Only 1,000 days left before commissioning the Dubai Metro
Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The construction of the Dubai Metro, one of a kind on the Arabian Peninsula, is in full swing. Already in 2009 it is planned to launch the first, "red" branch, and after it the second, "green" one. The emergence of an ultramodern transport system will put Dubai on a par with the world's largest megacities. Working at full capacity, the metro will be able to carry up to 1.2 million passengers a day, 355 million passengers a year.
The red line extends from Federation Square, next to Al Ghurair Mall in Deira, to American University of Dubai, passing through the area next to Burjuman Mall in Bar Dubai and across the Sheikh Zayed Highway. At the second stage, it is planned to extend south to the Jebel Ali Free Economic Zone and to the northern crossroads of Al-Nahda and Damascus Streets.
The second, green line will run from Federation Square to the bus station in Rashidiya district through the Deira City Center shopping center and the first and third terminals of Dubai International Airport. At the next stage, it will be extended in order to provide uninterrupted transport links to the business centers of Deira and Bar Dubai to the Burjuman and Wafi City shopping centers. We are currently considering extending the green line from Wafi City to the new Festival City district.
The length of both lines of the Dubai Metro will be 70 km: 35 landing stations will open on the 50-kilometer red line, and 22 on the 20-kilometer green line. Two stations will be specially equipped for transfers from one line to another - on Federation Square in Deira and near Burjuman Shopping Center in Bar Dubai. In total, the Dubai Metro will have 51 km of elevated overpasses and 18 km of tunnels.
On the ground sections of the metro train will run through special viaducts, the design of which should ideally fit into the surrounding urban landscape. In no segment of the way will the underground metro lines intersect with the existing transport arteries, which will ensure safety and uninterrupted operation. Trains will travel on a special double rail and be powered by electricity, which will make them environmentally friendly and noiseless.
In the most stressful sections of the old and new center of Dubai, underground tunnels are being laid for metro traffic. Under the ground, the red line will go between the intersection of Salahuddin and Bakr al-Siddike streets and the intersection of Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Streets. Green is between Garhud and Ud Meta.
Super modern high-speed trains specially created for the realities of work in a desert climate will run along the lines of the Dubai Metro. Each of the trains, with a length of about 75 meters, will consist of five wagons divided into three sections: a standard section, accessible to all, a section for women and children, and a section of the first class.
Each wagon accommodating up to 120 people will be equipped with a modern information system. So far, there is only a computer embodiment of the appearance of trains, since the contractor for their supply is not currently selected. Interestingly, high-speed trains of the Dubai Metro will be controlled by electronic systems without the participation of drivers. At rush hour, the range of trains will not exceed one and a half minutes, and the average speed will be 110 km / h. At the first stage, the metro will serve a fleet of 100 trains.
The Dubai Metro will be closely linked to the Emirate’s traditional land transport system: buses, taxis, and water transport. Estimated fare will be from 3 to 6 dirhams.
Investments in the project of creating the Dubai Metro today already exceed 14.3 billion dirhams (about 4 billion USD). Operating expenses are planned at the level of 570 million dirhams per year (155 million USD). The first phase of the project was entrusted to Dubai Rapid Link (DURL), a consortium managed by Mitsubishi Corporation. The creation and implementation of an automatic train control system was left to Alcatel Canada Transport Automation Solutions.
Anastasia Zorina, specially for the "Russian Emirates" according to the information of the Dubai Municipality
Independence Day of Kazakhstan
On December 18, 2006, citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan celebrated the 15th anniversary of their independence. In honor of this date, the recently opened Kazakh Embassy in the UAE in Abu Dhabi hosted a gala reception attended by members of the diplomatic corps of the Emirates, representatives of the UAE's Foreign Ministry, the business community, journalists and Kazakhstani businessmen living in the UAE.
Dubai ruler recognized New York Times most influential entrepreneur
A mighty business leader and great poet, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, UAE Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai, has been recognized as the Entrepreneur of the Year by the New York Times.
According to the newspaper, the basis for the rapid development of Dubai was not so much a well-designed and phased program of diversification of the economy as a strong leadership position of the head of the emirate. “A few years ago, Sheikh Mohammed already clearly saw that Dubai could not depend on oil production. It was necessary to find ways to profit from other sources. Namely, there are no equal to solving the problems of Sheikh Dubai,” the newspaper writes.
Then the first step of Sheikh Mohammed was the creation in 1985 of the airline Emirates Airline, which started with 10 million USD of its own savings and a fleet of two average aircraft. The airline began to bring profit a year later. Today, Emirates is part of the global elite. The success of Emirates was repeated in all the projects he led. “Money is like water,” says Sheikh Mohammed, “if you lock them, they will begin to rot and smell bad, but if you let them flow, they will always be fresh and plentiful.”
For twenty years, Sheikh Mohammed embodied his plans, helping his brother Sheikh Maktum bin Rashid Al-Maktoum to rule the emirate. Almost a year ago, after his death, the 56-year-old sheikh took over as leader.
The New York Times chose Sheikh Dubai as the "Entrepreneur of the Year" for a reason. All over the world there was no more worthy candidate: a stronger, more ambitious and invariably embodying the most amazing dreams in life. According to experts, Dubai has no equal in tourism.
"A great man is born in order to accept the great challenge," says one of Sheikh Mohammed’s poems. Soon, millions of tourists on their way to Dubai will be able to read this line, "written" by groups of villas around the "crown" of the famous "palm" island - The Palm Jebel Ali.
A wonderful source appeared in the United Arab Emirates
A miracle happened in Ras Al Khaimah. At the farm of one of the inhabitants, a healing spring was scored. The farm has become an object of pilgrimage for the local population and foreigners.
Sheikh Ahmed Al-Khateri and his mother say they learned about the existence of a source on their large dream farm. They suggested "drinking healing water and relying on Allah." The source was found thanks to a local connoisseur a few months ago. It turned out to be water rich in sulfur. One of the representatives of the ruling family in the emirate built sulfur baths and a mosque near it.
Baths, accessible to all comers for free, are cured in accordance with a survey of patients by the Al-Ittihad newspaper in Abu Dhabi for skin diseases, including scabies, lichen and acne, rheumatism, eye diseases, and alleviate the suffering of diabetes patients. . Ingestion relieves stomach and headaches. Some patients are healed after 4 treatment sessions.
Bathtubs are cleaned and filled with fresh water daily. The hotel closest to the farm is crowded with visitors arriving from different cities of the United Arab Emirates, as well as from Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and even from Egypt. The seal does not report medical certification of the source. His exact location is also unknown. Apparently, you need to ask the farm of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Hateri.
New Year code for mobile phones in the United Arab Emirates
Etisalat will introduce another mobile phone code with the advent of the new year 2007. In addition to code 050, code 056 will start working. The necessary technical documentation for the further expansion of mobile communications has already been issued.
The executive director of the corporation, Mohammed Al-Qamzi, said in the press that the technical capabilities of the current code are almost exhausted. The number of subscribers using it exceeds 5 million numbers. The introduction of a new mobile communications code will enable the corporation, one of the 20 largest telecommunications companies in the world, to serve several million new subscribers.
Etisalat is a strong player in the global communications market. Her investments abroad are approaching $ 10 billion. Their market value exceeds 23 billion dollars.
Georgia is interested in the remote emirate of the UAE
Georgia is looking for investment in Ras Al Khaimah. A delegation of this Transcaucasian republic visited the emirate.
The local press calls the delegation "government". It was adopted at the level of the Crown Prince of the Emirate Sheikh Saud, who also arranged a dinner in honor of the guests. They discussed issues of developing bilateral ties in the areas of investment, tourism, trade and economic cooperation in general, with the participation of the ruling court of Ras Al Khaimah.
In mid-December 2006, the emirate announced the creation of a new private development company, rakeen, which plans to enter the foreign market, including in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, where it intends to build and manage real estate. A Georgian airline flies weekly to the United Arab Emirates via Dubai, which is three hours summer from Tbilisi.
Dubai's new economic year will be more successful than a good last
The budget of the emirate of Dubai for the second year in a row was adopted with a large surplus of 5.1 billion dirhams (about 1.4 billion dollars). The main contribution to the successful development of the emirate's economy is made by the tourism and real estate sectors, the work of seaports and civil aviation.
It is expected that the revenue side of the budget will reach 99.5 billion dirhams (more than $ 27 billion). Planned expenses will amount to 94.4 billion dirhams (more than $ 25 billion). Compared to last year, the emirate’s income will grow by 26 percent.
The bulk of the budget is the private sector. The government provides no more than 25 percent of the budget. Oil revenues do not exceed 4 percent of budget revenues.
Local analysts note the successful diversification of the Dubai economy and its transparency, which helps to attract local and foreign investment in the projects being created. According to the UN, in the emirate there are representative offices of 913 foreign companies, which is a record regional indicator.
Emirate company will build a shipyard in Kazakhstan
The Emirate company Nico International has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the National Maritime Shipping Company Kazmortransflot JSC and the Caspian Services Inc Almaty company on the creation of a joint venture maintenance and repair company.
The signing of the Memorandum took place in the banquet room of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Fazel Fazelboy, general manager of Nico International, told the Gulf News that investment in the project will amount to $ 12 million.
The shipyard should appear on the territory of the marine base owned by Caspian Services Inc in Bautino. Work will begin in March 2007. The full project is planned to be completed before the beginning of 2008. Such an enterprise will be opened for the first time, which will allow servicing and repairing ships operating in the region, on the territory of the country.
According to the press service of Kazmortransflot, Nico International will act as the project operator on behalf of the joint venture. The shipyard is designed for the repair of small vessels up to 60 meters long and weighing up to 600 tons, as well as for the maintenance of all types of vessels operating in the Northern Caspian. At the same time, up to 8 vessels will be serviced at one berth wall.
AirBaltic opens regular flights between Dubai and Riga
The Latvian state airline airBaltic opens a direct flight between Dubai and Riga, the airline’s official website reports.
According to Wii Dzerve, Vice President, Corporate Communications, the first flight will take place on December 26, 2006 under the slogan "summer on New Year's Eve."
In winter, that is, until March 24, airbaltic will operate direct flights from Riga to Dubai once a week. Flights will be operated by boeing 737. The flight duration will be 7 hours 10 minutes. The price of a one-way ticket will start at LVL 169, including airport charges.
For the first time in history, residents of the United Arab Emirates vote
The first elections in the history of the country were held in the United Arab Emirates in mid-December 2006. The indigenous inhabitants of the seven emirates were to elect 20 deputies of the Federal National Council (FNS), consisting of 40 people. The remaining 20 members of this parliamentary-type deliberative body will be appointed in January 2007.
The elections were held in three stages. On December 16, polling stations were opened in the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Fujairah. Voting took place on December 18 in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah and on the 20th in Sharjah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain.
100 candidates, including 14 women, claimed for 4 deputy mandates from the emirate of Abu Dhabi. In Fujairah, 35 candidates for two seats in parliament were registered. Among the candidates there is one woman.
Only the previously designated electors participated in the vote. It was carried out by electronic cards in specially prepared enclosed spaces from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. On the basis of quotas for the representation of various emirates in the Federal Tax Service established by the constitution, four deputies were elected in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, three each in Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, two each in Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah.
Elections are the first step towards the development of the political system of a country living according to the inherited traditions of tribal relations. They were initiated by the government, which seeks to improve the existing system. The electoral mechanism in the country has not yet been worked out. The most notable fact of the election campaign was the massive participation of women in the struggle for deputy mandates.
Etisalat switches to per-second billing
Emirate telecommunications giant Etisalat is turning its smiley face to the customer. Accused of being greedy last week for his entry into the market, but already a toothy competitor to DU, Etisalat announced on Thursday a switch to a per-second call rate.
The transition to the new tariff system will take place in the near future in order to prevent Du from taking the planned 30% of Etisalat subscribers under its fresh wing. Over the years, for the first 60 seconds of talking on a cell phone, Etisalat removes 30 fils, for each subsequent 30 seconds - 15 fils. If the conversation is interrupted before the deadline, the client still pays its full cost.
It was the proposal for per-second tariffication that Du was taken as one of the "jokers" in the competition. Etisalat responded quickly, but the question arises as to the timing of the introduction of the new system. However, for the second time, Du is also postponing its triumphant entry into the market, quietly squandering the "jokers" and encouraging Etisalat to smile more widely at the surprised consumer.
On the roads of the United Arab Emirates go armored "Mercedes"
Automotive novelty appeared on the UAE market. The interior of the company Mercedes received armored vehicles of the brand SGuard.They are offered to businessmen, politicians and diplomats.
A car equipped with an autonomous fire extinguishing system with a 12-cylinder engine with a capacity of 517 horsepower, which does not lose the ability to move even with flat tires, costs 3 million dirhams / more than 800 thousand dollars /.
Outwardly, the fortress on wheels is no different from the cars of its class and will not attract attention. Its passengers are reliably protected from defeat by small arms and grenades. They will not suffer even in the case of sabotage. The salons provide complete comfort.
Tennis. Tournament in Dubai
The winners of the large international ITF tennis tournament with a prize fund of $ 75 thousand. Habtoor Tennis Challenge, which was held in Dubai, became the sisters Ekaterina and Alena Bondarenko from Ukraine. Byelorussian Ekaterina Degolevich lost in the final to Ukrainian Ekaterina Bondarenko - 1: 6, 3: 6. However, the tournament helped her rise in the WTA ranking from 309th to 238th.
Russian extremals set off from the Emirates to conquer the Indian Ocean
Five brave Russian travelers decided to make a unique attempt to cross the Indian Ocean in an inflatable catamaran. They began their journey of 7,000 km through salty waters from the Emirate of Fujairah.
Bangkok was chosen as the destination, where travelers plan to arrive no later than February 12 of the coming year. According to the captain, the main motivation of the team is the desire to taste the sweet air of extreme adventures. The opportunity to get into the Guinness Book of Records - in the background.
The catamaran 8.5 meters long and 4 meters wide was assembled by the Russians specifically for the upcoming trip on the basis of the Fujairah International Maritime Club. Almost all members of the team led by Dr. Anatoly Kulik have doctorates in physics and engineering. As team member Yevgeny Kovalevsky told the local press, Fujairah was not accidentally chosen as the starting point: “At first we wanted to leave from East Africa, but this would significantly extend the path to Bangkok and could push us with pirates wielding African waters. Fujairah is ideal suitable in every way "
Cityscape-2006 To summarize ...
From December 4 to 6, 2006, the Dubai International Exhibition Center hosted the annual exhibition and conference devoted to architecture, investment in construction and development of Cityscape-2006. The first Cityscape exhibition took place in December 2002, and already in 2004 the exhibition was visited by more than 10,000 guests from 81 countries. The growth in the number of visitors to Cityscape-2004 was 500% compared to the previous year.
This year, Cityscape occupied all eleven halls of the Dubai International Exhibition Center. Among the exhibitors were developers, architects and designers, real estate fund management companies, investment companies, financial organizations, consulting engineers, project managers, lighting designers, landscape architects, energy management companies, contractors, facade and interior decoration companies a lot others. The exhibition was attended by leading developers of the UAE, countries of the region and the world, who presented their new projects. During the conference, experts from financial institutions addressed the delegates and participants, highlighting the topics of providing mortgage lending and bank financing, specialists from the construction industry, discussed the further development of modern urban planning taking into account environmental issues.
Participation in the exhibition gave companies the opportunity to present their services and products to potential investors, establish new commercial relationships and strengthen old ones. In addition, participating in Cityscape helps keep abreast of the latest trends in the construction and investment industries. The main thematic sections of Cityscape-2006 became - construction, architecture, investments.
