Abu Dhabi: National Security Adviser and Deputy Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council HH Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan received today Dr. Ahmed Saif Al Hayani, who was sent as a special envoy by Yemeni Interior Minister Major General Dr. Abdul Qader Qahtan.

Al Hayani delivered to Sheikh Hazza a letter from the Interior Minister pertaining to bilateral relations between UAE and Yemen.

Abu Dhabi: The public prosecution dealing with finance violations has referred a public sector employee to court to stand trial for receiving bribery.

The employee, an Arab national, was working in the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company and asked a building contractor for ten thousand Dirhams in bribery for giving power connection to a number of villas in Khalifa A city in the suburbs of Abu Dhabi, claimed the prosecution.

The complaint was lodged by the contractor himself who said the connection order had already been obtained by him, but the employee asked for bribes to implement it

Abu Dhabi: Presidential Adviser and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club HH Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan paid a visit to UAE’s Formula 1 driver Ahmed Al Hamili who is recovering at the Zayed Centre of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA after an operation.

Sheikh Sultan wished Al Hamili speedy recovery and return to home healthy and safe.

Dubai: Nearly 727,918 students of 1,276 public and private schools will return back to classrooms tomorrow for the 2012-2013 academic year with a call from the Minister of Education, Humaid Mohammed Al Qatami, to educators, administrators and learners and their guardians to work diligently and faithfully so as to elevate the learning process and deliver the State’s strategic objectives for education.

Some 785 government schools will welcome 269,412 students while 458,508 students will join 491 private schools. A total of 29,332 teachers, technicians and administrators had already reported to work last Sunday.

”While acting to implement directives of the country’s leadership, the Ministry of Education has carried out a series pioneering initiatives and programmes to improve performance in government schools so as to set an educational model that is capable of addressing present challenges and unlocking creative potentials of both educators and learners,” the minister said.

Muscat: This December, a plethora of global and regional industry experts will convene at the 2012 Gas Arabia Summit for four days to discuss how to capitalise on the numerous opportunities that the gas industry offers.

QNB Capital, an affiliate of Qatar National Bank reported that The Middle East region has around 42 trillion cubic metres (tcm) of gas to benefit from.

Organised by the Energy Exchange, the eighth annual Gas Arabia Summit will be held from 2 – 5 December 2012 in Muscat, Oman. This year’s event is co-hosted by Oman Gas Company, Oman LNG, BP and Petroleum Development Oman and sponsored by TOTAL, OMV, Honeywell and UOP.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that the expected Middle East gas consumption would rise from 389 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2011, to 468 bcm in 2017. However, this 79 bcm of additional gas supply forecast is contingent on the successful development of relatively expensive new gas fields.

The 2012 Gas Arabia Summit will focus on the entire gas sector including two days dedicated strictly to developing unconventional gas and reducing gas flaring respectively.

Last year, Sultan Chatila, Regional Marketing Director for UOP, said: “Gas Arabia is a key event for gas upstream and downstream interaction at the executive level.” Distinguished speakers will take the podium to discuss the favourable economics, logistics, strategies and efficient methods of extraction to significantly enhance productivity of this potentially lucrative resource.

The main Gas Arabia Summit will provide a comprehensive analysis on the gas industry both globally and regionally. Presentations and discussions will help attendees understand the global gas industry, international demand and supply, global strategies in terms of anticipating setbacks and execution, technological updates and regional opportunities.

Arianna Neri, Project Director, Gas Arabia Summit, said: “Gas is an interesting element, a non-commodity but very much treated and traded as if it was. This year the Gas Arabia Summit will largely focus on strategic development as opposed to tactical execution. We have further expanded the summit’s scope to not just focus on Oman, but the rest of the region, specifically Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

With representatives from several leading international gas companies confirmed to participate at this year’s summit, it is the ideal platform to develop business strategies and sit among key decision makers in the gas arena.” The QNB Capital Report states that Qatar has the GCC’s largest gas wealth of nearly 25 tcm, the world’s third after Russia and Iran. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia has nearly 7.5 tcm of gas resources, the UAE has 7 tcm and Kuwait has 3 tcm.

According to the International Group of LNG Importers, despite a global economic downturn, LNG trade volumes grew by almost 10 per cent in 2011, with global output reaching 240.8 million tonnes.

These global statistics illustrate that if the Middle East develops its gas sector, the region can benefit significantly whilst reducing each country’s overwhelming dependence on oil.

Following the global outlook on the gas industry, speakers will shift focus to explain the opportunities and challenges present in the region. Topics of discussion will include: turning exploration into power; key techniques that will unlock regional unconventional gas reserves; the best way to generate a regional industrial revolution; the role governments, NOCs and IOCs should play in supporting the growth of a fully functioning gas industry; developing human capital in the regional gas industry; and much more.

At the 2011 Gas Arabia Summit, an interactive discussion based on the results of the Gas Flaring Survey, sponsored by Saudi Aramco was held. The survey was organised to benchmark on the regional awareness on gas flaring and to better understand what companies are practically implementing to shift the trend. The discussion concluded with the preliminary agreement to meet next year and with the hope to establish a stable working group to share knowledge on gas flaring.

Building on last year’s inaugural meeting, the final day of the 2012 Gas Arabia Summit will be dedicated to Gas Flaring. Experts in the field of gas flaring will speak on the economic and environmental damage that is currently occurring. In addition, alternatives and strategies will be discussed on how to both efficiently use and dispose of this highly significant and valuable resource.

Ras Al Khaimah: Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) has launched Julphar Diabetes in its headquarters in Ras Al Khaimah for manufacturing and commercialising diabetes products.

Total capacity at the new AED 500 million plants is 1,500 kg of insulin, roughly 45 million vials per year. Capacity will be scaled up based on demand for both crystals.

Julphar first began producing insulin eight years ago from insulin crystals imported from Europe for the local production of Jusline. Julphar is now producing the crystals in house. Some 20 per cent of the Gulf’s population now has diabetes with the number likely to double by 2030 if action is not taken to contain the disease.

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Police’s Traffic and Patrols Department affirmed its full readiness for the new school year and launched an intensive campaign to ensure safety of students and to smooth vehicular flow in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Western Region (Gharbia).

The plan will see the Traffic Police deploy more than 120 patrols in intersections, internal and external roads to make sure students stay safe while going to and coming back from schools. The campaign is in line with the Ministry of Interior’s strategy to lower the number of accidents that occur in the morning when children are heading to school, and during the time when they are returning home. The awareness campaign is aligned with the beginning of the new academic year to ensure an educational year free of accidents.

The Department launched last the Schools without Accidents’ campaign.

Department Director Colonel Hussain Ahmad Al Harithi urged motorists to observe traffic rules to make roads more safer and adhere to the speed limit, especially near schools.

He also urged school bus drivers to park safely, and to allow the students enough time while picking up and dropping them off the bus. He also said drivers must ensure that students are far enough from the bus after exiting, before they drive away.

Al Harithi said police had tailored a comprehensive plan to raise awareness about road safety among students, schools and drivers.

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is following in coordination with the UAE Embassy in Egypt the Search and Rescue (S’&’R) operation of Emirati child Hamad Abdullah Al Ali who has gone mission after a sea voyage in the River Nile.

Juma Mubarak Al Junaibi, Undersecretary of Ministry, stated that the Ministry’s operations room had received a call from the father of the missing child that his child had fallen into the River Nile during a sea voyage on Friday, 7 September 2012.

” Upon taking the accident report, the Ministry immediately swung into action, instructing the Embassy in Cairo to approach the concerned Authorities in Egypt to take necessary measures to search the child,” he said.

He added the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had coordinated with the Ministry of Interior to dispatch a S’&’R team which will arrive Cairo this evening to participate in the operation.

He underscored the Ministry lends top priority to welfare of Emirati citizens abroad and will spare no effort to provide them with assistance in case they face any problems overseas.