Flexible hours for office workers aim to ease traffic
Flexible hours for office workers aim to ease traffic
By Ashfaq Ahmed, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: October 02, 2007, 23:09
Dubai: Government departments have been asked by the Dubai Executive Council to adopt flexible working hours to improve their performance.
The system would not only benefit government departments but would also dramatically alleviate traffic congestion on the roads, the Council says.
“We expect up to a 30 per cent decrease in traffic congestion, especially during peak hours if flexible working hours are adopted by both the private and public sectors,” an RTA official told Gulf News.
The General Secretariat of the Dubai Executive Council has sent a letter to all government departments urging them to apply flexible working hours.
The system is in line with Dubai’s strategic plan 2015 launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, calling for the creation of an ideal work environment
Positive environment
Flexible working hours would ensure a positive work environment ideal for government employees to serve customer needs, a DEC statement said.
A Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) official told Gulf News the RTA has also proposed a change in the private sector’s working pattern to ease traffic and it has been having talks with major companies.
“Based on our studies, we have categorised three sectors for flexible working hours. They are public and private sectors and schools. In addition to having flexible workings hours within the private and public sectors, we want to have a “window” between the timings of these categories,” the official said.
Municipality already working on system
Dubai Municipality has already started working on applying a flexible working hours system for its employees, said an official.
“The system aims to improve the performance of staff and extract the maximum out of official working hours. One of the purported objectives is also to help solve the traffic woes of office-goers, especially during rush hour,” he said.
He said the system neither proposes to cut the total working hours nor staff attendance.
The Municipality, on an experimental basis, is considering implementing three timings for checking in and checking out of staff. They are 6.30am to 1.30pm, 7.30am to 2.30pm, and 8.30am to 3.30pm.
Oil prices fall as investors cash in on profits
Oil prices fall as investors cash in on profits
Reuters Published: October 02, 2007, 00:12
London: Oil fell below $81 a barrel yesterdayas investors took profits from near-record highs of last week. But a weak dollar helped check losses sparked by worries of an economic slowdown in top consumer the US.
US crude fell 83 cents to $80.83 by 1441 GMT, having sunk more than $1 to $80.59 in earlier trade. London Brent crude dropped $1.10 to $78.07.
Oil has surged more than 30 per cent this year to an all-time high of $83.90 in late September on expectations of a supply shortfall in the fourth quarter as heating demand peaks.
A weaker dollar has also propped up oil and other commodities as they become cheaper for holders of other currencies. Gold hit a 28-year high on Monday, while platinum neared a record peak.
“The weaker dollar, for now, is the most consistent bullish theme that explains the incredible bullish momentum we are seeing in a variety of commodity complexes,” said Edward Meir at broker MF Global.
The dollar sank to a new low against the euro and a basket of currencies early yesterday, then rebounded as investors cashed in.
An Iranian oil official said on Sunday the price of US crude could gain $10 from current levels by December if the dollar continued to weaken.
Apart from a weak dollar, analysts said expectations of tightening fuel supplies heading into winter and the threat of supply disruptions due to hurricanes would also support prices in the near term.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed last month to boost production by 500,000 bpd to soothe consumer concerns over high prices and tight supplies.
No need for Opec to boost output – Qatar
No need for Opec to boost output – Qatar
Reuters Published: October 02, 2007, 00:12
Dubai: More crude supply from Opec would do little to ease $80 oil as speculative investment flowing into the market from other assets is boosting the price, Qatar’s oil minister said yesterday.
US crude was trading at $81.43 a barrel yesterday. The price has been above $80 for much of the last three weeks, despite Opec’s agreement on September 11 to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day from November 1.
“I am confident that the price is not related to supply,” Qatar’s Oil Minister Abdullah Al Attiyah told Reuters by telephone.
“We increased at the last Opec meeting and were confident that it would help the market, but unfortunately the market is moving in a different direction. More oil won’t help at all.”
Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) were not in consultations at the moment about boosting oil supply, he said.
Two weeks ago, an Opec source told Reuters the producer group would hold talks about a further supply boost if the price stayed above $80 for several weeks.
Al Attiyah said he did not know if Opec would consult on output before the heads of state of its 12 members gather at a summit in Riyadh in November. Oil ministers were due to meet ahead of the summit.
The global credit crunch had encouraged investors to switch to oil from other assets, Al Attiyah said.
“Our increase in output could not overcome the investment flow switch,” he said. “Investors believe oil is safer than some others [assets].”
The weak dollar was not making Opec more resistant to an output change, Al Attiyah said. The higher price has helped insulate oil producers from the erosion of their spending power due to dollar weakness. The US greenback hit a new record low against the euro yesterday.
“The weak dollar and Opec’s supply are not related,” he said. “But it has affected us. A lot of our imports are in euros.”
Qatar had no plans to change its policy to price and receive payment for all of its oil in dollars, Al Attiyah said.
Neighbouring Gulf Arab Opec members Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait also receive all their oil revenues in dollars.
Iran, locked in a row with Washington over its nuclear work, is aiming to boost oil export earnings in non-dollar currencies to 80 percent by the end of October.
It already receives more than 70 per cent in other currencies.
Qatar is Opec’s smallest oil producer, with output of around 800,000 barrels per day.
Sensex@17000 has 9 new trillion Re members
Sensex@17000 has 9 new trillion Re members
28 Sep, 2007, 1000 hrs IST, TNN
MUMBAI: The surprise bull run has generated so much of wealth that many top-rung companies can now boast of being part of the Rs 1-trillion market cap club.
The list of the biggest wealth creators is expanding with every 1,000-point rise in the Sensex . Nine companies, led by Reliance Industries (RIL), have already entered the hall of fame after their market caps soared beyond Rs 1,00,000 crore (trillion) amid unprecedented rally in their shares in the past few months.
RIL topped the list with Rs 3,23,322 crore as on Thursday when the Sensex soared past the historic 17k-mark to close with a gain of 229 points, or 1.4%, at 17,151. The stock has been on a dream run, jumping 27% to Rs 2,320 in one month. The market is still looking for clues as to what sparked the surge in the scrip.
Public sector oil and gas giant ONGC ranks second, but the company’s market cap at Rs 2,07,826 crore is substantially lower than that of RIL. Apart from RIL and ONGC, Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,82,256 crore), NTPC (Rs 1,59,880 crore) and DLF (Rs 1,26,432 crore) are among the top five wealth creators. Most of them, barring Bharti Airtel, have outperformed the Sensex in the past one month. The stocks have risen between 10% and 27% against a 16% gain in the index.
Two companies — DLF and ICICI Bank (market cap Rs 1,09,222 crore) — have found place in the list of high-fliers during the Sensex’s journey from 15K to 17K in the past two-and-a-half months.
A few more companies are close to touching the Rs 1 trillion-mark. Bhel and SBI, with a market cap of Rs 99,896 crore and Rs 99,260 crore, respectively, may soon achieve the milestone if these stocks continue to rise in the coming days.
5 reasons why market is complacent
5 reasons why market is complacent
28 Sep, 2007, 0310 hrs IST,Pravin Palande, TNN
1. First, the equity earnings yields (the inverse of PE ratio) is at 4.77%. The equity market is attractive when earnings yield is higher than that of bond yield. Today, 10-year bond yield is at 8%. When earnings yield is almost half that of the government bond yield, it indicates a clear complacency. Investors want to look at the next year’s PE of 18.14 which gives an earnings yield of 5.51%. This, according to them, makes the market look very comfortable. Investors expect the equity market to go up irrespective of any events. Again, justifying that the market at a PE of 18.14 may not be a great idea.
2. The implied volatility of Nifty is falling. In other words, investors feel that the market will not be choppy, given that the Sensex has seen an amazing run. The volatility in Nifty is 14%, a level seen two months ago when it was at a lower level. Since, the market has moved up 7% in the past two months, the volatility number should have been higher. This shows that investors are under the impression that there are no bumps ahead.
3. Open interest positions in Nifty futures are rising. Almost 77% of the positions have been rolled over on Thursday to October contracts. Simply put, investors may be taking big bets in derivatives. The October contract of the Nifty is in heavy demand. The market looks optimistic for the coming month, at least going by the Nifty futures positions.
4. Bank stocks are moving up as the market is betting on a rate cut even though there are no such indications from RBI. Over the past two weeks, the Nifty banking index has moved up 15%. Any kind of rate cut is seen as a positive, since it makes money cheaper and leveraging easier. At a time when the Sensex has hit 17K, expecting cheaper money may be wishful thinking.
5. Investors are reading too much into the recent capital outflow liberalisation measures. Many feel that the rupee will turn weaker with more outflow and it’s time to buy IT stocks or cover short-positions in software scrips. The fact is it could be too little, too late. Besides, net FII investments are rising. Since September 20, FIIs have been net buyers of Indian equity. On September 27, net investment was Rs 1,004 crore. These numbers are fuelling in the feel-good sentiment.
How bad can a good thing be?
How bad can a good thing be?
28 Sep, 2007, 0000 hrs IST
My bank’s relationship manager emails weekly parables – simple stories with a moral lesson – to his customers.
This week he sent this:
A father wanted to inculcate a sense of responsibility in his careless son. So he told him that for every careless act of his he would hammer a nail into a wooden pillar in their house, and for every positive act he would pull out one nail.
The boy saw that the pillar was getting crowded with nails, so he resolved to change his behaviour and soon the nails started coming out, till there were none left. The father was very proud. He said, “Son, you have done a great job, there are no more nails left on the pillar.” The boy, however, started crying and replied, “The nails are gone but the holes remain.”
The fable’s obviously been made up to teach a few pithy lessons such as that some mistakes are part of the learning process and may be unavoidable; or, mistakes even when corrected, leave marks forever. Also, that some mistakes are just not correctable and the price paid is very heavy – for example, carelessness while crossing the street can cost a life. etc.
However, if we leave out the boy’s last comment and halt the story at him just crying after there were no more nails left, we can discover an altogether different kind of message running through the story.
For instance, could he have begun crying because it might suddenly have dawned on him that there were no more mistakes left to be corrected? Because in that case he must have also realised his good behaviour and deeds were not as spontaneous as he believed they were.
Instead, the positive acts were those of redemption goaded by his earlier irresponsible behaviour that had nailed him to the wooden pillar in the first place. (The reason for crying could also have been due to the fact that once he knew his impetus for doing good arose from un-good acts, it turned out to be not a great feeling to live with.)
Something similar had happened to Emperor Ashok too, the man they used to call murderous and heartless. On the battlefield of Kalinga when he saw the scattered corpses – basically his own set of nails – he is supposed to have cried out, “What have I done?” Indeed, what had he? And so he spent the rest of his life pulling out one nail after another till there were none.
Could Ashok have been greater if he had been virtuous to begin with and had not required gutted soldiers to remind him he was doing something wrong? He could. That’s another moral of the relationship manager’s parable.
Air Arabia: Service To Coimbatore
Air Arabia: Service To Coimbatore
Air Arabia yesterday announced a new service to the Indian city of Coimbatore twice weekly beginning on October 1, increasing to three flights a week from November.
Kyle Haywood, Commercial Director of Air Arabia, said: “We are pleased to introduce our eighth destination in India, strengthening our ongoing commitment to offering passengers the widest choice of destinations in India at the best value for money.
“Such expansion provides our many customers in India with the added convenience of more destinations throughout MENA and South Asia.”
Coimbatore, also known as Koneyammanputhhur, is Air Arabia’s eighth destination in India. It is one of the largest cities in the state of Tamil Nadu.
The flights will leave Sharjah International Airport at 8.05am local time and arrive in Coimbatore at 1.35pm local time every Monday and Friday. Return flights will depart at 2.20pm local time and arrive in Sharjah at 4.40pm local time on the same days.
Haywood added: “The addition of this destination for Air Arabia provides even greater opportunities for travelers between the MENA region and India for both holiday and business travel. We look forward to further enhancing our destination network in India in the future.”
UAE to issue temporary work permits
In order to meet the shortage of expatriate workers, the UAE will issue temporary work permits for a six-month period, from today.
All companies in the country can now seek temporary work permits to facilitate the process of recruiting foreign manpower, said Obaid Rashid Al Zahmi, Assistant Under-secretary in the Ministry of Labour.
In the past, such permits were issued only to oil and energy firms.
The three-month temporary permit or ‘mission visa’ will cost Dh500. For a three-month extension of the permit, companies would have to pay an additional Dh500 along with a Dh3,000 bank guarantee, said Al Zahmi.
He says the permit is not expensive, and, according to him, it is, in fact, beneficial to all, as firms can check the credentials and the performance of the workers they have recruited. He added that workers’ rights would also be protected.
Some sectors are reeling under staff shortages after more than 200,000 illegal workers left the country under a recent amnesty programme.
The mission visa will allow people to live and work in the UAE for up to six months.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares:
What is the Dubai Cares campaign?
“Dubai Cares” is a charitable campaign, lead by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum that serves to focus the multicultural community of Dubai on raising money to support a global cause.
What are the main goals of Dubai Cares?
The two main goals of the campaign are: To bring the multicultural community of Dubai together during the traditional time of giving – the Holy Month of Ramadan – and to focus their collective attention on raising funds for a global cause. This year, Children’s Primary Education globally. To proactively address Dubai’s role as a Global Citizen by delivering unrealized opportunities to the children in our beneficiary countries through providing them access to Children’s Primary Education.
Who are the beneficiaries of the campaign?
We are currently targeting the following regions to receive funds collected from the campaign. They include the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Do you need volunteers for the campaign?
This year’s campaign was put together in 12 weeks which made it difficult to focus on securing and training volunteers to help us. However, we will definitely need volunteers for next year’s campaign. Once the campaign is complete we will add a section for volunteer registration.
What projects are you currently targeting to raise funds for in the campaign?
We will fund the value chain of education including:
* Building and renovation of schools
* Teacher training programs
* Teaching materials
* School scholarships
* School feeding programs
* School physicals including vaccinations
* School supplies
* School sports and recreation equipment
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Corporate Social Responsibility:
What is Corporate Social Responsibility Program?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the commitment of businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development by working with employees, the local community and the global society at large to improve their lives in ways that are good for business and for development.
The Dubai Cares campaign has designed a CSR program that offers corporations the opportunity to play a significant role in the success of this campaign to provide education to children in Asia, Africa and Middle East.
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