Saturday, July 25, 2015

News U Wish to Read - 25th July 2015




Saturday, 25th July 2015 

Note: News U Wish to Read is a press review compiled and covers articles published in the press, in the UAE, India and world around. Objective is to keep us informed of important news items which we all wish to not miss. Enjoy  reading the below news items and links. More sections will come as it take shape and interest. Your response to this initiative is highly appreciated.

Energy

Solar power in UAE is not ready to replace diesel as subsidies end
thenational.ae
The solar-energy sector is not ready to become a replacement for diesel power as the UAE Government lifts fuel subsidies next month, experts say. Solar energy is still considered a newcomer to the country’s power scene as regulations lag. Although Abu Dhabi and Dubai have renewable energy targets, Dubai is the only emirate to have set guidelines to allow residential and commercial users to install rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for power generation. Yet as few residents own their homes, residential rooftop solar is not applicable. “Alternative technology, especially renewable energy with a focus on solar, was up to par with the lifting of subsidies, but we are not there yet,” said Hadi Tahboub, the vice president of the Middle East Solar Industry Association (Mesia). “There has to be a build-up of ideas and innovation to accommodate the needs of communities, business and economy to enable us to say that we’re not just cutting down on fuel emissions, but we’re continuing to transform the UAE.”  The removal of fuel subsidies, set to begin next month, will mean users pay more for items such as petrol and diesel. 

Published: 23rd July 2015

Q&A: The UAE’s Minister of Energy addresses concerns about the petrol price deregulation
thenational.ae

Suhail Al Mazrouei, the Minister of Energy, explains that the UAE is not comparing itself to the region any more. ‘We are aspiring to build one of the strongest economies in the region’.

Published: 23rd July 2015

 Cash insurance: Petrol pumps to install ATM-like machines to secure cash and men
Economictimes.com

Cash worth well over Rs 1,000 crore changes hands at petrol pumps in India every day. This is what makes the filling stations and their staff easy targets for criminals. But now, by beginning to use the services of cash logistics firms, petrol pumps have started securing their cash and men. On average, one petrol pump is targeted by criminals every six hours in India, said Ajay Bansal, chief of the All India Petroleum Dealers' Association, highlighting the point that handling cash by dealers is a big challenge. "Everyone is averse to cash; it's a big headache." This has driven Bansal to buy the services of AGS Transact Technologies, a cash logistics firm that manages bank ATMs as well as provides technological solutions to fuel stations.

Published: 25th July 2015

Petronet LNG to face competition from rivals, promoters
Economictimes.com

Petronet LNG is facing a tough challenge as it is locked in a contract that makes it buy the world's most costly liquefied natural gas, and officials say that there are long-term risks of fierce competition from rivals as well as its own promoters who are planning to build terminals to import gas, putting them in a situation of conflict of interest. The company that pioneered the import of super-cooled natural gas, faces severe competition in the years ahead as many new import facilities are being planned. India has a capacity to import 25 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG, of which only 17 mtpa is operation as the Dabhol terminal is severely underutilised and the 5 mtpa Kochi terminal of Petronet lacks proper pipeline capacity.

Published: 25th July 2015

Politics & Economy

Diesel prices to dip and petrol prices to rise, says UAE fuel price-setting chairman
thenational.ae

The chairman of the UAE’s new fuel price-setting committee says he expects diesel prices to dip and petrol prices to rise slightly. Starting on Tuesday, the panel would determine retail fuel prices on a monthly basis, said Matar Al Nyadi, an undersecretary at the Ministry of Energy and chairman of the gasoline and diesel prices committee. The fuel prices will be determined by the average prices from the previous month recorded by various international fuel price trackers – such as Oil Price Information Service – plus a margin for the distribution companies, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Emirates National Oil Company. Mr Al Nyadi did not disclose which benchmark or margin level would be used, but said it would become apparent over the next few months. “We think the price of diesel initially will go down a little and gasoline might go slightly up,” he said.

Published: 23rd July 2015

Community, Environment & Society

World's first malaria vaccine gets green light from European drugs regulators

The world's first malaria vaccine got a green light on Friday from European drugs regulators who recommended it as safe and effective to use in babies in Africa at risk of the mosquito-borne and lifer-threatening disease. The shot, called Mosquirix and developed by British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, would be the first licensed human vaccine against a parasitic disease and could help to prevent millions of cases of the killer disease in countries that use it, Reuters reported. Mosquirix, whose scientific name is "RTS,S" has been designed to prevent malaria caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. It is the first vaccine to be developed which counters the effects of a parasite.

Published: 24th July 2015

Liwa Dates Festival opens for 11th year in Desert Oasis of Liwa
wam.ae

A massive palm tree branch dazzled the first visitors of Liwa Dates Festival, showing off an outstanding richness of the ratab harvest. The branch weighed an impressive 116 kilograms, the biggest and heaviest of all the 17 entries in the festival's Biggest Etheg (dates palm tree branch) competition. "The winning etheg is of shahal dates and it comes from a farm in Liwa. We will officially announce the winner tomorrow evening and he will walk away with a cheque for AED 50,000," said Nasser Seif Al Mazrouei, supervisor of the dates competitions at the festival. As in all dates mazeynah (beauty) competitions, the top 15 positions will be awarded and for the Biggest Etheg the prizes start from AED 50,000 for the first place and end with AED 2,000 for the 15th place.  Along with submissions for the Dabbas dates competition, the Biggest Etheg was the first contest in this year's Liwa Dates Festival, which opened on Wednesday evening in the desert oasis of Liwa, some 200 kilometres south-west of Abu Dhabi, in the emirate's Western Region.

Published: 23rd July 2015

Technology

Web@20

In the last two decades, the Internet has come a long way from those dial-up days and agonising waits. But we are still behind time

Published: 25th July 2015

Sports – Campaign PASS

Campaign PASS (Promote All Sports Simultaneously) is an initiative started through my blog to promote all sports(other than cricket – which gets lot of attention) and sports personnel associated to give them more exposure.

Raiding it right

Kabbadi maybe exhilarating to watch but it's not the easiest sport to perfect. The author looks at the offensive and defensive qualities needed to become a successful kabaddi player.

Published: 25th July 2015

Hope you enjoyed reading the above news items and links. More sections will come as it take shape and interest. Your response to this initiative is highly appreciated.

Regards,
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi

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