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Filipinos are known to be naturally talented especially in art. That’s what this brand decided to highlight when they started the company 15 years ago with only 2 bold ideas to capitalize on: Fair Trade and Social Entrepreneurship. With Filipinos having a multitude of cultures and traditions, Gifts & Graces does not look beyond local talent and instead, focuses their energy into partnering with the local communities around the country to showcase the best of what Filipino craftsmen, designers and artists have to offer. The company was the brainchild of Sandy Prieto Romualdez, with the main purpose of bridging the gap between livelihood projects and market access by acting as the venue of expression and celebration of all things Filipino. As retail stores adjust to new realities, Gifts and Graces bravely pivoted amidst the crisis. Their mission is to unleash the potential of Filipinos through authentic and thoughtful designs that connect Filipino artisans with consumers, ... » Learn More about Gifts & Graces: Expanding the World of Filipino Local Artisans

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Sunday banned the export of anti-viral drug Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients as demand rocketed due to a record surge in COVID-19 infections, leading to a crippling shortages in many parts. Authorities have blamed the ferocious resurgence of the virus mainly on crowding and a reluctance to wear masks. Still, religious gatherings have continued and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have themselves addressed election campaigns attended by tens of thousands of people, many without masks and hardly any following social distancing. As new COVID-19 cases surged to 152,879 on Sunday, the sixth record rise in seven days, harried relatives of patients made a kilometre-long queue to buy Remdesivir outside a big hospital in the western state of Gujarat, witnesses said. India, known as the pharmacy of the world, has already stalled major exports of coronavirus vaccines though its supply too has run short in some ... » Learn More about India bans Remdesivir exports as coronavirus rages on; rallies continue

PETALING JAYA: The Star Education Fund Scholarship 2021 is now open for applications. This year, 227 scholarships worth RM14.3mil from 27 institutions are being offered. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this is the first year applications will be done fully online, said fund manager Susanna Kuan. “We have prepared a guide to assist students through the application process and have included a list of supporting documents that they must submit with the e-application. “Students should read the e-Application Guide before applying so that they can prepare all the documents in JPEG or PDF formats, ” she said. All applications must be submitted online through The Star Education Fund website at thestar.com.my/edufund. Hard copies of the application forms will not be accepted. All scholarships will cover full tuition fees, Kuan said, except for the MBBS programme at Quest International University, Perak. Some of the courses include pre-university programmes such as A-Levels and ... » Learn More about Application for Star scholarship 2021 open

AUGUSTA, Ga.: The final round of the Masters started in fine weather on Sunday with only an outside chance of play being interrupted by afternoon storms at Augusta National. Masters Sunday is always one of the most anticipated days on the golf calendar, and this year is no exception with the prospect of history in the making. Japan's Hideki Matsuyama has a four-shot lead, 18 holes away perhaps from becoming the first player not only from his nation, but from all of Asia to claim a Green Jacket. Fifteen non-Americans have won a total of 22 Masters. The tournament was dominated by Americans in its first four decades. Three-times champion Gary Player was the only international winner until Spaniard Seve Ballesteros broke through in 1980, setting the stage for a period of European dominance. Former world number two Matsuyama jumped clear with a sizzling back nine of 30 on Saturday. He posted an 11-under 205 total, with Americans Xander Schauffele and Will Zalatoris, ... » Learn More about Golf: Fine weather greets early starters on Masters Sunday

China has administered 164.47 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Saturday, the National Health Commission said on Sunday. This represents around 24.5 million doses in the past six days, as the country's vaccine rollout continues to accelerate. Last week a Chinese official said the country is expected to produce around 3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the year. Chinese health authorities on Sunday reported 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22 asymptomatic cases, bringing the country's total to 90,410, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636. The National Health Commission, in a statement, said all the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 22 from 11 cases a day earlier. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mainland China now stands at 90,410, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636. Meanwhile, in ... » Learn More about China administers 164.47 million COVID-19 vaccinations as of April 10

Employers must ensure that staff members work from home as far as possible, said the multi-ministry task force handling the coronavirus outbreak, as it turned its attention to securing workplaces. Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said her ministry is looking to increase potential penalties - including stop-work orders and fines - for firms which avoid implementing telecommuting. "Employers must allow your employees to work from home as far as reasonably practicable. This applies to all workplaces regardless of size, and it should be for all times, all days, and not some times, some days," she said at a virtual media conference - the first such briefing by the task force. The Manpower Ministry estimates that only 40 per cent of workers in the Central Business District currently work from home. The new measures on workplaces came as the task force noted the worrying trend of increasing local cases and stressed the importance of safe distancing to protect vulnerable groups like ... » Learn More about Coronavirus: Workers must work from home as far as possible, says MOM

KATHMANDU: Nepal's population of endangered one-horned rhinoceros has grown by more than a hundred over the past six years, officials said, with campaigners hailing the increase as a conservation "milestone". The population rose to 752 across four national parks in the southern plains, up from 645 in 2015, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation said on Saturday (Apr 10). "The increase of rhinos is exciting news for us," the department's information officer, Haribhadra Acharya, told AFP on Sunday. "But we have challenges ahead to expand the habitat areas of this animal to maintain the growth." Thousands of one-horned rhinos once roamed the southern plains, but rampant poaching and human encroachment on their habitat reduced their numbers to around 100 in Nepal in the 1960s. Since 1994, the Himalayan nation has conducted a rhino census once every five years, as authorities stepped up their efforts to boost population numbers for the species listed as ... » Learn More about Rhino population in Nepal grows in conservation boost

MANILA, Philippines — Some 2 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19 developed by China’s Sinovac BioTech and Russia’s Gamaleya Institute are anticipated to arrive in the Philippines this month, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Tuesday. Of the two million doses, 1.5 million will be Sinovac’s CoronaVac while 500,000 will be Gamaleya’s Sputnik V. Galvez also said that the government is still struggling to secure ample vaccine doses for Filipinos due to problems in global supply. In fact, he noted, the Philippines initially expected to receive 4 million doses of vaccines this month but that it was eventually trimmed to just 2 million doses. “Inaasahan din po namin sa mga susunod na mga buwan ay ganoon din po ang mangyayari, talagang ang ating sitwasyon po sa global supply ay napakahirap po iyong first quarter at saka second quarter,” he explained in a Palace briefing. (We are anticipating it will be the same in the coming months because our global supply situation is really ... » Learn More about Gov’t expects delivery of 2M doses of CoronaVac, Sputnik V this month