Entertainment
Malls line up activities, extend operating hours
Malls line up activities, extend operating hours Staff Reporter / 12 July 2013 Malls in Dubai and Sharjah are hosting special events throughout Ramadan to welcome shoppers and visitors. Reflections of the Moon … at the Dubai Mall. The Dubai Mall announced a series of attractions for visitors under the theme ‘The World Gathers Here for Goodness.’ Visitors have the opportunity to view rare art pieces dating back several centuries, as well as the World’s Biggest Book highlighting the biography of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Nasser Rafi, chief executive officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: “The holy month of Ramadan is a time to reflect on solidarity and foster camaraderie amongst friends and families.” The mall’s décor has been inspired by the Holy Quran and created by Emirati artist Mattar bin Lahej. One of his masterpieces is the collection of nine unique sculptures in the shape of the moon, the ‘Moon Reflection,’ that will be on display at the mall’s Waterfall Atrium, where each sculpture will represent a different phase of the moon and will be dedicated to a specific verse from the Holy Quran. As part of the Ramadan activities the mall is continuing the tradition of providing visitors with daily Iftar packs with mineral water, dates, and a Ramadan calendar, distributed complimentary at all Guest Service Desks. During Ramadan, The Dubai Mall has extended operating hours daily from 10am to 1am, while the food and beverage outlets are open from Iftar until 2am and restaurants on the Waterfront Promenade to be open until 3am. The biggest book in the world at the Dubai Mall. — Supplied photos Sharjah’s Mega Mall has also lined up several fun filled activities and promotions to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan. Family, friends and shoppers get to experience the spirit of the holy month by visiting Ramadan tents, placed in Water and Garden Courts. The mall is offering shoppers a chance to savour delectable treats with dates and Gahwa being served. Ladies can get their hands painted with attractive Henna tattoos in the Water Court tent. Visitors can also benefit by receiving a free health check, hosted by the Ministry of Health as a part of the Health Awareness Campaign. The campaign takes place from July 18 to 20, July 25 to 27 as well as from August 1 to 3 from 8pm to 12midnight.— muaz@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Out in the heat without a shade
Out in the heat without a shade Staff Reporter / 12 July 2013 Commuters waiting at bus stops, carrying bags and shielding their faces with sunglasses and scarves is not an unusual sight. But, what is being done about the lack of bus shelters at key traffic junctions in the city? Air conditioning of all shelters has not yet been achieved, and most stops do not have tinted glass to shield them form direct sunlight. When Khaleej Times asked the Roads and Transports Authority why there were neither sunshades nor a place to sit at many stops — including the one opposite Deira City Centre which is used by hundreds of passengers daily — acting director of planning and business development Essa Al Hashemi said: “We are currently installing shades in most of the heavy passenger generation points. Waiting platforms at bus stations will be totally sun-protected during hot months.” He assured Khaleej Times that “robust criteria has been developed to ensure effective utilisation of current shades and many reallocation and installments have occurred to cover the main bus stops including Al Ghubaiba, Al Qouz, Al Karama and Gold Souq.” Miriam Khan, a 32-year-old receptionist at the head office of a beverage distillery in Deira says she faces a problem getting buses because her office was away from the main route. She said she took the metro to work from her Karama home. “But I have to change to the bus. At one stop, the bus comes to the metro station at Baniyas, so I don’t feel the heat … it’s alright because of the air conditioning in the metro, but my neighbour who has to go to office in Ghusais says she has to be even careful about what she carries for lunch, as waiting for a bus in the heat ruins the food.” While the RTA has in the past promised to expand the number of air conditioned shelters, Al Hashimi said: “superior design and technology are adopted for the AC shelters and more than 650 such shelters are located across Dubai. RTA has planned to expand this project to cover other bus stops categorised by passenger volumes and availability of infrastructure.” Dubai buses The Dubai bus fleet consists of 1,574 buses that operate on 22 Dubai Metro Feeder routes out of the 86 inner routes covering 85 per cent of Dubai’s urban districts. The Dubai bus fleet covers over 5,759,116 kilometres (as of February 2013). Service volumes are adjusted on Fridays and public holidays in relation to the passenger demand. Around 309,992 passengers travel per day. The bus fleet made of custom-built and equipped with comfortable seats dedicated for ladies and children, air-conditioning, special needs facilities, electronically operated destination display system and computerised fare equipment. nivriti@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Malala celebrates birthday with UN address
Malala celebrates birthday with UN address (Reuters) / 12 July 2013 In her first speech since the Taleban in Pakistan tried to kill her for advocating education for girls, Malala Yousafzai celebrated her 16th birthday on Friday at the United Nations, appealing for compulsory free schooling for all children. Wearing a pink head scarf, Yousafzai told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and nearly 1,000 students from around the world attending a Youth Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York that education was the only way to improve lives. “Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution,” she said. Yousafzai was shot in the head at close range by gunmen in October as she left school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, northwest of the country’s capital Islamabad, after campaigning against the Islamist Taleban efforts to deny women education. She presented Ban with a petition signed by nearly 4 million people in support of 57 million children who are not able to go to school and demanding that world leaders fund new teachers, schools and books and end child labor, marriage and trafficking. U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, said Friday’s event was not just a celebration of Malala’s birthday and her recovery, but of her vision. “Her dream that nothing, no political indifference, no government inaction, no intimidation, no threats, no assassin’s bullets should ever deny the right of every single child … to be able to go to school,” said Brown. Pakistan has 5 million children out of school, a number only surpassed by Nigeria, which has more than 10 million children out of school, according to U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. Most of those are girls. Islamist gunmen killed 27 students and a teacher on Saturday in a boarding school in northeast Nigeria. It was the deadliest of at least three attacks on schools in Nigeria since the military launched an offensive in May to try to crush Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram, whose nickname translates as “Western education is sinful” in the northern Hausa language. The Taleban claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt on Yousafzai, calling her efforts pro-Western. Two of her classmates were also wounded. Yousafzai was treated in Britain, where doctors mended parts of her skull with a titanium plate. Unable to safely return to Pakistan, she started at a school in Birmingham in March. Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP), formed in 2007, is an umbrella group uniting various militant factions operating in Pakistan’s volatile northwestern tribal areas along the porous border with Afghanistan. Under Taleban rule in neighboring Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, women were forced to cover up and were banned from voting, most work and leaving their homes unless accompanied by a husband or male relative. Continue reading
