News.Scotland.Org

Scotland, Nov 24: A new concert arena proposed to be based in the Royal highland showground is considered to rise as the stiff competitor to the SECC in the Glasgow city.

The administrators are of the opinion that the Edinburgh arena will add more charm to the pop and rock performances away from the west coast. The arena that will be capable of providing a seating facility for 10000 audiences is part of a £275 million project of facilities proposed for Norton Park opposite to the showground.

A preconstruction study to get clear picture about the predicted cost and the timescale for the project to get fulfilled has been carried out under the guidance of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS). The showground project is moved to 2013 as the expansion of the Edinburgh Airport has been given more priority. The society defended the proposal at the beginning but after the viability study they agreed to move on condition that the adequate compensation is given by the airport owner BAA.

The present facilities available in the Royal Highland Centre such as the Lowland Hall, Highland hall and MacRobert pavilion will be added in the proposed site. The extended outdoor and indoor facilities made available in the centre will provide a perfect platform for an array of events including trade shows, fashion shows and the international conferences. The arena will also have a special area dedicated to indoor sports like tennis, badminton and boxing and the outdoor space will be allocated to the festivals and concerts with a maximum seating capacity of 10000.

“Glasgow has carved itself a nice niche in the concerts market and there is no reason we can’t do the same for Edinburgh,” said the director of the Royal Highland Centre, Grant Knight.

The pre construction study is carried out by Mace a part of the group delivering the London Olympics. While commenting on this a RHASS spokesman said: “The beauty of Norton Park is that it can be indoor and outdoor events, which is unique, so the range is limitless.”

Meanwhile Pete Irvine, the director of Unique Events advised that there will be difficulties in getting the regular stream of acts to fill the arena to its full capacity. He further added that it is important how the size of the venue works when it is not full.

The discussion between the society and the BAA is on progress; it is regarding the funding of the present move and is hoping to reach an amicable settlement soon. If the BAA is not willing to pay the whole expenditure of the new site then RHASS have to approach funding bodies or else compelled to scale down its proposal.

November, 24

The major threat the people of UK are facing today is HIV, this deadly virus has taken a major crunch of the population into its clutches. It has been noticed that several cases of HIV infection has been reported in Europe and has one of the highest rates of the disease. The research has suggested that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are one of the main carriers of this disease. The dilemma is that the people infected by this deadly disease even are not aware of it. In order to curb this serious situation health groups and campaigners are spreading messages for safe sex in UK.

Reports have shown that about 73,000 people are at present living with the HIV in UK. Out of which Scotland accounted to about 300 cases in the last year. This HPA’s report has also shown that more HIV cases are reported among the gay men and over 2700 fresh cases has been traced recently. Another worry sign for UK people is that HIV cases are on high spree among the heterosexuals.

Many health experts and doctors have backed the need to spread a campaign to promote safe-sex among youths, gay men and other section of society. According to Prof. Peter Borriello, Director of HPA’s Centre for Infections, “gay men should have regular HIV tests, STI clinic attendees should be tested for HIV at every visit, and young sexually active adults should be screened for chlamydia annually,” he said.

If we look at the figures of previous year we can see that about 149 new cases of HIV is seen in per million people in UK, which is one of the highest rate in Europe. From all these figures it is clearly visible that even after so much technological and communicational advancement still there is major lagging in the promotion of safe-sex message. There is a need for awareness among people not to fall prey to this deadly virus. Susan Macdonald, of the sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland said, “We need increased investment in HIV prevention, stronger national leadership, and stronger safer-sex messages.”

With HIV becoming a serious concern for the UK people now the government has planned some stringent measures to contour this menace and make sure the rates of HIV falls in near future to give the people of UK a safe and healthy life without any threat of HIV.