Kairali Channel in the Red: Sacks Journalists to cut cost..More

General Electric launches gegulf.com website

Dubai, 26 September 2001: GE has launched GEGulf.com, a corporate website in English, and plans to launch an Arabic version are underway. The site is designed to provide customers in the Gulf with online access to GE's vast network of regional partners and distributors, as well as keeping them updated on the company's latest news, products and services.

Joseph Anis, (left) e-Business Leader, Africa, India and the Middle East, GE International, and Arif Murshed, Information Systems Manager, GE International Inc. (GII), display the gegulf.com website

Joseph Anis, e-Business Leader, Africa, India and the Middle East, GE International, said: "We have designed GEGulf.com to be our regional online headquarters. The easy-to-navigate website is information-packed and equipped with friendly browsing features that serve to direct our customers to the exact information or business they are seeking." The site provides comprehensive information on GE operations in all the GCC markets, excluding Saudi Arabia which has its own website.

Among the GE businesses in the Gulf featured on the site are: GE Aircraft Engines, GE Appliances, GE Bayer Silicones, GE Industrial Systems, GE Lighting, GE Medical Systems and GE Power Systems. Each section details the history, products and services offered by the respective GE business including its business divisions, joint ventures and major projects. Also included are contact details of its regional representatives and the site provides links to other GE companies.

The GEGulf.com also links to the $130 billion-company's main ge.com website, which enables users to have access to complete information on GE worldwide. One area of focus for the GEGulf.com website is the digitization initiative, implemented by GE businesses worldwide, to enable the company to fast adapt to the pace of the new economy. These include best-of-breed e-business applications and tools where one can learn, shop and buy products & services.

"GE has been a leader across the Middle East and the world in driving operations with customers and partners to the online world," said Nabil Habayeb, GE Region Executive and General Manager, Africa, India and the Middle East. "GEGulf.com adds a new dimension to our growing regional e-business operations in the region and provide easier access to GE on the net."

HILTON DUBAI CREEK OPEN FOR BUSINESS

September 27, 2001

Dubai: The Hilton Dubai Creek threw open its doors today.Theopening of Hilton's latest property in the region has introduced this market to the concept of lifestyle hotels. With only 154 bedrooms, the property boasts a high ratio of staff per guest, which only serves to cement the management's claim that every guest's want and need will be catered for - but without any of the stiffness that so often accompanies a leading hotel.

Guy Hutchinson, manager, Hilton Dubai Creek, said: "We are very excited about the opening of the hotel as we believe it will offer something completely different to the five-star hotel market in Dubai - an intimate, highly personalised style of service in contemporary surroundings." The interiors and exteriors of the property, which has taken nearly two years to build, was designed by the award-winning architect, Carlos Ott, together with Arenco Architects and Engineering Consultants. Glass is one of the key materials used throughout the hotel, from the twin sweeping glass staircases through to the restaurants, Glasshouse and Verre.

Hutchinson said: "The interiors are dynamic, modern and uncomplicated, yet our designers have managed to keep an elegance throughout, and where other hotels have windows, we have walls of glass."The hotel is located in the Dubai Creek business district and combines design with the highest levels of comfort and dramatic Creek views. The newly expanded Dubai International Airport and world-class leisure venues such as the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club are all located nearby.

The Hilton Dubai Creek will be managed by Hilton International, together with the recently opened Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, on behalf of its owners, Arenco Real Estate. Guests at the Hilton Dubai Creek will also be able to enjoy the beach and facilities of the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah.

 

27 SEPTEMBER 2001

Doctors urge smokers to quit the habit for World Heart Day

Dubai; As preparations get underway for World Heart Day on 30 September 2001, Dr Mohamed Redwan Mohamed, Consultant Cardiologist, Department of Health and Medical Services, Dubai Hospital, says that if more people quit smoking, the UAE would see a significant reduction in the number of deaths each year from heart disease. Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that nearly a quarter of all deaths in the UAE in 1998 were attributed to cardiovascular disease. Research from Europe has found that if you are under 50 years old and smoke your risk of heart disease is up to 10 times that of a non-smoker of the same age.

"Heart disease is now a major problem in the UAE," said Dr Mohamed. "Chemicals in cigarette smoke damage arterial linings whilst carbon monoxide reduces the blood's power to carry oxygen to the heart, leading to coronary heart disease. This proves it can never be too soon to quit," added Dr Mohamed.

As an incentive to those determined to quit smoking, studies have found that the risk of coronary heart disease is almost halved after only one year of stopping smoking. Smokers who find it difficult to quit the habit can benefit from seeking professional advice and using nicotine replacement therapy to help stop smoking permanently.

Dr Mohamed is involved in various activities, including working with the Emirates Medical Association and lecturing, to help improve understanding of heart disease in the UAE. "We know it is crucial to get people out there to understand the message loud and clear that simple lifestyle changes, like quitting smoking, can really help you have a 'heart for life'," added Dr. Mohamed. World Heart Day is a global strategy to help spread the message about heart disease, how it can be avoided and how healthy lifestyles can help do this. It aims to quell the growing epidemic of heart disease worldwide and improve quality of life.

In addition to quitting smoking, taking regular, moderate exercise, such as walking, and eating a healthy diet, cutting down on foods that contain a lot of saturated fat (such as butter, cheddar cheese and cream) can help lower the risk of heart disease. Regular exercise will help to keep the heart strong whilst saturated fats increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood and increase the risk of heart disease. Avoiding stress, and following treatment for high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol are further steps that should be taken for a healthy heart.

 

GE Shipping brings down costs to boost bottom line

The Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd., (G E Shipping) had appointed
Accenture to conduct a re-engineering exercise which resulted in cost
savings of Rs. 14 crores in FY 2000-01. With process integration and
systems orientation in place, the company is now targeting an aggressive
cost reduction of around Rs. 22 crores for the financial year ending March
2002.

Senior management team of the company with Accenture as consultants
identified areas of improvement to boost the efficiency and effectiveness
of operations. The exercise resulted in streamlining of budgeting,
planning and procurement practices. Further more, benchmarking
productivity levels on vessels with global shipping companies helped in
significant cost reduction; while IT enabling contributed in systematic
efficiency.

"We have immensely benefited by the rationalisation process and the numbers
have been encouraging, as it has enabled cost reduction without
compromising on quality, safety and operating standards of the fleet", said
Mr. Bharat K. Sheth, Managing Director, GE Shipping.


IBM Mindspan Solutions Introduces Lotus LearningSpace 5.0 in the Middle East

(Dubai, 27 September 2001) - IBM Mindspan Solutions, the worldwide leader in e-learning solutions, today announced the availability of Lotus LearningSpace 5.0, a leading e-learning technology platform in the Middle East. Lotus LearningSpace 5.0 includes new features and technological advancements that make it an ideal solution for organizations looking to reduce costs, speed time-to-market, and transform their knowledge assets into a competitive advantage. Lotus LearningSpace 5.0's innovative blended solution -- combining self-paced, collaborative and real-time capabilities in a single platform -- can result in immediate improvements in productivity, quality, and return on investment by allowing students to learn more efficiently and effectively.

"E-learning has become a mission-critical solution that helps organizations achieve their business goals," said Terry Burt, Lotus Regional Executive Middle East, North Africa Pakistan. "Now Lotus LearningSpace 5.0 makes it easier to address the learning demands of students, administrators and line of business managers. The enhanced virtual classroom capabilities help organizations drive real-time knowledge transfer to support key business information, such as new product introductions, regulatory compliance, and merger and acquisition integration, while lowering training costs."

"Academic institutions are also benefitting from our e-learning strategies and the enhanced capabilities of LearningSpace 5.0 provide an easy and interactive student interface, extensive management tools and more live virtual classroom features. These make is easier for learners to get the vital blend of teaching methods that they need (combining self-paced, collaborative and real-time capabilities), and for teachers to monitor and track progress," added Terry Burt.


UAE AND SAUDI ARABIA NOW AMONG TERRITORY'S TOP 15 FURNITURE IMPORTERS FROM HONG KONG

Cheuk F. Ng, Director Middle East, HKTDC

 

Hong Kong is to field a big delegation to Index, the Middle East's premier trade event for the furnishing and interiors industries, which takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre next month (October).The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is to lead a delegation of 20 companies to the show as the UAE and Saudi Arabia enter the territory's top 15 trade partners for the furnishing sector.

"Our presence at Index this year has the support of Hong Kong's International Furniture & Decoration Association, which is a clear indication of how important this segment of the Middle East market is to Hong Kong," said Cheuk F. Ng, Director Middle East, HKTDC."Half of the exhibitors in our pavilion are repeat attendees who fared very well last year. Index is now one of the largest Hong Kong participation of any Middle East trade show." "The United Arab Emirates is ranked as our 14th largest importer of furniture with Saudi Arabia just behind in 15th place," explained Ng."Last year the UAE imported US $3.8 million worth of furniture from Hong Kong, which was a 40% increase on 1999. Saudi Arabia also performed well for us, importing US $3.3 million worth of furniture last year, which was a rise of 32% on 1999."

ASIANET JOINS PEHLA BOUQUET PLANS TO BRING TV SHOWS ON LOCATION IN GULF

Dubai: Arab Digital Distribution (ADD), the region's fastest growing pay-TV platform management company, announced that both ASIANET and ASIANET GLOBAL are to join the exciting programme line-up on its Pehla bouquet."Asianet and Asianet Global are a perfect match for the ever growing Pehla bouquet. For the non-resident Keralites the programming will be a mix of two Asianet Channels. Asianet also propose to setup bureaus in locations such as the Gulf to cover events and news related to the local Malayalee population. Some of Asianet's popular programmes like Kannadi, Nammal Thammil, Akathalam, Nattarangu, etc, will also be hosted abroad in the months to come," confirmed Vinod D'Mello, Executive Vice President for Marketing and Network Development at ADD.


Both channels are highly popular with the Malayalam community due to the special mix of programming and features such as the "Malayalam Feature Film". Asianet Global is the second Malayalam channel from Asianet Communications Limited, while Asianet is mainly an entertainment channel. "Asianet and Asianet Global are niche channels targeting the literate Malayalee and non-resident Keralites. The digital channel's programming profile will encompass news, current affairs, movies, talk shows, serials, events etc.," stated Joseph Francis, Regional Manager of Asianet.

Asianet global has gained immense popularity since its recent launch. The programme mix of news, current affairs, talk shows, serials, movies, etc, was well accepted by Malayalees both at home and abroad.This ready acceptance of the viewers from near and far has emboldened Asianet to offer a stand-alone channel catering to the aspirations of viewers looking for something different from the run of the mill entertainment channels.


" The recently launched Asianet Global, is a round the clock news channel. The politicially conscious and serious minded Malayalee will have his/her fill through hard-hitting investigative, analytical and crispy current affairs programmes. For the socio-economic masses talk shows, live discussions and educational programmes are being lined up. There are special bulletins on Regional Gulf News, Business, Sports, Weather, Info-tech, Employment, Cultural round up, Travelogues, Seminars, Discussions and Brain-raking Quiz, etc.," added Francis of Asianet.

Kairali Channel in the Red: Sacks Journalists to cut cost

Thiruvananthapuram: September 29 : Kairali TV channel promoted by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) is undergoing a major shakeup. The board of directors, Malayalam Communications Limited, which runs the channel, has decided to cut salary and retrench some of the staff including a few seniors.

According to reports, the executive director Sidharatha Menon and P T Kunhu Muhammad were removed from the payroll, but retained on the board. KR Mohanan, director-programs and K Sunderan, the director-production, have been shown the door. Chief news editor K Rajagopal, news editor Krishna Kumar, Palakkad bureau chief Rajeev Shankar, Kollam bureau chief Manoj Bharathi, and producers Rafeeque Rawuther of Pravasa Lokam and Satheesh Poduval also face retrenchment. According to the management the shake-up is to reduce overheads.

It is also reported that some of the outgoing staff were reluctant to take instructions from the CPM offices on their routines works. The news team of the channel had come in for sharp criticism from the CPI-M politburo member and the Leader of Opposition VS Achuthanandan recently for the 'lack of objectivity' in news reporting. Some of the journalists were not happy to take instructions from the local party offices. The board has decided to appoint Suresh Narayanan, a mechanical engineer and a loyal CPI-M activist, as chief executive officer (CEO). He will now look after the responsibilities of both Menon and Kunhu Mohammed.

The company has incurred a net loss of Rs. 72.9 million rupees for its first four months of operations ending December 31, 2000. The projected net loss for the entire first year was only 80 million rupees. The channel, which has an equity base of 584.5 million rupees from 2,335,546 shareholders, mainly among the NRKs, completed its first year of operations on August 17.

The channel had drawn up expansion plans with an eye on the Gulf markets which had a large chunk of its viewers. The channel currently reaches out to audiences from Australia to Europe including North Africa and all the Gulf countries.

Kairali is the fourth channel after Asianet, Surya and Doordarshan. There are two more Malayalam satellite channels, public works minister Dr MK Muneer's Indiavision and the church-promoted Jeevan TV, in the offing to share a pie of about one billion rupee spent every year on commercials. And the are keenly watching the developments in the Kairali TV.

Saudi businessman invests 200 million dirhams in a new Dubai property

HOLIDAY INN EXPANSION PROGRAMME

Dubai (September 9 2001): Abdul Aziz Al-Shiha, the successful Saudi businessman announced yesterday his investment of 200 million UAE dirhams in the new Holiday Inn Bur Dubai property. Solely owned by Al-Shiha and managed by Six Continents Hotels, the new hotel is expected to attract business and leisure clients worldwide. " We decided to capitalise on the boom that the Dubai hospitality sector is currently witnessing and invest in this prominent project " explained Al-Shiha

The new hotel will become the 61st Holiday Inn property in the region and the third in the UAE. The Holiday Inn Bur Dubai constitutes part of a major expansion programme in the region along with another 15 Holiday Inn properties under development in the Middle East.

This alliance with the Saudi businessman falls in line with Six Continents Hotels' objective to promote a rapid brand distribution across the Middle East. To implement this strategy, Six Continents Hotels is currently developing 25 new properties in the region, which include Inter Continental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inns.

" We are seeking ways to consolidate our presence in the region, in this respect our venture with Mr. Al-Shiha will add a new prestigious property to our hotel portfolio in the UAE'' explained Andrew Lavoipierre from Six Continents Hotels. " This new project is a continuation of our long term relationship with Mr Al-Shiha as we are managing his Holiday Inn property in Damman" he added.

In order to implement Holiday Inn's international service standards and processes, eight managers were assigned by the chain's headquarters to run the new property. Commenting on this fact Robert Rosetti, Holiday Inn Bur Dubai, General Manager explained "Whenever we manage a property, we make a commitment to our customers to deliver the expected Holiday Inn quality service." He added " Mr Al-Shiha helped us in this respect as he insisted on providing the new hotel with state-of the-art equipment"

Designed by Burt Hill one of the leading architecture companies in the U.S, the 240 room property introduces a new style in design to the hospitality sector in Dubai. "The Holiday Inn's Mediterranean style is totally different and distinct from the modern style of hotels in Dubai, which are covered with glass. Fitted out all over with wood, the new property conveys a warm and a homely atmosphere." explained Al-Shiha

Winner of 1998 international award for excellence in Engineering by Microstation Manager from the U.S, the project has been contracted to the Belhasa Group. The construction work started in 1999 and is now in its final stage. Six ContinentsTM Hotels [LON:SXC, NYSE:SXC (ADRs)], the hotel business of Six Continents PLC, a UK company, owns, operates or franchises more than 3,200 hotels and over 500,000 guest rooms in close to 100 countries and territories. Six Continents Hotels was formerly known as Bass Hotels & Resorts.