Tag Archive: tips



Next Stop:  WorldSkills Leipzig 2013

EDMONTON, May 16, 2012 /CNW/ – (SKILLS CANADA NATIONAL COMPETITION 2012) – Canada’s best and brightest skilled trade and technology students
received official recognition for their outstanding performance as Skills/Compétences Canada announced the results of the Skills Canada National Competition. The closing ceremonies, held today in Edmonton, were highlighted by
the parade of champions and the announcement of the Members of Team Canada, whose next stop will be WorldSkills Leipzig 2013.

The essential contribution of skilled trades to the economic and social
well being of all Canadians was a common theme throughout the closing
ceremonies. Highlights included keynote addresses from Dr. Kellie
Leitch
, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honorable Diane Finley, Minister
of HRSDC, the Honorable, Naresh Bhardwaj, MLA Edmonton-Ellerslie, Ken
Pischke
, Senior Vice-President, Cenovus Energy (Presenting Sponsor of
the 2012 Competition), and Mike Holmes, Official Spokesperson for
Skills Canada and Canada’s Most Trusted Contractor.

“Our government’s top priority is job creation and economic growth, and
we recognize that, as the future workforce, young Canadians have much
to contribute to our country’s long-term prosperity,” said Dr. Kellie
Leitch
, Parliamentary Secretary to Diane Finley, Minister of Human
Resources and Skills Development, during the closing ceremony. “Through
our grants, tax credits and support for training programs and skills
competitions, we are encouraging apprenticeships and careers in the
skilled trades.”

The Skills Canada National Competition is the only national,
Olympic-style, multi-trade and technology event of its kind for young
students and apprentices in the country. The event took place May 14-15th at the Edmonton EXPO Centre in Edmonton City, Alberta where forty
different assigned projects were showcased in major skilled trade and
technology categories. Competitors were evaluated by independent judges
from the respective industry sectors, who based their decisions on
industry standards and established work practices, including such
criteria as quality of work, safety, cleanliness, skill level and
creativity.

“The goal of this annual Competition is to reward students for
excellence in the skilled trades, while directly involving industry
leaders and educators in the training process and in evaluating their
performance in a way that is relevant to employers’ needs,” said Shaun
Thorson
, CEO, Skills Canada. “The enthusiasm and hard work shown by the
competitors throughout the Competition has been inspiring and we want
to congratulate each one. We also want to thank and acknowledge the
ongoing support from the Government of Canada, sponsors and organizers
for working with us to ensure that there is a bright future for
Canada’s skilled trade and technology workforce.”

Medalists
A total of 180 medals were awarded to the top champions in six skilled
trade and technology categories: transportation, construction,
manufacturing, information and technology, service and employment. Best
of Region competitors were also recognized for having the highest
competitive score by category for their Region. Click here for the complete results.

Team Canada for WorldSkills Leipzig 2013
The 35 members of Team Canada heading to WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 will
compete in 33 skill categories against more than 900 Competitors from
51 Member countries/regions. The four-day WorldSkills Competition is
the biggest of its kind in the world and considered the pinnacle of
excellence in skilled trades and technologies training. Click here for the members of Team Canada.

About Skills/Compétences Canada
Skills/Compétences Canada was founded in 1989 as a national, not-for-profit organization that
works with employers, educators, labour groups and governments to
promote skilled trades and technology careers among Canadian youth. Its
unique position among private and public sector partners enables it to
work toward securing Canada’s future skilled labour needs while helping
young people and aspiring apprentices discover rewarding careers.
Skills/Compétences Canada offers experiential learning opportunities
including skilled trades and technology competitions for hundreds of
thousands of young Canadians through regional, provincial/territorial,
national and international events, as well as skilled trade awareness
programs. Many programs highlight digital and essential skills, which
are crucial qualifications in most careers of today.  Headquartered in
Ottawa, Ontario, Skills/Compétences Canada is the Canadian Member
organization of WorldSkills International. For more information about
Skills/Compétences Canada visit www.skillscanada.com, or call 877-754-5226.

Follow Skills/Compétences Canada on Twitter (follow hashtag #SCC2012), Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.

SOURCE SKILLS/COMPETENCES CANADA

Image with caption: “Team Canada ready for WorldSkills 2013 (CNW Group/SKILLS/COMPETENCES CANADA)”. Image available at: http://insuranceforless.mobi/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/07068ee6ab13837.jpg.jpg


BALTIMORE, May 16, 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ – Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM) announced today the pricing of its sale of $650 million of 5.5% senior notes due 2019.  The offering is expected to settle on May 21, 2012.

The senior notes will bear interest at a rate of 5.5% per year.  Interest for the senior notes will be payable semi-annually on May 21 and November 21, commencing on November 21, 2012.

Legg Mason, Inc. plans to use the net proceeds from the senior notes offering, together with cash on hand and other borrowings, to repurchase $1.25 billion in aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 2.5% contingent convertible senior notes due 2015. 

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.  The senior notes are being offered pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”).  The senior notes have not been registered under the Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. 

This release may contain forward-looking statements subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially.  For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, see “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Legg Mason‘s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 and its subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. 

 

SOURCE Legg Mason, Inc.


http://www.leggmason.com


LOS GATOS, Calif., May 15, 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ – IC Manage, Inc. today introduced its IC Manage Views™ storage acceleration software - a version aware, virtual file system that presents complete workspace views, while only transferring data on demand to a local file cache.  IC Manage Views removes network transfer bottlenecks to accelerate Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool performance, achieve Zero-Time Sync™ (ZTS) for workspaces, and reduce storage utilization. IC Manage Views is 100% compatible with all storage technologies and works at both local and remote sites.

  • Zero-Time Sync – a one gigabyte, 10,000 file workspace takes approximately one second to populate, allowing tools to run immediately.
  • Faster EDA tool performance – utilizes local storage for reads, so design engineers get local speeds and avoid delays caused by network latency.  Utilizing network storage for writes provides consistent data storage and access. 
  • Drastically reduced total storage. IC Manage Views automatically rotates least recently used files to stay within workspace cache quotas, and handles cache recovery in the event of failures or errors.

Design File Management Issues, including EDA tool slowdown

According to 524 respondent Global Design Management survey results released by IC Manage today, the primary engineering challenges with design file management fall into two major areas: Speed and storage. The top speed problems are network storage bottlenecks slowing the creation and updates of remote and local workspaces, and EDA tool performance. The storage problem is that the cost of storage capacity needed to keep up with expanding design data is too high — design teams are constantly wrestling with storage needs.

The survey found that on average, network data transfer bottlenecks account for 30% of the EDA tool iteration time. Numerous EDA design tools are impacted by network bottlenecks, including place and route, RTL functional verification, timing analysis, SPICE simulation/analysis, physical verification, and custom layout.  

Using symbolic links has been a common technique to reduce disk space usage.  However, almost three-quarters of symlinks users cite major issues. Approximately half cite the lack of control when using mirrors due to the automatic data push or out-of-sync mirrors. Other issues include workspace instability when versions are removed from the symbolic link trees to recover space, and security problems caused by difficulty managing UNIX-style directory permissions.

“IC Manage Views gives design groups the flexibility to build workspaces anywhere and at any location, all at local speed, and avoid problems with disk space allocation,” said Shiv Sikand, IC Manage Engineering Vice President. ”IC Manage Views is scalable, so the savings increase with the number of users and the size of the databases.” 

IC Manage Views Technology Details

IC Manage Views unloads work from a central NAS filer, thereby removing the network bottleneck and accelerating its clients compute jobs. Designers and verification engineers are presented with a fully populated view of their files. When the engineer initiates a read operation, IC Manage Views will obtain the file from the local cache; if the file is not there, IC Manage Views fetches it from the GDP repository. When a designer saves data, IC Manage Views will write it to local or network storage.

IC Manage Views has none of the limitations associated with symbolic links described in the survey results. Designers maintain workspace file control and stability, with fine-grained security configurations independent of file system permissions. IC Manage Views has no manual management of network cache storage and number of versions.

IC Manage Views Availability

IC Manage Views is available immediately on Linux™. It is scheduled to be released on Windows™ before the end of 2012. For more information, please go to the IC Manage Views webpage.

About IC Manage

IC Manage provides high performance design and IP management solutions for companies to efficiently collaborate on single and multi-site designs. IC Manage lets designers dynamically track, control and distribute library, block-level and SOC design data, including configurations and properties.  Design teams can improve product quality, designer productivity, team collaboration, and bug tracking, plus maximize reuse of existing assets through swift derivations of existing IP.  IC Manage is headquartered at Suite 100, 15729 Los Gatos Blvd., Los Gatos, CA. For more information visit us at www.icmanage.com.   

SOURCE IC Manage, Inc.


http://www.icmanage.com


LOS GATOS, Calif., May 15, 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ – IC Manage, Inc. today announced the availability of its fourth annual “Global Design Management Report”, which covers the results of a 524 respondent survey of IC design professionals.

IC Manage’s Global Design Management Report 2012 covers the following findings from an industry-wide April 2012 independent, anonymous worldwide survey:

  1. Driving reasons to use a design management system: 2009 – 2012
  2. IP reuse and logistics management critical features
  3. Design Management system adoption
  4. Open Source design management missing functions
  5. Design File Management Issues, including EDA tool slowdown due to network storage bottlenecks, and issues with symbolic links for disk space management

“Speed and storage are the top concerns with design file management,” said Dean Drako, President and CEO at IC Manage. “Additionally, IP reuse has more than doubled in importance as a design management driver over the last two years, with bug dependency management the leading DM challenge.  It is vital that a design management system deliver all these technologies to design and verification teams.”

IC Manage’s Global Design Data Management report can be read at:
http://icmanage.com/component/technicalpapers/technicalpapers.html?id=16&Itemid=185

In other news today, the company announced its IC Manage Views storage acceleration software –  a version aware, virtual file system that removes network storage bottlenecks to achieve  Zero-Time Sync™ (ZTS) for local and remote sites, and drastically reduce disk space usage. 

About IC Manage

IC Manage provides high performance design and IP management solutions for companies to efficiently collaborate on single and multi-site designs. IC Manage lets designers dynamically track, control and distribute library, block-level and SOC design data, including configurations and properties.  Design teams can improve product quality, designer productivity, team collaboration, and bug tracking, plus maximize reuse of existing assets through swift derivations of existing IP.  IC Manage is headquartered at Suite 100, 15729 Los Gatos Blvd., Los Gatos, CA. For more information visit us at www.icmanage.com.   

SOURCE IC Manage, Inc.


http://www.icmanage.com


MONTREAL, May 14, 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ – AbitibiBowater Inc., doing
business as Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: ABH) (TSX: ABH), today
announced that it has taken up and accepted for payment 9,894,933
additional shares of Fibrek Inc. (TSX: FBK) deposited to its offer as
of the close of business today.  Together with the shares the Company
acquired up to and including May 4, Resolute holds approximately 70.9%
of the currently outstanding Fibrek shares. As aggregate consideration
for the shares taken up today, Resolute will distribute approximately
280,000 newly-issued shares of its common stock and CAD$5.4 million in
cash through RFP Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Resolute reminds Fibrek’s shareholders that, as previously announced,
the offer will NOT be further extended and will expire definitively at
5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on May 17, 2012.
As further described in the offer circular and other ancillary
documentation related to the offer (as amended), Resolute intends to
carry out a second step transaction to acquire the Fibrek shares not
deposited in the offer. With more than 66 2/3% of the Fibrek shares
having been deposited to and taken up by Resolute under its offer,
Resolute is in a position to cause a second step amalgamation or
arrangement transaction to be approved by Fibrek’s shareholders at a
special meeting of shareholders to be convened and held for such
purpose. By tendering before the final expiry time, remaining Fibrek
shareholders will avoid the risks associated with a potentially
illiquid market until Resolute can complete the second step transaction
for the remaining Fibrek shares.

The offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Fibrek
made by Resolute, together with RFP Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned
subsidiary, is more fully described in the offer circular and other
ancillary documentation that Resolute filed on December 15, 2011, on
the “SEDAR” website maintained by the Canadian Securities
Administrators, as varied and extended. The offer expires at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on May 17, 2012.

Questions and requests for assistance or further information on how to
tender Fibrek common shares to the offer should be directed to, and
copies of the above referenced documents may be obtained by contacting,
Georgeson at 1-866-598-0048 or by email at askus@georgeson.com.

Important Notice

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any
vote or approval.  Resolute has filed with the SEC a registration
statement on Form S-4, as amended, in connection with the proposed
transaction with Fibrek.  INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF RESOLUTE AND FIBREK ARE URGED TO READ
THESE DOCUMENTS, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO, AND
ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC
CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE
THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED
TRANSACTION.  Such documents are available free of charge through the
web site maintained by the SEC at
www.sec.gov, by calling the SEC at telephone number 800-SEC-0330, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or on Resolute’s website at www.resolutefp.com.

About Resolute Forest Products

Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products
industry with a diverse range of products, including newsprint,
commercial printing papers, market pulp and wood products. The Company
owns or operates 21 pulp and paper mills and 23 wood products
facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea. Marketing its
products in more than 90 countries, Resolute has third-party certified
100% of its managed woodlands to sustainable forest management
standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products, formerly doing
business as AbitibiBowater, trade under the stock symbol ABH on both
the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Resolute and other member companies of the Forest Products Association
of Canada, as well as a number of environmental organizations, are
partners in the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. The group works to
identify solutions to conservation issues that meet the goal of
balancing equally the three pillars of sustainability linked to human
activities: environmental, social and economic. Resolute is also a
member of the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Savers program, in which
businesses establish ambitious targets to voluntarily reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and work aggressively toward achieving them.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-looking Information

Statements in this press release that are not reported financial results
or other historical information of AbitibiBowater Inc., doing business
as Resolute Forest Products, are “forward-looking statements” and may
be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as the
words “should”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “may”, “expect”, “believe”,
“anticipate”, “attempt”, “project” and other terms with similar meaning
indicating possible future events or potential impact on Resolute’s
business or shareholders, including future operations following the
proposed acquisition of Fibrek. The safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 do not apply to any
forward-looking statements made in connection with an exchange offer.

The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees of future
performance. These statements are based on management’s current
assumptions, beliefs and expectations, all of which involve a number of
business risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially. The potential risks and uncertainties that could
cause Resolute’s actual future financial condition, results of
operations and performance to differ materially from those expressed or
implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, Resolute
Common Stock issued in connection with the proposed acquisition may
have a market value lower than expected, the businesses of Resolute and
Fibrek may not be integrated successfully or such integration may be
more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected, the possible
delay in the completion of the steps required to be taken for the
eventual combination of the two companies, including the possibility
that approvals or clearances required to be obtained from regulatory
and other agencies and bodies will not be obtained in a timely manner,
disruption from the proposed transaction making it more difficult to
maintain relationships with customers, employees and suppliers, and all
other potential risks and uncertainties set forth under the heading
“Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of Resolute’s annual report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, filed with the SEC and
Resolute’s other filings with the Canadian securities regulatory
authorities.

All forward-looking statements in this press release are expressly
qualified by the cautionary statements contained or referred to above
and in Resolute’s other filings with the SEC and the Canadian
securities regulatory authorities. Resolute disclaims any obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by law.

SOURCE RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS

By Anna Driver and Carrick Mollenkamp | NEWS.GNOM.ES – 

HOUSTON/NEW YORK (NEWS.GNOM.ES) – Chesapeake Energy Corp‘s increasing shift from bank loans to costly funding is raising fresh questions about how long the spigot of cash will remain open and whether the company can sell enough assets quickly enough to pay for day-to-day operations.

The company’s problems were brought into sharp focus Monday when CEO Aubrey McClendon, who has a reputation for scrambling to close financing deals, told skeptical stock and bond holders how his company will use a loan from Jefferies & Co. and Goldman Sachs to pay down a $4 billion loan commitment from banks.

While McClendon expressed confidence Chesapeake can find buyers for assets, the $3 billion loan announced on Friday evening was a sign that potential bidders were taking advantage of the company’s weakening liquidity and offering low-ball bids for assets.

“The way I look at is, I know they have some desirable assets,” Phil Weiss, analyst at Argus Research, said. “At some point, doesn’t the buyer on the other side of the table say ‘this company is in trouble, I’m going to hold out for better?’”

The company’s shares fell nearly 14 percent on Friday after Chesapeake said in a quarterly filing it would delay or cancel a production deal on oil-rich acreage in South Texas, a transaction that would have brought in $1 billion for the cash-starved company.

Seeking to reassure investors, the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma company said on Monday it is on track to close deals that will bring up to $11.5 billion this year, funds that are essential to closing a gap of around $9 billion. Shares closed up nearly 5 percent on Monday, but are down over 30 percent for the year.

While the loan provides some short-term relief, worries remain. Bond investors are nervous not only about future asset sales, which are effectively required by the new loan, but also about other new loans that may become secured ahead of the bonds, according to Alexander Diaz-Matos of New York credit-research firm Covenant Review LLC.

“I see this term loan today and I worry what is the next step,” said Diaz-Matos, a lawyer and expert in bond covenants. “The loan has a blanket protection against future secured debt,” Diaz-Matos said, noting that is the “top-line concern” for bond investors, “who don’t have meaningful protection against secured loans.”

“After reviewing Friday’s 10-Q, we believe the company’s financial footing has further deteriorated,” Sterne Agee analyst Tim Rezvan told his clients on Monday, noting the 5-year loan’s pricey 8.75 percent interest rate signaled desperation for cash.

Trading in Chesapeake debt securities was active with bonds maturing in 2020 being quoted around 91.50 cents and 92.50 cents on the dollar. On Friday, those bonds closed at 93.50 cents on the dollar, but not before starting the day around 97 cents on the dollar.

Investors increasingly are betting that Chesapeake’s stock will fall. Those investors, known as short sellers, seek to profit when they borrow shares and then sell them in the hope of buying them back at a lower price for a profit.

The percentage of shares outstanding on loan, which indicates the shares are being loaned to short sellers, has risen to 12.5 percent of shares outstanding from 3.3 percent at the beginning of the year, according to Markit Group.

Another indicator is the cost of insuring Chesapeake’s debt against potential default, which rose to its highest level in more than a year. Five-year credit default swaps widened by 52 basis points to about 804 basis points. That means it costs $804,000 a year for five years to insure $10 million of debt.

CDS prices have climbed more than 45 percent in the past 50 days, signaling sharply rising concerns about the company’s ability to service its debt.

Still, some noted McClendon’s past fund-raising prowess. “About the only thing you can say about Aubrey is he really knows how to raise money,” Mike Breard, oil analyst with Hodges Capital in Dallas, said.

TAPPED OUT?

Chesapeake’s recent misfortunes, which include NEWS.GNOM.ES’ revelation that McClendon has arranged to borrow more than $1 billion against well interests granted to him as a company perk and resulting regulatory probes, may give buyers an upper hand, analysts and investment bankers said.

The company’s major asset currently on the market is its 1.5 million acres of lease holdings in the oil-rich Permian basin, which has become one of the hottest exploration regions in North America in recent years.

It has also said it plans to find a joint venture partner in another liquids-rich region, the Mississippi Lime basin. It said it expects to close both deals in the third quarter.

“All of the divestitures are at risk,” said one investment banker who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They’re all challenged. If you’re a buyer and you smell blood would you give full value?”

McClendon said in a conference call on Monday that the company opened its data room for the Permian basin acreage last week, and three possible buyers have already looked at the information. He said more than 10 companies have expressed interest in the assets.

Acreage in the Permian basin has become highly sought after in recent years, with deals bringing in as much as $17,000 an acre (0.4 hectare) for assets believed to be particularly oil heavy.

While Chesapeake has one of the largest land positions in the basin, bankers said some buyers were worried that the company’s lease holdings in the region are too gas heavy and spread out to fetch premium prices.

Chesapeake is hoping to bring in around $5 billion from the sale, according to two investment bankers working in the industry. But bankers said the company may have trouble reaching that number.

“It’s the most attractive asset on the face of it, and people are looking at it and saying, ‘We’re not sure how good it is, we’re not sure if we’re really interested,’” another banker said. “It will be a reasonable process. This is a core area for a lot of people. But if I were a buyer I’d be looking at it and saying this is a seller who needs to sell.”

Companies have not yet submitted bids for the assets. Still, given the price tag and that buyers may have to invest new capital in the properties to keep developing them, bids are likely to come from only large oil and gas companies, like Occidental Petroleum, Apache Corp and Marathon Oil.

Chesapeake has about 2 million acres in the Mississippi Line, a formation in northern Oklahoma and Kansas that contains natural gas and oil.

One challenge facing Chesapeake’s Mississippi Lime JV has been that some of its previous partnerships — especially in so-called dry gas regions — have turned sour.

For instance, Chesapeake signed a deal to sell 25 percent of its Fayetteville shale acreage to BP Plc in 2008. While Chesapeake later sold out of its side in the partnership, BP took a $393 million write down on the value of the assets in 2011.

“It’s been a pretty unsuccessful adventure for guys,” one investment banker said. “It accrues more value for Chesapeake than for its partners, so a lot of guys are reluctant to go into a JV with him.”

(Additional reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Patricia Kranz and Leslie Gevirtz)


HERTFORD, England, May 11, 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ –

Experience the rich cultural heritage of Phuket by visiting the glorious Por Tor Festival with Freedom Asia

Phuket is the largest and most popular island in Thailand. As the cosmopolitan hub of the country, there are literally hundreds of festivals and events that celebrate every facet of religion, faith, and race. By offering unique and quirky experiences, tourists flock to these celebrations to observe the cultural richness of Thailand’s past traditions.

So for adventure-craving travellers looking to experience one of Thailand’s festivals first-hand, search for your ideal Phuket holidays with Freedom Asia. Their travel experts have visited Asia on a number of occasions, and can help you create the perfect individual holiday.

One festival that Freedom Asia encourages tourists to visit is the wonderful Por Tor Festival. Celebrated at the Por Tor Kong Shrine in the Bang Neaw district, the Por Tor Festival is an important event for all ethnic Chinese in Phuket, as they wish to appease the ghosts of their hungry ancestors who they believe are released from hell for a month.

During the festivities, special foods, flowers, and candles are presented to the ancestors alters. These offerings generally include dishes of steamed pork, duck, and chicken, which represent the wish for prosperity and plenitude. Colourful turtle shaped cakes are also made and put on display. As turtles symbolise longevity, worshippers believe that making such an offering will bring them long life.

Held for a month across July and August, travellers should not miss the opportunity to attend this festival when on their holidays in Phuket. To keep tourists occupied, stalls are set up featuring local games such as darts, shooting galleries, and fishing games. Pop-up shops sell souvenirs, and with all this focus on food, there is plenty of it also on offer including those delicious turtle cakes!  

So if you are not sure where to go for your holidays, Phuket may be your ideal destination. With its beautiful scenery, quaint old towns, beautifully decorate temples, and culturally significant festivals, start planning your perfect trip to Phuket with Freedom Asia!

About Freedom Asia

Freedom Asia was founded on the desire to create authentic, personal, and great value trips to the many beautiful countries of Asia. They constantly aim to provide their customers with the ideal holiday by choosing the exact accommodation, tours, and activities that their customers are looking for, and blending them together for the perfect travelling experience.  Freedom Asia realise that price is important to their customers, so their buyers negotiate directly with suppliers in the Far East, and select the best products in their class.

http://www.freedomasia.co.uk

SOURCE Freedom Asia


NIEUWEGEIN, Nederland, May 11, 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ –

De NMa heeft naar aanleiding van een tussenuitspraak van het College van Beroep voor het Bedrijfsleven een in 2003 aan Ballast Nedam opgelegde boete inzake mededingingsovertredingen gedurende 1998 – 2001 verlaagd tot € 1,5 miljoen. De boete was in 2006 reeds verlaagd van € 14,5 miljoen tot € 7,9 miljoen. Het besluit van de NMa ligt nu bij het College van Beroep voor het Bedrijfsleven ter finale beoordeling voor. De einduitspraak van het College in deze jarenlange beroepsprocedure volgt naar verwachting in 2012.

Ballast Nedam vindt het van groot belang dat de wet- en regelgeving wordt nageleefd. Om dit te borgen heeft Ballast Nedam een uitgebreid en strikt Compliance programma, waarover we rapporteren in ons jaarverslag.

Ballast Nedam heeft een leidende positie in de bouw en infrastructuur. De onderneming is met (integrale) projecten voor bedrijven, overheden en woonconsumenten vooral in Nederland actief op de gebieden van mobiliteit, wonen, werken, recreatie en energie. Internationaal is Ballast Nedam actief in een aantal expertisegebieden. Ballast Nedam levert project-, proces- en contractmanagement in de fasen ontwikkeling, realisatie en beheer. Daarnaast levert de onderneming specialistische kennis en (deel)producten. Ballast Nedam is genoteerd aan de NYSE Euronext-beurs in Amsterdam. Het aandeel is opgenomen in de Amsterdam Small Cap Index.

PRN NLD


LOS ANGELES, May 10, 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ – Todd Zelek, CEO and Chairman of Cavitation Technologies, Inc, (CTi) (OTCBB: CVAT; Berlin & Stuttgart: WTC) will host a conference call for all shareholders Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. PDT in order to provide an up-date on recent developments at the Company. The conference dial-in phone number is (213) 493-0800 and the participant code is 303901#.

Cavitation Technologies, Inc. is a California-based development stage company that has developed, patented, and commercialized proprietary technology for certain stages of soybean oil refining.  Our Nano Reactor® is the critical component of the CTi Nano Neutralization® System which is designed to reduce operating costs, increase yields and improve quality in the refining of various vegetable oils. The Company engineers and designs environmentally friendly Nano technology based systems that have potential applications in industrial liquid processing applications. The Company has two patented Nano Reactors® and has filed patent applications to employ its proprietary technology in vegetable oil refining, waste water treatment, renewable fuels, and alcoholic beverage enhancement.

This release contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements and information about the Company’s business, plans and strategies.  These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ.  Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of business, economic and competitive market conditions; business decisions by suppliers, licensees and customers concerning the Company’s technologies and products; the Company’s ability to develop new or additional technologies and applications in various fields and industries and to stimulate customer demand for its technologies and products; the size and growth of markets for the Company’s technologies and products; the Company’s ability to implement patent licensing and marketing strategies, including execution of revenue generation strategies and models; the continued availability of essential components and services that are currently obtained from sole or limited sources; the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property in world markets; the success of business relationships with suppliers, licensees and customers; the timing and success in completing research & development projects, whether existing or new patent applications will be granted; the potential for infringement of the Company’s intellectual property by others; the ability of the Company to fund capital requirements; and its ability to attract/retain key personnel.

Additional information on potential factors that could affect the Company’s performance or financial results is included in the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC.  The Company assumes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements or information, which are effective or apply only as of their respective dates of publication.  

NOTE TO EDITORS:  For additional information, visit CTi’s website at www.ctinanotech.com.

References to CTi, the CTi logo, Nano Reactor system®, Nano Reactors®, CTi Nano Neutralization® and other terms that describe the Company’s technologies, applications, processes and products are trademarks of the Company.  Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.    

SOURCE Cavitation Technologies, Inc.


http://www.ctinanotech.com


TUPELO, Miss., May 10, 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ — BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE: BXS) today announced that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Aubrey Patterson has informed the Board of Directors of his plan to retire as Chief Executive Officer in 2013.  Mr. Patterson was appointed Chairman and CEO of BancorpSouth in 1991, having previously served as its President and CEO from 1990 to 1991 and its President and Chief Operating Officer from 1983 to 1990.

Mr. Patterson expects to continue to serve as Chairman and CEO until a successor is named and the CEO transition is complete.  It is anticipated that this will occur at or around the time of the annual shareholders meeting in April 2013.  The Board has formed a search committee to identify a new CEO and has retained Spencer Stuart, a leading executive search firm with experience in CEO transitions, to advise the Board on potential candidates. 

Mr. Patterson said, “Because of my retirement plans, the Board has initiated a succession process in which a special committee will oversee the search for, and recommend to the Board, the best candidate to become CEO of BancorpSouth.  I have every confidence that this transition process will be orderly and successful and that it will result in a new leader for BancorpSouth with the experience, skills and vision to build on our strong franchise and history.”

Hassell H. Franklin, the head of the search committee, commented, “During Aubrey Patterson’s more than 20 years as Chairman and CEO of BancorpSouth, the Company has increased its assets from $1.5 billion to $13.3 billion, while expanding its footprint from one state to nine states.  We are very appreciative of his complete commitment to BancorpSouth and its employees, clients and shareholders during his leadership tenure and throughout his nearly 40 years with the Company.  We also thank him for his continuing efforts on BancorpSouth’s behalf in working to make this leadership transition process as smooth as possible.”

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release may not be based on historical facts and are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be identified by their reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “would,” “could” or “intend.” These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to Mr. Patterson’s plans to retire and to continue to serve until his successor is named and the timing of implementation of the succession plan.

We caution you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release in that actual results could differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements because of a variety of factors. These factors may include those factors detailed from time to time in the Company’s press releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About BancorpSouth

BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, with $13.3 billion in assets.  BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc., operates approximately 290 commercial banking, mortgage, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.  BancorpSouth Bank also operates an insurance location in Illinois.

SOURCE BancorpSouth, Inc.

Powered by WordPress and Motion by 85ideas.