NST Online: Topnews

Posted: 21 Sep 2011 10:39 AM PDT

2011/09/21
By Fadhal A. Ghani
fadhal@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Victims of crimes who are traumatised by their experiences can now get specialist treatment from the police.

Understanding the need for traumatised victims of crime to be treated with a different approach, the force yesterday will now triage victims traumatised by crimes such as kidnapping, rape and other sex offences, child abuse and even road accidents.

A triage room is equipped with computers connected to the police database for lodging a report and three seats for an investigation officer and two victims.

The room also has a sofa to make the victims more comfortable while talking to the investigation officer.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri ismail Omar, who launched the the Travers police station triage room, said the room had a different environment compared with normal police stations.

"(It) is more conducive and cooler. The room is specially designed to ease emotional tension."

The victims will be handled by police officers who have been trained to deal with trauma victims.

Ismail said this was another effort by police to improve its service to the people. It was also another National Key Result Area initiative in the war against crime and negative perception toward the force.

He said the Travers police station was the first station to have the rooms, adding that another 34 stations in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor were also equipped with triage rooms.

The rooms were set up at a cost of RM1.8 million. Plans have been drawn up for all stations in the country to have such rooms.

Ismail said each triage room cost between RM50,000 and RM60,000, depending on the infrastructure and how new the police station was.

On another issue, Ismail said he expected it would take several months before the Internal Security Act could be repealed and other laws reviewed.

He said the police would hold forums to figure out what laws could replace the ISA.

"One thing for sure, the new law will assure the safety and stability of the people, which is a priority."

Ismail said the police was also looking at getting feedback on future laws on public assembly from non-governmental organisations and the public.

Fiery re-entry this weekend

Posted: 21 Sep 2011 10:34 AM PDT

2011/09/22
By Alang Bendahara
alang@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: A dead American satellite the size of a bus is expected to fall back to earth this weekend and Malaysia is among the countries within its impact zone.

But the satellite is expected to break up into smaller pieces upon re-entry and the risk to public safety or property from the falling debris is said to be extremely small.

Nevertheless, Malaysia's National Space Agency (Angkasa) is monitoring updates from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) of the United States.

The satellite is Nasa's decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), and so far, the US space agency could not put the exact time and place where the 6,000kg object would fall. Nasa's latest update showed the expected re-entry date as tomorrow, US time, plus or minus a day. This puts the expected date for Malaysia between tomorrow and Sunday.

Angkasa's spokesman said their team, based at the National Observatory at the Bukit Malut Dam in Langkawi, Kedah, is monitoring the satellite.

"Although it is difficult to use the facility's telescope to track the satellite, we will still try," he said yesterday.

"Our team is also monitoring Nasa's website round-the-clock for the latest updates on the expected time and location of the re-entry." Angkasa, unlike Nasa, does not have the equipment or expertise to monitor space debris or near-earth objects.

The spokesman said members of the public could also monitor the updates through the Nasa website at www.nasa.gov/uars.

He said there was no need for people to worry as the satellite would break up into pieces and the odds of being struck was estimated at 1 in 3,200.

He said the 20-year-old research satellite was expected to break up into more than 100 pieces as it reentered the atmosphere, most of them burning up.

Twenty-six of its heaviest metal parts are expected to reach Earth, the biggest chunk weighing 136kg.

The debris could be scattered over an area of about 800km.

The UARS' trajectory takes it between 57 degrees north latitude and 57 degrees south latitude, which is also its crash zone.

The zone covers everything from Canada down to the tip of South America, and from Siberia down to the tip of Africa and Australia.

The UARS was launched on Sept 12, 1991, aboard space shuttle mission STS-48 and it was deployed on Sept 15, 1991. It was the first multiinstrumented satellite to observe numerous chemical components of the atmosphere for better understanding of photochemistry. UARS ceased its productive scientific life in 2005.

US media advised its citizens not to pick up any debris that they suspect came from the satellite.

The space agency says there are no toxic chemicals present, but there can be sharp edges. Also, it's government property. It's against the law to keep it as a souvenir or sell it on eBay. Nasa's advice is to report any findings to the police.

US media reports said that UARS was getting advance publicity because it was the biggest Nasa satellite to make an uncontrolled re-entry in about three decades.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Rabu, 21 September 2011

NST Online: Topnews

NST Online: Topnews

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