Tag Archives: sports
World Luxury Expo set to bedazzle Abu Dhabi
World Luxury Expo set to bedazzle Abu Dhabi Staff Reporter / 27 September 2013 Italian knight Rosmundo Giarletta’s sword is gold and gems with which he creates timeless classics that conquer his viewers. Now the goldsmith, knighted by Monaco’s Prince Rainier III for his creations to mark the royal family’s anniversary celebrations, will give the world Al-Noor, a one-of-a-kind medallion necklace that is said to be an artistic representation of the Muslim paradise. UAE residents will be the first to be able to admire this showstopper as the gold wedge necklace debuts, along with other masterpieces, at World Luxury Expo, Abu Dhabi, the third edition of the World Luxury Expo series. Kicking off at the dazzling Emirates Palace today, the three-day, by-invitation-only event will have as its main attraction a Rolls-Royce centrepiece, the ultimate statement in luxury and a celebration of timeless elegance and history. Abu Dhabi Motors will present a number of new bespoke Roll-Royce models — the Femas, Ruby and soon to arrive Goodwood. Other dazzlers include royal pots by the 300-year-old jewellery house, Mozafarian. To commemorate 2,500 years of the Persian Empire, the exquisite hand-crafted crystal casks, now part of a museum collection, were fashioned painstakingly in four years, inlaid with several thousand pieces of gold, diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Abbas Mozafarian says the Mozafarian style is all about heritage, evolving through years of knowledge and experience. Besides the Mozafarian creations, World Luxury Expo will also showcase fine art, hand-crafted time pieces and designer furniture. Besides, there will be fine dining for gourmets and private aviation and luxury travel for the adventurous. The other exhibitors include haute parfumier House of Sillage, which will debut a limited edition travel perfume. The set, a delicate set on an 18K yellow gold cylinder and embellished with 665 gemstones, costs Dh433,000. The price includes 7.5ml of the perfume as well as the elegance of the container. Italian luxury brand The S&S Stefano Company comes with the backing of Alessandro Martorana, stylist and head of an Italian tailor firm, who has turned to it to promote his tailor-made clothing and accessories in the Middle East. Doettling will present bespoke German superior safes, Four Seasons Ramesh Gallery some of the largest jewelled carpets, and Doha-based Kashperia one of the world’s most expensive headscarves. After the Abu Dhabi edition winds up Sunday, World Luxury Expo will move to Doha in November and then to Saudi Arabia in 2014, creating an annual signature series of events in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. The series has steadily gained momentum in this part of the world, having already concluded two recent expos: the inaugural event at Burj Al Arab, Dubai in January and the second in Riyadh in February.— news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Declare rape in conflict zones a war crime: UAE
Declare rape in conflict zones a war crime: UAE (Wam) / 26 September 2013 Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday urged governments to stand together to support the UN initiative to combat sexual violence in conflict situations, including condemning this crime and prosecuting and punishing the perpetrators in accordance with international criminal law. Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed in talks with Ahmed Al Jarba, head of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday. Shaikh Abdullah pledged the UAE’s continued support to the Syrian people and their aspirations to restore security and stability in the country. — Wam The following is the full statement he made during a UN meeting on the “Initiative to combat sexual violence in conflict situations” on the occasion of the declaration of international commitment to end sexual violence in conflict situations, being held in association with the 68th session of the UN General Assembly: “I am pleased to begin my speech by expressing my sincere thanks to my colleague, William Hague, UK Foreign Secretary, for leading this initiative aimed at preventing sexual violence in all its forms. “A great effort has been exerted to unite the international community and strengthen its determination to tackle this crime, stripped of all the meanings of humanity. As I believe in the awfulness of this crime, and the necessity of the world consensus to clearly denounce it, so I agreed to be the “World Supporter” for this initiative. “We live in a world of increasing conflicts and wars, such as those in Syria, for example. The crimes of rape and other forms of sexual violence that occur during these conflicts are not a new phenomenon. They have been repeated throughout history as a means to degrade communities, humiliate opponents and destroy them. “We still remained committed with our partners from the international community to eliminate this barbarism. We can no longer accept that such crimes will be an inevitable result of conflicts in the 21st century. We have to refer very clearly to them as a war crime. “It is a crime from which millions of people are suffering, with the worst practices and techniques, as described by a Bosnian rape victim who said, “He took my life without killing me”. There is nothing worse than that. “To address this issue, we start to promote a sense of responsibility towards the elimination of these crimes, so as to ensure that the criminal justice system in the states in which conflicts arise between different parties has sufficient expertise and capabilities to enable it to deal effectively with these crimes. “I know that Zainab Bangura, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, has made unremitting efforts with a number of governments to help strengthen the police, military, and judicial capacities to address these issues. “Let me encourage you to continue these good efforts. I thank you for them. “We also need to make further efforts to strengthen the role of women and girls in all walks of life. I would like to emphasise that the UAE is a strong supporter of UN Women [the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women]. “The country provided an amount of two-and-a-half million dollars for UN Women in 2012 and recently committed to providing one-and-a-half million dollars in partnership with the United Kingdom in order to support the efforts of the Somali government in the fight against sexual violence during conflicts. “We look forward to strengthening the role played by UN Women under the leadership of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. The strengthening of the role and empowerment of women means ensuring that education is provided, as well as giving them the opportunity to invest their talents in the labour market and to participate in decision-making in government and business sectors. “There are no quick solutions in this regard, but we must do what we can, and the UAE will continue to support this important work. “Let me finish my speech by urging all governments to stand together to support this initiative and to speak with one voice to express our condemnation of this crime and our common resolve to prosecute and punish it in accordance with the law.” Continue reading
India’s CBSE may open Dubai centre
India’s CBSE may open Dubai centre Muaz Shabandari / 26 September 2013 India’s largest education board has announced plans to set up a new centre for schools in the Gulf. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) centre will deal with student and school issues in an attempt to provide them with better services. “There is a definite need for a centre and over the next two or three months, we will have a sub-regional office in the Gulf region. The centre will most likely be in Dubai since it has the largest concentration of CBSE schools in the Gulf,” said board chairman Vineet Joshi. India’s Human Resource Development Minister Dr Pallam Raju, who was speaking with school principals in Dubai via teleconference, made the formal announcement on Wednesday. The CBSE chief also announced the board’s plan to start accreditation for all schools affiliated with the board. Inspection teams from India will visit schools in the Gulf region every five years to assess education quality as part of the plan. “We were working on developing this accreditation system for the last two years and we have launched it now. It will be compulsory for all CBSE schools to get accredited. Those schools that fail to receive an accreditation will be given one chance, failing which their CBSE affiliation will be revoked,” said Joshi. “The accreditation system will follow a peer assessor scheme where two assessors from private agencies and one CBSE observer will evaluate the school over a period of two days. A list of recommendations will be presented to the board and it will then be examined.” The educational board has selected 12 private agencies to nominate CBSE school principals who will qualify to be peer assessors after completing an accreditation test. The new system is being implemented to protect student interests and improve teaching and learning standards. “Schools associated with CBSE are not supposed to commercialise and, therefore, education cannot be looked at as a product. There has to be a culture of continuous improvement and the accreditation system will help them in this aspect,” added Joshi. Reports by education regulators have constantly highlighted the need for CBSE to move away from rote learning and the board has responded by announcing a series of changes over the last few years. “We are looking at consolidating the changes we have done since we started implementing them four years back. We value suggestions raised by schools and it reflects some of the issues which they may face.” Each year, the board affiliates 800 new schools and the new accreditation policies are expected to come a long way in improving education standards in Indian schools following the curriculum. muaz@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
