• Chinese president meets Chinese, Nigerian businessmen

Chinese are doing today. (There are over 400,000 Diaspora Nigerians in Science and Technology living and working in the United States. These include doctors, academics, Engineers, ICT professionals, pharmacists, nurses, etc)."
During last year's conference declared opened by the president and chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette, the conference made a number of recommendations.
Under Biotechnology and Agriculture for instance, the conference urged the development of academic scholars programmes that will enable the Nigerian Diaspora to visit institutions where their expertise is required (between two weeks to one month). Participants also asked that government should establish a Biotechnology Innovation Fund (BIF) to support Research and Development and training in biotechnology. The National Biotechnology Development Agency should manage the fund which should become accessible within one year.
Still on Biotechnology and Agriculture, conference participants wanted the development of regular training workshops, seminars as well as visits by Nigerian scientists at home to relevant research laboratories abroad which are hosted by some Nigerian Diasporans. This should commence immediately and be sustained.
Conference also recommended the development of a databank of all Nigerian experts in Biotechnology in the Diaspora and at home giving details of their skills and resources as well as existing gaps that can be addressed by the former. This should be completed within one year.
There's also a recommendation to develop regular training workshops, seminars as well as visits by Nigerian scientists at home to relevant research laboratories abroad which are hosted by some Nigerian Diasporans. This should commence immediately and be sustained.
The upgrade of the SHEDA Science and Technology Complex (SHESTCO), Biotechnology Advance Laboratory and other Biotech Laboratories as Centers of Excellence were also recommended. These should host the Nigerian Diaspora and other researchers in Nigeria who are interested in Re-combinant DNA technology. This should be made functional within three years.
On Engineering, Infrastructure and Environment, it was recommended that Nigeria should develop appropriate technology at affordable cost, small and medium scale industrial equipment, made in Nigeria vehicular system/parts, alternate energy sources and home made engineering products that will be competitive internationally.
Additionally, the country should expand and build on existing collaborations of research and development in critical infrastructure such as power/energy systems.
Conference also wanted Nigeria to develop national competitive flagships projects to respond to national priorities through Research, Development, and Demonstration e.g. Electric Vehicle, solar house, fuel cell and Hydrogen energy application, Bridge Design and Environmental/Waste Management; and to encourage involvement and collaboration of Nigerian Academy of Engineering, Nigeria Society of Engineers and Nigerian Academy of Science.
On Manufacturing and Technology Parks/Incubation Centers, the conference recommended that Nigeria should aim to become an industrialized nation with diversified economy within ten years.
The country should also create competence in technicians and artisans, and reactivate and empower the technical colleges. Similarly, the ITF, ETF and other relevant agencies should be empowered to collaborate and network effectively with technical colleges in meeting the above-mentioned recommendation. The Technical profession should be made more attractive with appropriate recognition and remuneration to provide critical mid-level manpower.
Additionally, Nigeria was advised to revert to the original intentions of the establishment of universities and polytechnics by establishing programmes, enhancing facilities, encouraging practical apprenticeship and reforming the curricula to achieve world class professional competence for all professional certifications; and to provide world standard infrastructure (e.g. near 100% electrical power supply, regular water supply etc) in place by appropriate bodies without the burden to the manufacturing companies.
The country should also establish research laboratories and centers of excellence to be empowered to perform basic research, development and first level commercialization.
It should "establish laboratories that will ensure that products are ISO and other relevant standards compliant as well as strengthen the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and other relevant institutions to perform appropriate credit checks and monitoring."
Conference also recommended that Nigeria establish product-focused incubation centers to be developed/up-graded to provide market-ready enterprises; put in place legislations that will drive increase in local content in all products manufactured in Nigeria; promote, as a matter of urgency, the manufacturing of intermediate products for the capital goods industries; promote local design and fabrication of equipment and parts; and meet, within a period of two years, the investment requirements of UNESCO in Science and Technology for developing countries.
On Information and Communication Technology, conference recommended that Nigeria should establish a national or regional fiber-optic backbone and broad based infrastructure as the most urgent national priority and provide science, technology and ICT training at every level of education and integrate information system courses into the national curriculum to address the serious capacity deficiency in the industry.
Nigeria should also initiate within a period of one year the formulation and legislation of an integrated and sustainable national ICT policy to remove the current ad hoc efforts in the industry.
Conference also urge Nigeria to encourage the local assembly and manufacture of ICT hardware to stem the current serious foreign exchange outflow through local and foreign direct investment and SME designation, with appropriate legislation to patronize use of such local products.
On Health, Basic and Applied Sciences, it was recommended that the Nigerian Diaspora should provide intellectual capacity and explore possibility of establishing state of the art medical institutions with capacity of regional diagnostic equipment utilization and maintenance, and support research and development of local therapeutics, vaccine development and research into African medicinal plants to treat conditions such as sickle cell disease and arthritis.
Additionally Nigerians in the Diaspora should provide training support and medical capacity building in our institutions through short term sabbaticals as well as encourage and support exchange programmes, workshops and seminars; and use intellectual expertise and capacity of medical/public health specialists to fight such infectious/communicable diseases as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and chronic diseases such as arthritis, hypertension, diabetes and sickle cell.
The professionals abroad were also asked to assist with improving healthcare delivery infrastructure and implementation of humanitarian medical missions (such as those delivered by the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) and Medical Association of Nigerian Specialists and General Practitioners (MANSAG) sustained by the involvement of local healthcare workers.
Nigerian Diaspora are also encouraged to organize a conference on sickle cell disease in 2006 by the NNVS/Federal Ministry of Health, Nigerian organizations such as Nigerian society of Hematology and other NGOs working on sickle cell disease in collaboration with Nigerian organizations in Diaspora and international agencies with interest in the disease.
On Space Science and Nuclear Technology, it is recommended that the country should publicize the efforts of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) in order to correct certain misconceptions and to enlighten all stakeholders of the socio-economic importance of space programmes.
It should accentuate the involvement of the Nigerian Diaspora nuclear technology experts in the provision of expert services in technology evaluation and contract negotiations with international nuclear technology and other services providers to enhance government activities in these areas. It should also create an organisation such as the National Science Foundation to work with bodies such as the Nigerian Academy of Science, the Nigerian Academy of Engineering and the National Universities Commission in order to facilitate research in basic sciences while embedding systems engineering and human machine systems disciplines in the nuclear and space programmes of Nigeria.
Nigeria was further urged to develop and implement Youth Technology Awareness and outreach programmes in space and nuclear technology through NASRDA and Nuclear Energy Research Centers so as to get the youths interested in these disciplines early in life and provide appropriate financial remunerations for nuclear/space experts.
On Capacity Building and Technology Management, the conference recommended that the development of academic programmes that will enable Nigerians in the Diaspora to visit Institutions where their expertise is required. The development of robust programmes for exchange of scholars and researchers to drive an intensive capacity building programme in national priority projects, including training workshops in conjunction with the Nigerian Diaspora is also recommended.
Still on Capacity Building and Technology Management, the conference also recommended the encouragement of the establishment of integrated capacity building partnerships encompassing human, infrastructural and institutional dimensions geared towards raising knowledge economy in areas for which Nigerians have comparative advantage.
Focusing on the Diaspora, conference advised that the Nigerian Diaspora should be encouraged to liaise with appropriate government agencies and institutions to provide services required by the country. The technical advisory committees or boards on Nigeria's Science and Technology should be broadened to include eminent Nigerian scientists in the Diaspora.
Collectively, the conference emphasized the strong need to establish a databank of Nigerians in the Diaspora including those in the science and technology sector whose contributions are key to the successful implementation of the recommendations of the conference.
It also stressed the need to set up a special Fund/Funding Institutions to provide required financial backing to science and technology projects especially in Research and Development, empower the Nigerian Academies of Science and Engineering to become primary intellectual advisers to government on science and technology on issues of national development, and ensure that Science and Technology should be well funded, backed by appropriate policy instrument/legislation and recognized as the engine of economic/national development.
Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)
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Document AIWTHD0020060217e22f0000z

PKS, WHRT, WTVN, XKEM, GTHA, PTRS have also been removed from naked short lists today
2,035 words

13 February 2006

M2 Presswire

MTPW

English

(c) 2006 M2 Communications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
BUYINS.NET, www.buyins.net , announced today that these select companies have been removed from the NASDAQ, AMEX and NYSE naked short threshold lists: Six Flags, Inc. (NYSE: PKS), World Heart Corporation (NASDAQ: WHRT), Wi-Fi TV, Inc. (OTC: WTVN), Xechem International, Inc. (OTCBB: XKEM), GeneThera, Inc. (OTCBB: GTHA), Patron Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: PTRS). For a complete list of companies on the naked short lists please visit our web site. To find the SqueezeTrigger Price before a short squeeze starts in any stock, go to www.buyins.net .
Six Flags, Inc. (NYSE: PKS) through its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership and operation of regional theme, amusement, and water parks. The theme parks offer traditional thrill rides, water attractions, themed areas, concerts and shows, restaurants, game venues, and merchandise outlets. As of December 31, 2004, the company owned or operated 30 parks, including 28 parks in the U.S., 1 park in Mexico, and 1 in Canada. The company was founded in 1971 and is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. With 93.11 million shares outstanding and 22.99 million shares declared short as of January 10th, there is no longer a failure to deliver in shares of PKS.
World Heart Corporation (NASDAQ: WHRT) a global medical device company, engages in the development, production, and commercialization of implantable ventricular assist devices (VADs). VADs are mechanical pumps that enable the restoration of normal blood circulation of patients suffering from late-stage congestive heart failure. The company manufactures and sells Novacor left ventricular assist system (LVAS) and related peripheral equipment. Novacor LVAS is an electromagnetically-driven pump that provides circulatory support for patients with heart failure by taking over the workload of the left ventricles of the heart. The Novacor LVAS is approved as a bridge to transplantation device in the United States and Canada. In Europe, the Novacor LVAS has unrestricted approval for use as an alternative to transplantation, a bridge to transplantation, and to support patients who might have an ability to recover the use of their natural heart. In Japan, the device is approved for use in cardiac patients at risk of imminent death from nonreversible left ventricular failure. The company sells Novacor LVAS directly to medical clinics and hospitals in the United States, Europe, and Canada, as well as through a distributor in Japan and various other countries. In addition, WHC is developing a small implantable pulsatile VAD, Novacor II, which has completed animal implant; and MedQuest rotary VAD, a nonpulsatile VAD that is in preclinical animal and bench testing. The company has facilities in Oakland, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Heesch, the Netherlands. WHC was established in 1996 and is headquartered in Oakland, California. World Heart Corporation acquired MedQuest Products, Inc., a medical device company, in August 2005. With 55.48 million shares outstanding and 15,600 shares declared short as of January 10th, there is no longer a failure to deliver in shares of WHRT.
Wi-Fi TV, Inc. (OTC: WTVN) engages in the Internet content delivery, Internet commerce, and video distribution. Its Internet content activities involve the online delivery of movies and books. The company's movies are accessible to Internet users at access rates from 56 kilobits per second to broadband. Its Website includes an interactive television-style Web channel that is available for viewing on a variety of Internet-enabled devices, including pocket PCs and laptop, and desktop computers. As part of its Internet commerce activities, Wi-Fi offers devices that make the content provided through the site viewable through the use of a standard television set by connecting the set to an Internet-enabled computer. It also offers various products of the pop culture genre, as well as VHS and DVD videos. The company independently distributes video products for major motion picture studios, video retailers, gift shops, museum stores, and other specialty retailers, as well as educational distributors and direct mail catalogs. It also offers business services, such as digital encoding services using its proprietary CinemaWEAR Encoding technology, Web hosting, and content delivery. Wi-Fi has strategic relationship with Lain International. It was incorporated in 1991. The company was formerly known as Big Tex Enterprises and changed its name to Kanakaris Communications, Inc. in November 1997. The name was further changed to Kanakaris Wireless in June 2000 and to Wi-Fi TV, Inc. in April 2004. Wi-Fi is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. With 7,000 shares outstanding and an undisclosed short position, there is no longer a failure to deliver in shares of WTVN.
Xechem International, Inc. (OTCBB: XKEM) a development stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, and production of generic and proprietary drugs from natural sources. Its principal product under development is NICOSAN/HEMOXIN, which would be used for the treatment of sickle cell disease. The company also applies its proprietary extraction, isolation, and purification technology to the production and manufacture of Paclitaxel, which is an anti-cancer compound used for the treatment of ovarian, breast, small cell lung cancers, and AIDS related kaposi sarcomas. In addition, Xechem International engages in the research and development of other compounds using traditional medicinal plants, microbial fermentation, or semisynthesis to produce anti-cancer, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and memory enhancing compounds. The company has operations in the United States, India, China, and Nigeria. Xechem International was founded in 1994 by Ramesh C. Pandey and is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey. With 259.69 million shares outstanding and an undisclosed short position, there is no longer a failure to deliver in shares of XKEM.
GeneThera, Inc. (OTCBB: GTHA) a development stage company, provides genetics-based diagnostics for agricultural and veterinary markets. The company develops molecular assays for the detection of diseases in live animals, including mad cow disease among cattle, and chronic wasting disease in elk and deer. Through its subsidiary, VDx, Inc., GeneThera markets and sells specialized tests for bovine IgG, NEFA for the dairy industry, and Equine IgG. In addition, it is in the process of developing therapeutic vaccines for the detection and prevention of food contaminating pathogens, veterinary diseases, and diseases affecting human health. The company is based in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. With 21.87 million shares outstanding and an undisclosed short position, there is no longer a failure to deliver in shares of GTHA.
Patron Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: PTRS) changed its name to Patron Systems, Inc. pursuant to merger with Patron Systems, Inc. Patron Systems, Inc. operates as a development-stage information security company to provide security services and technology products to global enterprises. Patron's Security Services Group intends to work with organizations to provide comprehensive, certifiable solutions for trusted information environments. Initial offerings are contemplated to include vulnerability assessments; compliance and certification reviews, training, remediation, monitoring, and managed services. The company's Technology Products Group, through its planned acquisition of third generation software and hardware, plans to help enterprises address security needs holistically throughout the information technology environment. With 60.43 million shares outstanding and an undisclosed short position, there is no longer a failure to deliver in shares of PTRS.
About BUYINS.NET
WWW.BUYINS.NET is a service designed to help bonafide shareholders of publicly traded US companies fight naked short selling. Naked short selling is the illegal act of short selling a stock when no affirmative determination has been made to locate shares of the stock to hypothecate in connection with the short sale. Buyins.net has built a proprietary database that uses Threshold list feeds from NASDAQ, AMEX and NYSE to generate detailed and useful information to combat the naked short selling problem. For the first time, actual trade by trade data is available to the public that shows the attempted size, actual size, price and average value of short sales in stocks that have been shorted and naked shorted. This information is valuable in determining the precise point at which short sellers go out-of-the-money and start losing on their short and naked short trades.
BUYINS.NET has built a massive database that collects, analyzes and publishes a proprietary SqueezeTrigger for each stock that has been shorted, www.buyins.net/squeezetrigger.pdf . The SqueezeTrigger database of nearly 600,000,000 short sale transactions goes back to January 1, 2005 and calculates the exact price at which the Total Short Interest is short in each stock. This data was never before available prior to January 1, 2005 because the Self Regulatory Organizations (primary exchanges) guarded it aggressively. After the SEC passed Regulation SHO, exchanges were forced to allow data processors like Buyins.net to access the data.
The SqueezeTrigger database collects individual short trade data on over 7,000 NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ stocks and general short trade data on nearly 8,000 OTCBB and PINKSHEET stocks. Each month the database grows by approximately 50,000,000 short sale transactions and provides investors with the knowledge necessary to time when to buy and sell stocks with outstanding short positions. By tracking the size and price of each month's short transactions, BUYINS.NET provides institutions, traders, analysts, journalists and individual investors the exact price point where short sellers start losing money.
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BUSINESS