Sports
Dubai Summer Surprises come to town
Dubai Summer Surprises come to town Staff Reporter / 7 June 2013 Starting today, the Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) and Modhesh are back, giving shoppers an opportunity to win Dh250,000 weekly, and up to Dh1 million in prizes. Along with the Dh1 million in cash and shopping vouchers, eight BMW cars will be given away to 17 winners for DSS. As part of the campaign, shoppers are invited to three Dubai malls — Deira City Centre, Mall of the Emirates and Mirdif City Centre. The festival that will run until July 7, will feature non-stop programmes for family entertainment at the malls that will remain open from 10am upto midnight on weekdays and 10am – 1am on weekends. At the Mall of the Emirates, children can watch the popular ‘Bananas in Pyjamas’ pair perform live, inaugurating the first five days of Dubai Summer Surprises. The characters will sing, dance and interact in a show for the entire family. Adding to the excitement, the Xtreme Festival is coming to town complete with trampolines, stilt walkers, jugglers and acrobats, all of whom will be performing for visitors. Starting June 7, every Sunday to Tuesday, the circus will show off their tricks in three unique 20 minute shows, Xtreme Festival, Bed Time Stories, and Treasure Box. Performances will be held at 4.30pm, 6pm and 8.30pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday; and 4:30pm and 7pm Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday — promising a chance for everyone to witness some world-class stunts. Deira City Centre and Mirdif City Centre will bring one of the more-loved cartoon characters, Garfield to the malls. Performing his Happy Birthday to Me stage show, the audience will be invited to participate in a musical celebration. Garfield will start off at Mirdif City Centre from June 7 to 13, before heading to Deira City Centre from June 18 to 24. Shoppers will be transported into a jungle at Mirdif City Centre during the Jungle Circus, that will feature 40 African acrobats, aerial artists, contortionists, musicians and more performing acts of energy, flexibility and strength. From June 14 to 19, the Jungle Circus will have three 30 to 45 minute shows daily. As a special weekend treat, the Smurfs are coming to indoor family entertainment centre, Playnation, for an exclusive show and meet-and-greet with young fans. Starting June 22, the Smurf family will greet children Thursday through Saturday, until July 7. Another character known as ‘the sweetest girl around’, Strawberry Shortcake, will make a special appearance at Deira City Centre from July 1 to 7. Miss Shortcake will perform an interactive show for families to enjoy. Additional roaming entertainment will also take place throughout the DSS to keep families entertained all month long. Dh5m for three seasons Dubai Shopping Malls Group (DSMG), the umbrella organisation of shopping malls in Dubai, unveiled its promotion for Summer is Dubai 2013. This is the sixteenth year that the group has partnered with Dubai Festival and Retail Establishment (DFRE) as a key sponsor to roll out blockbuster shopping fiesta among its participating malls offering winners a chance to win Dh5 million. Majid Al Ghurair, Chairman of DSMG, commented: “We are proud to continue our association with DFRE through a spectacular promotion that complements the three seasons of summer is Dubai 2013. Raffle promotions have always attracted customers and our commitment to offer exciting promotions and winning opportunities is in keeping with the mandate to re-energise the mall industry and trade. As an umbrella organisation of shopping malls we aim at offering shoppers innovative ways to win exciting prizes while enjoying their shopping experience and we are confident that the unique promotion this year will give additional opportunities for shoppers to win.” Positioned across three seasons, the raffle promotion is phased across DSS (from June 7 to July 7), Eid (August 1-14) and End of Season (August 15 – September 7). All shoppers are entitled to one raffle coupon for every Dh200 spent at the participating malls. On the last day of DSMG’s mainstream DSS promotion, one mega winner will also receive Dh100,000 in cash plus Dh100,000 in shopping vouchers. The raffle draws are scheduled to be held on June 13, 20, 27 and July 10. The Eid promotion will offer shoppers an opportunity to win a total of Dh1 million worth of gold and Dh1 million worth of scratch and win gift vouchers. The raffle draws for winning gold are scheduled for August 12, 13 and 14. The ‘End of Season’ promotion will offer a mega winning of Dh1 million and the millionaire raffle draw is scheduled for September 7. The mall fraternity participating in the campaign include Al Bustan Centre, Al Ghurair Centre, Almulla Plaza, Arabian Centre, Al Barsha Mall, Bin Sougat Centre, Burjuman, Century Mall, Dubai Marina Mall, Dubai Outlet Mall, Etihad Mall, Ibn Battuta Mall, Lamcy Plaza, Mazaya Shopping Centre, Oasis Centre, Reef Mall and Time Square Centre. news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Student with low vision excels in Grade 12 exams
Student with low vision excels in Grade 12 exams Muaz Shabandri / 7 June 2013 Sitting close to the exam room window and reading his question paper with an electronic magnifier, Sajjad Kalam, comes across as any ordinary student taking his exams. A closer look at his paper and one gets to know the difficulty with which he has to read and answer the questions written on a sheet because of limited vision. “I have difficulties in reading and that’s why I have to put more efforts in reading and writing with clarity,” says Sajjad. Sajjad has a medical condition, which limits his vision by as much as 80 per cent. Having to wear thick glasses and still use an electronic magnifier, the student was given special provisions taking into account the extra time taken by him to read. Defying all odds, Sajjad, who is a student of The Millennium School, Dubai, scored 83 per cent in his Grade 12 exams and his results put a smile on the faces of friends and teachers who helped him through his studies. “I was very happy to hear his results and it reflects the hard-work of the student, his parents and the teachers who have taught him,” said Senior School Supervisor (Boys) Syed Ali. Simple tasks like finding a page in the textbook called for help from classmates, as the numbers were too small for his eyesight. Teachers at the school have also played a big part in helping Sajjad understand the curriculum. “From Grade 5 to 9, we used to give him a question paper on a larger sheet so that he could read easily,” said one of his teachers. Sajjad has always been popular among his friends because of his humble and loving nature. Ratan Koshy and Parmeet Singh, two of his close friends have made every effort to be by his side whenever there have been any difficulties. The two students have even been recognised by the school with special awards. While finishing the exams is the first step in stepping into the right career path, Sajjad has no qualms about taking up higher education. He plans to take up an undergraduate course in business administration and move ahead in life. muaz@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
NRI pension scheme to roll out in three weeks
NRI pension scheme to roll out in three weeks Sajila Saseendran / 7 June 2013 The Indian government is set to roll out a social security plan for expatriate Indians in the UAE that is expected to mainly benefit tens of thousands of blue-collar Indian workers. The official launch of the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojna (MGPSY) is scheduled to be held in three weeks, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, M.K. Lokesh, said on Thursday. “We have requested the Minister (of Overseas Indian Affairs) to come over for the launch. We are waiting for his date for launching it in three weeks.” He was speaking to Khaleej Times after an interactive session with India’s Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed, organised by the Indian Community Welfare Committee (ICWC) in Dubai. The MGPSY scheme is a Pension and Life Insurance Fund that promises a contributory pension, resettlement savings and life insurance for expatriate Indians, who require emigration clearance. An Emigration Clearance Required (ECR) stamp is put on an Indian passport when the holder has not completed Grade 10. Most of the blue-collar Indian workers, who constitute about 60 per cent of the nearly two million Indian expatriates in the UAE, fall under the ECR category and are set to benefit from the project introduced by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA). Lokesh said the government had already entrusted two banks, the Bank of Baroda and the State Bank of Travancore, to facilitate the scheme in the UAE where the government is making the overseas launch of the project. A pilot level project was launched in Kerala after the MOIA secured the cabinet approval for the scheme last year. Ahead of the launch in the UAE, officials from the banks, with assistance from Indian missions, have launched a campaign targeting labour accommodations to raise awareness about the benefits of the scheme among the potential beneficiaries. The ambassador said awareness drives to popularise the scheme will be conducted through the Indian Workers’ Resource Centre, as well. The ministry has also made awareness materials available at the offices of the Protectors of Emmigrants, who monitor the overseas employments of Indians with ECR passports. At Thursday’s session moderated by the ICWC Convener K. Kumar, the Chairman of Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust K. V. Shamsudheen said the scheme would receive more subscribers if the government provided an auto-debit facility from NRI bank accounts in India, thus avoiding additional leg work and service cost every month. In his reply, minister Ahmed said the government would look into that provision subject to its compliance with the existing regulations. Meanwhile, expatriates from the state of Kerala stand a chance to benefit from one more pension and welfare scheme launched by the state government. Chairman of Pravasi Welfare Board of the Kerala government P.M. Abdul Salam, who is in town to raise awareness about the scheme, said only about 125,000 of the estimated 5 million beneficiaries have subscribed to the scheme launched in 2009 even though it is not limited to those holding ECR passports. “People should understand the significance of such welfare programmes, especially in the current scenario where several expatriates are forced to return home due to new labour laws being enforced in some Gulf countries,” he pointed out. Shamsudheen said the MGPSY scheme, like the Kerala model, should also cover expatriates with lower income instead of limiting it to the ECR category. “There are several poor Indians who do not require emmigration clearance. The government should consider including such people also for this scheme that will be a big solace to those from the lower economic strata especially when they return home.” sajila@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
