Sports
Sharjah drive against laundry on balconies
Sharjah drive against laundry on balconies Amira Agarib (news@khaleejtimes.com) / 11 June 2013 In a bid to preserve the image of the city, Sharjah Municipality has announced the launch of an intensive campaign against the hanging of laundry from apartment balconies. The campaign will also target dish antennae and storing of goods clogging up the space. Director of Sharjah Municipality Riyad Abdulla Ayalan said the campaign is based on administrative order No.17, issued on May 24, 1997, which prohibits the hanging of laundry on the balconies and out of the windows of all buildings. He said that the campaign came as part of the tireless efforts exerted by the Sharjah Municipality during the past few years, who have worked with other government departments to curb such behaviour. As a result, Sharjah city won the ‘Beautification and Landscaping’ category in the Arab cities award. During the campaign, which was launched recently, the municipality will distribute informative booklets and publications, in four languages including Arabic, English, Persian and Hindi, to all residents. The material will include information on the government efforts towards promoting a beautiful city as well as the laws pertaining to balcony use. He noted that Sharjah Municipality has repeatedly warned tenants in residential buildings against not abiding by the laws, adding that those who violate the rules will have to pay a Dh250 fine within a week from the date of issue. He warned that in case of non-payment, the fine would be doubled to Dh500. Abdulla Ayalan said that the civic body often launched intensified campaigns, within the framework of its keenness to maintain the civilised appearance and beauty of the city. The municipality will continue its inspections to ensure that residents are abiding by the regulations in order to maintain the beauty of the city and also to preserve public health and called on people to cooperate with the Sharjah Municiplaity by calling the municipality hotline on 993 to report any violations being committed. Continue reading
Academic medical centre opened
Academic medical centre opened (Wam) / 11 June 2013 His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has inaugurated the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Academic Medical Centre in Dubai Medical City. The inauguration was attended by Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. During the ceremony, Shaikh Mohammed unveiled a Dubai Medical City commemorative painting by Omani artist Madani Al Bakri. Shaikh Mohammed toured the centre’s facilities, where he viewed the emergency rooms and the process of receiving a patient up to their transfer to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He also visited the control room which supervises the process where he was briefed by a team of specialists on the whole procedure. Shaikh Mohammed also toured the Premature Infants ICU and labour wards, where he reviewed the modern medical tools utilised in the unit, as well as the training mechanisms for medical students. Shaikh Mohammed then visited the library to see a range of publications made available to the public, which was followed by a visit to a classroom where he attended a lecture in dentistry, wishing the students success in their endeavours. He visited other classrooms, where he viewed a number of trainee students using different machines and facilities related to their studies. Shaikh Mohammed concluded his visit by viewing the works of Madani Al Bakri, signing one of the paintings as a gesture of recognition of the artist’s symbolic contribution which illustrates the importance of art and the role it plays in human and social lives. Shaikh Mohammed also thanked officials at the centre for their efforts, praising the opportunities given by Dubai Medical City to both national and expatriate students. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Health; Lt.-General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police; Eisa Mohammed Al Maidour, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority; and other officials from Dubai Medical City. Continue reading
We will bring minds together for a better future
We will bring minds together for a better future Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum / 11 June 2013 MORE THAN 1,200 years ago, while Europe was in its Dark Ages, the Muslim world was ruled by a dynasty of Islamic leaders who embraced free thought and creativity from all corners of the globe. Never before had history witnessed such cultural openness and symbiosis as during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphs. They built the world’s first university, named it Bayt Al Hikma (‘House of Wisdom’), and filled its library with the finest cultural, scientific and literary creations known to mankind. As early as the ninth century, under the Caliph Al Mamoun, Baghdad had become the world’s capital of science and culture. The city was renowned for embracing all races and religions. It became a magnet for intellectuals, free thinkers and innovators from East and West. Its people developed a passion for gathering together all of the fruits of mankind’s quest for happiness. This celebration of human creativity flourished for more than five centuries and set the stage for the European Renaissance. Looking at the Middle East and its challenges today, it is tempting to think back to that golden age of Islamic culture with wistful nostalgia for a faraway time. But Al Mamoun’s vision is more than ancient history. It is also a solution for the present and the future — a model that we are actively rebuilding, right now. My own country — the United Arab Emirates — stands where it stands today because since our inception we have given the utmost priority to the human mind. Our land has always been a safe harbour for great thinkers. We have welcomed innovative minds and given them the freedom to create. By working together, thousands of experts and specialist from the UAE and around the world have built in Dubai the world’s tallest skyscraper, the largest manmade islands, the largest automated metro network and the third largest airline in the world. In our capital Abu Dhabi, they built the world’s largest carbon-free city, complete with advanced research facilities for renewable energy. Great artistic and cultural minds are collaborating to build a vast cultural and artistic city complete with the greatest international museums. We have been building on an idea that is more than 1,000 years old. Today we want to extend this vision to an international level. We want to host Expo 2020 — a global event in which the cultures, innovations and creations of the world will meet in Dubai. We want to welcome more than 25 million people during six months, so they can see the best of what the human mind can achieve across cultures and races. We want to host the greatest minds in the world to share innovative solutions for global challenges that cannot be dealt with in isolation. Expo 2020 will bring together expert thinkers to share inventive ways to deal with pressing issues such as energy and water. Great minds will also come together to share smart solutions for transportation, sustainability and global economic stability. When we proposed to host the world’s biggest cultural event, we promised to astonish the world. Today we pledge to breathe life into our slogan: we will bring minds together for a better future. We proposed to host this international event in 2020 to deliver three important messages. Our first message is to tell the world that the Middle East is not a region of conflict, war and tension. Its history and geography prove that this is a region where cultures, civilisations and innovation can meet and flourish. Initiatives such as Expo 2020 are an opportunity to restore this role by playing host to the world, communicating positively and openly with its diverse cultures, accepting and embracing ideas and interacting with all people. We are at the heart of the world. Two thirds of the world’s population live less than eight hours away. We are destined to be a meeting point for mankind and a melting pot for cultures and civilisations that will provide humanity with amazing innovations and creations. Our second message is to the people of our region who are tired of conflict and tension. We tell them that we have a culture, a religion and a language in common: if communication among different cultures can bring about a better future, imagine what it could do for us with all our commonalities. We have been trying for more than six decades to communicate and interact positively within our region. We endeavour to unite minds, and then borders; to touch together our hearts before touching on economic interests, and to unify our collective will before unifying our currencies. We have always wanted to establish connections, real connections, to build a better future for the people of our region and its youth in particular. It is time for our region to restore its role in history and civilisation. Our history and our culture have destined us for greatness, and our future should showcase this destiny.Our last message is to the governments representing the 166 countries that will vote next November to choose the winning host country for Expo 2020. We tell them that our region deserves the chance to organise this great world exhibition, that our country is ready to host it, and that we are committed to staging the best Expo in history. We are thankful to the countries that announced their support to us; and to the people of the world our message is that of love and peace. Our slogan will always be that connecting minds creates a better future. It is a slogan of which Caliph Al Mamoun would have been proud. Continue reading
