Month: June 2008
Major revamp of visit visa norms
Major revamp of visit visa norms
By Ahmed Abdul Aziz (Our staff reporter)KHALEEJ TIMES 12 June 2008
ABU DHABI — Under the new visit visa rule which comes into effect from August 1, residents sponsoring their immediate family members, which include spouse, children and parents, are expected to pay a Dh1,000 deposit, refundable on exit, Khaleej Times has learnt.
Besides, the sponsor seeking to apply for visit visa for his immediate family or first degree relatives (brother, sister, aunt, uncle) should draw a minimum monthly salary of Dh5,000, the new rule states.
Currently, visit visa for an immediate family member does not require any refundable deposit. The deposit of Dh2,000 is paid only in case the sponsor applies for visit visa for a first degree or second degree relative. However, it is not very clear whether the new visit visa rule requires a refundable deposit to be made even for immediate family members.
A meeting of officials of the Naturalisation and Residency Departments of all emirates will be held today in Ajman to discuss and clarify all the fine points and procedural requirements of the new visit visa rule.
The amended rule, according to the by-laws, regulates issuance of visit visas and will now oblige the sponsors who want to bring their relatives to pay
Dh1,000 guarantee which is refundable when the visitor leaves the country.
Colonel Darwish Eid Ebaid Al Meheri, Director of Visas and Residency Department at the Federal Naturalisation and Residency Department (FNRD) at the Ministry of Interior, had earlier said, “The sponsors who want to bring their relatives to the country on visit visa must pay the guarantee of Dh1,000, in addition to providing the health insurance before issuing the visa”.
However, the situation will change by August 1, as the sponsors (nationals or expatriates) who want to bring first or second degree relatives must deposit a Dh1,000 refundable guarantee.
According to Article 40 of the by-law regulating the implementation of the new visit visa structure, the guarantee deposit will be refunded once the visitor leaves the country.
Expatriate residents can seek visit visas only for their relatives such as spouses, parents, children, brothers and sisters. However, in case of friends, the sponsor must be a UAE national.
Meanwhile, if the visitor arriving in the UAE is a second-degree relative such as cousins or nephews, the application must be endorsed by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) or approved by the director of naturalisation and residency of the respective emirate.
Presentation on higher studies in US
Presentation on higher studies in US
Wednesday June 11 2008 11:15 IST Express News Service
KOCHI: The United States of Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) is organising a presentation on “Higher Education in the United States” at the Chavara Cultural Centre at 10 a.m. on June 14.
Carly Shane, international enrolment manager, Office of International Programme and Service and Winston Erevelles, Dean, School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science, Robert Morris University, Moon Township, Pennsylvania will be the resource persons at the presentation.
The presentation will include a discussion on accreditation, financial assistance and on the opportunities at Robert Morris University.
For further information, contact: 0484-2377443/0484-4070250 or e-mail usefichennai@fulbright-india.org .
‘Smoking cuts life span by 5 years’
‘Smoking cuts life span by 5 years’
11 Jun 2008, 1212 hrs IST
WASHINGTON: Several studies have time and again stuck a warning chord for the smokers worldwide and here comes another. According to a mortality risk chart released Tuesday in the US Journal of the National Cancer Institute, smoking cigarettes has the same effect as cutting the life span by close to five years.
“The effect of smoking on the chance of dying is similar to the effect of adding five to 10 years of age,” the study said.
“For both men and women, smoking increases the risk of death by nearly the same magnitude as adding five years to a person’s age.”
The figures were derived by compiling death and health risk statistics from various agencies such as the American Cancer Society and National Center for Health Statistics, and were arranged into 10-year risk charts.
“For example, a 55-year-old man who smokes has about the same 10-year risk of death from all causes as a 65-year-old man who never smoked,” it said.
Among women who never smoked, the 10-year risk rates of dying from breast cancer and heart disease were similar until age 60, after which heart disease was the biggest killer.
“For women who currently smoke, the chance of dying from heart disease or lung cancer exceeds the chance of dying from breast cancer from age 40 on.”
The study, which aimed to help doctors convey the risks of smoking, was led by Lisa Schwartz of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Vermont.
“We hope that the availability of these simple charts will facilitate physician-patient discussion about disease risk and help people understand where to focus risk reduction efforts,” the authors wrote.
Prolonged night driving unsafe
Prolonged night driving unsafe
11 Jun 2008, 1229 hrs IST, IANS
WASHINGTON: Prolonged driving at night impairs performance at the steering wheel and should be discouraged, according to a new study.
The study focussed on 14 healthy youths who drove in three nocturnal sessions (3-5 am, 1-5 am and 9 pm to 5 am) on an open highway.
Researchers monitored inappropriate line crossings in the last hour of driving of each session, sleep variables, self-perceived fatigue and sleepiness.
As compared to the 3-5 am driving session, the ratio of inappropriate line crossings increased by 2.6 in the 1-5 am session and by a factor of four in the 9 pm-5 am driving session.
Self-related fatigue and sleepiness scores were both correlated to driving impairment in the 1-5 am and 9 pm-5 am driving sessions and increased significantly during the nocturnal driving sessions compared to the reference session.
“Until now, regulations have taken into account maximal duration of driving, but the cumulative effects of sleepiness and fatigue were never studied or integrated in the driving regulation,” said Pierre Philip of Université Bordeaux in France, co-author of the study.
“Here, we show that performance is badly affected by time of the day, and therefore, we think that a warning to limit maximum nocturnal driving duration should be included in professional safety recommendations.”
The findings of the study were presented Tuesday at ‘SLEEP 2008’, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
Mid-day break for labourers
Mid-day break for labourers
By Riyasbabu (Our staff reporter)KHALEEJ TIMES 11 June 2008
DUBAI — The Ministry of Labour (MoL) yesterday announced the mid-day break for labourers for this year’s summer months, banning outdoor work between 12.30pm and 3pm daily during the months of July and August.
Making the announcement, Humaid bin Deemas, Under-Secretary of MoL, stated the ban would provide respite to construction workers from the scorching sun and high humidity during the peak summer months.
Humaid bin Deemas said all preparations were in place for the implementation of the rule and violators would be penalised.
The MoL started implementing the mid-day break rule since 2005 as a part of its commitment to ensuring the health and safety of workers during the summers.
“This is the fourth year we are implementing the mid-day break. The response from companies as well as workers has been overwhelming,” said Humaid bin Deemas, while disclosing that the number of violators had been declining over the last two years.
According to the figures provided by the MoL’s Inspection Department, some 1,240 companies were found flouting the ban in 2005, 862 in 2006 and 617 in 2007.
“This shows that more companies are aware about the law. We’ll increase the number of inspectors this year,” said Humaid bin Deemas, without specifying the number of inspectors to be deployed this year.
According to the law, companies violating the rule for the first time will be fined Dh10,000 and their status will be transferred to ‘C’ category for three months and all of their new visa applications will be blocked.
If a company is found violating the law for the second time, a fine of Dh20,000 will be slapped and its status will be downgraded for six months.
If the company violates the law the third time, the fine will be Dh30,000 and its work licence will be suspended for one year.
Humaid bin Deemas added: “All the companies should provide shades for workers to rest during the mid-day break. A failure to do so will be considered a violation of law and violators will face the same penalties.”
He clarified: “Government organisations are not exempted from the law. All the government departments will be informed of the rule and they have to oblige by it.”
Now you don’t need water for carwash!
Now you don’t need water for carwash!
By Zoe Sinclair (Our staff reporter)GULF NEWS 11 June 2008
DUBAI — Residents can now clean their cars without using a single drop of water after a waterless car-cleaning product was launched in the country.
The UAE franchise of the product, Go Green, developed and approved in Australia, launched it here on June 1 with plans to make the service available across the city within the next two months.
Go Green managing director Ali Fadlallah said the service had attracted a lot of attention when it was displayed and demonstrated at the Facilities Management Expo at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre which concluded yesterday.
Fadlallah explained that the all-organic water-free service, provided by Able Facilities Management, cleaned, polished and waxed, preventing damage from pollution elements, salty air and tar.
Saad El Zein, Managing Director of Able Facilities Management, said the product was of environmental importance.
“Research shows that 200 litres of water is used to wash one car, water that should be saved for more important things,” said El Zein.
“Here in the UAE, cars need more care and cleaning due to the dust and extreme heat, meaning they are washed more frequently than in other countries.
“As more and more cars join the UAE’s roads, it becomes increasingly important to preserve water as it is a precious resource and our ‘Go Green’ product doesn’t use any water or chemicals that harm the environment,” El Zein continued.
Able FM hopes to attract property developers by offering a cleaning service within their garages, an option that is currently not available due to the restrictions of water-based maintenance, such as limited drainage areas.
Fadlallah said the product was not available on the shelf but the service would cost about the same price as a car wash at a service station.
“We will have it available at service stations across Dubai and there’s also been interest from cleaning stations and mall stations,” he said.
‘By the end of July there’ll be at least one facility in each suburb and we’ll be mobile too.
“We intend to go not only here but regional.”
The Dubai Municipality is in the process of approving the product while support is being sought from the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority in line with its message of water conservation.
An EPPCO official confirmed Go Green was planned for the service station at The Gardens this month and then a roll-out of the service at selected centres across Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
Able FM was nominated in the innovation category of the FM awards at the Facilities Management Expo for Go Green.
Early birds score better grades in college
Early birds score better grades in college
Tuesday June 10 2008 17:19 IST ANI
WASHINGTON: If you want to score well in college, just get out of bed earlier, for a new study suggests that morningness is a predictor of better grades in college.
The study, authored by Kendry Clay, of the University of North Texas, focused on 824 undergraduate students who were enrolled in psychology classes.
The subjects completed a health survey, which included questions regarding sleep habits and aspects of daytime functioning.
Results showed that college students who are evening types had lower GPAs, while those who are morning types had higher GPAs.
“The finding that college students who are evening types have lower GPAs is a very important finding, sure to make its way into undergraduate psychology texts in the near future, along with the research showing that memory is improved by sleep,” said Daniel J. Taylor, PhD, of the University of North Texas, Ms. Clay’s faculty mentor, a co-author, and who developed the concept for this study.
“Further, these results suggest that it might be possible to improve academic performance by using chronotherapy to help students entrain their biological clock to become more morning types,” he added.
The findings will be presented at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
Raga Ratnam Junior – a post-mortem of the final 3 prizes
I notice a significant difference in marks by one of the in-house judges. These marks were hidden during the final day’s prize declaration, several of my friends who were present called me and told me about this element of doubt, confusion and surprise regarding the declaration of winner. Raga Ratnam Junior was a show which consistently kept the quality element throughout it’s entire journey and it was really surprising to notice a surprise factor at the final moments of it’s culmination.
It is in our blood to criticise whatever good things happen in this world. It starts from a simple sadhya we attend cribbing either salt was little bit more or Aviyal was too thick or even the cherupazham was too small. It is very easy for us to judge from outside what really happened. However, here in this case, when we are looking at consistency of the performers and the judges in their final judgement.
Doing a post-mortem of the final day’s scores given by all the 7 judges we clearly notice something irregular.
Marks scored in the Kacheri round added with the Marks given by the external judges clearly shows a consistency element leading to the best performer amongst the three gem. I am not under-rating Arjun’s capabilities and fighting spirits, but when we consider the performance on the final day as well as the penultimate episode, it was Harishankar who performed better among the two. A rewind of the recordings will clearly highlight the differences and shortfalls on those two days. If we consider also a grading system based on the performances by the three, we will see a different set of winner for this title.
Here again, this is one outstanding programme, which was not ruled by highly prized gift packet and/or sponsored by publicity seeking Reality sponsors and so I do not want to add an element of confusion to the awards already declared.
My disappointment is how on earth Sri Kavalam Sreekumar ji, who happened to be their in-house groomer for this show, managed to give entirely different set of marks for the 1st and 2nd place? Was it an addition mistake or was it an after-effect of some unhappy incident during the grooming sessions cribbing in his mind and creeping above board over and over. Or is it an opportunistic exhibition of a professional rivalry with one of the family members of this young talent, who happened to be born in a legendary musical family, which obviously not his fault. Whatever the case may be, we all have seen in our epics like Mahabharatha that undue favouritism amongst disciples to make way for one to become a leader over duly deserving other has finally created in self destruction of the Guru himself and we sincerely hope it will not be the case here. If mistake has been committed, it is time to do a self analysis by those involved as it is happening too many times and nature is one thing which has immense amount of patience, but when it loses it’s patience, the destruction will be too strong to defend.
This is an exceptional case where Amrita TV cannot be held responsible for the errors made and congratulating once again all the three gems and all the 15 finalists who participated in this wonderful programme for their outstanding efforts to promote real and soulful music. They are very young and have already covered a lot of miles in terms of knowledge, publicity and popularity which their peers could never even dream about.
Special mention to Sri Dakshinamoorthy Swamy and K L Sreeram for their detailed judgements and Sri Binny Krishnakumar, Sri Sankaran Namboothiri, Sreevalsan J Menon, Anuradha Krishnamoorthy, Sri Jagannatha Varma (excuse me for all others who participated) for their dedicated support. I take this opportunity to thank once again the producer of this show, presenter and accompanying artists who performed exceptionally well throughout the entire duration. God bless you all to continue your dedicated work to promote true talents.
ClicksandWrites 
You must be logged in to post a comment.