January 31, 2002.

Kuwait Embassy Seek help to repatriate Cheated Workers

Kuwait City: Mr K.J.S.Sodhi of the Indian Embassy kuwait has send an open letter to all Indian people and organisations asking for help in repatriating about 1000 or more labourers who have got held up in Kuwait due to cheating by some agents in both India and Kuwait.

"Their condition is very sad with one time meals and not even basic
ammenities. The embassy circular asks for help to purchase air tickets to send these people home. They have arranged with Airlines to send them home with KWD 70.000 fore each ticket,' said a representative of Hindu unity in Kuwait.

"This is request for you all to come forward to help in which ever way you can. Please visist them a their camps as what they need now is support from their brothers and sisters in Kuwait. We have to realise that by merely sending them home their misery doesnot end. But this is the best we can strive to do.For details on contribiution please call Mr Sanjay at 2530600/612/613 Ext. 217,' the statement said.

TO BE HOSTED FROM 4-6th FEBRUARY IN DUBAI

Leading Global Economists to Unite in the UAE to Attend
Hedge Funds World Conference 2002

Dubai, 31 January, 2002 - The Hedge Funds World Middle East 2002 Conference will kick off on Monday in Dubai and will see leading economists from across the globe joining together to discuss the global market of alternative investments in the context of the current global and Middle Eastern economic and business status.

Investors, fund managers, banking and investment experts from across the Middle East, Europe, the USA and Asia will attend the three-day conference at the Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai on February 4th, 5th and 6th. Antoine Massad, Associate Director and Head of Middle East and Asia at Man Investment Products, a global leader in the alternative investment industry with around US$9.5 billion under management, will be addressing delegates, as well, among others, Sohail Jaffer, Chairman of the Middle East Chapter of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), Wolfgang Landl, Senior Investment Manager - Man Glenwood GmbH, and Aida Saab, Managing Director, Middle East, Global Asset Management.

The conference will assess the impressive growth rates of the hedge funds industry in 2000/2001 whilst delegates will look to the future with Antoine Massad revealing his predictions for industry growth for the next decade. The conference will also examine the best investment opportunities in the Middle East, USA and Europe and will analyse their returns. Delegates will be given the opportunity to discuss a number of key issues surrounding financial markets, from evaluating capital allocation and risk/return criteria for different investments to effectively incorporating alternatives into your portfolio for consistent maximum results.

Speaking about the forthcoming conference Antoine Massad said: "It is an exciting time to be involved in the industry. After nearly a decade of bull markets, we have experienced over the last two years, extreme turbulent market conditions. The conference will examine how investors can capitalise on the current situation and how they can prepare for the future."

31 January 2002

WHO REPORT OUTLINES PLAN FOR NEW HEALTH SPENDING - POINTS TO WAY OUT OF POVERTY


"Today, perhaps for the first time in history, it is possible to launch a
truly global response to the major infectious diseases that keep people in
poverty."

So begins Scaling Up the Response to Infectious Diseases: A Way out of
Poverty, a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF,
UNAIDS, the World Bank, UNESCO and UNFPA. The report will be launched at
the World Economic Forum in New York on Saturday 2 February.

Scaling Up calls for is a well-organized and highly focused effort to take
proven strategies and massively increase their availability.

"Almost 6 million people are killed every year by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis
(TB) and malaria alone," says Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's Executive Director.
"Malaria and HIV are some of the major causes of stagnating, and in some
cases, rising infant and under-five mortality in Africa. Tackling these,
as well as addressing other important childhood disease will be essential
to reaching the Millenium Development Goals for children."

Yet by expanding the use of known and cost-effective interventions, TB and
malaria deaths can be cut in half and new HIV infections in young people
can be reduced by 25% in a decade, Scaling up reports. It details where
investment can be made to realize these gains in a decade.

"These are investment guidelines for better health - not just financial
investment but investment in social and political will," says Dr Gro
Harlem Brundtland, WHO's Director General. "It is about change on a global
scale, brought about by change on a local scale. These are global problems
but they can be solved by committed individuals working hard to bring
about improvements in their own communities."

Scaling Up builds on the work of the Commission on Macroeconomics and
Health, which was established by WHO to explore the links between health
and economic development. In a report issued in December 2001, the
Commission showed conclusively that investing in health in developing
countries saves lives and produces clear and measurable financial returns.
The Commission built on evidence that well-targeted spending of US$ 66
billion a year by 2015 could save as many as 8 million lives a year and
generate six-fold economic benefits, more than US$ 360 billion a year by
2020.
Scaling Up urges this new investment be applied to the existing tools
including drugs to treat TB and HIV/AIDS, mosquito nets and condoms to
prevent infection with malaria and HIV. It outlines the treatment
strategies available and the health systems through which they can be
delivered. It then suggests ways new resources could be better used and
combined with novel marketing and communications approaches to encourage
"healthy behaviour".

Scaling Up also represents the broadening of the public health paradigm,
expanding upon prevention with vaccines to treatment as a means of
promoting health and attacking poverty.

This new acceptance for treatment as an effective public health investment
has also opened up for a new era of public-private partnerships. As Dr.
Brundtland has made clear since her first days as Director-General, this
is not a battle that can be won by international organizations or
governments alone. It is a truly global challenge to individuals,
companies and organizations in every country, rich and poor.

The new focus on partnerships with the private sector is endorsed by a
series of statements from leading companies and organizations:

"We hope that we will act as a catalyst, encouraging other companies to
take a new look at the problems facing the world and to become involved in
finding solutions to them ... No company can afford to stand by and watch
or allow itself to hope that the efforts of others will provide a solution
to this problem." Thomas Wellauer, CEO, Credit Suisse Financial Services.

"Partnerships remain a crucial strategy to the improvement of health
around the world. partnerships lead to a coordination of efforts between
the public and private sectors, draw on the complementary expertise of all
stakeholders, and help put the systems and infrastructures in place to
ensure long-term access to care and treatment."
Raymond V. Gilmartin, Chairman, President and CEO, Merck & Co., Inc.

"Small is Beautiful but, to us, large-scale is an imperative. We believe
that change is possible; in fact, it is inevitable. The challenge is how
fast this can happen and to the vast majority of the world's poor, women
and children." Mr F.H. Abed, Founder and Chair, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee.

"We assist local authorities in building, restructuring and maintaining
health facilities, supplying medicines and hospital equipment, training
medical and non medical personnel, and by carrying out vaccination, health
awareness campaigns and prevention and control activities for a range of
infectious diseases." Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, Chairman, Eni SpA

"We are moving technology and designing innovative agreements to ensure
that new drugs will be affordable in endemic countries. We believe that
the dividends of such a new model of doing 'good business' will translate
into win-win results for both private and public players as well as a
quantum leap forward in global health." Maria C. Freire, CEO, The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development.