June 27 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) will continue its deep-water drilling programme to meet rising global demand, despite safety concerns following the worst oil spill in U.S. history, its chief executive said on Sunday. “Given the rise in the population and rise in developing world of energy needs, we will have to develop those resources in deep waters as well, so my expectation is that we will go forward with it, but it will need some changes,” Peter Voser, said during the Fortune Global Forum in Cape Town. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf)
Saudi spends $1.6 billion to house displaced near Yemen
June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has allocated 6 billion riyals ($1.6 billion) to build 6,000 houses for citizens who were displaced from areas bordering Yemen after a two-month conflict with Yemeni Shi’ite rebels.
World
The official SPA news agency said the money would also fund the construction of basic educational and health infrastructure at five sites in the southern Jazan province.
Citizens who have been living in areas bordering Yemen would be housed in these new developments, SPA added.
The Saudi army started in November a campaign against what it said were intrusions into its territory by Yemeni Shi’ite rebels who were accusing Riyadh of letting Yemeni troops use its territory to attack them.
At least 113 Saudi soldiers were killed in the fighting which ended with a truce in January.
Western diplomats have been expecting Riyadh to provide adequate housing for thousands of citizens who live in the relatively poor southern region along the porous border with Yemen, some of whom rely on smuggling for their subsistence.
Before the conflict with the Yemeni rebels, Saudi Arabia started laying out basic infrastructure for the so-called Jazan Economic City in the hope of attracting $30 billion in investments to create an industrial hub that would create much-needed jobs for the population there.
(Reporting by Souhail Karam)
Finnish outlook ‘unusually uncertain’ -IMF
June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
June 7 (Reuters) – Finland faces an “unusually uncertain” economic outlook given the steep impact of the recession last year and the country’s rapidly-ageing population, International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday.
“The deep recession is likely to reduce the trend level of output, and may also have a negative impact on the growth of potential output,” the IMF said in a statement on the Nordic country’s economy. “Activity has rebounded in recent quarters, and consumer and business confidence have picked up. Nonetheless, growth is projected at only 1.25 percent this year and at about 2 percent in 2011,” it said.
(Reporting by Terhi Kinnunen)
Agricultural Sciences taught in Bihar school
May 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Bakhtiyarpur (Bihar), May 21 (ANI): Students at a government-run school in Bihar”s Bakhtiyarpur town are being taught Agricultural Sciences as a subject, to revive the interest of youngsters towards farming.
Apart from conventional education, the students in the age group of 10-15 years are getting exposed to various facets of agriculture at a young age, which they are enthusiastically putting into practice in their own backyards as well.
“Earlier, we didn”t know anything about how the green vegetables and rice are grown. But in this school, our teachers taught us how to do farming and grow green vegetables. We gained immense knowledge about agriculture,” said Chandani Kumari, a student.
“We use this knowledge at home as well and we grow vegetables on the roof of our school building as well,” she added.
Shivram Sharma, Principal of the Sabnima Middle School, said the initiative would prepare youngsters to take up farming as a profession.
“Increasing population and decrease in agricultural knowledge will result in the problem of crop deficit in future. So, to prevent this situation we are teaching students about scientific farming,” said Sharma. (ANI)
Pak group calls for protection of persecuted Hindu scheduled castes in country
May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): Lending a voice to the long-standing demand of the suppressed Hindu minorities, the Scheduled Caste Rights Movement (SCRM) has urged the government to table a parliamentary legislation in the National Assembly which would ensure the legal protection of fundamental rights of the people belonging to that community.
The SCRM would put forth its demands during a policy forum, which would be held today (May 18) here, during which members of the movement from across the country and other minority leaders would discuss and hold a debate over recommendations for providing legal protection to basic rights of Hindu minorities in Pakistan, The Daily Times reports.
Due to the government’s apathy and faulty policies, scheduled caste Hindus, who form a good part of the population, are unable to obtain National Identity Cards, which denies them an access to other basic rights.
Since partition, the community has been the worst affected in Pakistan, as they have been denied even the basic civil rights. In most parts of the country, local landlords and politicians have illegally occupied religious seminaries, graveyards and land belonging to people of scheduled castes. (ANI)
Keith Vaz wins in British polls
May 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
London, May 7 (IANS) Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz held the Leicester East constituency for the Labour party in the British general election.
He defeated Conservative candidate Jane Hunt and Liberal Democrat candidate Ali Asghar.
Indian filmstar Sanjay Dutt had campaigned for Vaz in his constituency, that has a large population of South Asians, where he secured 53.8 percent of the vote. Vaz’s parents were from Goa and the family migrated to Britain from Yemen in 1965.
Keith has been a member of parliament for Leicester East since 1987. On July 26, 2007, Vaz was elected chairman of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee.
NGO asks Malaysian Government to promote Hinduism
May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Kuala Lumpur, May 4 (ANI): The Malaysian Government has been urged by an NGO, the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, to give more importance to the growth of Hinduism under the Tenth Malaysia Plan.
NGO president Mohan Shan said that a memorandum on the matter had been submitted to the Malaysian Government, the Makkal Osai reports.
He said the Government had given grants for the development of temples but more funds were needed to set up kindergartens, and religious and moral classes.
In Malaysia, more than 1.7 million Indians live, a majority of them are Tamil Hindus, who constitute seven percent of the multi-racial 28 million population. (ANI)
Drinking culture blamed for sex infection chlamydia
April 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Wellington, April 29 (ANI): A Kiwi sexual health expert has blamed New Zealand”s youth drinking culture for the high rates of sexually transmissible infection chlamydia.
A report shows high rates of chlamydia transmission among under 25-year-olds in Waikato.
The report, submitted to the Health Waikato Advisory Committee, shows that between February 2008 and January 2010 in Waikato, 16 percent of those under 25 who were tested were positive for chlamydia.
Also, the report shows that Maori were more likely to carry the disease with more than one in five young Maori women testing positive compared to one in nine non-Maori.
Among the general population including those who have not been tested, estimates are that one in 10 young people are infected, as per the report.
“Unfortunately, excessive drinking means people are sometimes not sure who they”ve had sex with,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Waikato sexual health physician Jane Morgan as saying.
“If people don”t use a condom, or have many sexual partners, the risk of getting a sexually transmitted infection increases significantly,” Morgan added. (ANI)
Think tank study claims over a million illegal migrants staying in UK
April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
London, Apr.26 (ANI): A study carried out by the British think tank Migrationwatch has claimed that over a million illegal immigrants are living in the country.
The Sun quoted the study as saying that this figure is double of the previous estimate, and added that it equals the population of Birmingham.
The study warned that if the Gordon Brown Government approves the proposed amnesties, this number could double when spouses and dependants are allowed in.
Previous studies by the Home Office and London School of Economics estimated that 618,000 lived in Britain.
Migrationwatch Chairman Sir Andrew Green said “a serious attempt” is needed to resolve the situation, which could take years. (ANI)
One in four Oz adults finds partner online
April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sydney, April 19 (ANI): A survey has found that online dating is fast becoming popular in Australia, with one in four adults admitting to using the Internet to find a partner.
RSVP.com (owned by Fairfax Media, the publisher of the Herald) commissioned Nielsen to conduct the first comprehensive survey of online dating habits.
The Nielsen poll showed that 37 percent, many of whom are presumed to be in a relationship, said they would never go online to meet someone, while 38 percent said they are considering using online dating.
The poll also found that of the adults who had used dating sites, 33.6 percent reported a short-term relationship, 16.2 percent said they had a long-term relationship, 8.9 percent said they had married or were in a defacto relationship, and 2.7 per cent had children.
The initial results suggest that online dating is now part of the mainstream.
The survey showed that:
Of those who had used online dating, 62 percent had dated someone they met online, and that men were slightly more likely than women to use online dating services.
Most of those polled (72 percent) were seeking a serious relationship, but many were looking for friendship or just sex.
Nielsen polled 3057 people online in November and 3764 in January, with the data weighted to the general population.
The full results of the survey will be released later this year but NSW and Victorian data so far shows that while there were fewer NSW online daters (57.5 percent had tried online dating, compared with 64 percent in Victoria), they appeared to be more successful.
Almost 20 percent of NSW online daters had a serious long-term relationship, compared with 16.6 percent in Victoria, and 8.5 percent had married, compared with 5 percent in Victoria.
Almost a third of both Victorian and NSW online daters made a good friend whom they remained in contact with.
Asked what kind of relationship they were seeking (multiple responses were accepted), 72.7 percent nationwide said a serious, long-term relationship, 39 percent friendship, 18.5 percent marriage and 27 percent casual relationships.
Of those who had used online dating, almost half had a profile and were monitoring it. Another 19 percent had a profile but didn”t check it often and 31percent had removed a profile.
The Fairfax Digital group-marketing director, Lija Jarvis, said when she began working on RSVP four years ago, online dating was still something that was vaguely embarrassing.
“That stigma has definitely dropped because people are advocating for it, talking with their friends, sharing stories with families,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted her as saying.
Since RSVP began tracking marriages in 2003 more than 8000 members have contacted them to report they had married someone they met online.
The poll showed that the biggest group dating online were those had been single for five or more years (38.4 percent), followed by those who had been single for one to two years (26.7 percent).
Those who had been single for less than six months (17.6 percent) and those who had been single for seven to 12 months (16.5 per cent) also used online dating services.
The most popular dating websites among those polled were RSVP (54 percent), Adult Match Maker (21 percent), eHarmony (20 percent) and Oasis Active (19 percent). (ANI)
One in four Oz adults finds partner online
April 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sydney, April 19 (ANI): A survey has found that online dating is fast becoming popular in Australia, with one in four adults admitting to using the Internet to find a partner.
RSVP.com (owned by Fairfax Media, the publisher of the Herald) commissioned Nielsen to conduct the first comprehensive survey of online dating habits.
The Nielsen poll showed that 37 percent, many of whom are presumed to be in a relationship, said they would never go online to meet someone, while 38 percent said they are considering using online dating.
The poll also found that of the adults who had used dating sites, 33.6 percent reported a short-term relationship, 16.2 percent said they had a long-term relationship, 8.9 percent said they had married or were in a defacto relationship, and 2.7 per cent had children.
The initial results suggest that online dating is now part of the mainstream.
The survey showed that:
Of those who had used online dating, 62 percent had dated someone they met online, and that men were slightly more likely than women to use online dating services.
Most of those polled (72 percent) were seeking a serious relationship, but many were looking for friendship or just sex.
Nielsen polled 3057 people online in November and 3764 in January, with the data weighted to the general population.
The full results of the survey will be released later this year but NSW and Victorian data so far shows that while there were fewer NSW online daters (57.5 percent had tried online dating, compared with 64 percent in Victoria), they appeared to be more successful.
Almost 20 percent of NSW online daters had a serious long-term relationship, compared with 16.6 percent in Victoria, and 8.5 percent had married, compared with 5 percent in Victoria.
Almost a third of both Victorian and NSW online daters made a good friend whom they remained in contact with.
Asked what kind of relationship they were seeking (multiple responses were accepted), 72.7 percent nationwide said a serious, long-term relationship, 39 percent friendship, 18.5 percent marriage and 27 percent casual relationships.
Of those who had used online dating, almost half had a profile and were monitoring it. Another 19 percent had a profile but didn”t check it often and 31percent had removed a profile.
The Fairfax Digital group-marketing director, Lija Jarvis, said when she began working on RSVP four years ago, online dating was still something that was vaguely embarrassing.
“That stigma has definitely dropped because people are advocating for it, talking with their friends, sharing stories with families,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted her as saying.
Since RSVP began tracking marriages in 2003 more than 8000 members have contacted them to report they had married someone they met online.
The poll showed that the biggest group dating online were those had been single for five or more years (38.4 percent), followed by those who had been single for one to two years (26.7 percent).
Those who had been single for less than six months (17.6 percent) and those who had been single for seven to 12 months (16.5 per cent) also used online dating services.
The most popular dating websites among those polled were RSVP (54 percent), Adult Match Maker (21 percent), eHarmony (20 percent) and Oasis Active (19 percent). (ANI)
China”s rural netizens cross 100m mark
April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
New Delhi, Apr 17 (ANI): In China, the Internet using rural population reached 106.81 million by the end of 2009— an increase of 26.3 percent year-on-year, according to a report.
The report, released Thursday by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), said 68 percent of rural residents use desktop computers to get access to the Internet.
Rural netizens are increasingly using cell phones to surf the Internet, with 71.89 million people doing it this way, up 79.3 percent from the previous year, reports The China Daily.
A total of 69.2 percent of Internet users in rural areas are under 30 years old, and those younger than 19 account for 41.1 percent.
According to the report, 44.6 percent of China” urban residents use the Internet by the end of 2009, while in rural areas the proportion was only 15 percent. (ANI)
NW’s ‘horrific’ road toll a mystery
April 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A north-west Tasmanian mayor is at a loss to explain the region’s high road toll.
The Circular Head area accounted for 14 per cent of all fatal crashes in Tasmania last year, which is eight times the state average.
Mayor, Daryl Quilliam says it has been a long-standing problem in the region.
“It’s horrific when we realise that 1.7 per cent of the population lives in Circular Head and yet 14 per cent of fatal crashes were at Circular Head,” he said.
The Council’s launched the ‘Look Out For Your Mates’ safety campaign, encouraging people to look out for others who might be drink driving or speeding.
The Mayor says there could be many factors at play.
“I don’t think that the roads in Circular Head are any worse than anywhere else,” he said.
“I think a lot of it is down to inattentiveness, people don’t appear to be putting seat-belts on, there is alcohol and drugs used by people who are driving, which is really unfortunate.”
Farewell to the Folkie
April 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The fiddles and mandolins have played their last notes, the tents are packed up and the costumes folded.
The National Folk Festival has finished for another year.
The five-day Easter festival at Exhibition Park featured music, dance and folk arts.
Organisers say it has been one of the most successful years in the festival’s 34-year history, with the nearly 15,000 visitors on Saturday breaking the record for a single day.
While the festival showcases top musicians from around the world, it also prizes participation.
Knots of people gathered for an afternoon jam under a tree or in the corner of the bar late at night.
Visitors were also encouraged to get involved with a series of music, song and dance workshops.
One of the most popular classes was the Appalachian clogging workshop, a Bluegrass variation on line-dancing from the Appalachian mountain towns of Virginia in the United States.
Workshop leader Martha Spencer has brought her Mountain Top Band from Grayson County.
“It’s a traditional dance called flat-footing, kind of a step dance,” she said.
“It’s just a tradition that’s been passed down many generations in our family and it kind of goes hand in hand with the music.”
Time bubble
While some performers travelled from overseas for the festival, many of the acts are local products.
I Viaggiatori, or The Voyagers, hail from Melbourne but their Italian folk music has been handed down through their migrant families since the 1800s.
The group’s lead singer and guitarist, Kavisha Mazella, says the music celebrates Italian immigrant culture.
“We learnt it from our grandparents, our uncles, our aunties,” she said.
“It’s very interesting because this music is really retained by the migrants. When you have a migrant population they retain the culture, and then back in the country of origin it’s often changed or moved on or they’re not so interested.”
“So in Australia you have this time bubble of culture and this is what we’re expressing.”
Looking ahead
Director Sebastian Flynn is already thinking about next year’s festival and how it can be expanded.
“It’s like one of the ACT’s sort of elder children,” he said.
“I think it’s appropriate that it’s seen to be evolving and not becoming dusty as an institution but to actually be catering more broadly for people’s interests and needs.”
He says organisers are considering holding extra events throughout the year or establishing a Folk Museum in Canberra.