Offence-free drivers to be honoured by Dubai Police



DUBAI // One thousand drivers who did not commit a traffic offence last year are to be honoured by Dubai Police.

Maj Gen Mohammed Al Zafeen said the 1,000 winners were comprised of 378 Emiratis, 215 from other Arab countries and 407 residents from the rest of the world.

“This year, we decided to divide the winners into age categories,” he said. “We wanted to give young people a chance and the inspiration to feel that even an 18-year-old can be a winner.”

There were 39 winners from the 18 to 25 age group, 274 winners from the 26 to 32 group, 355 from the 33 to 40 group and 332 drivers aged 41 or above.

Maj Gen Al Zafeen said about 60 per cent of the winners were men.

Of the winners, 159 are Emirati men and 219 are Emirati women. Of the other nationalities, 495 winners are men and 127 are women.

About 100,000 people in Dubai were given 24 “white points”, for not committing a single offence. Of those, 1,000 were selected via a draw to win various prizes, ranging from cash to hotel stays. The winner of the top prize, a Chevrolet Impala, will be announced after the final draw is made next month.

Anyone with white points can use them for a number of advantages, such as paying for traffic fines or to prevent their car from being impounded in the event of a traffic offence that merits impoundment.

To qualify, drivers must not commit offences, including using Salik motorways without credit or being issued with traffic tickets in other emirates.

After Emiratis, the next country with the most winners was India, with 204. In third place were Egyptian motorists, of which there were 71. After that were Pakistani drivers, with 34 winners; 33 Jordanians; 27 Syrians, and 25 Lebanese.

The countries with just one winner among the 1,000 included Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Greece, Indonesia and France.

The “white points” system is designed to encourage drivers to obey traffic laws and promote road safety. The aim of the police is for Dubai to have the safest roads, with the fewest car accidents and traffic offences.

dmoukhallati@thenational.ae

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Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species

Camelpox

Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.

Falconpox

Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.

Houbarapox

Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.

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.”

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Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family

Walks for an hour every morning

Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India

2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business

 

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