Month: April 2008
Lack of petrol hits Fujairah motorists
Lack of petrol hits Fujairah motorists
By Fuad Ali, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: April 21, 2008, 23:40
Fujairah: Motorists in Fujairah have been turned away from most Enoc and Eppco petrol stations for lack of petrol on Monday, Gulf News has learnt.
According to station staff, petrol tanks have failed to make their usual delivery, for the second day running. Most stations were able to serve customers Sunday but by Monday afternoon had run out of petrol.
Gulf News contacted an Enoc representative but the company declined to comment.
Abu Dhabi labour ministry scraps degree verification system
Abu Dhabi labour ministry scraps degree verification system
By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: April 21, 2008, 23:40
Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Labour has scrapped the degree verification system introduced in 2005.
Effective on Tuesday, certificates can no longer be verified by applying to Emirates Post, which used to verify the certificates via Integra Screen, a private company offering document verification services to applicants as part of their tie-up with the labour ministry.
Saqr Gobash Saeed Gobash, Minister of Labour, yesterday issued law No 240 of 2008 that replaces and nullifies the effects of law No 851 of 2005. And the procedures have returned to what they used to be prior to 2005’s law.
Fake degrees
Expatriate job applicants will have to go through the attestation process in their own countries and produce the documents before their country’s embassy in the UAE and get the attestation from the Foreign Ministry before their visa application can be completed.
If the certificates prove to be fake, then the visa application process will be stopped.
The decree also annuls any punishments or penalties stipulated by the previous law.
If a person whose certificate cannot be attested for a job is already in the country, then as per the new decree, it will be the responsibility of the company to send the person back to his/her country.
A special committee has been formed to review the law.
UAE and US sign agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy
UAE and US sign agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy
By Samir Salama, Associate Editor, and Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
Published: April 21, 2008, 12:33
Manama/Abu Dhabi: The United States became the second country with which the UAE signed an agreement on peaceful nuclear energy cooperation yesterday, as the top US diplomat praised the UAE as a “responsible power”.
Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, met on the sidelines of the GCC summit in Manama, where a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy was signed. A similar agreement was signed with France in January.
“The UAE-US MoU represents an excellent example of cooperation the UAE hopes to forge with responsible nuclear supplier states. There are potential mutual benefits to both parties from deepening cooperation in the development of the UAE’s domestic nuclear energy sector,” said Shaikh Abdullah.
The Foreign Minister welcomed the prospect of negotiating a more extensive bilateral agreement with the US, which would establish the necessary legal basis for trade in significant nuclear commodities between the two countries.
“We are very supportive of what you are trying to do. As you know we think access to nuclear energy is very important. The UAE is a responsible partner and a responsible power,” Rice said at the signing ceremony.
Hamad Al Ka’abi, the Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for International Nuclear Cooperation, told Gulf News the agreement entails cooperation in developing nuclear infrastructure, training human resources and safeguarding of nuclear materials and facilities.
Al Ka’abi said the MoU does not provide for commercial contracts for American companies to build or operate nuclear plants.
Global initiative
He said the UAE will seek nuclear know-how from all responsible suppliers worldwide.
The government has also said it plans to establish a $100 million agency to look into developing nuclear energy to satisfy rising electricity demand.
GCC countries, the US, Egypt and Jordan said that they supported “the responsible and transparent development of civilian nuclear energy” in a statement.
Shaikh Abdullah also presented to his US counterpart a diplomatic note endorsing the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.
– With additional inputs from Habib Toumi, Bahrain Bureau Chief, WAM and agencies
Vegetable diet cuts heart attack risk
Vegetable diet cuts heart attack risk
20 Apr 2008, 0333 hrs IST,Kounteya Sinha,TNN
NEW DELHI: A 24-year-long American study has offered the strongest evidence yet to show that a diet rich in vegetables, low on animal protein and moderate intake of low-fat dairy products cuts chances of heart attack in middle-aged women by nearly a quarter.
The study, which followed over 88,000 otherwise-healthy nurses, found that those who followed the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet —fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk and plant-based protein — over meat had 24% less chances of suffering a heart attack and 18% less likely to have a stroke than women who consume more meat.
Women in the study were in their mid-30s to late 50s when the research began in 1980.
Reporting this finding in the latest edition of the journal “Archives of Internal Medicine”, scientists from Simmons College, Boston, said that even though the study only followed women, men too would benefit equally by following a similar dietary regime.
The study’s lead author Teresa Fung said: “People might think they don’t have high blood pressure, so they don’t have to follow it. However, the results suggest that even healthy people should get on it.”
Reacting to the study, senior cardiologist at Apollo hospital Dr Deepak Natarajan said: “Besides essential nutrients, food also produces bioactive compounds that improves health and protects against disease. A low cholesterol and high fibre diet, which includes at least six portions of vegetables and fruits a day, contain essential micro-nutrients and vitamins that produce antioxidants — substances that protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Antioxidants prevent advent of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.”
Dr Natarajan added: “A recent study, examining the importance of heart disease risk factors, looked at more than 20,000 people in 52 countries and found that most Indians follow a non-vegetarian diet. Not only is the volume of vegetables consumed low, reheating of vegetarian dishes — a common practice among Indians — destroys the micro-nutrients. Indians, therefore, face heart attacks five years earlier than people in the West.”
Designed to stop hypertension (high blood pressure), the DASH diet has previously been shown to reduce both systolic and diastolic BP levels — top and bottom numbers, respectively — in people with high or normal BP.
This BP-reducing diet has been linked to a reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), commonly called bad cholesterol. To examine the association between the diet and cardiovascular health, the team analyzed 88,517 female nurses, none of whom had cardiovascular disease or diabetes in 1980.
On seven occasions between 1980 and 2004, participants in the study detailed the types of foods they ate frequently over the past year.
The researchers used eight food and nutrient components from the data to develop a DASH score for each woman. If women ate more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, then their DASH scores increased.
As participants ate more red and processed meats and sweetened beverages, their scores decreased.
After 24 years of follow-up, the researchers found that 2,129 women had a non-fatal heart attack, 976 died of coronary heart disease, and 2,317 had strokes. Women with higher DASH scores were found to have a reduced risk for heart disease and stroke.
kounteya.sinha@timesgroup.com
‘Saffron may ease PMS symptoms’
‘Saffron may ease PMS symptoms’
21 Apr 2008, 0007 hrs IST,REUTERS
NEW YORK: Saffron, a spice known for flavouring cuisine, might also offer an antidote to premenstrual syndrome, a small study suggests.
It’s thought that the spice might influence depression symptoms via effects on the brain chemical serotonin. Because alterations in serotonin activity are suspected in PMS, a team of Iranian researchers decided to study whether saffron supplements might help relieve these symptoms.
M Agha-Hosseini and colleagues at Tehran University of Medical Sciences randomly assigned 50 women to take either saffron capsules or a placebo twice a day over two menstrual cycles. The women, had all had PMS symptoms for at least six months.
At the end of the treatment period, three-quarters of the women on saffron capsules reported at least a 50% reduction in PMS symptoms.
That compared with only 8% of women in the placebo group, the researchers report in the medical journal
BJOG. In addition, the researchers found, 60% of the saffron group showed a 50% improvement in depression symptoms.
World’s smallest transistor created
World’s smallest transistor created
21Apr 2008, 0001 hrs IST,PTI
LONDON: Scientists have created the world’s smallest transistor, measuring a little bigger than a molecule, a feat which they claim could spark the development of super-fast computer chips in the future.
Using the world’s thinnest material called graphene, a team at University of Manchester has produced the transistor which is one atom thick and ten atoms wide, marking the first true electronic nanocomponent, the ‘Science’ journal reported.
Four years ago, they discovered graphene, the first known one-atom-thick material which can be viewed as a plane of atoms pulled out from graphite. Now, the researchers led by Prof Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov have shown that it’s possible to carve out nanometre scale transistors from a single graphene crystal. Unlike other known materials, graphene remains highly stable and conductive even when it is cut into devices one nanometre wide.
The smaller the size of the transistors, the better they perform, according to them.
Transistors made of graphene start showing advantages at sizes below ten nanometres, the miniaturisation limit at which traditional silicon-based technology is predicted to actually fail.
However, Geim does not expect graphene-based circuits to come of age before 2025 but argues this technology will probably be the only way to shrink microelectronics after the silicon era comes to an end.
“It is too early to promise graphene supercomputers. (In fact) in our work, we relied on chance when making such small transistors. Unfortunately, no existing technology allows the cutting of materials with true nanometre precision. “But this is exactly the same challenge that all post-silicon electronics has to face. At least, we now have a material that can meet such a challenge,” Prof Geim said.
“Now one can think of designer molecules acting as transistors connected into designer computer architecture on the basis of the same material (graphene),” added Novoselov.
Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam Temple Festival – Ottamthullal
Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam Temple Festival – Ottamthullal
Wow, it was Jayasuriya!
naak phat gayi: Andrea Fernandes is currently in Harkishandas Hospital, with a fractured nose. pic/shadab khan
Wow, it was Jayasuriya!
Author: Varun Singh Date: 21 Apr 2008
Exclaims photographer whose nose was fractured by the Sri Lankan’s smashing boundary last night
Sanath Jayasuriya ensured that photographer Andrea Fernandes’s first sports assignment would be a memorable one.
The swashbuckling Sri Lankan sent one of his trademark slashes crashing into the fence at Wankhede stadium, during the Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers IPL match last night, where it landed on the nose of the 24-year-old Andrea, who was standing just behind the advertising hoardings.
But Andrea, who is admitted at Harkishandas Hospital, Charni Road, with a fractured nose, is still counting her blessings. “Wow… it was Jayasuriya! I wasn’t aware who the batsman was but I am thankful it wasn’t a six. If a four can break my nose, imagine what a six would have done,” she said. Dr Ashok Shah said she would be operated upon today.
Fernandes has been a photographer for more than three years but yesterday’s IPL match was her first sports assignment.
“From this experience I have learnt that safety is needed no matter where you are,” she said. She added that this would not stop her from covering more matches in the future.
from Mid-Day Mumbai
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