News.Scotland.Org

The Scottish government has been asked to bring up reforms to deal with child poverty. The recent studies shows that the poverty issue is a serious and needs urgent attention. The government needs to focus on how to bring them back to mainstream and how they plan to eliminate child poverty. Last report five years back shows that around 90 thousand children were pulled out off poverty, but still it seems the authorities will fall short to accomplish the task of completely eradicating child poverty.

Debates has been doing the round about how child poverty will have negative effects on children’s future, but despite all efforts the Scottish government still feel that more than 20 percent children still live below minimum income level. The figures has been estimated taking into account the two adult two children formula, where parents earn under £13,000 a year. But lately there is not pucca tool to deal with the growing poverty in general in Scotland.

Researchers have put the figures slight on the higher side since they calculate it at 24 percent. They general belief is that Poverty catches up fast in Scotland, and they are still struggling to keep up with the figures. Other set of researchers have rather put the current situation owing to poor diet and unemployment. This leads to low education and poor health, and often required them to move out and make their living find solace through other resource.

They employment policy needs to be reformed in a way that can help these underdogs to come back to the mainstream. So very core decision and practical regulation has to be in place to to give hope to this impoverished citizens. Scotland has to bring back the legacy of education and food for all.

British Airways is confronted with a third round of   cabin crew strike after the Unite union is advising its members to reject the BA peace offer online ballot.  If things work out as planned by the   union, strikes are likely to be called soon after the May 6 elections.

The latest strike call was triggered when BA stuck to its stand that the suspended union members will not be taken back nor the travel concessions to the crew who struck work last month will  be reinstated. The last strike call resulted in a three-year pay deal for the employees, with pay rises starting next year and the year after pegged to inflation,  a guarantee that existing staff would be put in  lucrative long-haul routes and a guarantee that their earnings, including allowances for overseas travel, would be protected.

Tony Woodley, Unite’s joint General Secretary, said in a statement: “I believe British Airways is seeking to break trade unionism among its cabin crew by a process of bullying and humiliation. This we cannot and will not accept.

BA lost £43 million during the week long strike in March and  over £120 million when the flights were grounded due to the  Icelandic ash cloud. By offering  a pay hike, BA which is heading for its second-consecutive year of losses had extended an olive branch with the union members and the striking employees. However the union is planning to move ahead with its strike call in disregard to the customers and the business according to the airlines spokes person.

While many cabin crew members hope for an early solution to this nagging issue , some staff feel that want a speedy resolution to the dispute, some others feel that they have nothing to lose by going for a fresh strike call to ensure that they get back their travel concessions. Most of the staff rely on the travel concessions,which is only 10% of the normal fare to commute to work  from places like Scotland or cities in mainland Europe. The road to  recovery from the longest and costliest airspace shutdown in history seems to be a long and tough one for BA and the saddest part is that it is the hapless passengers who get  caught in the cross fire of the union and the BA .

The strong currency and volcanoes has meant many stag and hen groups deciding to stay in the UK this summer.  Scotland can offer so many of the thrill seeking activities including rafting and cliff jumping to honda pilots and tank driving.  Edinburgh is still a top destination for stag weekends and hen nights according to Gobananas.

Some of the most popular stag and hen things to do:

• Paintball
• Quad biking
• Clay pigeon shooting
• White water rafting
• Canyoning
• Mini Highland Games
• Jelly Wrestling
• Fore Play Lessons
• pole dancing lessons

If you are coming to Scotland you should really try some Scottish activities, you can paintball anywhere, but there is only one place you can have your own mini highland games.

After having a energetic day, now its time for some full on night action :

• Nightclubs
• Bars
• Casinos
• Strippers
• Lap dancing clubs
• Comedy clubs
• Pole dancing clubs

For more ideas for a stag do or hen party visit

• www.gobananas.co.uk
• www.edinburghstagparty.com
• www.staghenscotland.com

Secondary teachers are feeling the heat with the new curriculum being brought in by the Curriculum for Excellence. It is learnt that majority of the teachers are not confident to deliver lessons for these new syllabus. Only 25% of the teachers seems fine with this new curriculum which will be brought in across the secondary schools in Scotland, says a survey.

This survey was conducted by the Ipsos-Mori on a sample of 15,000 teachers, and three in four told that they don’t feel confident to take class for the senior pupils.  The new curriculum will come into effect from August this year. It is also told that this new revision in the curriculum of Scottish education has come after a long time and it was long since the need for such a change was felt for.

Even there is a confusion on how to prepare the pupils for the  SQA exams associated with the curriculum. Teachers need to be well trained to take up the new curriculum and make sure the pupils are guided well. This new curriculum is thought to be a boon for the Scottish secondary education system.

The ash of the volcano eruption might have settled down, but it will take some more time for Scotland to overcome its aftermath. Though the impact of this volcanic eruption was such, that apart from the airline woes, it also hit the tourism revenue with the cancellation of many events. In all over 60 events were canceled or postponed due to this volcano eruption, causing a revenue loss of over £2 million.

Even though airlines were the main victims of this volcano eruption, it was the revenue for the tourism sector which took the back seat after this eruption saga. Loganair which provides most flights within Scotland to the Highlands and Islands on behalf of the Flybe has reported to have lost £1m due to the disruption. Many other airline companies to have faced a crunch time with this huge disruption.

Fear even persist for further volcanic activity which may again turn around the things. Whatever the situation might be the bottom line is that, Scotland has lost a great revenue in terms of its tourism and aviation due to this volcano menace. It was a travelers nightmare which many foreign nationals came across after this eruption made them stranded in the airports.

Hope this untoward volcano eruption won’t dent the tourism industry of Scotland and will keep the visitors flow intact.

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Glasgow, will be a green place to live in the days to come thanks to an innovative scheme that is being devised to cut down the carbon emissions and to chart out eco friendly energy generating systems to meet the  city’s growing needs. Power Sustainable Glasgow,a consortium,led by Strathclyde and with many eminent  scientists and  professors in its panel, has come out with a  report on how the city aims to become one of Europe’s most sustainable cities in the next decade.

The focus will be to reduce the carbon emissions by over 30% in the coming decade and to manage fuel deficit and to revitalize the city. The proposed green energy projects is expected to bring in over  £1.5billion of new investment into the city during that period.

Some of the recommendations in the report includes converting the sewerage and municipal wastes generated in the city to biogas and to create woodlands in barren ares to make it more green. Electrical vehicles will be promoted and oil and coal heating will be completely phased out. The local populace  will be encouraged to bring in a positive change in their behaviour and to incorporate eco friendly principles wherever possible in their day to day life.

The next phase of the project which includes the creation of an Energy Masterplan for the city, will be the first of its kind in the whole of the UK. The city centre of Glasgow have the highest density of energy consumption in Scotland and the innovative energy management system would ensure the optimum utilization of  integration of many related areas like  renewable energy, energy management  district heating and combined heat and power.

The holistic approach taken by the city is being watched with great interest all over the world , which would be learning from the Glasgow experience. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of modern world and how best the countries can  strike a balance in meeting the increased demand for energy by keeping the carbon emissions under check and by promoting renewable energy technologies is going to make or break the economies of nations in the days ahead!

Scotland’s top police officers had said that as the marches and parades in Scotland are increasing, so has the strain on them, it needs to be cut to single figures. Arising demands in tackling crime like domestic abuse has had police officers reducing such events and to let them pay for it as in the case of football clubs and others, if they are so keen on marching.

Calling for a reduction in such numbers, Les Gray, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation had said that in the year 2008/09, an amount of £1.7 million has been spent by Strathclyde with almost 50,000 officer hours being wasted.

Challenging critics to use a new method with almost 7000 cases of police assaults reported in the earlier year and with many of the cases not reported yet, Les Gray added that the use of Tasers to non firearms would protect the lives of the police officers.

With the increase in drink fueled and drug violent individuals storming the streets of Scotland, there should be the use of necessary equipments to disarm them who will be stocked with swords, firearms, axes, knives or other deadly weapons. So far many ideas have been brought up as to the usage of Tasers which can not only protect police officers but also life. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill considers that different approaches such as Tasers should be accepted to bring more harmony than corruption and abusive behavior.

The historic stairway connecting Edinburgh’s Market Street and North Bridge is all set to get a marble make over, to make it an architectural wonder. It has always been fondly referred to as the  ‘Athens of the North’ and with the new marble beautification , Edinburgh is all set to leave  its mark in the hall of fame of beautiful cities.

Martin Creed, the Glasgow based Turner Prize-winning contemporary artist is in charge of refurbishing  one of the capital’s least prepossessing stairwells, connecting Waverley Station with the Old Town. Creed who won the £20,000 Turner Prize in 2001 with The Lights Going On And Off is well  acclaimed simple yet modern art works, which have always been well accepted by art lovers.

The total project outlay set at over  £100,000 will see one of the most modern artists of Scotland working in the classical medium of marble for the first time. The artistic renovation of the  steps is partly funded by the Scottish Government’s Expo Fund of £150,000.The steps will be repaved with different types of marble sourced from all over the world to make it more bright and spectacular. Once the renovation work is completed the steps might be closed for visitors at night.

In 1898 John Ritchie & Co, The Scotsman newspaper proprietors purchased a plot on the west side of North Bridge as a new location for the headquarters of the newspaper in which the architects Dunn and Findlay  designed a stunning complex of buildings. The Scotsman Steps formed an integral part of the design, which provided direct access to the lower levels of the building and to the newspaper’s own private siding at Waverley Station.

The steps will be a major permanent art exhibit by the artist and his  marble plan will be curated by the Fruitmarket Gallery and will be arranged in conjunction with City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh World Heritage. It is expected to be set in place before the year end and if the gates are installed they will be closing at the same time as the  Waverley Station. The refurbished steps would be yet another compelling reason for the tourists to make a stopover at Edinburgh in the coming days!

It was smiles all over, with flights regaining its operations after six-day long shutdown due to the ash clouds formed by the Icelandic volcano eruption. This news came as a respite for many passengers who were stranded for days at the airports. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced a phased reintroduction of UK airspace from 10pm. This whole deal has come up with a revision of the present rules, which states that the airlines have to make an intensive ash damage test of the aircraft before and after each flight. They are also asked to report any ash related incidents.

All this rules came in a unified manner involving manufacturers, airlines, the government and aviation bodies. These rules will be a great help to tackle such adverse situations, and has added a set of rules to be adhered by airlines under such situations. Even though, the flights have started operating, still it is told that, it may take few more days before all the stranded passengers reach home.

About 30 BA-flights operated en route for London, after week long shutdown, government is trying their level best to make sure all stranded passengers reach home safely. Alex Salmond, the First Minister, said One of the key lessons of this episode is that we must have the same empirical evidence about conditions in the air as we have on the ground upon which to base safe and intelligent decisions.” The passengers are glad after the flights started operations and many still awaits to get back home after all the pandemonium.

It was a huge loss for the people of Scotland this sunday with the demise of the noted broadcaster and actor Tom Fleming. Fleming, 82 died at the St Columba’s Hospice here in Edinburgh. His distinctive voice has served the people of Scotland for almost over 30 years, being part of all major occasions including the Queen’s coronation, Diana’s funeral and the opening of the Scottish parliament, Fleming was a commentator to remember for long .

Being multi-talented, Fleming along with broadcasting was also good at acting, directing and poetry. He has been an asset for the country with exemplary services to the Scottish art. Born in Edinburgh, Fleming even played the lead role in the first ever full-length televised drama production from Scotland,’The Black Eye’. His works were rewarded with an OBE in 1980, and he also became a doctor of Heriot-Watt University during 1984, Fleming was also a fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1986.

Broadcaster and actor Tom Fleming, entertained and informed millions, he has done commentary for consecutive Tattoos from 1966 until 2009. He has also been actively part of many art and theatre works and also led the corporate Minister of Canonmills church in Edinburgh for 20 years. In his career, Fleming has commentated for a whole lot of events along with the Queen’s silver jubilee, ten funerals and even two royal weddings.

His major achievements includes his tenure with BBC as a commentator for the VE and VJ Day commemorations, Fleming was also known for his annual commentary on the Cenotaph service in London. Along with all this, Fleming too have been part of many other functions and events, both on stage and air, his voice and style of presentation made him distinct from others. To pay tribute to this class person, came many journalist, dignitaries and friends who gathered to bid adieu to their loved star.

News Source : Scotsman

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