Shakira gives dance lesson in South Africa township

June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

South Africa (Reuters) – Colombian pop star Shakira taught children in South Africa’s biggest black township dance moves to the official World Cup song on Wednesday and called for the tournament’s legacy to be education for all.

Lifestyle

The Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter will join other music stars including Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys to perform at a concert on Thursday, the eve of the start of the first World Cup tournament on the African continent.

Shakira, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations childrens’ organization UNICEF, visited Isu’lihle Primary School in Soweto as part of her philanthropic work to highlight the need to educate the young.

“It’s (World Cup) a great opportunity to bring all the attention to issues as important as education,” Shakira told reporters while touring the school.

“Seventy-two million kids around the world (are) not able to attend school, of which 32 million are African. So this is our chance to make this World Cup’s lasting legacy education for all.”

Shakira, best known for her hit singles “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Whenever, Wherever” will sing the official World Cup anthem “Waka Waka (This time for Africa)” with local music group Freshly Ground at the concert.

(Editing by Nigel Hunt)

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Shakira gives dance lesson in South Africa township

June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

South Africa (Reuters) – Colombian pop star Shakira taught children in South Africa’s biggest black township dance moves to the official World Cup song on Wednesday and called for the tournament’s legacy to be education for all.

Entertainment

The Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter will join other music stars including Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys to perform at a concert on Thursday, the eve of the start of the first World Cup tournament on the African continent.

Shakira, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations childrens’ organization UNICEF, visited Isu’lihle Primary School in Soweto as part of her philanthropic work to highlight the need to educate the young.

“It’s (World Cup) a great opportunity to bring all the attention to issues as important as education,” Shakira told reporters while touring the school.

“Seventy-two million kids around the world (are) not able to attend school, of which 32 million are African. So this is our chance to make this World Cup’s lasting legacy education for all.”

Shakira, best known for her hit singles “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Whenever, Wherever” will sing the official World Cup anthem “Waka Waka (This time for Africa)” with local music group Freshly Ground at the concert.

(Editing by Nigel Hunt)

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Brand Neue Corp. Closes $1.265M Private Placement

June 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS, Jun 04 (MARKET WIRE) —
Brand Neue Corp. (OTCBB: BRNZ) (“Brand Neue” or the
“Company”) is pleased to announce that it has closed a
non-brokered private placement (the “Private Placement”) with
multiple accredited investors (the “Investors”) resulting in
aggregate proceeds to the Company treasury of $1.265M USD to fund
inventory purchases, product innovation and general corporate purposes.

The Private Placement represents an investment by the Investors in Brand
Neue comprised of investment purchase financing consisting of 2,530,000
(two million, five hundred thirty thousand) common shares (“Common
Shares”) of the Company at a price of $0.50 per share for aggregate
proceeds to the Company of $1,265,000.00 (one million, two hundred and
sixty five thousand dollars).

“We are extraordinarily pleased by the completion of this
transaction, and also with the quality and enthusiasm of new investors in
the Company,” says Brand Neue CFO, Bev Harrison. “This capital
will be used primarily for inventory purchases related to pending
purchase orders, which should in turn create momentum and expedite a
cash-flow positive position for the Company.”

To receive Company news as it crosses the wire, simply contribute your
email address to the News Signup module found on the homepage of the
Company website at www.brandneue.com. To request investor or product
information, please use the Request Information form on the Brand Neue
website. To submit an idea or product for consideration by Brand Neue
executives, please use the confidential Innovation Submission form on the
Brand Neue website.

About Brand Neue Corp.

Brand Neue Corp. is a product innovation company trading over the counter
on the OTC:BB under the symbol BRNZ. Brand Neue executives and advisors
have more than 300 years of retail, global sourcing and brand experience
and together, are committed to globally sourcing, developing, marketing,
licensing and distributing innovative new products to retail,
manufacturing and industrial application clients worldwide. For further
information, please contact the Brand Neue office at 1.866.922.7972 or
visit www.brandneue.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This current report contains “forward-looking statements”, as
that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act
of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Statements in this current report, which are not purely historical are
forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs,
plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future.

Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking
statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others,
the inherent uncertainty of financial estimates and sales projections,
industry trends, the competitive and regulatory environment for start up
companies, stock market conditions, unforeseen technical difficulties and
our ongoing ability to operate a business and obtain financing. These
forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release,
and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or
to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those
projected in the forward-looking statements.

Although we believe that our beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions
contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no
assurances that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will
prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set
forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure
outlined in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports
on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Exchange
Act.

Contacts:
Brand Neue Corp.
John J. Ryan III
President
1.866.922.7972
www.brandneue.com

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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Premier League star Ferreira’s Surrey home ransacked in WC training absence

May 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 21(ANI): Chelsea defender Paulo Ferreira has joined the long list of Premier League players who have been robbed by thugs, when burglars raided his two million pound home in Surrey.

According to reports, the gang disabled a sophisticated alarm and smashed a window to enter the house.

They later ransacked every room and ripped out a hidden floor safe before escaping in Ferreira’s 50,000-pound BMW.

The car was later tracked with the help of GPS and found in Essex.

Investigating officials suspect that a member of 31-year-old’s inner circle betrayed him, as the raiders struck hours after he jetted for World Cup training in Portugal.

“We suspect the raiders had very good information – very possibly from someone who knew him. They picked their moment perfectly, knew the house was vacant and disabled the alarm easily. They also appear to have known where the safe was,” The Sun quoted a police source, as saying.

Earlier in September 2009, Everton defender Phil Jagielka was robbed by three thugs at knifepoint at his 2.5 million pound house in Knutsford.

His house was ransacked and burglars forced him to hand over jewellery and the keys to his Range Rover.

Jagielka was the 17th football player to be targeted in three years.

Blackburn Rovers midfielder Vince Grella has also been a victim after he was held at knifepoint inside his Wilmslow home, and in December 2007, burglars had confronted Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard’s wife Alex Curran while he was playing away in the Champions League. (ANI)

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Statins linked to liver problems, kidney failure

May 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 21 (ANI): Scientists in the UK have uncovered a range of ‘unintended’ side effects of cholesterol-busting drugs statins.

Their research showed that some doses and types of statins are linked with a greater risk of adverse effects, including liver problems and kidney failure, reports the BBC.

The researchers, from the University of Nottingham, stressed that for many people the benefits of statins outweighed any adverse effects, but the findings would help weigh up the pros and cons in each patient.

As part of the study, the researchers looked at data from more than two million 30-84 year-olds from GP practices in England and Wales over a six-year period.

Adverse effects identified in the study include liver problems, acute kidney failure, muscle weakness and cataracts.

For kidney failure and liver dysfunction, higher doses of the drugs seemed to be associated with greater risk.

Risks of side-effects were greatest in the first year of use.

The study has been published in the British Medical Journal. (ANI)

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Marriage raises life expectancy in men

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 13 (ANI): Marriage can be a good thing for men – at least for those who want to live a long life.

Previous studies have shown that men with younger wives live longer. While it had long been assumed that women with younger husbands also live longer, in a new study Sven Drefahl from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany, has shown that this is not the case. Instead, the greater the age difference from the husband, the lower the wife”s life expectancy. This is the case irrespective of whether the woman is younger or older than her spouse.

However, the younger his wife, the longer a man lives. Women marrying a partner seven to nine years younger increase their mortality risk by 20 percent compared to couples where both partners are the same age. But the mortality risk of a husband who is seven to nine years older than his wife is reduced by eleven percent.

Drefahl’s study has been published May 12th in the journal Demography.

Using data from almost two million Danish couples, Drefahl was able to eliminate the statistical shortcomings of earlier research, and showed that the best choice for a woman is to marry a man of exactly the same age; an older husband shortens her life, and a younger one even more so. (ANI)

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Marrying a younger man increases a woman”s mortality rate

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 13 (ANI): The greater the age difference from the husband, the lower the wife’s life expectancy is.

And this is the case irrespective of whether the woman is younger or older than her spouse.

That’s the conclusion of a new study published in the journal Demography.

Previous studies have shown that men with younger wives live longer. While it had long been assumed that women with younger husbands also live longer, in the new study Sven Drefahl from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany, has shown that this is not the case.

Related to life expectancy choosing a wife is easy for men – the younger the better. The mortality risk of a husband who is seven to nine years older than his wife is reduced by eleven percent compared to couples where both partners are the same age. Conversely, a man dies earlier when he is younger than his spouse.

For years, researchers have thought that this data holds true for both sexes. They assumed an effect called “health selection” was in play; those who select younger partners are able to do so because they are healthier and thus already have a higher life expectancy. It was also thought that a younger spouse has a positive psychological and social effect on an older partner and can be a better caretaker in old age, thereby helping to extend the partner’s life.

“These theories now have to be reconsidered”, says Drefahl from MPIDR. “It appears that the reasons for mortality differences due to the age gap of the spouses remain unclear.”

Using data from almost two million Danish couples, Drefahl was able to eliminate the statistical shortcomings of earlier research, and showed that the best choice for a woman is to marry a man of exactly the same age; an older husband shortens her life, and a younger one even more so. (ANI)

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New details about title, US release date of Sarah Palin’s book revealed

May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 12 (ANI): Alaska’s former governor Sarah Palin has released new details about her book, including its title and its US release date.

According to publisher HarperCollins, the book, ‘America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag’, will be released in the US on November 23.

The 46-year-old former Republican vice presidential candidate, whose memoir “Going Rogue” has sold more than two million copies, has been working on a tribute to American values.

It will include “selections from classic and contemporary readings that have moved her”, along with “the nation’s founding documents to great speeches, sermons, letters, literature and poetry, biography, and even some of her favourite songs and movies”.

The book is inspired not only by her “strong belief in the importance of family, faith, and patriotism”, but also by some of the people she met last year while promoting her memoirs.

“The book will also include portraits of some of the extraordinary men and women she admires and who embody her deep love of country, her strong rootedness in faith, and her profound love and appreciation of family,” the Telegraph quoted a statement from HarperCollins as stating.

HarperCollins spokesman Tina Andreadis said as with ‘Going Rogue’, Palin will have a collaborator, but there are “no specifics to announce yet”. (ANI)

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Real, fake iPads selling like hot cakes in China

May 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 8 (ANI): It has emerged that Apple”s latest gadget, the iPad, is being sought after by many Chinese, who are willing to pay any amount to own one.

New shipments, transported covertly in the bellies of planes from the United States to China, are arriving every day in the hundreds, maybe thousands, to Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, reports China Daily.

Vendors in Beijing”s electronics stores say it is a seller”s market. Their iPad stashes are consistently running low with no shortage of tech-savvy Chinese willing to pay high prices for Apple”s latest status-loaded device.

That first depends on when Apple decides to officially debut the iPad in China. Unofficially, iPads have been for sale at electronics markets stretching from Shenzhen to Beijing since around the same time the tablet PC was released in the US last month.

Shortly after, Apple announced it was delaying its international introduction, opening up a gaping opportunity to flood the Chinese market with iPads smuggled from the US.

Analysts say such grey markets slowed iPhone sales when Apple launched the smartphone in China last October, two years after it was released in the West.

“The iPhone already had all of the new users before it was officially launched,” Leo Wang, founder of Mobile 2.0 forum, a platform for telecommunication, mobile and Internet companies, said.

“The same thing will happen with the iPad. I have lots of friends who already have an iPad, and my iPad is on the way. Whoever wants one has already found a way to get one,” Wang revealed.

Some projected around two million iPhones, some fake and others smuggled, were already in the hands of Chinese mobile users when Apple introduced the phone in partnership with China Unicom last year.

Anecdotal sales figures collected from vendors in Beijing suggest the same is happening with the iPad.

Chu Zhiyuan, an employee of one of the so-called Apple “authorized reseller” stores, says he has sold several hundred in recent weeks.

Compared to the one million iPads Apple says it has sold in the US, it is a small number. Yet of the dozen or so vendors interviewed, all reported similar hot sales.

“They are extremely popular,” Chu said, adding that a shipment of 3G iPads that had arrived earlier in the day had all sold out in a matter of hours.

Apple unveiled an iPad model with 3G in addition to its existing WiFi feature on April 30, allowing users of the tablet PC to access the Web from wireless hubs in addition to mobile phone networks.

“Chinese will pick it up very quickly,” Frank Yu, a Beijing-based tech analyst said.

“People are getting ready for it, and it will be big. People will be using an iPad and a mobile phone together and they will integrate very well with each other,” he explained.

The iPad”s 9.7-inch touch screen is also well-suited for playing games and watching movies, another plus for the gadget”s future in China, where studies indicate the majority of the country”s 404 million Web users go online for entertainment.

“It is something you can take with you all of the time because it is light, has a 12-hour battery life, and you can download games and movies. What is not to love about it, at least for the Chinese?” Yu said.

“China could be one of its biggest markets,” he added. (ANI)

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”2m child abuse images circulated on Internet by 100 UK offenders”

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, April 28 (ANI): Over two million images of child sex abuse had been circulated by 100 offenders who went on to be convicted in the last 20 months, the NSPCC says.

In a sample created by analysing media reports of court cases from across the UK, the charity found that nearly 50,000 and videos confiscated were in the most serious categories of abuse, with some showing children and babies being raped by adults.

The investigation revealed that one in four of the offenders held a “position of trust” allowing them direct contact with children.

These included teachers, school workers, clergymen, medical professionals, police officers and a social worker.

The children””s charity said the ‘alarming’ haul was enough to cover the football pitch at Wembley Stadium twice over.

“The scale of graphic child sex abuse pictures and videos over the internet is very alarming,” the Mirror quoted Diana Sutton, NSPCC head of public affairs and campaigns, as saying.

“The number of images seized in these cases is enough to cover the pitch at Wembley Stadium twice over – and this is just a sample. Many more people were convicted for possessing, making and distributing indecent images of children online during the same period,” Sutton added. (ANI)

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SuBo’s new album tipped for Christmas No. 1 – before she even records it!

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, April 28 (ANI): Scottish singer Susan Boyle’s second album is yet to be recorded – and music companies have already predicted it to be this year”s Christmas Number 1.

Amazon has been snowed under with more than two million requests in two weeks for the sequel to I Dreamed A Dream.

Meanwhile, her second album is set to become the biggest CD pre-order in the online retailer”s history, reports The Mirror.

“We haven”t seen this before. It”s seven months ahead of the release and already people are putting in requests for pre-sales. It”s an incredible achievement already,” said an industry source.

The 49-year-old singing sensation will begin recording the album in two weeks.

“I”m hoping to make it better and a bit extra special,” said Susan.

“We are certain it will make the Xmas No 1 spot. It”s not often you can say that in April,” a spokesman added. (ANI)

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ICC increases 2011 World Cup prize money to 4 mln dollars

April 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, Apr.21 (ANI): The 2011 cricket World Cup winning team would be taking home a prize money of four million dollars, with the International Cricket Council (ICC) deciding to double the total allocation for the coveted tournament to 10 million dollars.

The decision was taken during the ICC’s executive board meeting, which was held in Dubai on Monday, The News reports.

During the 2007 World Cup, winners Australia pocketed 2.24 million dollars, and the runners-up Sri Lanka received one million dollars.

In 2003, when India played Australia in the final, the winning Aussie team took home two million dollars in prize money, and the team India was awarded 800,000 dollars. (ANI)

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TransAct Technologies to Report First Quarter 2010 Earnings on Wednesday, May 5,…

April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

TransAct Technologies to Report First Quarter 2010 Earnings on Wednesday, May 5,
2010

HAMDEN, Conn., April 14, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TransAct Technologies
Incorporated (Nasdaq:TACT), a global leader in market-specific printers for
transaction-based industries, today announced that it will report its first
quarter 2010 results after the market closes on Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

The company will hold a conference call with investors and analysts at 5:00 PM
EDT on that day to discuss the results. The dial-in number for the conference
call is (877) 856-1962 — please dial the number 10 minutes prior to the
scheduled start time. A live webcast of the conference call will also be
available on TransAct’s Web site at www.transact-tech.com.

A replay of the call will be available two hours following the end of the call
through midnight EDT on Wednesday, May 12 at www.transact-tech.com and by
telephone at (888) 203-1112; passcode 7715524.

About TransAct Technologies Incorporated

TransAct Technologies Incorporated (Nasdaq:TACT) is a leader in developing and
manufacturing market-specific printers for transaction-based industries. These
industries include casino, gaming, lottery, banking, kiosk and point-of-sale.
Each individual market has distinct, critical requirements for printing and the
transaction is not complete until the receipt and/or ticket is produced.
TransAct printers are designed from the ground up based on market specific
requirements and are sold under the Ithaca(R) and Epic product brands. TransAct
distributes its printers through OEMs, value-added resellers, selected
distributors, and direct to end-users. TransAct has over two million printers
installed around the world. TransAct is committed to world-class printer
service, spare parts and accessories required by a growing worldwide installed
base of printers. Beyond printers, TransAct is a leader in providing printing
supplies to the full transaction printer market. Through its TransAct Services
Group, TransAct provides a complete range of supplies and consumables items used
in the printing and scanning activities of customers in the hospitality,
banking, retail, gaming and government markets. Through its webstore,
http://www.transactsupplies.com, and a direct selling team, TransAct addresses
the growing on-line demand for these products. TransAct is headquartered in
Hamden, CT. For more information on TransAct, visit http://www.transact-tech.com
or call 203.859.6800.

CONTACT: TransAct Technologies Incorporated
Steven DeMartino, EVP and Chief Financial Officer
203-859-6810

ICR Inc.
William Schmitt
203-682-8200

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Rana appeals against ban

April 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Pakistan all-rounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has appealed against a one-year ban and heavy fine for indiscipline, saying he wants justice from the cricket authorities.

“It is a matter of reviving my career, so I have filed an appeal against the ban and fine with a hope that I get justice,” Naved told reporters. “I want to play for Pakistan again.”

Naved, 32, and former captain Shoaib Malik, were banned for one year and fined two million rupees ($48,650) on charges of breach of discipline during the team’s December-February tour of Australia.

The penalties were imposed after a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) committee examined the team’s dismal performances and off-field problems in Australia, where Pakistan lost all three Tests, five one-day and a Twenty20 international.

Former captains Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf were banned indefinitely over infighting during the preceding tour of the United Arab Emirates in November.

Brothers Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal, who were fined three million and two million rupees respectively and put on probation for six months, filed appeals on Tuesday.

Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi was fined three million rupees and put on a six-month probation for ball-tampering in a one-day match in Australia which “brought the game and country into disrepute”.

Naved said the PCB did not give specific reasons for the punishment.

“The charge sheet that I have received only mentions that I under-performed in the Twenty20 match in Australia. My plea is that no player can ever perform well in all matches. I did my best but we lost,” he added.

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Power station emissions underestimated: Greens

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Greens say the New South Wales Government should not have approved the expansion of the Mt Piper power station near Lithgow because emissions from the plant were massively underestimated.

As part of approving the expansion’s concept plan, the State Government commissioned the engineering company Arup to independently review the proponent’s greenhouse gas emissions estimates.

The report published on the Planning Department’s website shows the total annual emissions from the plant could be up to 20 per cent higher than the estimate in the environmental assessment report.

Greens’ MP John Kaye says the planning process has been compromised.

“The NSW Government has based its approval of the Mt Piper power station on totally inaccurate information,” he said.

“Their own independent assessment says that it is two million tonnes of carbon dioxide shy of of the exact amount.

“This should have been sent back to the drawing board, back to the proponent to redo the environmental assessment report with the correct greenhouse gas emissions in there.”

The Planning Minister says he approved the expansion based on his department’s recommendations.

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Western Sydney hires AFL NSW boss

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The man who has overseen the AFL in New South Wales has been named as the inaugural chief executive of expansion club Western Sydney.

Dale Holmes, 42, will start his new job immediately, leaving his role as general manager of AFL (NSW/ACT), which he had filled since 2004.

Western Sydney is due to join the AFL in 2012 and chairman Tony Shepherd said Holmes had already been a driving force in setting up the club.

“Dale has driven much of the work that went into the establishment of Team GWS and setting up its community focus and community advisory group,” Shepherd said.

“He made a decision that after working with the organisation in its infancy, [that] he wanted to see it through and to realise the vision of having a team in Greater Western Sydney that truly represented the community and the people of the region.”

Holmes said building Sydney’s second club was “without doubt the biggest challenge” facing the AFL, but he was excited to take it on.

“I am a firm believer that having a second side based in Greater Western Sydney is important in really engaging almost two million people in our game,” Holmes said.

“It is an opportunity to increase awareness and support of our game, but also is an opportunity to work closely with the local community to build jobs, opportunities and awareness of the people and businesses of this region.”

Holmes played three games with North Melbourne in 1987 and has also played with East Sydney in the AFL NSW league.

-AAP

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Rudd injects $430m into diabetic care

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Federal Government will target diabetics by spending more than $430 million to help them manage their health and keep them out of hospital.

The funding will be given to doctors who take on diabetic patients and provide a personal care program to ensure they stay healthy enough so they do not need hospital treatment.

Unveiling the latest part of the Government’s plans to reform the health system today, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said hospitals will struggle to cope with treating around two million diabetics over the next decade if there is no alternative plan.

“In 2007-08, around 237,000 hospital admissions were related to complications from diabetes that could have been avoided through better management,” he said.

“This is 32 per cent of all avoidable hospital admissions.”

Doctors will be paid $1,200 a year for every diabetic they treat, with an extra $10,800 a year to be given to the practice if their patients’ health improves.

Mr Rudd said he expects more than 4,000 GPs will sign up to the $436 million program when it begins in 2012.

Those GPs will be able to treat around 260,000 patients.

Diabetes Australia acting chief executive Professor Greg Johnson endorses the plan.

While he acknowledges that steps must be taken to stop people developing diabetes, the Government’s move is aimed at “secondary” prevention.

“For people who’ve got diabetes we need to focus on good management of their conditions so we prevent the avoidable complications,” he said.

“It will save money in the long term. It’ll save hospital beds, but most importantly it’ll improve the lives of what is almost one million Australians at the moment.”

Around 85 to 90 per cent of diabetics are type 2, with the remainder type 1.

Professor Johnson says both are often hospitalised with complications.

“People with diabetes are frequent flyers in our hospital system,” he said.

Dr Emil Djakic of the Australian General Practice Network says he broadly supports the plan because other funding models for patients need to be considered.

“A balance between fee-for-service funding, enrolled-patient funding and quality-outcomes funding is important to get the best out of our health system,” he said.

But Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Andrew Pesce has slammed the plan as “policy on the run” and says the AMA was never consulted.

“The Government is effectively encouraging the voluntary removal of Medicare benefits for these patients,” he said.

“By removing fee for service, the Government is removing patient choice about their primary care and eroding the individual doctor-patient relationship.

“It is clear that linking this announcement to relieving pressure on hospitals is designed to have more of a positive effect on the premiers than on people with diabetes.”

Hospital takeover

The Government has already announced its intentions to take over 60 per cent of hospital funding by taking back 30 per cent of GST revenue from the states.

And it has also pledged $632 million to train more than 5,000 doctors and specialists.

Its hospital takeover plan is still facing resistance from some states, but Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has signalled he may support it.

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Cabinet approves setting up of Indo-German Science and Technology Centre

March 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Mar 25 (ANI): The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the establishment of an Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC) in India.

The Centre would be established with matching contribution as per Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) approval of two million Euro (approximately Rs.13 crore at current exchange rates) per year for the next five years.

The Centre would be registered as a “Society” under the relevant Act.

The Indo-German Science and Technology Centre shall play a proactive role in facilitating participation of industry in joint research and development projects; provide and assist in mobilizing resources to carry out industrial research and development projects.

The Centre shall facilitate and promote Indo-German bilateral collaborations in basic and applied science, research and technology through substantive interaction among Government, academia and industry.

The Centre shall also encourage public private partnerships (PPP) to foster elements of innovation and application and cultivate a culture of cooperation between science and industry.

The total expenditure for the proposal is approximately Rs.65 crore for next five years with effect from 2010. This is the matching contribution equivalent to two million Euro per year from German Government side. (ANI)

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Craig David pitches for campaign against TB

March 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 25 (ANI): British R&B singer Craig David has joined the global fight against TB after becoming the goodwill ambassador for a campaign to eradicate the deadly condition.

The Seven Days hitmaker, who has sales of more than 13 million albums to his credit, was appointed by the Stop TB Partnership at an event at the United Nations HQ in New York to mark World TB Day.

And the star wishes to do his bit in raising awareness about the disease that consumes nearly two million people annually.

””Music is a universal language. I believe that through people”s love of music we can increase knowledge and understanding and support people affected by TB,” The Telegraph quoted David as saying.

””I hope that people who feel inspired by my music will also feel moved by what I have to say about TB,”” he added. (ANI)

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Amnesty International slams Malaysia for failing to stop migrant workers’ exploitation

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kuala Lumpur, Mar. 24 (ANI): Amnesty International has urged the Malaysian Government to protect migrant workers from getting exploited in the country, where they come to “escape poverty and provide for their families.”

“Migrant workers come to Malaysia to escape poverty and to provide for their families. Once they arrive, however, many workers toil in conditions that amount to labour exploitation,” The Star Online quoted Amnesty International as saying in a report.

“The government of Malaysia has a responsibility to prevent abuses, which can include exploitation, forced labour, and trafficking in persons. Too often, the state fails to do so.”

“Much of Malaysia’s approach to migration is effectively to criminalise it, even though the country could not function without migrant labour,” it added.

The report titled, “Trapped – The Exploitation of Migrant Workers in Malaysia,” points out that Malaysia depends heavily on foreign labourers, who are a fifth of the country’s work force, but lower than promised wages, unsafe working conditions, and arbitrary arrests and extortion amount to exploitation of labours.

However, Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister Dr S. Subramaniam denied allegation that foreign workers faced discrimination.

“The system of bringing in foreign workers is a well established legal system. It is fair to everybody. We offer the same kind of protection to foreigners (as to locals). We don’t protect employers who exploit workers,” he said.

The London based rights group interviewed 200 workers – both legal and illegal – and found that some workers are also held at their workplace by threat or violence.

Three women from Myanmar, working as tailors, recounted how their employers called gangsters to intimidate and force them to work throughout the night.

About two million foreigners work in Malaysia legally, and an estimated one million more illegally.

Most come from Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam and fill jobs at construction sites, factories, restaurants, households and palm oil plantations. (ANI)

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