Dede Sophie

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...

It gets close to 6000 mm of rain every year. It is home to a pristine ecosystem consisting of tropical rainforests, tropical evergreen forests, medicinal plants, medicinal herbs, reptiles, mammals, birds of paradise and many waterfalls, streams and rivers. It is a hill station and a lesser known monsoon giant. I am talking about the Devimane Ghat in Uttara Kannada that falls on the Sirsi-Kumta highway of Karnataka. A elephant hundi with an upswept trunk (donation box) catches your attention along with miles and miles of lush green and rows of mountain ranges. This is the location of the Durga Devi temple and the Devimane ghat view point. From here, the road dips and curves towards Kumta and the rest of the Karavali coast. Hence, people stop here, seek the blessings of the goddess, offer their donations to the elephant, enjoy a hot cup of tea or coffee while enjoying the lovely view and continue their way down the ghats towards Kumta or up towards Sirsi. But, there is so much more to De...

Oh my goodness, we had one massive storm in the night followed by a second storm in the morning. With the surrounding fields saturated the excess water poured into the only road into the village! Unfortunately the autumn leaf fall was blocking the drains and so the inevitable happened! The only route in and out of the village was flooded, blocking only the toughest and tallest 4×4 vehicles. In fact after I videoed this even there was even more rain in the evening bringing the depth to approximately 3ft and one of the neighbours cars stalled in the middle of it entirely blocking the road for anyone at our end of the road! Anyway, by the next day it was all sorted and we were free. This is my story….