Emergency donations for victims of the devastating Kerala floods have been continuing to pour into relief centres as the UAE stepped up its efforts to assist those affected.
Hundreds of people in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and elsewhere answered urgent appeals for medical supplies and food set to be flown into the disaster-hit state.
At least Dh15 million has been pledged by three prominent Indian businessmen in the past day and many more smaller donations have been made.
The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, the largest Indian expatriate organisation in the Emirates, said it had collected some Dh4 million worth of essentials since Wednesday, including cooking sets, blankets, foldable beds and torches.
Universal Hospital in Abu Dhabi said it planned an emergency relief flight carrying 41 tonnes of aid and equipment to the subcontinent on Tuesday, with more flights expected to follow.
“There’s a real unity to this relief effort,” said Dr Shabeer Nellikode, a founder of Universal Hospital who has helped to co-ordinate volunteers assisting with donations.
“Those from wealthy and poor backgrounds are all pitching in to help. People who have no money have come here with items, it almost made me cry.
“And the Emiratis have helped too. One person gave me Dh200,000 and said he trusted us to get it to the right people. When there’s disaster, people unite.”
Weeks of heavy monsoon rains have triggered catastrophic landslides and flooding right across northern and central Kerala, in south-west India.
Some 10,000km of road is estimated to have been damaged by the deluge, with supplies of clean water, food and electricity also disrupted.
So far, at least 357 people are known to have died in the destruction, with some 800,000 people also forced to seek shelter in emergency camps.
Worryingly, experts predict further, worsening weather to come over the next few days, raising the prospect of yet more deaths.
On Sunday, Dr Yashar Ali, chief executive of the Canadian Specialist Hospital in Dubai, said his staff had appealed for clothes, disinfectants, biscuits and other dry food items.
Meanwhile, Yusuffali MA, the millionaire Indian owner of the Lulu Hypermarket chain headquartered in Abu Dhabi, and Bavaguthu Shetty, founder of NMC Healthcare which is also based in the city, each gave Dh5million to the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, which is assisting with relief efforts.
“The natural calamity that has befallen Kerala has dislodged the lives of many Keralites,” said Dr Ali. “We urge everyone in the UAE to come and help them in their time of need.”
Sunny Varkey, the founder of school operator Gems Education, also pledged Dh5 million to help the people of his home state.
"We are making our humble contribution to the committee for supporting the rescue and rehabilitation work in Kerala, my home state," he said.
“Kerala is witnessing an unprecedented challenge and it calls for the unified efforts of all to support the state and its people. My heart goes out to the people affected by the floods and I hope they will find the strength and resolve to overcome the crisis.
Yesterday, UAE consulate staff in Kerala said it was assisting about 200 Emiratis in the state. Officials said its personnel had not slept for four days as they battled to establish that families were safe and attempted to organise their transfer out of the country.
Over the weekend, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, wrote on Twitter: “UAE and the Indian community will unite to offer relief to those affected. We urge everyone to contribute generously towards this initiative”.
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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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.”
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Race card
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
How to help
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Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
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.