NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL/GULF TODAY
Blaze Engulfs Water Creatures at Medical Centre
Dubai, Aug 25: A FIRE that broke out in the wee hours of Sunday partially damaged Dubai Heart Centre, destroying a big aquarium which housed different species of fish, baby turtles and other water creatures that were used in the treatment programme of the centre.
High-end office furniture, plasma TV, computer and other items at the reception and waiting room were also gutted in the fire that forced Dr Rajan Sadanandam, the CEO, to shut the clinic located near Al Maktoum Bridge, at least for a few days.
But what makes him feel more distressed is the death of his finned pets that used to give a breath of fresh air to his patients. He had installed the big fish tank to offer a soothing, calm atmosphere in the centre, and avoid the conventional looks of a clinic.
"I was fortunate to take care of them (the fish and other water creatures) for over three years. My patients and visitors used to like them very much. They were a real source of joy, relaxation and were part of my treatment programme," an upset Sadanandam told The Gulf Today.
The cardiovascular health consultant from India had set up the Dubai clinic with a motto of "re-engineering lifestyles to protect health." "Most of my patients have heart disease and high blood pressure. Watching fish has been found to bring down blood pressure and reduce stress. My pets really helped in bringing calm and peace to my patients. Some of them used to admire my aquarium so much that they used to tell me they don't feel like leaving the clinic."
The aquarium housed about 50 fishes, seven baby turtles, crabs, snails and other water creatures. "I had bought the aquarium for Dhs20,000 and brought so many different types of creatures to give life to it."
The centre's receptionist Susan Mitra Fronda said she was extremely upset at the unfortunate death of the pets she used to feed every day.
Apparently, the huge tank burst due to heat after flames engulfed the room about 1:30 am. The only survivors were three baby turtles. Though slightly burnt, the turtles swam with vigour when they were put back in water by the jubilant staff who found them hiding under the table in another room of the centre. The turtles were found only by about 2:45pm.
"I have no idea what caused the fire. I doubt that there could have been a short circuit due to the new a/c that was fixed in the waiting room. I got to know about the fire when the Civil Defence officials phoned me. They were alerted by the patrol police who saw the smoke from the clinic," said Sadanandam.
He added that he would have to bear the monetary loss as well since the clinic was not insured against fire accidents.
GULF TODAY
Taxi Drivers Enjoy Free Lunch
Abu Dhabi, Aug 25: Hundreds of taxi drivers were treated to a free lunch in a newly-opened hotel in the city yesterday as part of a push to encourage corporate social responsibility.
The One to One Hotel – The Village handed out 400 chicken biryani meals with a soft drink in the first of a series of community activities it has planned for the year.
For the drivers, it was a welcome change to save a few dirhams.
Izadeen Meeran, 25, who started driving a silver taxi for Tawasul two months ago, said money was tight.
“The free lunch is very good because we can save more money,” the Sri Lankan said. “A lot of people are coming from our company.”
Peter Redding, a spokesman for the hotel, said the meal was the start of a “social responsibility” campaign that was in line with the Government’s wishes for businesses to do more for the community.
“We wanted to put a little corporate social responsibility into the opening,” Mr Redding said. “We want to assist the taxi drivers.”
THE NATIONAL
Goodbye to Gridlock at Dubai Black Spot
Dubai, Aug 25: The rush-hour traffic negotiating one of Dubai’s most congested black spots was yesterday free-flowing for the first time in years.
The new Dh410 million (US$111m) Arabian Ranches Interchange, which opened at the weekend, has brought relief to motorists who are used to facing frustrating delays caught up in heavy traffic jams at the junction of Emirates, Umm Suqeim and Al Qudrah roads.
The old roundabout – often referred to as Dubailand Roundabout and the bane of many a commuter’s life – has finally made way for a giant new road interchange consisting of 11 flyover bridges and an underpass. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) regards it as one of its most important traffic improvement schemes to date.
Thought to be the largest road interchange in the region, the new junction opened to the public on Friday, but yesterday was its first real test as thousands of commuters embarked on their normally fraught journeys to and from work.
At 7.30am, the usual queues of gridlocked traffic on the approach roads to the junction had given way to fast-moving vehicles travelling unhampered in all directions.
Samuel Hacon, an engineer based on the Palm Jumeirah, said the interchange had reduced his morning commute by 20 minutes.
“I live at the Arabian Ranches and I’ve always faced delays in the mornings and invariably coming back as well,” he said. “I come out of the Ranches and head down Umm Suqeim Road, and there’s always a big queue on the run-up to the roundabout.
“But this morning was bliss – I just went straight across without having to stop or even slow down, it was brilliant. That was at about eight o’clock. It cut my journey by a good 20 minutes; I hope it’s like that every day.”
Another Arabian Ranches resident, Wes Chung, said: “It’s early days but my drive to work along Emirates Road to Jebel Ali was certainly a lot quicker and easier than usual. It was bizarre actually – there was just hardly any traffic around, whereas normally it’s chaotic there.
“There are just so many trucks on Emirates Road, which used to slow everything down at that roundabout. Hopefully, that’s a thing of the past now.”
Priyesh Maharajapuram, an accountant who lives at International City, drives along Emirates Road every day before turning off on to Umm Suqeim Road and heading for work in Dubai Internet City. He is used to hefty delays caused by the Dubailand Roundabout, and has often arrived late for work as a result.
“Today was my easiest trip to work ever since I moved to International City in March,” he said. “Instead of having to join a big line of cars, I just found myself on a flyover and didn’t even have to stop.
“I think this was definitely money well spent by the RTA, and should make things easier for a lot of people like me.”
Construction of the ambitious interchange began two years ago and since then, motorists using the roundabout have had to cope with a frequently shifting landscape of temporary junctions, diversions and coned-off lanes.
The evening rush hour was also remarkably clear, a picture of free-flowing traffic with no delays visible at 6pm.
The ongoing road expansion work caused a slight build-up of traffic on the new flyover taking cars from Umm Suqeim Road on to Al Qudrah Road.
In addition to the interchange itself, a key part of the road improvement scheme has been the widening of the roads that converge at the Arabian Ranches junction. A 2.5km stretch of Umm Suqeim Road – a vital link between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road – has been doubled in width from four to eight lanes.
A Dh333 million scheme to expand Emirates Road from three to six lanes in each direction between the Arabian Ranches and the Dubai-Sharjah border was completed in April.
This has significantly reduced congestion on the 32km stretch of road, which is used by about 20,000 vehicles per hour.
Work is ongoing to widen Al Qudrah Road from two to four lanes in each direction as far as the junction with the Bypass Road. Two temporary light signals to serve Auto City and Dubai Studios City were set up to control traffic during this phase.
Yesterday, electronic indicators on Dubai’s main roads flashed information notifying motorists that the new interchange was open, and urged them to take advantage of the new route.
“I saw the information on the electronic boards on Sheikh Rashid Road and I decided to drive through the interchange. There is a visible difference,” said Adel Kanara, a driver in Dubai.
Metha bin Adai, the chief executive of the RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, recently described the Arabian Ranches Interchange as one of the most important projects carried out by the RTA in Dubai.
THE NATIONAL
Man on Camera Charged Mentally Ill, Court Told
Dubai, Aug 25: A man charged with concealing a miniature camera inside a women’s toilet at the Ministry of Environment and Water building in Dubai earlier this year was told to do so by voices in his head, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance heard yesterday.
Saeed al Ghailani, the defence lawyer, said in his closing argument that his client, AK, was mentally ill and had been undergoing psychiatric treatment for the past five years at Al Amal Psychiatric Hospital and the Iranian Hospital in Dubai.
AK suffered from paranoia, depression and multiple-personality disorder, he said.
“He finds himself compelled to obey and carry out orders he receives in his head from unknown persons or sources,” he said.
Forensic police removed the camera after it was discovered in the women’s toilet on the fifth floor of the ministry last November. However, Mr Ghailani said AK, an Emirati, disregarded the dangers of being discovered and installed a second camera in the same location in February.
“His action shows a lack of awareness of the consequences of such actions as he is compelled to obey the voices. Despite the discovery of the first camera and despite everyone in the building knowing about it, he went ahead and installed a second camera less than three months later.”
Mr Ghailand denied police claims that his client was arrested in a sting operation. He said AK had confessed to the human resources manager at the ministry.
“My client was stammering and agitated and he told the manager ‘they found the camera’ and told him that he had stuffed paper towels in the bathroom false ceiling, claiming he was ordered to do so by the voice of an employee at the ministry who, at the time, was on her annual leave.”
He said AK’s colleagues described him as a respectable and decent person who never looked up when a female colleague passed him in the corridor. This was the exact opposite of the person referred to in the charge sheet, suggesting AK might also suffer from multiple-personality disorder.
“Residing within the defendant are several personalities, up to five, one of whom is decent and respectable, one is a sociopath and the third is intensely religious.”
Summing up, Mr Ghailani asked the court to find AK not guilty and, instead, to remand him to a mental care facility for treatment. The court will issue its ruling on Sept 16.
THE NATIONAL
New York to Help Abu Dhabi Protection
Abu Dhabi, Aug 25: The agency charged with protecting Abu Dhabi’s most important facilities and infrastructure will receive training and advice from the New York Police Department (NYPD).
A memorandum of understanding between the NYPD and the Critical National Infrastructure Authority (CNIA) was signed in New York last week, allowing the two to share intelligence, training and expertise to protect vital assets.
“We in the CNIA are proud of the alliance that we have formed with the NYPD,” said Staff Col Engineer Muhair al Khateri, the director general of the CNIA.
“We are confident that with this partnership, we will be able to forge new ties of cross-cultural understanding between us. We will work together towards broadening the knowledge base of our authority. Both parties hope to co-operate on matters of security expertise, best practices for training, risk management, intelligence, operations and administration.”
The NYPD commissioner, Raymond Kelly, said the two agencies would be able to help each other to protect infrastructure and save lives.
“I believe that it is the beginning of a positive relationship,” he said.
“We hope this alliance will foster an exchange of information [and] training to improve security.”
The CNIA, which has a staff of about 4,000, was formed in May last year by presidential decree.
Its objective is to safeguard Abu Dhabi’s infrastructure against attack or natural disaster.
The agreement with the NYPD follows a visit to New York earlier in the year by the agency’s chairman, Staff Col Pilot Sheikh Ahmed bin Tahnoon.
THE NATIONAL
Middlesex University Postpones Start of Term
Dubai, Aug 25: A Dubai university has delayed the start of term until after Ramadan, in contrast to most other higher education institutions and schools, which will hold classes throughout the holy month.
Middlesex University Dubai, the UAE branch of a London-based institution, will not start its new school year until October 5, once the Eid al Fitr holiday that follows Ramadan is completed.
Most other universities, including the federal institutions Zayed University and the Higher Colleges of Technology, will end classes early during Ramadan, which starts on September 1, but will not delay the start of term.
The Ministry of Education announced this month it would not heed calls to delay the start of the new school year at government schools.
Professor Raed Awamleh, the director of Middlesex University Dubai, said: “We have planned our academic calendar for the whole year to accommodate for Ramadan without compromising the length or depth of studies.”
The university said it wanted students to be able to spend “quality time with their families” and then “start classes at a regular pace”. Dr Awamleh said the university would add extra classes in late December and early January to make up for the delayed start.
"Ramadan is a testing time and it shouldn’t be a time for relaxing and not working, but studying is not like working. If you can accomplish tasks at a different time, you shouldn’t make life more difficult.”
Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi will also start its first term on October 5. However, Maysoon Barber, the spokesman for Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi, said this was not related to Ramadan, as the university also began its new school year in early October last year, which meant that classes overlapped with the holy month.
At the American University of Sharjah, the new school year began yesterday, and Dr Ibrahim Sadek, the associate dean at the college of arts and sciences, said the university “did not find problems” with Ramadan lectures.
Most classes would end about 4pm during Ramadan, said Dr Sadek. He suggested that to abandon lectures completely during Ramadan could go against the purpose of the holy month.
“Ramadan is not to make things easy,” he said. “In our holy book, it says Ramadan is to work hard.”
At Abu Dhabi Vocational Education and Training Institute, which runs diploma classes and is open to Emiratis only, the first term for daytime students begins on September 1. However, the term for students taking evening classes has been put back until after Ramadan, as the fast is broken and socialising takes place after sunset.
“For the students attending during the daytime, we’ll be very considerate and flexible about what we ask them to do,” said David Thomas, the institute’s director of corporate services.
He added that classes would finish at 1.30pm or 2pm, compared with 4pm outside Ramadan.
All schools that follow the Ministry of Education curriculum will start the new year on August 31.
Mohammed bin Hindi, the executive director for institutional affairs and supporting services at the ministry, said this month: “It is not reasonable to delay the academic year.”
Some principals warned that the performance of teachers and pupils could be affected by the fact they were fasting.
Global Education Management Systems (Gems), which operates 25 private schools, said a month-long delay to the start of term could have meant lessons continuing into July. In some Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, term does not begin until after Ramadan.
THE NATIONAL
Delivery Cyclists Sweat as Bicycles Confiscation Continues
Dubai, Aug 25: DELIVERY men from Deira groceries are sweating out as Police continue to hound their bicycles in a seemingly unending operation.
From the beginning of this month, the Dubai Police Traffic Department, in co-ordination with the Naif Police Station, have seized over 400 motorcycles said to have been found to be in violation of road safety rules.
On Aug. 3, the Deputy Director of Dubai Police Traffic Department, Lieutenant Colonel Saif Mohair Al Mazroui, said: that the operation would last 10 days. However, up to now, bicycles and quad bikes are still being confiscated particularly in Deira area.
However, the head of the operation, Major Hassan Nasir Abdul Razaak had said earlier said "We shall continue to surround residential areas; major as well as interior roads."
The crackdown has taken a huge toll on men who deliver grocery items and restaurant food to customers around the city.
The police said they were targeting unregistered motorbikes and motorbikes that don't carry number plates or licenses. "Our aim is to promote safety for road users and reduce traffic crashes caused by reckless motorcyclists."
"Now I have to walk,, but still I cannot meet my daily supply and that affects my daily payments," said Masembe Kabali, a delivery man of restaurant food adding that "At this rate, no one will be able to ride within Deira in the next few days."
The police said that "We want to do away with cyclists who drive in opposite direction to the road and on pavements."
Motorists cheer
This move has left many motorists happy. "The police could not have carried out the operation at a better time than summer holidays; may be we shall witness a reduction in the number of accidents caused by especially careless school children who're in their holidays," said Sanjay Tanna of Baraha.
"They tend to enter into the way from 'nowhere'; good riddance," said Jerome Kamau of Deira.
According to Dubai Police, the Naif Police Station assigned regular traffic control teams to specific areas where most accidents take place.