More about Gulf Air Crash in Bahrain UTI MF ties up with Postal Department for Fun Distribution The Department of Posts (DOP) joined hands with the Unit Trust of India (UTI) in distributing various Mutual Fund Schemes of UTI through its 50 post offices located across the country. To begin with, the DOP has launched five schemes of UTI namely UTI Mastershare Unit Scheme, UTI Unit Linked Insurance Plan, UIT Children’s career Plan, UTI Mahila Unit Scheme and UTI Variable Investment Scheme. A Memorandum of Agreement to this effect was signed between India Post and UTI Mutual Fund by Shri Vijay Bhushan, Secretary, Department of Posts and Shri M. Damodaran, CMD UTI, in the presence of Union Minister of Finance, Shri P. Chidambaram and Minister of Communications & Information Technology, Shri Dayanidhi Maran at a function held here today. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Dayanidhi Maran said that the Department of Posts could effectively handle the mutual fund matters through out the country with the strength of its unique position to provide financial retail network. He further said that the present network of 50 post offices would be expanded in due course of time, wherever it is felt commercially viable. The Union Finance Minister Shri Chidambaram emphasised the need to adopt innovative practices and new ways so as to serve the people of the country better. He said that the Department of Posts is one of the oldest organisation in the country and it has unparalleled reach, range and ability to deliver the goods to the average common citizen in any part of the country. Such ability is matched by only few organisations/departments of the Government of India. With the signing of the present Agreement, the average common citizen will get better services, he hoped. The five schemes of UTI will be introduced in selective post offices spreading over in 17 Postal Circles of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhatisagarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Bengal. eSys Technologies announces plans for establishing reseller network in Iraq Company's low cost multimedia PCs will find a large market in Iraq's reconstruction projects, says Gupta September 14, 2004 eSys Technologies FZE, the wholly owned Middle East subsidiary of the Singapore based eSys Technologies, has announced plans to establish a reseller partner network in Iraq. The company, which is ranked as the second largest distributor of IT components in the world, will be seeking to short-list potential partners at GITEX Dubai 2004, which is to be held from October 3 to 7, at Dubai International Exhibition Centre. eSys aims to have a fully functional distribution channel in Iraq before the end of 2004. "Iraq is set to be the largest market for IT components in the Middle East region. The strict embargo on the inflow of IT technology in the pre-war era has created a market scenario, where cutting-edge technologies are a necessity," explained Pavan Gupta, General Manager, eSys Technologies. "If Iraq has to compete in the regional and global markets, it has to update its IT infrastructure. As the leading distributor of IT components, eSys Technologies is in a strong position to contribute to the reconstruction process in Iraq." eSys Technologies will follow a three pronged strategy in its quest for a major chunk of the Iraqi IT market share. The company will leverage its partnerships with leading IT component manufacturers to provide cutting edge IT components including Hard Disk Drives; Memory Chips; CPUs; Motherboards; Optical Storage Units; Floppy Disk Drives; Monitors; Casing; Mouse; Networking components; and various other peripheral devices. eSys will also leverage the benefits of its new manufacturing facility at Jebel Ali. The facility has a capacity of 30,000 PCs per month and will serve both as outsourced manufacturing unit for those wishing to brand PCs and as an economy of scale PC provider for large contracts. With large corporations across the world switching to Linux-based operating systems, the eSys Linux-based multi-media PC will add further value to this approach. "At eSys, we are convinced that there is a big market in Iraq for our multimedia PCs both in the IT infrastructure reconstruction projects and in the open market for our partners who wish to brand their own PC," said Gupta. "This conviction is based on the enormous interest the eSys manufacturing facility has generated, even before it is fully operational. Iraq already has a thriving assembled PC market. But the advantage of the eSys multi-media PC is the quality assurance that comes with the active support of our partners including Seagate, Maxtor, Western Digital, Hynix and eRam." With the establishment of the new memory repair facility in Jebel Ali, eSys Technologies will also be able to offer its Iraqi channel a value-add that no other distributor in the region can. The new memory repair facility tests and repairs DDR modules from the Hynix and eRam portfolios. The presence of a regional repair facility will improve the turn-around time for the channel in Iraq, as well as in the rest of the Middle East region, bringing it down from three weeks to a mere four days. In line with eSys Technologies marketing strategy in other regional markets, eSys will seek to develop channel partnerships with a limited number of strategic partners within Iraq. This network of partners will be eSys Technologies' main point of contact with the local market place. POLITICAL CONSENSUS NECESSARY TO ENSURE FINANCIAL AUTONOMY TO PRASAR BHARATI : REDDY The Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Shri S. Jaipal Reddy has said that there exists across the spectrum consensus on the autonomy of public broadcasters. He said his government continues to be guided by Pt. Nehru’s policy of having no control on mass media. He was speaking at the launch of Commission Serial “Jazba”, a joint production of Doordarshan Empanelled Producer’s Association & Media Vision. He said that private sector has a vital role to play but in certain sectors public sectors role cannot be overlooked. Shri Reddy said that public funds would have to be made available to Prasar Bharati as it was required to perform various roles, which would not be taken up by its competitors from the private sector. He said Doordarshan was the only Television agency to cover Olympic Sports for which it has incurred a loss of nearly Rs.20 crores. Reiterating the need to make Prasar Bharati financially independent, he said the need was to work towards a political consensus for providing a mechanism, which would end Prasar Bharati’s dependence on government for expenditure. He said all government departments should make it a point to pay public broadcasters for highlighting their programmes & initiatives. He said the public broadcasters on its part should further strengthen its marketing network and in-house production capacities to reduce cost of production and improving revenue from advertisements. Speaking at the occasion Shri K.S. Sharma, CEO, Prasar Bharati, said efforts were on to strengthen marketing network. Six Divisions have been set up all over the country and ad-revenue on DD-I during the first five months of the year has doubled as compared to the corresponding period last year. He said the public sector was proposing to introduce digital magazine shortly. Dubai's Multi-million dirham projects set to make the emirate more appealing to international visitors DTCM Director General reviews Dubai tourism's market performance and future strategies with overseas representation (OR) offices at 10-day annual meet September 13, 2004 The Director General of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Khalid bin Sulayem, underscored the need for a further push to Dubai's marketing and promotional efforts in both established and emerging markets to achieve the ambitious growth levels set for the emirate's booming tourism industry. Addressing senior staff of the DTCM Overseas Representation (OR) offices at the currently being held 10-day annual meeting, he highlighted the inspiring performance of Dubai on the world tourism map and the impressive growth levels the emirate achieved in a relatively short span of time. "A spate of multi-million dirham projects currently underway is set to make the destination more appealing to visitors from all corners of the world. We firmly believe that newer growth opportunities will open for the rapidly-expanding tourism industry in the coming years. We have to match our performance in line with, and even far more, than expectations," said bin Sulayem. Senior officials from the DTCM Headquarters, including the Director Operations and Marketing, Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb, are attending the meeting, which conducts country-specific performance reviews. At 10 days, this year's meeting is the longest in the history of the DTCM, established in 1997 replacing a board that existed for nine years. Bin Sulayem said the network of OR offices have been playing a crucial role in promoting and marketing Dubai across the broad spectrum of the tourism industry. The offices serve almost every important geographical region in the world and facilitate year-on-year increases in the number of visitors to Dubai from more than 150 nationalities. "At the department, we remain as aggressively active as ever before. Through excellent cooperation with the private sector, we have been able to post record performances in every niche tourism market. We need to look at new opportunities for growth as our destination's appeal and facilities continue to expand," said bin Sulayem. He further added that Dubai's success has been largely attributed to a combination of vision, planning and execution and these factors should continue to play a leading role in the emirate's future strategies. The department is in the process of preparing its Strategic Plan for 2005-2010 along with Benchmarking with other successful destinations as it moves ahead in aggressively promoting Dubai. Dubai hotel establishments played host to close to five million visitors in 2003, and the first half of 2004 has recorded phenomenal growth compared with the corresponding period in 2003. The OR offices cover the markets of the U.S., United Kingdom, France, Germany, Nordic countries, Switzerland, Austria, India, Japan, Far Eastern region, Italy, Russian Federation, CIS, Baltic states, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and AGCC (Arabian Gulf Cooperation Countries) GULF AIR CONTINUES INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION OF ROUTES Airline Announces Increased Frequency to Frankfurt Abu Dhabi, UAE: Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman and United Arab Emirates is pleased to announce that effective 15 December the airline will increase the frequency of its operations to Frankfurt Am Mein by the addition of four services from Abu Dhabi International Airport to the German city This announcement follows the airline's recent news that its all economy subsidiary, Gulf Traveller, will begin flights between Abu Dhabi and Birmingham in November this year. James Hogan, President and Chief Executive of Gulf Air said the expansion of the airline's international routes is further reinforcement of its commitment to providing the best possible service and travel options to its customers. "Gulf Air has served Germany longer than any other Gulf carrier. The extra Frankfurt flights, which will be operated on Airbus A330s, will offer our customers more options to another European hub," he said. "The schedule has been planned to provide improved connections to meet the increasing travel demand of leisure travellers, but more especially business travellers for whom the additional flights provide greater flexibility and convenience." The increased services offer a convenient, alternative time slot with an afternoon arrival in Frankfurt and an evening departure from the new Gulf Air check in at the modern, less congested facilities in Terminal 2. The flights will depart from Abu Dhabi operating directly to Frankfurt and return to the Emirate capital via Bahrain on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The Gulf Air check in and lounge access at Frankfurt Am Mein Airport offer ease and convenience for passengers before they board the flights which feature Gulf Air's now famous Sky Chef in First Class and the unique Sky Nanny, who form part of a team that delivers Arabian hospitality and the highest levels of in-flight service. Gulf Air currently has six on-line destinations to Europe with daily services to London Heathrow, 11 services per week to Frankfurt, daily services to Paris and Athens, as well as flights to Istanbul and Larnaca. These destinations are complemented by those Gulf Air offers through its partner airlines to Manchester, Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Brussels, Teeside Leeds, Aberdeen and Belfast, bringing the total number of destinations in Europe to seventeen. About Gulf Air Gulf Air was founded in 1950. Today, it is owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain, Oman and the UAE and is the only truly pan Gulf carrier in the region. The airline's network stretches from Europe to Asia and covers more than 50 cities in 32 countries. The fleet is one of the most modern in the Middle East and comprises 35 aircraft. The airline is in the second year of a three-year strategic recovery programme, headed by President and Chief Executive, James Hogan. The airline's aim is to further evolve by taking its renowned cultural strengths, technical expertise, modern fleet and professional management team which have been developed over more than half a century, into a global competitive environment. Gulf Air was recognised with the prestigious Airline Turnaround of the Year Award by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) in 2003 and it was selected as a one of the leading and most recognised brands in the UAE by the Superbrands Council. The airline also received the top honour of a platinum award for being voted the Best Middle East and North Africa Airline at the 2004 Arabian Travel Market's inaugural MENA Awards. The airline also was named the winner of the Excellence in Quality Improvement category of the 2004 Skytrax Airline Excellence Awards, the world's largest survey of passenger attitudes towards airlines. (KM UAE Bureau) Radisson SAS hotel kuwait appoints new executive assistant manager 11th September 2004 Radisson SAS Hotels and Resorts, part of the fast-growing Rezidor SAS Hospitality group, has announced the appointment of Pascal Gadet as the new Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage department in Kuwait. Gadet, a Dutch national, has gained extensive experience of the international hospitality industry during his career. After graduating from Heerlen Hotel Management College in 1989, Mr. Gadet worked for a number of years in London before moving to India in 1998. There he was assistant General Manager involved in setting up a new hotel in Bombay. In 2000, Gadet moved to Amman in Jordan where he remained for two years. He then returned to Europe, working in the position of Resident Manager for a hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland. “I am really looking forward to returning to the Middle East,” said Gadet. “I found working in Jordan fascinating and am sure that my experiences with Radisson SAS in Kuwait will prove just as rewarding.” Andreas Fluckiger, General Manager Radisson SAS Hotel Kuwait said: “Pascal has a wealth of experience to draw on in this new role. I am very pleased to welcome him to Radisson SAS in Kuwait and wish him every success.” Adobe Extends its Intelligent Document Platform with New Server Software New Adobe LiveCycle Software Ensures More Secure, Reliable Access to Information across the Extended Enterprise Dubai, UAE - September 11, 2004 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE) today announced it has extended the Adobe Intelligent Document Platform with new software that delivers document services technologies to help organizations automate business processes. The new server software, named Adobe LiveCycle, delivers document services to integrate manual processes into enterprise applications. Now, customers in the Middle East can address business critical issues such as improving customer communications, increasing internal operational efficiencies, and helping them meet compliance mandates. "With the rapid integration of IT in enterprise infrastructures, organizations in the Middle East, in every market segment, are seeking to optimize the benefits of developing and maintaining enterprise critical document banks. The Adobe LiveCycle has been designed to maximize client ROI (Return-on-Investment) by switching erstwhile manual processes to automated workflows," said Andrew Lindstrom, Adobe Systems, Regional Manager, Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean Islands. "Besides enhancing process management and document security, the new software also contributes significantly to downsizing client costs involved in document generation and management." The Adobe Intelligent Document Platform helps customers address the entire document lifecycle in the enterprise. The platform consists of three components: The Intelligent Document, Document Services and the Universal Client. Intelligent documents combine the power of XML and business logic with PDF to move data to and from back-end systems using document services from Adobe. The company's document services deliver document generation, collaboration, process management and document security and control capabilities for integrating intelligent documents into enterprise applications. The universal client is the ubiquitous Adobe Reader that lets individuals interact with intelligent documents inside and outside the firewall. "There is a major transformation taking place addressing the costs associated with the entire lifecycle of documents and other content in the enterprise. At the same time, organisations are taking a hard look at how they can extend their enterprise systems to extract more value," said Andy Warzecha, META Group. "With the Intelligent Document Platform, Adobe is leveraging the millions of copies of Adobe Readers distributed and delivering a series of infrastructure level services to take documents well beyond their traditional static nature, so that enterprises can take a more strategic view of how documents can extend business processes to be more cost effective." "IBM and Adobe share a vision to enable customers to move, access and use information in today's On Demand business environments," said John Swainson, IBM General Manager, Application Integration and Middleware. "Adobe's Intelligent Document Platform takes the powerful capabilities of PDF and XML to unlock the business critical information in documents that remain outside of enterprise systems and on paper. Adobe's document services running on IBM middleware enable On Demand enterprises to integrate documents that are strategic to core business processes and extract more value out of their enterprise systems." Adobe also announced today two new document services that are available through Adobe LiveCycle software. The new services are process management and document control and security. The process management service gives customers the power to design, initiate, modify and enable people to participate in processes on or offline. The document security and control service enables them to apply persistent document security features across the extended enterprise for a greater level of security in communications. ( KM UAE Bureau)