Health check for Waubra wind farm

Waubra, Victoria - Australia :

The Victoria Government will examine claims that Waubra's 128-turbine wind farm is harming the health of nearby residents.

Finance, Workcover and Transport Accident Commission Minister , Tim Holding, wrote to Western Victoria MLC Peter Kavanagh earlier this week to confirm that three government departments would examine "potential hazards" caused by sub-audible noise emitted by the turbines.

Mr. Kavanagh raised the issue in parliament on September 2, after meeting with several Waubra residents who claim the towers have caused headaches, nausea and sleep deprivation since they began operating in June.

"I did a tour of Waubra in late August and people there are very upset about the wind farm," Mr. Kavanagh said.

"Most of them were fairly happy to go along with the turbines before they were installed, but now I know of one family who won't live in their house.

"It certainly isn't an isolated incident."

WorkSafe Victoria, the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Human Services will work with local government to examine the issue raised by Mr. Kavanagh.

But a WorkSafe spokesman denied the move was a formal investigation.

"It's not an investigation. We are looking at specific claims made by a few local residents," he said.

"Questions have been asked of the minister and by getting other relevant departments involved we are trying to answer questions asked."

"It's in its very early stages and where it's goes we don't know."

A spokesman for Acciona Energy, the Spanish company behind the wind farm, said extensive studies of wind farms worldwide were yet to provide conclusive proof that they were harmful.

Acciona Energy is not aware any investigation but world willingly participate with confidence, knowing there is no clear, consistent scientific data, nor a peer-reviewed scientific consensus, to confirm a connection between modern wind turbines and health concerns," he said.

"The Waubra wind farm meets the stringent noise levels required by government."

The spokesman said the farm reach full generation capacity for the first time two weeks ago.
(The Courier-Australia)

Center Image : Waubra Wind Farm, Picture by J. Bannister

Ballon boy Falcon Heene

Balloon boy Falcon Heene has added weight to speculation balloon drama was all a hoax.

Falcon hid in the attic of his family home after the homemade helium balloon broke loose and drifted for nearly two hours through the Colorado sky.

Fearing the boy was inside the balloon, or had dropped some thousands of feet from the sky, global media broadcast blanket coverage of the chase and search for a possible body.

Five hours later, after the balloon had landed with no sign of the boy, Falcon was found hiding in a box in the attic of the family's garage.

In an interview with CNN, a reporter asked his father Richard whether his son heard people calling his name during a frantic search for the six-year-old.

The boy claims he did hear calls, but deliberately ignored them.

"Why didn't you come out ?" his father asked during the interview.

After a small silence, Falcon said he stayed hidden because he thought "we did this for a show".

Another awkward silence followed, before his father said "yeah", before asking his son again why he didn't come out.

The CNN interviewer asked for clarification on Falcon's remarks, but his father dodged the question.

The interviewer also asked his mother Mayumi whether she thought Falcon was simply hiding and not on board the balloon.

She said she search "everywhere" for her son, but it wasn't unusual behavior for Falcon to hide when he was in trouble.

Earlier, reporters asked Mr. Heene whether the incident was a publicity stunt.

"That's horrible," Mr. Heene said. "After the crap we just went through, no, no, no. "

Earlier, it was revealed the balloon is actually a prototype for a new form of transport.

Falcon said he had been to scared to come out after his father yelled at him for getting inside the balloon, which was tethered in the backyard.

"I heard shouting, I didn't want to come out, I though I would get in trouble," he said.

Falcon's relieved parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, today thanked the local police and the Larimer County Sheriff's office after their son's disappearance sparked a statewide search.

"I really, really want to thank the local police station, the sheriff's office. You guys are great," Mr. Heene said.

Mr. Heene said he had been measuring electricity flow through the balloon when he saw Falcon try to climb inside.

"I yelled at him for getting inside. It's potentially dangerous if you get inside and the electricity comes on," he said.

Mr. Heene describe the craft as an experimental vehicle that "people can pull out of their garage and hover above traffic 50 to 100 feet" but said the invention was in its early stages.

He declined to detail how it broke free of its moorings, saying only "there was a mishap".

"I'm not going to lay the blame on anybody," he said.

"It was supposed to be tethered down and it wasn't tethered down."

Falcon's older brother had reported seeing him climb inside a compartment attached to the balloon, which was built by his amateur scientist father and resembled a "flying saucer" spacecraft, before it floated away from the family's home in Fort Collins.

His father said that his older son has watched and videotaped Falcon climbing inside a box attached to the bottom of the apparatus.

"This little guy decided to go inside the utility compartment," Mr. Heene said of Falcon, who clung to his father during the press conference.

"Sure enough he got in but obviously he got out so we don't know.

"He said he was hiding in the attic."

"Ask by reporters if he would be billed for the massive search and rescue operation amid mounting outrage over the incident, he said simply: "I sure hope not."

The balloon gradually descended to the ground after a wild ride through the Colorado skies this morning, tracked by police and with breathtaking images shown lives on television.

The craft was airborne for more than two hours.

Kathy Messick, Larimer County's sheriff's spokeswoman, said Falcon's parents were "very traumatised" before he was found.

The bizarre scene played out live on television as the balloon rotated slowly in the wind, tipping precariously at times before gliding to the ground.

A radar gun had reportedly clocked the craft traveling at 40 km/h in heart-stopping images on live television which captured the world's attention.

Image of the silver mushroom-shape craft were transmitted by Denver television station KUSA, as it sped through the sky at altitudes of up to 2 km in the air and at some points hurtling toward the earth.

The Heene family - Richard, Mayumi and their three sons - featured on the American ABC's reality television show "Wife Swap".

On the ABC's website, Richard and Mayumi describe themselves as storm chasers who sleep in their clothes so they are ready to leave at a moment's notice.

The safety of boys Falcon, Bradford and Ryo became an issue in the show, with the "swap wife" who stayed with them objecting to the amount of time they spent playing unsupervised and their father's dangerous pasttimes. (AFP/Herald Sun-Australia)

States should leave land acquisition to investors

Bhopal, India:

The states governments should leave it to industrialists to acquire land for their projects, especially for special economic zones (SEZs), Minister of state for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said here on Wednesday.

Priority should also be given to make use of barren land in setting up of SEZs and industries, he told reporters.

"Also, the SEZ policy does not says that the state governments should acquire land. There would be no problem the day the state governments will leave it to the investor who should contact the owner of the land to be acquired directly and pay him as per the prevalent market rate."

Scindia said that Madhya Pradesh lags far behind in development for want of execution of ideas.

There is no death of ideas but they are of no use till they are executed properly. We hear of investor meets being organized every now and then in various cities of the states but not a single project has come up so far - only because there has been no proper follow up by the state government," he said.

There are several projects, like Guna-Etawah Railway project, which have been cleared by the central government but have remained incomplete for years as the state government has not execute them, he said.

(Headlines - India)

The World Media Summit 2009

Beijing, China :

The World Media Summit had closed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on Oct. 10, 2009.

In the above photo pose for a group (from left to right) :

Kyodo News Agency President and Editor in Chief Satoshi Ishikawa, President and Managing Director of Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific Steve Marcopoto, News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch's representative John Miller, Editor in Chief of Reuters David Schlesinger, Xinhua News Agency President Li Congjun, ITAR-TASS Director General Vitaly Ignatenko, Associated Press President and CEO Thomas Curley, Director of the BBC's Global News division Richard Sambrook, and Vice President of Google John Liu.

About 300 representatives from more than 170 media outlets around the world gathered in Beijing and discussed the seismic shifts and challenges in industry.

Here the brief review from World Media Summit 2009 :

China President, Hu Jin Tao speaks about some issues :
- to deepen understanding of people
- urges global media to promote world peace, development
- world's media should respect each other
- stick's to peaceful development, opening-up strategy
- urges world media to uphold social responsibilities
- pledges to safeguard rights, interests of foreign media in China
- calls on media to contribute to harmonious world

Another Speakers :

News Corporstion Chairman and CEO  Rupert Murdoch said :

The world's media organization should "adapt and adopt" as they were confronted by "unprecedented change and challenge" amid a digital revolution.

"Media companies know that if you do not respond intelligently and creatively to the digital challenge, your future will be bleak indeed," Murdoch told the audiences.

The value of the content has been volatile in the past decade, but we are entering another decisive phase in which device makers are again courting the creators of content.

Modern China has a tremendous stake in a shared digital future, because its own wealth and success will depend on how well it responds to the challenges, nationally and internationally .

Corporate Vice President of the Greater China Operation at Google Inc John Liu said :

Various sectors including business, entertainment, traditional publishing industry and advertising would face changes, driven by development of new technologies.

According to the world's search engine giant, the Internet has changed the world profoundly over the past 10 years. Now, at least 2 billion people now search information online every day and 100 billion non spam emails and instant messages were sent every day.

Director of the BBC's News Global division Richard Sambrook said :

BBC has set up English Language Teaching (ELT) team and the website bbcukchina.com in China to gain audiences and awareness of its brand.
BBC also reinforced its partnership with Chinese media as it co-produced the well received natural history series --the Beautiful China, in UK as known Wild China.

"How a fuller airing of the views of the Chinese people on the big global forces that are shaping our world will give us new and fascinating perspectives on the full gamut of human experience from which we can all benefit."

Editor in Chief of Reuters David Schlesinger said :

Stressed the media's role in promoting a healthy market economy by providing transparency against the backdrop of global financial crisis. Efficiently informed and transparent financial markets are also healthy, sound, orderly, and internationally competitive financial markets. There were the lessons of the 1997 Asian crisis.
The role of financial media was central to delivering the objectives of informed and transparent financial markets, as well as the social stability that depend upon economic success.

President and Managing Director of Turner Broadcasting System  Asia Pacific of

Time Warner company Steve Marcopoto said :

Time Warner is eyeing China's faster market expansion after the government issued a new plan to encourage private and foreign investment in the cultural sector.
The company is "particularly interested in the plan to lower market access

threshold for the entry of private and foreign capital to the cultural fields, and

"excited" to learn that multimedia broadcasting, Internet and mobile TV would be

promoted actively.

Kyodo News Agency President and Editor in Chief Satoshi Ishikawa said :

We believe the media have a social responsibility to promote world peace by sharing news and information about every day events and by furthering mutual understanding in a way that goes beyond the limits of countries and regions.
The globalization and progress in information and communications technologies put traditional paper-based media on the defensive, while permitting Internet search businesses to prosper and enabling hand held and mobile terminals such as smart phones to dominate the media market.
(People's Daily Online/Xin Hua - China)

Warm beef, tomatoes, capsicums with horseradish cream

Ingredients :
- 30 ml olive oil, plus a little extra for drizzling
- freshly ground black pepper
- 500 gr piece beef eye fillet, trimmed
- 175 gr vine-ripened mini capsicums
- 1 red onion cut into wedges
- 250 gr truss tomatoes
- 2 handfuls tatsoi lettuce (or other gourmet mixed leaves)
- 1 tbsp capers, rinsed
- celery leaves, crisp-fried to garnish (optional)

Horseradish cream :
- 3 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tbsp horseradish (from a jar)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to season

Method :
Preheat oven into 200 C. Rub oil and pepper all over beef fillet and set aside. In a heavy-based frying pan over high heat, add beef and seal on all sides for four to five minutes. Remove and place on a roasting tray.
Places capsicums and onion wedges in the pan with a little extra oil and cook for five minutes until slightly softened. Place in the roasting tray, add tomatoes on the vine and drizzle with a little extra oil Cook vegetable in the oven with beef for eight minutes for medium rare. Remove beef and rest, leaving vegetable in the oven for a further 10 minutes, until just softened. Scatter Tatsoi over a serving platter and placed roasted vegetable.
Slice beef and arrange over the vegetables . Scater capers and celery leaves over the top.
Make the horseradish cream by combining all the ingredients. Adjust seasoning. Drizzle some offer the salad
(serve : 4 people)

(by Caroline Velik/photo : Marina Oliphant/ The Sydney Morning Herald - cuisine)

Boyzone star died on holiday in Spain

Majorca, Spain (October 11, 2009)
Boyzone singer, Stephen Gately died while on holiday in Majorca off the coast of Spain.

"Stephen tragically died on Saturday while on holiday with his partner Andrew. The rest of the Boyz will be flying out today," the band said.

Gately, 33, became one of the first pop stars to come out, announcing in 1999 that he was gay and had a boyfriend, Andy Cowles.

Boyzone had a run of hits in the 1990's and reformed in 2007. They were to release a new album next year.

"It look like he went out for a few drinks, then he got back, fell asleep and never woke up," a friend of Gately was quoted as saying. (AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE/The Standard - HK)

Massa back behind Formula 1 wheel

Ferrari's Felipe Massa was back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car for the first time since his horror crash in Hungary on July 25 2009.

The Brazilian took a privately owned F2007, pictured, for a spin around the constructor's test track at Fiorano, completing a few laps.

However, Ferrari had insisted on Sunday that the was not done with a view to Massa racing again the season, but rather as "an opportunity for Felipe to renew his acquaintance with his natural environment, namely the race track."

Massa suffered a terrible crash during the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, after which he spent several days in hospital. (AFP/The Standard-HK)

Survivor who cut off own foot at West Sumatra quake

Ramlan, an 18 years old who sawed off his own foot to survive the massive earthquake that devastated West Sumatra, is tired of relentless media exposure.

"Sorry, he doesn't want to be interviewed about the quake ,"said Nur, a nember of the Yos Sudarso Hospital staff on Sunday." He is tired of repeatedly telling the same story.

"He might not mind the picture-taking through."

Nur said that Ramlan had been interviewed in the hospital's makeshift emergency tent almost every day since the disaster by reporters and relief workers asking about his traumatic experience.

Ramlan, who was working at a construction site in Padang when the quake struck, hacked off his right foot using basic tools after being pinned by a concrete girder.

Fearing aftershocks, he decided his only way to escape was by cutting off the trapped appendage with a hoe and saw.

Ramlan's inspirational story has since traveled around the world, featuring in newspaper as far away in London and New York.

When visited on Sunday, Ramlan was still recovering in bed at the hospital's emergency tent. Tended to by a relative, he looks relax ed while reading a newspaper.

However, he just smiled and did not say a word. (Antara/The Jakarta Post)

Asia is hot

Geneva :

EFG International, the Swiss private bank that culled 7 per cent of its wealth managers in the first half of this year, plans to keep hiring in Asia as rivals from Zurich and Geneva target the region.

EFG will increase its 160 member team by as much as 30 per cent over the next three years, Asia chief executive officer Mr. Albert Chiu said in Hong Kong. This follows a 40 per cent expansion since January last year.

"We are determined to raise our profile in the region," said Mr. Chiu, adding that cancelled bonuses at other banks make it a good time to be hiring.

While the wealth of Asia Pacific millionaires slumped 22 per cent to US$ 7.4 trillion last year, their assets will top those of North American millionaires by 2013, according to a survey by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.
This potential is encouraging Switzerland's biggest private banks, including Pictet & Cie, Julius Baer Group, UBS and Credit Suisse Group, to open offices in the region.

The Zurich-based EFG bank also had office in Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Seoul and Taipei. EFG won a license in August from the Chinese regulator to open an office in Shanghai before the end of the year.

Asia will be the main "driver" of growth in private banking, Credite Suisse's wealth management heal Walter Berchtold said.

The Zurich based bank has been hiring "experienced" private bankers in Asia this year after luring 2.6 billion francs of net new money in the region during the first quarter.

Hong Kong and Singapore are closing the gap on Switzerland as private banking centers as they develop financial infrastructure and secrecy safeguards, said Mr. Chiu.

"I'm confident the day will come when we will be at least a close competitor of Switzerland," said Mr. Chiu.

(Bloomberg/Today Online-Singapore)

The world most valuable company

Chicago :

Exxon Mobil overtook PetroChina as the world's most valuable company, ending a four-month reign by Beijing oil producer after price controls in China failed to keep pace with rising crude costs.

State controlled PetroChina 's Shanghai traded share have declined 2.2 per cent since Sept 2, when the Chinese government last raised domestic prices for petrol and diesel. Exxon Mobil rose 0.7 per cent in the same period to a market capitalisation of US$ 330 billion, compared with PetroChina's US$ 325.4 billion.

Texas based Exxon Mobil lost the top ranking to PetroChina in May after China's stimulus plan caused a surge in the nation's stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index, which jump 87 per cent in this year's first seven months, has fallen 19 per cent since then. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip US stocks, including Exxon Mobil, has risen 6.1 per cent since the end of July.

PetriChina's 14 per cent return on capital is less than half of Exxon Mobil's 36 per cent return, the highest among the world's biggest 10 oil companies by sales.

Exxon Mobil's annual sales are more than twice those of PetroChina. The company had US$ 425 billion in sales last year, or US$ 60.45 for every person on the planet. (Bloomberg/Today Online-Singapore)

Vietnam halts sand exports to Singapore

Singapore, It was deja vu for the building industry here, as Vietnam suspended sand exports to Singapore on worries that the pace of extraction would damage the Mekong Delta.

The move come just months after Cambodia banned overseas sales of sand in May on environmental concerns - a developing that, according to Bloomberg , sent Vietnam sand export to Singapore surging.

But this source, too, ran dry when the export paperwork was stopped on Tuesday, according to the head of the Ministry of Construction's Department for Construction Materials, Le Van Toi.

The Construction industry here has been anticipating this since news heralding the move broke in mid-September.

With most sand imports previously coming from Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam according to suppliers, this caused some worries.

Still, no impact has been felt yet, and players do not expect as drastic a hit as that Singapore took in 2007 when Indonesia banned sand exports, increasing construction costs by 1 per cent and creating a bottleneck in building timelines.

"If no sand is coming through from Vietnam, then surely there will be some shortage - but it would not be as acute as (in 2007) as we know have alternative sources and materials like quarry dust," said Dr Sujit Ghosh, president of the Ready Mix Concrete Association.

Back then, the supply crunch created by the Indonesian ban had seen concrete and sand prices roughly triple, as Singapore sought out alternative, distant sources.

Another difference between 2007 and now: "In 2007, the market was hit quite substantially as there were big ticket tenders out in the marketplace like the Integrated Resorts," noted Cushman and Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han.

"Now, there are hardly any billion-dollar projects, even the construction of the Sports Hub has been deferred; residential projects are not big ticket items and will not create competition for the sand."
Construction costs have come down by some 20 to 25 per cent since the peak in mid - 2008, he added.

A sand supplier whom MediaCorp spoke to, nonetheless, reckons "there will be an impact" - he estimated that about 25 per cent of sand supply comes from Vietnam each month. (TODAYonline - Singapore)