shameen

Water Map to Pinpoint Source of Pollution

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Ajman, August 13: A water map of reservoirs in Ajman and studies to identify pollution sources are part of a plan by Ajman University of Science and Technology (AUST), Ajman Municipality and the Planning Department to protect the environment in Ajman, according to a media release.

Khalid Al Hossany, Director of the Department of General Health and the Environment, said, “The Municipality and AUST discussed ways to manage an environmental study, to prepare a water map for Ajman, and to indicate the sources of pollution of the Ajman marine environment.”

Expatriates Worried Over Swine Flu Outbreak in India

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Abu dhabi, August 13: Indian expatriates in the UAE are becoming increasingly concerned about the reports of the rising number of swine flu infections and deaths in their home country even as their Embassy here advised them not to panic.

Police Launch Hunt for Fugitive Driver

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Dubai, August 13: Dubai Police are searching for a man who ran away from a hit-and-run car crash on Wednesday after he allegedly lost control of his speeding car, hitting three people waiting at a bus stop, killing one of them.

A teenage boy died in another crash on Wednesday when his unlicensed friend, also a teenager, drove his father’s car and crashed into another.

The first accident took at place near bin Eid Al Shaabi restaurant in Dubai at around 6am, Salah Bu Farousha, Head of the Dubai Traffic Prosecution told Khaleej Times.

Police Seize Hundreds of Licences after Accidents

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Dubai, August 13: Dubai’s traffic police have seizeds hundreds of driving licenses for various offences and have set up new teams to seize hundreds more whose holders have accumulated more than 24 black points.

Major General Mohammed Saif Al Zafin, Director of General Department of Traffic, said police had seized 808 licenses for various offences between January and June.

He said another 821 drivers would have their licenses withdrawn for traffic offences that amounted to more than the maximum of 24 black points.

Buses Enhance Experience

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Dubai, August 13: Don’t worry about how you would reach your home or office once you are out of a Dubai Metro station. Feeder buses will be at your service.

As many as 787 buses, dedicated to commute passengers from the different Metro stations to their destinations, will be deployed at all the stations.

In June, the RTA had bought 518 Citea buses at a total cost of Dh1.9 billion to be used as feeder service for commuters of the Dubai Metro, authorities announced on Monday.

Mumbai Down with Viral Fear

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Mumbai, August 13: Authorities here have ordered schools, colleges, coaching classes, cinemas and shopping malls closed for up to a week. It follows the politicisation of a disproportionately high number of swine flu deaths in the state.

The state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is capital, accounts for 11 of the 15 deaths of swine flu related causes so far in India.

In what is being seen as an over-reaction, the state government on
Wednesday directed schools, colleges and coaching classes to stay shut for a week, cinema houses and shopping malls for three days.

RBI warns people against unincorporated loan providers

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New Delhi, August 11: The Reserve Bank Tuesday cautioned the public to verify the credentials before dealing with entities promising various loans, saying there were cases where such entities disappeared after taking the processing fees.

The central bank said it noticed that certain entities are issuing a spate of advertisements in newspapers offering personal loans, loans against property and other loans, at a very low rate of interest.

Japan’s central bank holds key interest rate

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Tokyo, August 11: Japan’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0.1 percent Tuesday, and maintained a cautious view on the strength of recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

The Bank of Japan’s policy board voted unanimously to keep the overnight call rate unchanged at the end of a two-day meeting. Markets had expected no change in the rate.

In neighboring South Korea, the central bank also left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 2 percent for the sixth straight month.

Russian economy shrinks 10.9%

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Moscow, August 11: Russia’s economy contracted 10.9% in the second quarter of 2009 from output in the same period last year, but increased 7.5 percent from output in the first quarter, initial data from the statistics office showed on Tuesday.

In the first quarter, gross domestic product (GDP) had fallen 9.8 percent on a 12-month basis.

The government is forecasting a contraction of up to 8.5 percent in GDP in 2009, in a dramatic end to the robust growth the country enjoyed over the last half decade on the back of high energy prices.

India’s consumer confidence at highest level: Survey

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Dubai, August 11: India showed the highest jump in consumer confidence, a 13-point leap from 99 in the March 2009 survey, a Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Survey has revealed.

Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia climbed 9 points each, and Taiwan and Brazil experienced 8-point increases in their consumer confidence levels.

Further, UAE ranks the seventh most optimistic country in the world in the second quarter of 2009, the survey says.

Govt will use its might to contain food inflation: PM

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New Delhi, August 11: Faced with the dichotomy of overflowing granaries and rising commodity prices, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said the government will do “everything possible” to put the lid on food inflation.

He conveyed this to business chamber FICCI-led delegation that called on him.

“He (Prime Minister) was quite confident that given the buffer stock, they (government) would be able to handle the food inflation,” FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra told reporters after the meeting.

‘US unpopularity in Pak an issue of concern’

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Washington, August 11: America’s increasing unpopularity in Pakistan is an issues of concern for the United States, the Obama administration has said.

The observations came in the wake of the latest poll by Gallup International’s Pakistan unit, which found that 59 per cent of Pakistanis consider the US the greatest threat to their country, five times as many people voting that way as they did for India, their traditional rival, or even the Pak Taliban.

1/3rd of Swat refugees have returned home: UN

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United Nations, August 11: At least one-third of the more than two million Swat refugees have returned home, the United Nations Tuesday said, but expressed concern over the fresh round of displacement due to continued fighting in Pakistan’s tribal region.

“The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that, since mid-July, 765,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) — or 33 per cent of the total — have returned to their places of origin,” UN Deputy spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters here.

26/11: Pak denies accepting attackers’ bodies

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Islamabad/Mumbai, August 11: Pakistan has denied it had agreed to accept the bodies of four of the nine terrorists killed in the 26/11 Mumbai carnage as has been claimed by the Home Minister of India’s Maharashtra state.

Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit told Online news agency in Islamabad that reports on this in the Indian media were baseless and fabricated.

Pak identified as a base for terrorist groups: Report

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Washington, August 11: Pakistan is still identified as a base for terrorist groups and their supporters “operating in Kashmir, India and Afghanistan”, a latest Congressional report has said.

Though acknowledging that Pakistan has started taking strong military action against Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists in recent months, the report said, “Pakistan is identified as a base for terrorist groups and their supporters operating in Kashmir, India, and Afghanistan.”

Politicians helped LeT spread roots in B’desh: Report

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Dhaka, August 11: Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT, whose two suspected members having Indian nationality were arrested in Bangladesh recently, is believed to have spread its roots in this country with the help of several politicians and the HuJI militant group, a media report said in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Indian nationals Mufti Obaidullah and Moulana Mohammad Mansur Ali, the two suspected LeT operatives arrested last month, hinted about their political links in Bangladesh as they were interrogated, ‘The Daily Star’ newspaper said.

Nine CIA drones were hunting Baitullah Mehsud

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Washington, August 11: The US had assigned as many as nine drones to hunt down and target Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud as the American officials stuck to their belief that Mehsud was dead.

“It was a dramatic escalation,” American officials said, claiming that stepped up surveillance had paid rich dividends when hellfire missiles from a predator drone had caught Mehsud helpless while the 35-year-old warlord was getting a leg massage on the roof of his father-in-law’s house.

Thirty-eight dead in Taiwan flooding: Officials

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Taipei, August 11: At least 38 people were killed and another 62 missing in Taiwan’s worst flooding in half a century after Typhoon Morakot battered the island, rescuers and officials said on Tuesday.

Some 35 people were also injured as the typhoon lashed the island with a record three metres (118 inches) of rain over the weekend, submerging houses, streets and bringing down bridges, said the National Fire Agency.

Rescue missions were in full swing on Tuesday with the authorities rushing out helicopters to remote areas cut off by fallen bridges or raging rivers.

Committed to engage Iran in direct diplomacy: US

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Washington, August 11: The Obama administration has said it is committed to engage Iran in direct diplomacy and its offer to have dialogue with the Iranian regime still stands.

“We made a strategic decision some time ago to engage Iran in direct diplomacy. We stand by that decision. We decided to do that because we have very, very strong and serious concerns about Iran’s nuclear activities,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters here.

Chavez warns of ‘war’ over Colombia-US deal

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Quito, August 11: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned that “winds of war” were blowing across Latin America because of Colombia’s decision to allow the United States use of seven military bases.

Speaking in Quito at a regional summit, Chavez on Monday said he was fulfilling his “moral duty” by telling fellow leaders that the “winds of war were beginning to blow,” because of the July accord between Bogota and Washington.

“This could generate a war in South America,” he told the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) summit in the Ecuadorian capital.

9/11 plotters planning attack against US: White House

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Washington, August 11: The people who planned and executed the 9/11 attack are still operating in Afghanistan and plotting attack against the United States, the White House said on Tuesday, adding this is the reason why America continues to be in the area.

Thai court refuses to extradite suspected Russian arms dealer to US

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Bangkok, August 11: A Thai court on Tuesday refused to extradite alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to the United States to face trial on charges of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels

The United States wanted to try Bout, dubbed the “Merchant of Death,” for conspiracy to sell millions of dollars of weapons to rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which it said could be used to kill Americans.

Obama slams Honduras critics at North America summit

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Guadalajara, August 11: US President Barack Obama accused critics of his response to the coup in Honduras of “hypocrisy”.

Obama reaffirmed the US position that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was his country’s rightful leader, a day before a mediation mission by the Organization for American States (OAS) begins.

He also assailed those who fault his approach.

“The same critics who say the US has not intervened in Honduras are the same people who say we are always intervening and Yankees need to get out of Latin America,” he said, accusing such opponents of “hypocrisy.”

Eighth body discovered in New York air collision wreckage

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New York: Divers have found the wreckage of the fixed-wing aircraft and a body inside it in the Hudson River by New York City, where the plane had collided with a sightseeing helicopter on Saturday.

One body still remained missing, and there were no survivors. The helicopter wreckage was located soon after the accident.

Five of the nine victims were Italian tourists, including a man and his 16-year-old son, taking a long-planned sightseeing helicopter tour around Manhattan.