Month: November 2007
Iraq flares up on Reliance deal with Kurdish govt
Iraq flares up on Reliance deal with Kurdish govt
16 Nov, 2007, 0056 hrs IST,Rajeev Jayaswal, TNN
RIYADH: Iraq has threatened to bar Reliance Industries (RIL) from oil deals for signing oil block contracts in the Kurdish region. RIL recently executed two production-sharing contracts (PSC) with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), covering petroleum exploration activities in the Rovi and Sarta blocks in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Iraqi oil minister Hussein Al-Shahristani said on Thursday that Iraq’s federal government does not recognise the deal. “The contracts have no standing with the Iraqi government. The companies that have signed the contracts with the Kurdish region may compromise chances of getting future contracts in Iraq,” he replied on the sidelines of the third Opec summit when asked about the RIL oil deals.
The oil deals seem to have angered Baghdad, which opposes a unilateral crude oil block selloff in the absence of a national oil law. The federal government of Iraq had urged the regional government of Kurdistan against signing an oil deal till the new national oil law was passed in Iraq Parliament.
Reacting to the development, RIL said its agreement with the autonomous KRG conformed to law. “The two exploration blocks in northern Iraq in Kurdistan region, for which we have signed the agreement, are within the legal framework,” RIL said in a statement issued here.
“RIL has always maintained highest cordial relationship with the government of Iraq and all other stakeholders in the countries where we operate. We will continue to do so in future,” the statement said.
Al-Shahristani said any independent deal with KRG would face difficulty in exporting oil from the region as Iraq would not allow its oil to be exported. Kurdistan lies in the north of Iraq and does not have a port for export of oil. Companies producing oil in the region have to necessarily go to southern ports that come under the administrative control of the federal government of Iraq.
On November 8, RIL announced it had executed two contracts with KRG covering petroleum exploration activities in the Rovi and Sarta blocks. Under the terms of the contract, Reliance Exploration & Production DMCC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, would serve as the operator. The blocks measuring 450-500 sq km are highly prospective and have almost 80% oil-bearing structure.
According to sources, RIL is likely to make a discovery soon. The company had paid a signing amount of $15.5-17.5 million for the blocks. While announcing the deal, RIL president (international operations) Atul Chandra had said, “We are pleased to reach an agreement with the KRG on the two PSCs.
We hope and believe this will be an investment that will provide long-term benefits to all the stakeholders.” RIL has established a local office in Erbil and has undertaken extensive geological work over the past year in the Kurdistan region.
Yoga as you like it: Mind that headache
Yoga as you like it: Mind that headache
By Bharat Thakur, Special to Unwind
Published: November 09, 2007, 23:39
Migraine debilitates one for hours and, although there is no cure, yogic asanas can help reduce the pain.
Migraine is a vascular headache caused by the inflammation and irritation of the nerve endings. This results from the expansion of the blood vessels on the surface of the brain.
Acute pain may be felt on one or both sides of the head, at the back of the neck, around the eyes or in the face or in the sinuses.
This pain can be severe and, if left untreated, can last from as little as four hours to even 72 hours.
The pain is often preceded by a sensory warning sign or the seeing of an aura, flashes of light or getting blind spots. A tingling sensation in the arms and legs may also serve as a warning.
Triggers for migraine attacks vary from person to person. The factors causing it include stress, certain foods, weather changes, odours, change in sleeping habits and hormonal fluctuations.
Yoga therapy for migraine generally focuses on prevention, which also includes stress reduction.
Yoga can also help reduce the headache by providing relief to sensory overload and relaxing your mind.
Pranayama for migraine
Yoga places much importance on breathing. Not only do pranayamas strengthen the lungs and improve oxygen levels, they also help restore and gradually balance the flow of prana or vital energy to the brain and soothe the nerves.
Kapalbhati pranayama
Exercise
Sit back on your heels, place palms on knees and hold the back straight.
Exhale forcefully and rapidly in quick successions through the nose, pulling the stomach towards the spine as you exhale. Inhalation is automatic and should be passive between every two exhalations.
Practise 30 to 50 inhalations at a stretch.
Repeat 3 times.
Nadi shodhana pranayama (Alternate-nostril breathing)
Exercise
Sit in padmasana. To do that, sit with legs stretched out and back held straight.
Bend one leg and place the foot on opposite thigh. Bend the other leg and place the foot on the thigh of the bent leg. Place your hands on your knees.
Curl the forefinger and middle finger of your right hand. Close your eyes and practise deep breathing.
Close your right nostril with the thumb and place the ring finger between eyebrows. Inhale to a count of 5.
Now, close the left nostril with your ring finger. Hold your breath for a count of 10.
Raise your thumb between eyebrows and to a count of 10 slowly exhale through right nostril.
Now, breathe in again through the right nostril to a count of 5. Close the right nostril with your thumb and hold your breath to a count of 10. Place ring finger between eyebrows and exhale through left nostril to count of 10.
Repeat complete cycle.
Kriyas for migraine
Kriyas rid the body of toxins and strengthen the 72,000 nadis which are energy channels in our body and form a kind of electrical circuit.
Jal neti
Exercise
Use a neti pot or a long-stemmed teapot.
Add 1 teaspoon salt to 1/2 litre lukewarm water and fill the neti pot.
Stand relaxed with legs apart, bend forward and tilt your head to one side as shown. Keep the mouth open so you can breathe through it.
Place the nozzle in the nostril that is facing upwards and slowly pour water into it. The water will flow out through the other nostril.
Straighten up, blow nose gently to remove any mucous.
Now, close one nostril and rapidly exhale 10 to 15 times through the other.
Repeat with other nostril.
Lastly, inhale and exhale rapidly 10 to 15 times with both nostrils open.
Inverted asanas for migraine
During migraine there is decreased blood flow to the brain. Inverted asanas help loosen the cervical and shoulder areas and also increase blood flow to the brain.
Caution: Those suffering from hernia, high blood pressure, heart conditions and severe back problems should not carry out these exercises.
Sarvangasana (Shoulder-stand pose)
Exercise
Lie flat on your back, arms by the sides. Slowly raise both legs to a 90 degrees position.
Lift your hips and back off the floor and bring the legs towards your head, supporting the hips with your hands.
Slowly lower the hands and bring legs to 90 degrees. Support the whole body on shoulders so that the trunk and legs are in a straight line. Keep your chin pressed to the chest.
Hold for 30 to 60 seconds.
Lower your back and legs without jerky movements.
(More asanas on migraine next week)
– Bharat Thakur is the founder of Bharat Thakur’s Artistic Yoga. For questions on yoga, write to dubai.artisticyoga@gmail.com. For information, log on to http://www.bharatthakur.com
Change in rules for shifting jobs
Change in rules for shifting jobs
By Rayeesa Absal and Wafa Issa, Staff Reporters GULF NEWS
Published: November 16, 2007, 00:10
Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Labour has amended rules for sponsorship transfer allowing expatriates to change their jobs without having to spend one year with their original sponsors, a senior official said on Thursday.
Humaid Bin Deemas, Assistant Undersecretary at the ministry, told Gulf News that earlier an exemption from the minister was needed in order to be able to transfer sponsorship before completing one year.
“However, since two weeks exemptions are no longer needed but the NOC from the previous sponsor is still a prerequisite and the applicant will have to pay a fee of Dh500 for each month remaining to complete this mandatory period. The procedure could be done at the customer service counter at the ministry and applicants no longer need to approach the minister’s office,” said Bin Deemas.
Khalil Khoury, the Director of Work Permits Department, said as per the rule, anybody wishing to transfer sponsorship before completion of the mandatory period specified by the MOL would have to pay a fee of Dh3,000. Apart from this a fee of Dh500 would have to be paid for each month remaining to complete this mandatory period.
He added that the cost of sponsorship transfer depends on the qualification of the concerned employee. For instance, a person with Master’s degree would have to pay Dh1,500 for approval while a person with low educational qualification will have to pay Dh 5,000 for the same. The cost of approval of internal work permit to move to another company owned by the same sponsor is Dh500.
New counter
“Even before the new rule was implemented, people could transfer their sponsorship without completing the mandatory period with their sponsors, but this required the approval of the Assistant Undersecretary. With the new rule in place, people can complete the sponsorship transfer procedures at the counter itself, after obligatory fines are paid,” Khoury said. A new counter has been opened at the MOL to accept applications.
The original sponsor should sign in the application for cancellation, which means the consent of the sponsor is essential to facilitate the transfer process.
Not many people are availing this facility, said Khoury, citing high costs as the reason. “We have not received many requests to facilitate sponsorship transfer because of the high costs involved. Labourers and workers in the low-income group would find it hard to shell out so much money for this purpose.”
Two amazing children
Two amazing children
CD Verma New Delhi, November 16, 2007 for The Hindustan Times
They were two youngsters, a brother and a sister. The boy aged 12 and the girl aged 15, were in school uniform. They were carrying heavy school satchels.
They behaved like children of respectable parents. Like us, they too were waiting for the bus. A state bus, bound for Chandigarh, arrived. The bus ploughed through the crowd, scattered the passengers helter-skelter and came to a screeching halt.
The commuters charged at the bus and scampered into it. In the flurry and scurry the two children patiently waited for their turn. They were the last to board. The youngsters occupied the seat in front of me. The girl handed over a 50-rupee note to me to pass it on to the conductor via other passengers, for two tickets to Ashram, New Delhi.
The note was handed over by commuters to the conductor, who in the same way dispatched the tickets and the balance amount back to the children. The gir1counted the balance returned by the conductor, looked at the value of the ticket, and counted the balance again.
Discovering that the conductor had returned Rs 1.50 in excess, she directed the younger brother to return the excess amount to the conductor The boy got up from his seat, slowly waded through the crowd of passengers, reached the conductor and returned it. The conductor nodded his head in appreciation.
All this while I watched the two in admiration. And so did the crowd. However, after some time the girl again started counting the money. On recalculation, she found that the conductor had in fact paid Rs 2.50 and not Rs 1.50 in excess.
She once again asked her brother to go to the conductor. The boy returned another rupee to the conductor. Their exemplary conduct caused a big whisper of approbation among the commuters who marveled at the conscientious youngsters. Spontaneously, I caressed their heads.
The kids responded with “Thank you.” Then they got down at Ashram, leaving us philosophising about the moral ‘sanskars’ the children might have imbibed from their parents.
Idli boy steals the show
Idli boy steals the show
– Entrepreneur holds aspiring managers in thrall
from The Telegraph, Culcutta
Jamshedpur, Nov. 18: A packed Tata auditorium listened with rapt attention to Sarathababu Elumalai, who was here to share his rags-to-riches story during the XLRI annual Homecoming ceremony.
The youth from Chennai, an IIM graduate who refused a brilliant job to start a catering service, said: “I was born in a family of five children in Chennai and my mother worked with the government’s mid-day meal schemes. The money was not sufficient to sustain the large family, so she set up a small idli shop near our home in one of the slum areas of Chennai.”
The founder of FoodKing Catering Services, which today serves home-made hygienic food to offices in Ahmedabad and Goa, recalled how in Class IX his teachers had to persuade him hard not to quit studies.
From selling idlis on the pavements of Chennai to binding books for students, Elumalai had done it all till he reached BITS, Pilani. “I had never heard of the institution as we never got such an exposure. Someone told me that if I study there I will get a job,” he said.
After the engineering degree and a three years’ stint in the corporate world, Elumalai moved to IIM (A).
“The kind of salary and position an IIM graduate is offered is very difficult to turn down. But if I had not taken such a decision, I would have never been able to start my business,” he said.
The business, which started with a mere Rs 5,000 and a small kiosk at Ahmedabad, has today spread to over six branches employing over 175 people whose only job is to supply nutritious home-made food to corporates.
“It was an idea that I chanced upon during my internship at Pilani when I learnt that 30 per cent of the country’s population go to bed without food,” he said.
“More than working for somebody I wanted to give jobs to people like me, who did not have other means of livelihood.”
Soon his company would venture into other cities and provide employment to at least 15, 000 people.
And while Sarathababu surprised everybody with his stories, XLRI today too put its first step in the same direction. After almost three years of negotiations, the much talked about Social Entrepreneurship Trust (SET) was formed today.
Aimed at funding and supporting innovative social entrepreneurship ideas, the trust which is the first of its kind would also work for different tribal upliftment projects in Jharkhand and would provide scholarships to tribal youths for further studies.
While B.L. Raina, managing director, Tinplate is the founder trustee and chairman of the trust, XLRI director, N Caisimir Raj will be the director of the trust. In total the trust would have about seven corporate heads as trustees from, across the country including a few XLRI faculty members.
Kerala and Dubai formally launch Smart City project
Kerala and Dubai formally launch Smart City project
By Akhel Mathew, Correspondent GULF NEWS
Published: November 16, 2007, 18:14
Kochi: Smart City Kochi, the Kerala government’s most ambitious IT venture, was formally launched by the Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and Dubai-based Tecom Executive Director Fareed Abdul Rahman.
Achuthanandan and Rahman laid the foundation stone for the project. Tecom Executive chairman Ahmad Bin Byat, however, could not attend the function.
Estimated outlay
The project, which involves an estimated outlay of Rs16 billion (Dh1.5 billion) and is being established on about 246 acres at Kakkanad in Kochi city, is expected to provide about 90,000 direct jobs and have a built-up space of 8.8 million square feet within a decade.
The entire project is being visualised on the lines of Dubai Internet City and the Dubai Media City, officials said.
Achuthanandan said this was the first major IT infrastructure project being developed by a public-private partnership in Kerala after two successful IT parks set up in the public sector – the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and the Infopark in Kochi.
Achuthanandan said the project would provide jobs to the local youth.
He added there were several enquiries from investors following the signing of the agreement with the Smart-City Dubai authorities.
Rahman said SmartCity Kochi was expected to be “a significant hub of excellence in the knowledge-based industry”. He added the SmartCity in Kerala and another being set up in Malta would be key hubs of the global SmartCity concept.
He praised Kerala’s vast talent pool and appreciated the state government’s support for IT projects.
Abu Dhabi economy challenges global market with solid growth
Abu Dhabi economy challenges global market with solid growthBY A STAFF REPORTER KHALEEJ TIMES
17 November 2007
DUBAI — Oil and gas production will no longer be the major source of public revenue in Abu Dhabi with the government’s determined strategy of diversifying the economy and creating new productive sectors based on solid partnerships with the private sector, says Adel Al Zarouni, Managing Director of Burooj Properties.
Al Zarouni of Burooj Properties, the gold sponsor of the Abu Dhabi Conference 2007 to be held at Emirates Palace on November 18-19, added: “Innovation and creativity are becoming an integral part of the national policy in Abu Dhabi which has succeeded in implementing the right formula to emerge as a global leader. The city’s growing reputation as an international tourism and business hub reflects its steady current economic boom. The most crucial factor that will drive economic prosperity in the capital of UAE is the forceful partnership between the public and private sectors.”
The economic success of the UAE owed much to the government support to the private initiatives. The growth of the city into a strategic destination for business is seen internationally as a pioneering effort where public-private partnerships are now a standard concept in the economic development realm of the city.
Al Zarouni added: “By combining the best talents and resources of the UAE public and private sectors, we can deliver value for money, greater efficiency and accelerated delivery of planned projects. Abu Dhabi is laying the ground for future development through enabling the implementation of public-private partnerships under principles of transparency, flexibility and fidelity.”
Abu Dhabi public private partnerships define partners’ roles and responsibilities by high level of transparency and precision through looking into partner selection, deal structuring and negotiations.
Al Zarouni added: “We are pleased to be a gold sponsor of the Abu Dhabi Conference 2007 which brings together key government officials and influential industry leaders to discuss and debate issues that shape the future of Abu Dhabi.”
Abu Dhabi Conference 2007 follows the Government’s recent comprehensive plan for the development of the city that will guide planning decisions for the next quarter of a century.
Al Zarouni concluded: “Innovation is the most critical element in sustaining competitiveness. Abu Dhabi’s construction boom goes in hand with further industry development in areas such as education, healthcare and government services which remain at top of the government’s agenda.”
Male Circumcision can Cut HIV Infection, Studies Show
Male Circumcision can Cut HIV Infection, Studies Show
Scientific studies have confirmed a long-standing belief that male circumcision can reduce HIV infection rates in men by 60 percent, an international AIDS conference will be told next week.
David Cooper, the co-chairman of an International AIDS Society (IAS) conference to be held in Sydney from July 22-25, said research on male circumcision represented a major development in HIV prevention.
“We always knew that if you went into any particular African country that HIV rates among Muslim men were lots lower,” Cooper told AFP.
“But we were never sure that the Muslim men had lower numbers of partners than non-Muslim men, so people always doubted it.”
Cooper said the only way to ensure the link between lower HIV rates and circumcision was not due to cultural factors was to carry out random trials, the results of which will be presented at the Sydney conference.
He said three trials were conducted in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda, each involving more than 2,000 heterosexual men, half of whom were circumcised.
“The reduction in HIV infection was about 60 percent, so clearly it works,” said Cooper, who is also the director of Australia’s National Centre for HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research.
Cooper said the studies showed circumcision could be a powerful tool in helping curb HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa, where infection rates in some countries are up to 40 percent of the adult population.
He said, however, that any introduction of widespread male circumcision in developing countries needed to be carried out with an education campaign that reinforced a safe sex message.
“In some areas of sub-Saharan Africa men are requesting circumcision, which is a bit of a worry, as they may think they’re protected and they’re not,” Cooper said.
“It merely reduces the risk, you still have to use condoms, men can’t think ‘that’s all I need to do, I can now have unsafe sex’.”
The clinical reason for circumcision’s preventive effect is still being investigated.
One theory is that the foreskin has a very thin lining and suffers minor abrasions during intercourse, making it easier for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to enter the man’s bloodstream. Another is that the foreskin is rich in Langerhans cells, whose surface is configured in such a way that the AIDS virus readily latches on to them.
Source-AFP
UAE announces new steps to protect rights of foreign workers
UAE announces new steps to protect rights of foreign workers
14 Nov, 2007, 1727 hrs IST, PTI
DUBAI: In a move aimed at protecting rights of foreigners working as domestic helps, including Indians, the UAE has announced that it would draft a law on par with international standards to safeguard their interests.
“Government decreed the drafting of a law later last month to protect the rights of domestic helps like other workers under UAE Labour Law. First of its kind, the law will follow local and international standards to safeguard their interest,” Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs said.
“We recognise that the protection of domestic workers is the top priority for the government and are committed towards it,” he told the Emirates News Agency.
His comments came in the wake of a report published by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), which claimed that domestic helps face forced labour and sexual harassment in Gulf countries. The research was conducted in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon and UAE.
The minster stressed that they are committed to “protect the rights of labourers and curb abuses against them.”
Criticising the survey conducted by HRW, Gargesh said they are disappointed by the quality of the research.
The findings are based on interviews with Sri Lankan women workers who work across the Middle East, he said.
Skin, hair, nail show stress level
Skin, hair, nail show stress level
11 Nov 2007, 1125 hrs IST,PTI
NEW YORK: Feeling stressed? Your skin, hair and nails can show it as they’re the external indicators.
While everyone knows that stress can take a toll on a person physically and psychologically, researchers in the United States have carried out a study and found that it also can lead to dermatological problems, like acne, brittle nails or even hair loss, the ScienceDaily reported.
“When a person becomes stressed, the level of the body’s stress hormone (cortisol) rises. This in turn causes an increase in oil production, which can lead to oily skin, acne and other related skin problems.
“Stress can aggravate the skin and trigger unexpected flare-ups that, in effect, create more stress for patients,” lead researcher Dr Flor A. Mayoral of the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine was quoted as saying.
Dr Mayoral and his fellow researchers came to the conclusion after analysing a study, involving 27 medical, dental and pharmacy students.
The researchers examined how periods of higher stress impacted the skin’s response to repeated stripping of cellophane tape on the subjects’ forearms vs. periods of lower stress (such as after returning from winter vacation).
They found that it took longer for the skin to recover from the minimally invasive tape stripping during periods of perceived higher stress than during less stressful periods.
“This study’s the first of its kind to suggest what dermatologists anecdotally have known for years — that psychological stress adversely affects the normal functions of the skin.
“While the subjects in this study did not have any pre-existing skin conditions, I’d suspect that people with skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis would have been more adversely affected by this experiment,” he said.
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