Drinking in the view: a halo forms a circle around the the sun and shines on Abu Dhabi. Ravindranath K / The National
Drinking in the view: a halo forms a circle around the the sun and shines on Abu Dhabi. Ravindranath K / The National
Drinking in the view: a halo forms a circle around the the sun and shines on Abu Dhabi. Ravindranath K / The National
Drinking in the view: a halo forms a circle around the the sun and shines on Abu Dhabi. Ravindranath K / The National

‘Halo’ appears over Abu Dhabi


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ABU DHABI // Residents in the capital were treated to an awe-inspiring sight in the sky on Sunday when a phenomenon known as a 22-degree halo was visible at noon and well into the afternoon.

The halo appeared as a rainbow-like ring with limited colours, forming a circle around the Sun, with the inside of the ring noticeably darker than the horizon.

Toqueer Ahmed noticed the halo while outside at noon. “I walked to a different location thinking it was a reflection, but it still appeared as it is,” said Mr Ahmed. “I live in Khalidiyah, I’ve been here eight years, I’ve seen lot of sunny days but nothing like this. It was very surprising, we were shocked when we saw it.”

The halo is formed around the Sun or the Moon when light is refracted through tiny hexagonal ice crystals trapped within cirrus clouds.

The clouds are faintly visible to the eye, located between five and 10 kilometres high in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The phenomenon was not visible in Dubai.

Halos around the Sun and the Moon were believed to be part of a primitive form of weather forecasting, and are sometimes observed before rainfall.

While no rain is expected in Abu Dhabi for the next three days, local forecasters are predicting partly cloudy weather into Monday.

“In the daytime it [the halo] doesn’t have any significance apart from indicating a thin layer of moisture in the atmosphere,” said Sufian Farrah, a senior meteorologist with the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology.

esamoglou@thenational.ae

Profile

Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari

Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.

Number of employees: Over 50

Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised

Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital 

Sector of operation: Transport

Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community

• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style

“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.

Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term. 

From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”

• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International

"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed.  Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."

• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."

• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com

"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.

His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.

Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."

• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher

"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen.  He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”

• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."

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UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series

Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai