Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/866589
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 AUGUST 2017 Events 42 As from Monday 4 September 2017, individuals born in 1955 or before, can apply to purchase bonds spe- cifically targeting the elderly. It is for such reason that the Bond has been called "62+ Government Sav- ings Bond". The Bond is going to have an advantageous interest rate of 3% per annum, which interest rate yield is much higher than what is currently being paid by similar 5-year fixed term investments. When the 62+ Government Sav- ings Bond was launched, Minister Scicluna mentioned that in the present scenario, whereby there was a sharp decline in additional income to elderly as a result of the reduction in interest rates on fixed deposit accounts being offered by commercial banks, Government introduced a Budget measure to issue a Bond, with a much better interest rate than those on the mar- ket, to enhance pensioners' income. In order for this type of Bond to be issued with attractive rates spe- cially addressed to the needs of el- derly, it was necessary to amend the Treasury of Malta Law Bills, which law passed by Parliament this July. Eligible individuals can invest a minimum amount of € 500 up to a maximum amount of € 10,000 in this bond. The interest is pay- able semi-annual in arrears on 13 March and 13 September during the tenor of the bond (unless with- drawn before) in the bank account nominated by the holder. Resident Individual holders can opt to re- ceive the interest net of tax or gross and declare the investment income received in the income tax return. The 62+ Government Savings Bond has a five-year term and will be repaid at par on 13 September 2022. The bond cannot be negoti- ated, assigned or transferred onto any other individual or legal person and cannot be pledged. There is no secondary trading market for the Bond. This Bond is a special issue and therefore there is no guarantee that another issue will be available when the bond is repaid. The bond cannot be held jointly with another individual. Moreover, curators appointed by court; an individual or a legal person, acting under a valid Power of Attorney, can purchase bonds on behalf and in the name of another eligible indi- vidual. In such cases, the bond shall be deemed to be held by the eligible individual on whose behalf it was purchased. Bondholders may withdraw the whole amount invested in the 62+ Government Savings Bond before maturity date of the bond sub- ject to the payment of a penalty for early repayment equivalent to three (3) months gross interest on the sum withdrawn. By way of ex- ample, a bondholder who invested the maximum permissible amount of € 10,000 who opts for early re- demption of the bond will incur a penalty of € 75. No penalty will be charged where the Bond is repaid before maturity to the heirs of the deceased bondholder. In such a case, upon the notification of the death of a Bondholder, the account is put on hold and the principal and accrued interest up to the last day, which immediately precedes the repayment date of the bond, is paid to the heirs through the transmis- sion Causa Mortis procedure. The bond held by the deceased is not transferable onto heirs. The 62+ Malta Government Sav- ings Bond can be purchased from all authorised financial institutions and investment services provid- ers between Monday 4 September 2017 and Wednesday 6 September 2017. A list of all authorised finan- cial intermediaries can be viewed on the Treasury's website at www. treasury.gov.mt. In the event that the original sum on issue is oversubscribed, the Ac- countant General reserves the right to exercise the overallotment op- tion by issuing further bonds up to a maximum mentioned in the issue of the Bond. In the case that notwithstanding the exercise of the overallotment option there remains applications, which are unsatisfied, then the Treasury will scale down applications as deemed appropri- ate. In the event that the original sum on issue is oversubscribed, the Accountant General reserves the right to exercise the overallotment option by issuing further bonds up to a maximum mentioned in the issue of the Bond. In the case that notwithstanding the exercise of the overallotment option there remains applications, which are unsatisfied, then the Treasury will scale down applications as deemed appropriate. A series of six science espressos were carried out throughout the months of July and August. These espres- sos where discussion-based events in which the audience shared their knowledge in order to create a discus- sion on the topic being presented by an expert. The final session which will be led by Ms Danika Marmara will treat questions such as: How much do Mal- tese women know about breast cancer and screening? What are the reasons for the lack of attendance at the Mal- tese Breast Screening Programme? What are the perceptions and health beliefs? The discussions are part of Sparks project, about Responsible Research and Innovation within the field of healthcare and is owned by Ecsite, the European network of science centres and museums, and funded by Hori- zon 2020 of the European union. The project included a travelling exhibi- tion entitled Beyond the Lab which is currently at Esplora! The exhibition is about Citizen Science, Health Hack- ing and DIY Biology. This exhibition is touring around 30 European science centres/museums and schools and now it is Esplora's time to host it. This is your last chance to see it at Esplora. The final discussion will be held on Wednesday the 30th August at Esplo- ra, Interactive Science Centre, Kalkara at 6pm. For info: 25401919 esplora.org. mt/sparks The discussion is free of charge and refreshments and coffee will be served with compliments. Cisk Pilsner voted World's Best in World Beer Awards 2017 Cisk Pilsner, brewed by the Far- sons brewery, has been voted the World's Best Czech Style Pale Lager in the World Beer Awards 2017 at a judging event held in London earlier this month. In winning this prestigious award, Cisk Pilsner beat 18 other coun- tries, including the Czech Repub- lic itself. Originally brewed by Farsons Brewery in the late 1940s, Cisk Pilsner was relaunched just last year and has already garnered a number of international awards in just 12 months. Cisk Pilsner is a premium Pilsner combining a tradition of brewing excellence and passion with the finest qual- ity Pilsen malt and Noble hops of the Saaz variety. Cool, crisp and immensely satisfying, with an al- cohol content of 5.5%, Cisk Pilsner offers the discerning beer con- noisseur a remarkably crisp and well-hopped flavour with a rich white head, a delicate bitterness and a superior aroma originating from the rich essential oils pre- sent in the Noble hops. "This latest award is a signifi- cant and major achievement for Cisk Pilsner and a wonderful tribute to the brewing team. We are extremely proud of our her- itage and tradition as well as our unwavering commitment to the highest brewing standards, using only choicest raw materials and applying strict quality standards, and this has once more given us results to be proud of," said Mr Martin Polidano, Head Brewer at Farsons Brewery. Presented by TheDrinksReport. com, the world's no.1 online re- source for drinks professionals, the World Beer Awards are global awards that select the very best in all the international recognised beer styles, and award and pro- mote the world's best beers to consumers and trade across the globe. The process leading up to the announcement of the final re- sults is extensive and involves an international and highly re- spected judging panel identif y- ing the best beers in each of the 72 styles. Over 1,900 beers from more than 36 countries entered this year's awards. All entries are blind tasted by an international panel of experts with heats in Canada, Japan, UK and USA. Each heat has its own chair who acts under the guidance of World Beer Awards world chair, Adrian Tierney-Jones, who comment- ed, "The winners in this year's World Beer Awards demonstrate that the global beer revolution is not going to go away any time soon. We have winners from the traditional brewing countries of Belgium and Germany, while the brewing powerhouse that is North America is also repre- sented." Ms Susan Weenink Camilleri, Head of Marketing and Com- munications, commented, "We are proud of the results achieved in these global and highly re- garded competitions. These global awards further emphasise the world class quality of our beers and boost awareness both among our loyal Maltese con- sumers and beyond our shores." Cisk Pilsner is the premium beer in the Cisk portfolio which is spearheaded by the award- winning Cisk Lager and also in- cludes Cisk Excel, Cisk Export, Cisk Strong and the Cisk Chill range. All beers are brewed, dis- tributed and marketed by the Far- sons brewery. Issue of the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond Esplora hosts 'Science Espress' on health and illness FinanceMalta educational seminar on Blockchain As part of its commitment to inform and educate the financial services sector about industry developments, FinanceMalta will be hosting the first in a series educational clinic on Tuesday, 29th August between 12.00 noon and 15.00 hrs at Le Meridien & Spa, St Julians. The seminar is aimed at providing a deeper insight about the impact of Blockchain and how this disruptive technology will im- pact the financial services industry and other business sectors in the not- so-distant future. Commenting about this education- al seminar, FinanceMalta Chairman Kenneth Farrugia said that, "we are organising this seminar in an effort to highlight the importance of the challenges which Blockchain may ad- dress in today's ever-changing finan- cial services industry. Blockchain is the technological innovation on which the Bitcoin and other crypto- currencies have been created, there- fore the deployment of this technol- ogy will have a great impact on this sector. The seminar will be introduced by Blockchain consultant Steve Ten- don followed by a presentation by James Catania entitled 'How does it work'. Loui Mercieca, Chief Soft- ware Architect at Agilis will follow with a presentation entitled 'What is a Smart Contract'. He will be fol- lowed by Ian Gauci, Founding Part- ner, GTG Advocates with another presentation on the Legal and Regu- latory Issues on Blockchain, Max Ga- nado, Senior Partner at GANADO Advocates who will be talking about, Intellectual Property and the Block- chain, Jonathan Galea president of Bitmalta, Malta's first association to advocate cryptocurrencies and the Blockchain technology and Dario Azzopardi who will talk about min- ing hardware. The seminar will be come to an end with and question and answer session