Be happy not hasty drivers, urges UAE Road Safety Awareness Campaign

- Older motorists (40+) and male motorists are especially vulnerable

- Peak accident timings are around the mid-morning rush hour from 10-11 am

- Tuesdays are the most dangerous days, Sundays the least dangerous*

Source: RoadSafetyUAE website

The Road Safety Awareness Campaign launched by AETOSWire and RoadSafetyUAE, an initiative that aims to bring about safety to roads in the region, has highlighted the importance of time management to avoid accidents during Ramadhan.

In week 3, the Road Safety Awareness Campaign emphasised on the value of good time management to evade overspeeding.

RoadSafetyUAE Founder and MD Thomas Edelmann said, “Recently-released data by the UAE Ministry of Interior proved that overspeeding accounts for 40% of the total number of traffic accidents and killed 230 people in the UAE last year. Although it’s about 26% lower than 2017’s recorded casualties of 312 deaths due to overspeeding, the number is still alarming.

“It is vital for motorists to manage their time wisely in order not to rush just to make up for lost time and still arrive on the dot. According to studies, leaving 5 minutes late will make you drive 33% faster to reach at your destination at the same time. So do the math, add this percentage to your normal driving speed and it will become dangerous.”

President and CEO of NSG, AETOSWire, and Esmaa News Tony AbiHanna added, “Simple measures like well-preparedness and time-management can make the difference between turning you into a 'saver' or a 'killer' on the road.”

Roads in the UAE, 2009.

In week 2, the campaign focused on motorists exercising self-control to manage their driving behaviour and patterns on the road while fasting.

Ramadhan is typically the peak season for traffic accidents, according to the campaign. A 2015 study in Turkey also found that there are slightly more accidents and deaths during Ramadhan.

With the lifestyle changes due to adjustments in work, sleep, and eating habits, Ramadhan can lead to dehydration and low blood sugar which can in turn cause fatigue, exhaustion, distraction, in attentiveness, and irritation during driving. Knowing these effects can help motorists come up with precautionary measures to cushion the outcome and avoid getting into and causing an accident.

Getting enough rest and sleep coupled with eating nutritious food will help the body buffer the effects of fasting. Whilst hydration is the key to keeping the body functioning well, so stay hydrated until the next round of fasting starts, the campaign said.

AETOSWire is NSG's news distribution arm and the exclusive representative of Business Wire, in the MENA region.

Hashtag: #HappyNotHastyRamadan

Watch the associated videos for:
Week 2, in English

Week 2, in Arabic

Week 3, in English

*The weekend in the UAE is Friday and Saturday.

Madinah Municipality outlines plans for Hajj

Source: KSA Centre for Government Communication.
An inspection by the Madinah Regional Municipality.

Madinah Regional Municipality Secretary Engineer Mohammed bin Abdulhadi Alomari has shared that 4,073 inspection tours on food and health facilities are part of the Hajj 2018 strategy.

Inspection tours and visits focusing on the degree of danger and compliance with health rules and regulations have reached 1,222 food-related facilities such as kitchens, restaurants, hotels, fast-food restaurants, and meat shops. 

He also noted that regular inspections on gas stations, service centres, and rest areas alongside highways connecting Makkah to Madinah are also underway.

Alomari further announced that cleaning will be done daily in public places, especially surrounding the Prophet’s mosque and Islamic and historical sites. There will be 3,874 cleaning crew, including cleaners, supervisors, inspectors, and drivers. 

Kuwait Interior Ministry makes arrangements for Ramadhan

The Kuwait Interior Ministry (Mol) has made due arrangements to guarantee people's security during Ramadhan as per directives of the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, the Kuwait News Agency has reported.

The Director of the ministry's security media and public relations department Brigadier Adel Al-Hashash stressed the need for vigilance to guarantee full security control. The security arrangements for Ramadan are critical as there is relatively heavy traffic on the streets, especially in shopping areas and places of worship, during the month, Al-Hashash said.

The Mol is keen on streamlining the traffic, deploying patrols in major areas nationwide, he noted. The traffic lights will be recalibrated to fit with Ramadan's rush hours, mainly before maghrib.

Al-Hashash further noted that the Mol works hard to curb panhandlers in Kuwait, especially in the daytime during Ramadhan. The statement also cautioned that eating in public during the hours of fasting in Ramadhan is against the law. Offenders may be jailed for a month, asked to pay a KD100 fine, or liable for both penalties.

SMIIC adopts new guidelines for occupational safety and health

General Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) has been adopted by the Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries (SMIIC) as the OIC/SMIIC 5 standard.

Voting on the adoption of General Guidelines on OSH as an OIC/SMIIC standard was completed on 7 April 2017 by SMIIC member states, and accumulated enough votes to be adopted as an OIC/SMIIC 5 standard.

The approved final draft of the standard was prepared by the OIC Network for Occupational Safety and Health (OIC-OSHNET) and the relevant studies for standardisation were taken by SMIIC upon request of the labour ministers of OIC Member States during the 3rd Islamic Conference on Labour Ministers (ICLM) which was held in Jakarta in 2015.

Copthorne Hotel Dubai recertified for HACCP

Copthorne Hotel Dubai has received HACCP certification for this year after completing the Food Safety Management System Surveillance conducted by The United Registrar of Systems Middle East (URS). URS is an autonomous UK-based management system certification body that has operations in more than 40 nations worldwide. It provides HACCP certification in the UAE under Dubai Accreditation Centre.

Upon receiving the certification, Glenn Nobbs, General Manager of Copthorne Hotel Dubai, stated, “We are delighted to be re-certified for HACCP compliance that is an essential industry benchmark for food safety and quality. At the Copthorne Hotel Dubai strict food procurement, handling and execution measures are followed to ensure the very best standards for our guests. Earlier this year we had received ISO14001 and OSHS18001 certifications. This would not have been possible without the enormous hard-work put in by our team who have been working extremely hard to achieve it and I take this opportunity to thank each and every member."

The Hazard Analysis&Critical Control Points (HACCP) system addresses food safety by examining and assessing the control of microbiological, chemical and physical hazards from supply of raw materials to preparation and consumption of food including procurement, handling and distribution.

11street searches reveal safety consciousness of Malaysians as Eid nears

Source: 11street. Children in
car seats.

Online searches at 11street have revealed a spike in interest for baby car seats as shoppers get ready for the ‘balik kampung’ exodus, when they travel home to celebrate the Eid holidays.

The e-commerce portal said there has been a close to 81% increase* in online searches for baby car seats since Ramadhan began, showing a rising awareness of child passenger safety. Searches for Bluetooth earphones also rose twofold as the hands-free devices enable drivers to make calls safely with minimal disruption.

The trend among parents surfing on 11street is in line with the recent recommendations from the Malaysian Consumers Association to enforce car seats for carrying infants and children in vehicles.¹

Source: 11street. Kim.

11street’s Chief Executive Officer, Hoseok Kim points out that while child car seats have yet to be made mandatory by the local government, the rise of car seat searches indicate parents are becoming more savvy about road safety.

According to statistics Bukit Aman’s Traffic Branch, there was a 5.5% increase in car accidents in 2014 as compared to 2013. Total car crashes last year amounted to almost 60 000 cases.² In the event of a vehicle crash, car seat use have been found to significantly reduce the risk of a child’s death.³

Kim says, “Parents are increasingly concerned about the safety of their young children. It should come as no surprise that parents search for car seats at online marketplace such as 11street because it is one of the most conducive platforms where people can research for vast (amounts of) product information.”

At the same time, using mobile phones and other portable devices while behind the wheel has emerged as a tremendous risk for car accidents. Kim adds, “Apart from baby car seats, we also began to see an increased search for Bluetooth earphones over the last week, by at least two-fold. Hands-free devices should be a priority as well since it enables drivers to make calls safely with minimal disruption. At 11street, we offer a wide selection of safety boosting car accessories at affordable prices including Bluetooth stereo receivers, anti-sleep alarms and many more.”

Data also showed that with the upcoming festivities, other indispensable items such as powerbanks and travel bags have gained in popularity. This indicates that Malaysians are already starting to prepare for Raya (Eid).

¹Government urged to introduce legislation for baby car seats
²Road accidents in Malaysia on the rise ³Child Passenger Safety: Get the Facts

*11street data from the most-searched items on the 11street website from June 15 to June 26 2015.

posted from Bloggeroid

Digi sponsors calls to 24-hour Talian Nur and Childline hotlines

From left: Philip Ling, Project Manager for Safe Internet, Digi Telecommunications, Mohd Shamil Mohd Yusoff, Head, Outreach & Corporate Communications, Outreach & Capacity Building Division, CyberSecurity Malaysia, Dato' Sabariah Hassan, Secretary General, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM), Dato’ Sri Rohani Abdul Karim, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM), Joachim Rajaram, Head of Communications & Corporate Responsibility, Digi Telecommunications, and Datin PH Wong, Steering Committee member, Childline Malaysia.

Digi Telecommunications is offering free calls to the 24-hour helplines Talian Nur and Childline 15999 in partnership with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Malaysia (KPWKM) and Childline Malaysia.

This initiative is an extension to the CyberSAFE in Schools programme, a programme by CyberSecurity Malaysia in collaboration with the Ministry of Education Malaysia, Childline Malaysia and Digi. It is also in line with Digi’s aim to provide Safe Internet to families and children besides providing them easy access to an alternative support platform to turn to, in the event of an unpleasant online experience.

The Minister of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM), Dato’ Sri Rohani Abdul Karim said, “Nowadays, we can see how the Internet has become ubiquitous with more people embracing it as part of their lifestyles. Unfortunately cyber threats are increasing in tandem with the prevalence of the Internet. Hence, we have to take all the necessary precautions to ensure our children’s safety when they are on the Internet. This effort is a fine example of how the public and private sectors can come together and collaborate in addressing key issues that are affecting the nation. We also applaud Digi’s continuous commitment towards safeguarding our children who are susceptible to Internet threats and risks.”

Effective immediately, affected families - especially children, can now make free calls to 15999 Talian Nur and Childline from all Digi prepaid and postpaid numbers. Talian Nur is a hotline link to enable early intervention for victims of domestic violence and natural disasters, while 15999 Childline is a confidential 24-hour helpline for children and young people to seek information, share feelings and get needed help.

According to Philip Ling, Digi’s Project Manager for Safe Internet, Digi has been a strong advocate for child safety and the right of the child to be protected on the Internet. “With the increasing rate of cybercrimes particularly targeting children, we want to make sure that they are adequately protected against possible danger on the net. This includes providing easy access to ways in which they can seek help. 

"We were inspired to do this by the recent CyberSAFE in Schools survey, which indicated that some children were not aware of the availability of online or phone-in help centres like Childline that can provide them with a safety net for problems related to the Internet. Now, children can easily make calls to get help without worrying about the costs, while the portability of mobile phones offers them greater privacy when discussing their concerns with the trained Childline 15999 call centre operators.”

Datin PH Wong, Steering Committee member of Childline Malaysia said that this initiative is great news for 15999 Childline as in many cases, children are unable to seek help because calls are currently chargeable. “Child helplines are a vital mechanism for countries to listen directly to children giving first hand data on issues that matter to them and are impacting their lives especially on Internet safety. We will continue to advocate for a totally free 24-hour child helpline. We applaud Digi’s commitment to make calls free to 15999 Childline as it will now give children a lifeline to access help anywhere and anytime,” she added. 

Childline Malaysia, initiated by the Malaysian Children TV Programme Foundation (MCTF), is a member of Child Helpline International.

Dr Amirudin Abdul Wahab, Chief Executive Officer, CyberSecurity Malaysia said, “The CyberSAFE programme is one of the initiatives developed by CyberSecurity Malaysia to educate and enhance the awareness of the general public on the technological and social issues facing Internet users, particularly on online dangers and cyber threats. In order to ensure the continuation of cyber safety and Internet security awareness as well as educational activities for children, all parties must come together and collaborate. 

"We foresee that as cyber security incidents increase dramatically each year, children are also being exposed to various cyber threats and may potentially become victims of cybercrimes in Malaysia. We are certainly delighted with the support given by Digi in taking the CyberSAFE programme to the next level. It is indeed an intelligent collaboration that reaches out to children nationwide.”

PCR-based food testing to grow at a CAGR of 11% through to 2016

During the past three decades since its invention, the polymerase chain reaction method (PCR) has become a fundamental method for analysis in life sciences. While developed countries still dominate the PCR market, emerging markets are showing strong growth trends. 

A September study from Acubiz Consulting titled The Asia Pacific Markets for PCR Technologies identifies market dynamics in various countries in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region and forecasts the potential of the market related to product segments, technology segments, and end-use segments. 

The global demand for PCR was around US$10.6 billion in 2013. Even though North America had the highest market share in 2013, the Asia Pacific region is forecast to grow at a CAGR of over 11% between 2013 and 2018.

The application segments of this platform are still expanding, driven by the expiry of key PCR patents. The rising investments in the field of companion diagnostics have also been boosting the demand for PCR. Food safety testing is another significant end-use segment of the technology, driven by both consumer demand and regulatory requirements. Identifying the animal origin of meat products is another application.

Companies featured in this report include Abbott Laboratories,
Arachem, Cepheid, Fisher Biotec, KogeneBiotech and Seegene.