaf who Read More …

Focus on inclusive growth appropriate, say economic managers

 General
Nov 202015
 
Focus on inclusive growth appropriate, say economic managers

MANILA, Philippines – Focus given by the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on inclusive growth is timely and bodes well with the Aquino administration’s economic agenda, economic managers said yesterday. “The focus on inclusivity is appropriate and necessary at this stage,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said in a text message. “For the Philippines, still confronted with poverty and the social conflicts it breeds, inclusivity has been priority from the very beginning of the Aquino administration,” he added. Putting the bulk of the budget for social investments, conditional cash transfers (CCT), universal health care and the bottom-up budgeting are some of the efforts to promote growth inclusivity, the budget chief said. Agreements made during the year-long APEC meetings in Manila concluded on Thursday also outlined the administration’s commitments, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a separate text message. He pointed to the Cebu Action Plan, an agreement by finance ministers in September that laid out a 10-year strategy on financial integration, budget transparency, financial resilience and infrastructure development. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Boracay Action Agenda toward assisting growth on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is also another effort. MSMEs account for more than 97 percent of firms in the country. “They set the foundation for the inclusive integration roadmap,” Purisima said, pertaining to the upcoming integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year. At the closing of the year-long APEC meetings, economic leaders, led by President Aquino, declared that making Read More …

Genetically modified salmon OK'd for human consumption in US

 General
Nov 192015
 
Genetically modified salmon OK'd for human consumption in US

Members of the Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee listen during a presentation at Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee hearing on modified salmon. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved genetically modified salmon, the first such altered animal allowed for human consumption in the United States. The Obama administration had stalled in approving the fast-growing salmon for more than five years amid consumer concerns about eating genetically modified foods. But the agency said Thursday the fish is safe to eat. In announcing the approval, the FDA said that there are “no biologically relevant differences in the nutritional profile of AquAdvantage Salmon compared to that of other farm-raised Atlantic salmon.” AquAdvantage Salmon was created by the Massachusetts-based company AquaBounty. Ron Stotish, the company’s CEO, said in a statement that the fish is a “game changer that brings healthy and nutritious food to consumers in an environmentally responsible manner without damaging the ocean and other marine habitats.” The fish grows twice as fast as normal salmon, so it reaches market size more quickly. It has an added growth hormone from the Pacific Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone all year long. The engineers were able to keep the hormone active by using another gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout that acts like an “on” switch for the hormone. Typical Atlantic salmon produce the growth hormone for only part of the year. The FDA has also said the fish is Read More …

SMSEs take center stage at Apec meet

 General
Nov 182015
 
SMSEs take center stage at Apec meet

November 19th, 2015 12:40 AM Alibaba founder Jack Ma speaks at the CEO Summit, attended by 800 business leaders from around the region representing U.S. and Asia-Pacific companies, in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, ahead of the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) The self-made Chinese billionaire who built Alibaba—China’s e-commerce giant whose sales now nearly match that of US retailing giant Walmart—yesterday called on a high-powered audience at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) CEO Summit to help the small guys left behind by globalization. Jack Ma is the single most anticipated corporate speaker at the Apec CEO Summit and his rags-to-riches journey has captured the global limelight especially after a landmark $21.8-billion stock debut in New York last year.  His company is now valued by the market at $198 billion, surpassing Walmart’s $185-billion market capitalization although still lagging the $300-billion valuation of rival Amazon. When he built Alibaba with the help of 17 colleagues 16 years ago, Ma had told his team about his vision of how the Internet could change things. “I said one thing: If we can be successful, 80 percent of the Chinese people can be successful because we are the people without resources, we are the people without money, we are the people without relationship and we are the people without even knowing the technology.” “We have to make sure Internet is simple enough (so) that people can just downclick and get what they want,” he said, noting that Alibaba Read More …

How to apply foundation and avoid a mask-like effect

 General
Nov 172015
 
How to apply foundation and avoid a mask-like effect

From dry to creamy: Dry skin will benefit from creamy, silicone-based foundations. A Beauty Blender also works wonders to give dry, patchy skin a flawless and smooth finish. Photo from littlestarchivist.blogspot.com                       DEAR RISSA, I have dry skin. Everytime I apply makeup, it looks patchy and rough.  What kind of foundation should I be using?  MAUREEN Dry skin will luckily never have to deal with oiliness and shine, but it will tend to look older because makeup will be prone to cracking and wrinkling. Always make it a habit to moisturize your skin very well before starting your makeup. In fact, moisturize your skin religiously to improve your skin condition. Avoid water-based foundations; they often have a matte finish which will make dry skin look drier. Choose a silicone-based foundation, which most foundations in the market are. What makes this type of foundation popular is because of its skin-like finish without giving a mask-like effect. It also has the ability to fill in lines and wrinkles, making skin look smooth and supple. When applying makeup, keep layers to a minimum. The more products you pile on, the more prone it will be to cracking. Also try to use a Beauty Blender. This is a pink, reusable, edgeless, cosmetic sponge applicator which helps ensure impeccable, streak-free application of makeup. I always thought it was all just hype, but when I was able to use it myself, I was convinced. When I saw this special sponge used on my friend’s dry Read More …

Ernest Cu brings out baton to lead Globe

 General
Nov 142015
 
Ernest Cu brings out baton to lead Globe

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Theresa S. Samaniego, November 15th, 2015 02:39 AM Ernest Cu LIKE AN orchestra where musicians play the same significant role as its conductor. This, in essence, is how Globe Telecom president and chief executive Ernest Cu described the operations of the telecommunications firm—a strategy that has helped propel the company to its position now, and one that is expected to help it play a crucial role in achieving the government’s goal of building inclusive economies. “A telco, much like the other companies, is like an orchestra. Everything has to work together for that music to come out right—from the people who ensure the reliability of the network, the marketing team who understands the consumers and crafts products, to the IT people who build the product and the sales teams who sell your products to the customers. If they all work hand in hand, then it’s beautiful music that you would create and that’s what we are getting today as evidenced by the good results,” Cu explains. Seeing himself as a conductor who works on the side, Cu notes his task is to listen to the music and make sure that the whole team remains in tune. Cu must be fortunate enough to have been blessed with ears that could appreciate good music, given the significant successes that Globe continues to reap. “I don’t think it’s my management style alone that brought us to where we are. I don’t attribute Globe’s success to my skills alone, but Read More …

FDI slows 27% to $3 B

 General
Nov 102015
 
FDI slows 27% to $3 B

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday FDI inflows amounted to $526 million in August this year or $27 million higher compared to the $499 million registered in August last year. MANILA, Philippines – The amount of foreign direct investments (FDIs) flowing into the Philippines surged in August but was still down 27.1 percent amid the global stock market rout due to uncertainties brought about by the impending interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and the economic slowdown in China. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday FDI inflows amounted to $526 million in August this year or $27 million higher compared to the $499 million registered in August last year. Equity placements plunged 75.9 percent to $45 million in August this year from $121 million last year, while withdrawals went up 43.1 percent to $11 million from $8 million. The BSP said equity capital placements came mainly from the US, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Ireland. The funds, the central bank added, were channeled primarily to manufacturing, real estate, professional, scientific, and technical, wholesale and retail trade activities, as well as information and communication acitivites. On the other hand, earnings of foreign companies operating in the Philippines and plowed right back into the country inched up 2.8 percent to $61 million in August this year from $59 million in the same month last year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The BSP said intercompany borrowings from foreign direct investors by their subsidiaries or Read More …

Binge-watching in the ‘ber’ months

 General
Nov 102015
 
Binge-watching in the ‘ber’ months

Best served cold: Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons are in the midst of bad stuff in Season 2 of the Coen Brothers’ Fargo, now on iFlix. Winter is coming. That’s the recurring phrase of doom on HBO’s Game of Thrones, and it applies to our late-season TV viewing as well. We wait a whole year to catch up with Jon Snow, Khaleesi and The Imp, and quick as a wink, the season is over. We plunge into Silicon Valley, Veep and other HBO series, and they wrap up by end of August as well. What’s the avid TV viewer to do when winter comes? Fortunately, there’s still plenty to watch in the “ber” months leading to Christmas. With returning series from HBO, as well as must-watch shows on AMC and FX returning for a second helping, the winter months won’t seem as bleak as the White Walkers would have us believe. • Those who tuned into Season 1 of The Knick (which premiered Season 2 on HBO’s Cinemax Oct. 17 and HBO on Oct. 21) will be eager to pick up the thread of the Steven Soderbergh-directed period drama about a truly bizarro hospital called The Knickerbocker in New York City, circa 1900. You think healthcare is troublesome for Americans today? Just drop into The Knick, where last season, Clive Owen’s Dr. John Thackery was still trying to develop a system for safe blood transfusion, all the while battling a cocaine addiction (a common self-medicating option for sleep-deprived doctors at Read More …

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