News.Scotland.Org

Finally the new logo for the 2014 commonwealth games was launched amidst some chaos and fanfare.  It all started when the logo was found to be almost identical to the design created for the Common Guild 2007. Both the designs do had similarities which triggered a hullabaloo, with the game organisers claiming that the logo was an original piece of artwork.

Meanwhile Glasgow Tory MSP Bill Aitken said that he will be raising the issue with Games organisers due to the similarities among the two logos. The new logo has similarity with the old logo which raises a question on the originality of this new design. On other hand the game organisers strongly felt nothing to suspect regarding the logo, and it is well matched for the money paid for it.

Now it has to be seen that, what will be the fate of this new logo which has triggered a debate over its originality. Whatever the results might come, but all sport enthusiasts do hope this confusion won’t effect the preparations of the Glasgow 2014 games.

News Source :  Scotsman

For any lover of golf, here’s great news – the 2010 Open Championship at St.Andrews, the most storied and challenging course in Scotland- Golfing is just a few months away. One of golf’s four “Majors”, the Open Championship is the only one hosted outside of the United States. The Open is not tied to one course unlike the Masters and is conducted each year with a different classic course in England or Scotland.

Since 1990, the tournament has been here once in five years with Tiger Woods earning the winning trophy in 2000 and 2009. To be held on 15 to 18th of July, 2010, it is not alone the biggest golf event of the year in Scotland but also the biggest every five years with the most prestigious tournament coming to the most famous course in golf.

No destination quite like Scotland, for golfers and fans of the game to enjoy a great golfing holiday near the Old Course at St. Andrews in Fife, about a 30-mile drive north of Edinburgh. With hundreds of courses across the country, including some of the most famous in the world, there is no other more complete a golf destination than Scotland. With high roughs, unpredictable weather and world class competition, it will be very busy for all golf enthusiasts with loads of time to plan a fabulous Scotland tour.

Seals are given better protection under the Marine (Scotland) Bill which was passed by the Scottish Parliament. Scotland, being the guardian to the globally important population of common and grey seals, have noticed in the recent times the killing of thousands of them by salmon netsmen, fish farmers and fishermen. After these controversies, a campaign was conducted to protest the killing of the innocent species by the Advocates for Animals resulting in 21,000 emails to the MSPs.

As such the Marine bill was strengthened and passed replacing the outdated Conservation of Seals Act 1970. The Bill states that…

• Seals should not be shot without a licence
• Use of non-lethal methods of excluding or deterring seals should not be applied before a seal licence is granted
• Welfare conditions are to be placed on licences(instructions updated in the bill)
• Killing of seals during breeding seasons is prohibited
• At a haul-out site, seals are protected from intentional or reckless harassment
• The numbers of seals killed under a licence must be reported quarterly
• Every five years, the licensing regime will be formally reviewed
• In line with other wildlife legislation, the Bill increases the penalties for killing or injuring a seal.

UK’s largest bird of prey, sea eagles, have thrived in the country since their reintroduction from extinction and are proving to be generating a high tourism bonus. Little larger than the golden eagle, it is mottled brown in colour with a pale head and pale patches on the wings and distinguished by its hooked beak and white tail.

A bird of the wilderness it inhabits huge territories where it can nest undisturbed. As predators, they are meat eaters though they will take carrion as well as go hunting for themselves. Nesting in remote areas they prefer tall trees or cliffs and remain in one territory bringing up their young ones in the successive years.

Like many other birds of prey, they have suffered from widespread persecution by humans. Though their habitat loss was not a factor in their decline, the birds were hunted by gamekeepers and shepherds to protect their fisheries and livestock and were also prized as trophies. As a result, sea eagles experienced a decrease in numbers throughout their range during the nineteenth century.

From 1975, a number of the species were imported from Norway over a period of ten years and released into the wild on the island of Rhum. It wasn’t until the end of this period that the first pair bred successfully and since then they are released into the wild in Scotland, both in Wester Ross and most recently in Fife, where 15 birds were released in June 2009.

The release programme has been a success in the re-establishment of the birds in Scotland and currently there are around 200 individual birds, with much expected to increase. An additional advantage and a plus side, the birds are bringing economic benefit to the economy in the west of Scotland and the estimates show that around 6,000 people visit the island of Mull annually to see the eagles, generating around £2million for the local economy.

Provided with the highest possible protection status for the sea eagles under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, making it an offence not just to kill or injure or damage their nests, but also to disturb them, they have become very popular and a tourist amusement. There are guided tours that run from 21 March-mid July with essential booking at a cost of £4 per adult. Elsewhere in Scotland, there are several good sites for spotting the birds, all in the west of the country. These include:

• The Isle of Skye, close to Portree and Kylerhea
• Argyll, most notably Crinan, Loch Awe and Ardcastle
• The island of Raasay, off Skye

The star attractions in a major international exhibition that was conducted on October 16th were the two 16th-century Italian Renaissance masterpieces, Titian’s “Diana” paintings, a part of an exhibit of 12 paintings and 13 drawings from the National Galleries of Scotland. First ever to be shown in the US, these paintings were brought to Atlanta, GA by the High Museum of art.

On the first anniversary of the nation’s acquisition of Titian’s Diana and Actaeon, the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and the National Gallery in London announced a tour of the painting to three venues in Scotland in 2010. The painting will be on public display in Aberdeen Art Gallery from 28 May to 27 June, at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow from 1 July to 1 August and at the McManus Galleries, Dundee from 6 August to 5 September.

Considered national treasures of the United Kingdom, where they have been on long-term loan at the National Galleries in Edinburgh since 1945, it was commissioned by King Phillip of Spain as part of a series of six mythological paintings based on the classical poet Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”.

In 2008, the Scottish institution and the National Gallery of London were given the opportunity to acquire the paintings, conceived by Titian as a pair. In less than five months, at a price reported at more than $70 million, the museums had purchased “Diana and Actaeon” which has long been recognized as one among Titian’s very finest creations. They are now raising funds to secure “Diana and Callisto,” (1556-1559), another supreme masterpiece of Venetian Renaissance art, which is slightly the larger of the two paintings at 73 inches by 80 inches.

Scotrail has assured for regular operation of the trains amidst the 24-hour strike called by its workers here on Monday. Nine out of ten trains will run, making sure the commuters don’t face any problems to travel, says officials at Scotrails. Meanwhile the strike has been called over the issue of safety, even last month around 550 rail workers staged a 24-hour walkout and with today’s strike its second strike in a row in the past one month.

Reports have even suggested for another walk on March 13, whilst the core issue for all these strikes remains the passenger-staff safety and the ripping up of agreements dating back to 2001 that protect the safety-critical role of the guard on Scotrail trains. Anger can also be seen on the government agency transport Scotland which had backed the first Scotrail’s plan to run the service with drivers and ticket examiners, but without any conductors.

This anger between the workers and the management seems to continue with innocent passengers left to face the brunt of these regular rail strikes. Hope the unrest gets over soon and Scotts don’t have to face any further rail strikes in future.

News Source – BBC News

Heard of anything like waking up the mother nature from her long winter sleep with a unique celebration? Various theories originating to the Whuppity Scoorie day celebrated on March 1st in Lanark, Scotland, it is a unique celebration that goes way back into the mid -nineteenth century.

On March 1st, just before the clock strikes 6 and the sunlight gets shadowed, the town school children  gather at St. Nicholas Church at Lanark where as the tradition goes a small bell is rung at 6 pm and the children are found to be running around the church in an anti clockwise direction three times, all the while waving a piece of paper on a string over their small heads.

Used to be a race, considering the safety of the children, these days the race element has been eliminated. At the end of the run, children are allowed to catch up with their luck of getting as much as coins thrown on the ground by the members of the Royal Burgh of Lanark Community Council.

Various theories had been put forward to the origin of this ceremony and its unusual name. But as there is little evidence for all these fanciful explanations it is possibly put forwarded as a custom that had grown to be a spontaneous celebration to mark the onset of leisure that could be appreciated in daylight by the apprentices and the other youth of the town.

This event is surprisingly not celebrated by the other districts or towns of Scotland, it is unique to Lanark and remains an annual and a decidedly original Scottish celebration.

Since it opened in 1988, Glasgow’s most popular and favourite Museum of transport, Kelvin hall Museum in the city’s west end will close on April 18th, after 18 year’s of operation. One of the most popular attractions in Scotland, it is both an arts and sports venue that houses exhibits of national and international importance. Drawing almost 500,000 visitors per year, the door- closing ceremony will be marked by a series of free events and the museum will later become a part of the £74m Riverside, which was designed by the leading architect Zaha Hadid.

Funding for the project has been collected from many divisions but a campaign of £2 million is still to be launched for its successor the Riverside Museum which will open in the early 2011. Expected to attract 800,000 visitors in its first year of operation, it is noted to be a free-flowing space to accommodate large exhibits, and enable displays to be easily updated.

The construction of the Riverside is scheduled to be completed by August this year which will exhibit cars, trams, trains, bicycles, model ships and its famous recreated “street” including the recreation of three streets from 1900 to 1930, 1930 to 1960 and the 1980s. Other main attractions will include a velodrome of the historic bicycle collection which the museum features the oldest bicycle of the world and motor cars of 1938 will also be on display.

Always a source of great pride and affection for the people in Glasgow, The Museum of Transport has always been the most- visited attractions in the city. The property of the Glasgow City Council, it would not be sold and will be used for the community and other public use.

Promising to be a spectacular building, The Riverside Museum will educate and captivate visitors for generations and will be home to numerous interesting exhibits. Being constructed on the banks of Clyde and River Kelvin, a dramatic introduction of its exhibits will begin on the day of its commencement.

Celebrating 21 years of show-stopping, eye popping and jaw dropping science, 2010 Edinburgh International Science Festival will be Europe’s largest public celebration of science and technology with 26 venues across Edinburgh and beyond. Topics ranging from hot issues of today to predictions of tomorrow, you can get down to see a stream of events that will rip the white coat off science revealing the bizarre, the intriguing and the occasionally mind-blowing.

Meet ASIMO – the world’s most advanced humanoid robot, when it visits Scotland for the very first time with its various collections. Scotland’s main science festival will showcase a new spin on ‘the beautiful game’ next month when a kick- about is staged between robots. An all- android football will be one among the main attractions in the Edinburgh science festival which will be  hosted in April by the world-leading robotics experts at the university’s School of Informatics.

Experts at the Edinburgh university will give an insight to what it takes to make a robot ‘bend it like Beckham” before letting the Android FC’s finest loose on the pitch. Others will give details about how the latest technology on robots are used to detect human emotions and simple changes in their facial expressions. The event would also take the audience through the process of creating the robots and the progress being made towards having a team of robots stage a proper match against the footballers.

The university’s series of events are expected to sale like hot cakes for the two-week festival with guest speakers including the biologist and author Richard Dawkins and psychiatrist Raj Persaud. Between 3-17 April , more than 200 events will be staged at various venues including the National Museum of Scotland and Our Dynamic Earth, the Royal Botanic Garden, the Jam House music venue, the Scotch Whisky Experience and the Filmhouse cinema.

The other main higlights of the festval include the installation of a huge 3D sound chamber at one of the city’s best-known beauty spots, premiere of a new play inspired by the latest developments in the genetic engineering and a look at the evolution of heavy metal music. It also explores into the deeper insights of human beings – their darker side- to commit horrific acts of mutilation and murder; an examination into the latest forsenic science techniques that can crack crime cases, what are the concepts or ideas that lead a human to indulge in the seven deadly sins, and the best ways to make artificial blood.

To give the youngsters a chance to explore the science behind what happens when they get a cut or bruise , a “blood bar” is also being installed in the festival’s main venue – the City Art Centre.

Many other events like a look at the faulty maths equation that could have triggered the global economic meltdown, a singles night for science buffs, various animation techniques that have been used in the latest computer games and in films like Avatar, and what one can do to try to make a real robot do the same kind of things as well as respond like a human being with a sense of balance, motion and sensitivity.

A stellar collection of the country’s best science presenters, filmmakers, performers and comedians, this festival programme is going to be a great collection that will be on par with the very best science festivals in the world.