OPEC president says no shortage of oil
OPEC president says no shortage of oil
(Reuters)6 September 2007
DALIAN, China – The oil market is well balanced and there is no shortage of crude, OPEC’s president said on Thursday, ahead of a meeting of the producer group next week that is expected to maintain supply curbs.
“I think the market is very well balanced… There is no shortage whatsoever of oil supplies,” Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli, who is also oil minister of the United Arab Emirates, told Reuters.
In the run up to the Sept. 11 gathering, several members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have said they see no need to boost supply, despite calls by consumer nations for an increase that could help bring down high prices.
Hamli, in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian for the World Economic Forum, declined to comment on what OPEC would decide at next week’s meeting.
OPEC has spare capacity ready to meet extra demand if necessary, but any additional crude it produced now would go into already high stockpiles, he said.
Although US crude traded above $76 on Thursday, near the record-high hit in August, Hamli said that adjusted for a weak dollar and inflation, prices were around 1970s levels.
Strong economic growth, despite recent concerns about the health of the US economy after a credit crunch, was also supporting oil demand, he said.
“We think the world economy is growing and that means that there is quite strong demand on the oil,” he said.
Options open
Asked if an extra harsh start to the peak winter season or other unexpected factors could cause them to call a meeting between September and the next gathering in December, to reconsider output levels, he said it was always an option.
“If there is a need to meet before the next scheduled meeting we certainly would,” he said.
An OPEC source said on Tuesday the group may need to boost crude oil output by up to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) later in 2007, perhaps in December, should demand prove robust and inventories fall.
Hamli also urged countries pushing to boost renewable energy capacity to keep OPEC updated about their plans. China aims to get 15 percent of its energy from non-fossil fuels by 2020, while the European Union is targeting 20 percent.
The producers group, which pumps around one-third of the world’s oil, is not worried appetite for crude will tail off, but needs the information to ensure they have enough spare capacity to protect consumer nations without wasting their cash on developing fields that will sit idle.
“In OPEC we encourage efficient utilisation of resources,” he said. “There will always be demand for oil, but we want to know.”
Hamli emphasised a shortage of skilled labour and bottlenecks in the refinery sector as key factors in high oil prices that were beyond producer nations’ control.
The skills shortfall is pushing up costs and causing delays, but he said the UAE is still moving ahead to boost refining capacity.
A refinery to be built in the UAE’s Fujairah would possibly have capacity of around 300,000 bpd, Hamli said.
That was down on the 500,000 bpd initially mooted by the Abu Dhabi-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), working on a feasibility study with ConocoPhillips for the project, expected to cost between $8 billion and $10 billion.
The art of keeping cool, 300,000 & 10 cents goal and taxi taxi where are you?
I am happy this evening. There are several reasons behind. First one is the fact that I was able to complete a topic which was supposed to be published a few days before. Although the idea was there in my mind for this long, the flow of thoughts was not there. I was able to post it and email you that yesterday.
The second one was the fighting performance of the Indian Team in the 6th One Day International match at Oval stadium in England. Indian Team played excellent cricket and kept their cool till the last over. Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly played well to give India a good start and took India into to a comfort zone. It was sad to see Tendulkar getting out in the 90s for the second time in this series. Those who play cricket, competitive cricket knows the feeling and hard work required to make those many runs. However, it was Robin Uthappa, who was the hero of the game for India. Not many times, we see players showing the guts to attack at times of crisis and he showed that he has tremendous determination in him. Each of his shots were examples of it. Power, placement and guts. This is what we lacked in the games before and which was there in this game through Uthappa today. Not even for a second, he showed panic in his eyes and throughout it was glowing with optimism and focus. Well done Uthappa. You set the series to a thriller and we all look forward now to the final match of the series at the Lords stadium. I am sure that there is one person who is waiting patiently to play in that game. It is none other than Sreesanth. I feel he will get the opportunity to play in that crucial game. It is also my wish to see many active people within the team than docile ones. It is my gut feeling and I am waiting to see that happen. It’s a place where the ball seems and I am sure he will be able to utilise the situation, keeps his cool and do establish a permanent position in the team if given this opportunity. Saurav Ganguly also deserves extra praise in his determination and fighting spirit. What a come back he has made from his time of elimination to now! With the bat and the ball, he is showing leading examples to all youngsters. In one of the matches, his bowling average at one stage were looking like 7 overs 4 maiden 3 runs and 2 wickets or something like that. Well done, you set the right example to all those who get sidelined at times due to various reasons and remind them that if you stay focussed, victory will be yours. If not today, definitely tomorrow.
300,000 and 10 cents goal
I was writing about the status of Indian Football team members in comparison with the cricketers in my write up of yesterday. Just read that the Kerala government has awarded Rs.300,000 and 10 cents of lands for the striker of Indian team N. Pradeep for his Nehru Cup winning goal in the tournament final. That is a good sign. But it should not remain there. We should promote all other games so that more and more youth get interested to come out and participate in competitive sports.
Taxi, taxi where are you?
The taxi problems and my pursuit to find a solution for Abu Dhabi road users continues…. If you wish to support me in this, log on to Gulf News (http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/letters/letters.html) page and express your own comments. Pass it on to any of your colleagues or friends who is experiencing this situation these days while coming and going to office. If we don’t express our problems, no one will realise it.
God Bless and have a great day,
Ramesh Menon
06092007
Smile smile smile, One more time, It’s a bright Bright BRIGHT sunshine day
It is not an easy job to write something readable keeping the curiosity and continuity elements. It is equally or more not easy to capture the attention of genuine readers and casual readers and passive browsers. You all know it well as I have tested it too well. Welcome once again to read through a weekly round up from Team 1.
Onam
Traditional Onam Sadhya
The week gone by was one of celebration and festivity for all Malayalis. Onam 2007 was celebrated with fervour and festivity. Looking at the various functions held here during the past few days, I felt, people show more unity when they are out of their own home state. At one such function held here at a labour camp which I participated, the Onam Sadhya served was very sumptuous. The elaborate varieties of dishes prepared by the bachelors included the traditional Sarkara upperi (banana chips fried and then coated with mix of jiggery syrup and dried ginger). It brought a lot of memories. Gone are the good old Onam days where children wake up early in the morning and pluck flowers and arrange beautiful flower arrangements (pookalam). Gone are the days where the eldest member from the family (karanavar) gift all the others with new set of clothes. Gone are the days when after a sumptuous meal, men and women play traditional games. Gone are the days of Kummatti and Pulikkali. Now everything is packaged. Children does not really know the meaning and value of Onam. For that matter, even the adults are glued on to the TV set watching various programmes. It is an admitted reality that in search of modernisation, we all tend to forget our tradition and culture. For that matter this is the case with every tradition now. We do not have time to pass on the much needed knowledge transfer of our cultural and traditional values, which our ancestors, with patience and wisdom passed on to us. It’s time to wake up.
Attitude
Thinking about this reminded me of some new found attitudes. I would wish to bring on here display of two such incidents which I had to witness in the past one month. One was an incident at a highway coffee shop, where I found a well dressed gentleman with an expensive T-Shirt, shouting loudly at the restaurant waiter for taking time to serve him. The counter was full with at least 6 to 7 customers in front, all asking for various items at the same time and due to which the waiter was finding it difficult as he was the only one around. Our friend, well dressed and projecting an intellectual and knowledgeable look started fuming around and finally got himself out of control to the extent that he abused the poor guy even racially. Every one around was watching and no reactions. You know what was written at the back of his T-Shirt. In bold and colourful letter a graffiti saying “NO FEAR”. May be he was trying to promote his attitude with this poor worker.
Another case, I had to watch with astonishment, happened at the Delhi airport. Near the conveyor belt, while waiting for the baggage to arrive, I found two well dressed and highly placed government employees, on their way back from a foreign tour – obviously government sponsored and intended to learn and study the developments abroad – fighting out to grab a trolley, which was the only one available at that point. They forgot all what they have seen, learnt, and wanted to introduce from their tour and returned back to their village level in their language usage. Here too, everyone was silent spectators. None to comment, none to control or react. Here again, there was a group of school children on their educational tour to learn India and it’s culture was there as spectators witnessing their first on hand Indian experience, straight out from their airplane. As I wrote earlier and as I repeatedly write here and will write again, we all react or respond only when something is pointed towards us or affecting us. All other happenings are to be silently watched.
Movie reviews
A few more things happened during the week passed by. Two of them are about contemporary movies – Chak De (in Hindi) and Arabikadha (in Malayalam). Both movies were released here in the Gulf and doing well. Both touched sensitive subjects in different ways.
Chak de (Do well) In Chak De was Sharukh Khan with a group of talented young actors visualising the life of the captain of Indian Hockey Team after he hit a crucial penalty during a world cup finals out of the goal post. Labelled cheater and detractor, he and his family was isolated from the society and he goes in to a retreat. The resurrection in to the national level after a period of seven years as the coach of the women’s hockey team, which no one really believed will reach to any higher stage of the game was his for take. With a bunch of young girls with different attitudes, personality and regional politics, Sharukh as the Coach, portrayed his character very well. All the girls enacted their roles superbly and other supporting actors too played their part to perfection making this movie worth watching. There are several reviews written about it already, praising the management theories embedded in the story line. However, I would like to touch the emotional part of it. Where Sharukh as the team captain who did not manage the winning stroke, and accusations, pointed fingers, criticism from all corners and insults to him and his family. With no real friends or supporters he decides to leave his village watched by all including children. Even during the period as coach of the national team for women, he was not spared of insult by his own wards and how he controls his emotions clearly depicts the toughness of life when one really experiences how the clock stands still in his/her life. The determination and dedication to come out of this and come up, was portrayed excellently by the actor. All the actors did justice to what was expected of them. However, the photography and camera work could have been raised to a higher level, especially during the match sequence, where although the director was trying to project a fast paced and nail biting game, the camera did not catch up with his intentions. Overall, a very good movie, worth watching with family, especially children.
Arabikadha (Stories from the Arabian land) was a movie conceived for a longer time and finally happened. Intended to touch the intricacies of life of expatriate workers in the Arabian gulf, especially UAE, the story revolves around a hard core communist party worker Mukundan (enacted by veteran actor Sreenivasan) who had to leave his native village due to political problems. Forced and foxed to come to the gulf in the pretext of cementing the party roots among the labour force working here, he lands straight in to the harsh realities of a middle class, moderately educated expat’s life where one has no experienced job or language skills to acquire a proper job. Cheated first by his own party comrades (to come to gulf whereby his associate utilises the opportunity to join with the industrialist and become a minister), and then by his own roommate and all those whom he come across, because of his straight forward nature, Mukundan, bump into a Chinese lady who makes her living by selling pirated cds. With Russian and Chinese idealism, Mukundan thinks that this is his girl for life and goes out of his way to help her during her difficulties and the movie takes twists and turns and finally comes up with a good ending. The short sequences of treacheries happening in financial dealings and job front was very well conveyed. For many this may be a reminiscence of what happened to them or what they went through at some stage of their stay here in the Gulf. Although Sreenivasan did his role well, the story and screenplay could have been done much better with more meaningful role to the three dronacharyas of Radio revolution in the UAE, namely Mr.Albert Alex, Mr. K P K Vengara and Mr. Moideen Koya. The amount of selfless service and reward less hours these three veterans have put in, because of which the Radio industry in UAE and Gulf all over, in particular the FM movements progressed is worth mentioning here. At least the producer and director made an effort to remember them and cast them in small roles shows their unavoidable importance among the middle class work force, whom they connect between each of the small corners of their native villages and the GULF through various regional programmes. It could have been nicer to have seen some of their memories enacted rather than casting so many lifeless characters to fill the volume. The new actor, Mr. Abdulla, who played the role of the restaurant owner, out performed everyone. Through this performance malayalam movie world has one more talented performer to do meaningful roles. Although a small cameo role,Mr.Satheesh Menon also did his part well and hope it will give him the long awaited break he is looking for in the silver screen. Hope some of the Bollywood or Kollywood Directors gets to see this movie and extend offers in fitting roles to him as many movies are being produced in Dubai these days. The movie also projected the way politicians uses the gulf countries to do their back door dealings. The camera work failed many times, especially when Jayasurya driving a car was quite visible that he was on top of a car parked on a recovery pick up. Arabikadha, on the whole did not achieve the finer points what originally it was intended to portray.
I think both Chak De and Arabikadha are now available on DVDs with English language translations and worth watching.
Indian Football 
India for the first time in the history of Nehru Cup Football won the trophy beating Syria (1-0) with a superb goal from striker Pradeep. Labelled as a tournament with mediocre teams, Indian players did very well to display excellent football throughout the tournament. For the first time the team had players who were able to produce outstanding long range shots and passes, due to which the team played unstoppable football and won the trophy. However, Football is not Cricket and except some initial few line coverage in the front page of newspapers, neither the team or the players got any mentioning or coverage for what they achieved. So, forget about the rewards and receptions. I don’t think the entire football team got rewards that a C grade Indian cricketer gets for one match he plays. Even if continuously losses in matches, we worship cricket and create criketing gods after each and every series.
Sports Miscellaneous – Indian Hockey & Sania Mirza
Whether it is due to the Chak de movie influence or due to some other cosmic influence, Indian Hockey is having an excellent run in the ongoing Asia Cup Hockey matches being held at Hong Kong. Let us hope they keep continuing the momentum and wins the Asia Cup Trophy and prove that India can do well in sports other than Cricket.
Sania Mirza is on her winning ways these days. The superb form has taken several places up in the ranking. However, the extreme demand required to keep one fit in level of sports is taking toll on her and showed in her 3rd exit at the US Open. Pairing with Mahesh Bhupathi, she is still in contention for a World Title for India. Let’s hope for an impossible to happen.
Cricket
A weekly round up without any mention about Cricket will be unpardonable. The ongoing series between India and England is getting into a tight situation with England leading 3-2 currently. A win in the match tomorrow will level the series and makes it even more interesting. However, it is to be seen how we will get there. With fielders dropping all the catches, and the batsmen yet to learn to run the singles, and bowlers performance not guaranteed, it is a tough task ahead. Again, questions are in plenty as to the resource usage – players like Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma not being given a chance to play and remained within the dressing room. Promising bowlers like Sreesanth were not even given a chance and how can they improve and prove until and unless they get to play? The formation of Indian Cricket League and the chain reactions associated going on in the other cricketing countries because of players joining ICL is another fun aspects we get to see during the coming days. The 20-20 World Cup is also round the corner. So, once again, it is eat cricket, breath cricket and hell with cricket (of course only if India losses).
Abu Dhabi Taxi situation
Since the schools started after the summer holidays, The taxi users in Abu Dhabi are experiencing severe shortage of taxis. The situation remains the same today also, there are several people waiting on the road. A look at any taxi stops, you will find several men and women on their way to office waiting for taxis and the expressions on their face, reminds of a goalkeeper waiting for a penalty shoot, or a rugby player getting ready for a home run. I strongly feel that your newspaper is not giving the right coverage about problems of commuters here in Abu Dhabi (although I admit, when compared to those in Dubai and Sharjah – this is very minor). However, this requires attention as this can be solved very easily – 1st by placing a Q system and barriers in the Taxi waiting area and 2nd by introducing a Circular Bus route in the Abu Dhabi with more bus frequencies.
I am trying my small bit of effort to influence and convince the authorities to introduce either one of these suggestions. How far the media supports me and authorities listen to me, will wait and watch. Both ways, we do not want our work force to get training on the road to become an expert goalkeeper or rugby/football player early in the morning on their way to work.
Teacher’s Day
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
– William Arthur Ward
September 5 is Teacher’s Day in “India”. It is the birthday of second President of India and teacher Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan. When Dr. Radhakrishnan became the president of India in 1962, some of his students and friends approached him and requested him to allow them to celebrate 5 September, his birthday. In reply, Dr. Radhakrishnan said, “Instead of celebrating my birthday separately, it would be my proud privilege if September 5 is observed as “Teachers Day”.
This is not a holiday in India. It is considered a “celebration” day, where teachers and students report to school as usual but the usual activities and classes are replaced by activities of celebration, thanking and remembrance. At some schools on this day, the responsibility of teaching is taken up by the senior students as an appreciation for their teachers. The idea is to let teachers sit back just for a day and let the students have a glimpse into the life of a teacher. It is an occasion when a token or appreciation in the form of presents are given to teachers by students to show their love and respect.
Traditionally, people in India have given tremendous respect and honor to teachers and hold teachers in high esteem. An old Indian saying (usually taught to children), ranks teacher in the third place, even before God: “‘Maata, Pitha, Guru, Daivam'”, meaning Mother, Father and Teacher is God.
There is a difference between the spiritual teacher and a material teacher. For spiritual teacher, who causes to remove all the illusions from the mind of his disciple and makes him feel the precence of God, there is another saying in the form of a couplet (doha), which goes, “Guru Govind doou khare kake lagon paai? Balihari guru aap ki Govind deeo batai,” Meaning “I am in a fix whom to salute first: the teacher or the God. I shall choose the teacher as he is the one who is instrumental in me knowing the God”. Further, a central piece in Hindu scripture reads “Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Guru devo Maheshwaraha – Gurussaakshaath param brahma tasmai shree gurave namaha,” which translates as “The Guru (Teacher) is the Lord Brahma (the Creator), the Guru is the Lord Vishnu (the Preserver), the Guru is the Lord Shiva (the Destroyer). The Guru is the Supreme Brahman (Ultimate Reality) visible to our eyes. To that Guru we offer our salutations”
There were always some confusions between a spiritual teacher to a material teacher. But these two are not at the same level and one must make sure that how to treat them individually.
And this is what an eminent educationalist and well respected Teacher Mrs. Abha Sahgal, Principal of Delhi Private School Sharjah had to say this morning: “A perfect school is a happy school, where there is no prejudice and no petty rivalries”. It is our duty to develop the student during his formative years to be a good citizen who stands apart in the crowd and who know his right and his duty towards his family and the society.
Pranams, best wishes and greetings to all Teachers and Gurus whose feet I touches before initiating any thing small or big.
89.1 Radio 4 FM
I get to listen to the radio only for a few minutes in the morning while driving to office. This is a disadvantage I have over my friends in Dubai, who, because of heavy traffic get to enjoy at least one hour of radio time while driving to work and one hour plus while driving back. During these few minutes, I switch on to one of my favorite radio channel, i.e. 89.1 Radio 4 FM and listen to DJs Charu and Siddharth. What a bunch of Positive minded people!. Continue your efforts and keep every one positive in your own way. You are doing a great job, as all others at 89.1 through out the day. But the initial start is of great importancde and no wonder the theme song – “Smile, smile, smile, One more time, It’s a bright Bright BRIGHT sunshine day”.
Passing it to you and wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.
God Bless,
Ramesh Menon
05092007
Balance your liabilities
Balance your liabilities
26 Aug, 2007, 0441 hrs IST,Aman Dhall & Dheeraj Tiwari, TNN
If you thought getting a good deal for a home loan is the end of journey, then you may be missing out on a lot of action. Of course, getting a loan on a competitive interest rate is the first step, but if you’ve made regular payments and created a good credit record, you can use that to your advantage.
For those not in the know, this concept is known as balance transfer (BT), wherein the unpaid portion of your home loan is transferred to a new HFC at a lesser interest rate. We at SundayET find out what to look out for before you decide to go ahead with a BT.
Today, banks (read housing finance companies) are looking out for customers from whom they can benefit in the long run, and if you are looking out for a better deal, it’s not a bad idea to approach a housing finance company (HFC) to refinance your loan on a more economical interest rate. That’s not all. Banks such as ICICI, IDBI and SBI also offer additional benefits such as payment of your pre-payment charges or processing fee.
But there’s a catch here. On the face of it, the picture may look rosy. But if you don’t read between the lines, you can end up in a debt-trap. Take the case of Abhishek Shekhar, a 35-year-old doctor. He took a home loan of Rs 20 lakh at an interest rate of 10% two-years ago from Bank X. The tenure of the loan is 20 years. Now, recently he checked out with Bank Y, and after some negotiations, the latter offered him an interest rate of 8.5%. Now, let’s check out the financial gains of this deal:
On paper, such a calculation looks attractive. But what you need to check out is whether the bank has added the pre-payment amount to your overall loan principal. In fact, some banks hide this clause, thus increasing your loan amount by a considerable sum, plus the effect of compounding interest. Warns Kartik Jhaveri, a certified financial planner and a chartered wealth manager:
“You need to check out what all benefits you may get. The important points you should keep in mind before opting for a BT are — how will the bank handle your pre-payment charges, what other features you’ll get such as mortgage insurance and whether the bank calculates your interest on a monthly or annual basis.”
Jhaveri has a pulse on the problem. In fact, owing to competitive rates across the industry, there are not too many balance transfers happening as of now. Customers are also reluctant to opt for it due to the cumbersome documentation involved and the gains are not too big at the moment. “That’s a major reason why there aren’t any special rebates with reference to processing fees or rate of interest being offered to balance transfer cases. Although we have a facility where we can include the pre-payment charges to the principal outstanding balance, to be paid to the existing bank/ NBFC,” explains Sujan Sinha, senior VP, AXIS Bank.
On their part, the banks are trying to place their offers in a more positive light. “We generally have two kinds of options — ‘Simple Balance Transfer’ and ‘Balance Transfer with Top-up’. In the second option, along with balance transfer, a customer can avail of top-up loan amount based on the vintage of the loan,” says Rahul Mallick, general manager, ICICI Bank. The key levers for making a customer switch from one HFC to another is processing fee and preferential interest rate on balance transfers. “Typically, the new interest rate will be 200 bps lower than the existing loan rate. However, a lot depends on the customer profile and tenure of loan,” he adds.
So before you opt for a balance transfer, it is necessary to check with your housing finance company about the current rates. If you’ve made timely payments, it’s quite possible that the HFC can offer you a better deal. Also, compare that if you go ahead with a BT, will the cost be higher than repayment and switching to another housing finance company. “Balance transfer is not a good move if you’ve only five or less year of repayment left. But otherwise, it is a very easy process,” says Sanjeet Shukla, GM, SBI Personal Banking.
Small steps such as finding out the paperwork required, and if the new bank, will be using the original EMI cheques or fresh ones, can save you from further hassles. Balance transfer need not mean saving money, you can also utilise the same for investing in different options. After all securing a home loan is not the end of journey.
Tackling your anger
Anger is a letter short of the word – ‘Danger’. Ask where your anger is coming from. What is it that makes you mad? Try to tackle it at it’s root cause. Recognising situations that spark your fuse can make it easier to avoid or work through them.
Relax
Simple relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and meditating can help calm you down.
Think out-of-the-box
Your thinking becomes confused and exaggerated, when you’re angry. Most situations do not portend the end of the world, so try to put happenings in perspective.
If you slow down, you might find a way to solve the problem. The world is not out to get you, even though it may seem like it.
Thinking logically might not alter the reality of the situation, but may keep your anger from exaggerating the problem.
Solve 
Channelising your anger towards solving the problem or trying to cope with the situation is the way out.
You can’t stop it from raining, but you can open your umbrella and stay dry.
Listen
Listening (though that is the last thing you want to do!) what the other person is as important as getting your point across. In fact you may sound exaggerated, hurtful, or aggressive. Say what you want the other person to hear-they may already know you’re angry. Then, listen carefully to the response.
This will help you stay calm-not to mention you improve your chances of resolving the problem.
Change your environment
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Move out of the milieu you were in. Try indulging yourself in any activity that will give you some time to cool down. A calm, rational mind and body will make better decisions.
Learning to manage and control your anger will surely make you healthier and happier for the rest of your life.
Islamic history exhibition to be held in Abu Dhabi
Islamic history exhibition to be held in Abu Dhabi
Compiled from WAM and staff reports / GULF NEWS Published: September 04, 2007, 00:37
Abu Dhabi: The capital will host an exhibition on Islamic history and heritage. The “Walk into Islamic history” exhibition will be held under the patronage of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and is organised by the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation at the premises of the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.
Free treatment for children with cerebral palsy
Free treatment for children with cerebral palsy
By Dina El Shammaa, Staff Reporter / GULF NEWS Published: September 04, 2007, 00:37
Abu Dhabi: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) can now benefit from updated technology, physiology, physiotherapy and phonation treatment.
The symptoms for CP are mainly developmental delay. The Health Authority in Abu Dhabi (HAAD) announced the launch of the free treatment programme at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC). The programme has been established in association with the Special Needs Centre at Mafraq Hospital and the Zayed Higher Organisation for Humanitarian Care.
“HAAD has formed a committee to monitor the medical rehabilitation services available in the emirate and provide recommendations for their development as well as to assess the need for setting up new specialised rehabilitation according to the highest international standards,” said Saif Al Qubaisi, Director of the Health Provision Sector at HAAD.
Dr Khalid Mohammad, Senior Consultant in Pediatric Neurology, SKMC; fellow of the Royal College of Pediatrics and British Pediatric Neurology Association, UK spoke to Gulf News regarding CP.
“CP is a common cause of disability in children worldwide and affects around three children in each 1,000 births,” he said.
Project management body launched at Knowledge Village
Project management body launched at Knowledge Village
Compiled from staff reports / GULF NEWS Published: September 04, 2007, 00:37
Project management body launched at Knowledge Village
Dubai: Dubai Knowledge Village has announced the launch of an independent Professional Project Management Association based in its premises. The announcement was made at a project management event held at the DKV Conference Hall on September 1. It was sponsored by DKV and SUKAD. The event was an occasion for project management professionals to share their experience and know-how on the strategic importance of this management discipline. Dr Ayoub Kazim, Executive Director of Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai International Academic City, spoke of the growing awareness in Dubai and the region about project management as a special skill and competency. Hasan Makansi, Partner Development Manager, assured support to the association aimed at developing and promoting industry and professionals.
Innovation unit established
Innovation unit established
Dubai: The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has announced the establishment of its innovation unit that will engage in future studies and aid in creating a better educational future for youth. Dr Abdullah Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of KHDA highlighted the need for the unit saying that the it is necessary for the authority to forge ahead.
Shaikha Lubna among world’s most powerful women
Shaikha Lubna among world’s most powerful women
BY A STAFF REPORTER / Khaleej Times 4 September 2007
DUBAI — Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the UAE Minister of Economy, is one of the five women in the Middle East considered by the US-based business magazine Forbes to be among the world’s 100 most powerful women.
The Forbes article credited Shaikha Lubna with creating more transparency and corporate governance in the UAE, and recognised her effective negotiation skills and intensive trade relations programme that sees her travel to four countries each month to promote the UAE.
The announcement comes only days ahead of Shaikha Lubna’s visit to Italy, where she will be the first Arab woman to be awarded the ‘Stella Re’ prize by the Italian Foundation, Sandretto Re Baudengo. The prize is awarded to only one woman every year. A special committee selected Shaikha Lubna for the Stella Re prize, which will be presented during an awards ceremony in Turin later this month.
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