NEWS FROM THE UAE
Excerpts from UAE Dailies

Firms warned against misuse of sponsorship

ABU DHABI — MAY 24: The Ministry of Labour has warned sponsors, who own more than one company, against recruiting labourers in one company and registering them in another.

The ministry's warning is aimed at protecting the labourers rights, according to an informed source at the Ministry of Labour (MoL).

Ahmed Al Besher, a legal advisor at the Disputes Department of MoL, told Khaleej Times that the companies must add include workers in its records.

"In the past, it was not a problem. However, now the ministry warns the companies at first and in case of violations fines are imposed on violators," said Al Besher.

According to the labour law, the penalties include Dh10,000 fine, suspension of company's licence for six months and downgrading of the firm's status.

The warning came after 14 Kenyan labourers filed complaints with the MoL demanding labour cards from the company they work at. They also demanded immediate clearance of arrears and unpaid dues.

KHALEEJ TIMES

'No liquid rule' to have a soft launch across UAE from May 31

DUBAI — MAY 24: International airports across the UAE will begin the ‘soft introduction’ of the new aviation security rules that limit passengers to carrying certain amounts of liquids, aerosols and gels in their hand baggage.

The relaxed introduction will start on May 31 in anticipation of the policy's full implementation on June 30, the country's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has confirmed.

A source at the GCAA said the one-month introduction is aimed at raising public's awareness about the enhanced security measures before UAE airports begin strict implementation next month.

"Airport check-in personnel will start informing passengers about the limited amount of liquids, aerosols and gels that they can take inside the aircraft. Passengers may still be allowed to take those materials in during this one-month introduction period. However, effective June 30, UAE airports will strictly implement the new rule," the source clarified.

In a statement released yesterday, the GCAA has advised the aviation industry "to prepare for the introduction of the enhanced measures."

It added that it has given both the industry and passengers sufficient lead time to ensure that any liquids, aerosols and gels placed in cabin baggage comply with the enhanced security screening measures.

"From May 31, passengers shall only be permitted to take through airport security screening checkpoints in cabin baggage liquids such as toiletries, perfume, shaving foam, deodorant and lip balm providing they are in containers not bigger than 100ml each," the statement read.

"The liquid items to be carried in the aircraft cabin must fit comfortably into one transparent, re-sealable bag no larger than one litre or approximately 20cm x 20cm, and presented separately at the security checkpoint," the statement added.

The GCAA has also noted that there will be no restrictions to the amount of liquids placed in baggage that is to be stowed in the aircraft hold, meaning, those that will be checked in. “Passengers must, however, place liquids, aerosols and gels in hold stowed baggage prior to presenting themselves for screening at security checkpoints," the general civil aviation mentioned.

Exemptions from the new hand baggage rules include passengers travelling with infants and children and those who may have special medical and dietary needs. Likewise, items purchased after the security screening checkpoint or onboard the aircraft are also exempted from the policy.

"It is recommended that passengers transiting or transferring through airports en route to their final destination clarify with Duty Free and on-board sales if purchase of liquids, aerosols and gel products will not result to the confiscation of the goods when changing aircraft," the GCAA said.

KHALEEJ TIMES

Snag holds up uploading of students' data

DUBAI — MAY 24: Final examinations in schools all over the country got off to a peaceful start yesterday with the introduction of the new examination system known as ‘two semester system’ which requires students to undergo tests for subjects taught to them in the first and second terms separately.

However, a technical hitch caused problems for school management nationwide when they failed to upload students' data for transmission to the Ministry of Education via the e-network. Most of the schools were unable to connect to e-link.

The failure, according to some sources at the PC Department, was due to lack in the technical capacity at the ministry and insufficiency of main servers.

Meanwhile, the MoE has disconnected the Internet link from the PCs of most of the employees with the ministry as well as the Dubai Education Zone. The disconnection will last till June 16, sources added.

KHALEEJ TIMES

Mercury may soar to 49 degrees in June

ABU DHABI — MAY 24: The monthly report of the National Authority of Meteorology in Abu Dhabi (NAMAD) is anticipating the mercury to hit 49 degrees by June.

With the heat increasing gradually, experts have been cautioning people against direct exposure to sun, especially during midday.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Salama Hashaad, head of the Weather Forecast Centre at NAMAD, said exposure to sunlight between noon and 4.00pm can be very harmful.

"People should take care in summer because the body loses water faster. Hence, we must drink extra amount of water throughout the day to avoid dehydration and sunstroke," Hashaad said.

Meanwhile, NAMAD has predicted highest temperature of 38-42 degrees and the lowest 26-29 degrees for today. The humidity would be 70-80 per cent (highest) and 20-30 per cent (lowest).

KHALEEJ TIMES

Diabetes drug Avandia not banned: Ministry

DUBAI — MAY 24: Refuting claims of a drug alert published in an English language daily yesterday, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has said that the diabetes drug Avandia, made by GlaxoSmithKline, is still available throughout the UAE, and still being prescribed by doctors.

Avandia (Rosiglitazone) which has been the subject of recent media speculation is still available in the country and patients have been advised not to panic  or to stop taking their prescriptions. The drug is approved internationally as well as locally, hence no authority has banned it.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) says no action has been taken against the drug or its manufacturers. All private sector hospitals and government hospitals still have the drug in stock.

Humaid Mohammed Al Shamsi, assistant undersecretary of pharmacy and supplies, MoH, said, "The Ministry of Health has not issued a circular about Avandia and, until further research, will not be releasing one. Our advice to patients is not to stop taking Avandia voluntarily, but to seek medical advice instead. Each patient has different medical needs and each case must be judged individually by professionals. I would like to state that the Drugs Control Department is keeping a watch on the situation and will inform the public if there are any new developments."

Al Shamsi denied the newspaper's report which claimed that he was going to release a circular advising doctors to discuss the safety of the drug with patients. He said that the procedure of a circular was standard but had not been applied in this case as yet.    The media has an extremely important role to play when it comes to medical stories to assure that no unnecessary panic among the public is created, Al Shamsi stressed.  Further, he stated that all enquiries about medication should be submitted in writing allowing an official statement to be issued by the Ministry of Health.

"Articles about medication need to be written very carefully as they deal with a very sensitive subject,"  Al Shamsi said.

KHALEEJ TIMES

Inhaling insulin approved by Dohms

DUBAI — MAY 24: Exubera, the new inhaling product for diabetes management, has been added on the Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms) list of prescribable medicines (formulary).

Dr Ali Sayyid, Director of Pharmaceutical Services Division at Dohms said that Exubera, the latest advancement in Insulin therapy, is an inhaled short-acting insulin preparation for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. "The medicine has been approved by the International Drugs and Food Organisation," he said.

"Now, diabetics can inhale their daily doses of insulin orally and dispense with their painful injections," Dr Sayyid added.

"Dohms physicians will educate patients on how to use the product," the official said.

KHALEEJ TIMES

Wireless data vulnerable to hacking

SHARJAH — MAY 24: Half of the Internet connections in Dubai and Sharjah are open to attack, according to a recent study about wireless security in the United Arab Emirates, conducted at the American University of Sharjah (AUS).

"The first thing you learn about security is that nothing is secure," said Dr Fadi Aloul, Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering at the School of Engineering (SOE), AUS who supervised the study. When three of his computer engineering students unearthed surprising results from a small-scale study about wireless security, Dr Aloul wanted to expand it to a full-fledged study with help from a research grant.

"It covers a hot area that everyone is using today. Everyone is going wireless, with the devices becoming more convenient, cheap and easy to get," he said. Wireless devices are not only operating at faster speeds, they also reach wider ranges, all costing an affordable Dh300.

"Anyone can buy a device at the nearest mall and install it easily," said Dr Aloul. However, people are not aware of the dangers that come along with using wireless. The most serious problem, he pointed out, is the simple collection of valuable data that can be misused.

"Wireless is more dangerous than wired because the information that is transferred through a wired connection stays in the wire," he said. Wireless connections force information to be transmitted in the air completely defenceless and prone to hacker activity.

The problem becomes clearer given the UAE's recent surge in development. "Dubai is a high-tech city so it is a good target for a hacker to mess around in," he said.

The more dangerous problem associated with an insecure wireless device allows a hacker to steal information in the form of emails, online conversations, bank information, credit card numbers, etc. Any form of interaction on the web can be watched by an outsider and used for personal interests.

To avoid such an occurence, Dr Aloul urges wireless users to secure their devices by enabling them with a Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or an even advanced Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). These easy-to-implement security measures convert transmitted data into an illegible code, consequently dissuading hackers from attempting to decipher it.

"It only takes a minute to secure your connection. You do not need a professional to come to your house to do it," he stressed.

However, breaking these encrypted messages poses a third problem as some experienced hackers can read messages transmitted through a WEP-enabled connection. This form of hacking is advanced and since nothing is completely safe, Dr Aloul said it is important to make the connection as secure as possible.

KHALEEJ TIMES

SCHOOL BUS LEAVES GIRL HOME ALONE 
   
  
DUBAI - MAY 24: A girl aged six was left stranded outside her apartment yesterday after a school bus dropped her off even though her mother was not waiting to collect her.  Hind Madgwick, a UAE national who attends Jumeirah Model School, Dubai, arrived home at 12pm. But mum Sherifa was still at work – unaware that classes had ended early because of exams.

Hind spent the next hour knocking on her own and neighbours’ doors to see if anyone was at home before going to the lobby, where a watchman found her crying.

Sherifa, 39, received a call at 1pm from the watchman at the Gardinia apartments at the Al Murooj Rotana Suites.

She immediately raced home from the cultural centre in Bur Dubai, where she works, to comfort her frightened daughter.

“To leave a six-year-old alone at an apartment building is terrible and the school should have better ways of informing parents of these changes,” said furious Sherifa.

“I have been reading what happened to four-year-old Madeleine McCann, who was abducted in Portugal. While I trust my fellow residents, you never know in this day and age who is lurking around.

“I am always outside the building when the bus drops Hind off so this should not have happened – the bus supervisor looks out for me.

“I do not have a maid and as a single-mother I rely on the school to inform me about these changes.” She said the school passed notices to parents by selecting a student to distribute letters to classmates.

“There needs to be a change to this system as it is not working. This is the second time this has happened to me and others have told me of similar incidents with their children.” School principal Hira Saif Al Muhairi said a letter had been sent to parents on Monday through their children telling them the school day would finish at 11am because exams were starting.

“If the mother had a problem with the time, she should have communicated with the school, as she did during the first semester exams,” she said.

“If she failed to get the letter this is her fault, not our fault, as we did what was required on our side.” UAE child psychologist Evelyn Seika said Hind would have felt alone, rejected and neglected when her normal routine was broken.

“Children have a very loose sense of time so the little girl was probably thinking, ‘school has finished, I will go home and mum will be there’.

“A lot of explanation is needed but in the end children that age do understand what is going on.

“This would not happen if there was confirmation that the parents knew about changes. There needs to be better two-way communication,” said Seika.

EMIRATES TODAY

Longest pure silk saree is up for bidding
        

DUBAI - MAY 24: The world’s longest and most expensive silk saree – measuring nearly half a kilometre – is to be auctioned in Dubai.  The 486-metre extravaganza has images depicting India’s cultural heritage handwoven on it.

“We expect it to be sold to a prestigious buyer or a museum,” said Beena Kannan, CEO of Seematti Textiles of Kerala, one of India’s biggest saree showrooms where the garment was made.

“It is a handwoven masterpiece in pure kancheepuram red silk, the value of which cannot be estimated. The saree took 80 weavers under the supervision of our master weaver, Thiru Selvan, working round the clock for two months and 18 days to com plete,” Kannan added.

The silk and the golden zari embroidery work alone cost more than Dh180,000.

The saree, which is in the Guinness World Records book, weighs a mammoth 72kg with the zari weighing nearly 15kg. The total weight of the silk used is 57kg.

The entrepreneur and celebrity designer said: “The saree has 51 pallo – the piece that is carried over the shoulders – showing the rich cultural and historical heritage of India through elaborate and intricate designs.” Images woven on the pallo include those of Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, architectural marvels such as Taj Mahal, Qutab Minar, traditional dance forms, musical instruments and festivals.

A special motorised machine had to be made to roll the saree around two huge rods on an iron stand.

“The rods were then placed in a wooden case and all together it weighed more than 600kg.We had to have the case transported by air cargo.” For her next project Kannan would like to weave in pure silk the family tree of Dubai’s Rulers.

“I think it will be a great idea to weave the faces of all the great personalities that are behind the making of this great country,” she said.

The giant saree will be on display at Ansar Mall, Sharjah, from today until May 30.

 
EMIRATES TODAY

Dubai - We want justice

Dubai - May 24: The father of a 20-year-old student killed in a hit-and-run accident has said he wants to see the man responsible for his son's death receive the maximum punishment possible. Aditya Subramanium was knocked down by a four-wheel drive near Al Khaleej Centre in Bur Dubai in March after a night out with friends. The driver did not even stop to see if his victim was hurt, instead speeding off. Aditya died on the way to hospital.

Dubai Police immediately began the hunt for the killer, eventually tracing a 34-year-old Eritrean national through a small piece of his Nissan Pathfinder vehicle and images from CCTV footage from the accident scene. This week he went on trial at the Dubai Traffic Court for causing Aditya's death through dangerous driving, and Aditya's father wants to see him pay for his negligence.

“He should be punished for his deeds. This case is crucial since it should be a deterrent to others who drive dangerously on the roads,” an emotional Shiva Subramanium told 7DAYS. “I hope there are no more young lives lost by such acts,” he added. Identified in court only as YT, the Eritrean business-man admitted knocking Aditya down, saying he drove off because he was scared.

“I was afraid after the accident and I escaped immediately,” YT told the judge. Shiva said that the family of the accused had recently tried contacting him, possibly to ask him to pardon YT in an attempt to save him from a lenghty jail sentence. “The family was trying to meet me but I asked them not to try anymore. My wife is still in shock and any mention of the case deteriorates her condition. We want justice and nothing less,” said Shiva.

Aditya's shattered family flew back to India shortly after his death and had planned to remain there permanently. But Shiva convinced his wife to return to Dubai with him to see that justice was done for their son. “We are happy that Dubai Police caught the person who killed my son... We now hope that he is punished,” said Shiva.
If YT is found guilty, he could face several years in prison and would be liable for dhs200,000 blood money.

SEVEN DAYS

Dubai - Check-in for your flight on the Metro

Dubai - May 24: People who travel on the Dubai Metro to the airport will be able to check-in their luggage and receive their boarding cards at some stations, the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) announced yesterday. At the same time, the RTA also revealed that the Metro’s Purple Line will be a express service between Dubai International Airport and Jebel Ali International Airport consisting of eight stations.

The trains travelling between the two airports will move at an average of 100kph. “Three of these stations include facilities for checking-in for the two airports. Passengers will be able to bring their personal effects, check-in and obtain plane boarding passes through the airlines counters in the designated three metro stations. Accordingly, passengers will be able to proceed directly to the airports,” Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, said.
The project will commence building from March 2009 and services on the Purple Line are scheduled to begin in December 2012 Al Tayer added.

SEVEN DAYS