Tag Archives: entertainment
UAE residents do their bit for Indian flood victims
UAE residents do their bit for Indian flood victims Nivriti Butalia / 29 June 2013 Aid continues to pour in from local communities in the UAE for the victims of floods in the Indian state of Uttrakhand that have washed away hundreds and left thousands stranded. The Uttrakhand Association in Dubai has been working tirelessly to raise funds to send to the worst-affected areas, with Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde saying he expected the death toll to rise over the current 1,000 several days ago. More than 10,000 people remain stranded. Association general secretary Sanjay Singh Thapa said he was in constant touch with people from his hometown. Contact persons Those interested in contributing may contact the following representatives in the UAE: Dinesh Bhatt (055-9272318), Dubai Deepak Dhami (050-2454924), Abu Dhabi Devendra Singh Koranga (050-5103334), UAE Atul Tiwari (055-9029859), UAE Niraj Kumar Joshi (050-6669283), Ras Al Khaimah Sandeep Rautela (050-3506273), Fujairah Navin Singh Kathayat (050-6580214), Sharjah Girish Pant (050-9947548), Al Nahda, Sharjah Jaiprakash Kothari (050-3786112), Al Nahda, Sharjah Kailash Chandra Joshi (0506401142), Al Nahda, Dubai Sanjay Singh Thapa (050-4556736), Al Nahda, Dubai Vivek Bahuguna (055-6587322), International City Anup Jakhmola (056-1148479), JLT and Dubai Marina Capt Anil Agarwal (055-4560236), JLT and Dubai Marina Dharam Singh Rana (050-3501845), Al Ain “Dharchula is one of the worst hit by floods in the Kali river. Thousands of the people lost their homes and their property…it takes lot of time and money to build a good house. This calamity has swept everything; even land doesn’t exist anymore since it has all been washed away by the flood. Hundreds of people are stranded in the villages. At least around 60 villages that are high up in the Himalayas in the vicinity of Mount Panchachuli and Om Parvat and Kailash Manasarovar are cut off from the rest of the world.” From their members in the emirates, the Uttrakhand Association has collected over Dh25,000, with more still coming in. A social worker and mother of two college-going children, Geeta Chandola left Dubai for Delhi on Friday evening and will travel to the affected areas with Dh7,000 that had earlier been collected and handed over to her. She will spend a month in Uttrakhand helping out the victims and distributing clothes and medicines and blankets and footwear. As money pours in, it will be transferred to her Indian bank account and from that fund she will buy what the victims immediately need. In Abu Dhabi, Rahul Dutta, a 29-year-old employee of Emirates Aluminum, has collected Dh1,475 from 10-15 of his colleagues including locals who immediately responded with cash donations to his email plea for relief for flood victims. Uttrakhand Association president Devendra Singh Koranga said money and aid in the form of warm clothing and footwear was coming in every day. On Thursday, the day Khaleej Times printed an article on the subject, he received about 35 calls from people asking how they can help. nivriti@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
About Dubai: There’s a garden out there
About Dubai: There’s a garden out there Staff Reporter / 29 June 2013 It’s a 10,000-square-foot oasis, right on Shaikh Zayed Road, close to the First Gulf Bank metro station. Not new to lovers of greenery — or bird houses or ornamental fountains or even barbecue grills — Dubai Garden Center is a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to renovate or adorn their balconies and gardens. In fact, it offers even more. Under a green canopy that blocks out some of the sun’s rays, there is everything from a potting shed, a carpentry workshop, a tree area, furniture for the home and outdoors and even a second-hand bookshop. Ideal to spend a Saturday morning browsing, the place offers a lot in terms of broadening horizons and increasing knowledge and awareness of plant names, gardening tools and even, unexpectedly, fishing equipment. As you walk into the garden area, the first thing you spot is a range of wood fire ovens, branded under Jamie Oliver. An entire section inside stocks his brand of ingredients, products and recipe books. The wood fire oven though – Valoriani Ovens from Italy – cost a small fortune: Dh65,000. Much more affordable are the other garden bric-a-brac. Figurines of laughing Buddhas in different poses — sleeping, curled up, reclining and, of course, laughing. The baby sleeping Buddha is Dh239, while a primitive statue of a cross-legged figure baring its teeth and wearing a skull and bones necklace is Dh495. Many of the wares carry a tag that reads “Take me to your home”. Wood masks surrounded by creepers of Jasmine are for Dh195. A dog house comes for Dh1,695. Terracota Lions cost Dh250 each and wheelbarrows double that price, Dh500. If you have money to spend, every corner at Garden Center is a little piece of paradise with the bougainvillea in full bloom and the purple scraggly creepers, a species of spiderwort called Tradescantia pallida for an easy Dh12. Little containers of Crassula come for Dh12. Even amateur gardeners, looking to start from somewhere, should come here to see their options and learn more about the delights and wonders of the soil. Near the potting shed, there are endless varieties of garden accessories available, lots of material to decorate flower pots with, from mulched wood chips to shiny pebbles. There is an enclosed air-conditioned space that stocks further supplies. There are books and DVDs on how to grow roses and flowers of the British Isles, also in the gardens of South Africa. Aficionados can spend hours browsing these aisles. A section on fishing has niche products like neon-coloured bait and fishing reels with “corrosion-resistant ball bearings”. There is a cafe that offers wi-fi and carrot cake and, provided you stay away from the arugula and feta pasta salad and the spinach and mushroom quiche, their deserts are quite nice. Roseleaf Cafe at this Dubai Garden Centre may just be the only place in Dubai that has fans. Ceiling fans, made mostly redundant in the rest of Dubai, are a delight to see — though air-conditioned, the presence of these fans is a throwback to a simpler time. For more, email them at garden-centre@desertgroup.ae. The centre is open from 8am to 10pm everyday. nivriti@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
DSS brings in hordes of visitors
DSS brings in hordes of visitors Staff Reporter / 29 June 2013 Malls and tourist services in Dubai are reporting customer increases of up to 17 per cent on the same period last year, more than two weeks into one of the city’s major shopping festivals. The month-long Dubai Summer Surprises festival, which will run till July 7 just before the expected start of Ramadan, has seen “tens of thousands” of visitors flood the emirate, organisers said in a Press release. Organisers said they were expecting this year’s festival figures to top those from last year, which featured 4.4 million participants and Dh12.3 billion in sales, based on the strong showing exhibited so far, the release said. “The 16th edition of Dubai Summer Surprises has posted excellent growth in its first two weeks boosted by the arrival of tens of thousands of visitors to Dubai that has led to high occupancy levels at hotels and sharp increases in footfall and sales at over 70 malls and more than 6,000 retail outlets across the city,” organisers said. Meanwhile, Dubai’s malls are reporting positive signs as the festival reaches past the halfway point. Mercato & Town Centre Jumeirah Corporate Communication Manager Nisreen Boustani said there was a 17 per cent in crease in footfall so far this DSS compared with the same period last year, while sales were up 13 per cent. “Thousands of shoppers and visitors have been descending on Mercato to avail themselves of great promotions and prizes that are up for grabs this Dubai Summer Surprises. As a result of all the live entertainment and in-mall promotions, we have noticed an increase in the mall’s footfall as well as in sales during the first half of DSS 2013.” The campaign was an important strategy to keep Dubai recognised as the worldwide tourist destination, she said. Dubai Duty Free executive vice-chairman Colm McLoughlin said his company had also had a high retail turnover in the first half of the festival. “Our sales year to date is up 13 per cent over the same period last year. This is a great indication that successful events such as the Dubai Summer Surprises, which attracts visitors to Dubai, have a positive impact on the retail sector.” Currency exchange Al Fardan Exchange general manager Osama Hamza Al Rahma said the company had registered a 10 per cent increase in transactions during the first two weeks of DSS — “and we expect this momentum to continue until the end of DSS 2013”. With each passing year and successive DSS, Dubai became an increasing global tourist attraction, he said. “All these attractions and activities have had a positive impact on the business of exchange houses. In fact, there is increasing demand for the Emirati dirham from the huge numbers of visitors coming from GCC and European countries.” Hotels were also benefitting from the shopping festival, with visitors, particularly from the GCC region, flooding the emirate this summer. Emirates Grand Hotel administration director Nader Abu El Ezz said the hotel’s occupancy rate had been at 99 per cent since the start of summer, due to various promotions and DSS. The occupancy rate, helped out by many GCC tourists, was a “great” improvement on the same period last year, he said. “Since January due to various occasions and festivities such as Dubai Shopping Festival and the holidays for public schools in the GCC countries, we have had an excellent period in terms of occupancy levels.” DSS 2013, organised by the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, will feature more than 100 events and activities, as well as numerous shopping offers including promotions and discounts of up to 75 per cent. — news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
