UK graduates less competitive

BRITAIN is falling behind other industrialised nations in the race to produce the highly skilled graduates needed to remain competitive in the world economy, an international survey of education found on Tuesday.

In 2000 some 37 per cent of young Britons graduated, ranking Britain third amongst the members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), beaten only by Finland and New Zealand.

But by 2008 Britain had fallen to 14th, overtaken by countries with rising graduation rates such as Poland, the Netherlands, Japan, Ireland and Norway, the OECD reported in its annual review of education statistics.

The findings come as coalition ministers look for ways to cut state spending on higher education with the Treasury demanding 25 per cent budget cuts across government to curb a record budget deficit. Tomorrow's university students face steep rises in the eventual cost of their education, either in the form of higher tuition fees or in larger taxes after graduation, ministers have indicated.

But the OECD said investing in higher education made financial sense for countries, even if they were running a deficit. 'Countries with high graduation rates ... are also those most likely to develop or maintain a highly skilled labour force,' it said in the report Economics at a Glance 2010.

Said Wendy Piatt, head of the Russell Group of leading universities, 'Without more investment in higher education ... the UK risks jeopardising the competitive advantage which has made its universities the envy of the world'.

Firm handshake, longer life

A FIRM handshake could be a sign of a longer life expectancy, according to British researchers.

Scientists at the Medical Research Council found that elderly people who could still give a firm handshake and walk at a brisk pace were likely to outlive their slower peers.

They found simple measures of physical capability like shaking hands, walking, getting up from a chair and balancing on one leg were related to life span, even after accounting for age, sex and body size. The study is the first to provide a comprehensive view of the existing research by pooling data from 33 studies.

'These measures have been used in population-based research for quite a long time,' said Rachel Cooper of the Medical Research Council's Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing.'They may be useful indicators for subsequent health.'

Cooper, whose study appears in the British Medical Journal (http: link.reuters.com/wat72p), said more studies are needed to clarify whether the measures would be helpful to doctors as a screening tool. 'I wouldn't suggest that we roll them out into clinical practice tomorrow, but it is possible that they could be used in the future,' she told Reuters Health.

The researchers examined 33 studies involving tens of thousands of people, most of whom were aged over 60 but living in the community rather than in hospital or care homes.

Downturn ups cancer rates

THE economic downturn threatens to raise cancer rates in Europe as lifestyles change, budgets are cut, and private and public sector employers take short cuts on safety, public health experts said on Monday.

The number of deaths from cancer is falling in the region but prevention efforts are lagging behind, with new cases up by almost 20 per cent to 2.5 million in 2008 from 2.1 million in 2002, the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO) says.

A study in its European Journal of Cancer found the current financial crisis was likely to damage cancer prevention in various ways, including by increasing exposure to risk factors through work or lifestyle changes.

It would also affect occupational safety and influence decisions by governments and companies on funds for research.

'Private companies and governments tend to take shortcuts in occupational safety controls during periods of economic hardship,' said Jose Martin-Moreno, a public health and preventative medicine specialist at Spain's Valencia University.

He examined evidence from studies of the impact of recession on a wide range of factors that feed into cancer prevention measures, including smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and exercise, drug research and occupational risk.

China facing huge unemployment pressures

With more than one billion workers in China, the world's most populous nation is facing a huge unemployment problem as only 780 million labourers are employed, the government said Friday.

The numbers included in China's "white paper" on the nation's human resources, released on Friday, suggested that around 22 per cent of China's labour force is without jobs.

"China is facing huge employment pressures at present and for the foreseeable future," Yi Chengji, spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, told reporters at the launch of the white paper.

"As China's urbanisation quickens, employment pressures from the many surplus rural labourers are getting bigger and bigger," Yi said.

"Currently there are about 100 million surplus rural workers that need to be transferred (to urban jobs)."

The country's employment situation has long been vague as the government only routinely publishes unemployment statistics on urban workers, excluding rural areas.

According to the paper, there were 9.21 million registered urban jobless in China at the end of 2009, resulting in just a 4.3 per cent urban unemployment rate.

China is undergoing an unprecedented urbanisation process as hundreds of millions of people have headed to fast-growing urban areas since the nation's economy embarked on a fast-paced growth track more than 30 years ago.

The country's urban population will rise to over 700 million people by 2015, outstripping the rural population for the first time, state media said in July, citing Li Bin, head of the nation's population planning agency.

China, which has the world's largest population of more than 1.3 billion people, saw its total labour pool increase by 112 million people over the past decade to more than one billion people, according to the white paper.

Unity In Diversity.

Today Muslims all over the world celebrate Hari Raya Aidil Fitri from China to Middle East.Non-Muslims also join their Muslims friends in the festivities.Lets hope from now onwards,the political atmosphere around the world will remain peaceful and free from chaos.All must stay united to fight against extremism and terrorism.

Asia's most competitive

SINGAPORE remains the most competitive economy in Asia, and third in the world, according to the latest World Economic Forum's (WEF) competitiveness rankings published on Thursday.

It came in ahead of Japan and Hong Kong, both of which maintained their sixth and eleventh spots respectively.

Singapore took top spot for efficiency of goods and labour markets, and was lauded for its 'lack of corruption' and 'government efficiency'.

The WEF also gave top marks to the Republic for its strong focus on education, which 'provided individuals with the skills needed' for a rapidly changing global economy.

However, the report called for a 'stronger adoption of the latest technologies, as well as policies that enhance the sophistication of its companies' in order to strengthen its competitiveness further.

Switzerland maintained its lead on the index, while Sweden was placed second.

The United States fell from the top three spots to fourth place, with WEF pointing out that 'a number of escalating weaknesses have lowered the US ranking over the past two years'.

The tutor who earned $520,000

PHANG Yu Hon is part of the booming tuition industry in Singapore. Last year alone, he earned more than half a million dollars (after expenses) as a full-time physics tutor.

According to the Department of Statistics, the local tuition industry was reported to be worth $820 million in 2008, up from $470 million in 1998.

In the same period of 10 years, 400 more tuition centres sprang up across Singapore, bringing the total number of tuition centres in Singapore to 500.

So what is causing such a great demand for tuition? Is it mere 'kiasu-ism', or does tuition really improve a student's grades? The lack of transparency in the industry makes it difficult to tell.

Koh Sheng Jie was graded Band 3 for Mathematics in Primary 4. That's just a pass. Post-tuition, his Maths grade improved to an A2 for 'O' Levels.

Elderly men more forgetful

LOST the car keys? Forgot someone's name? Many elderly people suffer slight cognitive problems but men are more likely than women to suffer momentary memory lapse or senior moments, according to a US study.

Researchers from the Mayo Alzheimer's Disease Research Center in Rochester, Minnesota, found 19 per cent of men aged 70 to 89 years had so-called mild cognitive impairment, compared to only 14 per cent of women.

People with mild cognitive impairment have problems with memory but can carry out everyday activities and generally realize that they're forgetful. The National Institutes of Health says 'mild cognitive impairment' falls in between normal forgetfulness and dementia.

Researcher Dr. Ronald Petersn said the findings were surprising because Alzheimer's disease, which is preceded by this type of mental decline, affects more women than men.

Even after accounting for differences in education, age, and diseases like diabetes and hypertension, men had about 50 per cent higher odds than women of having mild cognitive impairment.

'The gender differences were somewhat surprising to us because most people believe that women are at higher risk than men,' Petersen told Reuters Health. He said not everyone with mild cognitive impairment develops dementia but some people do which makes it a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.

Money can buy happiness

THEY say money can't buy happiness. They're wrong.

At least up to a point.

People's emotional well-being - happiness - increases along with their income up to about US$75,000 (S$101,000), researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

For people making less than that, said Angus Deaton, an economist at the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University, 'Stuff is so in your face it's hard to be happy. It interferes with your enjoyment.'

Mr Deaton and Daniel Kahneman reviewed surveys of 450,000 Americans conducted in 2008 and 2009 for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that included questions on people's day-to-day happiness and their overall life satisfaction.

Happiness got better as income rose but the effect leveled out at US$75,000, Mr Deaton said. On the other hand, their overall sense of success or well-being continued to rise as their earnings grew beyond that point.

'Giving people more income beyond 75K is not going to do much for their daily mood ... but it is going to make them feel they have a better life,' Mr Deaton said in an interview.