NEWS FROM THE U.A.E.
Excerpts from UAE Dailies
Mobile phones hit by viruses that wipe out credit and drain batteries
Dubai: 16 Feb: Mobile users in the UAE are being plagued with viruses that can drain their batteries, eat up their credit and stop them from receiving calls.
Two viruses are regularly doing the rounds in the country and customers have been warned that without anti-virus software they could easily fall victim.
A number of mobile users have had their phones infected through Bluetooth or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) with the Cabir and Commwarrior viruses.
Most of the virus variants affect phones that use the Symbian operating system and the number of such "smartphone" handsets that are vulnerable is increasing.
Etisalat officials were not available for comment.
Usman Shaikh from internet firm UAEMobiles.com said: "Many people do not know about these viruses but I think about 40 per cent of the community could be having problems."
An Indian woman whose telephone was infected with Cabir, which launches a file that makes the mobile's screen display the word Caribe, said: "My phone started sending messages to everyone around me unsuspecting people could easily have got the virus from me. Also my battery seemed to run down really fast."
She returned the mobile to her dealer and it was fixed under warranty but people whose phones are not covered are likely to have to pay about Dh100 for viruses to be removed.
Jeoffrey Segua, a customer service assistant at phone distributor Axiom in Deira City Centre, said people can avoid getting Cabir which is most often spread by Bluetooth by refusing to open messages from phones they do not recognise. "If you don't know the person, then delete the file," he said.
Lope Bagaly, a 36-year-old Filipino whose phone was infected with Commwarrior, said most of his telephone's credit had been "wiped out". He added: "It's very inconvenient because I need my phone for work."
Commwarrior, which operates on Symbian Series 60 devices, causes phones to repeatedly send MMS or Bluetooth messages that contain the virus.
"The messages will go again and again to all your contacts, so if you start off with Dh30 credit in a few hours you might have nothing at all left. So for your own safety it's better that you have anti-virus software installed on your phone," Segua said.
GULF NEWS
Abra fares to go up soon, says official
Dubai: 16 Feb: Fares for the abra, the most popular and the cheapest mode of transportation to cross Dubai Creek, will be increased soon, said a senior official.
Abra passengers have been paying 50 fils for more than two decades. "We are considering increasing fares because the cost of running abras has gone up due to hike in diesel prices over the years," said Abdul Aziz Malek, Director of Public Transport Department.
Malek is holding meetings with abra operators to finalise the new fare structure.
After opening of a new abra station on Al Seef Street near the British Embassy, he said the opening of the new abra station was part of the municipality's Dh23 million project to renovate and upgrade the existing four stations and build two new ones.
Passengers can now cross the creek between Al Seef Station and Baniyas Station (near Dubai Municipality Headquarters). Two existing abra routes are between Al Sabka and Dubai Old Souq, and between Bur Dubai and Deira Old Souq.
GULF NEWS
Parking lot raises a stink in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi: 16 Feb: A poorly maintained municipality-owned underground parking lot in Abu Dhabi has attracted much criticism from neighbouring residents.
The area, situated right behind Liwa Centre on Abu Dhabi's Hamdan Street, is covered in offensive graffiti and has been in insalubrious conditions for the past two years.
"We warn our guests about using the parking lot when they come visit us," said Dareen S., a resident of the Liwa Centre building since January.
"Just last week, there were some faeces on the floor which is now just covered in sand. The glass doors are broken and the smell is awful because of the urine everywhere. This is not hygienic at all; you can catch diseases and illnesses from this."
Dareen and her husband contacted the municipality over two weeks ago regarding the condition of the parking lot.
Officials said they would send somebody to take a look at the area within a week, but no such thing has been done yet. Just a day before Gulf News spoke to Dareen, her husband had contacted the municipality again and was told that the person in charge of cleaning up the area was on leave.
"They need a whole team to clean this place up, not just one person," she added.
Municipality officials were unavailable for comment.
Another resident of the Liwa Centre building spoke of the appalling conditions of the parking lot. "I've lived here for three months," said Shaddie Al Nashar. "The parking lot is terrible, it is a complete shame. People come to visit us, and it's a very nice building that we live in, but they park in that lot and the stairs are disgusting. Most people I know walk out through the ramp leading in to the parking. Also, the over-ground part of this place is covered with offensive graffiti; it looks like south central Los Angeles."
When the parking lot area was constructed about five years ago, the over-ground part of it was developed into a play area for children, with gardens and fountains and swings. A few years later, a shisha cafe opened up in the same area, and so the play area was removed. The cafe eventually closed down and all that remains now are broken doors, visible electric wiring, garbage, graffiti-covered walls, still fountain water, and an overpowering stench.
"This was supposed to be a private and very clean parking lot," said Dareen. "You don't feel like you're in Abu Dhabi when you look at this, you feel like you're in a very poor country. The municipality knows about this but is not doing anything about it."
Al Nashar added that while the underground parking lot is very useful in such a congested area, it is very important that the place be well maintained. "I feel that so much money is spent on maintaining everything else in the city, but I've never seen anyone interested in this place."
GULF NEWS
Shaikh Zayed Road is the deadliest of them all
Dubai: 16 Feb: Shaikh Zayed Road has turned out to be Dubai's deadliest road, with the highest number of fatalities in road accidents in 2005.
Statistics from Dubai Police's Traffic Department showed that 32 people died and 151 were injured in 174 accidents on the city's arterial road in 2005.
Around 236 people were killed in road accidents in 2005, an increase of nearly 15 per cent compared to the previous year.
Brigadier Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Director of the General Traffic Department of Dubai Police, said the growing population is the main cause behind the increasing number of deaths in traffic accidents.
He said Dubai's population grew from 1.1 million to 1.3 million over the 2004-2005 period.
"However, the number of deaths per capita has decreased," Brigadier Al Zafein told Gulf News yesterday. "The number of deaths per capita decreased from 20 deaths per 100,000 in 2004 to 17 deaths per 100,000 in 2005."
Brigadier Al Zafein said the department will have special traffic control teams for different traffic offences as one of the steps to reduce deaths by road accidents by the year-end. "We will increase traffic controls and have specialised teams monitoring different traffic offences. For example, there will be a team for the offence of jumping red lights, another for speeding and reckless driving, and so on," he said.
Statistics showed that run-over accidents killed 91 people out of 236 and topped the list of reasons behind traffic accidents last year with 505 accidents. Speeding came next with 53 deaths followed by not leaving a safe space between vehicles, which killed 15 people.
The age group of 21 to 30 was the most vulnerable with 85 deaths.
GULF NEWS
Strong winds to hit country from today
Al Ain: 16 Feb: Strong north-westerly winds are expected to hit the country today with the national weather centre warning of a stormy situation in the Arabian Gulf.
The winds, better known as Shamal, would have some impact on the conditions on land, said a senior meteorologist at the Marine Section of Central Forecasting Office of the UAE Met Department.
The forecast also warned fishermen and people going out to sea at the weekend to stay away from the waters from today until Monday.
The conditions are dangerous for small boats and fishing trawlers in the high seas. People should be aware of the conditions and refrain from taking risks, officials warned.
The winds would start getting strong from the evening and are expected to pick up speed gradually.
They may further gather strength turning into a gale with an average speed of 24 to 28 knots in general.
The meteorologist said the winds could even gain a speed of 35 knots some time on Friday.
He said strong winds are expected to continue until Monday during which time the seas will be rough and waves could reach a height of six to nine feet in general. The wave height could increase to 10 to 12 feet on Friday.
The conditions are expected to regain normalcy from Monday and height of the waves would decrease to two to four feet the next day, said the weatherman.
The change in the weather would also lower temperatures at nights and during the day on Friday. The Met Department also expects partly cloudy weather and chances of rain in some parts of the country.
Yesterday's temperature remained above the normal in different parts of the country with a hint of windy conditions.
GULF NEWS
Proving authenticity of degrees 'cumbersome'
DUBAI — 16 Feb: Private schools in the UAE have expressed concern over the cumbersome procedures for attestation of academic degrees and the newly introduced degree verification.
The new procedures, which have to be done through Emirates Post, are to be followed in order to apply for residence visas for teaching staff.
School managements have complained that unlike other job-seekers, only the teaching staff have to repeat the procedures by getting the certificates attested, a pre-requisite for the Ministry of Education for approval of jobs for teachers, and then getting them verified. The latter is the procedure which has been introduced recently by the Ministry of Labour for issuance of work permit to teaching staff.
"It is not only a repetition of the same procedure aimed at eliminating fake degrees, but also time-consuming and expensive for the candidates," school officials pointed out.
The candidates applying for teaching jobs have to pay separately for the attestation of a minimum of two degrees in addition to equivalence certificate of the degree issued by the UAE Ministry of Higher education, Dr Farooq Wasil, Principal of Our Own English High School (OOEHS), Sharjah, pointed out.
"On top of that, they also have to bear additional expenses for verification of their degree through Emirates Post, and this is quite a burden on teachers in private schools whose salaries are not very high," he added.
According to Madhav Rao, Principal of OOEHS, Dubai, the authorities should eliminate one of the two procedures and stick to verification of degrees through Emirates Post because it is the latest requirement by the Ministry of Labour for all job-seekers in the country.
Apart from being expensive, the cumbersome procedures delay the hiring process in schools, as attestation and verification will together take around 11 weeks followed by other official processes. Besides, if the candidate hired from overseas refuses to take up the job offer on completion of all the attestation and verification procedures, the school ends up spending a good deal of money, school officials complained.
The Ministry of Labour, however, told Khaleej Times that the issue of avoiding repetition of procedures was under consideration and would be resolved when an electronic mechanism to connect the ministry with other ministries and departments was put in place.
Ahmad Kajoor, Assistant Under-Secretary for Manpower and Planning Affairs, admitted that the repetition of procedures needed to be avoided.
"However, it will continue until a special committee, set up by Minister of Labour Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Kaabi to study the issue, comes up with suggestions to eliminate the duplication of procedures."
Kajoor explained that when the Ministry of Labour had asked companies from the private sector to get certificates of the candidates verified through Emirates Post, it was aimed at weeding out fake certificates from the job market in the UAE. But having realised that some ministries insisted on attestation in addition to verification, the minister has formed a committee to coordinate with other ministries to avoid repetition of efforts, he pointed out.
Ashok Kumar, Principal of Indian High School, Dubai, said: "We accepted the requirements as they are part of the rule of the land. However, I personally feel the mechanism should be as simple as possible and there should be a single window clearance for hiring of teaching staff."
Some schools have expressed the fear that the cumbersome procedures would ultimately lead to a drop in quality of teachers.
"In light of the massive difficulties in meeting the requirements, we may be forced to hire teachers locally. That will definitely result in a drop in quality," said Dr Wasil.
School authorities insist that their concerns be addressed soon, adding that they will they will make a representation to the Ministry of Education seeking to reconsider the issue and zero in on one of the two identical procedures.
A source at the Ministry of Education blamed the Ministry of Labour for not keeping the ministry posted on the introduction of the new verification procedures.
Repetition of the same procedure
School officials complain against the cumbersome procedures for recruiting teachers, involving both attestation of academic degrees and verification through Emirates Post, leading to massive delays in the hiring process.
The school officials request the ministries of education and labour to eliminate repetition of procedures and make verification of academic degrees through Emirates Post common to all job-seekers in the UAE.
Ministry of Labour has set up a committee to study how to prevent repetition of procedures in coordination with other ministries and come up with suggestions to eliminate the duplication of procedures.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Parking fees up in 3 Sharjah areas
SHARJAH — 16 Feb: As part of its efforts at eliminating traffic congestion, Sharjah Municipality has decided to raise the charges for public parking in three areas, Al Mahatta, Al Manakh and Al Shiyoukh, effective from February 18, 2006.
The charges will be Dh2 for one hour and Dh5 for two hours.
Abdullah Al Amri, Director-General of Sharjah Municipality, said that the new charges were determined following a detailed study on the condition of traffic and parking spaces in the emirate. Based on the study, the municipality raised the amount of parking ticket to force people to use parking spaces in other areas.
He pointed out that the municipality had recently moved its section of public parking which was in the main premises of the municipality to the Municipality's administrative building in the industrial area opposite Sharjah vegetable and fruits market.
The section will be working from Saturdays to Thursdays from 7am to 2pm to provide all kind of services for the public such as selling of prepaid parking cards for one year, six months and three months.
Al Amri stressed that the charges of parking in areas other than the three areas mentioned above remained as it was and no raise was applied to them. There are no charges from 1 pm to 4pm and after 9pm as well as on Fridays and public holidays.
KHALEEJ TIMES
25pc deaths in UAE due to heart disease
DUBAI — 16 Feb: Heart disease is a leading killer in the UAE responsible for 25 per cent of the deaths and is more prevalent than cancer, says Dr Afzalhussein M. Yusufali, founding member of UAE Heart Network.
He was speaking at a day-long conference held yesterday in coordination with the UAE Cardiac Society and Emirates Diabetes Society.
Participants included patients as well as relatives of people who succumbed to heart disease. The conference aimed at raising awareness about high cholesterol and its effective management and treatment.
Dr Yusufali said that the increasing rate of deaths due to heart diseases had underlined the need for setting up a special body that cares about and aims to raise awareness about these health issues and to encourage healthy lifestyles, early diagnosis and effective treatment.
The overall message is that preventive measures are, for the most part, inexpensive and will reduce the incidence of death and disability due to cardiovascular disease, he noted.
"The mean age of patients developing heart disease in the UAE is 51 years compared to 53 years in South Asia and 63 years in Europe and the rest of Asia," he said.
“It is important that individuals undergo regular check-ups for LDL or bad cholesterol. A simple test can indicate the risk to individuals and give them the chance to change their lifestyle. Although heart attacks cannot be treated instantly, they can be prevented by simply reducing the bad cholesterol level to healthy level by highly effective yet low dosage medicines," he noted.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Maintenance work causes eTransaction system of labour ministry to slow down
ABU DHABI — 16 Feb.: The eTransaction system at the typing offices near the Ministry of Labour in Abu Dhabi was so slow that an irritated UAE national called Studio One, a programme on Emarat FM radio, to complain.
The programme is presented by Jaber Obaid and Salem Al Mujaini.
The slow pace was the result of continuing maintenance work. Operators of typing offices said that the problem was solved late yesterday and exactly one hour before the end of the work shift-hours. People coming to the ministry expressed their sense of relief.
The Labour Relations Section received complaints regarding unpaid wages.
The number of complaints since the beginning of the months totalled 355 from various emirates; Dubai 161 complaints, Abu Dhabi 107, Al Ain 26, Ajman 36, Kalbaa 17, Sharjah 4, Fujairah one and Umm Al Quwain one.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Firm harasses ex-employee, makes him stranded in Kish
DUBAI — 16 Feb.: An Indian national, presently stranded in Kish, complained that his former employer had allegedly applied for a visit visa in his name, blocking all his chances to apply for another visit visa from other sources during this period, in an attempt to harass him and prevent his entry into the UAE.
Sabu Thomas has a seven-month pregnant wife Sreeja, waiting for him in Dubai. She said: “My husband is in trouble. He cannot apply for a visa because his former employer took a visa on his name and has kept it with him, in an attempt to allegedly prevent him from coming back into the country.”
She disclosed that she will lodge a complaint with the immigration authorities. “He was working for an electro-mechanical company in Dubai for the past three years. When he resigned, the company management told him that they would not allow him to enter the country,” she said.
She revealed that Sabu left for Kish island on Monday, and when she tried to apply for a visa, she discovered that a visit visa had already been taken on his name. “I am pregnant and I need support from him to survive here. Now, he cannot come back here when I need him the most. I hope the authorities will find a solution to this problem,” she hoped. “His visa was cancelled before he left. When I tried to contact the company, they refused to give a proper answer,” she said.
Sreeja is working in a hospital in Dubai as a nurse. Sabu was a resident of Dubai for the past 11 years.
KHALEEJ TIMES