Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/187071
44 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2013 FITCH reaffirms BOV ratings Fitch has reaffirmed Bank of Valletta's long-term rating at investment grade BBB+ with a stable forward outlook. The Bank's Support Rating Floor (SRF) has been revised to BBB- following the recent one notch downgrade of Malta's sovereign rating. The SRF does not assess the credit quality of the Bank but communicates Fitch's view on the ability of the sovereign to support the Bank if this becomes neces- sary. All other ratings remained unaffected. BOV Chairman John Cassar White expressed his satisfaction on the affirmation of the Bank's long-term rating by the international agency Fitch. "The Bank's core business remains robust with a strong balance sheet and capital position," Cassar White said. "This will ensure that BOV continues to reinforce its commitment to support the Maltese economy." GO adds Limitless goodies to Home Pack GO has extended its popular Limitless goodies to Home Pack. GO's bestseller packs have now been reloaded with more Limitless benefits than ever before. Limitless Home Pack customers will now enjoy a vast range of TV channels in amazing picture quality, relax with Limitless calls from their home, surf the Internet in comfort with Limitless Internet downloads and benefit from big savings on mobile plans for all the family. Customers simply need to discover the pack that is just right for them. When signing up now to a 2-year agreement, customers will benefit from FREE Fast Internet for three months, two free set top boxes, free installation, free internet modem and free customer care 24x7. Limitless Home Pack Silver Interactive features over 70 TV channels in amazing picture quality, Limitless Internet with faster download speeds including Limitless downloads as well as Limitless calls to all GO phone lines – more than 160,000 phone lines all over Malta. Limitless Home Pack Silver Interactive includes GO's unique Interactive TV features. Restart – starts any live programme from the beginning. Catch Up – enables the viewer to tap into a vast range of programmes from GO's ondemand library. Pause, rewind and record – enables viewers to control programme viewing as they wish. All this is being offered for only €38 monthly. Moreover, customers can benefit from big savings on mobile with generous monthly discounts on Limitless35, Limitless60 and Limitless99 plans. GO's popular FREE mobile calls have been extended to Limitless Home Pack – Home Pack customers can benefit from up to 400 FREE minutes for up to four mobile users. Customers can choose from four packs at affordable prices for all the family. Limitless Home Pack Silver comes at €33 monthly, Limitless Home Pack Gold at €43 monthly, Limitless Home Pack Silver Interactive at €38 monthly and Limitless Home Pack Gold Interactive at €48 monthly. Limitless Home Pack Gold Interactive features over 100 TV channels in amazing picture quality. All Limitless Home Packs are available with GO's FREE e-billing service and payment through direct debit as standard. Limitless Home Pack customers have a wide range of TV add-ons to choose from including an HD TV add-on for €4.99 monthly. HD is highly recommended for all Home Pack Interactive customers who want to upgrade their TV experience with stunning picture quality and Dolby surround sound. For €6.99 monthly, GO Stars features popular series such as Downton Abbey, Mrs. Brown's Boys, Big Bang Theory, and Monthly Movie Premiers. All the sports action is available exclusively on GO Sports for just €14.99 with free HD when choosing Limitless Home Pack Interactive. Football fans have the chance to watch the best European football including UEFA Champions League, Italian Serie A, British Premier League, French Ligue 1 and more sports events – tennis, horse racing, rugby, Formula 1, boxing, golf and much much more! There are three Limitless phone add-ons available- Limitless calls to all local phone lines for €3 monthly, – a feature that comes free with both Gold packs.– Limitless calls to all GO mobile lines for €5 monthly and Limitless calls to international phone lines (EU, USA, Canada and Australia) for €8 monthly. As an introductory offer, Limitless Home Pack is being made available with 3 FREE months of Fast Internet at 35Mbps where applicable. Fast Internet can be retained at the discounted rate of €6 monthly after the third month. Super-fast internet add-ons offering speeds of 75Mbps and 200Mbps are also available in certain areas. For more information regarding Limitless Home Pack or to subscribe, customers are welcome to drop in at one of the GO retail outlets or exclusive resellers in Malta and Gozo, call Freephone 80072121 or visit www.go.com.mt. Terms and conditions apply 'Treasures of Hard Rock' comes to Malta Hard Rock Cafe Malta gives fans an up-close look at pieces of history from music superstars and legends, with the never-before-seen Treasures of the Hard Rock travelling memorabilia exhibit. The exhibit features iconic items pulled from Hard Rock's vault and combined to form the one-of-a-kind collection, 50 Years Of Rock And Pop Fashion. 50 Years Of Rock And Pop Fashion highlights rock's fashionable side and the clothing that has become just as much of an artist's identity as the equipment they use. The tour features a selection of stylish items, including the pink waitress uniform worn by Britney Spears in her (You Drive Me) Crazy music video and Johnny Cash's all-black suit, which perfectly represents his legacy as the 'Man in Black'. Also featured in the collection is Lady Gaga's The Addams Family-inspired dress designed by Belgian designer Toon Geboers, and the jacket Ron Wood wore to his 60th birthday party in 2007. "We have spent nearly two years scouring our 77,000piece collection, to pull together a collection that will wow our guests," said Jeff Nolan, Hard Rock historian and tour curator. "The collection showcases a unique part of music history and gives fans an opportunity to see that history first-hand." Treasures of the Hard Rock will be on public display at Hard Rock Cafe Malta from 1 October through 17 October. For more information on pieces on display, tour stop locations and public viewing dates, please visit www.hardrock.com Ron Wood's (The Rolling Stones) tan leather Western coat 'Only Girls Allowed' competition Minister Evarist Bartolo speaks about Only Girls Allowed A new computing competition aimed at girls aged 11 to 12 years old has been launched by Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Education and Employment, and Edward Zammit Lewis, Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth. The aim of the competition, aptly called 'Only Girls Allowed', is to encourage young female students to take-up computing studies. Only Girls Allowed is part of EMBED 2013 and is being organised by the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) together with the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta, the eLearning Centre within the Directorates for Quality and Standards in Education (DQSE) and Educational Services (DES), and is supported by Microsoft. The initiative is exclusively for female students, because local research shows that fewer females are choosing computing at a secondary level and unless immediate action is taken, this gender gap will keep on growing. The competition targets 11- and 12-year-old students (Form 1 and Form 2) in order to show them that computing is not only about coding but that it can also be fun and interactive. The aim is to encourage these young females to choose computing as one of their subjects of choice in Form 3. During a press event held at MITA Data Centre, Zammit Lewis said that, "This is a positive initiative where we're attracting more girls to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics sectors. These sectors are characterised by an in-balance between men and women". He said that it is important to raise awareness amongst women about the importance of a career in ICT "in order to have an equal and righteous social and economical development. Work in these sectors is attractive due to good working conditions, good salaries and diverse opportunities for continuous professional development". The Only Girls Allowed competition will be running for a whole month from 2 October until 4 November 2013. To participate, girls shall team up in a group of three and with the help of a school teacher or mentor they shall create a 3D game using 'Kodu' or an interactive story using 'Storytelling Alice'. These two software environments are simple to use and are freely available online. Following a survey amongst girls that was carried out by MITA, the themes that interest this age group are Nature, Fashion and Music – and the competition focuses on these three themes. The game or story created must not be longer than five minutes. MITA's Executive Chairman, Tony Sultana said, "We have chosen these programming environments because they give the opportunity to students to be creative and develop critical thinking skills and problemsolving skills, which are important for advancement in their studies". At the end of the competition there will be three winning teams for both the Kodu and Storytelling Alice submissions. MITA's Executive Chairman explained that "winners will be judged on creativity, originality, fun factor and technical quality". All participants will be rewarded for their efforts, and teachers and mentors will also be given a gift. Bartolo said that ICT is playing an important role in the modernisation of the economy. Employment in this sector also offers a wide range of opportunities and those with an entrepreneurial spirit should also consider starting their own ICT-related business rather than stick to the traditional employment route, Minister Bartolo added. To participate, girls shall form a group of three – either from their school or through one of the groups they attend (such as NGOs, Scouts or nurseries). Girls who form a group outside of school and need help to participate can contact MITA and the agency will provide them with a mentor. For more information about the Only Girls Allowed initiative please visit, www.mita.gov.mt/girlscompetition