• Finnish brands showcased in New York, USA
• Cleantech has become one of the fastest growing sectors in Finland
• Finnish electric solar wind sail being tested in space

• Transcendental Meditation to be offered in Finland universities, tech firms
• Finland schools and universities adopt Transcendental Meditation
• Invincible Finland University

• Finnish mine struggles to fix leak, high uranium found
• The nearer the bar, the greater the chances of risky drinking
• Moms' smoking linked to psychiatric meds in kids

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Finnish brands showcased in New York, USA
18 May 2013 - On 21 May, the Finnish Design, Art, and Tech exhibition produced by Nuppu Labs will showcase Finnish brands for an entire evening in New York for the second year in a row. The exhibition is included in the official programme of New York Design Week and the Internet Week New York festival. Laura Avonius, curator of the exhibition, says that she selected the exhibitors on the basis of their innovativeness, artistic integrity and merits in sustainable development. (more)

Cleantech has become one of the fastest growing sectors in Finland
16 May 2013 - Cleantech business sector is growing fast, and last year it became one of the fastest-growing business sectors in Finland. According to Cleantech Finland, in 2012 the combined turnover for cleantech businesses was 24.6 billion Euros, and annual growth 15 per cent. Energy efficiency has traditionally been Finland's key area of cleantech expertise, and energy efficiency solutions account for more than a third of total industry turnover. (more)

Finnish electric solar wind sail being tested in space
13 May 2013 - An electric solar wind sail, or e-sail, developed in Finland, is being tested for the first time in space. An Estonian small satellite, EstCube-1, was launched from France on Tuesday, 7 May. The satellite will deploy a ten-metre-long electric sail, which was developed by ETLA, the Electronics Research Laboratory of the University of Helsinki's Department of Physics. (more)

Finland: Lappeenranta - home of the next generation hybrid bus
10 May 2013 - Greener transport, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency are inevitably making their way into our lives. One of the emerging technologies is the next generation hybrid bus, which challenges current technology and cuts emissions from public transport in cities by up to fifty per cent. Hybrid buses were introduced to Finland's public transport system a few years ago. Experience shows that the fuel savings compared to a traditional diesel bus stand at around 30 per cent. Carbon dioxide emissions have been equally reduced, but the numbers involving particles and nitrogen oxides are even better. (more)

Finland: EUR 134 million in investments for Finnish start-ups in Q1 2013
9 May 2013 - Finnish start-up companies received EUR 134 million in investments during January through March 2013, while last year's figure according to the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association EVCA was EUR 79 million. Finnish companies generated more investments than German ones during Q1 and were only surpassed by British and French businesses. Most of the funding came from within Finland, and the figure does not include investments from business angels. (more)

Finland named as a best place in the world for mothers
8 May 2013 - Finland has climbed from the sixth place to the first place in the Save the Children's annual The State of the World's Mothers report. Finland was named a best place in the world for mothers amongst 176 countries. Sweden was number two and Norway number three. The Mother's Index compares countries based on how well they save lives of mothers and their new-born babies. It also assesses mothers' well-being using indicators of maternal health, under-five mortality, levels of women's education, income, and political status. (more)

Russian search engine company to build a data centre in Finland
8 May 2013 - Yandex, an internet company that runs Russia's most popular search engine, is building a new data centre in southern Finland. The company has bought a plot of land in the town of Mäntsälä for 1.5 million euros, and construction work will start in August 2013. 'The level of know-how in Finland is quite high. The project is rather complicated in terms of engineering and technology. We are happy to see there are a lot of local suppliers with high competence and expertise,' said Andrey Korolenko, Chief of Infrastructure at Yandex (more)

Finland: Outokumpu wins US solar plant contract
3 May 2013 - Stainless steel supplier Outokumpu has won another contract for the Crescent Dunes solar plant project in Tonopah, Nevada, USA. Outokumpu's deliveries are under way. The solar plant will start operations in the beginning of 2014 to provide clean and renewable energy for customers in California and Nevada. (more)

Finland: Smart street luminaire reduces energy consumption
3 May 2013 - VTT and Aalto University have developed a dimmable LED street lighting fixture that consumes considerably less energy compared to the current lighting system. The luminaires can be dimmed according to daylight, environmental conditions, and the number of road users. Laboratory measurements have shown that LED street luminaires have an energy savings potential of more then 40 per cent. (more)

India and Finland to explore solar energy applications
26 April 2013 - India and Finland have identified some key areas of collaboration in sustainable development in the oil and gas sector. This includes specific projects in solar energy applications for oil and gas projects, biofuels and algae based biofuels research, and water and wastewater management. Other areas identified are carbon capture and reformation as well as Finland's Green Growth and Groove programme to be adapted and applied to India. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Transcendental Meditation to be offered in Finland universities, tech firms
28 December 2010 - Three newly qualified Transcendental Meditation Teachers recently returned home to Finland, with the aim of offering the programme in several universities and tech firms in the cities where they will be teaching. In other news from Finland, a January expo featuring Maharishi Ayur-Veda products will help increase public awareness of the world's oldest complete system of natural health care. (more)

Finland schools and universities adopt Transcendental Meditation
26 June 2010 - Several schools and universities in Finland have begun incorporating the Transcendental Meditation Programme among faculty and students, as the result of a tour of the country by Dr Ashley Deans, Global Ambassador for Consciousness-Based Education, in February 2010. (more)

Invincible Finland University
5 November 2007 - This week, iconic filmmaker Dr David Lynch will launch new national universities in Finland, Estonia, and Bulgaria, which will provide Total Knowledge--full enlightenment--to every student and invincibility to national consciousness. (more)

Progress of Consciousness-Based Education in Finland
24 June 2007 - The Chief Minister for Finland of the Global Country of World Peace reported that plans for building an Invincibility School in Finland are progressing. (more)

Finland: Yogic Flyer presents goals of the Global Financial Capital of Finland to reconstruct the whole world for life in accord with Natural Law
28 February 2007 - As a result of a press conference organized by Mr Hannu Heikkila, Director of the Global Financial Capital of Finland, Hameen Sanomata, a regional daily newspaper, published on 25 February a half-page article about the Global Financial Capital and its six programmes for creating invincibility in every nation. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Finnish mine struggles to fix leak, high uranium found
9 November 2012 - Finnish nickel miner Talvivaara said on Friday it was still trying to fix a waste water leak at its mine in Sotkamo, eastern Finland, which resulted in high levels of uranium in nearby waters. Uranium more than 50 times higher than normal levels were found in streams this week near Talvivaara's nickel and zinc mine, according to nuclear safety officials, although they said they did not see any risk to public health. The ore from the mine also contains uranium. Talvivaara shut down production at the mine on Sunday after discovering the leakage, the latest in a series of problems at the site over the past year including environmental concerns and the death of a worker in March. The company announced early on Friday that it stopped the leakage, but later said that another leak had occurred and it was working to fix it. Even before the week's problems, the company was already struggling with low production and weak nickel prices. Talvivaara has cut its annual nickel production target twice this year, blaming heavy rainfall for disrupting production. (more)

The nearer the bar, the greater the chances of risky drinking
2 November 2012 - Does living near a bar encourage people to overindulge, or do heavy drinkers move to neighbourhoods with easy access to alcohol? A new study suggests it may be the former for some people. Researchers in Finland found that of nearly 55,000 Finnish adults followed for seven years, those who moved closer to bars were somewhat more likely to increase their drinking. When a person moved one kilometre (0.6 mile) closer to a bar, the odds of becoming a heavy drinker rose 17 per cent. A 'heavy drinker' meant more than 10 ounces a week for men and about seven ounces a week for women, of distilled alcohol. Since the study was done in Finland, one question is how well the findings would apply to other countries. That's unclear, Jaana L. Halonen, of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Kuopio said, because drinking habits and 'cultural norms' vary by country. 'For instance,' she noted, 'in the UK and Australia, heavy drinking is reported to be more common than in Finland, whereas in the USA it is less common.' 'On the other hand,' she added, 'it is unlikely that easy access to a bar would affect drinking only among Finnish employees.' (more)

Moms' smoking linked to psychiatric meds in kids
27 August 2011 - Kids whose moms smoked while pregnant were more likely to end up on medications such as antidepressants, stimulants and drugs for addiction in a new study from Finland that hints at maternal smoking's effect on a baby's developing brain. The new study is 'entirely consistent with a large and still-growing research literature on the effects of prenatal and secondhand smoke exposure on the mental health of children,' said Dr. Michael Weitzman, who studies that topic at New York University Medical Center and was not involved in the new study. 'At the very least, parents need to be educated that they might be doing brain damage to their children if they smoke during key times in development,' Weitzman said. (more)

Finland: link between swine flu shot, narcolepsy
2 February 2011 - Finnish researchers have found an increased risk of narcolepsy among 4 to 19-year-olds who were given swine flu shots, a government health agency said Tuesday. The National Institute for Health and Welfare, which published the findings, said that 60 children and adolescents contracted narcolepsy in Finland in 2009 and 2010. Fifty-two of them -- or almost 90 per cent -- had received the Pandemrix vaccine. 'Based on the preliminary analyses, the risk of falling ill with narcolepsy among those vaccinated in the 4-19 years age group was nine-fold in comparison to those unvaccinated in the same age group,' the study said. It found that the biggest increase was among those aged 5 to 15 years. The World Health Organization welcomed the report but said it does not recommend any changes, and that the vaccine remains on the list of recommended vaccines. (more)

Finnish dock workers begin strike halting cargo
4 March 2010 - Dock workers stopped handling cargo at Finnish ports on Thursday after labour contract negotiations broke down, leading to the closing of most of the country's foreign trade. Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said he feared the long-term effects of the strike in the highly export dependent economy, adding that it is costing the country more than €100 million ($137 million) daily in lost earnings. 'This is a very serious situation. Our national economy is in recession and we need to participate in the budding global economic recovery,' Mr Vanhanen said. 'We didn't really need this homemade setback. We have enough problems as it is.' The Finnish economy shrank in the fourth quarter of last year, as the global downturn continued to hit the country. Finland's gross domestic product was down 5.1 per cent compared to the same period in 2008. In the full year, the Finnish economy shrank 7.6 per cent compared to 2008, its largest drop since 1918. (more)

Lack of 'team spirit' at work tied to depression
14 April 2009 - Poor team spirit at the workplace may do more than drag down morale, it can make people depressed, according to the findings of a new study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 'As depressive disorders are a major cause of work disability and account for a considerable proportion of the disease burden, more attention should be paid to psychosocial factors at work,' lead author Dr. Marjo Sinokki of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Turku told Reuters Health via e-mail. People with a poor work climate, who felt it was highly prejudiced and quarrelsome, were 61 per cent more likely to be depressed, the researchers found. An unpleasant social environment at work could influence depression risk by increasing job stress, which could in turn affect factors like smoking, alcohol use, or exercise, the researcher noted. (more)

Worldwide interest growing in buying F-35 fighter
1 March 2009 - Finland and Belgium have become the latest countries to speak to the Pentagon about possible purchase of the multinational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, said manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. The eight countries that have joined the United States to co-develop the F-35 -- Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark, and Norway -- appear to be largely sticking to their plans to buy some 730 F-35s of their own, Pentagon officials have said. (more)

Finland: Student kills several in school shooting
23 September 2008 - A student shot dead several people at a vocational school in western Finland on Tuesday before shooting himself, local authorities said. The shooting raised the spectre of the killings at Finland's Jokela high school last year, where student Pekka-Eric Auvinen killed six fellow students, the school nurse, and the principal after broadcasting his intent with a video on YouTube. Finland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, ranking third after the United States and Yemen, according to a study last year by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies. (more)

School shooting puts harsh focus on Finland gun policy
8 November 2007 - Finland's accommodating gun laws are likely to attract criticism after a school shooting on Wednesday. About 56 of every 100 Finns own a gun, according to a study by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies this year, putting the rate of firearm ownership in Finland third after the United States and Yemen. (more)

Finland: Paper strike stokes shortage fears
18 June 2005 - A five-week shutdown of Finland's vital paper industry dragged on Friday after labour talks broke down, stoking fears of a global paper shortage. With the shutdown of dozens of mills owned by two major global paper makers, paper prices also are likely to rise, analysts and industry officials said. (more)