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
Follow:http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/raiding-it-right-115072401336_1.html
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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