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While the good news is that energy suppliers have finally decided to slash the prices of electricity and gas, it is just a temporary relief for people until the long term prices for these commodities are fixed. Read the rest »

Considering the quickly falling car market, it is rare to hear a company actually posting a profit these days. Inchcape has done just that, posting a profit of £155.1m in 2009, up from the expected range of £141m to £151m. Read the rest »

Considering the spate of accidents that have occurred in level crossings over the past year, it has been deemed necessary to have level crossings to reduce the number of deaths and accidents related to this problem. Read the rest »

The mayor of London, Mr. Boris Johnson, is currently contemplating legal action against Tube Lines. This comes after the recent declaration that the Underground maintenance firm Tube Lines’ cost of operations is going to increase to £4.46bn. This is significantly higher than the acceptable £4bn estimate. Read the rest »

Criminals using newer, sophisticated ways to dupe unwitting customers trading online have led to the increase in the frauds related to internet banking.

Banking fraud over the internet registered an increase of 14% in the year 2008, based on the numbers released by UK Financial Fraud Action. This has led people to worry about using this most convenient mode of banking for their transactions.

Ironically, various other frauds related to the financial sector, fell across all sectors. The financial frauds related to credit and debit cards showed a dip of 28% while frauds related to cheques were down by 29%. A total of 51,161 people fell prey to phishing crimes which lead to a total loss of £60 million due to internet banking frauds.

The number of people falling prey to phishing attacks has risen dramatically over the last few years as compared to just a meager 1,500 people in 2005.

This does not come as a surprise considering the fact that each day innumerable people opt for online banking. As per the British Bankers Association, 38 million customers opted for online banking in 2008, which is nearly double the figure of 16 million in 2003.

In an effort to curb the crime, innumerable banks offer software that provides security during internet banking. Realizing that it is difficult to get past this software, criminals try techniques which exploit the weakness in the customer’s computer.

Another fact that has fueled online frauds is the credit crisis. Banks that merge with other banks send emails to customers informing them of the change. The fraudsters exploit this opportunity by sending fake emails to unwitting customers requesting them for confidential information and ultimately misusing it.

Northern Rock, the nationalized home loan lender, reporting a steep drop in the losses for the year 2009, admitted that 4% of the total 22, 500 customers failed to make the monthly payments on their mortgage.

Though the bank has reported loss for the last year, the 4,500 employees, which also includes the 32 members of the senior management, working here will still get a share of their bonus. This bonus will be paid out in three installments. The bank will also make a payment of £1.3m to the Treasury in lieu of the taxes for payments exceeding £25,000.

An incentive scheme spread over a long term is being drawn up for Gary Hoffman, the Chief Executive of the bank, who is relinquishing his bonus. As per the new scheme being drawn up for Gary, he will be entitled for the bonus when the bank shows profits or falls into private hands.

The loss reported by the bank in 2009 stood at £258 million which is £1.36 billion lesser than the loss reported in 2008.

The bank made a profit of £466 million in the second half of 2009 in as effort to offset a part of the losses occurred during the first half which amounted to a total of £1 billion.

During the first six months of 2009, the mortgage arrears of the banking major increased before it gained stability in the last three months of the previous fiscal year. By this time, it reported 4.28% arrears in residential mortgage accounts in comparison with the 2.92% which was the arrears reported at the end of December 2008.

A new research has pointed that people treated with the clot-dissolving drug such as Warfarin for a stroke led by a blocked brain artery are highly susceptible to have excess bleeding if they have been taking the anti-clotting drug Coumadin. Read the rest »

A new study from Yale School of Medicine claims to have discovered that exposure during pregnancy to Bisphenol A (BPA), a common constituent of plastics may crop up lasting abnormalities in the uterus of offspring, counting variation in their DNA. Read the rest »

A new study has linked a new gene to the reason why some people are more sensitive and tolerable to pain. Read the rest »

Nutrition scientists have discovered that eggs are one of the most nutrient-dense foods available. In addition, they have recommended that one should eat at least one egg a day to fetch the optimum advantages. Read the rest »