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Biggest earthquake’s shocks numbs it’s victims in UK

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

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

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

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.