Live Breaking News & Updates on Uot he said

Stay informed with the latest breaking news from Uot he said on our comprehensive webpage. Get up-to-the-minute updates on local events, politics, business, entertainment, and more. Our dedicated team of journalists delivers timely and reliable news, ensuring you're always in the know. Discover firsthand accounts, expert analysis, and exclusive interviews, all in one convenient destination. Don't miss a beat — visit our webpage for real-time breaking news in Uot he said and stay connected to the pulse of your community

Union Forest Minister Gave Away 'Eco Warrior Awards 2023', India's First Ever Dedicated Awards Show For Indian Forest Service Officers

PNN New Delhi [India], November 6: India's first ever dedicated award show for Indian Forest Service officers, the Eco Warrior Awards 2023, was held on 3rd November, to honor exceptional individuals and initiatives that have made significant contributions to environmental conservation and sustainable practices. Union Minister of Forest, Climate & Environment Change, Bhupender Yadav, was the Chief Guest and Minister of State, MoEFCC, Ashwini Kumar Choubey was the Guest of Honour. They were accompanied by DG Forests, CP Goyal, and Member Secretary, NTCA, S. P Yadav, who is also the President of the Indian Forest Service Officers' Association. Eco Warrior Awards 2023 was organised jointly by Indian Masterminds and Indian Forest Service Association, and the awards were sponsored by HPCL - a Maharatna company in oil and gas sector; GAIL - India's leading Natural Gas Company; and Okiwana - Ye E Sahi Hai. The event commenced with a National Conclave on Forest and Wildlife Conservation, where IFS officers - Suneesh Buxy, Vivek Saxena, Saurabh Sharma, Bishwajit Mishra, Dr. Mohan Ram, Amit Anand, Millo Tasser, Parveen Kaswan, SK Awasthi, Sudha Ramen - and MD of Jungle Lodges & Resorts Ltd, Bengaluru, Manoj Kumar, offered their valuable suggestions. AWARDEES The first award of the night was presented for the category 'Forest Protection' to Vasu Kanojia, DFO, North Seoni, Madhya Pradesh. The second award was for 'Wildlife Conservation' and it was given to Dr. Mohan Ram for his exemplary work in wildlife conservation in Gir Forest, Gujarat. The next award under the category of 'Wildlife Protection' went to Ritesh Sarothiya, Regional Deputy Director, NR, WCCB, Headquarters, MoEF&CC, Delhi. The award for the 'Best Use of Technology for Conservation' went to Biswajit Mishra, currently serving as CCF, (CTI), in Bengaluru. The last award for the evening was the 'Award for Community Connect' and it went to Millo Tassar, Conservator of Forests in Arunachal Pradesh. MINISTER SPEAKS Addressing the august gathering, Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav said that wildlife conservation is not just a service, it is a passion. "It is not just a service, it is a mission. Each one of you is a karmayogi. This is the Prime Minister's message for you all," he added. The minister's presidential speech was followed by the vote of thanks from Indian Masterminds Editor Sharad Gupta, who underlined the organisation's journey and also elaborated on how the Eco Warrior Awards were conceived and realized. He briefed the august gathering about the journey of the organisation since its birth during the pandemic in 2020. It was during the pandemic when Sharad Gupta and Prabhakar Singh, the Director of Indian Masterminds, decided to start Indian Masterminds to profile the bureaucrats and their good work, as a platform to celebrate excellence in Indian Bureaucracy by showcasing their inspiring stories and insights, and honouring the visionaries and changemakers. Gupta said, "We ended up doing around 300 plus stories on IFS officers alone, and it was then that we realised that there were no specific awards for them." He further said that the idea to constitute these awards was formed on April 5, while talking to IFS officer Saket Badola, the General Secretary of IFS Association. "He came up with this idea and we gave shape to it. And, 7-8 months of hard work has resulted in this," he said, referring to the awards function. The show came to an end with an enthralling live performance by India's first international sand artist, Nitish Bharti. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

China , Texas , United-states , Vietnam , Republic-of , Jakarta , Jakarta-raya , Indonesia , Beijing , North-carolina , Hanoi , Han-i

JKPCC organizes Jai Bharat Satyagrah protest March in Guru Nanak Nagar

Jammu,April 12 (Scoop News)-JKPCC Working President Raman Bhalla, District Incharge Yogesh Sawhney, Chief Spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, Manmohan Singh, ST Chairman Hussain Ali Waffa, Sewadal Chairman Vijay Sharma Babbi, Satish Sharma today led Jai Bharat Satyagraha March which started from Deva Palace, Preet Nagar to Shiva Ji Chowk, Guru Nanak Nagar Sector 6, 7, 11, 12, 2,1, . The March was organized by Block-10 and Block-12, Block President Surinder Singh Dutt and Mandeep Singh Sonu. Prominent among those present on the occasion include Corporator Dewarka Choudhary, Aman Bawa, Vijay Chib, Sandeep Dogra, DR. Ramankant Khajuria, Satpal Spolia, Parveen Singh, Yougal Sharma, Pawan Dev Singh, Atul Sharma, Vijay Khajuria, Pardeep Bhalla, Arvind Sharma, Vandana Makhnotra, Suman Choudhary, Rajinder Singh , Beyant Singh, Gurdeep Singh Kaka, Jasbir Singh, Parmodh Jain, Nittin Sharma, KS Slathia, Ashwani Sethi, Bushan Kumar Reddi, AS Sambyal, Deepak Malhotra, Pardeep Nanda, Sashi Syal, Rakesh Kumar, Subadar Tersham Kumar, Lajo Ram, Inder Pal, Dr Sandeep Singh, Dr Vijay Sharma, Satnam Singh Kaka, Neeraj Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Babli Devi, Jyoti Devi, Gurmeet Singh, Yash Pal, Rakesh Kumar, Manmeet Singh, Onkar Singh, Vicky Singh, Amrish Sharma besides others.

Addressing the Jai Bharat Satyagraha Sabha, Bhalla said that the direct involvement of the public in the Jai Bharat program is proof that now the public is also fed up with the killer government of this democracy. He said that Satyagraha is the only powerful medium in which the divisive, conspiratorial elements sitting in power of the country can be fought. He said that a conspiracy was hatched to end Rahul Gandhi's membership of the Parliament, so that inflation, falling economy of the Country, bank scams, demand of Prime Minister's relationship with Adani should not get force, but we will always remain in the public regarding this matter.

Bhalla said that democracy and constitution are being put in danger for their political gains, an atmosphere of anarchy is being created in the Country. He said that the Government sitting at the Center, its ministers, its MPs, are getting so shattered in the arrogance of majority, they are not missing out even by tarnishing their dignity with their statements.He targeted the Center and said that Government is doing politics of vengeance, it has neither been able to scare the Congress nor the democracy, nor will they be able to scare . He said that Rahul Gandhi is not fighting for himself but to ensure that there is mutual brotherhood in the Country, that lower class, middle class families, farmers and laborers have a smile on their faces, their stomachs do not remain empty, and this is the reason why the entire BJP was shocked and Rahul Gandhi's membership has been canceled but we are not afraid of it.He said that Rahul Gandhi's membership was terminated because he touched the Prime Minister's sore throat. “He raised his voice on Adani Modi's alliance. Rahul asked the Prime Minister the reason for the sinking of LIC and SBI,” he added.

With regard to J&K, Bhalla claimed that the BJP-led Centre is neither serious about holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir nor restoring its statehood. He also sought support from the people to defeat "politics of hate and division" in the country.The Centre is only hoodwinking people by issuing vague statements from time to time for the last three and half years," he said.He said the vague statements from time to time about restoration of statehood and assembly elections do not inspire confidence and trust among people as the promises were never fulfilled by the BJP government. "People had not voted for the BJP to divide and downgrade our historical state into Union Territory and snatch our rights over lands and jobs, guaranteed to people by the last Dogra ruler through state subject laws. He attacked government for its alleged failure to control unprecedented price rise and unemployment, improving the condition of farmers and addressing security concerns.

Ravinder Sharma said that during last nine years unemployment has been all time high in J&K and the country. He said that people have understood the nefarious designs of BJP and further requested the people to raise the questions to BJP leadership when they come for votes that though after giving them huge mandate from Jammu region then also why they were neglected on all fronts.."The Congress with an open heart has put up its best efforts to fight the wrong and unconstitutional policies of the BJP which has left the people of Jammu and Kashmir unhappy," he said. Only an elected government can provide a pro-people government because the representatives are accountable to the public," he said.

Yogesh Sawhney said that whenever elections are round the corner in any state, BJP adopts a divisive agenda of vote bank politics, which is very dangerous for the nation," he said. He slammed the BJP for "destroying" Jammu and kashmir and "crushing" the rights of people. "Statehood and democracy is our right but BJP is delaying restoration of statehood and early elections since it is ruling J-K by proxy. It has carried out distorted delimitation to achieve its political motives through backdoors," he said, asserting that BJP will not succeed in its designs to come to power by such tactics. He said his party will fight against the "wrong policies" of the BJP tooth and nail and stand for the rights of each and every section of the society. If the situation is conducive for every other thing, then why cannot Assembly polls be held to give an elected government to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Sawhney asked.

Speaking on the occasion, Manmohan Singh said that BJP government had promised with people for better days but till date they had done nothing in this regard as people of the areas facing many hardships. He alleged that they gathered votes during the election on fake promises and later turned nelson's eye towards the miseries of the people. He appealed to the people to strengthen the party at grass-root level and to support the party in polls. He said BJP who ruled Jammu and Kashmir for three years has been exposed for its false promises. Development for this political party is only a slogan," he alleged. He expressed the hope and confidence that people of Jammu region will not repeat the mistake of 2014 after suffering a lot giving mandate to BJP.

ST Chairman Hussain Ali Waffa spoke on the occasion said that Congress is the only alternative to BJP in Jammu Kashmir and at the Centre to bring the nagion back on the rails in the every sphere, especially on the path of prosperity, peace and harmony in the country.

Parmodh-jain , Satpal-spolia , Rahul-gandhi , Vijay-chib , Bharat-satyagrah , Neeraj-kumar , Bhalla-jammu , Ramankant-khajuria , Lajo-ram , Surinder-singh-dutt , Dewarka-choudhary , Raman-bhalla

G20 Sherpa and dignitaries come together to make SheSparks 2023 a vessel of change for India's women

New Delhi [India], March 8 (ANI/PRNewswire): SheSparks 2023, a year-long commitment to empower, enable, and encourage women in the workforce, kicked off with a mega event on Friday at New Delhi's India Habitat Centre. The event brought together several successful and remarkable women such as Kalaari Capital Managing Director Vani Kola, UN Women India's Deputy Country Representative Kanta Singh, Niti Aayog Senior Advisor Anna Roy, and several other incredible women who are inspiring and enabling others to join the workforce, grow, and thrive. Prominent male allies such as India's G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Atal Innovation Mission Director, Dr Chintan Vaishnav were also present at the event and spoke about the importance of women's participation to fulfil India's dream of becoming a USD 5-trillion economy. At SheSparks 2023, Vani also released The State of Women Entrepreneurship Report 2023, which revealed some harsh realities. Only 15 per cent Indian unicorns have women co-founders, less than 1 per cent of active angel investors in India are women, just 1 per cent funding has been received by women-led startups, and 60 per cent women faced some form of bias in the last one year. During a fireside chat at the event, Vani highlighted that there is a stark difference between men and women when it comes to fundraising and financial conversations. Women tend to be more tentative, muted, and timid when they approach investors for capital as opposed to their male counterparts, she said. The VC is hopeful about what the future holds as there now exists a vibrant community of women and their voices to turbocharge progress. In a fireside chat with YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma, Dr Chintan Vaishnav spoke about 'Building a robust framework for upskilling women'. He talked about the need for mentoring programmes for women that are aspirational and diverse in experiences. "If we can work together to make that happen, it would be great," he said, adding that the unique strength women have is compassion. "And compassion matters a lot in solving problems. For instance, climate change issues cannot be resolved without women because that requires a lot of compassion." Amitabh Kant, who routinely champions women's causes, spoke about the influential role of women in India's economic growth story. "Women will play the most transformational role in India's growth story, especially those from Tier II and Tier III cities. Many from rural areas are set to do pathbreaking work because they'll be more hungry for disruption than men," he said. If India has to grow at a high rate of 9 per cent to 10 per cent per annum year after year for three decades or more, it can't happen without women, Kant stressed. "One of India's G20 priorities is women-led development - and that means women should not be merely beneficiaries, but growth drivers and leaders in development and progress," Amitabh Kant highlighted. Kanta Singh shared her thoughts on women entrepreneurship and how the role goes beyond building businesses and comes with a responsibility of providing mentorship and support to young girls who will be building the future. "I believe this is the best time to be born a woman. We, at the UN Women, while working with NITI Aayog and other partners on the cause of women's entrepreneurship, are witness to so much energy around." "The future of work will be determined by what and who we invest in today. So, as entrepreneurs and most importantly as humans, we have a responsibility towards young women," Kanta said. According to Anna Roy, information discovery is a key hurdle to empowering women entrepreneurs, and she said the NITI Aayog is working to solve it with its Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP). "The WEP will further boost women entrepreneurs in India with different initiatives, the role of ecosystem partners, credit support, (help resolve) challenges for women promoters and more," she said. A key highlight of the event was the SheSparks awards - a call to action, bringing together women who are being and creating the spark of change across 15+ categories. (Full list below) In addition to the event in New Delhi, SheSparks 2023 is YourStory's year-long commitment to change that it intends to renew every year. At the event, YourStory unveiled its shared manifesto for owning and driving the change everyone needs to see for more women to become economically and socially independent. YourStory also aims to work towards sharing policy recommendations with various government bodies and ministries. It is also preparing to launch a curated women's entrepreneurship and skilling programme to help create 1 million job-creators through YourStory University. Based on practical, outcome-based learning and available in multiple languages, this programme will help all women dreaming and daring to tread the road to entrepreneurship. Last but definitely not the least, here is the full list of SheSparks 2023 award winners: 1. Equity: Vani Kola, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital 2. Public Policy: Shweta Rajpal Kohli, Chief Public Policy Officer, Sequoia Capital India & Southeast Asia - Public Policy 3. Corporate: Sangeeta Bavi, Executive Director Digital Natives, Microsoft 4. Brand Building: Shivani Malik, Director and Head of Marketing, Da Milano 5. Impact Creators for Women: Anamika Pandey, Co-founder, Naario 6. Art and Culture: Anumita Jain, Founder, A Clay Story 7. Business: Chaitra Chidanand, Co-founder, SALT 8. Creator: Neha Nagar, Content creator 9. Investing: Anisha Singh, Founder, SheCapital 10. Sustainability: Vibha Tripathi, Founder, Boon, and Saumya, Co-founder and CPO, Kheyti 11. He for SheSparks: Parikipandla Narahari, IAS, Government of Madhya Pradesh 12. India: Aastha Grover, Head, Startup India 13. Bharat: Smita Ram, Co-founder and CEO, Rang De, and Trishala Punjabi, Founder and CEO, BharatMD 14. Community: Lathika Pai, Founding Member, Sonder Connect 15. Manufacturing: Samriddhi Pandey, Founder and CEO, Defy Aerospace, and Sowmya Balendiran, Co-founder and COO, Sea6 Energy 16. Startups: Smita Deorah, Co-founder and Co-CEO, LEAD School 17. Social Impact: Prerna Mukharya, Founder, Outline India 18. Politics: Kanksshi Agarwal, Founder and CEO, NETRI Foundation 19. Politics: Esha Singh Alagh, Director, I-PAC 20. Sports: Vaidehi Vaidya, Founder and MD, Women in Sports India 21. High-impact Governance: Shruti Singh, Joint Secretary, DPIIT https://events.yourstory.com/shesparks-2023 https://yourstory.com/ This story has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)

Laos , News-net , News-release-publishing , New-delhi-india- , Arch-8-ani-prnewswire-shesparks-2023 , A-year-long-commitment-to-empower , Nable , Nd-encourage-women-in-the-workforce , Icked-off-witha-mega-event-on-friday-at-new-delhi-39s-india-habitat-centre-the-brought-together-several-successful-and-remarkable-women-such-as-kalaari-capital-managing-director-vani-kola , N-women-india-39s-deputy-country-representative-kanta-singh , Iti-aayog-senior-advisor-anna-roy

Mega Prime Food exec eyes 18% rise in sales

SALES GROWTH. Mega Prime Food Inc. (MPFI) chief growth and development officer Marvin Tiu-Lim targets an 18-percent sales growth this year, sustaining the expansion in the last five years. Tiu-Lim traced his optimism to additional distribution following the opening of its new manufacturing plant in Santo Tomas, Batangas, as well as the bid to beef up the company's sales team to have more people who will go to grassroots, such as the sari-sari (variety) stores. (Photo by Joann S. Villanueva) MANILA - An executive of Mega Prime Food Inc. (MPFI) targets around 18 percent rise in sales this year, sustaining its increase in the last five year, due in part to wider distribution channels and increased production. In an interview during the inauguration of the company's PHP1-billion state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Santo Tomas town, Batangas province on Wednesday, MPFI chief growth and development officer Marvin Tiu-Lim said they also aim to increase their product selection and beef-up their sales and distribution team to further boost sales. "We intend to making sure that our products are more accessible to more and more Filipinos," he said. To date, the newly-inaugurated manufacturing plant produces around 300,000 cans per day since it has one operational canning line that is operating. Tiu-Lim said they will add two more lines this year to eventually increase the daily production to around 900,000. He said this will greatly boost the 2.4 million daily production of their manufacturing plants in Zamboanga. However, Tiu-Lim said "this is just the capacity" of the manufacturing plants. "This depends on the fish catch," he said, citing the supply issues for Tamban (sardines) the company faced in 2022 due to the impact of La Nina. Tiu-Lim said fishing season resumes on Thursday after the regular close fishing season from Nov. 30 to March 1. "We're hoping that this season will be good and fish will be abundant so we can lower the price and make sure that availability is there," he added. Tiu-Lim said the share of the new manufacturing plant to total production is targeted to be around 20 to 30 percent by the end of this year, but this is expected to grow to around 40 to 50 percent in the coming years. He said the company is eyeing to do an initial public offering (IPO) in the succeeding years to help boost capital but added nothing is definite yet. (PNA) }

Santo-tomas , Pampanga , Philippines , Manila , Tamban , Camarines-sur , Batangas , Batangas-city , Zamboanga , Filipinos , Mega-prime-food-inc

Vice Mayors Academy to enhance local legislation mulled

Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia. (Contributed photo) CEBU CITY - A Vice Mayors Academy that will provide continuing education on legislation to presiding officers of local legislative bodies is among the projects eyed by the new leadership of the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines (VMLP), an official here on Thursday said. Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, VMLP's newly elected national executive vice president, said he is pushing for the formation of an academy where presiding officers like him can attend capacity-building and skills improvement training. "We have many programs in our mind. One of that is the creation of the Vice Mayors Academy for the vice mayors' continued schooling to enhance their knowledge, skills, and know-how, especially when it comes to legislative intervention," Garcia said. He cited the need for a fast-paced development that calls for upgrading the presiding officers' capabilities to preside over local legislative council sessions as well as the current trends and techniques in crafting good legislative pieces, including proper construction, content, and language used for ordinances. Garcia, elected to the second highest post of the VMLP unopposed during last Tuesday's (Feb. 22, 2023) 27th National Convention, said a series of training in the academy would also equip vice mayors with the proper skills necessary to run a local legislative council or Sanggunian. The academy, he said, would become a avenue for the vice mayors to exchange ideas on best practices in supervising municipal and city councils. "It is also an opportunity for the vice mayors to also learn more from the experiences of other vice mayors and do benchmarking in other cities and municipalities where you can learn good pieces of legislations that they passed which may also be useful if passed in your own locality," he said, adding that "in exchanging of ideas, vice mayors can work together for the benefit of their respective constituencies." Garcia vowed to turn his election as the second highest officer of the organization into an advantage for Cebu City. Sta. Maria, Isabela Vice Mayor Dean Anthony Domalanta was chosen as VMLP national executive president while Malabon Vice Mayor Bernard Ninong Dela Cruz was elected as national chairperson. Sulu Vice Mayor Almedzar Hajiri was elected as national secretary general. VMLP, an organization of city and municipal vice mayors in the country has over 1,600 members. (PNA) }

Malabon , Philippines , Isabela , Negros-occidental , Bernard-ninong-dela-cruz , Anthony-domalanta , Almedzar-hajiri , Raymond-alvin-garcia , Vice-mayors-league , Vice-mayors-academy , A-vice-mayors-academy , National-convention

DepEd to relocate Antique school for airport expansion

UP FOR EXPANSION. The Antique Airport in Barangay Funda-Dalipe in San Jose de Buenavista in this undated photo. The lone airport in Antique will undergo expansion calling for the relocation of a school that is near the airport runway.(PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo Petinglay) SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique - The Department of Education (DepEd) will relocate the Salazar Elementary School (SES) in Barangay Funda-Dalipe in San Jose de Buenavista to pave the way for the rehabilitation of the Antique Airport. "Mayor Elmer Untaran has already informed us that they have found a new site for the relocation of the SES still within the barangay," said DepEd Schools Division of Antique Engineer Rex Galero said in an interview Wednesday. Galero added that they are coordinating with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the local government unit (LGU) of San Jose de Buenavista for the relocation. The budget for the procurement of the new school site and its construction is already included in the PHP500 million budget for the Antique Airport rehabilitation project under the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA). It will be downloaded to the LGU that will undertake the project following the design of the Department of Public Works and Highways. The SES sits in a 3,500 square meter area, which is near the airport runway. The school's two new buildings with 10 classrooms could be affected by the airport expansion. Juanito Tanchico Jr., Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) manager in Antique in a separate interview, said the airport runway cannot yet accommodate airbuses by the Philippine Airlines, lone air carrier flying from Metro Manila to Antique on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. "The Antique Airport, as of now, is only 1,300 meters wide," he said, adding that the runway has to be widened to at least 1,980 meters to be able to accommodate an airbus. He also said that once the expansion will be finished, the Antique Airport is expected to become competitive with the other airports in the country and be able to entice other airline companies to operate in the province. Meanwhile, learners of 13 remote schools from the province are recipients of school supplies from the Philippine Independent Day Council (PIDC), which is an organization of the Filipino-Canadians in Toronto, Canada. The organization has been giving school supplies since December 2022 and the members of their board arrived in San Remigio, Antique on Feb. 19 to join the distribution. PIDC Panay Island coordinator Salome Victoriano Mader, in an interview on Wednesday, said she lobbied for the 13 schools to provide learners with school supplies. "I had been there before and I would like to help the children," said Mader, who was assisted by her husband Canadian Kurt Mader during the distribution. (PNA) }

Philippine , Benguet , Philippines , Manila , Barangay , Pangasinan , San-remigio , Antique , Panay-island , Catanduanes , Toronto , Ontario

Antique loom weavers cultivate model farm for natural dye

NATURAL DYE. Handwoven fabric is known aspatadyongnow on display at the Senate. Mario Manzano, chairman of the Bagtason Loom Weavers Association (BLWA) said on Friday (Feb. 17, 2023) they are now cultivating a model farm that will be a source of natural dye for their handwoven fabric in Barangay Bagtason, Bugasong.(Photo courtesy of Mario Manzano) SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique - A loom weavers group in the municipality of Bugasong has started cultivating a model farm as a source of natural dye for handwoven fabric known as patadyong. The Bagtason Loom Weavers Association (BLWA) led by its chairman Mario Manzano, in an interview Friday, said they initially planted indigo, a shrub that can be a source of blue natural dye in a less than a hectare area in Barangay Bagtason on Feb. 13. The BLWA in the municipality of Bugasong is now using natural dye on its handwoven fabric. Manzano said they used to make use of a synthetic dye that they ordered from stores in Metro Manila. Last November, the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) trained them on the use of natural dye from plants that can be locally sourced in Antique. The training was conducted at the Dye Center in Barangay Bagtason through a PHP150,000 fund provided by the National Commission Center for the Arts (NCCA). "Senator (Senate President Pro Tempore) Loren Legarda assisted us in looking for funds from the NCCA so that we could have a facility to be used," Manzano said. "The PTRI is promoting natural dye for it is safe to the skin of the person wearing the fabric, eco-friendly and in order to preserve the culture," he said, adding "there are actually plants that are just growing anywhere in Antique that when processed could produce natural dye." To make sure that they have a ready supply of natural dye, they started their own model farm. The BLWA was established in 2008 to revitalize the handloom weaving industry in the province of Antique, particularly in the municipality of Bugasong. The association has 35 active loom weavers producing the textile and being paid their wages. They earn around PHP100,000 from the patadyong textile that they sell for PHP700 per meter. The handwoven fabrics are sewn into dresses, pants, and other clothes. An exhibit of the fabric, which will run until Feb. 23, is held by the PTRI at the Senate building in Pasay. The same is also being planned in the House of Representatives. (PNA) }

Bugasong , Antique , Philippines , Philippine , Benguet , Metro-manila , Philippines-general- , Loren-legarda , Barangay-bagtason , Mario-manzano , National-commission-center , Bagtason-loom-weavers-association

DPWH trust rating up due to FOI: official

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT. The Department of Public Works and Highways says its trust rating has increased following the adoption of the Freedom of Information strategy. Andro Santiago, DPWH OIC of the Stakeholders Affairs Division, during the 2023 FOI Roadshow in Dumaguete City Thursday (Feb. 16, 2023) reported that public engagement had helped them gain the people's trust. (PNA photo by Judy Flores Partlow) DUMAGUETE CITY - Public trust and confidence in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) rose over the past few years as it implements the government's Freedom of Information (FOI) program, an official said Thursday. Andro Santiago, Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the DPWH's Stakeholders Affairs Division, in a media interview here, said lack of public engagement in the past led to more than 6,000 complaints against them. But after adopting the FOI strategy, where they engaged people in discussion, Santiago said the number of complaints dropped and subsequently led to a higher trust rating. Even the tag that the department is one of the "corrupt government agencies" has started to wane, he added. "Before the implementation of the FOI program, people did not know DPWH's accomplishment," he said, admitting that indeed they lacked public engagement before. FOI, he said, did a lot of things for the department as it is not just about informing the public of the agency's gains but is also a means to show that they are "committed to public service, that we really focus on the needs of specific people in the community". Santiago was among the guest speakers in Thursday's 2023 FOI Roadshow held in this capital city and is the first leg of a nationwide series undertaken by the FOI Project Management Office under the Presidential Communications Office. In the past, the official said the public was not aware of the department's undertakings, including the road and bridge inventories. Thus, it is easy for them to criticize and blame the agency. Because of the absence of public engagement, the public had the tendency to seek the help of the media and even air their grievances on social media platforms, he said. "And so, what happens is that these concerns and complaints are sensationalized instead of focusing on solutions," he added. Since the implementation of the FOI in 2016, DPWH started publishing its accomplishments and other information for the public to access. In a Pulse Asia survey in 2017, DPWH posted a 58 percent public performance rating compared to a recent survey where it rose to 75 percent due to public engagement and other contributing factors, the official said. The DPWH has a public assistance and complaints center that caters to the concerns of the people, he added. (PNA) }

Santiago , Regióetropolitana , Chile , Dumaguete , Philippines , Roadshow , Stakeholders-affairs-division , Department-of-public , Presidential-communications-office , Management-office , Public-works

BSP hikes rates by 50 bps as inflation remains elevated

KEY RATES HIKE. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla (2nd from left) discusses the decision of the policy-making Monetary Board (MB) to hike the central bank's key rates by 50 basis points on Thursday (Feb. 16, 2023). The rate hike was attributed to the higher-than-expected inflation rate last January at 8.7 percent and the continued recovery of the domestic economy. (PNA photo by Joann S. Villanueva) MANILA - Elevated domestic inflation rate continues to remain as a main factor for the upward adjustments in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) key rates, which were hiked by 50 basis points on Thursday. In a briefing, BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said the rate uptick will take effect this Friday and this will bring the overnight reverse repurchase (RRP) rate to 6 percent, same as in August 2008; the overnight repurchase rate to 6.5 percent and the overnight deposit rate to 5.5 percent. "In deciding to raise the policy interest rate anew, the Monetary Board noted that the latest baseline inflation forecast path has shifted higher relative to the previous assessment," he said. This, as monetary authorities now see inflation averaging at 6.1 percent this year, higher than the 4.3 percent last November and way higher than the government's 2 to 4 percent target band. For 2024, the average is expected to slow to 3.1 percent, same as that last November. Monetary authorities said upside risks to inflation include the higher global and domestic food prices, transport fare hikes, higher sugar prices and higher wage adjustments. Medalla said the upward adjustment in the average inflation forecast was partly due to the higher-than-expected 8.7 percent inflation rate last January, a new 14-year high, and surpassed expectations that rate of price increases likely peaked last December. He said inflation is seen to go back to within-target level by October this year. Medalla said the stronger recovery of the domestic economy, which exceeded the government's 2022 growth assumption of 6.5 to 7.5 percent after expanding by 7.6 percent, is also a factor for the acceleration of inflation rate. "Both headline and core inflation measures have also continued to increase, indicating a further broadening of price pressures, particularly in services," he said, adding "inflation expectations have likewise risen further, underscoring the need to pre-empt the emergence of further second-round effects." Medalla said that since inflation is driven by supply shocks, he supports the government's measures to import additional food items as well as any measures that will boost productivity. He said the latest rate adjustment in the central bank's key rates is "a strong follow-through monetary policy response" and is needed "to reduce the risk" of a breach of the inflation target next year, which remains between 2 to 4 percent. Medalla said the rate hike "would also prevent inflation expectations from drifting further away from the target band." "The Monetary Board also believes that with domestic growth exceeding expectations in 2022, monetary action can help to dampen potential demand-side pressures and second-round effects without unduly hindering the sustained momentum of economic growth," he said. He said a 50 basis points increase in the central bank's key rates will likely cut domestic output by 0.04 percent. Medalla discounted a pause in the central bank's rate hiking cycle in the near term given the elevated inflation rate and the sustained recovery of the domestic economy. "It's unlikely that we will not increase the rate in (the) next meeting," he said. Medalla said a cut in banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) remains on the table , at least within the first half of this year, but not while the BSP is hiking its key rates so as not to confuse the market and to disadvantage the banks. This, as a rate hike would result in tighter liquidity while an RRR cut would release additional liquidity into the financial system. "Personally, I still think that given what will happen I still think that cutting reserve requirements before the end of the first semester is still feasible," he added. (PNA) }

Manila , Philippines , Bangko-sentral , Felipe-medalla , Monetary-board , Key-rates-hike-bangko-sentral-ng-pilipinas-bsp-governor-felipe-medalla-2nd-from-left-discusses-the-decision-of-policy-making-monetary-board-mb-to-central-bank-39s-by-50-basis-points-on-thursday-feb-16 , 023-the-rate-hike-was-attributed-to-higher-than-expected-inflation-last-january-at-8-7-percent-and-continued-recovery-of-domestic-economy-pna-photo-by-joanns-villanueva-manila-elevated-continues-remain-asa-main-factor-for-upward-adjustments-in-bangko-sentral-ng-pilipinas-39-bsp-key-rates , Hich-were-hiked-by-50-basis-points-on-thursday-ina-briefing , Sp-governor-felipe-medalla-said-the-rate-uptick-will-take-effect-this-friday-and-bring-overnight-reverse-repurchase-rrp-to-6-percent , Ame-as-in-august-2008-the-overnight-repurchase-rate-to-6-5-percent-and-deposit-quot-deciding-raise-policy-interest-anew , He-monetary-board-noted-that-the-latest-baseline-inflation-forecast-path-has-shifted-higher-relative-to-previous-assessment

BARMM island town residents get free eye checkups, surgery

IMPROVING VISION. An eye specialist from the Ministry of Health of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) examines a resident of Sitangkai town, Tawi-Tawi during an outreach program on Feb. 12, 2023. At least 690 indigent patients benefited from the free medical services. (Photo courtesy of BTA-BARMM member Amir Mawallil) COTABATO CITY - At least 690 indigents have availed of free eye checkups and surgery from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao government recently in far-flung Sitangkai town in Tawi-Tawi province, a regional lawmaker said Wednesday. Amir Mawallil, a member of the region's Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) parliament, said most of those treated during the Feb. 12 medical mission "have not seen an eye specialist since birth." Sitangkai is an island town near Borneo in Malaysia. "I have immediately organized the medical mission, along with the BARMM Ministry of Health after learning many of the indigents have eye issues," Mawallil said in a statement. Indigents in the area availed of the outreach program's free eye-screening examination for blurry vision and cataract surgery held at the town's covered court, he said. "The smiles of our senior beneficiaries were heartwarming after they underwent screening, cataract pterygium surgery, and eventually getting free eyeglasses," he added. Abdul, a 62-year-old eye patient, lauded the BARMM government for the much-needed medical outreach program in their area. "We almost lost hope of seeing again until this project came over. Life is beautiful again," he was quoted in the statement as saying. In December last year, Mawallil, along with BTA colleagues Eddie Alih and eye physician Kadil Sinolinding Jr., also conducted a joint medical outreach program in Bongao, capital of Tawi-Tawi, which benefitted more than 220 indigent eye patients. "This is our way of reaching out to our people in the island provinces," he said, adding that his office would continue organizing similar outreach programs for the indigents in other parts of the region. (PNA) }

Alabama , United-states , Texas , Washington , Cambodia , China , Beijing , California , Canada , Cambodian , Canadian , Hun-sen