Dede Sophie

Counting for the Moresby North East Open seat heads into the third day of eliminations this morning. After Exclusion 38, progressive tally as of 10:30am this morning sees independent candidate Andapanga Baliawe maintaining the top spot with 10,654 votes followed closely by sitting MP and PANGU Pati candidate, John Kaupa with 10,290 votes.  In third place is Advance Party candidate Peter Dominic with 6,713 votes and in the fourth spot is former MP and Nation Action Party candidate, Labi Kamiak Amaiu with  6,170 votes. People’s Labor Party candidate Joe Tintin Saraga is on in fifth place with 5,861 votes.  Meantime, Exclusion 39 is in progress.  NBC / PNG Today Next :  PNG Politics : Governor General Invites Pangu Pati to Form Government

The recent announcement by the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government to increase corporate tax for commercial banks to 45% has drawn criticism from the country’s financial sector. Ronesh Dayal, the acting CEO of Bank South Pacific (BSP), warned that the tax increase would penalize growth in the financial sector. Dayal explained that the tax rate only applies to commercial banks, while all other companies in the country will still maintain a 30% tax rate. He urged the government to promote a stable taxation and regulatory regime to encourage investment in the country by local and international companies. Kina Bank’s CEO, Greg Pawson, echoed Dayal’s sentiments, stating that the tax increase was disappointing, as it targets a sector of the market that is critical for supporting PNG’s economic growth aspirations. Pawson expressed concern that the tax increase would impact the ability of challenger brands in PNG to continue an aggressive and inclusive growth agenda. He al...

With the effect of climate change affecting summer temperatures and rainfall in the UK, maintaining tree ferns in peak condition is becoming increasing difficult. The reason for this is simple. Tree ferns typically thrive in cloud forests, also called a water forest, characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover. The result of this is a something equivalent to 1 metres of rainfall per year. Now transfer this plant to the drought ridden summers of the United Kingdom and something has to give. You either need to provide your tree fern with the conditions it requires or you can watch it slowly disappear due to attrition! In order to cope with the specialist conditions of the cloud forest tree ferns have evolved several ways to enhance these unique environmental conditions. The canopy has developed a funnel-shaped structure to drawn in as much moisture and rainfall to the crown,and the trunk itself is like a huge sponge full of woody, fibrous roots. To reduce th...