Tag Archives: business
Dubai’s liveability score rises
Dubai’s liveability score rises Ahmed Shaaban / 30 August 2013 While cities around the globe compete in providing the best living conditions, Dubai came third among the top ten in terms of improved liveability scores over the last five years. Ranking 77 out of 140 cities worldwide, the overall rating of the emirate touched 74.2 on a scale of 100, according to the latest findings of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Ranking. Assessing liveability has a broad range of uses, from benchmarking perceptions of development levels to assigning a hardship allowance as part of expatriate relocation packages. Expecting a brighter future for Dubai, Roua Ramadan, a pharmacist from Egypt, said this was normal for the every developing emirate. “Since I have arrived here in Dubai in 2005, I can closely see exceptional and fast developments in every nook and corner.” Echoing the same, Wafaa Mohammed, a teacher, also from Egypt, said it had always been a dream for her to live and work in Dubai to enjoy a more stable, safe, and secure society with better and varied services. “Believe me, most of the services I and my family members enjoy here are not available in my home country.” Sharief Al Wakeel, a Syrian accountant, said protests made the world less liveable, and people felt more unsafe. “Wish the whole world would be an oasis for safety, security, welfare and prosperity as is the case in Dubai.” “The prudent leadership of the UAE in general, and Dubai in particular, has created a leader in each and every Emirati national who has become more loyal and loving to his/her country, and take the responsibility in protecting and keeping up such progress,” said Wael Safwat, a businessman from Morocco. The rating, part of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, quantifies the possible challenges to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide. Each is assigned a score for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: Stability, Healthcare, Culture and Environment, Education, and Infrastructure. Each factor in each city is rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable. For qualitative indicators, a rating is based on the judgment of in-house analysts and in-city contributors. The relative performance of a number of external data points is associated with quantitative indicators. Melbourne is ranked the most liveable city for the third year running in the year-on-year survey, followed by Vienna and Vancouver. Jon Copestake, editor of the survey, said the past five years had seen global liveability slip by 0.6 per cent, led by a 1.3 per cent fall in the score for stability and safety. “The Arab Spring has been most influential in pushing down global liveability, but unrest in Europe and China have also contributed whereas the ongoing civil war in Syria has made Damascus the least liveable city in the ranking.” While the threat of terror had a defining influence on liveability in the last decade, we could clearly see that civil unrest already had a significant impact on liveability in this decade, he added. ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
New parent-school contract will be free
New parent-school contract will be free Muaz Shabandri / 30 August 2013 Parents will not have to pay extra for signing a new parent-school contract which is being introduced at six private schools in Dubai as part of a pilot project from September onwards. Every student in Dubai will soon be a part of this mandatory contract which defines the rights and responsibilities of a school and a student. “Initially, the initiative will start with a trial period involving six schools. If this is successful, it will be rolled out across all schools in Dubai,” said Abdulrahman Nassir, Chief of Customer Relations at KHDA, in an interview with Khaleej Times. The contract is being introduced to reduce the number of grievances and complaints addressed by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), a regulatory body which governs private education in the emirate of Dubai. Schools in Dubai have earned a reputation for being highly ‘business oriented’ with most schools announcing fee increases regularly, in line with the KHDA rules. The contract between schools and parents will help build transparency as the regulator expects the number of complaints between schools and parents to reduce. “One reason for disputes has been the lack of clarity between the two parties. We hope to decrease the number of grievances following the introduction of contracts. Parents benefit in the same way as schools by having their rights and responsibilities drawn up from the start. For example, fees and extra charges will be agreed upon in the contracts, to ensure there are no disputes over hidden costs for parents further down the line,” added Nassir. Experts at KHDA have worked upon the contract to include feedback from students, teachers and school operators. “It’s an original contract and was based on KHDA’s research which included external international benchmarking, focus groups and meetings with both schools and parents. The contracts are renewable and will be signed annually,” Nassir said. The six schools participating in the pilot phase of the initiative include, Dubai Modern Education School, Al Ittihad Private School (Al Mamzar), Al Ittihad Private School (Jumeriah), School of Modern Skills, Greenwood International School and American Academy in Al Mizhar, involving a total of 9632 students. news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Dubai Courts launches ‘Twitter Visit’ initiative
Dubai Courts launches ‘Twitter Visit’ initiative Staff Reporter / 30 August 2013 The Dubai Courts’ 4,000 Twitter followers and other interested individuals will now have the chance to take part in an arranged visit to the courts’ premises and have a closer look at the way the judicial system works. According to ‘Twitter Visit’, an initiative which was launched by Dubai Courts General Manager Dr Saeed bin Hazeem, a monthly visit will be arranged for the members of the public who wish to get familiar with the judicial system in operation within the courts, and procedures and services rendered to the litigants. Dr Saeed bin Hazeem and other Dubai Courts officials checking the courts’ Twitter account during a ceremony held to announce the new initiative on Thursday.— Supplied photo The initiative was launched during a ceremony attended by a number of judges and heads of departments on Thursday. Dr Bin Hazeem stressed that the courts department was keen to spread its vision and mission among customers and society in general and that it was important to raise the public’s awareness about its services and procedures. “The courts plays an important and prominent role in the community, and we must enlighten the community members about this judicial role. The main purpose of the Dubai Courts is to boost confidence in the judicial system both locally and internationally. “This is achieved through the spreading of justice in society, precision and speed in the settlement and adjudication of claims, and enforcement of judicial judgments, decisions and orders, as well as documentation of contracts and other edited materials. This goal can be achieved by relying on qualified national cadres and modern and sophisticated systems, procedures and techniques.” The programme is aimed at all those who have tweeted Dubai Courts through its Twitter site which currently receives around 4,000 followers in total. According to the Public Communication and Social Media Office at the Dubai Courts, to take part in the Twitter Visit, one should contact them and reserve a seat. The programme will include a tour inside the courts’ premises and introduction about the various departments, divisions and services provided to litigants. In addition, a meeting with a judge from Dubai Courts will be included, in order to familiarise the visitors with his profession, its secrets and inside information, and the challenges he faces in his work as a judge. The courts has already launched its accounts on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook with the aim of opening new channels to communicate with the general public. mary@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
