TQM
Now you don’t need water for carwash!
Now you don’t need water for carwash!
By Zoe Sinclair (Our staff reporter)GULF NEWS 11 June 2008
DUBAI — Residents can now clean their cars without using a single drop of water after a waterless car-cleaning product was launched in the country.
The UAE franchise of the product, Go Green, developed and approved in Australia, launched it here on June 1 with plans to make the service available across the city within the next two months.
Go Green managing director Ali Fadlallah said the service had attracted a lot of attention when it was displayed and demonstrated at the Facilities Management Expo at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre which concluded yesterday.
Fadlallah explained that the all-organic water-free service, provided by Able Facilities Management, cleaned, polished and waxed, preventing damage from pollution elements, salty air and tar.
Saad El Zein, Managing Director of Able Facilities Management, said the product was of environmental importance.
“Research shows that 200 litres of water is used to wash one car, water that should be saved for more important things,” said El Zein.
“Here in the UAE, cars need more care and cleaning due to the dust and extreme heat, meaning they are washed more frequently than in other countries.
“As more and more cars join the UAE’s roads, it becomes increasingly important to preserve water as it is a precious resource and our ‘Go Green’ product doesn’t use any water or chemicals that harm the environment,” El Zein continued.
Able FM hopes to attract property developers by offering a cleaning service within their garages, an option that is currently not available due to the restrictions of water-based maintenance, such as limited drainage areas.
Fadlallah said the product was not available on the shelf but the service would cost about the same price as a car wash at a service station.
“We will have it available at service stations across Dubai and there’s also been interest from cleaning stations and mall stations,” he said.
‘By the end of July there’ll be at least one facility in each suburb and we’ll be mobile too.
“We intend to go not only here but regional.”
The Dubai Municipality is in the process of approving the product while support is being sought from the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority in line with its message of water conservation.
An EPPCO official confirmed Go Green was planned for the service station at The Gardens this month and then a roll-out of the service at selected centres across Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
Able FM was nominated in the innovation category of the FM awards at the Facilities Management Expo for Go Green.
UK to give waterless washing machine a spin
UK to give waterless washing machine a spin
9 Jun 2008, 1526 hrs IST,REUTERS
Xeros Ltd, which has been spun out of the University of Leeds to commercialise the technology, said on Monday the new machines would use less than 2 per cent of the water and energy of a conventional washing machine.
Plastic chips are used to remove dirt and stains from clothes, leaving them dry and reducing energy consumption as there is no need to use a dryer after the washing cycle, Xeros said in a statement.
The firm, which recently secured investment of almost 500,000 pounds ($984,400) from IP Group Plc, said that the price of the new machines was “not expected to be dramatically different from (conventional) washing machines.”
Washing machine usage has risen by 23 per cent in the past 15 years. The average UK household uses almost 21 litres of water daily on clothes washing, 13 per cent of daily household water consumption, according to Waterwise, a non-government organisation focused on decreasing water wastage in Britain.
A typical washing machine uses about 35 kilograms of water for every kilogram of clothes, in addition to the power needed to heat the water and dry the clothes
There are more than two million washing machines sold in Britain annually, with a value of about 1 billion pounds, Xeros said.
Court: airlines can ground overweight air hostesses
Court: airlines can ground overweight air hostesses
Staff Reporter, THE HINDU
“There is no scope for any debate on overweight people”
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The petitioners challenged a circular issued by the airlines in 2006 “Indian Airlines has to meet the challenge of private airlines”
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld a judgment by one of its Single Benches putting the seal of approval on a decision by the Indian Airlines (now Indian) to ground overweight airhostesses and cabin crew members from flight duty.
The judgment by a division bench comprising Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice J.R. Midha came on a review petition against a Single Bench judgment by the affected air hostesses and cabin crew members.
The Division Bench also allowed Indian Airlines to recover excess money payable to employees on flight duty even after their grounding on a direction by the Court.
The Single Bench had justified the Airlines’ decision to ground them on account of the requirement of the public sector company to stay in business.
The petitioners had also challenged a circular issued by the Airlines in 2006 withdrawing the permissible overweight limit of 3 kg over and above the upper weight limit for them. The Court dismissed this plea as well.
Counsel for the petitioners had argued that the airhostesses and the cabin crew members had cleared the medical fitness tests to be on flight duty. When their clients were declared medically fit to do flight duty, they could not be grounded on account of their being overweight. The decision was arbitrary, they argued.
Counsel for the airlines submitted that the petitioners were withdrawn from flight duty whey they failed to meet the minimum physical fitness standards.
Specified in contract
It was clearly mentioned in their contracts that their jobs could be terminated if they put on weight beyond the permissible limit. The counsel submitted that they had been grounded with the direction that they would not be put on flight duty even if they lost the weight they had gained.
Justifying the decision of the public sector airlines to put the overweight employees on ground duty to maintain its competitive edge vis-À-vis the private airlines, the Bench said: “Entry of private airlines in the business has resulted in severe competition, and the Indian Airlines has to meet this challenge by ensuring that its airhostesses and cabin crew members remained physically fit.”
On maintaining the physical fitness, the Bench said: “There has been much debate about skinny bodies vis-À-vis healthy bodies, but there is no scope for any debate on overweight people. It is universally accepted that overweight people have tendency to suffer from diseases.”
Excess money paid can be recovered from them.
Denied boarding ticket? Go home richer
Denied boarding ticket? Go home richer
OVERBOOKED FLIGHTS
Ashwini Phadnis for The Hindu Business Line
New Delhi, June 2 The next time an airline says it has no seats though you are holding a confirmed ticket and reported to the airport well in time, you could be going back home richer by between Rs 5,000 and Rs 12,000.
The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued draft guidelines that stipulate a passenger denied boarding is entitled to Rs 5,000 for flights of 1,500 km or less or Rs 8,000 for longer domestic flights. Similarly, a passenger flying over 3500 km outside India will be entitled to a compensation of Rs 12,000.
A passenger is considered as having being denied boarding when there are too many passengers and an airline does not have enough seats to offer.
Cancellation
In case of cancellation of flight, the draft guidelines say that the passenger must be given the choice of either refund of his ticket (with a free flight back to initial point of departure), or alternative transport to the final destination and meals, refreshments, hotel accommodation when necessary and communication facilities.
Refund may be in cash or through a bank transfer, the DGCA circular adds.
Delays
In case a flight is delayed by more than five hours and a passenger decides against continuing the journey, the airlines have now been asked to refund the cost of the ticket.
“We will be holding discussions with all the stakeholders including the airlines and passenger groups and fresh guidelines will be issued after taking their views on board. The consultation process should be over within a month,” a senior Government official said.
The amendments are being proposed to ensure that airlines provide minimum facilities to passengers in a liberalised aviation market.
Sources point out that while airlines do offer meals and refreshment in the case of delay in domestic flights, the decision to look at providing financial compensation is being examined for the first time.
The latest move comes months after the Lok Sabha passed the Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2008, which increased manifold the compensation to be paid to an air traveller in case of death or bodily injury as also damage to checked in baggage.
While the compensation for death or bodily injury is proposed to be increased seven times to $1,40,000 approximately, the compensation for damage to the checked baggage is to increase from $20 a kg approximately to $1,400 per passenger.
Big bin: Tackle the trash
Big bin: Tackle the trash
Tuesday June 3 2008 00:00 IST Express Features KOCHI
WITH the introduction of the bylaw on garbage, most Kochiites heaved a sign of relief.
However, unlike many issues where the authorities have more responsibility than the citizens, waste management is an issue that has to start at home.
While the Corporation has finally got its act together by bringing out the bylaw, it remains to be seen whether the law will translate into reality.
Waste management is an easily organised task if done systematically.
The Corporation’s new rules state very clearly that you’ve got to segregate waste, otherwise Corporation workers will not collect it. You can start by using two buckets- one a green one normally supplied by the Corporation and the other a white one which is used to contain all non-biodegradable waste.
Non-biodegradable waste includes all paper items, plastic containers, kits, toys, pencil sharpenings, juice packets, pet bottles, diapers, napkins and the like.
Biodegradable waste includes kitchen food waste, vegetable and fruits peels, plants, grass and weeds. Use a newspaper at the bottom so that the bucket will remain clean and the person collecting the waste can easily clean the bucket off the residue.
The non-biodegradable waste can be further segregated into: a) Recyclable waste: Plastics, paper, glass, metal, etc. b) Toxic waste: Old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertiliser and pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish. c) Soiled waste: Hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body fluids.
(Toxic and soiled waste must be disposed of with utmost care.) Certain things can be kept aside to be sold to the man who buys old items. These items include newspapers, used bottles, magazines, carry bags, old exercise books, oilcans, etc. This is one form of segregation which can be done as a routine.
In fact, much of the household waste can be separated daily into different bags for different categories of waste such as wet and dry waste which should be disposed of separately.
Dry waste consisting of cans, aluminium foils, plastic, metal, glass, and paper can be recycled. One should also keep a bin for toxic waste. Wet waste which consists of leftover foodstuff and vegetables can also be put in a compost pit and the compost can be used as manure in the garden.
Waste management: See how they do it
Waste management: See how they do it
Tuesday June 3 2008 00:00 IST, ENS KOCHI
Now that we have a bylaw in place to ensure that the waste is segregated before disposal, we decided to ask a few councillors and Corporation officials to check out how they manage the waste generated at their homes.
TK Shamsuddin, chairman of health and education standing committee, buries the biodegradable waste on the premises of his house. Non-biodegradable waste is burnt. Being the health and education standing committee chairman, Shamsuddin is responsible for the waste disposal management.
Mayor Mercy Williams has set up a small waste treatment plant at her house. “The plant was constructed a year ago and it is very effective,” the Mayor said.
The aerobic compost plant in Ponnurunni division which is represented by Deputy Mayor C K Manisanker is a model to others. “In my house, untreated biodegradable waste is used as manure. We burn paper and other things. If there is a large quantity of waste it is taken to the aerobic plant. The plant has been functioning here for the last six years,” he says.
There was no garbage crisis at the Ponnurunni division when the city was finding it difficult to deal with garbage.
Melly Joy, councillor from Edakochi and former standing committee chairperson, uses the waste as feed for poultry. “There are only three members in my family, therefore not much waste is generated. Paper waste is burnt on the house premises itself,” she said. Anitha Jyothi of Elamakkara is also doing the same. She said that the amount of waste generated from her house is very little.
“Biodegradable waste is buried on the premises of the house while paper waste is burnt,’’ she said.
Corporation opposition leader A B Sabu who represents Poonithura, a division which shares border with Tripunithura municipality, said that the waste generated in his house is also buried.
“As my house is a few kilometres from the city, there is not much problem of waste disposal. Besides, we have set aside an area in our compound to dispose of biodegradable waste,” Sabu said.
City grappling with garbage – Kochi – Express News Service report
City grappling with garbage
Tuesday June 3 2008 00:00 IST ENS K Surekha
There’s no end to the garbage woes of the city.
A day after the compendium of bylaws to govern the solid waste management process came into effect, heaps of garbage can be seen piled on the roadsides. Bundled in plastic covers that display the names of many a store and supermarket in the city.
The bundles are an indication that people are not aware of the segregation of biodegradable waste from the non-biodegrable. Most homes in the city have been asked by the corporation to put the waste in separate bins (red and green that are yet to reach a majority of homes).
“I paid Rs 70 for the bins and haven’t got them, I burn most of the waste in my compound because the workers don’t collect the waste on a daily basis and keeping the waste near the gate for hours is unhealthy and inauspicious. When it pours this will surely breed diseases,” says Sreebala, a housewife at Mavelipuram Colony in Kakkanad.
In most homes the garbage is left near the gate at the mercy of crows and rats. If people who collect the waste are nowhere to be seen, where will the residents throw the waste? In some flats the workers collect the garbage religiously but the plastic and the rest are mixed together.
“The people who come to collect it are irregular and the stench in the apartment drives everyone crazy,” says Minu Mathew who resides in a flat at SRM Road.
It is the same at many other apartments. Some civic conscious people do take pains to divide the waste in two bags. But the plastic waste is collected only once in a blue moon. People living in limited spaces find it difficult to keep the waste at home for long. And they don’t feel like paying the monthly fee of Rs 30 to the Corporation.
Unless the Corporation takes measures to clear the waste on a daily basis, the residents will have no go but to dump it in the neighbour’s vacant plot, stealthily leave it by the wayside, or throw it into canals and backwaters that are already stagnating with waste. After all, Keralites are more bothered about personal hygiene than their surroundings.
There’s a big hoarding at the entrance of Shenoy Road saying a word of thanks to the people who’ve managed to keep the road so dirty.
“It’s up to the residents to complain to the concerned people and get the waste collected daily. We’re collecting all the waste and after segregation, processing it at the Brahmapuram plant,” says Mayor Mercy Williams.
Now most of the shops in the city have done away with plastic bags and the waste management is better, she says.
In a city that has a population of 16 lakh and a floating population of over a lakh, the number of waste bins in the streets and on the highways are few and far between. Going by the waste seen in and around the city, the Corporation will have a tough task to maintain a clean Kochi.
The fine way to a clean city
The fine way to a clean city
Monday June 2 2008 04:46 IST ENS
KOCHI: The waste management bylaw introduced by the Cochin Corporation for a Zero Waste Kochi came into effect on Sunday.
The bylaw clearly defines the citizens’ role in assisting the civic body and lays down the penalty for violation of its norms. Kochi is the first city in the state to implement such a bylaw.
To create awareness among the people of the city, the Corporation has allowed June as a grace period, during which time offences will invite only 50 percent of the fine. Fines will be exacted from July 1.
The use of plastic has been banned. A fine of Rs 500 will be exacted for production, distribution, procurement, sale or transportation of banned plastic products.
A second offence will invite a penalty of Rs 5,000, and a third offence Rs 10,000. A fourth offence will mean a fine of Rs 25,000 and six months imprisonment. Solid or liquid waste should not be dumped in public or private properties or in water bodies.
Bathing, spitting, urinating and defecating, slaughtering of animals and vehicle washing in public places is prohibited. The penal provisions of the bylaw are applicable not only to residents of the city but to visitors also. Residents will pay a monthly fee of Rs 30 to the Corporation for removal of segregated waste from houses.
Institutions which generate a large quantity of waste have to set up their own waste treatment systems or pay a fine of Rs 5,000. Rs 250 will be charged for littering in public places, for not keeping one’s house/building premises clean and for not segregating and handing over waste for disposal.
Employers advised to keep staff keen
Employers advised to keep staff keen
Rania Abouzeid, THE NATIONAL
Last Updated: May 18. 2008
DUBAI // Employers who want to keep talented staff on board should woo them using the same tactics they would adopt to win repeat business from customers, says a human resources expert.
“Let’s stop thinking of employees as people who have to do what we say because we pay them and think of them as customers,” said David Creelman, the chief executive of Creelman Research, a Toronto-based human resources management company, at the seventh annual Middle East Human Resources Conference yesterday.
“How do you sell the job to them and get them to recommit?”
In a keynote address, Mr Creelman said managers should apply marketing principles to human-resource management.
“Think about marketers,” Mr Creelman said. “How would they get a customer to recommit? People in the sales side don’t just sit there and push products out. Go out there and get engaged with your people. Find out what it is they want.”
Recruiting and retaining skilled employees is particularly challenging in the UAE because of the transient nature of the country’s workforce and its multicultural makeup.
A report released last week by Hill & Knowlton Middle East and YouGov Siraj, said that managers in the UAE were acutely aware of the difficulties of finding the right people for the right jobs; more than two thirds of those surveyed said it was not an easy task to accomplish and, said Mr Creelman, “It’s not enough just to pay someone and hope they’ll recommit”. Before offering incentives, human-resources managers should consider where individual employees fell on what he called the four-point “recommitment scale”.
At the top of the scale were employees who were excited and eager to work hard. Next, those willing to do the work but not excited, followed by bored employees and, finally, those who were clearly dissatisfied.
Once an employee’s position on the scale had been identified, suitable incentives, ranging from higher salary, longer holidays or a more challenging position, could be used to retain their services.
“Different people will be looking for different things,” Mr Creelman said. “HR is not like calculus. There’s no one right answer.”
Mr Creelman said that even simple things, such as paying attention to employees, would affect their desire to remain committed to the company.
“Managers should ask themselves: ‘Who are the people you really want to keep? How much attention do you pay to them? When was the last time you had a conversation with them about their goals?’.” Mr Creelman added that managers should also evaluate their own performance and its effect on their staff.
“Did you hire dead wood or did you create it? Did you hire good people and turn them into dead wood?” Noora al Bedur, the manager of the Employment and Skills Development Center of Tanmia, the national human-resource development and employment authority, said that when it came down to it, a wage increase was usually all it took to keep an employee on the staff.
“The more you pay, the more people will stay,” she said.
Ms Bedur, who has been with Tanmia for seven years, said that, in addition to pay rises, financial incentives such as free parking and health insurance helped to keep employees committed to a company, but in her experience salary accounted for 60 per cent of an employee’s motivation.
Ms Bedur oversees about 25 employees and offers vocational training to 1,600 Emiratis a year, finding jobs for another 2,600.
“The most important thing in Dubai now is the salary,” she said, “And it’s the same for everybody, not just the locals.
“You’re talking about Dubai, one of the most expensive cities to live in. Motivation can get you through two years, but employees will then tell you that they can make more money elsewhere.”
Pauli Liimatainen, the vice president of human resources for Ericsson in the Middle East, said that his company carried out regular employee surveys to ascertain staff concerns. He also kept an eye on what his competitors were offering their staff.
Although his company’s staff turnover was less than five per cent per annum, Mr Liimatainen said that it could not afford to rest on its laurels.
“We are a little bit fortunate because our staff turnover is low,” he said after the keynote speech. “But you can’t ever relax because you have competition for labour. You need to be ahead. “
rabouzeid@thenational.ae
Garbage collector has dream for son
Garbage collector has dream for son
By Zoe Sinclair (Our staff reporter) KHALEEJ TIMES 21 May 2008
DUBAI — More than 40 years ago, Abdul Salaam Azizurahman fled Myanmar after losing his home and suffering under the government.
He could never have imagined that he would be honoured for his hard work by the leader of his adopted country, the UAE, as happened at the Dubai Government Excellence Programme Awards 2008 this week.
Abdul guesses he is about 70 years old, but the hard worker says he will continue until his legs give way.
As a young man, Abdul gained a Bangladeshi passport and came to Dubai via Pakistan.
Abdul took whatever work came his way as a casual street cleaner, before taking the chance to start his own business trading in small items like cosmetics.
The business fell by the wayside and Abdul took a job with the Dubai Municipality where he stayed for 25 years.
Although he retired once, Abdul supports a family of 10, including his wife, five daughters, one son and two grandchildren.
He returned to the municipality where he has worked for another eight years, from 5am to 12.30pm for Dh900 a month.
Never shy of work, he instead says he is grateful to have met his wife and had his family in Dubai.
“I’ve been given everything here,” Abdul said.
“Allah says to work hard and Allah will give you everything.”
He was overcome with surprise when he found himself being honoured by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Shaikh Mohammed kept a humble Abdul Salaam, dressed in his orange uniform and white cap, by his side and often with an arm around Abdul’s shoulder, for the remainder of the awards presentation.
“Shaikh Mohammed spoke to me in Urdu,” Salaam said.
“He asked me how long I’ve been working here, what I do.
“I like to work because of Shaikh Mohammed.”
His moments of rest are spent with his family and he never expected reward except to see his family happy and living a better life. “My dream is to go on Haj. Being a Muslim I have to go on Haj and that is my dream to go at least once and put myself at the feet of God.
“My son is a coolie and I want for him to have a better job. He is a good driver and I hope he finds a job as a driver.”
ClicksandWrites 
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