‘Argo’ star Affleck urges US investment in DR Congo

‘Argo’ star Affleck urges US investment in DR Congo
Space suit leak happened before, NASA admits
His majesty receives in audience 5th earl of cranbrook, belait wildlife sanctuary discussed
DGCA examining Airasia india’s application for flying permit
Federal, Selangor govts sign MoU on restructuring of water supply industry
Hazy condition due to domestic factors

Posted: 26 Feb 2014 05:15 PM PST

Hollywood star Ben Affleck called Wednesday for targeted investment in the private sector in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where he sees a window of opportunity to end a cycle of unrest.

The A-list actor and director, who has founded a non-profit group called the Eastern Congo Initiative and has made repeated trips to the region, advocated the United States shift its priorities in delivering aid, in a hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"People would rather be invested in than accept aid, would rather have a job than live in a camp," he said.

Specific, small-scale investments are sometimes better than massive projects because they can be monitored more closely, Affleck argued, plugging his organization's involvement in building a partnership between local cocoa growers and organic chocolate company Theo.

"It?s good business for the Congolese and it's paying off for this American company," which will buy 640 tons of cocoa from Congolese growers this year, he said, emphasizing "economic development is the key for sustainable growth."

The "Argo" star testified alongside Roger Meece, former US ambassador to Kinshasa, and conflict economy expert Raymond Gilpin, from the Africa Center for Strategic Studies of the National Defense University.

Along with former Senator Russ Feingold, President Barack Obama's envoy to the region, all four expressed optimism about progress in the conflict-torn, but resource-rich DRC, where they said a recent peace deal that ended hostilities with the M23 rebel group was a major step forward.

They praised the UN's "intervention brigade," whose mandate was extended beyond peacekeeping, as being pivotal in bringing about the peace deal.

But they said signficant reforms to the security sector are needed, as well as elections.

Feingold noted that Washington has set aside $3.7 million to support the DRC's next elections — a "paltry sum."

"I think this is something we should heavily engage in," he urged.

Affleck, who also met US Secretary of State John Kerry, said the troubled 2011 election, following a mostly well-regarded 2006 presidential vote, demonstrated the need for continued international involvement.

"This is a region that?s suffered enormous damage and trauma. And this fire is now abating a little bit, and we have a window where engagement on the part of secretary, the president, the Congress all collectively can make a real difference," he said at the State Department.

"And I think historically, there?s an instinct to sort of put out one fire and go to the next fire. And this is a point where we can act to prevent the fire from igniting again." -AFP

Space suit leak happened before, NASA admits

Posted: 26 Feb 2014 05:00 PM PST

A US-made space suit that leaked water into a helmet and threatened to drown a European astronaut had malfunctioned before, NASA admitted on Wednesday.

The flaw appeared during a spacewalk a week prior to the July 16 outing by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano and an American, but US space agency officials misdiagnosed it as a leaking drink bag.

That means the incident, which investigators described as among the most serious in the history of the US space program, was preventable, NASA said in its final report on the investigation into what went wrong.

"The space suit actually suffered the same failure at the end of EVA (extravehicular activity, or spacewalk) 22, performed a week earlier, and this event was not properly investigated, which could have prevented placing a crew member at risk a week later," said a summary of the report NASA released online.

The fault was attributed to "misdiagnosis of this suit failure when it initially occurred."

Parmitano's helmet began leaking water shortly after he began his spacewalk on July 16.

He first reported sensing liquid around his head 44 minutes into the spacewalk and was rushed back inside the International Space Station.

Parmitano was rattled but unhurt by the experience, which could have caused him to suffocate.

He had 1.5 liters of water in his helmet by the time he was rescued, NASA said.

At the time of the first leak, which happened to Parmitano a week earlier on his first-ever spacewalk and while he was wearing the same suit, NASA thought it was a problem with the drink bag, found inside the front of the space suit, and did not probe it further.

"The reason it was not properly investigated — it wasn't an issue of anything being hidden or suppressed — really the issue that there was a lack of understanding of the severity of the event," said Chris Hansen, chairman of the Mishap Investigation Board.

"It was believed that the drink bag caused this leak. Because of that, it really led the team to miss what ended up being the ultimate cause of the leak on EVA 23."

The fault in the space suit has been attributed to aluminum silicate contamination that clogged the fan pump separator, a system that helps regulate space suit temperature.

"That clog prevented water from flowing properly through the water separator and caused the water to back up and flow into the suit's air system," said Hansen.

But exactly how that contamination came to be is still unresolved.

"We didn't quite get to root cause as we would have liked," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration, who added that work is ongoing to find out how and why the space suit hardware failed.

NASA has used the same basic space suit model for the past three decades, but has never before experienced this sort of flaw.

The space agency installed makeshift snorkels and absorbent pads inside the spacesuits for subsequent spacewalks that were done to make repairs outside the International Space Station in December. -AFP

His majesty receives in audience 5th earl of cranbrook, belait wildlife sanctuary discussed

Posted: 26 Feb 2014 04:04 PM PST

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: His Majesty the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and the Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday afternoon consented to receive in audience The Right Honorable Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, the 5th Earl of Cranbrook, at Istana Nurul Iman, ©BRUDIRECT.COM reported.

Lord Cranbrook is currently in the country on invitation by the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) for the launching ceremony of the Sungai Ingei research project, Phase II – "Faunal Biodiversity Survey in the Extension Zone of the Proposed Belait Basin Wildlife Sanctuary" yesterday.

Present at the audience ceremony were Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Yahya Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, and David Campbell, the British High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam.

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DGCA examining Airasia india’s application for flying permit

Posted: 26 Feb 2014 03:54 PM PST

NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has begun examining start-up carrier AirAsia India's application for a flying permit after rejecting various objections for it.

The process of examining AirAsia India's application has started, Press Trust of India reported quoting unnamed official.

However, the time-frame as to when the airline would get the permit was not revealed in the report.

Meanwhile, AirAsia India Chief Executive officer Mittu Chandilya tweeted a picture of AirAsia's aircraft with a quote,"Sneak preview of days to come in Indian skies. These red birds are raring to go-dressed, painted with the Indian flag."

In April 2013, the foreign investment promotion board had approved the US$30-million deal to launch AirAsia India.

It had also received a no-objection certificate from the Civil Aviation Ministry last year.

AirAsia India was also granted in-principle approval to import 10 Airbus A-320-200 aircraft last December. — BERNAMA

Federal, Selangor govts sign MoU on restructuring of water supply industry

Posted: 26 Feb 2014 03:53 PM PST

PUTRAJAYA: The federal and Selangor governments have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the restructuring of the state's water supply industry which has dragged on for five years.

The federal government was represented by Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili while the state government by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim at the signing ceremony held at the Perdana Putra Complex here yesterday.

The ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.

Under the MoU, the state government will issue a development order for the construction of the Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant (Langat 2) and its distribution system (LRAL2) (Package 2A) effective yesterday and ensure that all approvals and authorisations relating to the LRAL2 project approved within 30 days.

In addition, the federal government is ready to inject additional funds to enable the state government to take over water concession companies and manage water supply in the state through a state-owned company.

The restructuring exercise is essential in ensuring sustainable and efficient water supply services in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

The MoU also allows the state government to bid on the state's water concession companies, namely Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash), and Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd (ABBAS).

It also spells out that the federal government becomes a facilitator for the state government in implementing the restructuring exercise through the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (WSIA) and other applicable laws.

Speaking at a news conference later, Ongkili said the federal government agreed to set up a committee made up state government representatives for the implementation of the LRAL2 project.

"The federal and Selangor governments hope water concessionaires in the state will give full cooperation to ensure the success of the restructuring of the water supply services industry for the well-being of the people of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya," he said.

Ongkili said the MoU was not prompted by current water crisis in Selangor but rather in the interest of the people.

"Even though Selangor is not under Barisan Nasional, the people's interest comes first… we have worked hard for more than seven months to reach a consensus," he said. — Bernama

Hazy condition due to domestic factors

Posted: 26 Feb 2014 03:51 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: The causes of the current haze in Malaysia have been identified to be domestic sources such as forest burning, smoke from factories, vehicle emissions and open burning.

Malaysian Meteorological Department (JMM) director-general Datuk Che Gayah Ismail said the haze had no connection with the recent eruption of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatera, Indonesia or other outside factors.

She said the hot and dry weather without any rainfall for several days experienced in the country only made the situation worse.

"This time, the haze is caused by domestic sources and the lack of rainfall has caused such things as gas, dust, ash and particles to float in the atmosphere and not fall down to the earth," she told Bernama.

The department's records showed that the haze was now concentrated in large urban areas with economic and industrial activities as well as a large number of vehicles such as Kuala Lumpur, Selangor (Subang) and Penang (Seberang Perai).

Che Gayah said the temperature due to the hot and dry weather this year was high compared to the same period last year and this was expected to continue until the middle of March.

"However, the haze is still within control but early measures to prevent it getting worse should be taken, including avoiding open burning and reduced use of private vehicles on the roads," she said.

The Air Pollution Index recorded by the Department of Environment at noon yesterday showed that the air quality status in 23 areas was good while in 26 others, it was average.

Meanwhile, the vice-president of the Public Health Specialists Association, Dr Othman Warijo said more cases of fever were recorded during a period of haze.

Without stating the number of people who came down with fever, he said an adequate intake of water would help the body's resistance become stronger.

"Drink enough water, whether plain or isotonic, although you cannot drink too much isotonic water as it has a high sugar content," he said.

He also advised the public to avoid too much intake of ice in their drinks as it could contribute to other ailments like coughing and allergies for some people. — Bernama