Illegal Smuggling of Human Biengs Dangersou
DUBAI - The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has warned would-be migrants from the Horn of Africa against making the sea passage to Yemen by way of illegal smugglers. "UNHCR-Yemen would like to warn people who have relatives attempting to cross the Gulf of Aden about the danger of doing so," the refugee agency said a statement. "The latest deadly incidents underscore the urgency of UNHCR's earlier appeal for action to stem the flow of desperate people who fall prey to smugglers."
According to UNHCR spokesman in Sana, Abdul Malik Abboud, the agency was "doing its utmost in sending messages to . the Horn of Africa, warning people not to take the risk by sailing on such weary vessels".
Since mid-January, 167 people have reportedly died while travelling by boat across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, while others remain missing. The victims departed from the port of Bosasso on the north eastern coast of Somalia. Between 16 and 25 January, four boats, each carrying between 95 and 120 passengers, capsized near the Bir Ali and Jabal Riada coastal areas in the Shabwah province.
During the voyage, "people were subject to torture by the vessels' crews," a UNHCR statement noted. Mistreatment reportedly led to some passengers throwing themselves overboard rather than face unbearable thirst and hunger, while others died on board, the agency said. According to Abboud, further incidents may have occurred that the refugee agency is unaware of.
Frequently, smugglers operating from Somalia will not deliver passengers directly to the shore, fearing capture by Yemeni authorities. Passengers are often left to drown.
"Smugglers frequently beat their passengers, take their valuables and sometimes force them overboard while still far way from Yemeni shores," noted UNHCR. Between 12 January and mid-February, 48 boatloads of people arrived off the Yemeni coast from Bosasso. Among these were 2,528 Somalis, entitled to automatic refugee status in Yemen, a party to the 1951 refugee convention to which both countries are party.
Abboud said that a similar number of Ethiopians had arrived in the same period, almost 200 of whom had registered as asylum seekers with UNHCR. The rest, believed to be economic migrants, he added, had "scattered". While there are some 80,000 registered refugees currently in Yemen, 75 percent of whom are Somalis, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of other migrants continue to go unregistered. Migrants and asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa reportedly pay between US $30 and US $50 for the voyage to Yemen, often seen as a transit point to the job markets of other Gulf States, such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Gulf Air Prepares for Fleet Expansion, Growth
Announces new flights between Kuala Lumpur and Muscat
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (16 February 2006): Gulf Air announces that funding in the region of US$900 million for the first phase of its fleet upgrade, replacement and growth programme is expected to be in place by May this year. The decision to accelerate the replacement of the airline’s nine Boeing 767s was one of several major resolutions in support of the Smart Airline, Successful Business strategy, that were passed at the first Board meeting under Gulf Air’s new ownership structure held in the Sultanate of Oman last week. President and Chief Executive James Hogan said that discussions with financial institutions were nearing their conclusion.
“The renewed confidence the financial markets have in Gulf Air’s commercial performance over the past few years has resulted in us moving forward at a good pace,” he said. “We are confident of making a formal announcement on funding in the next three months along with a Memorandum of Understanding with one of the airframe manufacturers.”Hogan, is in the Far East on an official visit to launch the airline’s new year round non-stop direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Muscat, Oman and then onto Bahrain, three times a week with an increase to five times per week during the high demand Summer period.
“The launch of these flights further demonstrates our commitment to this market, which we believe has great potential for Gulf Air. We are delighted to be in Malaysia and we look forward to strengthening our position by offering world class service in which the cultural richness and traditions of Arabia are brought to life,” said Hogan. “The new service will also provide options for Middle Eastern travellers to experience Malaysia’s exotic destinations. Moving forward, we shall be focusing on corporate and business travel for this market. Gulf Air’s highly-trained crew comprises more than 80 nationalities, speaking some 70 different languages, reflecting the truly multinational nature of the airline.
Gulf Air has been flying to Malaysia since 1995. This new non-stop service replaces the current service that operates via Bangkok. Hogan said Gulf Air hoped to develop Oman as a key gateway to the Gulf, Middle East and Europe. Flight connections to its new destinations of Dublin and Johannesburg, which were launched in December last year, will further open up new leisure markets.
Please help us to find the relatives of late Mr. Narasayyah....
Dubai: Mr. Narasayyah (29yrs) who hails from Karimnagar of Andhra Pradesh, India died in the Rashid Hospital, Dubai due to Tuberculosis. He came to Dubai on a visit visa. From the numbers with him, we,the Valley of Love came to know that he worked with several construction companies and we are unable to trace his family. Those who can help us in finding his whereabouts must contact us at 050—3090506 so that cremation must be done at the earliest.
CP Mathew Adoor
social worker./chief coordinatorTHE VALLEY OF LOVE (SNEHATHAZHVARA)
committed to humanity
www.thevalleyoflove.org
pravasy@yahoo.com mail@thevalleyoflove.org
contact no. 00971 50 3090506
fax. 009714 2678601Qatar resolves citizenship issue
Bush's War Plan includes the Use of Nuclear Weapons
Dubaia Aluminum Marks 2005 with Excellent Performance
• Overseas investments and major capacity expansion projects announced;
• Profits increase 10% year-on-year; Sales rise by 14%
DUBAI – United Arab Emirates: For Dubai Aluminium Company DUBAL, one of the world’s largest aluminium producers, 2005 was another year of stellar performance in all its areas of operations including overseas investments, major expansion programs, global awards, and achieving nationalization targets. The company’s remarkable overall performance in meeting production targets and executing projects well ahead of schedule have yielded substantial benefits and resulted in economies of scale and a remarkable 10% year-on-year increase in profits.
During the year His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister for Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Aluminium Company (DUBAL), approved a 100,000-tonnes capacity expansion plan as part of the 10-year Future Strategic Program. The expansion project will see the aluminium giant add an additional annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes of hot metal, raising its total hot metal production capacity to 861,000 tonnes per year during the last quarter of 2006. The Phase-1 and Phase-2 expansion plans are being executed at a total cost of USD392 million.
“The year also marked DUBAL’s significant global upstream integration plans including a USD3.6-billion project in association with India’s largest private sector conglomerate the L&T Group for a world class alumina refinery, bauxite mining and development of related infrastructure; a strategic investment worth USD200 million for 25% stake in Global Alumina and a long-term off-take agreement for 40% of the annual production of alumina from Global Alumina's wholly-owned Guinea subsidiary, Guinea Alumina Corporation SA; a 10-year USD32 million agreement with the international shipping company Gearbulk for chartering a specially-built vessel; and international recognition for suggestions from its employees in the form of prestigious awards,” said Mr. Abdullah J. M. Kalban, CEO, DUBAL.
“During the year, hot metal production touched a highest-ever 722,000 tonnes, showing a 6% increase over 2004 when it was 681,000 tonnes. Sales shot up by a record 14% to 850,000 tonnes against 743,000 tonnes the previous year. Power generation went up 9% to 1,350MW against 1,234MW in 2004. The number of nationals in the company stood at 709, registering an 11% increase over the previous year’s 641,” pointed out Mr. Kalban. In fact, more than 65% of the senior managerial position is held by UAE nationals, Mr. Kalban added.
“For 2006, the prospects are even better. We hope to increase sales by 6% to 900,000 tonnes, hot metal production by 8% to 778,000 tonnes and power generation by 9% year-on-year to 1,767MW. The number of UAE nationals in DUBAL will touch a record 806, an increase of 14%,” observed Mr. Kalban.
“Our sales and profit figures were achieved despite tough global competition in the aluminium industry as we had to maneuver ourselves skillfully in the market. However, DUBAL has already made its present felt strongly in the international markets by its quality products and service. Our objective now is to explore new growth avenues to further improve our performance in the coming years. We are already moving in that direction,” Mr. Kalban remarked.
Contribution to local economy
DUBAL has consistently made significant contribution to Dubai’s economy. In fact 45% of the supplies were sourced locally for the expansion plans and other activities. Overall, DUBAL’s contribution to Dubai’s GDP has been averaging more than 7% annually over the last several years.
Safety
DUBAL achieved another impeccable plant-wide record of two million man-hours without any time lost due to accident for three consecutive months during 2005. The 100% government-owned company’s excellent safety programs and procedures are internationally-recognized. In fact, DUBAL has already received the OHSAS 18001 accreditation in September 2003.
Some individual departments at DUBAL have performed extremely well with regard to safety. For example the Power and Desalination Department has worked 3.7 million hours and the Process Control department for 4,162 days without any loss time due to accident.
Environmental protection being very crucial, DUBAL focused its total efforts on zero pollution by closing all the cells during the start-up process. This was done in order to eliminate gas emissions without treating them through the Fume Treatment Plants (FTPs).
During the start up of Potline 7B, DUBAL continue to conducting the benchmarking in terms of the environment with the international standards. Currently, we are conducting an environment impact assessment for the plant.Potline-7 expansion
Phase-1 of Potline-7 expansion program at a cost of USD180-million was officially launched in November when it was fully commissioned with all the 120 pots going on stream well ahead of schedule.
“During 2005, DUBAL executed the Potline-7 Phase-1 expansion project at a cost of USD180 million, raising the production capacity to over 761,000 tonnes. With another USD284 million expansion for Phase-2 already approved, DUBAL will raise its production capacity to 861,000 tonnes a year,” said Mr. Kalban.
Potline-7 expansion project was completed in a record time of 14 months and resulted in saving more than USD25 million from the budgeted cost. The project was originally budgeted to cost USD205 million. However, with the expertise of in-house core management professionals, DUBAL was able to complete the project at a cost of USD180 million.
By the end of 2006, Potline-7 B and Potline-9 B will have a combined production capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum.
DUBAL has developed and tested its own advanced reduction technology to achieve efficient smelting performance, pointed out Mr. Kalban reiterating once again the key role of the in-house technology.
“We also commissioned the USD27-million Casthouse-3 machinery in collaboration with the Italian major 'Properzi' during the year,” said Mr. Kalban.The 'Properzi' Casthouse enables high quality production from the initial extraction of the raw material, through its molten process, to the final saleable form.
With the successful installation of this ingot casting machine, Casthouse-3 will enjoy a production capacity of 80,000 tonnes a year of hot metal in different alloys that meet individual requirements of customers in Asia, Europe and North America.
For DUBAL the most notable contribution to Potline-7expansion project came from a team of UAE nationals, who led and supervised all aspects of the major endeavor. The UAE nationals had played a significant role in the commissioning of Potline-7.
Global recognition
DUBAL also received international recognition for one of its suggestions submitted by its employees. The entry won the IdeasUK Best Environmental Trophy in the IdeasUK competition during the year.
Nationalization
Perhaps the most important development in DUBAL’s nationalization is a UAE national assuming the office of CEO. Under Mr. Kalban, DUBAL has initiated several programmes to help the nationalization efforts of the Dubai Government.The aluminum giant conducted a two-month summer training program aimed at orientating some 65 UAE students on the company's renowned methods of operation.
The two-month initiative, from the first week of July till the first week of September, was undertaken as part of DUBAL's continuing nationalization drive to improve understanding of the Aluminum industry's workings amongst young UAE nationals.
The students were selected from several schools and universities throughout the UAE, including: various industrial schools in Dubai and Sharjah, the Al Ain University, the Higher College of Technology and the American University of Dubai. Among them 20 were high school students and 45 were from various colleges and universities.
For the past 15 years DUBAL has also been successfully sponsoring the prestigious $2.2-million Dubai Desert Classic. The massive support from DUBAL has made the Dubai Desert Classic one of the major golf tournaments in the international sporting calendar. The success of Dubai Desert Classic continues this year too.
Mr. Kalban attributed DUBAL’s continuing success to the commitment and valuable support of the employees. “The company could not have achieved this success without such initiatives shown by employees. This has been amply recognized in international forums and by renowned global organizations,” he added. “At this point I would like to thank our employees and customers who have always supported us. We look forward to their continuous cooperation in the coming year too, as DUBAL is marching ahead with its expansion plans,” Mr. Kalban concluded.
BSNL and MTNL Launches "One India Plan"
Keeping in view its commitment to provide low cost and affordable telephone services to the common man of India, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) today launched “One India Plan” with effect from 1.3.2006. The Scheme was announced by Shri A.K Sinha, CMD, BSNL and Shri R.S.P Sinha, CMD, MTNL in a joint press conference here today. They stated that this will be one of the most affordable, customer friendly and innovative schemes for both local and long distance calls.
It may be recalled that Thiru. Dayanidhi Maran, Hon’ble Minister of Communications and Information Technology had originally mooted the idea of “One India” scheme, with a view to connecting India at an affordable tariff throughout the length and breadth of the country. In consonance with his vision, the new Plan will enable the customers of BSNL and MTNL to call from one end of the India to the other, either from Kashmir to Kanyakumari or from Dwarka to Dimapur at the cost of Re.1.00 per minute , 24x7 any time of the day to any phone . This will truly mark the death of distance and STD.
Under the new Scheme, the customer will be able to call any place in India either by landline or mobile by merely spending Rs.1 per minute. The “One India” plan, also, for the first time, takes away the distinction between the fixed line tariff and the cellular tariff and thus, makes the tariff “technology independent”. A similar plan has also been introduced for the customers of post paid and pre-paid mobile services of BSNL and MTNL.
MIDDLE EAST: Journalists hoping to improve reporting on HIV/AIDS
AMMAN, 9 February (IRIN) - Leading Jordanian journalists are hoping to help improve reporting on HIV/AIDS, having taken part in a workshop focusing on curtailing popular misperceptions.
"We need to publish HIV/AIDS articles on a regular basis in order to familiarise people with the issue," said Mahmoud al-Omari, a media trainer at Jordan's official news agency, Petra.
Along with 12 other trainers from Jordan, Bangladesh and Kazakhstan, al-Omari recently attended a workshop on HIV/AIDS and the media in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.
The event was held within the framework of a United Nations Educationl, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) project entitled: "Reducing the Impact of the HIV/AIDS Crisis in and through Education".
"HIV/AIDS was a totally new area of work for most of us," said al-Omari, now back in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
During the three-day workshop, al-Omari learnt how to use multi-media, including video-clips, music and web design, to illustrate messages relating to HIV/AIDS.
Special attention was given to the use of appropriate language. "We learnt it was necessary to use words that imply inclusiveness," al-Omari explained, "and to avoid promoting discrimination and stigma".
Attendees also concentrated on ethical aspects of reporting, such as the importance of privacy and confidentiality.
But al-Omari's most difficult task lies ahead: transmitting what he learned at the workshop to his Jordanian media colleagues.
"The important thing isn't only to change reporters' minds about HIV/AIDS, but also the minds of editors-in-chief," he pointed out.
The freshly-qualified media trainer added that social attitudes and popular misperceptions about HIV/AIDS remained the primary obstacles to dialogue on the issue.
"It's very difficult to talk about sex in public, or even within the family," noted al-Omari. "But that doesn't mean we should remain silent."
He is planning to utilise his new skills this year to compile a bilingual Arabic/English web manual for journalists covering HIV/AIDS issues.
Although there is no systematic monitoring of HIV prevalence in Jordan, the estimated number of adults and children living with the virus nationwide is put at some 600, according to a UNAIDS/WHO fact sheet from 2004.
The most common modes of transmission in cases reported between 1997 and 2001 were heterosexual sex (40 percent), via blood transfusions (38.9 percent), men having sex with men (3.2 percent) and injecting drug users (3.2 percent), according to the report.In an indication of rising awareness, a national workshop on media and HIV/AIDS is scheduled to be held in Jordan later this year.
Enter European Union Through Serbia: Jairam Ramesh
The Minister of State for Commerce, Shri Jairam Ramesh, has said that the Government would welcome and encourage participation of Indian companies in the privatisation of tractor and farm equipment manufacturing facilities in Serbia. He conveyed this to Dr. Milan Parivodic, the visiting Minister of International Economic Relations, Republic of Serbia, when the latter called on him, here today. The purpose of the Meeting was to identify potential areas for trade and investment that would be mutually beneficial.
At the outset, Dr. Parivodic informed Shri Jairam Ramesh that Government of Serbia has imbarked upon a major economic restructuring process under which they plan to privatise some of their public sector undertakings. To begin with, they have put their tractor and farm equipment manufacturing facility on the block, and four India companies, including M/s TAFE and Mahindra & Mahindra, have expressed keen interest. Dr. Parivodic further said that in view of Serbia’s Trade Agreement with the European Union, they expect keen participation from Indian companies, as a foothold in Serbia would give them customs-free access to the lucrative European market. Welcoming the initiative taken by Indian companies in expanding to Serbia and other European countries, Shri Ramesh assured Dr. Parivodic that Government of India would take all necessary steps to extend the age-old friendship between the people of Serbia and India to the realm of trade & investment and generate awareness among Indian industry regarding the business and investment opportunities in Serbia.
During the bilateral discussions, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Automobile (especially Automotive components) manufacturing and Information Technology emerged as the major areas wherein Serbia and India could move forward.
Further to this, Shri Ramesh suggested that ‘Higher Education’ was another area where India could contribute to the Serbian economy as India has a vast human resource enterprise in higher education like engineering, medical and management studies. Adding to this, Dr. Parivodic said that they would especially look forward to Indian IT education companies setting up shop in Serbia as they perceive India as world leaders in the field. Shri Ramesh also invited the construction industry of Serbia to participate in India’s huge infrastructure development initiative.
Assuring the visiting dignitary of concrete steps by India, Shri Ramesh informed Dr. Parivodic that the Deptt. of Commerce would soon write to the leading Industry-specific associations like OPPI, SIAM, ACMA and NASSCOM, for a meaningful engagement with Serbian Government and industry at the earliest.