Day: February 1, 2022

OTTAWA, ON, Feb. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Stories of great achievement often find their way on Royal Canadian Mint coins and to mark the 175^th anniversary of the birth of famed inventor Alexander Graham Bell, the Mint is dedicating its 2022 Proof Silver Dollar to his legacy of innovation and life-long commitment to science.  Born in Scotland, Bell settled with his family in Brantford, Ontario, where he developed a passion for problem-solving at an early age, which sparked his interest in science.  After inventing the telephone in 1876, he later built an estate near Baddeck on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. It is there that he collaborated on more innovations, such as the Silver Dart, Canada’s first powered airplane, and futuristic hydrofoil marine craft that blazed the waters of Bras D’Or Lake.

This year’s Proof Silver Dollar features a word-art profile of Bell speaking into his breakthrough invention that forever changed global communications.  The creative assortment of words that describe aspects of his personal life and character, as well as his many innovations create a revealing portrait of one of the world’s greatest inventors.  This exceptional coin, along with the 2022 Fine Silver Proof Set featuring the same artistic rendition of Bell, can be ordered from the Mint as of today.

Other collector products launching today include:

• The 2021 $50 Fine Silver Diamond-Shaped Coin – Forevermark Black Label Round Diamond;
• The 2022 $500 Pure Gold Diamond-Shaped Coin – Forevermark Black Label Round Diamond;
• The 2022 Specimen Set – Conservation Stories – Swift Fox;
• The 2022 $50 Fine Silver Coin – Maple Leaves in Motion;
• The 2022 $20 Fine Silver Coin – 50th Anniversary of the Medal of Bravery;
• 2022 $5 Fine Silver Coin – Moments to Hold 50th Anniversary of the Medal of Bravery; and
• The 2022 $8 Pure Gold Coin – Earth Dragon.

Mintages, pricing and full background information on each product can be found on the “Shop” tab of www.mint.ca. Images of the coins are available here.

These products can be ordered by contacting the Mint at 1-800-267‑1871 in Canada, 1-800-268‑6468 in the US, or at www.mint.ca.

About the Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada’s circulation coins. The Mint is one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca.  Follow the Mint on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Alex Reeves, Senior Manager, Public Affairs, Telephone: 613-884-6370, reeves@mint.ca

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1737435/Royal_Canadian_Mint_THE_ROYAL_CANADIAN_MINT_S_LATEST_COLLECTOR_C.jpg

BEIJING, Feb. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — China Media Group (CMG) held the 2022 Spring Festival Gala on Monday evening as Chinese people worldwide celebrated the start of the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.

It is the most important Chinese festival centering on family reunions. And the five-hour-long television extravaganza has been a symbolic part of the celebrations since it was first broadcast in 1983.

This year’s gala featured a multitude of performances aimed at entertaining millions of Chinese families ringing in the Year of the Tiger, which symbolizes bravery, vigor and strength in traditional Chinese culture.

The performances revolved around multiple themes, including the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), rural revitalization, ecological civilization, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, China’s space achievements and major archaeological discoveries.

One of the most eye-catching performances was the poetic dance named “Journey on a Painted Landscape.” The dance was inspired by the 900-year-old Chinese painting masterpiece “A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains” created by Song Dynasty (960-1279) painter Wang Ximeng. The elegant dance, together with the atmospheric scenic design, showcased traditional Chinese art and cultural charms.

With the Beijing Winter Olympics just a few days away, elements of the Games were highlighted. Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, mascots of the Games, explored the magnificence of the venues in the classic skating Waltz song.

Meanwhile, high tech brought the audiovisual experience to the next level. A giant 720-degree curved LED screen was installed to connect the stage with the auditorium, forming a highly extensible three-dimensional space. Extended reality, augmented reality, holographic scanning and 8K naked-eye 3D rendering technology were adopted to create a more immersive viewing experience. Also, the gala was, for the first time, broadcast live with the option of a vertical viewing mode, catering to more people’s viewing habits on mobile devices.

The gala was aired on multiple TV channels, radio stations and new media platforms. Some 600 foreign media outlets from more than 170 countries and regions also did live broadcasting and reporting on the gala, according to CMG.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-01-31/2022-Spring-Festival-Gala-A-visual-feast-for-the-Year-of-Tiger-17h6VNrq3Ru/index.html

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtEROmL0NzQ
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1738088/2022__Spring_Festival_Gala_A_visual_feast_Year_Tiger.jpg

Multi-year agreement positions bank for its next era of digital innovation and follows the official approval of Kyndryl’s acquisition of Samlink

HELSINKI and NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Kyndryl (NYSE: KD), the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, and Savings Banks Group in Finland today announced a 7-year agreement to enable the bank to transform and modernize both its customer-facing and back-office systems. This agreement follows the official closure of Kyndryl’s recent acquisition of Samlink, the leading solutions developer and services provider to the banking industry in Finland.

Savings Banks Group is Finland’s oldest banking group serving up to half a million Finnish households, small and medium-sized companies, and agriculture. In addition to comprehensive private banking services, the Group also offers services in the areas of investment, real estate and insurance. To reinvigorate Savings Banks Group’s ability to adapt quickly to evolving market conditions, the bank selected Kyndryl as its strategic partner for the next phase of its digital transformation journey.

“We have very high expectations for Kyndryl as a new owner of Samlink. It is of the utmost importance for us to secure the business continuity of our critical IT systems and we expect modern and more agile development opportunities for our services. It is evermore crucial to build a solid and efficient foundation for our business needs, which enables us to run and change digital bank in agile and cost-effective way,” says Tomi Närhinen, CEO, Savings Banks Group.

Central to the agreement is the modernization of Savings Banks Group’s IT infrastructure, including core banking systems that run on mainframe technology. This modernization will enable the bank to shorten development times of digital innovations and achieve cost efficiencies, while maintaining business continuity to safeguard the customer experience. Collaborating with Kyndryl and Samlink allows the bank to expand its digital and personal services to customers in a highly competitive market challenged by growing fintech sector players.

Optimizing the customer experience has been essential to Savings Banks Group’s leadership in the banking sector. They will rely on Kyndryl´s experience and expertise across its six practices to ensure the seamless delivery of the customer-centric services that Savings Banks Group has provided for 200 years.

“We are excited to work with Savings Banks Group to unlock maximum value across technology, data, and operations to accelerate their unique digital transformation, while meeting the changing regulatory requirements,” says Anil Joshi, Managing Director, Kyndryl Finland. “On top of managing zCloud workloads and core enterprise services, Kyndryl brings a powerful combination of Cloud services, Security and Resilience, Data and Artificial Intelligence technologies delivered through new ways of working to drive increased agility and end-user experience.”

“Samlink brings the experience in solutions development and services for the financial sector. Combined with Kyndryl’s demonstrated leadership in IT infrastructure services and vast global talent, we are capable of providing comprehensive technological expertise and deep industry insights to enable financial institutions to build solutions that touch every aspect of the customer journey,” adds Senior Partner for Samlink, Arto Sorvoja.

About Savings Banks Group
The Savings Banks Group has promoted the financial wellbeing of individuals and the community for 200 years. We want to be known for our bravery, expertise and passion for excellent customer service. Savings Banks Group consists of local savings banks across Finland and the Savings Bank Centre. In addition to comprehensive retail banking services, we provide our customers with investment, real estate and insurance services. For more information, visit https://www.saastopankki.fi/en/savingsbanksgroup

About Kyndryl
Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) is the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider. The company designs, builds, manages and modernizes the complex, mission-critical information systems that the world depends on every day. Kyndryl’s nearly 90,000 employees serve over 4,000 customers in more than 60 countries around the world, including 75 percent of the Fortune 100. For more information, visit www.kyndryl.com.