Firoz Zoha runs the Indian Garden restaurant in Kirkwall and has launched a charity fundraiser to help those affected by the cyclone which struck the coast of Bangladesh recently..

About 3,500 people are known to have perished, although there are estimates that the figure could rise to 10,000.

Indian Garden employees, and Firoz, himself, have already raised £580 through personal donations. A collection box has been opened in the restaurant, while he plans a fundraising night on Tuesday, December 4.

A reminder that a consultation event to discuss the shape of older people’s services in Orkney is taking place in Kirkwall this week.

Caring for the Future will take place in the St Magnus Centre on Thursday, starting at 9.30am, and will enable those involved with care services in the county to share their views on the needs of older people.

The event will include an analysis of the existing provision for older people and consultation on the options for care facilities in the future.

All existing users and carers are welcome to attend, in addition to representatives from the usual agencies.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness has been awarded an honorary degree by Heriott Watt university.

The OIC has issued guidance on their affordable housing policy, in an effort to address a lack of affordable housing in the county.

The document has been prepared by the Policy and Projects team and is intended as a reference for parties seeking to develop housing in Orkney.

Orkney is bottom of the table for carbon emissions in Scotland, according to new research from the Energy Saving Trust in Scotland (EST).

According to the figures, Orkney’s annual household CO2 emissions are 63,746 tonnes, with 49,427 tonnes due to vehicle emissions. Using a figure of 8,750 for the number of households, this gives an average of 12.9 tonnes per household per year, which has seen the trust assigning Orkney an emissions index of 141.

Staff at the Victoria Street sexual health service in Kirkwall are encouraged that the message is getting through, especially to young people, that many sexually transmitted infections have no symptoms but can cause serious long-term problems, such as infertility, if they are not diagnosed and treated.

The Service has seen well over 100 patients, male and female, of a variety of ages and with different problems, since it opened almost a year ago.

The EU ban on live exports is not due to be lifted until January 1, 2008.

The union have written to Scottish cabinet secretary for rural affairs, Richard Lochhead, urging him to work with Defra colleagues and push for an earlier date from the Brussels' veterinary committee (SCoFCAH).

NFUS vice president, Stewart Wood said: "Following the lifting of the ban on British beef following BSE last year, there has been a significant and growing trade in the export of pedigree cattle, dairy bull calves and older cows from Scotland. We desperately need this trade to resume to help us get out of the crisis caused by the FMD outbreak."

The NorthLink freight vessel Clare sustained some storm damage while en route from Aberdeen to Lerwick on Wednesday night.

While the f ull extent of the damage was being assessed, the southbound freight sailing on Thursday night was cancelled.

The HMIE follow-through inspection reports the ‘Hope, Burray and Orphir primary schools have been published.

The documents outline progress made by the school in addressing the recommendations made at the original inspections in 2005. 

In the ‘Hope, the hard work of the head teacher and staff in continually improving a number of key areas over the last two years has been recognised, while the move to the new Burray School is heralded a success, the report saying that this has greatly enhanced the learning environment.

Orphir pupils are said to be more settled and enjoying their classes, folowing a complete change of staff and head teacher.

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has written Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon asking how much of the extra £7 million funding she announced on Wednesday for the central heating programme will be spent in Orkney.

He also asked her to outline the effect that will have on the waiting times pensioners face waiting for their heating systems to be installed.

Police are appealing for information after an attempted break-in at the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall.

According to police, the person, or persons, caused damage attempting to gain entry to the sports centre between 10.30pm on Monday and 10am on Tuesday this week.

Northern Isles MP, Alistair Carmichael has launched a campaign to address the “unfair and disproportionately” high petrol prices which continue to discriminate against island residents.

He has written to Alistair Darling MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, requesting that the Government takes immediate action.

Seven more Orkney exchanges - Eday, Longhope, Sanday, Stronsay, Deerness, Rousay and Evie – are due to be upgrade to receive broadband in 2008.

There will still be rural households out of reach of these exchanges, so the Scottish Government is looking at solutions. If enough people come forward to identify a cluster, there is a high likelihood that their needs will be addressed.

There are no further initiatives planned so it is important that people register before January 18,  by contacting HIE Orkney on 874638 or online here.

Councillors are to set up a working group to look at the long-standing issue of transporting building and quarry materials to the isles

Members of this week’s policy and resources committee were asked to consider introducing a subsidy — with one suggestion that cash is used from the strategic reserve fund.

OIC director of development, Jeremy Baster, said: “A subsidy of £6 per tonne on an estimated volume of 10,000 tonnes annually would cost £60,000. The council would need to decide what level of priority it attaches to this, since it would mean reducing some other expenditure.”

Councillors voted by eight to two in favour of deferring the matter for further consideration by a working group.

Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael has attacked the Government after it emerged that personal data of nearly 5,000 Northern Isles families has been lost.

Chancellor Alistair Darling confirmed in the House of Commons on Tuesday that the personal data of those claiming Child Benefit has been put at risk after CD’s containing the information were lost in the post.

Councillors are unlikely to set up a liaison group between the OIC and Fairwind Statkraft (Orkney) Ltd  — the company behind plans for 45 new wind turbines across the county — because of fears of “siding with one developer over another”.

However, members of the council’s policy and resources committee stressed that dialogue between the council and company will happen.

OIC director of development, Jeremy Baster, said at Tuesday’s meeting that Fairwind has requested further liaison with the council in respect of lobbying on matters of common interest, particularly the level of transmission charges, and community benefits.

Councillors recommended not setting up a formal group.

An underground tunnelling machine has been brought on site to aid the replacement of Kirkwall’s Junction Road sewer.

Development was slowed earlier in the project due to a large culvert running along Burnmouth Road, which required careful excavation work around it, a spokesman from Scottish Water said this week.

Orkney Islands Council's proposed single status package, already accepted by three quarters of its workforce, has been rejected by the trade unions.

The disparity in results between the council's ballot and the trade unions is thought to stem from the numbers who voted — 90 per cent of employees responded to the council's ballot, and what it thought to be about 30 per cent to the ballots held by each trade union.

Richard Thomas, OIC head of personnel, said: "It is deeply disappointing that we have reached this point and we are unable to implement a new pay and grading and conditions of service package despite a clear mandate from the staff to do so."

Individual agreement may now be sought with all staff. Those who continue to reject the proposals may see their contracts terminated and re-engaged under new conditions.

Whether to set up trusts and charitable companies to provide and run council functions, or bring existing trusts back in-house, is to be looked at in more detail.

Council solicitor, Peter Trodden, said there was limited financial benefits to such a move to establish trusts and so no further action should be taken.

However, councillors at Tuesday’s policy and resources committee meeting felt there was some merit in looking in more detail at the possible benefits of the proposals.

Members recommended that a further report come to full council.

Councillors have given their backing to plans to move the Kirkwall and Wideford polling stations from the community centre to the St Magnus Centre.

Members of the OIC policy and resources committee heard that the move will allow the council to comply with disabled access legislation.

Islands councillors have given their backing to a Kirkwall-wide ban on drinking alcohol in public places.

Members at Tuesday's meeting of the policy and resources committee agreed to introduce a trial bylaw in Kirkwall. However, people will only be guilty of an offence if they fail to stop drinking alcohol if asked to do so by a police officer.

The St Magnus Festival is to receive a £20,000 cash boost from EventScotland.

This will be the third time the midsummer festival of the arts has received EventScotland funding and organisers will use the funds specifically for programme developments aimed at attracting a still wider audience of visitors and local people.

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has urged cross-party support for his motion calling for the establishment of a Scottish Halls Fund in order to protect community halls across the country.

The Scottish Parliament’s Petition Committee heard from the Village and Community Halls in Rural Areas petition group on Tuesday.

Those eligible for an Orkney Islands Council Christmas Grant have until December 1, to get their application forms back to the council.

This year's grant is £45 and is available to senior citizens, widows/widowers and disabled persons.

Anyone who has received a grant in previous years will automatically be sent a grant application form, but those claiming the grant for the first time should contact the council's customer services in Kirkwall, or the finance office in Stromness, to receive a form.

Kirkwall police are anxious to speak to anyone with information relating to a number of parachute flares set off between November 8 and 16.

The figure raised in Orkney for the annual BBC Children in Need campaign looks like being the highest in a number of years.

At the end of Radio Orkney broadcast, at 1am on Saturday morning, the grand total was £22,846.45.

This is over £5,700 more than the total at the end of last year's programme - £17,089.

Among the many Children in Need fundraisers in the county were the staff and pupils at Stromness Academy - they raised £2,319.97 over three days of events.

Last year's total was a record  - £1,820.  This year they were just three pence short of raising £500 more.

Mrs Sue Graves, deputy head, said it was a magnificent effort and was very proud of the pupils. 

Sanday-based ultra-distance athlete, William Sichel is in Monaco this week for his first serious British record attempt at the Monaco “No Finish Line” six-day race.

The event began on Saturday, and runs until Friday.

William is going for the 19-year-old British road record of 518 miles, set by England's Richard Brown in New York in 1988.

A number of rare archive films of Orkney will be shown in Kirkwall this week as part of an event to commemorate the life of the late Billy Scollie.

The Scottish Screen Archive (SSA) presentation will be held in the Pickaquoy Centre on Friday, November 23, at 7.30pm.