Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, attends an iftar banquet with autistic children and their families at the Emirates Towers hotel. Photo: Dubai Media Office
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, attends an iftar banquet with autistic children and their families at the Emirates Towers hotel. Photo: Dubai Media Office
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, attends an iftar banquet with autistic children and their families at the Emirates Towers hotel. Photo: Dubai Media Office
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, attends an iftar banquet with autistic children and their families at the Emirates Towers hotel. Photo: Dubai Media Office

Dubai raises social funding for people with disabilities by 60%


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Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, has approved a Dh70 million social support package for disabled citizens in the emirate.

The latest benefits scheme represents a 60 per cent increase in funding from last year, when Dh44 million was distributed to help people with disabilities.

The assistance will cover fees for kindergarten, school and university enrolment, training and rehabilitation at specialised institutions, and the costs of employing shadow teachers, caregivers, personal assistants and sign-language interpreters.

The project will also finance assistive devices and technologies, repair of vehicles, transportation and the costs of ensuring workplaces are equipped with facilities for people with disabilities, referred to as people of determination by the UAE government.

The investment is in line with the emirate's vision to “empower people of determination, make them productive members of the community and support them in contributing to the emirate’s development journey,” a Dubai Media Office statement said.

Hessa Buhumaid, Minister of State and director general of Dubai's Community Development Authority, said the additional funding would ensure social support reached a larger number of people and would bolster efforts to create a more inclusive society.

She underlined that rehabilitation support provided as part of the initiative would greatly benefit children with disabilities and reduces the financial burden faced by their families.

  • Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, attends an iftar banquet with autistic children and their families at Emirates Towers. All photos: Dubai Media Office
    Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, attends an iftar banquet with autistic children and their families at Emirates Towers. All photos: Dubai Media Office
  • Sheikh Hamdan spent time with his young guests during the Ramadan event
    Sheikh Hamdan spent time with his young guests during the Ramadan event
  • The Dubai Crown Prince underlined the UAE's commitment to an inclusive society
    The Dubai Crown Prince underlined the UAE's commitment to an inclusive society
  • Sheikh Hamdan later shared a video footage of the iftar on social media
    Sheikh Hamdan later shared a video footage of the iftar on social media

Sheikh Hamdan has long been a champion of people with disabilities.

He told of his delight at attending an iftar banquet last week with a group of “incredible children” on the autism spectrum.

Sheikh Hamdan stressed the UAE's determination to deliver the “best possible care and services” to people with disabilities after taking part in the Ramadan gathering.

He spent time with the young guests and their families during the reception held at Emirates Towers in Dubai on Wednesday, where he was joined by Ms Buhumaid.

“As part of ensuring the happiness of the community, Dubai’s leadership places high priority on ensuring the welfare of people of determination,” Sheikh Hamdan said.

“All people of determination deserve to receive the highest quality of services. I was delighted to participate in the iftar banquet and interact with the children and their families,” he said.

In March last year he visited the Dubai Autism Centre.

The non-profit centre was established in 2001.

RESULTS

Mumbai Indians 181-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata Knight Riders 168-6 (20ovs)

Mumbai won by 13 runs

Rajasthan Royals 152-9 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 155-4 (18.4 ovs)

Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets

The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience

by David Gilmour

Allen Lane

JOKE'S%20ON%20YOU
%3Cp%3EGoogle%20wasn't%20new%20to%20busting%20out%20April%20Fool's%20jokes%3A%20before%20the%20Gmail%20%22prank%22%2C%20it%20tricked%20users%20with%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fmentalplex%2F%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Emind-reading%20MentalPlex%20responses%3C%2Fa%3E%20and%20said%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fpigeonrank%2F%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3E%20well-fed%20pigeons%20were%20running%20its%20search%20engine%20operations%3C%2Fa%3E%20.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIn%20subsequent%20years%2C%20they%20announced%20home%20internet%20services%20through%20your%20toilet%20with%20its%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Ftisp%2Finstall.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Epatented%20GFlush%20system%3C%2Fa%3E%22%2C%20made%20us%20believe%20the%20Moon's%20surface%20was%20made%20of%20cheese%20and%20unveiled%20a%20dating%20service%20in%20which%20they%20called%20founders%20Sergey%20Brin%20and%20Larry%20Page%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fromance%2Fpress.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3EStanford%20PhD%20wannabes%3C%2Fa%3E%20%22.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EBut%20Gmail%20was%20all%20too%20real%2C%20purportedly%20inspired%20by%20one%20%E2%80%93%20a%20single%20%E2%80%93%20Google%20user%20complaining%20about%20the%20%22poor%20quality%20of%20existing%20email%20services%22%20and%20born%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fgooglepress.blogspot.com%2F2004%2F04%2Fgoogle-gets-message-launches-gmail.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Emillions%20of%20M%26amp%3BMs%20later%3C%2Fa%3E%22.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
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Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km

India squad for fourth and fifth Tests

Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari

The Bio

Name: Lynn Davison

Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi

Children: She has one son, Casey, 28

Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Author: CJ Sansom

Favourite holiday destination: Bali

Favourite food: A Sunday roast

Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
  • Flexible work arrangements
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The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

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Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information. 

3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.

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Pakistan v New Zealand Test series

Pakistan: Sarfraz (c), Hafeez, Imam, Azhar, Sohail, Shafiq, Azam, Saad, Yasir, Asif, Abbas, Hassan, Afridi, Ashraf, Hamza

New Zealand: Williamson (c), Blundell, Boult, De Grandhomme, Henry, Latham, Nicholls, Ajaz, Raval, Sodhi, Somerville, Southee, Taylor, Wagner

Umpires: Bruce Oxerford (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG); TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS); Match referee: David Boon (AUS)

Tickets and schedule: Entry is free for all spectators. Gates open at 9am. Play commences at 10am

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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Company profile

Name: Thndr

Started: October 2020

Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: FinTech

Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000

Funding stage: series A; $20 million

Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC,  Rabacap and MSA Capital

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Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.

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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.”

Updated: April 17, 2023, 5:49 PM