What’s the Difference Between Table Salt and Himalayan Salt

Salt is everywhere. Even if you can’t taste it, the chances are good that it’s in everything from our breakfast oatmeal to the salad we brought for lunch. Salt consumption has gotten out of hand, turning from a way to preserve food into a cheap commodity used to flavor our favorite salty snacks. It’s so inexpensive that you probably don’t think twice about the price tag of a box at the store unless you’re opting for a bottle of the expensive pink Himalayan salt. Sodium is a chemical element found primarily in salt, and it’s also an essential nutrient for life, according to the American Heart Association, which recommends no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. The association points out that the average American eats 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day, with 70 percent of that sodium coming from packaged foods, not the salt shaker on their dining room table.

In recent years, the conversation has moved more to the difference between salts. Table salt has only been around for the last 100 years or so. Before that, salt was a rare commodity that wars were fought over (via UCHealth Today). Thanks to mining, manufacturing, transportation, and chefs, we now have broader access to international ingredients and many salts to choose from. But what is the difference between table salt and pink Himalayan salt? Is one better for us? Do they have the same sodium content? And does Himalayan salt have beneficial nutrients that table salt does not? We all know that Himalayan salt costs more than table salt, but is there a big difference in the salt itself, other than it is a pretty pink color?

For starters, table salt contains added iodine for thyroid health, as well as anti-caking agents, to help it flow, according to Seattle Sutton’s. Himalayan pink salt has trace amounts of minerals such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium, which table salt does not. However, the number of minerals is so low, nutrition labels for Himalayan salt usually state that a serving contains zero percent of the daily value of each nutrient. Speaking of undetectable elements, Himalayan pink salt may also contain small amounts of arsenic, uranium, and lead.

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SGX Listed Stock: IFAST CORPORATION LTD

iFAST Corporation Ltd. ("iFAST Corp"; stock code: AIY) is an Internet-based investment products distribution platform. Incorporated in the year 2000 in Singapore and listed on the SGX-Mainboard in December 2014. iFAST Corp is also present in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and India.

iFAST Corp provides a comprehensive range of investment products and services, to financial advisory (FA) firms, banks, financial institutions, multinational companies, as well as retail and high net worth (HNW) investors in Asia. In addition, iFAST Corp offers access to over 5,000 investment products including funds, bonds and Singapore Government Securities (SGS), stocks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), as well as insurance products, and services including robo-advisory portfolio management services, research and investment seminars, financial technology (fintech) solutions, and investment administration and transaction services.

Over 240 FA companies, banks and financial institutions, with more than 6,000 wealth advisers, use the iFAST B2B platforms. The platforms include iFAST Central, iFAST Global Prestige, iFAST Pensions and iFAST Global Markets. The Group’s mission statement is, "To help investors around the world invest globally and profitably”. The Group won the "Most Transparent Company Award 2015, New Issues Category” at the SIAS Investors' Choice Awards 2015, as well as the ""Best Investor Relations – Merit Award” for First-Year Listed Companies at the Singapore Corporate Awards 2015.

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Welcome to iFAST Corporation Ltd

iFAST Corporation is a global digital banking and wealth management platform headquartered in Singapore, providing a comprehensive range of investment products and services to financial advisory firms, financial institutions, banks, internet companies, multinational companies, as well as retail and high net worth investors in Asia. The Group offers access to over 20,500 investment products including funds, bonds and Singapore Government Securities (SGS), stocks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), insurance products, and services including online discretionary portfolio management services (DPMS), research and investment seminars, financial technology (fintech) solutions, banking, pension administration, investment administration and transactions services. The company is also present in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and UK.

iFAST Corporation is a global digital banking and wealth management platform, with assets under administration of approximately S$19.12 billion as at 30 Sep 2023. Incorporated in the year 2000 in Singapore, iFAST Corp provides a comprehensive range of investment products and services to financial advisory firms, financial institutions, banks, multinational companies, as well as retail and high net worth investors. The Group offers access to over 20,500 investment products including unit trusts, bonds and Singapore Government Securities, stocks and exchange traded funds, and insurance products; while services offered include online discretionary portfolio management services, research and investment seminars, Fintech solutions, banking, pension management, and investment administration and transaction services. The company is also present in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and UK. At iFAST Corporation, we constantly remind ourselves that our company’s mission is to help investors around the world to invest globally and profitably. Our business strategies and solutions for our partners and clients begin with this mission statement in mind.

Our business can be broadly categorised into the following main divisions: the Business-to-Business (banks/financial institutions/financial advisory firms/internet companies) division, the Business-to-Consumer (direct consumers/investors) division, as well as an emerging Fintech Solutions/Business-to-Business-to-Consumer (B2B2C) model. In Asia, with offices set up across various markets, namely Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and China, we provide investors, financial institutions and companies with the conveniences of an efficient and award-winning investment platform, while offering a wide selection of funds and other investment products, and a range of services and solutions powered by our in-house IT system. The UK-based iFAST Global Bank aims to provide global banking connectivity to customers, corporates and financial institutions around the world.

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4 Things To Know About Recent Announcements By iFAST (SGX: AIY)

It’s been a good and busy past couple of weeks for iFAST Corporation (SGX: AIY), an established regional FinTech player founded in Singapore in 2000. iFAST, which has been listed on the SGX since 2014, has seen its share price perform tremendously well since 2020, increasing from $1.06 on 3 January 2020 to $7.68 as of 14 January 2022, or a rise of more than 7 times over the past two years.

The increase in share price is well warranted. For FY2020, the company saw its revenue increase by about 35% to $169 million, while net profit for the year more than doubled to $20.9 million, compared to $9.3 million the year before. This growth has continued onto 2021, where iFAST has currently recorded revenue of $161 million and net profit of $23 million as of 3Q2021, indicating that the company will likely exceed its already-impressive performance in 2020. In many ways, iFAST has benefitted from being an established FinTech player in a Singapore market that is furiously adopting FinTech in all ways of life. As shared in their 2020 annual report, “while ‘FinTech’ only became a buzzword less than a decade ago, iFAST Corp has started developing its own IT solution in-house back in 2000 when the company was first founded.”

And while most retail investors would be familiar with FSMOne, iFAST also works with different partners, from global asset management firms, to banks for bond offerings, to bring on-board a wide range of options to investors and wealth advisers. The company has more than 280 distribution agreements with different product providers to offer over 14,000 investment products, including over 9,400 funds, over 1,500 bonds, stocks and ETFs (Singapore, Hong Kong and US stockbroking capabilities) as well as discretionary portfolio management services and insurance products on the platform. Since the start of 2022, iFAST has requested two trading halts leading to two announcements. In this week’s edition of 4 Stocks This Week, we look at 4 things that you may want to know about the recent announcements made by iFAST:

• iFAST Is Acquiring A Digital Bank In The UK - Last week, iFAST announced that the company intended to acquire a BFC Bank Limited – a full licensed UK bank – for approximately $45.9million. This represents about 2% of the company’s current market capitalisation. In addition, iFAST will also inject approximately $27.5 million into BFC Bank.
• The iFAST’s Five-Year Plan - As we wrote previously, iFAST was one of the companies applying for a digital bank license to operate in Singapore in 2020 – which they were not successful in. They are also currently leading a consortium to apply for a digital bank license in Malaysia.
• Successful Placement Of 14,000,000 Shares Raising $105 Million - To fund the acquisition of BFC Bank, iFAST announced on 11 January 2022 that it has successfully raised $105 million via placement of 14,000,000 shares priced at $7.50 per share. iFAST also shared that the placement was well oversubscribed, with over S$150 million in total subscription, more than double the initial base deal size of S$75 million.
• Placement Price Of $7.50 represents a discount of 4.5% to iFAST-Then Price Of $7.85 - Issuing more shares is typically seen as non-ideal for existing shareholders. This is because an increase in total share capital has a dilutive effect on existing shareholders. Moreover, to attract investors, new shares are usually be priced at a discount to the existing trading price of the shares – otherwise, these investors could just buy it from the secondary market.

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IFAST (AIY/IFAS.SI)

iFAST is an Internet-based investment products distribution platform, with assets under administration of S$5.13 billion as at end-September 2014. Incorporated in year 2000 in Singapore, iFAST provides a comprehensive range of services, including investment administration and transactions services, research and trainings, IT services and backroom functions to banks, financial advisory firms, financial institutions, multinational companies, as well as investors in Asia. The Group is also present in Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. iFAST has two main business divisions, namely its Business-to-Consumer (B2C) website, Fundsupermart.com, targeted at DIY investors; and its Business-to-Business (B2B) platform that caters to the specialised needs of financial advisory (FA) companies, financial institutions and banks. As at end September 2014 and across the jurisdictions the Group operates, iFAST has over 115 distribution agreements with global fund houses offering over 1,800 investment products (including over 1,600 funds) on the platform across the different regions it operates in. Over 5,000 FA representatives and over 150 FA companies and financial institutions use the iFAST B2B platform.

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IFAST CORPORATION LTD. (SGX:AIY)

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From Suffrage To Sisterhood

What Is Feminism And What Does It Mean?

Held on March 8, International Women’s Day celebrates the progress women have made over the last century, and the inspiring women who helped make that progress happen. From the suffragist movement of the 1800s to the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, women have used the power of language and oration to inspire countless people.

Early feminism was heavily influenced by the Enlightenment in Europe during the late 1700s. The movement focused on reason and equality for all, and it ultimately inspired the American and French Revolutions. Think of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Of course, that whole all men are created equal thing didn’t apply to women or people of color at the time. That was a problem and a great source of tension for early feminism.

In the UK, Mary Wollstonecraft, an early feminist, published A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792, promoting the then-radical idea that women be educated on the same level as their male peers. The word feminism itself was first coined in 1837 by French philosopher, Charles Fourier (as féminisme). It originally referred to “feminine qualities or character,” but that sense isn’t used any more. Toward the end of the century, the word came to refer to equal rights for women and became inextricably linked to the suffragist movement.

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Human Rights Day 2024

Human Rights Day

December 10 is Human Rights Day

December 10 is Human Rights Day, a United Nations (UN) campaign that calls for people to know and push for their rights no matter where they are in the world.

Human rights are our basic rights or freedoms. They include our right to live, our right to health, education, freedom of speech and thoughts, and equal rights. Some groups organize protests on Human Rights Day to alert people of circumstances in parts of the world where human rights are not recognized or respected, or where these rights are not considered to be important.

Cultural events and photo exhibitions are also held to inform people, especially today's youth, of their rights and why it's important to hold on to them.

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Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse & Goofy Goof

Donald Duck

Full name: Donald Fauntleroy Duck, Born: birthday 9 Jun 1934

Donald Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known for his semi-intelligible speech and his mischievous, temperamental, and pompous personality. Along with his friend Mickey Mouse, Donald was included in TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time in 2002 and has earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has appeared in more films than any other Disney character.

Donald Duck appeared in comedic roles in animated cartoons. Donald's first appearance was in The Wise Little Hen (1934), but it was his second appearance in Orphan's Benefit that same year that introduced him as a temperamental comic foil to Mickey Mouse. Throughout the next two decades, Donald appeared in over 150 theatrical films, several of which were recognized at the Academy Awards. In the 1930s, he typically appeared as part of a comic trio with Mickey and Goofy and was given his own film series starting with Don Donald (1937). These films introduced Donald's love interest and permanent girlfriend Daisy Duck and often included his three nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. After the film Chips Ahoy (1956), Donald appeared primarily in educational films before eventually returning to theatrical animation in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983). His last appearance in a theatrical film was in Fantasia 2000 (1999). However, since then Donald has appeared in direct-to-video features such as Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004), television series such as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–2016), and video games such as QuackShot (1991) and the Kingdom Hearts series.

In addition to animation, Donald is well known worldwide for his appearances in comics. Donald was most famously drawn by Al Taliaferro, Carl Barks, and Don Rosa. Barks, in particular, is credited for greatly expanding the "Donald Duck universe", the world in which Donald lives, and creating many additional characters such as Donald's rich uncle Scrooge McDuck. Donald has been a popular character in Europe, particularly in Nordic countries where his weekly magazine Kalle Anka & C:o was the comics publication with the highest circulation from the 1950s to 2009. In Italy, Donald is a major character in many comics, including a juvenile version named Paperino Paperotto, and a superhero alter ego known as Paperinik (Duck Avenger in the US and Superduck in the UK)

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Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse as he appears in a 1928 poster

Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white gloves. He is often depicted alongside his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, his pet dog Pluto, his friends Donald Duck and Goofy and his nemesis Pete among others (see Mickey Mouse universe).

Mickey was created as a replacement for a prior Disney character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The character was originally to be named "Mortimer Mouse", until Walt Disney's wife, Lillian, suggested "Mickey". Mickey first appeared in two 1928 shorts Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho (which were not picked up for distribution) before his public debut in Steamboat Willie (1928). The character went on to appear in over 130 films, mostly shorts as well as features such as Fantasia (1940). Since 1930, Mickey has been featured extensively in comic strips (including the Mickey Mouse comic strip, which ran for 45 years) and comic books (such as Mickey Mouse). The character has also been featured in television series such as The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1996).

Inspired by such silent film personalities as Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, Mickey is traditionally characterized as a sympathetic underdog who gets by on pluck and ingenuity in the face of challenges bigger than himself. The character's depiction as a small mouse is personified through his diminutive stature and falsetto voice, the latter of which was originally provided by Walt Disney. Though originally characterized as a cheeky lovable rogue, Mickey was rebranded over time as a nice guy, usually seen as a spirited, yet impulsive hero.

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Goofy Goof

First appearance 1932, Originally known as Dippy Dawg

Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and is Max Goof's father. He is normally characterized as hopelessly clumsy and dim-witted, yet this interpretation is not always definitive; occasionally, Goofy is shown as intuitive and clever, albeit in his own unique, eccentric way.

Goofy debuted in animated cartoons, starting in 1932 with Mickey's Revue as Dippy Dawg, who is older than Goofy would come to be. Later the same year, he was re-imagined as a younger character, now called Goofy, in the short The Whoopee Party. During the 1930s, he was used extensively as part of a comedy trio with Mickey and Donald. Starting in 1939, Goofy was given his own series of shorts that were popular in the 1940s and early 1950s. Two Goofy shorts were nominated for an Oscar: How to Play Football (1944) and Aquamania (1961). He also co-starred in a short series with Donald, including Polar Trappers (1938), where they first appeared without Mickey Mouse. Three more Goofy shorts were produced in the 1960s after which Goofy was only seen in television and Disney comics. He returned to theatrical animation in 1983 with Mickey's Christmas Carol. His most recent theatrical appearance was How to Hook Up Your Home Theater in 2007. Goofy has also been featured in television, most extensively in Goof Troop (1992), House of Mouse (2001–2003), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–2016), Mickey Mouse (2013–2019), Mickey and the Roadster Racers / Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures (2017–2021), and Mickey Mouse Funhouse (2021–present).

Originally known as Dippy Dawg, the character is more commonly known simply as "Goofy", a name used in his short film series. In his 1950s cartoons, he usually played a character called George G. Geef. Sources from the Goof Troop continuity give the character's full name as G. G. "Goofy" Goof,[4][5] likely in reference to the 1950s name. In many other sources, both animated and comics, the surname Goof continues to be used. In other 2000s-era comics, the character's full name has occasionally been given as Goofus D. Dawg.

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The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney founded on 16 Oc 1923, Formerly Disney Brothers Cartoon

The Walt Disney Company is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing to its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.

After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation division, began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation in the 1990s. In 2005, under new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.

The company is known for its film studio division, the Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Animation, and Searchlight Pictures. Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these divisions, Disney owns and operates the ABC television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Experiences, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world.

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