Tragedy in Norway

Was really shocked when I heard about the twin attacks in Norway yesterday. This follows the three separate explosions in Mumbai just last week and the first thought that came to mind was "Muslim terrorists!" Even the BBC reports speculated that extremist "Jihadis" were responsible for the attacks. "Bloody F£$%^&g, B£$%^&ds" I cursed.

Not surprisingly comments on most online news sites including the Telegraph, Sun and the Daily Mail were filled with anti-Muslim and anti-immigration sentiment. Many were so blatantly islamophobic and some actually were incitement to violence.

Today it emerged that the man at the centre of the attack has been identified as Anders Breivik, 32, a Norwegian with links with to right-wing extremists and a neo-Nazi. He is also said to have anti-Muslim feelings and against a multi-culturarism. Few reports describe him as a conservative Christian.

I could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from Muslims all over the World.

I was really interested to see how the readers of the newspapers responded to the latest news. A lot of people were offended about the description of the killer as "conservative" and as a "Christian". Some guys correctly pointed out that when similar incidents involving a Muslim happens around the World, news reports promptly put "Islamic terrorist" or "Jihadi" tag, whereas in this case the guy was simply a "mad man" or simply  "the Oslo gunman".

Larry Keffer of the Biblical Research Center in Norway warned that "that people should not think that just because Breivik says he is a Christian that he actually is one."

The best comment was by a Mohammed kamran on the Daily Mail .

He points out that

"Terrorists use religion to get the moral high ground and give themselves a cause. My religion has been hijacked by terrorist s*** but Muslims reading this know he is NOT a Christian. We know what it's like when someone claims to be of your religion and causes an outrage like this. My thoughts and prayers are with Norway. God bless you."

I do wonder whether the anti-Muslim and anti-immigration rhetoric sweeping all over Europe may have had a part in this tragedy.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this tragedy in Norway.

Updated: Various pictures also show him wearing the ceremonial robes of the Freemasons. I wonder what is his link with this very secretive group.

New proposed UK immigration changes

The UK Government is proposing a number of changes in the immigration rules which will have a huge impact on all non-EU foreign students.

Under the main changes which are likely to impact Malaysian and other non-EU foreign students and their dependent include the following:

1. Students will only be allowed to work on campus during the week in term time.

2. Dependants of students will not be allowed to work in the UK unless they get a Tier 2 visa from the employer. Means no more cleaning jobs.

3. Closing down the Post Study Work (PSW) Scheme. means we have to go back as soon as we graduate.

4. Remove right of dependants to come to UK unless the student is on a course of 12 months or more. This may not be relevant to the PhD students, but it will definitely have an impact on those students with family taking a Masters course.

The Government is no carrying out a consultation with various Universities.

Dr. Mahathir's blog down

Just noticed that Tun Dr. Mahathir's blog - Che Det is no longer up. For those who didn't know Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad was the fourth and longest serving Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003.

AS someone who likes to keep up to date with the latest development in almost everything, Tun Dr. Mahathir started his blog in 2008 and it became hugely popular soon. He raised some really controversial issues in the blog.

I am not sure why the blog went down. Does anybody have any information?
The website mentions that www.chedet.co.cc is available.

Don't tell me he forgot to renew the domain.

First Commentator
Angel

Festival and blog awards

The Festival of Social Sciences starts today at the University of Warwick campus. I am supposed to be the official blogger and twitterer for the festival but unfortunately my wife is still stuck in Berlin and I have to take care of my son as he doesn't have nursery today.

So I have come up with an arrangement - they send me pics and info and I post them up from here. Hope it works out.

If you are on Twitter, you can follow the festival twitter page @socscifestival

Moving on, I have recently received some blog awards:

The first one is from John Harris (Bokjae)

Another one is from good friend Nana.

Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate it.

Official blogger and twitterer for the Festival of Social Sciences

The Faculty of Social Science here at the University of Warwick is organising the Festival of Social Sciences, which will run on the campus from the 15th (Monday) to 19th (Friday) June this year. I somehow got involved and am now the official twitterer for the festival.

Do check out the official blog to read about the festival including the preparations, information on events and view pictures, etc.

You can also follow the festival on Twitter @socscifestival.

Cheaper flights to London with Air Asia

A few weeks back I wrote about the Ryanair and bloggers episode and mentioned that "they can learn a thing or two from Air Asia". Well, Maxton Walker of the Guardian seems to think so as well.

In his article 'This is budget travel. We demand to suffer' he seems to be pleasantly surprised by the level of service quality and mentions that "If AirAsia X can keep it up, it is on to something".

Experts have always assumed that it is impossible to have a profitable budget long-haul airline service. Air Asia might have cracked it. I mean Kuala Lumpur to London for only RM490 (approx. £93) is crazy.

Tony Fernandes, the CEO of Air Asia says that flying to London is "A dream accomplished".

First Commentator
Bokjae

Gaza Protest at University of Warwick

UPDATED: 30 Jan 2009

Had wanted to blog about this earlier but somehow didn't know what to write.

Students here at the University of Warwick have taken over a lecture room (S0.21)in the Social Studies buildings in support of the victims of the conflict in Gaza. They are still there.

Their demands include:

1. Warwick University should suspend all relations with companies which supply the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This includes BAE Systems, MBDA, GE Aviation, QinetiQ and Rolls Royce.
2. That the University donate old computer equipment and textbooks to universities in Palestine, specifically those that were partially destroyed in Gaza during the current Israeli military operation.
3. That the University fund and provide logistical support for a series of talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The University authorities has since moved classes scheduled in the room to other alternative rooms.

Check out The Warwick Solidarity Sit-In site for more info.

There were several other protests here in the campus.

A few days back people going to the Library were shocked to see five student protesters covered in white burial shrouds and lying on the ground with red paint covering them. University security moved in and stopped the "theatrical protest" after someone complained. The five second year Theatre students viewed the event as a performance protest.

Israel has collectively punished the Palestinians in Gaza for the actions of the Hamas and left a Humanitarian crisis.

While I am happy that the bombings have stopped but wonder how long the shaky ceasefire in Gaza will last. The recent outbreak of violence is not the first and has been going on for more than 60 years now. Hamas is still there. Israel still hasn't lifted economic blockade.

It's easy for me to sit here in my comfortable chair writing this but I wonder how the people are faring there in concentration camp Gaza.

AIG and Turmoil in the Financial market

Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers yesterday, I was wondering whether the US Govt. would allow the same thing to happen to AIG, the country's biggest insurance company. Well today morning I learnt they didn't. I guess they couldn't.

When I learnt that US Federal Reserve was bailing out AIG with a $85bn (£48bn) rescue package this was something big. According to this 2 year deal, the US government will receive a 79.9% equity interest in AIG. A case of nationalisation of a financial body in Capitalist America.

I recall that during the Asian crisis, the US Government was against Government intervention and to let "market forces" rule. They were particularly angry when the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad defied the International Monetary Fund and put in controversial capital controls. I have often heard Western economists talking against Government intervention in the markets, of denationalisation of businesses as the only route to economic development. I agree to some extent but as this case shows, sometimes Governments have to intervene against market forces to protect the interest of the people. As the Board of the Federal Reserve mentions about the need to protect "the interests of the US government and taxpayers". It's quite interesting that they don't see it that way if similar events happen in other countries.

Looks like it is going to be a time of turmoil for the financial market as several companies go under or are bought over. JPMorganChase acquired Bear Stearns recently and Bank of America has announced that it would buy Merrill Lynch & Co.

The British too wants to probe the moon

A few weeks back I wrote that 'India plans to probe the moon'. Today I read that the British too are planning to send an astronaut to space and probably send probes to the Moon as well. These were some of the proposals in the The British National Space Centre (BNSC) document, "The UK Civil Space Strategy: 2008 - 2012 and beyond".

This means that the Thatcher Government's decision in 1986, to stop space exploration will be reviewed.


Helen Sharman (from the BBC site)

I initially assumed that Britain was the only developed nation that doesn't have an astronaut. However, I was wrong and later found out that Helen Sharman was the first Brit in space. She was part of Project Juno, which was funded by the Soviet Union and a few British companies.

India plans to probe the moon

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to send a probe called called Chandrayan I to the moon early this year. Don't have the details but I guess they are going to do it just to show they can.

The successful launch of an Israeli spy satellite has enhanced it's reputation (and of course made it richer) in the global satellite launching market - putting India in a small elite group of nations.

The 300 kg TECSAR satellite was carried by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). For more info, read India launches Israeli 'spy satellite'.

Free press release distribution service

The importance of having a good public relations or PR cannot be overstated. In fact it may be crucial to your business especially in times of crisis and may a good way to defend yourself against critics. One of the easiest ways is to come up with regular press releases.

If you want to create awareness about your web site, business or project you might want to check out the press release distribution service provided by PRBuzz.com.

This online service is totally free and your press release can be up and online within 24 hours. Definitely a great idea to improve the search engine results page (or SERP) rankings for your desired keywords.

I am going to try it out now.

It's snowing

Just wanted to be the first guy in Coventry to blog about it.

Autumn is not even over yet but it's snowing outside. At first we thought it was sleet - due to the fact that BBC weather site told us so. My car already has a thin layer of snow on it.

Acer takes over Gateway

Gateway's business model was one of the many case studies we discussed during our MBA classes about 7 years ago. Even during those days, it was facing serious competition from other computer manufacturers, especially Dell which took it's made-to-order philosophy and improved on it. This company was founded in 1985 in an Iowa farmhouse and was famous for it's black and white spotted boxes.

Learnt today that it has been acquired by Acer Inc. for $710 million. This makes the Taiwanese company, the third largest computer company in the World after Hewlett-Packard and Dell Inc., overtaking China's Lenovo Group Ltd.

Read the full press release: Acer to Acquire US-Based Gateway, Inc., Solidifying Acer's Position as the #3 Largest PC Company in the World

Some recent important World current affairs

1. Terrorism charges against Indian doctor in Australia dropped.
Terrorism charges against Indian born doctor Mohamed Haneef has been dropped and he was been freed from custody in Australia. The charges were linked to the failed bomb attacks in the UK. He is still under home detention until a decision is made regarding his immigration status.

The Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie, called the Australian federal police, the "Keystone Cops". BBC report: Haneef terrorism charges dropped

2. India's first Woman President.
Pratibha Patil became the 13th and the first lady President of India on July 25, 2007 by the Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan. She succeeds Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. She was also previously the first female governor of the state of Rajasthan.
Read the reuters report: Pratibha Patil sworn in as India's first female president.

3. Israel frees 255 Palestinian prisoners
Those released include 11 minors and six women. None of them had been convicted of directly attacking Israelis. The release was definitely a gesture of support to Abbas against rival Hamas. Read The Guardian's report: Israel Hopes Inmate Release Boosts Abbas

However, more than 10,000 Palestinians including children still remain in Israeli prisons. Read 'Israel must release more prisoners, Fatah official says.'

The Arab league might finally recognise Israel. Read the article in Forbes 'Arab League in Jerusalem for 1st Time' and Arab envoys extend 'hand of peace' to Israel.

Flooding in Warwickshire

Several places in Warwickshire nearby, has been hit by severe flood after rivers broke their banks at several places. The flood is said to be one of the worst in years. Several houses have been evacuated in the area and forced to spend the night in emergency centres. Thousands of cars were stranded on the M5 and drivers as well as passengers had to spend the night in the cars.

Much of Stratford-upon-Avon town centre (birthplace of William Shakespeare) in now under water as the river Avon overflowed. Performances at the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) Swan Theatre were canceled as well.

Was listening to BBC radio today morning and one caller reported that she could see people canoing on what used to be the main road outside her house.

The River Leam also burst its banks and flooded parts of the town centre in Leamington Spa.

Baby mammoth found in Siberia

Check out this amazing video story about a 10,000-year-old preserved baby mammoth that was unearthed in May by a reindeer herder in the Yamal-Nenets region in the northern Siberia.

Will it provide some answers to the ongoing global warming debate?

Related Link: Baby mammoth discovery unveiled

Asia Petroleum Hub commencement of works ceremony

As promised in my previous post, here are some exclusive pictures from the commencement of works ceremony.



What you won't read in the newspapers. Apparently there was a bit of drama on the day of the ceremony (5th July). In the morning at about 9.30 am a strong storm started and blew off some of smaller tents that had been put up on the island. The generator went off and everything was in big mess. However the storm suddenly let up around 11 am and everything went off as planned.





Haji Abdul Rashid Mohd Isa Al-Qadiry, the Executive Chairman of APH




Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmah Badawi















The official press release:

Asia Petroleum Hub Set to Place Malaysia in the Global Petroleum Trading Market

Pulau Petroliam Johor, Thursday, 5th July 2007 - The highly anticipated Asia Petroleum Hub (APH) project was officially named today with the honorable Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmah Badawi performing the commencement of works ceremony witnessed by Johor Menteri Besar YAB Dato’ Haji Abdul Ghani Othman , Minister of Transport YB Dato Seri Chan Kong Choy and other luminaries.

This RM1.4 billion project sited on a 100-acre (approx. 40 ha) reclaimed island near Tanjung Pelepas is being developed by homegrown KIC Oil & Gas (KIC), which holds a 90% stake and the remaining 10% is held by Trek Perintis Sdn. Bhd., a government-approved strategic financial investor. KIC is the largest independent terminal operator as well as a major bunker player in Malaysia.

APH, targeted for completion in 2009, will be an integrated facility with multiple jetties capable of handling all sizes of vessels from 1,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT) coastal tankers to 350,000 DWT Ultra Large Crude Carriers as well as accommodate over 3,000 vessels calling at the terminal annually. The terminal is designed to handle over 30 million tons of petroleum products and is expected to achieve a turnover exceeding RM200 million annually.

In the first 5 years, in is anticipated that the value created from APH will be RM1.1 billion from storage revenues alone. In addition, the value of oil stored will be in excess of RM100 billion and the value of physical and paper trading generated from the Hub will be over RM1 trillion.

The Hub is essential in meeting the demands for petroleum storage and blending requirements which presently relies on foreign facilities. It provides the much needed option for additional strategic storage of petroleum products on Malaysian soil.

The IDR will receive a massive boost from the project. The Hub will be a natural pillar of the Logistics sector and the IDR will reap various benefits from the spin-off effects of the Hub. This will help ensure the IDR not only takes off on a firm footing but grows from strength to strength.

Tuan Haji Abdul Rashid Mohd Isa Al-Qadiry, the Executive Chairman of APH said, “The Hub will not only put Malaysia at the heart of the global petroleum market and contribute significantly to the country’s GDP but will help to spur the economic growth of the State of Johor as it provides a spectrum of socio-economic benefits through the increase of business activities that will bring about job creation and improved infrastructure”.

He added, “One of APH’s mission is to reduce the cost of landed petroleum products in Malaysia by eliminating double-handling charges as shipments will be made directly from source to the Hub.

The entire cost of this project is undertaken by APH and funded via equity and project financing provided by a local bank.

As part of its CSR initiatives, APH is firm in its support of the Environmental Protection Zone which houses the mangrove conservation area.

APH will be managed by KIC Oil Terminals Sdn Bhd. which also manages KIC’s oil terminals in Port Tanjung Pelepas and West Port. Once completed APH is poised to complement Singapore, currently the world’s largest trans-shipment for petroleum products.

The project team comprises of ZAQ Construction Sdn Bhd who is the managing contractor entrusted with the completion of the project, Mott MacDonald Ltd, Nam Fatt Corporation Bhd., Kencana Petroleum Bhd., Muhibbah Engineering Bhd., and Qi-PMC Sdn Bhd.

About The KIC Group

KIC Group of Companies is currently the largest independent terminal operator in Malaysia with a total storage and production capacity of 522,000 cbm. Through their Floating Oil Processing Terminal, Kadriah I, which is anchored just outside Port Tanjung Pelepas and another land based terminal based in West Port, Port Klang, KIC currently caters to the bunker needs of the country’s two busiest ports. In the last three years KIC has handled 19 million metric tones (MT) of cargo and has successfully turned around the utilization of storage facilities at Westport from 300,000 MT to 3 million MT, transforming it from a domestic petroleum depot to an international petroleum terminal.

The company was founded by Tuan Haji Abdul Rashid Mohd Isa Al-Qadiry and Faidzan Hassan Al-Qadiry, who are also the major shareholders.

Tags: kic petroleum asia petroleum hub abdul rashid mohd isa al-qadiry faidzan hassan al-qadiry kadriah I

World’s largest petroleum terminal

Some of you may recall that I had blogged about "Malaysia as South East Asian oil hub" a few months back.

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today launched the groundbreaking ceremony of the Asia Petroleum Hub (APH). This 1.0 million cubic-meter storage terminal would be located on a 40 ha man-made island, in Tanjung Bin, Pontian, Johor.

The Government of Malaysia has invested RM100mil in the RM1.4bil terminal.

Scheduled to be completed in 2009, APH is being developed by a consortium led by the KIC Group of companies. It would be able to handle 30 million tonnes of petroleum products and accommodate 3,000 vessels annually when completed.

Come back for some exclusive pictures.

Alan Johnston released

Put on the TV this morning to hear some wonderful news. BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has finally been released after being held in captivity in the Gaza strip for 114 days.

It is ironic but the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas was key in securing his release. 45 years old Johnston was the only remaining Western journalist in the Gaza strip and he was abducted on 12 March by the Army of Islam a militant group there.

Hamas took control in Gaza by force last month and they slowly closed down on the group. There was relief that Alan was released without any military action and he was unharmed.

I am happy that I can finally take down the button on my side bar calling for his release.



Related links:
- Johnston free after 'appalling' ordeal
- Hamas role in Johnston's release

Tags: alan johnston bbc gaza hamas palestinian

Blair steps down

Just watched on TV, Tony Blair step down as UK prime minister after a decade. When he became the Prime Minister in 1997, he was the youngest prime minister in nearly 200 years. He won an unprecedented three elections in a row for the Labour party.

He was instrumental in ending the conflict in Northern Ireland and getting the opposing sides to sign a peace treaty. He also helped end the genocide in the Balkans. Domestically, he is attributed with bringing the crime rate down. However, in the end he spoilt it all by supporting Bush's decision to invade Iraq.

Though he offered condolences to the families of fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was not apologetic about his actions:

I know some may think that they face these dangers in vain; I don't and I never will. I believe they are fighting for the security of this country and the wider world against people who would destroy our way of life.

However, Military Families Against the War said:

He will not be allowed to forget the suffering he has caused

Blair - you are a failure!

Blair will now take over in his new role as envoy to the Mideast peace mediators.

The former Chancellor and Gordon Brown has now moved into 10 Downing Street. As soon as he arrived there he announced:

This will be a new government with new priorities, meeting the concerns and aspirations of the whole country. Let the work of change begin