WINNERS OF 'BEST SCHOOL WEBSITE COMPETITION' ANNOUNCED
SHEIKH MOHAMMED TO OPEN DUBAI AIR SHOW
November 3, 2001
Dubai 2001 The 7th international aerospace exhibition ˆ will be inaugurated this morning by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister the show organisers
gear up to welcome the Dubai air show‚s largest ever number of official
delegations.VIP missions from 48 countries have confirmed their attendance at the show, which runs at the Airport Expo Dubai from November 4-8.
"This programme represents over 120 delegates, more than half from the civil
sector," said Clive Richardson, Chief executive, Fairs and Exhibitions, which organises the show in conjunction with the Department of Civil Aviation, Government of Dubai and in collaboration with the UAE Armed
Forces."In all we will receive 17 ministers ˆ 11 of which will be defence ministers, the remainder representing transport and communications
portfolios." The delegations programme also includes 28 chiefs of staff and air force commanders and 20 airline presidents and chief executives.His Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is to attend the official opening of the show, which features over 450 companies from 33 countries and 10 national pavilions.
Meanwhile, the Dubai 2001 programme got underway yesterday with the staging of the first Dubai air show I.T. Forum at the J.W. Marriott Hotel.
Speaking to delegates, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum,
President, Department of Civil Aviation, Government of Dubai and Chairman of
the Emirates Groups, said the event had been included in the air show calendar because of its increasing importance within the aviation industry."We can no longer pay lip service to Information Technology, in fact we ignore it at our peril," said HH Sheikh Ahmed.
"His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai has led the Information Technology evolution in Dubai and has continued the e-initiative, which has subsequently affected all business sectors, none more so than in the aviation industry.
"I share these same thoughts as to the ultimate necessity of information technology, not just in our daily lives, but the amazing business benefits we can harness from it."
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed said irrespective of how strong an airline might be, today all carriers are suffering. "But it is those organisations who have invested in I.T. infrastructure and have a high degree of automation that are able to adapt ensuring capacity to operate effectively."
His Highness expressed a keen interest in Customer Relationship Management. "CRM systems allow airlines to employ, quite simply, smart marketing and for that we need systems, which automatically tell us what we need to know," he said.
His Highness went on to say that the Emirates group, and its strategic partner SriLankan Airlines, are currently upgrading and expanding their high speed global Internet Protocol network.
"This five-year contract, worth more than US $60 million, interconnects Emirates and SriLankan staff in 90 offices across 61 countries and will cut communications costs significantly," he said. "By investing in such infrastructure technology we are able to realise the business opportunities of Internet-based applications leading to our future destiny, which will no doubt be reduced costs, increased profitability and enhanced customer service."
Sheikh Ahmed added that Emirates‚ I.T. division, Mercator, is also looking at moving towards implementing a single, multi-service virtual private network (VPN), to support the advanced Internet-based solutions it provides.
Also on the horizon, he said, is Emirates‚ use of SMS wireless messaging to let customers know of flight delays, expected departure times and other service-related information. Sheikh Ahmed also forecast that frequent flyer
programmes would soon enable members to have a digital wrist band that allows them to make bookings, allocate favourite seats, order movies of their choice and confirm pick-up times of limousine services.He also forecast that Skywards, the frequent flyer programme of Emirates and Sri Lankan would have 120,000 members by the end of the year. The air show I.T. Forum was organised by ITP publishing in conjunction with
Fairs and Exhibitions. "Following the success and excellent response to this initial forum, we plan to make information technology a strong component of Dubai 2003 and beyond,"
said Clive Richardson.
Comtrust And Gulf E-Business To form Strategic Partnership
Comtrust to provide Public Key Infrastructure Services across the region
keralamonitor.com
Dubai 30 October 2001 - Comtrust, the e-business infrastructure unit of Etisalat and Gulf e-business International Company (GEBIC), an organization working under patronage of the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FGCCI), announce their intention to enter into a strategic partnership using Comtrust Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Services to bring trust to e-business activities of GEBIC throughout the GCC region.FGCCI, with membership of 30 chambers from across the region, covering more than 500,000 companies in the region, is embarking upon a major initiative to launch an e-business marketplace for its member community. The e-marketplace, which is now in the final stages of development, will be managed and operated by GEBIC. The up-coming e-marketplace will provide a shared resource that will allow members access to a wide range of services including; database of wide variety of information covering companies, products and services; business opportunities and electronic document transfer facility.
Abdullah Samhan, CEO of GEBIC says that the launch of the e-marketplace will mark a major step forward for the region's business community in terms of services that can be provided to them.
"If we do not create the framework of the Common E-marketplace in the region to act as one e-marketplace, we are going to lose ability to compete and to exist in the New Economy," he said. "The business processes that form the Trade Cycle are still largely paper driven. Our estimate is that some thousands of documents are generated on a daily basis. The need to facilitate better collaboration among organizations who are involved with the Trade Cycle was being felt for a long time.
The move towards web-based services will streamline these processes, remove majority of paperwork and improve efficiencies significantly. We are delighted to enter into a partnership with Comtrust for the provisioning of PKI services, which will provide a secure communication channel between the members of the business community in all areas of online business activities", said Samhan.Omran Sultan Al Owais, Comtrust's General Manager said, "partnership with GEBIC would go a long way in expanding geographic coverage for Comtrust PKI services throughout the GCC region. By combining public key cryptography, digital signatures and trusted third party role of Comtrust, PKI services will help GEBIC create secure communications between business partners, authenticate identities before allowing access to critical business intelligence and build trust in business activities in the new economy era".
Justice Bharucha Takes Over as Chief Justice of India
keralamonitor.com
The President administered the oath of office or affirmation to Justice Sam Piroj Bharucha as the new Chief Justice of India at Rashtrapati Bhawan today. The oath was administered in terms of Clause (6) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India read with Form IV in the Third Schedule. With this, Justice Bharucha has assumed the office of the Chief Justice of India in the Supreme Court. He succeeds Shri Justice A.S. Anand who retired on superannuation yesterday evening. Earlier, on October 10, 2001, the President signed the Warrant of Appointment under Clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India elevating Justice Bharucha, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from November 1, 2001 (Forenoon).
Justice Bharucha, B.Sc., LL.B., was born on May 6, 1937. He was enrolled as an Advocate of the Bombay High Court on July 28, 1960. He practised mainly on the original side of the Bombay High Court. He also appeared in the Supreme Court of India. He was appointed as an Additional Judge in the Bombay High Court on September 19, 1977 and as permanent judge on April 3, 1978. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court on November 1, 1991. He was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of India on July 1, 1992. He is due to retire on May 6, 2002.
Bharucha has delivered some landmark judgements relating to (1) withdrawal of case from prosecution under Section 321 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, (2) powers of Parliament under Article 368, (3) significance of freedom of speech and (4) interpretation of Article 164(4) of the Constitution of India.
MEDIA WATCHDOG CONDEMNS "WAR AGAINST ISLAM" STATEMENT BY US GENERAL
keralamonitor.com
31 October 2001:London; IslamicSpeakers.org, the international Muslim media watchdog run by Western citizens, condemned as fascist the statement by US General Wesley Clark, that the US war against terrorism "was a war over Islam" that would define Islam "as either a peaceful or militant" force in society. General Wesley K. Clark was previously NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
David Pidcock, the body's spokesman condemned the statement as outright fascism. The statement was aired on BBC World's Hardtalk programme on 29/10/2001.
"This sort of supremacist statement would not be accepted in the West about Christianity or Judaism, in spite of the fact both these faiths have their own fair share of terrorist organizations, most of which have targeted western citizens," noted Pidcock.
"It is most disturbing to hear this public display of US extremism, that many now believe permeates the highest levels of US officialdom. Indeed, we see this statement as highly hypocritical coming from a man who directed most of the infamous U.S. military activities and interests in Latin America as well as commanding three companies in combat during Vietnam," added Pidcock.
IslamicSpeakers.org is campaigning to enlighten fellow westerners on the historical roots of terrorism as a modern phenomenon. The body sees the roots of this modern scourge beginning in 19th Century Europe, with the spread of secular materialist philosophy. They point out that secular fanaticism has resulted in disaster for humanity with violent ideologies such as racism, fascism, colonialism, communism, zionism and many other cruel secular world views based on conflict drawing strength from Europe's materialist philosophy.
Darwin proposed that the 'fight for survival' also applied between human races. According to that claim, 'favoured races' were victorious in the struggle. Favoured races, in Darwin's view, were white Europeans. African or Asian races had lagged behind in the struggle for survival. Darwin went further, and suggested that these races would soon lose the 'struggle for survival' entirely, and thus disappear: "At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the "civilized" races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace the "savage" races throughout the world," states Darwin in his book subtitled "The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life".
"The problem is that with the spread of Darwinism and the materialist philosophy it supports, the answer to the question 'What is a human being?' has changed. People who used to answer: 'Human beings were created by God and have to live according to the morality He teaches' have now begun to think that 'Man came into being by chance, and is an animal who developed with the fight for survival," confirms Pidcock. END.
news
- Media Watchdog Condemns War Against Islamic Statement by US General
- Justice Bharucha Takes Over as Chief Justice of India
- Kerala Chief minister meets Vajpayee
- Plea for Change of Society Mindset on General Issues
- Nigeria: Woman Sentenced to Death Under Sharia
- New Accounting Standards for Dotcom Companies
- Comtrust And Gulf E-Business To form Strategic Partnership
DUBAI AIR SHOW
GENERAL EXHIBITIONS CORPORATION AND JORDAN ARMED FORCES TO SUPPORT
keralamonitor.com
Dubai, November 1, 2001: The General Exhibitions Corporation (GEC), the UAE's leading exhibitions company, will support the 7th International Aerospace Exhibition, the official title of this year's Dubai Air Show, which runs from November 4-8.
GEC is hosting its own VIP chalet throughout the five-day event, as well as organising a special media launch to celebrate its first world-class exhibition outside the UAE capital next year - the 2002 Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference (SOFEX 2002).
With the world's attention focused on global security, GEC has signed a cooperation agreement with the Jordan Armed Forces to stage the event, to be held under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein, at the King Abdullah Airbase in Amman from October 14-17, 2002.
Next year's programme will also feature a special conference from October 15-17, titled 'Special Operations for the 21st century: countering the changing threat of international terrorism'.
His Excellency Fares Suhail Al Yabhouni, Director General of GEC, said: "The General Exhibitions Corporation is proud to support the Jordan Armed Forces to stage SOFEX, one of the Middle East's most advanced defence exhibitions. An estimated 20,000 people and more than 200 companies from over 40 countries attended last year's exhibition."
Mr Al Yabhouni continued: "This agreement with the Jordan Armed Forces, represented by the Exhibitions Organisation Commission (EOC), will spearhead our strategic business plan to expand our activities across the Middle East."
Working in conjunction with the Government of Abu Dhabi, GEC stages exhibitions in the UAE, specialising in everything from the environment to interior design, at the Abu Dhabi International Exhibition Centre (ADIEC), a purpose-built facility near the UAE capital's international airport.
Established in 1998, GEC is widely known across the Middle East as the organisers of IDEX, the International Defence Exhibition, which celebrates its sixth exhibition in 2003.
IMF Sending Mission to Turkey, Managing Director Says The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr. Horst Köhler, today made the following statement after an informal meeting of the IMF's Executive Board on Turkey:
"An IMF negotiating mission will visit Ankara shortly to discuss Turkey's Fund-supported economic program and the tenth program review, which is expected to be on the Executive Board's agenda in the next few weeks.
"Turkey's economic program has been on track. The tragic events of September 11 hit Turkey particularly hard because of the country's location, its reliance on tourism, and its heavy indebtedness. The mission will work with the Turkish authorities to strengthen economic policy, and on this basis recommend how best Turkey can continue to be supported," Mr. Köhler stated.
WINNERS OF 'BEST SCHOOL WEBSITE COMPETITION' ANNOUNCED
keralamonitor.com
The Ministry of Education, Al Yousuf IT Companies and Intel Corporation have today announced the winners of 'Best School Website Competition' at an award ceremony that was held at the Taj Palace Hotel in Dubai.
The four winners from the categories Public Secondary School, Public Preparatory School, Private Secondary School, Private Preparatory School are Abu Dhabi Secondary School, Oqba Ibn Nafii, The Modern High School, and Al Ittihad (Al Mamzar).
Each winning school received an Internet lab housing 12 PCs, server and computer hub from Al Yousuf and Intel while each member of the four winning teams will get their own PC. Intel will also train teachers of the winning schools to integrate the 'Teach to the Future" IT curriculum, part of Intel's "Innovation in Education" initiative. The UAE schools will be the first in the Middle East to benefit from this worldwide Intel initiative.
Ahmed Saad Al Sherif, Assistant Undersecretary for School Activities at the Ministry of Education, said: "ðWe are glad that Al Yousuf and Intel had this initiative that encouraged the UAE youth to embrace IT which is in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum "
Eqbal Al Yousuf, Vice Chairman, Al Yousuf Group, expressed his delight with the number and quality of competition entries, "We were overwhelmed with the positive response to the competition which attracted almost 120 entries from all over the United Arab Emirates and we were even more impressed by the high standard of entries"
"This competition was designed not only to increase the level of web and IT knowledge of young adults but to help them develop their computer skills in today's changing digital economy. We are investing in the future of our children; the future of the UAE" adds Al Yousuf.
"We are pleased to offer the winning schools our latest PC and networking products," said Gilbert Lacroix, Intel's general manager for the Middle East and Africa. "The Pentium 4 processor-based PCs will no doubt increase the Internet excitement amongst all students of the four schools, and we are sure that the labs to be set up at the schools will give many young students unprecedented computing access."
"Intel will continue to develop and support regional education programs that help meet the needs of students and communities by improving education through the effective use of technology in classrooms and broadening access to technology and technical careers."
The school competition was launched last October and attracted 118 entries. Winners were selected by a panel of expert judges from the Ministry of Education, Al Yousuf, Intel and PC Magazine on the basis of creativity, design, variety of content and ease of browsing.
November 02, 2001
New Accounting Standards for Dotcom Companies The Government of India has begun implementation of new accounting standards for DOTCOM Companies forwarded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The Guidance Note on Accounting by DOTCOM Companies contains standard accounting treatments dealing with various significant aspects such as measurement and recognition of revenue and expenses. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made it mandatory for all listed companies to adhere to the Guidance Note on Accounting by DOTCOM Companies as issued by the ICAI.
The Chief Minister of Kerala Shri A.K. Anthony called on the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi on November 1, 2001.
November 02, 2001
Guidelines for award of GLOBAL MOBILE PERSONAL COMMUNICATION BY SATELLITE (GMPCS) Service licenses issued
Government have decided to award licenses for Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) Service in India. These licences shall be issued on non-exclusive basis, as and when applied for, subject to clearance of specific proposal from security angle. The licence shall be issued for a period of 20 years, and further extendable by 10 years. The proposal for GMPCS licence is to be submitted in a prescribed application form. The detailed guidelines and application form is available from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) or can be downloaded from DoT Website www.dotindia.com.
The applicant has to be an Indian company, registered under the Indian Companies Act’ 1956. Total foreign equity in the company shall not exceed 49% at any time during the entire licence period. Investment in the company by an NRI / OCB / International funding agencies will be counted towards its foreign equity. The applicant company and/or its promoters should have experience in telecom sector. Gateway Earth Station along with control and monitoring facility for all the licensed systems shall be located in India. From the security point of view, the operation and maintenance of the Gateways shall be with the Authority /Organization designated by the Government. GMPCS operators will provide monitoring facilities and security features as decided by security agencies.
The licensee company will be required to pay one time Entry Fee of Rs. one crore prior to signing of the licence agreement. In addition to the Entry fee, the Licensee shall also pay License fee annually @ 10% of "Adjusted Gross Revenue" as Revenue Share generated from the Service.
The licensee company shall be required to submit a Financial Bank Guarantee (FBG) of Rs. One Crore valid atleast for two years, prior to the signing of the licence agreement, from any scheduled bank in the prescribed Proforma given in the Licence Agreement.
Network connectivity and interconnection between various networks shall be mutually negotiated and finalized between service providers subject to any regulation issued from time to time by TRAI under TRAI Act, 1997 as amended from time to time.
DoT has already given Letter of Intent (LOI) in two cases to M/s. ASC Enterprises and M/s. Shyam ACeS (India) Pvt. Ltd. for grant of GMPCS licence in India.
With GMPCS Service, a subscriber can communicate from any point on earth through hand-held terminal. The subscriber will have one telephone number irrespective of his location. The mobile satellite networks can operate with satellites either in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) upto 1000 KMs, Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) upto 10,000 KMs or Geo Stationery Earth Orbit (GEO) at 36,000 KMs. from the surface of the earth. Some of the Satellites for GMPCS are Global Star, Agrani, Garuda, ICO & Thuraya etc. These systems are designed to support variety of telecommunications services like voice, data, fax, messaging etc. having global reach with the help of a network of Gateway Earth Stations which provide connectivity towards satellite as well as PSTN. With GMPCS, easy, flexible and convenient communication is possible with more economical use of radio frequency spectrum.