Friday 21 November 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Tennis: Halep, Kvitova to play in Sydney International

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SYDNEY (AFP) - World number three Simona Halep and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will headline the Sydney International womens field in January, organisers said on Saturday.Halep, this years French Open runner-up to Maria Sharapova, and world number four Kvitova will be joined by the sixth-ranked player and Australian Open semi-finalist Agnieszka Radwanska.Halep, 23, lost in the first round of this years Sydney International to American Madison Keys and is hoping to make Sydney her ninth WTA title.I havent won a WTA tournament in Australia yet so it would be the perfect start to the year if I could win in Sydney, the Romanian said.Kvitova lost to eventual champion Tsvetana Pironkova in the last Sydney event and went on to win her second Wimbledon championship as well as claiming titles in Wuhan and New Haven.

Former Portuguese PM Socrates arrested in fraud inquiry: official

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LISBON: Portugals former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates was arrested on Friday (Nov 22) as part of an inquiry into tax fraud, corruption and money laundering, the public prosecutors office announced.Socrates is one of four people who have been held in recent days, three of whom appeared before a judge on Friday, the prosecutor said in a statement.

Carbs more harmful than saturated fats: study

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Long-derided saturated fats -- associated with an array of health problems such as heart disease -- caught a break Friday when research revealed their intake could be doubled or even nearly tripled without driving up their level in a persons blood.Carbohydrates, meanwhile, are associated with heightened levels of a fatty acid linked to increased risk for diabetes and heart disease, the same study showed.The point is you dont necessarily save the saturated fat that you eat, and the primary regulator of what you save in terms of fat is the carbohydrate in your diet, senior author Jeff Volek of Ohio State University, said in the report.To conduct the study, which appeared in the journal PLOS ONE, scientists put 16 participants on a strict dietary regime that lasted four and a half months.Every three weeks their diets were changed to adjust carbohydrate and total fat and saturated fat levels.The scientists found that when carbs were reduced and saturated fat was increased, total saturated fat in the blood did not increase, and even went down in most people.The fatty acid called palmitoleic acid, which is associated with unhealthy metabolism of carbohydrates that can promote disease, went down with low-carb diets and gradually increased as carbs were re-introduced, the study said.An increase in this fatty acid indicates that a growing proportion of carbohydrates is being converted into fat instead of being burned by the body, the researchers said.When you consume a very low-carb diet your body preferentially burns saturated fat, Volek said.We had people eat two times more saturated fat than they had been eating before entering the study, yet when we measured saturated fat in their blood, it went down in the majority of people, he said.The finding challenges the conventional wisdom that has demonized saturated fat and extends our knowledge of why dietary saturated fat doesnt correlate with disease, Volek added.By the end of the trial, participants saw significant improvements in blood glucose, insulin and blood pressure and lost an average of 22 pounds (10 kilograms).There is widespread misunderstanding about saturated fat. In population studies, theres clearly no association of dietary saturated fat and heart disease, yet dietary guidelines continue to advocate restriction of saturated fat. Thats not scientific and not smart, Volek said.

New records leave Wall Street feeling thankful

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NEW YORK (AFP) - As traders finished the last full week of business before Thanksgiving, Wall Street was feeling grateful for a week of fresh records, central bank stimulus and big corporate mergers.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 175.32 points (0.99 percent) to 17,810.06, while the S&P 500 gained 23.68 (1.16 percent) to 2,063.50. Both indices closed the week at all-time highs.The Peoples Bank of China unexpectedly cut benchmark interest rates for the first time in more than two years, while European Central Bank President Mario Draghi also lifted hopes for more stimulus, saying it would act without any undue delay to address deflation.The news constituted the latest evidence of the staying power of central bank largesse.Investors have been saying, I would like more please, and central banks in Europe and China have delivered, said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management. Its just the prescription the doctor ordered.Friday also demonstrated the positive potential of activist investors on individual stocks following three big activist wins.Dow Chemical reached a compromise with Third Points Daniel Loeb to appoint four independent directors, ending the threat of a proxy fight. Only hours earlier, Sothebys, another Loeb target, said it would replace chief executive William Ruprecht, whom Loeb had sharply criticized.Also, Hertz Global Holdings, a target of veteran activist Carl Icahn, tapped former United Airlines chief operating officer John Tague as its new chief executive with the blessing of three board members picked by Icahn.Shares of Dow, Sothebys and Hertz all rose sharply following the announcements.-Retailers shine-Major buyouts in the energy and pharmaceutical businesses meanwhile underscored that mega-merger fever was alive and well on Wall Street.In rapid succession on Monday, pharmaceutical giant Actavis said it would pay $66 billion for Allergan, which makes the wrinkle-eraser Botox, and oilfield services company Halliburton said it would take over rival Baker Hughes for $34.6 billion.Mergers and acquisitions around the world so far this year have hit $3.16 trillion, according to Dealogic, the highest level since the record year of 2007. Major drivers of deals include cheap financing and a desire of companies to move beyond their core functions to grow.Investors were also cheered by a generally positive batch of earnings results from leading retailers ahead of the key holiday shopping period.Good earnings reports came from retailers in kitchen equipment (Williams-Sonoma), office goods (Staples), electronics (Best Buy) and home improvement (Lowes). Department store Target also bested expectations.Clothing chains Gap and Urban Outfitters disappointed, while electronics vendor Best Buy warned of heavy discounting this season that could stifle profits.Still, Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, said the results very encouraging on the whole and reflect the economic tailwinds of lower energy costs and an improved US labor market.Markets next week will get a fresh sense on consumer sentiment when the Conference Board releases its reading of consumer confidence for November.Other data in the holiday-shortened week include the second estimate for third-quarter economic growth and durable goods orders for October.There will also be earnings reports from Tiffany and Hewlett-Packard, as well as meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that is being closely watched by the oil market.

UN warns Ebola still far from over

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The head of the UN Ebola mission warned Friday that the world was far, far away from beating the deadly outbreak and said a huge increase in aid was needed to fight the virus in Africa.There is a long battle ahead of us, Anthony Banbury told the UN Security Council, which met two months after it declared the outbreak a threat to world security.Fighting the epidemic is going to require a tremendous increase in resources on the ground, in a dispersed geographic area, said Banbury, head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) by videoconference.While recognizing some progress, Banbury said international efforts had yet to gain the upper hand on the epidemic, with a new outbreak in Mali, where UNMEER will set up operations.We are far, far away from ending this crisis, he declared.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in Washington that if international efforts are stepped up, the Ebola outbreak can be contained by the middle of next year.Recent data has shown a decline in cases in Liberia, the worst-hit country, and Guinea, but last week, 533 new cases were reported in Sierra Leone -- the highest weekly tally since the outbreak began in that country.The fight is not only ongoing, but it is still tilting in Ebolas favor, warned US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.The gains to date could easily be reversed, said Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who chaired the meeting on Ebola.-- More health care workers needed --The US envoy, who traveled to Ebola-hit West Africa last month, said 1,000 international health care workers were needed on an ongoing basis and warned it was unclear the supply could be sustained two months from now.More countries need to send teams, and those that have already sent them must maintain a pipeline of trained replacements so that the supply can be replenished in the coming months, she said.More than 5,000 people have died from Ebola and more than 15,000 have been infected.The United Nations has been struggling to mobilize financial pledges and resources -- medical equipment, doctors, nurses, health workers -- to come to the aid of Ebola-hit countries, nearly one year after the outbreak.The world body recently increased its appeal for $1 billion in pledges to $1.5 billion to defeat Ebola and the focus has shifted to providing aid to rural areas where the virus has spread.The council adopted a statement calling on Ban to accelerate efforts to scale up UNMEERs presence and activities in rural areas.It also drew a list of resources needed from member-states: mobile laboratories, field hospitals, trained personnel, therapies, vaccines, diagnostics and personal protective equipment.

Obama tells Ferguson residents to 'keep protests peaceful'

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FERGUSON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama urged calm Friday ahead of an expected grand jury decision in a town rocked by unrest after a white police officer shot a black teen to death.A grand jury in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson is looking at the racially charged shooting, in which Officer Darren Wilson shot unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.The August 9 death led to weeks of violence, and Missouris governor this week declared a state of emergency and activated the state National Guard ahead of the decision.First and foremost, keep protests peaceful, Obama told ABC News in interview excerpts aired Friday.This is a country that allows everybody to express their views, allows them to peacefully assemble to protest actions that they think are unjust, but using any event as an excuse for violence is contrary to rule of law and contrary to who we are.Obamas comments came after Browns father and Attorney General Eric Holder also made separate appeals.Thank you for lifting your voices to end racial profiling and police intimidation, but hurting others or destroying property is not the answer, the victims father, Michael Brown Sr, said in a somber video plea.No matter what the grand jury decides, I dont want my sons death to be in vain.In the United States, grand juries meet in secret to review some cases before deciding whether criminal charges should be brought.The jury could indict Wilson, meaning he could face trial, or determine there is no case for him to answer.Authorities have previously said they expect the grand jury decision any time between mid- to late-November.- Planning for announcement -St Louis County prosecutors, meanwhile, indicated an announcement may be imminent.We are in the process of setting up the press conference to announce the decision on the Darren Wilson case, the prosecutors office said in a statement.The date, time and location hasnt been decided as of yet. The grand jury is still in session.In another sign, schools in the area announced they would be closed Monday and Tuesday, due to the potential Ferguson unrest.Holder, Americas top law enforcement official, released a video urging restraint from his subordinates if people take to the streets.Over the past few months, we have seen demonstrations and protests that have sought to bring attention to real and significant underlying issues involving police practices, implicit bias and pervasive community distrust, Holder said.This is the hard work that is necessary to preserve the peace and maintain the public trust at all times, particularly in moments of heightened community tension.The shooting led to weeks of violence in the St Louis suburb of 21,000, which has an African American majority and an overwhelmingly white police force and town government.Brown, a high-school graduate planning on attending technical college, was shot at least six times by Wilson. His body was left in the street for hours.Wilson has reportedly told the grand jury he acted in self-defense after tussling with the youth. Others claim Brown had his hands up in the air when he was shot.Some demonstrators complained that police used undue force during peaceful protests and there was widespread criticism of the military-style equipment and uniforms deployed by local officers.In his video plea, Browns father appealed to locals to come together.Were stronger united. Continue to lift your voices with us and lets work together to heal, to create lasting change for all people regardless of race, he said.

RBS admits European stress test blunder

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LONDON (AFP) - The Royal Bank of Scotland has accepted that it got its sums wrong over the European Banking Authority stress tests last month.Revised figures revealed Friday showed that instead of passing the test easily as initial results from the exercise showed, the state-owned RBS had narrowly scraped through and was the weakest performer among Britains banks.The stress tests ran the banks through two different economic scenarios to see whether their balance sheets were healthy enough to withstand further economic shocks.Under a baseline scenario, a banks core capital ratio, a measurement of financial strength, must not fall below 8.0 percent. In the adverse scenario, it must not fall below 5.5 percent.RBSs initial calculations initially resulted in a level of 6.7 percent being reported.However, the Edinburgh-based bank has now admitted that part of its modelling had been wrong and this should have been 5.7 percent -- barely above the minimum.The error related to a 4.2 billion euro ($3.3 billion) overstatement of its capital strength under the scenario. Shares fell nearly one percent on Friday following the disclosure.The worst results from the stress tests were concentrated in Italy, where some nine banks failed, as well as Greece and Cyprus with three each.The RBS revelation came the day after British financial regulators fined the bank a combined £56 million ($87.6 million, 70 million euros) for a series of IT failures that left customers unable to access services.The bank is about 80-percent owned by the British government after it was rescued with £45.5 billion of taxpayers cash during the global financial crisis, making it the worlds biggest-ever banking bailout.

Football: Wenger expects Welbeck to prove van Gaal wrong

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LONDON (AFP) - Arsene Wenger says Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck has been playing with a point to prove as he prepares for his first reunion with former club Manchester United on Saturday.Welbeck has impressed for the Gunners since his £16 million ($25.1 million, 20 million euros) transfer deadline day switch from United.The England internationals five goals in 12 appearances have gone some way to silencing the critics, including United boss Louis van Gaal, who said Welbeck wasnt up to the standard required at Old Trafford.Arsenal manager Wenger knows he has benefitted from Welbecks determination to show he can make it at the highest level and he expects the forward, a boyhood United fan who had been at the club for 11 years, to be fully motivated when United come to the Emirates Stadium this weekend.You can take every challenge in a positive way and that is what Danny did, Wenger said.You have to understand Louis van Gaal did not have Welbeck under his command for a long time and it is always very difficult to know the players well when you see them for three or four weeks.Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie have an exceptional goalscoring record -- he had two quality players in front of him, so what he needed was a chance.What is important is that the player makes a good career and has a good opportunity.United, like Arsenal languishing well behind leaders Chelsea after a spluttering start, received a fresh blow during the international break when Dutch midfielder Daley Blind sustained a knee ligament injury likely to sideline him for several weeksBut although they face ongoing injury problems in defence, goalkeeper David de Gea and midfielders Michael Carrick and Angel di Maria should all be fit to face Arsenal despite sustaining knocks on international duty.- City, Liverpool seek spark -The season may be only 11 games old, but complacency and rank misfortune already seem the only factors capable of preventing Chelsea from romping to a first league title since 2010.A 2-1 win at Liverpool enabled Jose Mourinhos side to open up an eight-point lead over reigning champions Manchester City prior to the international window, while Arsenal, United and Liverpool are even further back.The win at Anfield was really important because it was a really difficult game and we knew it was important for the future, said Chelsea left-back Filipe Luis during a fan event at Stamford Bridge this week.Chelsea host West Bromwich Albion on Saturday and will hope to see top scorer Diego Costa firing on all cylinders after he was left out of the Spain squad to rest his troublesome hamstrings.The only team who have threatened to keep pace with Chelsea are Southampton, who trail the leaders by four points ahead of their trip to Aston Villa in the Monday night game.Champions City will look to drag themselves out of a damaging rut when they host Swansea on Saturday, having won only one of their last six matches in all competitions.Manuel Pellegrinis side are on the brink of elimination in the Champions League ahead of Tuesdays home game with Bayern Munich, but have at least been able to rely on the form of Sergio Aguero.The Argentine sharp-shooter scored his 11th and 12th league goals of the season in Citys 2-2 draw at Queens Park Rangers a fortnight ago and appears to have overcome the injury problems that bedevilled him last term.Another team in desperate need of an upturn in fortunes are Liverpool, who lie in 11th place, 15 points behind Chelsea, after three games without a victory.On Sunday, Brendan Rodgerss side play Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, scene of their crushing late-season capitulation last May, when they effectively gifted City the title by letting a 3-0 lead slip to draw 3-3.Liverpools woes have been compounded by the news that striker Daniel Sturridge could be out until the new year after aggravating a thigh injury.

Israeli forces disperse West Bank demonstration

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JERUSALEM (AP) - The Israeli military said Friday it dispersed 300 stone-throwing Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank city of Hebron without injuries or arrests.Smaller clashes also took place at two other West Bank locations Qalandiya and Kadom also without injuries or arrests, the army said.Meanwhile two Israelis were lightly wounded in a fight with Palestinians in east Jerusalem, police say, and five Hamas activists were arrested by the Palestinian Authority Thursday in the West Bank, according to the Islamic militant group. Hamas spokesman Husam Badran said the Palestinian Authority is trying to kill the Jerusalem uprising.The West Bank clashes came amid roiling tensions, mostly over Palestinian claims that Israel wants to change the status quo at a contested Jerusalem holy site.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied any plans for the site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and Jews at the Temple Mount, but some Netanyahu allies want the prayers allowed.No incidents were reported there by Israeli police during prayers on Friday, which for the second consecutive week were open to all Muslim worshippers regardless of age.In recent weeks 11 people have been killed by Palestinian attackers in five incidents, mostly in Jerusalem, but also in Tel Aviv and the West Bank. Five of the Palestinian assailants were killed by security forces.In response, Netanyahu has ordered a revival of punitive home demolitions a practice that had largely been suspended since 2005. Earlier this week Israel demolished the east Jerusalem home of one of the attackers, and on Thursday four more demolition notices were issued in east Jerusalem including to the families of two cousins who carried out a grisly attack on a Jerusalem synagogue Tuesday.In the Jerusalem incident, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said seven yeshiva students got into a fight with a group of Palestinians and two of the students were lightly wounded.Samri added that police were being deployed in the area.

Boycott of 2018 World Cup would be 'nonsense': FIFA secretary general

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SOCHI, Russia (AP) - FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke says a boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia would be nonsense.Some European politicians have suggested that European countries could boycott the World Cup over the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which many Western governments accuse Russia of provoking.Valcke says talk of a boycott is an attempt to provoke discord rather than to be realistic on what the world is today. He says the World Cup is a sporting event and has nothing to do with politics. Valcke spoke after meeting with Russian World Cup organizers in Sochi.Hes the first senior FIFA official to visit Russia since last weeks publication of a report by FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert that closed the probe of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests.

2015 stock outlook: Good but not great, and bumpy

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NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks can keep climbing next year, tacking even more gains onto their phenomenal run of the last five-plus years. Just dont expect them to be as big -- or to come with as little heartburn -- as before.Thats what mutual fund managers of all types are forecasting, as they peer ahead to 2015 and coming years. For a hint of what it may be like, just look back a few weeks when the Standard & Poors 500 index declined more than 7 percent from mid-September through mid-October. The tumble raised investor anxiety, but a stream of strong earnings reports helped it dissipate. The S&P 500 has since climbed to another record high.Heres a look at the expectations of fund managers for 2015:STOCKS CAN RISE EVEN MOREThe economy is growing, and employers have added more than 200,000 jobs for nine straight months, the longest such streak since 1995. Everything is pointing to companies making more money going forward, says Neil Hennessy, chief investment officer of Hennessy Funds, which manages $5.7 billion in assets.Thats key because stock prices, at their heart, are a function of how much profit a company makes and how much investors will pay for it.The stronger job market means consumers will have more money to spend. As will lower gasoline bills, now that the price of crude oil is close to a four-year low. The hope is that companies will generate more revenue as a result. Thats important because, since the recession, corporate profits have grown largely as a result of cutting expenses.Companies are squeezing more profit from each $1 in revenue than ever before: nearly 10 cents, up from an average of 6.5 cents over the last 20 years, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. That means any increase in sales will quickly boost earnings.BUT DONT EXPECT GAINS TO BE BIG, OR SMOOTHFew fund managers argue that stock prices are cheap, at least relative to their earnings. Instead they debate whether stocks are just a little more expensive than normal or a lot more.The S&P 500 has more than tripled since hitting bottom in early 2009, rising faster than corporate profits. Stocks in the index are trading at nearly 17 times their earnings per share over the last 12 months. In early 2009, the indexs price-earnings ratio was just above 8.And because of their high price tags, fund managers say further gains for stocks will likely have to come from earnings growth. Next year, analysts are broadly calling for a rise of 9.9 percent.So instead of seeing another 2013, during which the S&P 500 surged 29.6 percent, it may be safer to expect annual gains closer to 5 percent or 6 percent in the next few years, says Bill Stromberg, head of equity for T. Rowe Price.Investors should also be ready for a bumpier ride, Stromberg says. The market has been largely smooth in recent years, with stimulus from the Federal Reserve a likely cause. But the central bank last month declared an end to its bond-buying program. Many economists also expect the Federal Reserve to raise short-term interest rates next year for the first time since 2006. That could lead to sharper swings in stock prices.RISING RATES DONT ALWAYS KILL STOCKSInterest rate hikes have historically scared investors. They make borrowing more expensive and slow down economic growth. The last time the Federal Reserve began raising rates, in 2004, the S&P 500 lost nearly 7 percent in about six weeks.But after that initial tumble, the market went on to rise nearly 20 percent by the time the Federal Reserve had finished raising rates in 2006. Thats similar to the S&P 500s performance in several other rate-hike campaigns, says Andrew Goldberg, global market strategist with J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Stocks usually fall when the Fed begins hiking, but can reverse course after the market digests the news.The key is whether interest rates are rising off a low starting point, Goldberg says. If they are, higher rates arent that much more restrictive for the economy. And rates are very low now.THE BARGAIN BIN IS FULL OF FOREIGN STOCKSValue investors turned off by U.S. stocks can find better bargains abroad. European stocks were recently trading at 13.5 times their expected earnings per share over the next 12 months, for example. Their U.S. counterparts were trading at 16 times, according to index provider MSCI.Of course, foreign stocks have lower valuations for a reason. Europe is struggling to keep its economy out of a deflationary spiral in which falling prices encourage consumers and businesses to delay purchases, which only pushes prices lower. Japans economy has fallen back into recession.Among emerging markets, Chinas economic growth is slowing. Russia may be the worlds only market that could double and still be cheap, says T. Rowe Prices Stromberg. But it carries significant risks: As a major oil exporter, its hurt by crudes plunging price, and political tensions are high between Moscow and the West.

Karachi: Mirage crashes, 1 pilot dead

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – A pilot lost his life on Friday in a plane crash during a training routine in Gadap Town area.According to details, a training plane which took off from Masroor Airbase crashed in Gadap Town area, 20 kilometres (Kms) away from toll plaza.As many as two amateur pilots who were training, were severely injured.According to aviation sources, the plane took off from Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Base Masroor with two pilots who were undergoing a training routine.The rescue teams reached the crash site and shifted the pilots to a hospital while one succumbed to his wounds later.

Hangu: 6 terrorists arrested, weaponry seized

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Hangu (Dunya News) – As many as 22 terrorists have been killed on Friday by jets’ bombardment in the ongoing Operation Khyber One of the Pakistan Army. The police have arrested as many as six terrorists and recovered arms and ammunition in heavy amount.According to details, the police raided a house in the Torawari area and arrested as many as six terrorists while arms and ammunition in heavy amount were seized.District Police Officer (DPO) Hangu Anwar Saeed Kandi said that the police party headed by Station House Officer (SHO) acted on a tip-off and raided a house owned by a resident Umer Faraz and arrested as many as six people named, Gul Faraz, Muhammad Nawaz, Abdul Rauf, Muhammad Jasim, Muhammad Ishaq and Nosherwan.He said that around 20 Kilograms (Kgs) of explosive, 20 hand grenades, 7 rocket launchers, 20 detonators and other weaponry were seized.Separately, as many as 22 terrorists have been killed by bombardment of fighter jets during Operation Khyber One.

Deregulation at heart of Japan's new robotics revolution

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(Reuters) - Neurosurgeon Tetsuya Goto had just begun testing a robot to perform brain surgery when he discoveredJapanwas moving to tighten regulations that would shut down his seven-year project.Over the next dozen years he watched in frustration as the da Vinci, a rival endoscopic robot that U.S. regulators had already approved became a commercial success while his and other Japanese prototypes languished in laboratories.Japan, with the worlds largest robot population, is now awakening to a crisis as its lead in robotics – one of its last areas of technological prominence - comes under threat from better-coordinated efforts in the United States andGermany, as well as Asian rivalsSouth KoreaandChina.As robots advance from the factory floor into homes, hospitals, shops and even war zones, officials hope to spur a new robotics revolution by rewriting rules that researchers say have stifledinnovation.We think robotics can make Japan competitive again,said Atsushi Mano, director of robotic technology at the trade ministrys New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.The agency has recruited Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Panasonic Corp to make a rival to the da Vinci that could perform more intricate tasks, such as removing pancreatic tumors, while a surgeon manipulates its controls.At stake is a fast-growing industry - the market for industrial robotic systems is worth $29 billion a year worldwide according to the International Federation of Robotics.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in June, when he unveiled a framework for sweeping regulatory reforms, that he expected Japans robot market alone to triple to 2.4 trillion yen ($21 billion) by 2020.Healthcare robotics is tiny now but has vast potential - such services are expected to overtake industrial uses within 10 years in the Japanese robot market.The new surgical robot, part of a 5 billion yen medical robotics program that aims to have products in clinical trials by 2019, should have an easier time than Goto faced with regulators.If you asked the authorities, they wouldnt say they kept medical devices from reaching the market, but as far as academics and companies are concerned they stopped Japanese research cold, said Goto, a professor at Shinshu University in central Japan.Abe, who has called a snap election for next month to seek a renewed mandate for his Abenomics economic policies, has promised deregulation and structural reform to foster industrial growth as a two-year stimulus drive falters.RIVAL ROBOTSA key trigger to action wasGoogleIncs surprise acquisition a year ago of Schaft, a venture led by two former Tokyo University professors who developed a humanoid robot that handily won a rescue competition run by a research unit of the U.S. Department of Defense. The robot had to drive a utility vehicle and climb a ladder to prevail against more than a dozen rivals.Everyone associates bipedal robots with Japan so it was a shock that even that was being pulled away, said Waseda University Professor Masakatsu Fujie.The U.S. robotics industry has been powered in large part by the military, which provides funding and field testing for drones and disaster-relief robots, while Silicon Valley has nurtured innovations in artificial intelligence and autonomous systems such as Googles self-driving car.To be honest, the U.S. is a concern, said Osamu Sudo, who helped to craft Japans robotics strategy as director of theindustrial machinerydivision at the trade ministry, where he served until early July.Other countries are also pushing robotics to the forefront of industrial policy:China, where sales grew 32-fold over the last decade to eclipse Japan as the biggest robot market in 2013, aims to make one-third of its own robots by 2015.South Koreahas a five-year plan to spend $500 million a year on its robotics industry, while the European Union has earmarked 100 million euros ($125 million) a year to its Horizon 2020 program that aims to pull in a further 2 billion euros annually in private funding.Japan is trying to keep up: ministries have requested 16 billion yen ($138 million) for direct investment in robotics in the next fiscal year.But success will depend largely on reforming a fragmented regulatory process that can set insurmountable hurdles by mandating absolute safety, said Atsuo Takanishi, a professor at Waseda University specializing in robotics.The trade ministry has convinced health ministry officials to relax certification procedures for medical devices and introduce affordable robots to nursing homes on a trial basis.It also pushed for an international safety standard for care robots that Panasonic Corp cleared in February with a robotic nursing bed that folds up into a wheelchair, eliminating the need for care-givers to lift their patients.With the freeing of regulations, Kiyoshi Sawaki, who recently replaced Sudo as head of the trade ministrysindustrial machinerydivision, is confident that the government has created sufficient opportunities to succeed in robotics.The approval process is being simplified, he said. So companies cant use the same excuses that they did before.

Karachi: MQM's membership camp attacked

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – As many as 18 people have been injured on Friday including three Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) members of assembly in a grenade attack and firing at the MQM’s membership camp in Orangi Town.According to details, a membership camp in the Orangi Town number five was attacked with a hand-grenade.Reportedly, the attack was carried out by unidentified criminals.Banned outfit Jamaatul Ahrar has claimed the reponsibility of the attack.MQM’s member of Sindh Assembly Muhammad Hussain, Saifuddin Khalid and Sheikh Abdullah were injured along with 15 other people.According to police officials, all three MQM members have not been severely bruised.The injured people have been shifted to the Abbasi Hospital for medical treatment.According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) West Irfan Baloch, the attackers also opened fire at the camp.
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