Today marks the 49th UAE National Day, which celebrates the formation of the Emirates on December 2, 1971.
Every year, citizens and residents enjoy a holiday to reflect on the country’s remarkable development over the past half century. This year has been different in two ways.
First, we are one year away from the country’s 50-year anniversary. The year 2020 has been a year to build momentum in advance of this important milestone. In just 50 years, the UAE has become a leader in energy, global finance, space exploration, geopolitics and the promotion of tolerance, among other things.
But the 49th UAE National Day will also be remembered for taking place during the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing the sense of resilience the country has fostered over the last half-century into stark relief.
Earlier this year, as first cases came to light, it soon became clear that weathering this storm would not be a question of avoiding the virus altogether, but rather how individual countries would deal with the inevitable crisis. Today, people across the world continue to live under difficult but necessary containment measures. They also live in fear of uncertainty. The path out of this unfortunate situation is effective government response. The UAE’s has been among the most effective.
That has been the product of a collective effort. In a speech yesterday, Sheikh Khalifa Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, praised frontline medical workers, and the efficiency of the healthcare system and its preparedness when facing emergency.
The UAE’s response has not just been about domestic strategies, but global ones as well. The Emirates has been a strong advocate for fair vaccine distribution internationally. Without this, worldwide recovery will be delayed.
But the crisis has not distracted from other historic initiatives, such as this year’s signing of the Abraham Accords, establishing relations with Israel and forging a path towards peace in the region.
And after Hazza Al Mansouri last year became the first Emirati to go to space, the UAE continues to expand its space programme, launching in July the Arab world’s first Mars mission.
TOPSHOT - In this handout photograph taken and released on July 20, 2020 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries an H-2A rocket carrying the Hope Probe known as "Al-Amal" in Arabic, developed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to explore Mars, blasts off from Tanegashima Space Centre in southwestern Japan. The first Arab space mission to Mars blasted off on July 20 aboard a rocket from Japan, with the probe dubbed "Hope" successfully separating about an hour after liftoff. - --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / (MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES)" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS --- / AFP / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries / Handout / --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / (MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES)" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ---
The nation's motto, 'impossible is possible' is testament to the can-do attitude that has defined its success
Closer to home, the country has recently announced a series of new measures spanning major legal reforms for expatriates, as well as increasing the country’s Golden Visa system, which will attract waves of talent as the UAE enters the next 50 years.
All of this shows the country is firmly en route to fulfilling its UAE Centennial 2071 programme, the main pillars of which are future-focused government, providing excellent education, a diversified knowledge economy and a happy and cohesive society. The nation’s motto, "impossible is possible" is testament to the can-do attitude that has defined its success.
The UAE is rare among nations in that many of its citizens were alive at the time of its foundation. The National's Memories of '71 series documents some of these stories. Eighty-year-old Buti Al Mazrouei remembers a time when, to earn money, people would dive for pearls for up to four minutes on one breath, knowing that they often drowned doing so.
Stories like this remind us how hardship builds resilience and the drive to create a better future. This year has taken its toll on all of us. But, as has happened before, hardship can drive and clarify a vision for the future.
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
When: Thursday, 9pm Arizona time (Friday UAE, 8am)
MATHC INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
