News.Scotland.Org

Scotland, May 9: Scotland has huge number of tourist inflow every year. It boasts several impressive landmarks that attract hoards of tourists, according to VisitScotland Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Scotland was found to be the busiest visitor attraction last year.

In the year 2007 above 45 million visitors came to see the Scottish attractions as per the statistics. Among paid attractions Edinburgh Castle was the most popular with over 1.2 million visitors followed by Edinburgh Zoo and the free Glasgow museum had 2.23 million visitors.

While responding to this Jim Mather, the Tourism Minister said: “The statistics show that Scotland is developing as a favourite tourist destination that is expected to draw more tourists in the following years. We want to show the world that the whole of Scotland has something to offer and the figures show that the efforts taken in this regards is giving a positive result. The visitors are eager to visit both the biggest cities and the remote region of Scotland, as Scotland flaunts some of the best attractions in the world.”

According to Philip Riddle, chief executive of VisitScotland, visitor attractions play a significant role in uplifting the tourism sector and will help the industry to attain 50% growth in the revenue by the end of 2015.

Other attractions which draw huge visitors are the Scottish Seabird Centre in north Berwick, that saw 26.3% increase in the number of visitors and St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh that saw 21.4% increase in the number of visitors. The Falkirk Wheel has also seen a 17.5% increase in the number of visitors.

May, 7

The number of flyers operating in and out of highlands has gone up to a record high last year. This rapid increase in the number of flyers has been remarkable over last year. If we look at the overall figures we can clearly see that about 1270023 passengers used the ten airports which were operated by the Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd. The Dundee airport too experienced a busy year with around 64,639 passengers flying from Dundee with a jump of 22 percent.

According to Inglish Lyon, the MD of HIAL, it was the effective role of the air transport system in the region and also the committed efforts of airlines, that made passengers opting for air transport. Along with this Loganair contributed a lot by giving the far remote areas easy access. The new services being started by Flybe is also eyed to bring in more air traffic in coming months.

There are plans for starting few new air services which will help passengers to travel easily and without hassles. These new routes will give passengers better connectivity and good service. In the same stride Laganair will be launching Belfast and Birmingham service at Dundee which will benefit a large number of flyers. Along with this many more other new plans are in the pipeline which will be taking shape in coming years which will give a great help to the flyers.

Scotland, May 7: The Health Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government in its report said that the misuse of alcohol in Scotland amounts to £2.25bn per year. The amount is more than double when compared with previous statistics. The study considered cost to business, police, court service and the NHS.

On the other hand the Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) whose members operate 1500 pubs in Scotland have questioned the reliability of the figures. The Scottish government has allocated £120m for the next three years to restrict the raising problem of alcohol abuse.

According to the report the costs include the £405m spend by the NHS, £170m spend by social work service and £385m spend by the fire service and criminal justice. The wider economic costs were estimated at £820m and the human and social costs were estimated at £470m.

The lower productivity at work and the day off due to hangover is costing £150m for the NHS and the A&E services costs £32.3m.The misuse of alcohol costs £288m for the police as alcohol is believed to be the reason behind 40 per cent of the crimes. Premature death due to regular alcohol consumption costs £328m for Scotland.

While commenting on this Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison said: “The statistics give a clear picture about the huge impact created by alcohol misuse in crucial sectors like the police, courts, the NHS and social services. It has an adverse effect on our economy. Not only the alcohol misuse affecting our services and health but also slows down the potential as a nation.”

Proper awareness to control the over use of alcohol is what needed to check the adverse effects posed by it.

May, 6

It is very well known that breastfeeding is the main and very essential diet for young ones as it protects the child from various diseases and allergies. But recently a new study has found that breastfeeding helps the child to have a higher IQ level. This research has revealed a new and significant benefit of mother’s milk for the child.

The recent study was conducted on 14,000 children also involving mothers who support breastfeeding in a long run and those mothers who don’t believe in long-term breastfeeding. The results of this study were remarkable, with children who were breastfeed for a long-term showing great intelligence than rest.

The ability of these children was tested by doctors and teachers who examined these kids on the basis of their performance in reading, writing, mathematics and other subjects. The children who were breastfeed for long run scored higher in all departments than the other kids.

The figures states that over 76 percent of the infants in the UK are initially breastfed. It is also known that about 90 percent of the women support breastfeed than bottled milk. From years it has been said that breastfeeding is one of the most essential and basic requirement for infants. This research has thus made it much clear that mother’s milk has many benefits for the babies. Also it helps the immune system of the baby to be much strong so that it could resist and fight out many diseases.

Scotland, May 5: In an interesting move the dreams of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde who was the creator of Robert Louis Stevenson will be given focus at the Ullapool Book Festival. The event’s lecture titled Robert Louis Stevenson will be delivered by author Louise Welsh, will deal focus on how far dreams interpreted his creativity.

The first novel of Welsh, The Cutting Room, has already been translated into 19 languages and had won international awards such as the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger and the Saltire First Book Award.

Robert Louis Stevenson was brought up in Edinburgh in the 1800s is also renowned for his novels Kidnapped and Treasure Island. The festival is termed as the “most northerly mainland” book event is in its fourth year will commence on 16 May and end on 18 May.

Several prominent writers are expected to participate in this prestigious event among them is the Canadian writer Alistair MacLeod, he will give a reading. Mac Leod will also conduct a writing workshop and also visit Ullapool High School.

Other participants include fiction writers Luke Sutherland, James Robertson and Zoe Strachan; Alan Spence, organiser of literary festival WORD in Aberdeen will also participate in the event.

May, 3

The bustling Edinburgh city is all set for the charity run in which thousands of runners will take part for raising funds for a noble cause. In this charity run along with huge number of runners many known athletes will also going to pound the streets of Edinburgh. This run is said to be one of the massive runs till date for which people are eagerly waiting to be a part of this huge run.

The route for the race will be a bit different this year due to the closure of road for the ongoing tram works. The race will start from the Meadows and will then move along the city’s prime landmarks which include Edinburgh castle, the Scott Monument, the Royal Mile, the Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament building.

This run will not only raise money for charity but also will give athletes to post out some fast time. People are also excited to run along with some famous athletes who have staged their strengths in Olympics before. Some of the other known personalities who will hit the streets will be Kaye Adams (Loose Women Presenter), Jane Slaughter (EastEnders actress), Brian Burnett (Radio DJ) and Liz McColgan (former Olyupic). It is expected that with all these known faces taking part in the run, it will be a great experience for many running with their idols.

To make sure the run goes on smoothly the roads across the city centre will remain closed from 6am in the morning to 2:30pm afternoon. It is also advised for drivers to avoid those closed roads during the run is on. In addition to Sunday’s run there will be a children’s race in the Meadows tomorrow from 1:30pm. All preparation is over and Edinburgh is buzzing to witness this massive run for a good cause.

Scotland, May 1: In a whopping auction the White Roses and the Red Roses, an artwork of Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh fetched £1,700,500. The decorative panel was first displayed in the year 1902, with this auction the decorated panel set a new world record for highest amount achieved by a Scottish art work.

The Heart of the Rose, another panel by the same artist was sold for £490,900 at the same auction held at Christie’s in London. The artist Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh was the wife of renowned designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

The White Rose and Red Rose panel is purchased by a private US buyer. The artwork was decorated with jewelled gesso, a type of plaster and paint. This incomparable decorative panel is a joint work of Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh and her husband. The celebrity couples created lot of artistic works, with Macdonald Mackintosh creating the interiors of her husband’s work.

While commenting on this Professor Pamela Robertson, senior curator of Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow said: “It was a rare treat for the art lovers when Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh’s works come up at auction. Only some of her art works exist today and most of them are in public collection.”

Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh was born in 1864 and died in 1933.

April, 30

There has been a huge jump in the number of offences on advertisements in recent times. If we look into the figures of such complaints we can spot an increase of 9.6 percent in these offensive cases. As per the Advertising Standard Authority about 2458 advertisements were either changed or withdrawn last year. This was the first time when such a huge number of adverts have been withdrawn.

Another essential factor along with other objections was the jump in environmental claims. There were a mix of ads which got strong oppose from viewers, the advert with fish-hooks in mouth got the highest number of complaints for a single advertisement. Other such advertisements include the MFI television advert in which the woman slaps her husband; many such ads received huge complaints from viewers.

It is known that advertisements have become a part of our day-today life. In this series of ads there remains several set of ads which have some offensive messages or scenes which hurts our sentiments or social values. Even few of the ads spreads wrong message or have some false promises. In this consumerism advertisements have become the pillars of trading and marketing, but to some extent they can mislead our society too.

These offensive ads have highlighted the dark side of these advertisements are generating out in the public. The recent offences have shown how people are scrutinising these ads which shall not to be shown or publicised.

Scotland, Apr 29: Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond and Prime Minister Gordon Brown have met to resolve the strike that had led to the closure of Grangemouth oil refinery. The meeting took place at the House of Commons and it lasted for about 20 minutes.

The 2 days long strike has disrupted the fuel supply and led to the halt of UK’s North Sea oil production. Mr Salmond assured that there will be no shortage of fuels in Scotland as a result of this closure.

Business Secretary John Hutton will visit the oil refinery on Tuesday, Finance and Business Minister John Swinney will also visit Grangemouth refinery. Earlier about 1,200 Unite union members walked out of the central Scotland Ineos plant on Sunday in a dispute over pensions. The founder of Ineos plant, Jim Ratcliffe was heckled by workers when he visited the site on Monday.

The Forties oil pipeline delivers about 30 per cent of the UK’s oil output from the North Sea was closed as a result of this issue. Oil prices reached a new high of about $120 a barrel.

As an attempt to tackle the issue of oil shortage 65,000 tonnes of fuel were imported, as Ineos oil refinery is considered as the main oil fuel supplier in Scotland. Even though the workers called off their strike on Tuesday morning it will take few days for the operation to get normal.

The employees and the company authorities held negotiations last week at the conciliation service Acas but it failed to bring any amicable settlement.

April, 28

The study has pointed out the fact that polar ice is melting at a faster rate and it has reached to a state from where recovery seems a tough ask. The research reports also have revealed that during September 2007 the Artic ice shrink to almost 39 percent which was below its average for 1979-2000. It was also known that the Greenland ice sheet was shrinking at a faster rate, and if this melting process continuous and the entire ice sheet melts then the sea level will rise up to a great level.

All these reports are hinting towards a much needed check to the climatic change which is making the situation more adverse. In order to stabilize the situation the Stop climate chaos Scotland, WWF, Friends of the earth Scotland and RSPB Scotland is jointly campaigning for the Scottish government to not to change its commitment in the Climate Change Bill to cut emission by 80 percent. Now government should act positively to make sure the climatic conditions doesn’t hampers anymore, disturbing the ecological balance.

Its time for the government to come up with some act to get the situation under control and face this huge ask to control the climatic change which is disturbing the natural cycle. It is the need of the hour to adjust as per the situation or else it would to be too late.