Dubai Lifestyle News
Bollywood star full of praise for ‘amazing’ Dubai
Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan believes that Dubai has emerged as a cultural hub and he hailed the city as “amazing”.In an interview with City Times, Mr Bachchan said he has admiration for the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.It is easy to forget that Dubai was just a small Gulf town just a few decades ago and its transformation into one of the most vibrant cities on the planet has been remarkable.Mr Bachchan believes the emirate has managed to mix old and new seamlessly.”This cultural shift is truly remarkable. Earlier one wouldn't quite associate the emirate with literary events and festivals. Now Dubai has become the most happening address on the cultural firmament,” he told the news provider.”It has upscale infrastructure and a very exciting verve to it. Dubai is a lively cosmopolitan city.”You only have to look at the plethora of ultra-modern skyscrapers that have sprung up across Dubai to see why it is seen as a pioneering city.With record-breaking buildings such as the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall, it is easy to understand why other parts of the world use the emirate as a blueprint for how to build a vibrant metropolis.Dubai is within easy reach of India, which perhaps explains why it is so popular among the Bollywood fraternity.Earlier this year, Emirates 24/7 reported that another popular actor – Salman Khan – was considering buying property in the area.His brother Sohail told the news provider that the pair had been looking for a new home in the UAE, as it is a “beautiful and safe country”.The fact that Dubai is just two and a half hours from Mumbai also made the city a very attractive place to live, he suggested.A multitude of exciting new developments are springing up all the time, so people who are planning to relocate to the Middle East will have no shortage of choice when they browse the property market. Continue reading
Dubai citizens to benefit from free city-wide Wi-Fi?
People in Dubai could soon have access to an outdoor Wi-Fi network as they make their way around the city, according to one tech expert.Rabih Dabboussi, managing director of Cisco Middle East, said internet services are set for major growth across the region and cities in the UAE could be next in line to benefit from network upgrades.Mr Dabboussi told Emirates 24/7 that “city-wide coverage of Wi-Fi” will be a key future trend as technology progresses and people grow more accustomed to being connected to the internet at all times. Outdoor wireless services are expected to rise in prominence, eventually replacing 3G and even the newer 4G services for many users.The publication noted that Dubai could follow in the footsteps of Santa Clara in California, which recently launched a free outdoor Wi-Fi service for the entire community made possible by the installation of smart metering technology.”Today, most of the people are connected, tomorrow everything else will be interconnected,” Mr Dabboussi explained.The senior executive added that Cisco is “focused on assisting businesses and governments in the Middle East to innovate, evolve and increase productivity”.Dubai is now recognised as a hub for technology and innovation in the Middle East, with the emirate's Dubai Internet City and Dubai Outsource Zone recording a 15 per cent growth in tenants last year.The two IT-focused business parks signed up 160 new companies between them in 2012, according to a statement issued earlier this month.Malek Al Malek, managing director of both zones, commented: “2012 was a particularly strong year for our cluster. Not only did we welcome some of the industry's biggest players such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Interglobe, we also saw the expansion of existing partners.”He added that Dubai now offers “a prosperous ecosystem for technology companies”. Continue reading
RTA plans better transport links between Dubai and Sharjah
Dubai's Road and Transport Authority (RTA) is said to be planning new water buses that will link the city with the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah.Speaking to the Khaleej Times, chief executive officer of Public Transport Agency at the RTA Dr Yousif Mohammed Al Ali said some feasibility studies are being carried out.Although Sharjah is less than 20 km away from Dubai, the main road that links the two cities can become quite congested and journey times rise significantly during peak periods.Both emirates are based on the coast, so it should be easy enough to put on boat services between the destinations, which will help to relieve some of the strain on the road network.The need for new modes of public transport has become more pressing, as experts believe that Dubai's population will continue to grow sharply in the coming years.”Currently, there are inter-city buses connecting Dubai and Sharjah and we see no reason why there would be no possibility of developing marine transport on similar lines,” Mr Al Ali was quoted as saying.”It is part of the RTA masterplan to improve the public transport network and develop the different modes of transportation. However, it would be too early to announce a date when any new routes would take effect,” he continued.The UAE's transport infrastructure has coped remarkably well with the huge number of people moving to Dubai and other parts of the country in recent years.Airports in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras al Khaimah have all been very busy and air links between different emirates have improved considerably.In Dubai itself, there have been talks of a major expansion of the already-impressive Metro network, which connects numerous important business districts and other popular points of interest with residential areas.The RTA is very ambitious and its future plans will undoubtedly make the emirate even more attractive to investors and people who are considering relocating to the Middle East on a permanent basis. Continue reading
