Month: October 2008
Foggy Mornings, Low Visibility Forecast
Foggy Mornings, Low Visibility Forecast
15 October 2008
ABU DHABI – As the winter season approaches, foggy conditions are likely to prevail in the mornings, which will result in low visibility, the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology forecast Monday.
According to the forecast, October will see up to 3-5 degree Celsius fall in temperature as compared to September, bringing much-needed respite from the hot and humid weather.
Meanwhile, early morning office-goers have been urged to drive with caution and maintain lower speeds.
The nights are expected to be cooler throughout the country in the coming days. The maximum temperature is predicted at 38-40 degrees and minimum at 24-26 in Abu Dhabi. In Dubai, the maximum temperature is expected to be 36-38 and minimum at 26-28. Sharjah is likely to witness the maximum temperature of 38-40 degrees and a minimum of 23-24 degrees.
On-the-Spot Fines for Flouting Traffic Rules from Next Week
On-the-Spot Fines for Flouting Traffic Rules from Next Week
Amira Agarib KHALEEJ TIMES 15 October 2008
DUBAI – From next week, motorists not maintaining safe distances between vehicles on highways, obstructing traffic and hiding number plates with posters will be fined on the spot, Mohammed Saif Al Zafin, Director of the General Department of Traffic, Dubai Police, told Khaleej Times on Tuesday.
He said all traffic police in the emirate have been alerted to fine motorists violating these traffic rules and issue them fines on the spot.
A driver who obstructs traffic by driving slowly on the fast lane would also be fined. The motorist who hides the vehicle number plates with posters or stickers will be fined Dh200 and one black point will be recorded against him, said Al Zafin, refusing to give details about the fines for other violations.
He said a campaign to raise awareness among both light and heavy vehicle drivers will be launched next week.
He said this when this reporter contacted him for comments on Tuesday’s traffic accident on Emirates Road which held up traffic in the morning for several hours. Several office-goers complained that they reached their workplaces late due to the traffic jam after a truck overturned around 7.30am on Emirates Road. The driver lost control over the truck which deviated from the lane suddenly and overturned.
The driver suffered moderate injuries and was rushed to the hospital.
Al Zafin said the Traffic Department would hold a meeting with drivers of heavy trucks in November to brief them on the strict measures that would be taken by the police against them who cause traffic obstruction and endanger people’s lives.
He said the department is monitoring the movement of heavy trucks and has increased the number of radars on highways.
He said during a campaign organised to control heavy trucks early this month, the police observed that drivers of such trucks commit a large number of violations, especially regarding tyre specifications.
The police impounded 50 heavy trucks in a month and fined each driver Dh500 in a month.
He said drivers of heavy trucks are using counterfeit and cheap tyres which may lead to accidents like overturning that could be fatal even for other road users.
Trucks also do not abide by the specified load limit. Al Zafin said overloading would invite a fine of Dh3,000 and 12 black points against the driver.
Some owners of heavy trucks have contacted the department, saying they would incur heavy losses if their trucks are impounded or drivers fined.
The department would hold a meeting with truck owners to explain the department’s strategy to reduce traffic rule violations and accidents.
The importance of using good tyres would be highlighted. He called on the truck owners to instruct the drivers to comply with the speed limit and not overtake dangerously.
‘Your Decision’ Campaign by Dewa
‘Your Decision’ Campaign by Dewa
Staff reporter KHALEEJ TIMES 16 October 2008
DUBAI – The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has launched an extensive campaign to spread awareness on the need to rationalise electricity and water consumption in the emirate, as a follow-up of the ‘Your Decision’ campaign, conveying simple but powerful messages through cartoons.
According to Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, CEO and Managing Director of Dewa: “This campaign is a crucial part of the authority’s strategy designed to conserve electricity and water resources. It is an interactive campaign focused on increasing consumers’ responsibility and accountability to society.
“We have adopted an innovative approach to demonstrate simple steps to be taken for rationalising water and electricity consumption at the individual level. The message is conveyed through lively and themed visuals,” he said.
The campaign focuses on cartoons to introduce best practices in a fun way. It also entails distribution of posters, leaflets and educational brochures to target audiences.
“The UAE is among the world’s top three consumers of electricity and water at the individual level. Our aim is to put Dubai in the forefront of water and electricity rationalisation movement. This is a challenging process that needs focused measures and consumer education. We hope these campaigns will make consumers realise the benefits of rationalising consumption of water and electricity,” Al Tayer said.‘
‘I used Gulf News to further my career’
‘I used Gulf News to further my career’
By Anupa Kurian, Readers Editor GULF NEWS
Published: September 30, 2008
Dubai: As the mist rolled in Cumulus puffs across the acres of parrot green paddy fields of Thanjavur, the 16-year-old boy gripping the metal handle bar of the train coach door dreamed of belching mills, curving roads and fame. He was running away to Mumbai, where women wore beehives on their heads and men swaggered in fancy prints.
His home was “the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu”, his destination “the money capital of India”.
It was 1977, everybody he knew was trying hard to find a job in the “Gulf”, specifically Dubai. His friends were doing the same, although an agent had already cheated them once.
Abdul Jabbar had failed six subjects in his final higher secondary exam. His family wanted him to try again, but he was tired of waiting and made the decision to drop out of school.
One of the Gulf News readers for the longest time – 30 years to be precise – Jabbar has lived and prospered with the newspaper. A dream that a teenager left home with has been realised among the golden desert sands of the UAE.
His family had a wholesale vegetable business and he was the second eldest child of 11. Once in Mumbai, Jabbar struggled to make ends meet. Finally he wrote to his family for some money to help him get to Dubai.
His father sold a patch of land and sent him Rs6,500 (Dh650). Within months he made it to the land of his dreams – the UAE. It was April 11, 1977. The only hitch was that the job was that of a construction labourer.
“The villa I helped build with my hands still stands in Jumeirah 3. I was paid Dh25 a day. After three weeks I quit,” Jabbar said.
“I went to stay with family friends and started work at a motel in Sharjah. While I was there, I met a very kind Mexican couple.
“The wife would insist I eat some food before cleaning the room. One of the subjects that I had failed in at high school was English. I could read the letters, understood to some extent but spoke very little of it.”
One day, the couple called him to the room and the husband offered him a job at his company Dresser Rand, a multinational firm in the field of oil and gas.
“I couldn’t understand what he was saying. He advised me to call the Indian receptionist to help translate. But, I refused, as I feared that the receptionist might take up the offer,” Jabbar said.
Finally an understanding was reached and Jabbar realised the need to be able to communicate in English. He had a job at the man’s company to assist in administrative duties for a salary of Dh800 per month and a daily taxi allowance of Dh4.
He accepted. but there was a hitch.
Jabbar’s passport was with the first company, who were reluctant to release the document.
On the first day that Jabbar joined the new company, August 1, 1977, the government declared that every person working for any organisation had to be sponsored by it. Deadline after deadline expired but Jabbar failed to convince his first employer. When all looked lost, a UAE national from the Ministry of Labour stepped in to help. The employer relented and Jabbar had a permanent job.
Thirty-one years later at the same company, Jabbar looks back and feels that it was like a “new beginning”.
He said: “All my problems vanished. Since then, I have not looked back. I am now an office administrator and handle the spare parts segment of the business.”
The climb up the corporate ladder was not easy.
Jabbar worked hard at it, with the help of a dictionary and Gulf News.
“In my office there are mainly Americans. It was important that I could speak and understand English,” he said.
Jabbar got his hands on a Tamil-English dictionary and set to work. “Every morning I would read Gulf News and refer to the meaning of the words in the dictionary,” he said. Today he is a fluent speaker.
“I can talk well now, but I am still learning. Every day I come to work by 6.40am, even though my shift starts at 8am. I read the paper from cover to cover.
“The paper stays with me the whole day and whenever I get the time, I read,” Jabbar said.
The father of three has inculcated the same love of language in his children, as it has helped him turn his life around.
“Gulf News helped further my career, along with my company that has been extremely supportive. Gulf News helped me learn and improve my English – knowledge is power.”
While he would never dream of criticising Gulf News, he does have a few observations.
“I miss debates among people on issues in the letter to editor section. Nowadays, people only seem to be complaining about traffic and rents. I don’t blame them, life has become tough,” he said.
Every day he reaches office at 6.40am so he can read Gulf News before his shift starts at 8am.
New speed limit for motorists on Al Ain-Dubai Road
New speed limit for motorists on Al Ain-Dubai Road
By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief GULF NEWS Published: October 14, 2008
Al Ain: People driving on an under-construction portion of Al Ain-Dubai Road have been warned to adhere to the new speed limit after it was reduced to 80km/h from the previous 160km/h
The traffic police has taken the action following the loss of several human lives in accidents in the area.
Recently, an Emirati family met with a tragic accident in which a young mother and her infant daughter died. Her husband and a housemaid were also critically injured in the accident.
Radars
Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Khalifa Al Khaili, Head of Al Ain Traffic Police and Patrols Section, said the radars on the road have been reprogrammed and will catch a vehicle moving at or beyond the speed of 101km/h.
Change in mindset key to diabetes treatment
Change in mindset key to diabetes treatment
By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS
Published: October 15, 2008
Dubai: Doctors and diabetics in the UAE need to introduce insulin early on in the treatment and also need to change their mindset to ensure an effective solution to the problem, a specialist said.
Conventional treatment of diabetes involves changing lifestyle first, such as more exercising and adopting a healthy diet, before taking oral medicine, such as metformin. Insulin is prescribed when other options have not been able to lower blood sugar levels enough.
Professor Julio Rosenstock, director of the Dallas Diabetes and Endocrine Centre, told the press that insulin should be considered early on.
“Doctors use insulin as a threat – ‘If you don’t exercise, I’ll put you on insulin’ – as the last resort. But they get put on insulin after 10 years, after all the complications and that is the wrong approach,” he said. “They should be considering insulin as the first line of treatment,” he added.
Previous studies on diabetes treatment, which have included insulin along with other forms of medicine, have found that early aggressive treatment after diagnosis were better at lowering blood sugar levels, to the American Diabetes Association-recommended ideal of seven per cent A1C. A1C is the average blood sugar level for the past three months.
A study of 12,000 subjects is currently on to determine whether introducing insulin soon after diagnosis and changing dosage according to daily blood glucose levels would control their diabetes better, compared to the standard protocol.
The findings are expected to be released next year.
After the press conference, Rosenstock told Gulf News that patient education was also an important part of the mindset change so they could monitor their condition and administer insulin themselves.
The UAE has the highest rate of diabetes in the world after the South-Pacific Island of Nauru. Diabetes, mostly Type 2 diabetes, affects approximately one in five people, according to the International Diabetes Federation.
The Emirates Diabetes Foundation estimates the diabetes prevalence among Emiratis can be as high as one in five, according to 1998 statistics.
World Health Organisation warns diabetes could affect 70 per cent of UAE residents.
The event also saw the launch of Solo Star, a disposable insulin pen by Sanofi-Aventis, that promises to administer insulin with minimal discomfort.
Walkathon
Abu Dhabi is preparing to mark this year’s World Diabetes Day on November 14 with the staging of the second Diabetes walkathon.
More than 10,000 people are expected to join the annual event, dubbed WALK UAE 2008 and held in partnership with the Emirates Foundation, according to organisers at the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (ICLDC). ICLDC’s Medical & Research Director and Consultant Endocrinologist, Dr Maha Taysir Barakat said walking has proved effective in the management and the prevention of diabetes.
“Thirty minutes of moderate physical activity daily helps the body improve the use of its own insulin and wards off Diabetes,” she said.
AR Rahman hunts for talent
AR Rahman hunts for talent
Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, October 15, 2008
Maverick music maestro AR Rahman’s journey through fifteen states of India hunting for music talent will be aired on Doordarshan early this December.
Rahman will host the ‘The Big Band’ show where bands from seven countries- India, Nepal, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Sri Lanka- will vie for a three-year recording contract with Phat Phish Records, an entertainment and communications company.
The winner will also get artist management up to three albums and six music videos, tours and concerts on national and international stage as well as cash prize worth Rs 10 million.
“We have seen so many reality shows on the television. But what makes it different is that the show is not all about India alone, we have the idea of providing a common platform for all these guys from various places,” Rahman said here yesterday.
“There is a huge audience of people who look beyond the typical Bollywood music. Music talents cutting across regions, languages, genres will be performing on the show. Considering the excellent reach of Doordarshan, we will launch the show soon on Doordarshan,” said Phat Phish chairman Anand Surapur.
“We think the timing is right for people to be exposed to a wider choice. There is an unbelievable amount of talent available and it is just a matter of bringing it out, nurturing it and presenting it to be recognised,” Managing Director, Phat Phish, K R Harish said.
Participating bands must have between 2-10 members with at least one lead singer and must submit three tunes with the first tune being an original interpretation of a popular Bollywood, folk or regional piece.
The second tune has to be based on the bands’ interpretation of Rahman’s specially composed melody for the show which will be released on October 24. Besides, the bands will also have to submit one of their original compositions.
“My role is to be the little link between these bands and the people. The show’s concept is something unique but it has to be linked with the public,” said the ace music director.
Asked on his expectations from the show, Rahman said, “Its all about discovering something new from these bands. We will be looking for various elements. One element from one band, another element from another… I think there will be lot of surprises in the show as there are so many bands.”
Short listed bands will be invited to the first stage of audition where they will be asked to perform any of the three pieces by the judges.
AR Rahman hunts for talent
AR Rahman hunts for talent
Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, October 15, 2008
Maverick music maestro AR Rahman’s journey through fifteen states of India hunting for music talent will be aired on Doordarshan early this December.
Rahman will host the ‘The Big Band’ show where bands from seven countries- India, Nepal, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Sri Lanka- will vie for a three-year recording contract with Phat Phish Records, an entertainment and communications company.
The winner will also get artist management up to three albums and six music videos, tours and concerts on national and international stage as well as cash prize worth Rs 10 million.
“We have seen so many reality shows on the television. But what makes it different is that the show is not all about India alone, we have the idea of providing a common platform for all these guys from various places,” Rahman said here yesterday.
“There is a huge audience of people who look beyond the typical Bollywood music. Music talents cutting across regions, languages, genres will be performing on the show. Considering the excellent reach of Doordarshan, we will launch the show soon on Doordarshan,” said Phat Phish chairman Anand Surapur.
“We think the timing is right for people to be exposed to a wider choice. There is an unbelievable amount of talent available and it is just a matter of bringing it out, nurturing it and presenting it to be recognised,” Managing Director, Phat Phish, K R Harish said.
Participating bands must have between 2-10 members with at least one lead singer and must submit three tunes with the first tune being an original interpretation of a popular Bollywood, folk or regional piece.
The second tune has to be based on the bands’ interpretation of Rahman’s specially composed melody for the show which will be released on October 24. Besides, the bands will also have to submit one of their original compositions.
“My role is to be the little link between these bands and the people. The show’s concept is something unique but it has to be linked with the public,” said the ace music director.
Asked on his expectations from the show, Rahman said, “Its all about discovering something new from these bands. We will be looking for various elements. One element from one band, another element from another… I think there will be lot of surprises in the show as there are so many bands.”
Short listed bands will be invited to the first stage of audition where they will be asked to perform any of the three pieces by the judges.
Essay Competition -‘Pravasi Jeevithathinde prasnangalum parihara margangalum’
MPCC (Malabar Pravasi Coordination Council) has announced to conduct a malayalam essay competition which is open to all who knows malayalam, as part of its campeign for ‘Malbar Pravasi Divas’, an iconing event of MPCC, which will be held on November 07, 2008, at Sharjah Indian Association.
The topic of the essay is “Pravasi Jeevithathinde prasnangalum
parihara margangalum”
Essay should not exceed 6 fullscap pages. Name, address and other relevant
personal information should be enclosed along with the essay.
All entries should be received on or before 25th October 2008. Entries can be
send by post with the follwoing address ‘ Malabar Pravasi Divas-Essay
competition, P.O.Box 84992, Dubai, UAE or by e-mail info@mpccworld. org. Alternatively, it is possible to upload the entries in http://www.mpccworld. org. For direct delivery or further clarification please contact +971507912305
There will be a very attractive cash award for the winner along with other
attractive prizes. The winner will also get a chance to present his views in
‘Malabr Pravasi Divas’.
European films to hit UAE Screen
European films to hit UAE screen
KK Moidu
A scene from German film Absurdistan directed by Veit Helmer, to be screened on European Movies Eighth season at Grand Cinema, Mercato Mall, Dubai on Tuesday Oct. 28 at 8pm.
THE European Movies Eighth Season (2008/2009) offered by nine European embassies in the UAE will screen quality films from Europe at Grand Cinemas in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al Ain.
Andreas Maager, deputy head of Mission, Embassy of Switzerland, Abu Dhabi announced on Monday at a press conference held at the residence of Consul General of Switzerland in Al Barsha, Dubai.
The last seven seasons were great success and the eighth season will have another feast of quality European films, the organisers say.
The films also provide the audience with an opportunity to explore different areas of European cinema production and history.
Under the patronage of Sheikh Suroor Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, the embassies of nine countries (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Switzerland), the organisers of the European Movies Eighth Season, are offering something more which would not be normally available in the region.
Cine-goers will get an opportunity to watch 14 films of renowned directors from the past and the most recent releases produced in the nine European countries.
The 14 films to be screened in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al Ain are, Pas de Panique directed by Denis Rabaglia and Nordwand directed by Philipp Stolzl (Switzerland), the recently released Absurdistan, Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei directed by Hans Wiengartner, Auf der anderen Seite directed by Faith Akin (Germany), superhit Le Petit Lieutenant and Mademoiselle directed by Philippe Lioret (France), Los Otros directed by Alejandro Amenabar and Lo que se de Lola directed by Javier Rebollo (Spain), Geboren in Absurdistan directed by Houchang Allahyari (Austria), Zelary directed by Ondrej Trojan (Czech Republic), Katyn directed by Andrzej Wajda (Poland), Simon directed Eddy Terstall (Netherlands), Mediterraneo directed by Gabriele Salvatores (Italy).
The films will be screened in original languages with English subtitles and the screening schedules of Abu Dhabi Grand Cinemas, Abu Dhabi Mall every Sunday at 8pm, Dubai Grand Cinemas Mercato Mall, every other Tuesday at 8pm and Al Ain Grand Cinemas, Rotana, Oasis City, every other Saturday at 5pm and 8pm.
Season tickets for 14 movies will cost Dhs 200 and can be purchased at the Grand Cinemas in Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi Mall), Dubai (Mercato) and Al Ain (Rotana). Tickets are also available at the Embassy of Switzerland in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of Switzerland in Dubai.
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