A reader comments on efforts to install air-conditioned bus shelters

In reference to the front page business article Mortgage defaulters flee rather than risk jail (June 14), It is time the authorities understand that the cheque bounce law which once they thought was a boon to the economy in the UAE is now the bane. No society has such antiquated statutes.

There is a cheque bounce law In India but post-dated cheques are outside the purview of this law. Criminality has to be proved that it was a deliberate act of cheque bouncing and the circumstances are reviewed, unlike here.

Why should a bank have a cheque as security apart from the house? This is illogical and shows the intention to misuse the cheque against the client by threatening to use the cheque bounce law.

The sooner the banks and the relevant authorities realise that the cheque bounce law is acting as a retrograde statute, the better for the UAE economy.

Dr KB Vijayakumar, Dubai

Genocide claims need investigation

This is in reference to the news article Israel to mark Armenian Massacre (June 2). As Vita Bekker reports from Tel Aviv and not from Istanbul, the ideas expressed in this article are most probably one-sided and highly subjective,

Reuven Rivlin, a member of the ruling Likud Party, is quoted as saying: "It is my duty as a Jew and as an Israeli to recognize the tragedies of other nations." He surprisingly forgets the tragedies of millions of Palestinians but follows closely the new flotilla to depart soon from Turkey in order to deliver help to Palestinians,

Claims such as 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Turks in 1915 and it is to be recognised as genocide must be investigated in detail.

The Ottoman Empire which consisted of many ethnic groups was highly fair and lawful and respectful of the rights of these ethnic groups as it could not survive otherwise for 624 years in Europe, Asia and Africa, from 1299 to 1923.

Every country, whether it is a huge empire or a small republic, has the right to protect its land and what happened in 1915 was simply the protection of the Ottoman Turks' rights against the Armenians who were a happy ethnic group within the Empire once upon a time but later turned unhappy and hostile through the provocation of outsiders.

It is better to work on that issue objectively, to listen both sides and to put forth acceptable proofs for the sake of reasonable generations to come.

People die of many causes during wartime and there is a big difference between genocide and the bitter realities of wartime.

Gaye Caglayan, Dubai

A secure future for bus shelters

In light of the article entitled While the car is king, public transport is missing the bus (June 6) regarding the current condition of bus shelters in Abu Dhabi, the Department of Transport highlights the following:

In its aim to provide safe and comfortable transportation for the public, the Department of Transport (DoT) in Abu Dhabi has installed 70 modern air-conditioned bus-stop shelters throughout the city of Abu Dhabi to serve bus commuters during the hot summer months. Old bus shelters will be removed and replaced with new modern ones and an additional 480 air-conditioned bus shelters will be installed by 2013 throughout the Emirate, including Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and the Western Region.

Furthermore, the DoT has currently placed instructional stickers inside the bus shelters advising commuters to adhere to rules such as refraining from eating, drinking, smoking and sleeping inside the bus shelters and prohibiting the use of bus shelter walls as notice boards. Maintenance teams will carry out daily cleaning of the bus shelters to alleviate bad odours and improve overall hygiene levels in bus-stop shelters.

Zainab al Zubaidi, PR and Communications Division, Department of Transport, Abu Dhabi

Advantages to online shopping

I refer to the business article Web fails to lure big sales rises (June 14). The costs of operating online stores are staggeringly cheaper than running a regular storefront. Online shopping in the UAE won't be successful until you find a way to make online prices consistently cheaper than in-store prices and develop a logistics system that makes delivery free and fast. Successful online shopping models have proven this.

Donald Glass, Abu Dhabi

New driving curbs are not fair

The article Plan for curbs on 'novice' drivers (June 14) reported that teenagers would be allowed to take the driver's test when they turn 18 but restrictions would be imposed on them for three years afterward. I hope this rule doesn't go through because other countries allow driving by the age of 16 and a full licence at 18. So it's not fair.

Ahmed Ramadan, Dubai

A MAN FROM MOTIHARI

Author: Abdullah Khan
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Pages: 304
Available: Now

LA LIGA FIXTURES

Friday Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo (Kick-off midnight UAE)

Saturday Levante v Getafe (5pm), Sevilla v Real Madrid (7.15pm), Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid (9.30pm), Cadiz v Barcelona (midnight)

Sunday Granada v Huesca (5pm), Osasuna v Real Betis (7.15pm), Villarreal v Elche (9.30pm), Alaves v Real Sociedad (midnight)

Monday Eibar v Valencia (midnight)

Yahya Al Ghassani's bio

Date of birth: April 18, 1998

Playing position: Winger

Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends

SPECS: Polestar 3

Engine: Long-range dual motor with 400V battery
Power: 360kW / 483bhp
Torque: 840Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 628km
0-100km/h: 4.7sec
Top speed: 210kph
Price: From Dh360,000
On sale: September

Other pavilions revealed

Dubai Expo 2020 pavilion to be made of 2,500 tonnes of stone and an incredible 100 kilometres of woven rope

Expo 2020 Dubai: Germany unveils dazzling design for its pavilion

New Zealand revealed Dh194m pavilion design for Expo 2020 Dubai

ROUTE TO TITLE

Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2

Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule

1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele

Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting

- Don’t do it more than once in three days

- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days

- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode

- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well

- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days

- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates

- Manage your sleep

- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting

- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert

'Saand Ki Aankh'

Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Mina Al-Oraibi: Iraq is in a fight to show its people who is really in charge

Khaled Yacoub Oweis: Iraq PM goes from shy writer to the political peak

The National Editorial: Iran's 'failed model' should be discontinued

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”