Singapore GIC Said to Favor Keeping Citi Preferred Shares

By COSTAS PARIS

SINGAPORE -- The Government of Singapore Investment Corp. favors keeping its preferred shares in Citigroup Inc. but is examining all options as the U.S. Treasury is close to an agreement to convert some of its own preferred shares in the bank into common stock, a person familiar with the situation said Friday.

"They (GIC) want to keep the preferred shares because of the coupon payment, but after the latest developments they are examining all options," this person told Dow Jones Newswires.

The U.S. government will convert its preferred stock in Citigroup only to the extent that the bank can persuade private investors, including sovereign wealth funds like GIC, to do the same, people familiar with the matter said. The Treasury will match the private investors' conversions dollar-for-dollar up to $25 billion in what could result to a stake of up to 40% in Citigroup, these people said.

GIC could not immediately be reached for comment.

GIC invested US$6.88 billion in preferred Citi shares in January 2008. It gets a 7% annual coupon on its investment.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing in late January, GIC now owns a beneficial 5.3% stake, or 303.8 million shares in Citigroup. These include preferred shares that can be converted into 261.1 million common shares. Based on Citi's US$2.46 last closing price Thursday, the stake is worth US$747.3 million.

The person familiar with the situation said that even though GIC would rather hold on to its preferred stock, it may eventually have to convert at least some of its holding.

"The options include converting part of the preferred holdings into common stock, getting more (common) shares than entitled if the conversion happens, or a combination of the two. GIC will also examine what the other investors do," the person said.

Apart from GIC, Citi's other big private investors include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Kuwait Investment Authority.

Citigroup has already begun having conversations with their preferred shareholders about the conversion, people familiar with the matter said.

Details of the Citigroup-U.S. pact remain unclear. Chief among those uncertainties is the price the government will pay, because it depends largely on the position taken by private investors. Citigroup shares closed Thursday at $2.46 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

"With such huge losses at hand in case of a conversion, any deal must be sweetened up quite bit for GIC to go along," the person said.

Source online.wsj.com/article/SB123571952823892431.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The Tenggeli Dalai Moon Lake Desert Ecological Tourism District

Located in the center of Tenggeli desert of Alxa League, 130 kilometers from Yinchuan Airport and Railway station, the Moon Lake features three points: firstly, the lake resembles the map of China very much; secondly, it makes up a prescription for natural medical bath with water rich in multiple trace elements beneficial for medical bath; thirdly, the black sand beach is good for natural mud therapy, physical beauty and health. The scenery district is divided into five parts: namely folk custom district, leisure district for meetings and institutions, hotel villa district, exemplary ecological garden district, and outdoors experiencing district with main tourist items including desert surfing, horse-riding, camel-riding, swimming, sand skating, beach volleyball, beach football and so forth. With complete set of water supply, power supply, communication facilities and convenient transport system, the district is the most special and attractive spot for desert holiday exploration tours in the western part of the Inner Mongolia.

e-Learning

In response to the educational opportunities made available by dramatic technological innovations in the early and mid-1990s, U.S. Secretary of Education released the nation's first educational technology plan in 1996, Getting America's Students Ready for the 21st Century: Meeting the Technology Literacy Challenge. This plan presented a far-reaching vision for the effective use of technology in elementary and secondary education to help the next generation of school children to be better educated and better prepared for the evolving demands of the new American economy.

Due in large part to markedly increased federal, state, local and private investment in technology for education, the nation has made tremendous progress toward achieving the 1996 national educational technology goals. These investments in computers and Internet access, professional development, technical support and content have allowed many elementary and secondary school teachers and students to reap the benefits of powerful teaching and learning applications.

The latest research and evaluation studies demonstrate that school improvement programs that employ technology for teaching and learning yield positive results for students and teachers. Given that many schools and classrooms have only recently gained access to technology for teaching and learning, the positive outcomes of these studies suggest a future for education that could be quite bright if the nation maintains its commitment to harnessing technology for education.

The adoption of new and emerging technologies by schools and classrooms offers even more reason to be hopeful. With sufficient access and support, teachers will be better able to help their students comprehend difficult-to-understand concepts and engage in learning, provide their students with access to information and resources, and better meet their students' individual needs. If we take advantage of the opportunities presented to us, technology will enhance learning and improve student achievement for all students.

Given the tremendous progress made in integrating technology into teaching and learning and the continued advances in the affordability and capabilities of technology, the need to move beyond the 1996 goals became evident. In the fall of 1999, the U.S. Department of Education undertook a strategic review and revision of the national educational technology plan, in consultation with the full range of stakeholders: educators, researchers, policymakers, students, parents, and higher education, industry and other leaders. The outcome of this strategic review was five new national goals for technology in education. They are

Goal 1: All students and teachers will have access to information technology in their classrooms, schools, communities and homes.

Goal 2: All teachers will use technology effectively to help students achieve high academic standards.

Goal 3: All students will have technology and information literacy skills.

Goal 4: Research and evaluation will improve the next generation of technology applications for teaching and learning.

Goal 5: Digital content and networked applications will transform teaching and learning.

Protomax turns old plastic bags and milk cartons into panels and bullet proof doors

Protomax, a plastic engineering company from Penclawdd, say they can even supply armoured, bullet proof and fire proof doors using the same technology.The panels, which can be provided in a range of colours and sizes, can be used to replace plywood hoardings around building sites, used for pallets, partition walls, desk pods, contoured for shed roofing or used as partition walls.

The outer skin of the panels is made from recycled plastic such as recycled drinks bottles or milk cartons while the core material in the centre can be made from a range of different waste materials.This waste is reprocessed and mixed with a foaming agent which fuses the materials together to create a cellular foam structure which is used as the core material.The panels can be strengthened by adding Kevlar or Glass Fibre - a material used in bullet proof vests or made fire proof by adding anti inflammable agents.

The company has been supported by the Welsh Assembly Government with an investment grant towards the design, development and manufacture of the new P2 powder press which is currently being patented.Ieuan Wyn Jones, Minister for the Economy and Transport, said the technology had the potential to play an important role in recycling and reusing materials that would normally end up in landfill.

Not only does it encourage environmental good practice but the range of applications for these 'green' panels is quite extensive. It is another example of a small Welsh company developing new technology that has far reaching potential and I am pleased the Assembly Government has been able to play a part in supporting Protomax.Nick Stillwell, Managing Director of Protomax, said the technology was originally designed to provide emergency modular housing for use in disaster zones.

You can actually create a small factory in a 40ft container as the machinery can be easily transported and the panels could be produced on site using local waste material.But as we began working on the system we soon realised there are a wide range of applications for these panels They can be used where ever plywood is currently used but the armoured panels we produce could be used by the security and defence sectors.The beauty is that the panels are light and easy to handle but extremely strong and can take up to a ton in weight.

Clients can literally send us their waste material which is reprocessed into a powder that contains a foaming agent. This, together with the recycled plastic used for the outer skin, is placed in the press and fused using the special heating system.He said a number of car assembly plants were interested in using the panels for vehicle trolleys while several hospitals were investigating their use for office pods/cubicles.Protomax is currently carrying out major trials for a number of large UK companies.The panels, which comply with all building regulations, can also later be recycled and reprocessed to form new panels eliminating any need to use landfill.