Biggest earthquake’s shocks numbs it’s victims in UK
February 29, 2008
UK experienced biggest earthquake in 25 years. The damage was callous, and householders are clearing an assessing the damage in the aftermath of the earthquake. Insurance claims for structural damage and broken belongings, according to insurance experts, are likely to cross tens of millions of pounds. It was just before 0100 GMT, the tragedy, in the form of earthquake of 5.2 magnitude, struck UK. Even, though the epicenter of the 5.2quake was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, people throughout UK, reported feeling tremors. People across the country how they had been woken up by the “enormous roar” of the earth quake which caused house shaking and masonry to fall from the buildings.
According to the British Geological Survey, from as far as Bangor in Northern Ireland, Haarlem in Holland, Plymouth and Edinburgh, people reported they felt the tremor. Even though the scientists said the quake was low according to global standards, they described the earthquake as a “rare beast” and “significant” for the UK. They said they believed the earthquake could have been caused by an old fault line in the East Midlands rupturing. Norwich Union.
Jason Harris, senior claims manager of UK’s largest general insurance said it began to receive calls within hours of the tremor. Jason Harris, senior claims manager, said the firm had received a number of calls overnight and expected further claims to be made when the extent of the damage becomes clear The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said claims were “likely to run into tens of millions of pounds.” But a spokesman said: “One event of this nature will not push up premiums across the board. “Insurers expect to deal with these incidents.” Lincolnshire Police said they had received more than 200 calls from concerned residents. In Market Rasen, the Lincolnshire town nearest the epicenter, one resident spoke of being thrown from his bed by the force of the tremor.
UK Government may have to pay $1.76bn extra to GP
February 29, 2008
As per a report, the new General Practitioners (GP) contract has cost the Government a whooping ₤ 1.761.76bn more than predicted in its first three years and the productivity has fallen.
The new GP contract in England has cost the government £1.76bn more than predicted in its first three years but productivity has fallen, says a report. Now the partners are putting seven fewer hours a week on average, resulting in fall but earnings have gone up by 58%. The National Audit Office found according to a report. The spending watchdog said primary care trusts had not used powers to force better access for patients. However a heath minister said the contract had helped stem a “haemorrhage” of GPs from the NHS. The contract – introduced in 2004 – offered incentives for GP practices to improve quality of care
As an encouragement to GPs the Government gave GPs the opportunity to opt-out of delivering out-of-hours care. However, the huge investment in GP care, failed to deliver improved quality , while the pay of salaried GPs who are employed has increased by just 3% over two years, the average GP partner is taking home 58% more. While the number of consultations carried out had increased, individual GP productivity is reduced, they had not kept pace with the rise in funding It was too early to tell if the incentives offered to GPs were actually improving care, the NAO said, although there were “moderate improvements” in areas such as asthma and diabetes. Karen Taylor, its director of health, said that the contract was a “bad deal” for patients and taxpayers.
Biometrics Will Change The Way People Fly
February 28, 2008
It is predicted, by a leading border security expert, that by the year 2015 getting on an aircraft will be as easy as getting off on the Tube. Automated biometric systems will ultimately replace the usually painstaking system of frequent manual passport and security checks that the fliers have to go through. Thanks to the biometric system, all travellers will be able to just go through an automatic gate that will immediately authenticate their identity and their related security risk.
Presently, the biometric border security projects that has been rolled out by the UK government comprise of Iris, Project Semaphore and the miSense trial. Semaphore checks all the details of UK-bound passengers against the databases of banned individuals. Iris allows fliers to use automated scanning gates at numerous UK airports. In future, automated gates will first confirm the identity of an individual with the help of biometrics before tallying their biographic data against a variety of databases.
The biometric data will be stored on cards instead of a central database so that the information transfer process is faster and the risk is minimum. This card will be compatible with different biometric readers worldwide. The UK government is seriously working on the project which promises to simplify the flying experience for the fliers.
Vodafone Encourages Apprenticeship Scheme
February 27, 2008
Vodafone is in the process of increasing its involvement in an apprenticeship scheme in order to help young people obtain their qualifications while on-the-job-learning at the same time. The scheme is backed by the government and it allows young people a blend of on the job as well as off the job training in a multitude of industries. This enables them to get qualifications like NVQ while at the same time getting a wage of around £80 per week.
By the year 2009, Vodafone UK has promised to have roughly 2,000 apprenticeships up and running. Vodafone pays its apprentices roughly between £14,000 and £20,000 a year. The apprentices get to work in a variety of areas all across the business be it customer service and/or retail. The apprenticeship scheme is a part of the social investment strategy of Vodafone. Vodafone is also known to support 450 other employees irrespective of government funding.
Other companies who have committed to take on more apprentices by the end of the year 2009 are Sainsbury’s and Superdrug. The UK government has dubbed this week as the ‘Apprenticeship Week’ in England. This is in tandem with the effort to enhance the profile of the programme and persuade more employers to sign up for the initiative.
As meat demand doubles, Britain faces “food crunch”
February 26, 2008
Conservative party leader David Cameron expressed his concern as he considers the possibility of Britain being vulnerable to a global food crunch. The two Asian giants India and China, whose economies are growing at unprecedented rates are according to Cameron, partially responsible for the food shortage due to changes in their diets.
Mr. Cameron in his speech to the National Farmers’ Union’s centenary conference in London said “The growing consumption of meat and meat products by people as they get richer, especially in India and China has led to crunch in global grain stocks.”
“In 1985, the average Chinese consumer ate 20 kilos of meat a year. Now the consumption exceeded more than twice as they eat more than 50 kilos. Since 1980, the demand for meat in developing countries has doubled”. Hence the farmers switch from grain to wild stock, to meet the increase in demand, thus resulting in a crunch in global grain stocks.
You need three kilos of grain to produce a kilo of pork and eight to produce a kilo of beef. As a result farmers now feed staggering 250 million more tones of grain to their animals than they did twenty years ago, the opposition leader argued.
Quoting the United Nations figures to show that draught, deforestation and climate instability were responsible for the loss of 250 million acres of fertile soil each year. Last year, Australia was the worst sufferer due to its worst draught for over a century and saw its wheat crop shrink below 60 percent.
Tory Chief wants chancellor to be shown the door
February 26, 2008
Exchequer Chancellor Alistair Darling nationalised ailing bank Northern Rock. This did not go down well with Conservative Party leader David Cameron, and as a result he urged UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to sack Alistair.
David alleged that Mr. Darling has handled the Northern Bank crises and told GMTV “When you’ve got a chancellor who I think everyone would accept has lost all credibility, what I think is right is for the Prime Minister to take to reconstruct his government.”
He continued “At the end of the week, if I was the Prime Minister, I would say to my chancellor that he has to move from his job and that a new chancellor is required to take the country forward and help restore economic credibility.”
The Tory leader supplemented his argument by quoting other instances. He said “Mr. Darling has lost his credibility” after string of disasters, including copying the Conservative’s inheritance tax plans, losing 25 million people’s personal data and being forced into embarrassing u-turns on taxation on non-domiciled residents and capital gains tax.”
According to David Cameron, Alistair should be allowed to continue in his job until emergency legislation to nationalise Northern Rock had been pushed through Parliament.
He said the Black Wednesday crisis of 1992, when he had been a treasury adviser, had taught him it was vital for the chancellor to leave the government after such episodes.
Computer Voice Analysis aids Harrow Council
February 21, 2008
Computer voice analysis is being used in order to root out benefit cheats. This initiative is helping the council almost more than £300,000. The Voice Risk Analysis (VRA) system has helped Harrow Council save around £336,711 in benefit payouts and has stoped 43 incorrect payments. The Capita VRA system is being examined by 12 UK councils. The system works by identifying stress patterns like hesitation or changing of answers showing in the voice of callers to show whether they are lying or not.
Since Harrow Council started the £63,000 trial in the month of May last year, more than a quarter of claimants said they did not need the benefits as their conditions had changed. Just five per cent of people refused to be examined by the VRA system when informed that the pilot is being run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The system recognized 119 of 998 people assessed as being at “high risk” of fraudulence. As per the government, benefit fraud cost around £700m in the financial year 2006/07. The Harrow Council alone lost £250,000 via fraudulent claims over the same time period.
Harrow’s saving consisted of £284,461 in housing benefit and £52,249 in council tax benefit. These are the two areas in which the year long trial of the technology was being tested. The system is also being used in Birmingham, Coventry, Chester-le-Street, Durham, Derwentside, Edinburgh, Lambeth, Rochford, Hinckley and Bosworth, Sedgefield, Warwick and Wealden.
Modern Laser Guidance For UK Troops
February 20, 2008
UK troops are getting used to the up to date high-tech targeting system that can find the enemy under conditions up to a range of 5km. The Surveillance System and Range Finder uses GPS, thermal imaging and a laser range finder to steer weaponry and mortars under all kinds of weather conditions. The Ministry of Defence has signed a £30m contract with Thales UK for a total of 700 handheld or tripod-mounted systems for close combat forces starting 2009. Defence secretary Des Browne quoted that its development over the present Otis and Spyglass systems, which have been around for more than two decades, would lead to a better use of firepower in order to save lives. The British soldiers are happy with the new system as it is not only fast and lighter to carry but is also more accurate. Now the troops will be able to target the enemy forces much better.
The system can be use for reconnaissance too. It is a main aid to the “winning prosecution of all kinds of operations”. The modern equipment is supposed to be built at Thales UK’s optronics facility in Glasgow. The factory is also responsible for supplying the new Astute class submarines of the Navy having advanced optronics that will gradually replace the conventional periscope for the next batch of submarines.
Just by a hand shake, Doctor diagnoses man with killer disease `ACROMEGALY`
February 19, 2008
Mark Gurrrieri a restaurant worker went to see General Practitioner Dr Chris Brit, who saved his life by shaking his hands. Strange as it may seem, touching Mark’s spongy hands and seeing his large features, Dr Chris Brit diagnosed acromegaly, a tumour at the base of the brain.
This was the first case he came across since he was a student. Britt immediately diagnosed acromegaly, a deadly killer disease if untreated .He recommended Mark see a specialist and test later revealed that he had rare condition which affects three in a million.
Mark is a father, a single dad , of a son just aged 7 years.“ I felt good in myself and didn’t know I had a problem. I just put my bodily changes down to getting older.”
Last December, it was a friend Rob Thompson, who had brought Chris to the Italian restaurant Mark, of Loughton, Essex, runs in London’s Canary Wharf. He told Rob “ I’m sure he has he has acromegaly, I can tell. I’ll stake my career on it” This after meeting them at the door and shaking hands with them. The tumour on the pituitary gland results in children. In adults, it can cause blindness, diabetes and blood pressure and swells the heart, kidneys and vocal cords causing slow speech and a deep voice.
Chris works at Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone and practices in Woodford Green., said: “ It’s the sort of diagnosis you make once in a career if you’re lucky.”
Mark’s, 92 percent of 2cm tumour, was successfully removed last month. In his own words, “ While I have to take medicines and be monitored now, I owe my life to him.”
A Truly amazing hand-shake
Ageing 007 agents on the way out
February 18, 2008
As UK intelligence Bosses is not in favour of ageing 007s, the British chief of the intelligence M16, has warned that a generation of ageing spies could undermine Britain’s international fight against terrorism. The Telegraph quoted in evidence to the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament ,Sir John Scarlett saying: “New Government rules increasing the civil service retirement age could hamper the service’s work around the world.
As a means to cope with an ageing population the age is increased by the ministers paving way for the civil servants to claim a pension from 60 to 65. Sir John, who has more than 2000 staff, was contacted by committee members asking him, in a private session about the possible effects of applying new retirement age to his service, as the change will also cover M16 and M15.
“ We were told that, should this change be implemented in SIS, it could pose problems in terms of overseas deployment of staff and effective intelligence gathering,” the committee said.
There are rules for M16 and M15, which allow certain specialist staff to carry on after retirement age where service chiefs believe they have unique knowledge and skill.
However these rules are applied invariably applied to desk-bound workers. Front- line intelligence officers posted around the world are expected to be physically fit and active. Hence they are deprived of the benefits of these rules.
