Tag Archives: personality
Shaikh Mohammed to unveil plaques of five-star centres
Shaikh Mohammed to unveil plaques of five-star centres (Wam) / 26 February 2014 Vice-President says diligent work teams deserve praise and appreciation while unveiling five-star plate at Traffic and Licensing Centre in Fujairah. Federal government customer service centres serve as the real ground of competition among public service providers to deliver world-class services to the local community, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has said, and added the new Star Rating Initiative, which he launched on Monday, will generate true leaders who deserve “our thanks and commendation”. All federal government customer service centres will abide by the Star Rating Initiative. Intended to bring about a quantum leap in the efficiency of government services as per global standards, the system rates public service centres with a number of stars (from two to seven) by placing a special plate at the entrance of each federal customer service centre. Shaikh Mohammed inaugurated Phase 1 of the evaluation and classification of 75 government service centres according to the new Star Rating Initiative on Monday. Three centres obtained the 5-star rating, and Shaikh Mohammed unveiled the first plate at the Customer Service Centre of the Ministry of Justice, Abu Dhabi. Thirty-three centres received a 4-star rating and 39 centres received a 3-star rating. The evaluation and classification process will continue to cover all federal customer service centres by the end of 2014. Shaikh Mohammed made his remarks during a visit to the Traffic and Licensing Centre in Fujairah on Tuesday to unveil a five-star plate which the centre obtained. Shaikh Mohammed pledged to unveil the five-star plaque of the centres himself, saying that diligent work teams deserve praise and appreciation. The Vice-President took a tour of the traffic centre, which is run by 173 employee and provides 77 government services to 110,000 people. Last year, the centre processed 200,000 transactions. During his tour, Shaikh Mohammed thanked the employees for their continuous dedication and diligence to improve public services and promised to revisit them in case they add more stars. In a speech on the occasion, Shaikh Mohammed said, “Direct dealing with the customers carries both tremendous challenges and opportunities at the same time and the true leader is one who succeeds on the ground and who can achieve the highest rate of customer satisfaction. This applies to all — from the head of the government to the junior employee — because the criteria of real success in government work are to serve public interest and create opportunities for them to achieve happiness for themselves and their families.” The UAE is the first country in the world to adopt this rating system for government service centres based on a comprehensive operational framework that emulates the standards applied in hotels, banks and aviation companies. The project is part of the Emirates Government Service Excellence Programme and is managed by the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs. It embodies the practical steps to develop government services according to the international standards and rate all federal customer service centres based on the development of services and responding to customers’ requests. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Musabbah Rashid Al Fattan, Director-General of the Dubai Ruler’s Court; Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, Director-General of Dubai Protocol Department; and Brigadier Ahmed Mohammed Ghanem, Commander-in-Chief of Fujairah Police. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
No change in gold allowance to India, says envoy
No change in gold allowance to India: Consulate official Sajila Saseendran / 26 February 2014 The new Customs Declaration Form asks passengers have to specifically declare, prohibited goods and dutiable items, including gold bullion and gold jewellery. The Indian Consulate in Dubai has said that a report in local media on Tuesday, which said passengers flying to India should declare gold and jewellery worth more than Rs10,000, is false and misleading. “These will have to be entered in new customs forms that will replace the dated immigration paperwork that passengers had to fill in the past,” according to the report. It also suggested that the new requirement, which would leave a paper trail, may dissuade expat Indians from buying gold jewellery from Dubai for carrying it to India. The consulate has, however, said the report is wrong and needs to be clarified. “This is really way off the mark. It has to be clarified that the report is wrong and misleading,” an official told Khaleej Times . According to the Indian Central Board of Excise and Customs, the new ‘Indian Customs Declaration Form’, which will come into effect from March 1, requires resident Indians to declare Indian currency at the customs if the value exceeds Rs10, 000. With the introduction of the new form, all passengers also have to specifically declare, prohibited goods and dutiable items, including gold bullion and gold jewellery exceeding the free allowance. The free allowance for gold jewellery remains gold worth Rs50, 000 for males and worth Rs100, 000 for women. The Consulate clarified that passengers need not declare the gold jewellery they carry unless it is above this limit. It may be noted that the new rule has only increased the limit of Indian currency that resident Indians can carry to and out of India (from Rs7,500 to Rs10, 000), while the rule that Non-Resident Indians cannot carry Indian currency remains. Non-Resident Indians and foreigners can carry only foreign currency and need to declare it only if its value exceeds $5,000. They should also make a declaration when the aggregate value of all foreign bills in the form of currency notes, financial instruments, and travellers’ cheques is equal to or exceeds $10,000. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Central Bank of the UAE had previously highlighted these rules and advised expat Indians and other foreigners to refrain from carrying Indian currency to India, subsequent to reports of confiscation of counterfeit Indian currency. sajila@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
30 people died of drug overdose across UAE in 2013
30 people died of drug overdose across UAE in 2013 Amira Agarib / 26 February 2014 The people who died of overdose, were found to be using different kinds of drugs including heroin, amphetamine and keptagon. About 30 people died due to drug overdose across the UAE in 2013, a Sharjah Public Prosecution official said. This year, he said, already six people have died due to drug overdose, including two this month. Pointing out to the increasing drug use in the country, the official warned that drug traffickers are targeting the youth. Ghanim Ali Al Mansour, Head of Prosecution of Anti-Narcotics at the Sharjah Public Prosecution, said most of the people who died of drug overdose are UAE nationals and aged 30 and above. According to Al Mansour, currently the Sharjah Public Prosecution is investigating the death of two persons, who reportedly died of drug overdose. Aged 44 and 45, these men were UAE nationals and resided in Al Khuzama area. People who died of overdose, he said, were found to be using different kinds of drugs including heroin, amphetamine and keptagon. He said the number of people who have died from drug overdose is considered “high” as the monthly average is over two. “We should face the fact that the number of drug-related cases are on the rise,” he said. Drug-related cases referred to the Sharjah Public Prosecution has increased during the past few years. Majority of the drug users in the UAE, especially Sharjah, use tramadol pills, he said, noting the recent police operation, which led to the seizure of 60,000 tramadol pills. “Drug traffickers distribute these drugs among the youth, who get addicted to them after just trying it out. Tramadol, which is supposed to be used for medical purposes, is being used by the youth — sometimes in double doses — to feel active,” he said. He said the smuggled tramadol pills may have a cover of 100 grams, but the real dosage might actually be 400 grams. “So when a person taken a double dose of the drug, he dies,” he said. The UAE, he said, is among the first countries in the Arab world to have banned tramadol. news@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
