By Quaid Najmi Pune, March 4 (IANS): A 31-year old Briton, who was the country's heaviest person three years ago, has shed a whopping 170 kg from 310 kg after undergoing bariatric surgery at a hospital in India and should stabilise at 110 kg, his proud medico said.

"Last week, Zachari Smith reported a 170 kg loss - which is perhaps the highest drop in weight for any patient in the UK and all of Asia. His Body-Mass Index (BMI) is still high but that's compensated by his good health," a beaming Shashank Shah, bariatric surgeon at the Ruby Hall Clinic here, told IANS.

But, barely three-and-a-half years ago, life had become a full-stop for Smith.

Shunned and discarded by all hospitals in Britain and Europe, Smith was reduced to a recluse in his Wales home with no company, no friends and no girlfriends, with only his steadily increasing body all around him, said Shah.

"He was alarmed when as aged around 17, he suddenly started gaining weight and in 10 years climbed to a dizzying 310 kg on the weighing scale," Shah said.

His desperate family tried all sorts of treatment in Britain and in Europe, but owing to the high risks involved in dealing with a person of his obesity, most slammed their doors on Smith.

After repeated internet searches for a cure, Smith learnt of the treatment at the Ruby Hall Clinic and finally spoke with Shah who said: "No problem. We can definitely treat you."

These were the words Smith was craving to hear more than anything else - and despite financial challenges, he decided to travel to Pune in western India. After all, 10 years ago, Shah pioneered the "sleeve gastrectomy" in India and more than 40 patients weighing over 200 kg have already undergone this safely without any post-surgical complaints.

While Smith's problems were on way to ending, the hospital's problems had just begun for the mega-operation in Novemebr 2010 which finally cost around Rs.400,000 ($8,000).

"He travelled business class to Mumbai since it had wider seats. We sent a special vehicle which could take his load and safely bring him to Pune," Shah said.

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'Heaviest' Briton sheds record weight in India!

Big Brother Watch warns that spy planes with thermal imaging cameras used by Harrow Borough Council 'could be considered snooping'

11:10am Wednesday 5th March 2014 in News By Anna Slater

Civil liberties campaigners have warned that using spy planes to search for illegal 'beds in sheds' developments could be seen as "over the top".

Harrow Borough Council spent around 20,000 on the aircraft to detect cannabis factories, homes without proper insulation and so-called 'beds in sheds' - garages or other outbuildings used as flats without authorisation.

Thermal images revealed 319 outbuildings could be being rented out illegally, often to "exploited" immigrants paying reduced rent.

But some have voiced fears the authority could have used the aircraft as a means of snooping on its residents.

Have your say: vote in our poll below.

Nick Pickles, director of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said the council should be "fully transparent" about such exercises.

He said: "They need to make sure they do not snoop on people who are not under any suspicion of wrongdoing.

"People have no idea what information is being recorded by these spy planes or the legal framework it falls under. This needs to be urgently addressed by Harrow Council.

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Spy planes 'could be considered snooping', group warns

Harrow Council found 319 suspicious sheds and garages emitting heat At least 1,000 could be living in converted outbuildings without permission Plane criss-crossed streets, picking up heat signals from outbuildings Analysis of images from night flight revealed suspicious dwellings They can be spotted because sheds aren't insulated so heat escapes

By Martin Robinson

PUBLISHED: 05:48 EST, 4 March 2014 | UPDATED: 06:37 EST, 4 March 2014

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Hundreds of rogue landlords in one London borough are illegally renting out 'beds in sheds' to immigrants on an industrial scale.

Harrow Council chartered a plane with thermal imaging to fly over streets picking up heat and found four times more 'suspicious' outbuildings than expected.

Aerial photos revealed that instead of 75 suspected illegal developments at the bottom of gardens or in garages, there were actually at least 319.

Welcome to Harrow: This is a thermal image of a street in the London borough. At the bottom of the picture is a road, and then a row of houses with heat escaping from windows. The circled building is at the bottom of a garden, and is believed to be a illegally converted outbuilding housing immigrants

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Thermal imaging camera reveals shocking extent of illegal 'beds in sheds' housing for immigrants built by rogue ...

Spy plane used to find beds in sheds in Harrow's gardens

5:28pm Monday 3rd March 2014 in News By Bruce Thain

Spy plane technology has been used to map the borough and find more than 300 suspected cases of beds in sheds.

Harrow Borough Council used the aircraft to detect illegal developments in gardens, which are then rented out.

Before the operation, planning officers estimated there were 75 cases of unauthorised 'beds in sheds' in Harrow.

Now there is a list of 319 potential cases after the evening flight, during which a thermal imaging camera was used to take aerial shots of the borough.

Do you think it is right for the council to use this technology? Vote in our poll below.

Yellow areas of colour in the images show buildings with uninsulated roofs which could possibly be illegal structures.

Council leader Cllr Susan Hall said: The pressures of migration in London, fuelled by recent waves of new arrivals from Eastern Europe, are creating new stresses on local authorities that we just havent had to contend with before.

What was once thought even just 18 months ago to be a problem for the centre of big cities is now rippling out to the suburbs.

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READER POLL: Spy plane used to find borough's beds in sheds

Published: Wednesday, 5 Mar 2014 | 10:58 AM ET

By: Reuters with CNBC.com

Getty Images

Brent crude fell for the second straight session on Wednesday, dropping below $109 a barrel on an easing of fears that Russia's incursion into Ukraine could lead to war.

Brent is now more than $3 below a two-month high hit at the start of the week following Russia's seizure of Ukraine's autonomous Crimea region, with prices having retraced all the gains seen on Monday.

Crude added to the session's losses after U.S. crude inventories rose, as gasoline and distillate stockpiles dropped. The Energy Information Administration reported oil stockpiles jumped by 1.4 million barrels, while gas and distillates fell by 1.6 million barrels and 1.4 million, respectively.

U.S. crude for April delivery was down more than $1 near $102, after falling $1.59 on Tuesday. The U.S. contract hit its highest since Sept. 20 on Monday at $105.22. Its discount to Brent narrowed to as little as $5.59 on Wednesday, the smallest gap since October.

April Brent was down nearly $1 around $108 a barrel, extending Tuesday's $1.90 drop. The contract hit $112.39 a barrel on Monday, its highest since Dec. 30. Crude held losses after data showed private payroll growth was less than expected in February.

Murkowski: Expand sales of U.S. oil abroad now

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) speaks to CNBC's Sharon Epperson about her call to expand oil exports from the United States. She also discusses the importance of the Keystone pipeline.

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Oil sheds all of Ukraine-inspired gains

ANGEL FIRE The village of Angel Fire could get more much-needed water supplies upon completion of certain documentation up to two decades past due, the State Engineers Office reported last week.

The village requested a variety of water consumption credits through a return-flow report filed with the State Engineers Office in 2005. The report suggests the village should be allowed to take more from its wells because much of the water used by the municipality returns to the ecosystem as a result of snow-making, land applications, septic discharge, golf-course irrigation, waterline breaks and waterline leaks.

In a letter delivered to Angel Fire Manager M. Jay Mitchell last week, however, Sheldon Dorman of the State Engineers Office wrote the village will not be eligible for any water credits until the municipality files a variety of documentation that should have been submitted from 1992-2013.

Among the missing documents are 23 well-completion reports due Nov. 30, 1992, a well-completion report due Dec. 30, 2008, and proof of beneficial water use due Oct. 31, 2013, Dorman wrote. Another well-completion report is due March 31 of this year, he wrote.

Dorman also wrote that the only water credits available to the village are for snow-making and sewer discharge.

It is recommended that credit for return flow for golf course irrigation, septic tanks, land application and unaccounted water such as leakage will not be granted to the Village of Angel Fire, a memo from the State Engineers Office states.

Although Angel Fires return-flow report suggests 79 percent of its water used for snow-making returns to the ecosystem, the memo states the villages snow-making credit would be based on an analysis for the Santa Fe Ski Company. Angel Fire Resort used an average of 84.24 acre-feet of the villages water for snow-making during each of the last three winter seasons, according to municipal records.

If the Santa Fe study came back and actually showed that theres a higher level of evaporation or something like that, it might be a lower (credit), Mitchell said.

Through the sewer-discharge credit, Mitchell said, the village would be allowed to use an additional acre-foot of water for every acre-foot of effluent released into the Cineguilla Creek. Although the village has the ability and permits to discharge about 1,120 acre-feet of water into the creek each year, the municipality released an average of only 63.08 acre-feet during each of the last six years.

This is why we need to get more people hooked up on our sewage system. We dont get septic credit. Its metered, so anything we process, clean and discharge, we get one-for-one credit on it, Mitchell said. ...Out of just roughly over 1,800 water customers that the village has, weve only got 389 that are on our sewer system.

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Sangre Chronicle > Archives > Angel Fire > Much-needed Angel Fire water credits hinge on missing documents

Living room set-top boxes have become increasingly sophisticated, but they can still feel backward any time you need to input a long password or search term using an onscreen keyboard.

Logitech's new Harmony Smart Keyboard ($150 list) is aimed squarely at that problem. It's a full-size keyboard that lets you type on (most of) your living room devices, while also offering total living room control in the manner of a typical Harmony universal remote.

The universal remote capabilities of the system are similar to the Logitech Harmony Smart Control ($130), except the keyboard replaces the simplified remote. The Hub is the brain of the system, accepting commands from the keyboard or the Harmony mobile app, then issuing commands to the appropriate device using IR, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi.

Logitech is no stranger to making a quality keyboard, and the hardware feels well made. The keyboard is covered in a nice, grippy finish, and it's relatively light, even though it requires two AA batteries. On the other hand, it's an intimidating device compared to a standard TV remote -- frequently used keys like volume up / down and transport control are relatively small and easy to miss at first glance amid the other 77 buttons.

Getting a full-size wireless keyboard to work with a variety of gadgets isn't easy. In the best case scenario, the Harmony Smart Keyboard system can issue commands directly to your devices, which it can do with Roku boxes (via Wi-Fi) and the Apple TV (via Bluetooth). (Logitech also said that direct control of Roku boxes over Wi-Fi will also come to the Harmony Smart Control later this year.)

Other devices aren't so simple. For example, with the PlayStation 3, the Harmony Smart Keyboard can power up and navigate menus via Bluetooth, but for typing you'll need to connect to one of the two included USB adapters. Both Bluetooth and the USB adapters end up being used for controlling the PS3, and the idea is it should feel seamless when you're using it. It seems like Logitech's had to do a lot of work to make ensure compatibility with Harmony Smart Keyboard, and the company says it will be publishing extensive online resources for the particulars of each device.

Logitech specifically mentions support for Apple TV, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, Mac/PC computers, and Roku devices. Other devices, such as Smart TVs, may work too, but compatibility will differ on a model-by-model basis. According to Logitech, Sony hasn't offered any company the ability to control the PS4 with a third-party device, but the Harmony team is still working on a solution.

In addition to the physical keyboard, you'll also be able to control your living room devices using the Harmony App (available on Android/iOS), just as you can with the Harmony Smart Control. One major difference is that Harmony Smart Keyboard users will also have the ability to use your mobile device's touch-screen keyboard to type on your living room devices. The capability will also be available to Harmony Smart Control users later this year.

The Logitech Harmony Smart Keyboard will be available later in March for $150, which includes the keyboard, Harmony Hub, and two USB adapters. The keyboard (without the Hub) won't initially be offered separately for existing Hub owners, although Logitech says it's a possibility in the future.

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Logitech Harmony Smart Keyboard: A living room keyboard and universal remote

Hotels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai record a surge in revenues as tourists flock to the UAE

HotStats MENA Chain Hotels Market Review January 2014

Hotels in Abu Dhabi posted double digit growth in Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) in January on the back of strong growth in occupancy levels and Average Room Rates (ARR), according to the latest HotStats survey of full-service hotels in five MENA cities by TRI Hospitality Consulting.

Abu Dhabi hotels reported a 7.6% growth in ARR to US$165.07 in January, while occupancy climbed 5.4 percentage points to 74.7%. The combined effects of a rise in both performance indicators drove RevPAR growth by an impressive 16.0% and closed the month at US$123.37. The increase in Average Room Rates was primarily driven by the corporate and conferencing segments as a result of demand generated from high profile events such as the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. The growth in the top line, combined with a 2.6 percentage point drop in payroll costs, resulted in a 35.9% surge in profit margins during the month as the Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room (GOPPAR) reached US$86.88.

"January is typically a robust month of performance for hotels in Abu Dhabi and this year was no exception as continued growth was seen across all key indicators. According to Abu Dhabi Airports Company, Abu Dhabi International Airport received 1,564,266 passengers in January, marking a rise of 14.5 percent from the previous year that corresponded to the continued expansion of Etihad Airways. In addition to benefitting from international passenger growth, Abu Dhabi also hosted a number of high profile events that boosted international visitor numbers. A series of packages were developed for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, as hotels partnered with other travel industry members to cultivate the golf travel segment and strengthen Abu Dhabi's foothold as an international golf destination" commented Peter Goddard, Managing Director of TRI Hospitality Consulting in Dubai.

Record-high air passenger traffic helped hotels in Dubai maintain robust performance levels during the month of January. Occupancy levels in Dubai reached 86.3% and ARR increased by 10.8% to US$402.15 during the month, boosting RevPAR by 9.5% to US$347.17. Higher average rates were largely attributed to higher yield from the leisure segment, as visitors took advantage of holidays such as the Orthodox Christmas and New Year and the extended New Year break in China. The growth in the top line revenues, coupled with a decline in operating expenses, drove an increase in profits during the month as GOPPAR reached US$302.94, up by 10.4% over the same period in 2013.

"Hotels in Dubai successfully yielded higher average rates on the back of strong leisure demand during the month of January. The growth in hotel performance also came in the wake of a number of key occasions including the Orthodox Christmas and New Year which attract substantial demand from Russia and the CIS market. In addition, the annual Dubai Shopping Festival occurred throughout the entire month of January and based upon initial estimates saw a 5.0 to 10.0% rise in shoppers, with the GCC and East Asia maintaining their position as the top source markets", commented Goddard.

Riyadh and Kuwait experience lower revenue and profitability levels as corporate demand subsides in January

Doha hotels reported a 10.9 percentage point growth in occupancy in January and closed the month with an average occupancy of 70.5%, however, ARR dropped 1.2% to US$225.37. RevPAR witnessed impressive growth of 16.9% to US$158.91 solely driven by the double digit rise in occupancy levels. The growth in guests contributed to a 16.9% rise in food and beverage profits, which reached US$74.7 per available room. Overall, hotels in Doha reported a 14.0% growth in Total Revenue Per Available Room (TRevPAR) and coupled with a reduction in payroll costs, profitability surged 24.2% to US$156.21.

"The increase in profit levels experienced by the hotels during January was attributed to stronger room revenues as a result of increased demand in January. Additionally, a rise in food and beverage consumption which comprised 44.5% of total revenues further impacted the bottom line. However, rising competition in the city continues to impede further growth in profits as new entrants launch aggressive strategies in order to penetrate the market", commented Peter Goddard, Managing Director of TRI Hospitality Consulting.

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HotStats MENA Chain Hotels Market Review January 2014

ARMOR ROOFING JUNE 7 2013 GLADSTONE MO 64118
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By: Shawn Obermann

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AROMR ROOFING http//:www.roofsareus.com Kansas City MO/KS (816) 331 7663 Olathe KS (913) 782 7663 Joplin/Springfield MO (417)866 7663 St.Paul MN (612) 322 76...

By: Shawn Obermann

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FOR MINDY KELLY BY SHAWN OBERMANN ARMOR ROOFING NO 1 ROOFING COMTRACTOR - Video