Oil prices fall in Asian trade
Oil prices fall in Asian trade
20 Mar 2008, 1326 hrs IST,AFP
SINGAPORE: World oil prices continued to fall in Asian trade on Thursday, with more volatility expected as investors continue to assess the US economy, dealers said.
In early morning trade, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for May fell 60 cents to USD 101.94 per barrel from its close of USD 102.54 during floor trading in the US on Wednesday.
The April contract had expired on Wednesday at USD 104.48 a barrel, after plummeting USD 4.94. The contract had hit a record peak of USD 111.80 on Monday.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for May dropped 60 cents to USD 100.12 a barrel, after settling at USD 100.72 on Wednesday.
The commodities market is in a situation where “investor sentiment is potentially shifting” as they reassess the outlook for the US economy, said David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
“The market has been extremely volatile over the last week, and it is very difficult to say with any confidence when prices could bottom or turn around,” said Moore.
Traders continued to focus on the global credit squeeze amid concerns over the impact it might have on global economic growth and oil demand, and largely overlooked the headline US energy inventory data showing a smaller-than- expected rise in crude supplies.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stocks rose by just 200,000 barrels to 311.8 million barrels in the week ended March 14, about average for this time of the year.
Markets were expecting stocks to rise by around 2.3 million barrels.
Photo Speaks – Tile Arts
Enjoy viewing these beautiful tile arts, at one of the under-passes in Abu Dhabi Corniche.
Photos by Ramesh Menon
Jaaju Jaaju Stories – Three men and a Woman
Jaaju Jaaju Stories – Three men and a woman
This time it is a story about the famous King Vikramaditya.
Once three men disputed about a woman. This is a perfect example of a story that demonstrates the duties involved in lokasamgraha.
Keshav, the Brahmin, had a daughter whose name was Madhumalati. She had three suitors: Tribikram, Baman and Madhusudan. However, before Keshav could decide on the best suitor, Madhumalati was bit by a serpent and died. Each, deeply embittered by the death of their beloved, acted differently. They divided the relics of their beloved before parting and went their ways. Tribikram collected Madhumalati’s bones and became an ascetic. Baman tied up a bundle of Madhumalati’s ashes and went to live in the forest. He mourned Madhumalati’s death while in sannyasa lying in her ashes from dusk to dawn. Madhusudan, like Tribikram, became an ascetic. However, he was so disheartened by his love’s demise that he chose not to have anything to do with her remains.
On his journeys, Madhusudan learned how to bring the dead back to life. He hurried back and assembling the others brought Madhumalati back to life. The question that the vampire asks here is who should lay claim to her? The King answers correctly. Tribikram preserved her bones, and in doing so, placed himself in the position of Madhumalati’s son. Madhusudan, by restoring his beloved’s life, placed himself in the position of a father. Baman by preserving Madhumalati’s ashes and lying in them performed the duty of a husband.
King Vikramaditya is a ruler of high virtue. Obviously he knows the intricacies of lokasamgraha. This story outlines the various duties associated with different people in samsara.
Photo Speaks – Through the lanes of Bur Dubai
Migratory birds
Dubai is famous as a Conference Centre now. Here is one such conference happening. This time it is of a conference by Migratory birds at the Creek.
A fruit juice stall at one of the Abra Stations in Bur Dubai
A Water Bus at one of the Abra (boat) stations waiting for commuters
An Abra Station near Bur Dubai Textile Market
A walk through the Textile market – Bur Dubai
Handcarts lined up for transporting Textiles from wholesale markets at Bur Dubai
Photos by Ramesh Menon
IPIC, Uzbek companies sign MoUs to set up JVs
IPIC, Uzbek companies sign MoUs to set up JVs
(Wam)19 March 2008
ABU DHABI – The International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) signed two MoUs yesterday with Uzbekistan’s oil and gas and chemical companies to set up joint venture projects in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The MoUs were signed in the presence of Elyor Ganiev, Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Investment and Trade of Uzbekistan.
Budget airline to operate out of Jebel Ali
Budget airline to operate out of Jebel Ali
Saifur Rahman, Business Editor Published: March 19, 2008, 14:10
Dubai: The new budget airline announced by the Dubai Government will base its operations at the new Al Maktoum International Airport, a top official told Gulf News on Wednesday.
“We expect to start the airline within a year’s time from the Jebel Ali airport,” Ghaith Al Ghaith, the airline’s new chief executive said in an exclusive interview.
“It will be a new company, separate from the Emirates Group. However, Emirates will help to set up the airline. Its operations will be based in the low-cost terminal of the Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali.”
Ghaith could not give any indication of the airline’s capital requirements.
“It’s too early for us. However, you could be sure that whatever capital requirements we have, the government of Dubai is there to back us up. So, money is not an issue,” he said.
Al Ghaith said it was too early for him to offer any details on the airline’s fare structure. “You’ll come to know in due course,” he said.
Al Ghaith said preliminary work on setting up the office would be done from his current office at the Emirates headquarters.
“I’m still with the Emirates Group. However, my focus will gradually shift in setting up of the new airline,” he said.
8 things you should NOT do in a GD
8 things you should NOT do in a GD
Kshipra Singh | March 18, 2008 | 09:46 IST
A group discussion or GD, is a form of many-on-many discussion. It has become an inseparable part of admissions to management institutes and your selection in campus interviews.
A GD is held to identify certain traits that companies and institutes like to see in their employees or students. Let’s take a look at the traits which the evaluators look out for in a candidate during the GD. ?
~ Knowledge: Whatever you do in a GD, your knowledge about the subject can’t be replaced by anything else. You are required to talk in a GD but inputs that don’t contain any substantial value will not help in any way. Be a voracious reader to increase your knowledge on various subjects. Newspapers, TV, magazines, news portals etc are great sources of knowledge.
~ Alertness and presence of mind: In a GD you are required to carefully listen to the other person’s thoughts and keep an argument, example or a supportive statement, fact, example ready to participate in the discussion. Here comes into picture your alertness and ability to think and act immediately. As you participate in a GD, make sure that you sit with an attentive mind and keep taking down the relevant points put forward by others.
~ Communication: You may have a lot of good points to put across but if you can’t communicate them clearly, you won’t stand a chance when it comes to impressing the evaluators. Practice communicating in a clear and effective way with your friends, family or study group.
~ Confidence: Your self confidence adds a lot of value to your candidature. Look at every group member as you speak, avoid too much hand movement and looking at evaluators.
~ Leadership and team skills: Your participation in a GD clearly establishes not only your leadership skills but also your capability to work in a team. To meet the objectives, a good leader has to be a team player.
~ Goal orientation: Since so many people participate in a GD, the chances of the discussion moving away from the subject are high. Your focus on the goal can get you some extra points.
Now, as you are being evaluated for the above discussed traits, you must avoid things that can work to your disadvantage and might cost you the selection. Here are some things that you must avoid doing as a GD participant:
~ Initiating the discussion without proper subject knowledge
Although initiating the discussion helps you get the immediate attention of the evaluators, sharing irrelevant details just for teh sake of talking can work to your disadvantage. Start first only if you know the subject well otherwise wait for others to start and get a feel of the subject before entering into the discussion.
~ Snatching another’s chance to speak
Give your group members a chance to speak. Talking more won’t get you through the GD. In fact it will give the evaluators a feeling that you are not a team player. Making short and relevant contributions of 20-30 seconds 3-4 times in the discussion is enough.
~ Interrupting others
Let the other person finish his comment before you speak. Interrupting someone is counted as a negative trait. Remember, it is a discussion not a debate. Don’t jump at the conclusions. Listen carefully to the other person before putting your point across.??
~ Dialogue
In a GD you are expected to communicate with all the members of the group. Do not keep looking at one person while talking. Establish eye contact with all the members of the group. It is a many-on-many discussion not one-on-one.
~ Shouting or dominating
Keep you emotions in check. Do not try to dominate the others or let your emotions rule you. Sometimes it might happen that a group member might say something that hurts your feelings such as a comment on your race or religion, make sure that you do not get into an argument. Your focus should be to effectively meet the goals of GD topic.
‘I nailed my IIM group discussion & interview!’
~ Showing offYou have to put across your knowledge on the subject during the GD but you have to be very careful about the thin demarcation between showing off and knowledge sharing. For eg, using statistics and facts during the GD is a good thing to do but you must not overdo it enough to nauseate the group members.
~ Low self confidence or insecurities
As we have seen earlier, one of the traits evaluated during a GD is your self confidence. Do not hesitate to speak confidently, even if you might be short of ideas or knowledge on the subject. Listen to others and put across your thoughts in a clear and audible voice. Make sure that you make eye contact with all the group members.
~ Slang and negative gestures
GD is a formal discussion. Avoid informal words and negative gestures. For eg avoid words like gonna, wanna, ya etc. Similarly avoid gestures like pointing fingers, tapping the desk with the pen.
If you ensure that you do not commit these mistakes during the GD, you will not have to worry too much about the negative marks and your chances of getting through it also become much brighter.
Kshipra Singh is a contributor to http://www.CareerRide.com, a website that addresses technical and personal aspects of an IT interview. CareerRide also provides sample CVs and answers to questions asked in a personal and technical interview.
Want a sharp mind? Avoid wine
Want a sharp mind? Avoid wine
Press Trust Of India London, March 17, 2008
Binge drinkers, beware! Guzzling beer is better for brain while quaffing wine is a worry, a new study has claimed. Researchers at the University of Gottingen in Germany have found that drinking wine damages the brain more than beer or spirits – wine actually shrinks the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory.
According to them, the average size of the hippocampus – one of the first brain areas to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease – in non-alcoholics is 3.85ml while in beer drinkers it is 3.4ml, but for wine drinkers it is only 2.8ml.
“This is the first study investigating the impact of the type of preferred beverage on brain-volume shrinkage in patients with alcohol dependence,” British newspaper Daily Mail quoted the researchers as saying. They came to the conclusion after analysing the brain scans of alcoholics with those of healthy adults.
They found that the hippocampus, which is located deep within the brain’s temporal lobes, was ten per cent smaller in wine drinkers.
According to the researchers, a shrunken hippocampus can affect not only memory but also the brain’s navigation and spatial awareness, and as a result may cause feelings of disorientation.
However, in their study, the researchers also found that beer drinkers had the lowest levels of a compound in the blood called homocysteine which is often linked to heart disease and strokes.
The results of the study have been published in the Alcohol and Alcoholism medical journal. It may be mentioned that earlier researches have linked moderate wine drinking to a host of health benefits, including reducing high blood pressure and preventing the risk of a heart attack.
Heavy fog expected in parts of UAE on Monday morning
Heavy fog expected in parts of UAE on Monday morning
By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief GULF NEWS Published: March 16, 2008, 14:23
Al Ain: Weathermen have warned of the chances of heavy fog and mist on Monday morning in different parts of the northern and eastern emirates.
The north-westerly winds can also kick up dust in the western areas of the country that will reduce visibility during the daytime. This condition is also expected to extend in most areas of the country by afternoon and evening.
The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS), has forecast hazy and mild daytime weather in general, that would turn pleasant in the night.
“There will be another fall in the night time temperature,” said an official of the NCMS, indicating a good chance of fog or mist in some areas.
The winds may blow at the speed of 16 knots overland but they are expected to gain more strength in over sea, reaching to a speed of 24 knots. “The sea will also be rough with four to six feet high waves offshore,” he added.
The NCMS official said summer conditions are around the corner. The maximum and minimum temperature in different cities of the UAE ranges from 15 to 31 degree Celsius.
The level of maximum humidity has also increased, reaching 90 per cent in Sharjah, Ajman, and Ras Al Khaimah, while in other cities it is around 80 to 85 per cent.
New Garhoud Bridge inaugurated
New Garhoud Bridge inaugurated
Joy Sengupta (Staff Reporter)KHALEEJ TIMES 15 March 2008
DUBAI – The new Garhoud Bridge was officially inaugurated on March 15 by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), giving the motorists a much-needed breather.
Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the bridge which consists of 14 lanes, seven in each direction.
He also gave the green signal for the construction of the 6th Crossing over the Dubai Creek, which will be named Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed Crossing.
The implementation of this project is part of RTA strategy to keep pace with the urban growth and cater to the current and future requirements of development and demographic expansion through provision of roads network and advanced transport facilities.
By opening the new Al Garhoud Bridge, the number of lanes crossing Dubai Creek rises from 19 to 48. The new lanes are added following the completion of the 13-lane Business Bay Crossing, the six-lane Floating Bridge, widening of Al Maktoum Bridge from 9 to 11 lanes and opening the 14-lanes Al Garhoud Bridge.
Engineers engaged in the New Garhoud Bridge project were confronted with three main challenges: the first was to work within a marine habitat, a matter which required temporary construction of the bridge over pads containing giant waterproof containers. The second was to provide two marine navigational lines to allow for ships and boats passage across the Creek. The third challenge was to fix 12-metre-high pillars supporting the bridge and casting them as one lot within 48 hours by adopting an advanced method to avoid cracks resulting from high temperature levels.
The RTA also screened a documentary on Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed Crossing, which is one of biggest projects undertaken by the RTA. The bridge links Al Jaddaf at Bur Dubai with the road separating the Lagoons project and Dubai Festival City. It provides entry and exit points for the Creek Island on which Opera building will be constructed. The project will be constructed over four years and contains eye-catching pillars and distinctive beautiful arches adding architectural marvel to the Crossing, as well as a three-metre-wide pedestrian walkway.
Shaikh Maktoum was also briefed about the new crossing which will consist of 12 lanes, 6 in each direction. The Bridge will be 1600 metres long and 64 metres wide. The mega arch will rise 205 metres and will extend 667 metres. This will be the longest arched bridge in the world. The bridge will rise 15 metres above the sea level enabling free navigation 24 hours a day. The Green Line of Dubai Metro will pass across the median of the bridge.
Officials said that the Bridge will serve Dubai Healthcare City, Sama Al Jaddaf, and Culture Village at Bur Dubai, and Dubai Festival City, Lagoons Project, The Global City, and The Design Center at Deira.
It also contains a Dubai Metro and an Abra station.
ClicksandWrites 
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