With the mercury reaching 46 degrees Celsius, food outlets, cafeterias and restaurants have been warned of strict fines if their staff fail to wear caps and gloves while cooking inside the kitchen and are found not using tissues to wipe their sweat.
complaints from residents that small cafeterias lag far behind when it comes to cleanliness and hygiene in their outlets. People even complain about rats jumping from one corner to another while cockroaches creep around freely.

Despite regular inspections – and even fines – by the ADFCA, violations continue, leading to the closure of several food joints. Where does the fault lie? A number of cafeteria owners in the city blamed badly maintained shops.

If you witness any abnormality at any food-joint, GOVT would appreciate people would report lapses by restaurants and cafeterias on its toll free number 8006565

The burgeoning retail industry of the Middle East have tempted many International players to UAE. Current emerging name is WAITROSE with 2 operational stores – @ Dubai Marina Mall & @Mall of Dubai. by 2010 many of the SPINNEYs stores will be renamed to WAITROSE under a partnership agreement signed during End of 2008.

BUT

Pork products will be on sale in a separate room within the store., and that will be a High disadvantage among the local & 90% of Expatriates who come from diversified Muslim backgrounds where Pork is ‘HARAM’ to touch or being nerby.

That leaves WAITROSE with a big Question mark, as Ramadan is already around the corner.

Dubaisat-1 successfully launched on July 30 2009. The UAE’s first government satellite was successfully launched into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last night. Dubaisat-1 will orbit 680km above Earth and is expected to beam back its first images in a matter of days. The satellite was developed by a South Korean firm with the cooperation of 16 UAE engineers from the Emirates Institute of Advanced Science and Technology.

This is another achievement by the Govt of UAE to occupy International space in Space allocation segment for the UAE. Further details for the transponders & the specs are still unknown.

Tahhan the endurance runner horse belonging to HRH Sheikh Mohammed PM of UAE & Ruler of Dubai, was tested positive for dope and banned substances. In Januray & February the HRH rode the horse in the endurance races. He has been fined for the event and banned for six months.

Trainer Abdullah bin Huzaim was also fined and banned for a year after admitting to doping the horses.

Women in the UAE have voiced their opinion and made their views clear: they know sexual discrimination occurs in the work place and are ready to seek action if it happens to them.

When it comes to marriage, most women in the UAE have the freedom to choose their husband and if they are ever at the receiving end of spousal abuse, taking action is their first gut reaction.

Women in the UAE realise how important it is to be to financially independent and are motivated to work in order to advance their careers.

This is not to take away from the harsh reality of many whose financial burdens are what push them to go to work.

A total of 605 female UAE residents answered our questions; 57 per cent of the women were from the subcontinent (India/Pakistan); Arab expatriates constituted 15 per cent of the respondents and 10 per cent were Western expatriates.

The minimum Metro fare for a short trip for up to three kilometres will be Dh1.80 if a passenger is using a prepaid card. It will cost Dh2 if the passenger uses a standard single journey paper ticket.

The maximum fare for a single journey will be Dh6.50 when using a paper ticket and Dh5.80 when using the card.

The fares will be valid for trains, public buses and the water buses for a single journey. This means a passenger using the metro can continue his or her trip on buses without paying any additional fare.

The Roads and Transport Authority has provided various fare options to passengers including daily and monthly passes.

The daily pass will cost Dh14 for unlimited trips on the metro and public buses all over the city. The monthly passes range from Dh100 to Dh270.

Dubai Metro

Redha Salman, the director of public health and safety at Dubai’s municipality has said that city officials have seized dozens of types of pills and purported health supplements from shops over concerns that they could be dangerous, according to the National. Salman said increased use of the supplements and pills, most of which are priced at less than $1.40, had triggered the move. ‘These products were confiscated as they claimed to be a medicine, which was not approved by the Ministry of Health,’ he said.

Egypt court sentences tycoon to death for Suzan Tamim murder

Cairo: A Cairo court on Thursday sentenced an Egyptian tycoon and a former policeman to death for the murder in Dubai last year of Lebanese pop star Suzan Tamim.

The judge ordered businessman Hesham Talaat Mustafa and retired policeman Mohseen Al Sukkari hanged for the brutal slaying of the singer in a luxury Dubai apartment in July, 2008.

Palm Jumeriah Monorail is now operational
click link to see the video coverage by gulfnews

Mono Rail

Property owners get six-month visit visas

ABU DHABI/ DUBAI — Foreign owners of property in the UAE will be able to stay in the country for six months with a renewable multiple entry visa under a decree issued by the Minister of Interior on Saturday.

The visa, tied to ownership of a completed property valued at Dh 1 million, had been expected after the government ordered a federal law on the issue when property companies promised residency visas with ownership. The resolution is effective immediately.

Property developers and investors on Saturday expected the visa to encourage foreign investment into the nation’s real estate sector but some said the law should have a longer time frame and should not be tied to a property value.

According to the amendment made to the residency law, the property owner and family can stay for six months from date of entry and then must return to his home country or a GCC state.

The property owner must also earn more than Dh10,000 a month and the property must also be ready to live in. The visa does not cover the owners of plots.

A Citibank report last year put Pakistanis and Iranians on the top of the list of foreign property buyers with a total of 37 per cent property ownership.

The visa will ease travel for investors from India, Pakistan, Iran and Russia, who had faced tighter visit visa rules. Now, they will be able to visit frequently to manage their properties. Passport holders from the US and Europe some Asian countries receive a visit visa upon arrival.

Syed Mohammed Ali, chief executive officer of the Fortune Group, a property developer based in Dubai, said that the policy initiative would boost the morale of investors, who were demoralised by a slump in property prices.

Finance professional Mohammed Azam said many property buyers sought to stay in the country for a long term.

“Those who want to buy property here or have already purchased property in the UAE want to stay here or whenever they wish they can come. Property life is about 20 to 30 years, while six months’ permission to stay is very less and won’t benefit the owners.”

Royals in UAE

UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, believes the worst of the financial crisis is now over, following its ’significant’ impact on the economy during the final quarter of 2008. Taking part in an electronic question and answer session with the press, he said the UAE economy is expected to grow this year, albeit only slightly.

Sheikh Mohammed said that the economy is in better shape than in many countries, so the ‘contraction it [the small and medium business sector] has suffered is only temporary.’

Duba:i One of the toughest moments in Dubai’s history came when Japanese scientists discovered how to culture pearls. The process devastated the economies of the Gulf region in the 1930s as the primary industry, diving for natural pearls, collapsed and depression in the US punctured demand. So the symmetry of Dubai seeking once again to become a pearl trading hub is apt just as the global credit crunch curbs the city-state’s financial and real estate sectors.

“Maybe there is some sentimentality here, but we do believe Dubai can once again become a pearl trading centre, even if it does not turn into a multibillion-dollar industry here,” says Ahmad Bin Sulayem, chairman of the Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre (DMCC).

The opening of the monorail on Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, which was slated for April 1, has been delayed to later this year, according to a Nakheel spokesperson. The new system, when operational, will carry passengers daily between Gateway Station at the trunk of The Palm and the Atlantis’ Aquaventure Station on the crescent with plans to ultimately connect to the Dubai Metro following the introduction of RTA’s Al Sufouh tramline, with direct links to Dubai Airport and other major transport hubs.

Dubai International airport has been given approval to operate in very low visibility conditions such as fog. The General Civil Aviation Authority and Dubai Civil Aviation Authority have approved the upgraded CATIIIB landing system, which means planes can operate in visibility conditions below 200 metres down to 50 metres. The first time a Middle East airport has been given this approval, it will help reduce passenger disruption during the months when fog is most common, airport officials said.