The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination, is set to host the second edition of ‘Bidaya,’ an exhibition that highlights Emirati creative talent.

Dubai Mall

A first of its kind initiative in the country, Bidaya showcases a wide range of artistic ideas by young Emirati artists from different fields including art and culture, said a statement from Dubai Mall.

It aims to crystallise the aspirations of young talent and highlights the creative thinking and outlook of young Emiratis, the statement added.

Commenting on the initiative, Nasser Rafi, chief executive officer, Emaar Malls Group, said: “We are committed to celebrating the wealth of creative talent in the UAE, highlighted by our support of ‘Bidaya.’”

“The event brings a new dimension to the emerging trends in arts scene in the UAE, and is a perfect fit to The Dubai Mall, which hosts entertainment and cultural activities that appeal to all visitors,” he added.

Showcasing the works of young Emirati artist Wafa Al Marzooqi, the second Bidaya exhibition will be held until February 6 at the Waterfall Atrium in the ground floor of the mall.

Honoured as the ‘Outstanding Graduate 2011’ at the Abu Dhabi Industry Awards for Academic Excellence, Wafa’s works are being presented under the auspices of the Mansoor Bin Mohammed Photography Award initiative.

Wafa is known for her creative story writing skills, and is the author of several children’s books including Water = Life, the Al Qatoo Hasson series and In the Fridge. Passionate about art and character design, she has worked on several character design projects for various entities and individuals.

DUBAI: The curtains came down on the series of glamorous fashion shows at Dubai Fashion 2012, the signature fashion event of this year’s Dubai Shopping Festival, amid spontaneous applause from the large audience that was present at the Star Atrium of The Dubai Mall. The last night of fashion shows saw a glittering and fitting finale from three brilliant collections by talented fashion designers.

Giving a dazzling start to the night was GlamOnYou founder and fashion designer Nadine Arton. The fashion house’s collection was witnessed with an outburst of vibrant prints and dazzling colours. It spoke of a savvy brand, which is equally wearable by all ages and traditions, and characterised by beautifully flowing fabrics, colourful prints and elegant draping, essentially making this 30-piece collection an amazing welcome to Spring/Summer 2012.

Sophisticated, cosmopolitan and glamorous, the GlamOnYou ensembles on the runway spoke to the kind of woman who embodies the life and style of the modern Dubai woman, classy, yet down-to-earth. She keeps her eye on trends, but always looks unique; she is independent, flirtatious and sensual.

With this outstanding project of Nadine Arton and GlamOnYou, the fashion house has indeed showcased its own unique personality, which could be said to embody the spirit of Dubai.

The Parisian-inspired collection by Rouge Couture followed next on the runway at Dubai Fashion 2012. Known as the “Abaya Engineers,” Rouge Couture is a fashion house managed and established by friends Sara Al Madani and Apple Wang. Together they create a fusion of Arabian and Chinese design, which brings a unique trend and style tailored with class and elegance. Models donned with a luxurious, unique and stylish line of abayas and jalabyas and paired with mysterious masks, made the wardrobe look fun and fierce. More info

CRCC has built the Makkah Metro. Makkah Metro, will transport pilgrims between Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa.

Source:  www.youtube.com

Makkah Metro

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s new metro system will ease traffic congestion during the annual Haj pilgrimage, a top official has said.

* Image Credit: EPA * Pilgrims using the new Makkah Metro. The capacity of the Makkah metro will be 70,000 to 80,000 persons per hour in one direction.

The Haramain High Speed Rail project, which is under construction, will be a 449.2km high-speed inter-city system linking Madinah and Makkah.

Each year three million to four million pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Haj.

During the Haj around two million people come from abroad by air and an estimated one million come by road.

During this period, Makkah, which has a resident population of 1.7 million, experiences high congestion from the 70,000 vehicles that transport the pilgrims between the sites of the pilgrimage.

“The number of pilgrims is increasing. We have about 70,000 buses moving between [three holy places].

“It’s very difficult to transport more than three million pilgrims in a very limited time and space,” said Salim Al Bosta of the Central Directorate for Development of Projects at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.

“The target group of the metro system will be the pilgrims from inside the country, from the Gulf states and pilgrims coming by land by bus,” he added.

Shuttle transport from Arafat to Muzdalifah, which is about 12km, can take six to eight hours, and in some cases up to 10 hours because of the congestion. More info

The Commercial Transport Dep’t at the Licensing Agency of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has recently briefed a visiting delegation from the Sharjah Transport Corporation on the best practices relating to commercial transport, and key projects & programs to be undertaken this year in line with the highest international standards.

Receiving the delegation, the Director of Commercial Transport Activities Sultan Al Kutbi stressed the importance of these meetings as they reflect the extent of cooperation between government entities in various Emirates of the country, and joint communications made with a view to improving the business conduct and streamlining shared roles under a drive to adopt the best practices in place.

In a visual presentation made to the visiting delegation, Al Kutbi touched on various information related to the Department along with its vision & mission, which revolve around the continued enhancement of legislations & regulations in a way that serves customers, and nurtures a safe & integrated commercial land transport environment.

“The Commercial Transport Activities Department is seeking this year to pursue the best programs and projects capable of enhancing its standing and services rendered to the public in the transport sector. Among key issues of common interest is the conversion of some service offering to the online mode, enhancement of the electronic link with the Department of Economic Development in order to streamline procedures and overcome obstacles encountered by the public, streamlining the transport of hazardous materials sector & quad bikes rental sector this year, and classifying the tourist buses,” he elaborated.

The Sharjah Transport delegation reviewed various services delivered by the Commercial Transport Activities Dep’t along with the key transport & rental activities. They were also introduced to the key documentation associated with different services and applicable fees; which vary according to each service. The review also covered communication channels opened with the public in order to identify their feedback and how to improve and deliver the services through RTA portal, Call Center 8009090 or Customer Service Centers such as Deira Licensing Center, and Customer Service Center at Umm Al Ramool.

Then RTA officials & members of the visiting delegation engaged in discussions where visitors were acquainted with the security information system applicable at Car Rental Offices in cooperation with the Dubai Police, which requires full information of the renter to be entered in the system in order to ensure higher protection to all parties concerned. They were also familiarized with the business routines of transporting passengers on hired buses or limousines between Dubai & Sharjah. “The streamlining of passenger transportation falls within the roles of RTA Public Transport Agency where passengers transportation on deluxe vehicles is made through operational agreements made with Operators,” stated Sultan Al Kutbi.

The two parties also discussed the transport laws; be it passenger transport or cargo transport between Emirates of the country which are applied by the National Transport Authority in Abu Dhabi (Land Transport Law); which requires a specific operational card. Discussions also covered the technical specifications of limousines used for transportation of passengers along with the conditions attached to this activity. They also touched on the prescribed lifecycle of vehicles related to commercial transport activities; which are customized to suit the activity itself.

The delegation members praised RTA’s continuous endeavours to introduce & adopt the best schemes & systems that render the RTA a key destination to various entities seeking to upgrade their business practices to keep them at par with the international standards.

Dubai: The city is extending itself to the Dubai Outlet Mall, literally. If there were just a few scattered villas within its immediate neighbourhood when the mall opened in 2007, it’s looking a lot more crowded these days.

* Image Credit: Oliver Clarke/ Gulf News * Vishal Mahajan, director of Dubai Outlet Mall, says the shopping destination located off the Dubai-Al Ain road could have a hypermarket in the future keeping in mind the growing resident base in the vicinity.

The Dubai Silicon Oasis has emerged as a bustling commercial and residential hub, while The Villa has come on nicely as a community. Then there are the apartment blocks forming the Skycourts cluster.

In effect, all of this is building up the catchment area that Dubai Outlet Mall can cater to. Currently, the catchment areas contribute about 10 to 15 per cent of visitor traffic to the mall. Is it then time for the promoters to consider going in for an expansion?

“We are over 92 per cent leased against the 83 per cent we had at the same time last year,” said Vishal Mahajan, director. “We have always maintained that the concept of an outlet mall is a necessity for a mature retailer rather than the opening of another store.

“This way they get to support their mainstream shops through the cycle of merchandise as well giving customers the benefit of discounts.”

Some time this year, the promoters will decide when and how an expansion should take shape. In its original masterplan, the mall would be the core of a much wider development that would include a hotel, officers and residential components.

The land is under the ownership of the Al Ahli Holding Group, who also developed the mall.

“Looking at future retailer demand, we could consider adding to the existing mall in parts rather than go in for a full-scale development,” said Mahajan. “It doesn’t make sense to build a mall of 2 to 3 million square feet for very little demand. More info

DUBAI — The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has increased the number of outlets selling Unified Fare Cards (Nol cards) for mass transit commuters, spanning the metro, public buses, and the water bus as well as motorists paying for parking fees in Dubai.

Nol Cards

Nol cards will now be available at 39 outlets of Al Fardan Exchange, 30 outlets of Al Maya Group and seven outlets of Aswaq.

Mohammad Yousuf Al Mudharreb, Director of the Unified Automated Fare Collection at the RTA Corporate Technical Support Services Sector, said: “To implement this decision, the Unified Automated Fare Collection Department increased the number of outlets selling various types of Nol cards following the signing of bilateral agreements with Al Fardan Exchange, Al Maya Group, and Aswaq, which are amongst the leading business entities with extensive selling outlets across the UAE.

“The new selling outlets will be subject to the same terms and conditions applicable to other selling outlets since the initial offering of Nol cards, which includes a stipulation of maintaining a unified price at all existing and new selling outlets.

The 50 per cent discount on personalised Nol Blue Cards which the RTA launched in January will end this month.

news@khaleejtimes.com

I was pretty shocked and upset to read that Ski Dubai had brought penguins to its establishment (Penguins go on show at Ski Dubai, February 1). Why does Ski Dubai need to bring penguins to a giant freezer in the middle of the desert?

Dubai, Jan 30th, 2012 -- A colony of snow penguins from Sea World in San Antonio will move into Ski Dubai in Mall of Emirates starting in February 2012. Visitors to ÔSnow Penguins at Ski Dubai´ will get a chance to get up close and personal with the birds and learn about them. Photo by: Sarah Dea/ The National

They pretend it is for conservation but it is all about money and marketing. If they really care about endangered species why not make a donation to protect penguins in their natural habitat?

Or why not give money to build a new zoo in Dubai to replace the one where dozens of animals are suffering from the lack of space and heat in the summer?

Once again, people are using environmental concerns to justify their commercial actions.

Sebastien, France

Dubai: The opening of 11 new plants, including eight serving the Dubai Metro Green Line, boosted profits last year at the National Central Cooling Company, also known as Tabreed.

Dubai Metro

The Dubai-listed utilities firm said net income advanced to Dh182.7 million ($50 million) from Dh136.8 million in 2010, an increase of 34 per cent. The company’s stock price fell 0.55 per cent to 54 fils per share at the close yesterday on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

Tabreed’s core business involves chilling water at its plants, which is in turn used to cool buildings and other infrastructure projects. The 11 new plants increased the firm’s total connected capacity in the UAE to 555,181 refrigeration tonnes.

“Tabreed’s performance was driven by its core chilled water division, which aggressively fuelled the company’s bottom line,” said Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena Investments.

Sustained rally

“The stock saw some profit taking but that is not a surprise given the market has been on a sustained rally; the DFM was up six per cent for the month of January,” he added.

Tabreed’s chilled water division saw revenues increase 25 per cent to Dh943.8 million while gross profit rose 27 per cent to Dh406 million.

Group revenue for the year increased by 9 per cent to Dh1.1 billion. More info

ABU DHABI // Supermarkets are facing growing pressure from suppliers to increase their prices, despite several warnings from the Ministry of Economy.

Fruit and vegetables at the Waitrose supermarket in Dubai Mall. Suppliers are increasing pressure on large retailers to increase prices. Pawan Singh / The National

Last week, the Cabinet ended import monopolies on more than 12 essential commodities including honey, eggs, fruit juices, salt, yeast, animal feed, dairy products, detergents and hygiene products.

But while the Government had hoped the move would boost competition between suppliers and allow shops to offer lower prices, the result has been greater pressure from suppliers to raise prices.

“The daily conversations going on between retailers and suppliers revolve around the increase of prices,” said Peter Lonsdale, the retail operations manager at LuLu Hypermarkets in Abu Dhabi. “We get pressure from these retailers all the time.”

Mr Lonsdale said in general, suppliers increase their prices by between 5 and 15 per cent, but LuLu would not give into the pressure.

“We have to abide by the ministry and not increase our prices on a range of commodities without their authorisation,” he said. “We can’t just go and increase prices until we get the ministry’s approval.”

Fahmi Al Shawa, the managing director of Convenience Arabia, which is based in Dubai and owns the Circle K brand, said his company’s prices were also subject to ministry approval.

But Mr Al Shawa said 95 per cent of the price of luxury items and basic commodities was dictated by suppliers.

“We fight with them regularly to maintain prices,” he said. “At the end of the day it all depends on them.”

Mr Al Shawa said prices tended to increase by a few percentage points each year. More info

Suppliers turn screws on prices