Artificial Heart

US Food and Drug Administration granted Abiomed
A Massachusetts company received federal approval Sep 2006 to sell up to 4,000 artificial hearts a year, though the number of devices implanted annually will likely be far smaller.
The hearts would be used only in patients who are close to death and have no other treatment options.
The Food and Drug Administration granted Abiomed Inc. a humanitarian exemption allowing it to sell the devices, agency spokeswoman Susan Bro said. The actual number of the devices, called the AbioCor, to be implanted likely will be small — between just 25 and 50 a year, Bro said.
So far, the artificial heart has been tested in only 14 men. Two died from the operation, and another never regained consciousness. The rest survived only an average of five months, with one exception: a man who lived 17 months, until the mechanical heart wore out.
The company said earlier that it would begin implanting the artificial hearts at five hospitals around the country, once doctor training is complete. The devices are fully contained within the chest, with no outside wires.
Abiomed is targeting men — but not precluding women — with heart failure who are too sick for a heart transplant, have exhausted other options and are likely to die within a month.
The current device is too large for about 90 percent of U.S. women and many men. The company is developing a smaller version.
In 2005, an FDA panel of outside experts voted against recommending Abiomed be given permission to sell the device in limited numbers. At the time, the experts expressed concern that many AbioCor recipients suffered severe strokes, some fatal, that compromised their final weeks.
The company has since redesigned the design of the cuff of the device to prevent two bars from coming into contact with human tissue. That contact was believed to be the cause of the strokes in the first test patients, said Michael R. Minogue, the company's president and chief executive officer.
The company also hopes to implant the hearts in patients who can be treated with blood-thinning drugs, further reducing the risk of stroke, Minogue said in a recent interview.
"We want to focus on getting the right patients and getting them home, so whatever that number is, that is what it will be," Minogue said.
The implant is expected to cost about $250,000. It is unclear whether insurance would cover it.
Abiomed eventually hopes 10 medical centers would be equipped to implant the hearts.
Source: Health Discovery Click here to Read more!

Barack Obama like to dinner with his real hero Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi is his real hero, Obama tells US school kids
Washington: US President Barack Obama has said given a chance he would like to have dinner with Mahatma Gandhi, whom he considered a real hero.

Obama expressed his desire in response to a question from a student Lilly during his discussion with 9th graders at Wakefield High School in Arlington Virginia where he accompanied with the Education Secretary gave a national speech welcoming students back to school.

Obama called for students to take responsibility and to learn from their failures so that they succeed in the end.

"Hi. I'm Lilly. And if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?," Obama was asked by one of the students.

"Dinner with anyone dead or alive? Well, you know, dead or alive, that's a pretty big list," Obama responded amidst laughter. The next moment he was serious.

"You know, I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of mine," Obama said. "Now, it would probably be a really small meal because he didn't eat a lot," he said amidst laughter. But Mahatma Gandhi is someone who has inspired people across the world for the past several generations, he said.

Terming the iconic figure as the source of inspiration for many, Obama said "He (Mahatma Gandhi) is somebody whom I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr King (Martin Luther), so if it hadn't been for the non-violent movement in India, you might not have seen the same non-violent movement for civil rights here in the United States." said.

"What was interesting was that he ended up doing so much and changing the world just by the power of his ethics, by his ability to change how people saw each other and saw themselves -- and help people who thought they had no power realise that they had power, and then help people who had a lot of power realise that if all they're doing is oppressing people, then that's not a really good exercise of power," Obama said.

Expressing his belief in the way of change proposed by Gandhi, the President said, "I am always interested in people who are able to bring about change, not through violence, not through money, but through the force of their personality and their ethical and moral stances. That is somebody that I would love to sit down and talk to," said Obama.

Mahatma Gandhi has always been a source of inspiration for this first African-American President of the United States of America.

"In my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things," he wrote in the ethnic India Abroad newspaper last year.

"That is why his portrait hangs in my Senate office; to remind me that real results will not just come from Washington, they will come from the people," Obama said.
Source:CNN-IBN Click here to Read more!

what is the difference between Swine Flu and regular flu or Cold?

Fever
Flu/Cold: Fever is rare with a cold.
Swine Flu: Fever is usually present with the flu in up to 80% of all flu cases. A temperature of 100°F or higher for 3 to 4 days is associated with the flu.

Coughing
Flu/Cold: A hacking, productive (mucus- producing) cough is often present with a cold.
Swine Flu: A non-productive (non-mucus producing) cough is usually present with the flu (sometimes referred to as dry cough).

Aches
Flu/Cold: Slight body aches and pains can be part of a cold.
Swine Flu: Severe aches and pains are common with the flu.

Stuffy Nose
Flu/Cold: Stuffy nose is commonly present with a cold and typically resolves spontaneously within a week.
Swine Flu: Stuffy nose is not commonly present with the flu.

Chills
Flu/Cold: Chills are uncommon with a cold.
Swine Flu: 60% of people who have the flu experience chills.

Tiredness
Flu/Cold: Tiredness is fairly mild with a cold.
Swine Flu: Tiredness is moderate to severe with the flu.

Sneezing
Flu/Cold: Sneezing is commonly present with a cold.
Swine Flu: Sneezing is not common with the flu.

Sudden Symptoms
Flu/Cold: Cold symptoms tend to develop over a few days.
Swine Flu: The flu has a rapid onset within 3-6 hours. The flu hits hard and includes sudden symptoms like high fever, aches and pains.

Headache
Flu/Cold: A headache is fairly uncommon with a cold.
Swine Flu: A headache is very common with the flu, present in 80% of flu cases.

Sore Throat
Flu/Cold: Sore throat is commonly present with a cold.
Swine Flu: Sore throat is not commonly present with the flu.

Chest Discomfort
Flu/Cold: Chest discomfort is mild to moderate with a cold.
Swine Flu: Chest discomfort is often severe with the flu. Click here to Read more!

Direct Tax Code as "income from special sources"

NRIs treated as Not Required Indians!

Indubhai Amin, a non-resident Indian (NRI) settled in the UK earns interest income of Rs 3 lakh on his non-resident ordinary account bank deposit in India in the current FY 2009-10. Enjoying his personal exemption limit of Rs 1.60 lakh and the eligible deduction of Rs 1 lakh u/s 80C, Amin is comfortable paying income tax of Rs 4,000 in the first slab of 10 per cent on his effective taxable income of Rs 40,000.

Flat tax of 20% and 30%

A huge shock awaits Amin and millions of NRIs, in regard to taxation of their interest and investment income and capital gains earned in India, proposed to be treated under the draft Direct Tax Code as "income from special sources."

In 2011-12, on the same interest income of Rs 3 lakh, Amin will be required to pay a hefty tax of Rs 60,000 at the flat rate of 20 per cent, without being eligible to claim any basic exemption or other deduction, as provided under rule three of the First Schedule to the Code.

Moreover, all capital gains earned by a non-resident will attract a flat tax of 30 per cent, irrespective of the amount of capital gains. While a resident Indian will be required to pay tax of Rs 3.84 lakh on his taxable income of Rs 25 lakh, an NRI earning equivalent capital gains will be called upon to pay almost double tax of Rs 7.5 lakh.

Hair-raising drafting

New section 13 (2) provides that such ‘special income’ shall be computed in accordance with the provisions of the Ninth Schedule, the drafting of which is literally hair-raising. It provides that the amount of accrual or receipt shall be computed as the taxable income, and no loss, allowance or deduction shall be allowed, as the same shall be presumed to have been granted. The only exception in this regard, in respect of capital gains arising from the transfer of equity shares or units of equity oriented mutual fund chargeable to STT, is quite amusing, as it stands redundant in view of the proposal to abolish STT (a classic instance of incoherent drafting).

The draftsman does not seem to have realized the harsh implications. It means that if an NRI sells a capital asset purchased for Rs 10 lakh at Rs 30 lakh, he will be required to pay tax of Rs 9 lakh at 30 per cent on the gross sale consideration of Rs 30 lakh without any deduction even for the cost of acquisition of Rs 10 lakh (not to mention any benefit of indexation on the same).

Determination of residential status

The residential status of an individual under the Code is proposed to be determined as per the current norms. However, the status of "not ordinarily resident" (NOR) is proposed to be eliminated. Despite the above, Clause 24 of the Sixth Schedule has still provided for exemption in respect of interest earned on foreign currency deposits in the case of NOR. Poor drafting indeed!

The Code has proposed to retain the current exemptions availed by a non-resident in case of interest earned on NRE and FCNR deposits with banks.

Special exemption for returning NRIs

A useful exemption has been provided in case of income earned outside India, if it is not derived from a business controlled from India, in the financial year in which the returning NRI becomes an Indian resident and the immediately succeeding financial year. However, the benefit of the said exemption would be available, only if such individual was a non-resident for nine years immediately preceding the financial year in which he becomes a resident.

Wealth-tax liability for NRIs

Proposed Section 102 of the Code provides for wealth tax liability in the case of the value of all global assets of an individual or HUF. However, an exemption has been provided in case of the value of assets located outside India in case of an individual who is not a citizen of India or an individual or HUF not resident in India. Hence, while returning NRIs who are non-citizens will enjoy wealth-tax exemption for their overseas assets, NRIs with Indian citizenship becoming residents will attract wealth-tax liability on such assets held abroad.

Illogical exemption under wealth-tax

Talking about wealth tax, the Code prescribes an exemption in respect of any house or plot of land belonging to an individual or HUF, if it is acquired before April 1, 2000. It is difficult to understand the logic as to why this exemption has been denied in all cases where such immovable property is acquired after March 31, 2000!

Proposals That Will Hurt the Global Indian Sentiment

Flat Rate of Tax

20% flat tax on interest & other investment income
30% flat tax on all capital gains
Apart from 20% & 30% TDS on above, TDS at a baffling rate of 35% prescribed on all residual income

No Personal Exemption

No personal exemption or deduction allowed in computing the above income treated as ‘income from special sources’.

Weird Interpretation

Poor drafting leads to such a weird interpretation that transfer of a capital asset may attract 30% tax on gross sale consideration.

What Discrimination!

Ironical but true! Non-Indian sportspersons, say Ricky Ponting or Shoaib Akhtar, required to pay a concessional tax of 10% on their game, advertisement and column earnings in India, thus enjoying a more privileged tax status than our own sons of the soil living abroad

Source: Times of india

Click here to Read more!

1947 India Partition

OUR INDIA
The partition of Indian subcontinent in 1947, following World War II is perhaps the most tragic of all political events to affect India in its long political history. The partition divided Hindus and Muslims who had lived together for hundreds of years.

Mahatma Gandhi with Pethwick Lawrence, British Secretary of State for India after a meeting on 18 April 1946

















Aerial view of contingents setting off on the Victory Parade in Delhi in March 1946








A Colour Party leads the British infantry contingent through India's memorial arch in Delhi during the Victory Parade in March 1946







Indian Army passes the saluting base during the Victory Parade in Delhi in March 1946. Thousands of spectators watched the Victory Parade in Delhi.














In 1947, the border between India and its new neighbour Pakistan became a river of blood, as the exodus erupted into rioting.

An outbreak of violence a few months after the main riots resulted in the redeployment of the Battalion on the streets of Calcutta. A small British foot patrol on Lower Chitpur Road.




Indian Pioneers who were brought in to scatter lime around the city in an effort to prevent the spread of disease from decomposing bodies.






Looted and burnt corrugated iron dwellings near College Square, Calcutta in 1946.







Looted and burnt corrugated iron dwellings near College Square, Calcutta in 1946.








Calcutta police disperse a mob of rioters attacking a Hindu temple on Circular Road during the Calcutta Riot of 1946.








Calcutta police regroup during the Calcutta Riot in 1946. An Anglo Indian policeman stands in the centre.










Crowds involved in the Calcutta Riot in 1946. This photograph was taken by Captain Peter Farrant during his service with the York and Lancaster Regiment in India between 1945 and 1947. Thousands of people were killed in the rioting, caused by tensions between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. This sparked off further violence in surrounding areas.







The 1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers parade in Fort St George, Madras in August 1947. This was their last parade in Fort St George before India became independent.



Jawaharlal Nehru is sworn in as India's first Prime Minister by the outgoing Viceroy, Mountbatten, watched by Lady Mountbatten, in August 1947






Emergency trains crowded with desperate refugees








Dividing up a library at the time of 1947 partition








The migration was a "massive exercise in human misery,"







Men, women and children who died in the rioting were cremated on a mass scale. Villagers even used oil and kerosene when wood was scarce.





With the tragic legacy of an uncertain future, a young refugee sits on the walls of Purana Qila, transformed into a vast refugee camp in Delhi.





"The street was short and narrow. Lying like the garbage across the street and in its open gutters were bodies of the dead,"






The massive exchange of population that took place in the summer of 1947 was unprecedented. It left behind a trail of death and destruction. The Indian map was slashed to make way for a new country - Pakistan.




In a couple of months in the summer of 1947, a million people were slaughtered on both sides in the religious rioting. Here, bodies of the victims of rioting are picked up from a city street.





An aged and abandoned Muslim couple and their grand children sitting by the the roadside on this arduous journey.






Over 10 million people were uprooted from their homeland and travelled on foot, bullock carts and trains to their new home.






Millions left for their new homeland with smiles on their faces as trains left both India and Pakistan. This is a train to Pakistan being given a warm send-off.







Gandhi listens to Muslims during the height of the warfare which followed the partition of India in 1947.








Mountbatten and Lady Mountbatten meet Mr Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the leader of Pakistan, in 1947.








The partition of India in 1947 led to a process which we today probably would describe as "ethnic cleansing". Hundreds of thousands of people were massacred and millions had to move; Muslims from India to Pakistan, Hindus in the opposite direction. Photo shows part of the crowds of refugees which poured into the city of New Delhi.



India before Partition Click here to Read more!

Dubai labourers strike

Construction Workers Strike
Dubai - Hundreds of construction Labourers working for Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises stopped work on Monday to demonstrate against low wages and the lack of overtime pay. Halted traffic in Deira and Jebel Ali at around 8am this morning but were quickly dispersed by police and labour officials. The workers also blocked traffic for a brief time on Sheikh Zayed Road.Colonel Abdullah Al Ghaithi, the acting director of the Dubai Police’s organisational safety, told UAE daily Gulf News that 300 workers had taken to the streets and that the Ministry of Labour (MoL) was trying to settle the dispute between the labourers and the company. Click here to Read more!

CSWIP Course details

Click below link for CSWIP Couse details
Welding Inspection
Plant Inspection
Offshore Inspection
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Personnel
Plastics Welders
Welding Instructors
Welding Supervisors
Welders
Cathodic Protection Personnel
Review of Welding Procedures Click here to Read more!

API Course

The American Petroleum Institute (API)-Individual Certification Programs for Engineers
API's Individual Certification Programs offer a means to improve your skills and enhance your overall job performance.API's Inspector Certification Programs are based on industry-developed standards that are recognized and used with confidence worldwide. These standards have also provided a uniform platform that serves as a model for many state and government regulations. These API programs emphasize professional credibility and process integrity. They enable inspectors to play an active role in improving industry health and safety; environmental performance; ensuring compliance and self-regulation; and strengthening management control and internal inspection capabilities

For ICP Programs in Detail Click below link
API 510 Pressure Vessels Inspector Certification Program
API 570 Piping Inspector Certification Program
API 653 Aboveground Storage Tanks Inspector Certification Program
API 936 Refractory Personnel Certification Program
API TES Tank Entry Supervisor Certification Program
API 571 Supplemental Inspection Certification Program
API 577 Supplemental Inspection Certification Program
API 580 Supplemental Inspection Certification Program
API QUTE - UT Shear Wave (Detection) Qualification Program
API QUSE - UT Shear Wave (Sizing) Qualification Program

Contact Information
E-mail: inspector@api.org or icp@api.org
Customer service desk: (202) 682-8064
Fax: (202) 682-8348

Mailing address
API
1220 L Street NW
Washington DC 20005
ATTN: ICP Click here to Read more!

API 510 Course details

The American Petroleum Institute (API) 510 Pressure Vessels Inspector Certification Program
Click below Link for
General Information and Qualification Requirements
Examination Information
API 510 Publication Effectivity Sheet for September 23, 2009 Exam
API 510 Publication Effectivity Sheet for December 2, 2009 Exam
510 Body of Knowledge
API 510 Sample Questions Click here to Read more!

Ramadan Timing - UAE Rules & Guidelines

Ramadan Timing - UAE Rules & Guidelines
1430 AH Ramadan 2009 - 22 August 2009 to 20 September 2009

Rules and expectations specific to Dubai and the UAE
• Companies are required by law to reduce working time by 2 hours per day for all employees, not only Muslims. If employees work longer hours, they should receive overtime pay. Workers can file a complaint at the UAE Ministry of Labour if a company is not following this rule, or not paying overtime for employees who do work longer hours.
• It is illegal to eat, drink or smoke in public during daylight hours (including in your car). Urban legend has it that you end up in jail for the remainder of the month of Ramadan if caught, however it is more likely that you’ll get a lecture from the police and possibly a fine. The law says a fine up to 2000 / 2500 dhs or up to 1 or 2 month jail sentence as far as we know.
• For example, in September 2008, a Lebanese male resident and Russian female visitor were drinking juice in an EPPCO petrol station in Dubai before Iftar, and fined 1000 dhs each according to an article in the Gulf News. Apparently a witness saw them and reported them to the police, who shipped the couple off to court. It seems a surprisingly harsh outcome, unless there is more to the story than was reported.
• Sharjah is likely to have harsher penalties for the same offence.
• Khalil Ibrahim Mansouri, Director General of the department of criminal investigation at the Dubai Police, was reported on 20 August 2009 as saying “We call on people to help us by reporting anyone they see breaking the fast“, referring to people eating, drinking, or smoking in public during the day during Ramadan. The report seemed to think that Mr Mansouri was keen to see residents and visitors chucked in jail – the headline was “People caught eating during Ramadan face jail” and pointed out that 24 people had been jailed in Dubai in the past 3 years for violating the Ramadan fasting period. The original source of the report is unclear.
• If you have hungry children, they are permitted to eat during the day but it would be sensible to be discreet about it. If you’re desparate for food or drink for them, get a snack at a supermarket or service station, or possibly a restaurant/cafe even if they look closed (knock on the door – there might be someone in the back). • It is respectful and polite to dress more conservatively during Ramadan – shoulders and legs should be covered.
• Bars in Dubai are usually still open but patrons will be asked what religion they are and refused entry if they are Muslim. Live and loud music is banned, so is dancing. Bars in Abu Dhabi might be closed. Bars in Ras Al Khaimah usually stay open. Bars in Sharjah don’t exist.
• Any alcohol related offences will probably be treated much more severely than outside the month of Ramadan – it is quite possible an offender is stuck in prison until the end of Ramadan.
• Car stereos should be turned down – loud music, especially rock or similar music, is disrespectful at least, and if police hear it, they’ll have something to say about it.
• Traffic jam times change – the morning is not much different but afternoons from 1300-1600 is quite busy, and again just before Iftar as many people are trying to get to a desired location for Iftar. Every year there are numerous accidents and requests from police to drive carefully at the time. For an hour or so just after Iftar, and from 1600 to an hour or so before Iftar, the roads are relatively traffic-free.

Ramadan guidelines

"Ramadan Mubarak" and "Ramadan Kareem" are congratulatory greetings used when the first day of Ramadan is announced (kareem means generous and mubarak means blessings). Suhoor is the meal in the morning just before sunrise - it is usually a light meal. Iftar is the time of the evening meal just after sunset, traditionally a light snack of dates and water, although this might no be so obvious in Dubai. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims have the following obligations No eating, drinking, smoking or sex between sunrise (fajr) and sunset (maghrib, rather than magrib).
Curb undesirable emotions such as anger, greed, envy, lust, and refrain from gossip.
Keep thoughts and actions pure and use the time of fasting for spiritual contemplation.
Be charitable and help those in need.
Visit friends and family members.
Children (cut-off point is about 12 years old), the elderly, the insane, travellers, pregnant or nursing women, sick people, and those who are fighting in battle are not expected to fast. Instead they should feed one poor person each day during Ramadan, or, in the case of temporary conditions, make up the days by fasting at a later date. Women should not fast during menstruation but make up those days after Ramadan.

Ramadan events and activities in Dubai and the UAE

Iftar is the evening time when, just after the sun sets, a cannon is fired to announce the breaking of the fast for the day. There's one in Safa Park in Jumeirah if you want to get close to the action. Iftar is not the time to have a large feast - traditionally it was a few dates and some water. Later in the evening is when it becomes more festive with larger meals enjoyed amongst friends and family.
Mosques offer free Iftar meals to the less privileged members of society, whether they are Muslim or not. The meals might be sponsored by charities, companies, or individuals. The Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque has one of the largest Iftar gatherings in their carpark.
Many hotels will have special Iftar tents where customers can have a simple or more complex meal - with a range of prices to match.
Ramadan is seen as an opportunity to visit friends and family members, especially those with whom contact has faded.
The rulers in various emirates pardon a number of prison inmates on the first day of Ramadan. Some are also released for the month of Ramadan to spend time with their family.
Most businesses and government offices will close for the day sometime between 1400 and 1600. Iftar is around 1730-1830 depending on the time of year and when the sun sets.
Business activities tend to slow down during Ramadan. Expect delays with any commercial or bureaucratic activities.
Almost all restaurants and cafes will be closed during the day but many will extend their opening hours at night.
There will be a few eating outlets open during the day for dine-in customers in larger hotels and shopping centers. Some fast food restaurants allow drive-through or take-outs.
Supermarkets are normally open during the day and have extended hours at night - sometimes till midnight or even later.
Shopping centers are open during the day and an extra hour or two at night.

Thanks/ Source : http://www.dubaifaqs.com/ramadan-in-dubai.php Click here to Read more!