DIFF 2010 Salam  The Cultural Bridge Day On Dec. 16 Promotes Intercultural Dialogue Through Cinema

The seventh Dubai International Film Festival’s (DIFF) will hosts its ‘Salam – The Cultural Bridge Day’ today (Thursday, December 16) with the objective of promoting intercultural dialogue and reflecting the credo of the festival, ‘Bridging Cultures. Meeting Minds.’

‘Salam – The Cultural Bridge Day’ will open with the screening of Egyptian director Hesham Issawi’s Cairo Exit, a powerful account of life in contemporary Cairo about two star-crossed lovers. The film shines the spotlight on the social and cultural taboos that riddle the city’s diverse population.

‘Salam – The Cultural Bridge Day’ is a significant component of the festival, highlighting its commitment to promote universal harmony through intercultural dialogue. With over 200 nationalities, Dubai is uniquely positioned to foster dialogue, and Cultural Bridge Day is a perfect fit to the ethos of the city and the festival.

The new venue of DIFF, The Walk at JBR is hosting a series of colourful events to mark the ‘Salam – The Cultural Bridge Day.’ Global Village is presenting some of this season’s most exciting international street entertainment including South African drummers and dancers, South African music workshop with the participation of the audience, Egyptian Tanoura dancers, Kenyan acrobats, and performances by a Thai dance group and the Lebanese Dabka Dance Company. The festivities start at 2 pm and will conclude with the open air screening, free to the public, of ‘My Wife’s Husband’ a film by Niazi Mostafa and the concert of Lebanese classical Arabic singer Rima Khcheiche.

At the venue, visitors can also take part in the popular digital photo-booths set up by Fishfayce, where people can express their perceptions on cultural understanding through a written or signed pose, which will be available to download or share online through social media.

A new addition this year is the Peace Wall hosted by DIFF in partnership with The JamJar Gallery. The public can participate in ‘Salam – The Cultural Bridge Day’ by sending messages of peace that will be depicted on the ‘Peace Wall.’

‘Salam – The Cultural Bridge Day’ will screen a repertoire of thought-provoking movies at Cinestar, Mall of the Emirates, including, Ebhram Saeedi’s Mandoo (MoE 12, 12.30pm); Aamir Bashir’s Harud (Autumn) (MoE 11, 1.00pm); Kaouther Ben Hania’s Les Imams Vont A L’Ecole (Imams go to School) (MoE 6, 3.15pm); Daniel Rudi Haryanto’s Prison and Paradise (MoE 5, 3.30pm); Ricky Tognazzi’s Il Padre E Lo Straniero (The Father and The Foreigner) (MoE 11, 4.15pm); Leila Sansour’s Al Tareeq Ila Bait Lahem (The Road to Bethlehem) (MoE 9, 6.00pm); Pradeepan Raveendran’s Les Ombres Du Silence (Shadows of Silence) (MoE 10, 6.30pm); Alireza Davoodnejad’s Marham (Salve) (MoE 12, 7.00pm); Wi Ding Ho’s Pinoy Sunday (MoE 1, 9.30pm); and John Akomfrah’s The Nine Muses (MoE 5, 9.45pm).

DIFF 2010 box office locations are: CineStar Mall of the Emirates, the Madinat Souk, The Walk at JBR, and at the CNN Building in Dubai Media City. Tickets can also be purchased through DIFF’s Dial-a-Ticket service at (04) 391 3378 and from the website, www.dubaifilmfest.com.

DIFF 2010 is held in association with Dubai Studio City. Dubai Duty Free, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai Pearl, Emirates Airline and Madinat Jumeirah, the home of the Dubai International Film Festival, are the principal sponsors of DIFF. The event is supported by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.

For more and updated information about DIFF, please visit www.dubaifilmfest.com

RTA Opens A Key Bridge At The 1st Interchange, Sh Zayed Rd

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has opened yesterday one of the key bridges in the 1st Interchange of Sheikh Zayed Road, linking Al Safa Street with the Financial Center Street, thus ensuring smooth flow of traffic inbound from the Financial Center area to Al Safa Street towards Al Wasl Street as well as providing a curved path leading back to Sh Zayed Rd in the direction of Deira.

Commenting on the event, Nabeel Mohammed Salih, Director of Roads Department, RTA Traffic & Roads Agency, said: “By opening this phase, RTA has completed almost 85% of construction works in the main bridges and roads of the 1st Interchange at Sheikh Zayed Project; which is one of the key and most sophisticated projects currently undertaken by the RTA. Last May RTA opened bridges crossing Sheikh Zayed Road providing free traffic flow from Al Safa Street to the Financial Center Street and vice versa, and smooth traffic flow from Al Safa Street towards Dubai through these bridges. All works in the project will be completed and fully opened for traffic by the end of December 2010”.

“The 1st Interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road is one of the biggest interchanges in the Emirate, and the total length of bridges currently underway measures 3 km. Tunnels in the project extend 850 meters and the overall cost of the project, which is carried out by the Italian Salini Co., is around 617 million dirham,” said Nabeel.

“The significance of this project is underlined by its vital location on Sheikh Zayed Road in the vicinity of Burj Khalifa and the Financial Center. It provides these districts with a link with the main surrounding roads such as Sheikh Zayed Road, Financial Center St. and Al Safa St. This area is considered one of the busiest in Dubai with considerable importance attached being on Sheikh Zayed Road and bordering these vital and important districts for Dubai in the fields of tourism, economy and investment,” added Al Nabeel.

It is worth-mentioning that the 1st Interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road allows seamless traffic movement in both directions of Al Safa Street and Financial Center Street, and links Sheikh Zayed Road as well as the Upper & Lower Decks of the Financial Center Street. The project encompasses construction of a tunnel linking the road passing at the back of Mazaya Center with the Road passing behind the high rises overlooking Sheikh Zayed Road in addition to widening Al Safa Street, and improving the intersections thereon up to Al Wasl Road.
 

RTA Opens Al Qudra Bridge Across Dubai Bypass Rd On Tuesday

Roads & Transport Authority – Mohammed Al Munji: H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), announced that Al Qudra Bridge, stretching across Dubai Bypass Road, will be opened coming Tuesday. The Bridge, which comprises 3 lanes in each direction, stretches from Umm Suqeim Road in the Direction of Al Qudra area and Bab Al Shams Hotel and the other way round.

“The project, which has an estimated cost of 96 million dirham, is a key sector in Al Qudra Road and is considered as an extension of Umm Suqeim Road, which passes through the Arabian Ranches Interchange across Emirates Road. It provides a freeway traffic in all directions for the users of Dubai Bypass Road and Al Qudra Road. Motorists driving from Umm Suqeim Road towards Sharjah and from Al Qudra towards Abu Dhabi will have to use the tunnels surrounding the Bridge beneath Dubai Bypass Road; which had been opened earlier, to enable them make turns on Dubai Bypass Road,” said Al Tayer.

He continued: “Al Qudra Bridge is one of the key phases of Dubai Bypass Road; which comprises 6 lanes in each direction, and was intended to provide free traffic on Dubai Bypass Road; which is considered a highly strategic project in the structural master plan of RTA roads network. The project provides an alternative road to Emirates Road and Sheikh Zayed Road as it offers motorists inbound from the Northern Emirates and outbound to Abu Dhabi Emirate and vice versa an external corridor without having to enter downtown area”.

RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director elaborated: “The Contractor of Dubai Bypass Road is currently making the final touches on Phase 4, the last phase in the project, starting from the R/A on Jebel Ali – Al Hibab Road up to the outskirts of Abu Dhabi Emirate. The project is set to be opened in the third quarter of this year. By opening this stage, RTA will complete the opening all phases of Dubai Bypass Road; which starts from the outskirts of Sharjah Emirate and extends up to the outskirts of Abu Dhabi Emirate, comprising six lanes in each direction.

“In view of the immense nature of the project, and as RTA was keen on delivering the project as early as possible, it was divided into several phases. Phase 1 extended 24 km from Al Rawiyyah Interchange at Dubai-Al Ain Road up to Jebel Ali – Al Hibab Road, and comprised construction of a dual carriageway of six lanes in each direction at a cost of 363 million dirham. Phase started from the outskirt of Sharjah Emirate (Al Saja’a Juncture) up to Al Rawiyya Interchange at Dubai – Al Ain Road in a sector extending 23 km. This included widening the existing road from two to six lanes in each direction along with internal & external shoulders separated by the existing median. The project also included upgrading Al Khawaneej R/A at the intersection with Al Aweer Road to a full multi-tier interchange enabling free traffic in all directions in addition to the construction of water-drainage systems, utility lines, camel crossing points, and improving the existing road elements, such as the median, road shoulders, steel rail, safety fencing, and lighting works. The last Phase extends 25 km from Jebel Ali – Al Hibab Road up to the outskirts of Abu Dhabi Emirate. The contract, which has an estimated cost of 289 million dirham included construction of a six-lane dual carriageway in each direction to accommodate the projected traffic on this road in addition to 3 camel crossing points that can be used as turning points, water drainage, utility pipes, steel rail, safety fencing, and lighting works.

Passengers from around the world cross new Dubai-Prague bridge

Emirates lived up to its name as the international airline of the UAE after passengers from more than 20 countries joined its first flight to Prague.

Travellers from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, South Korea – and as far a field as Australia – were amongst those on board yesterday’s inaugural.

The airline is providing the only daily, non-stop passenger service to Prague, capital of the Czech Republic and site of the famous Charles Bridge, straddling the Vltava River.

Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline, who headed the Emirates’ delegation on the first flight, said: "Prague is our second European route launch this year after Amsterdam on 1st May and our 103rd destination globally. The Czech Republic is a popular tourist destination and an exciting emerging market. The route is off to a good start with passengers joining the inaugural flight to Prague from more than 20 countries across the world, underscoring the hub role of Dubai and the boost this new link will provide to the Czech tourism industry. "

Mr Clark added: "With a fleet of 149 aircraft including 11 A380s, we continue to drive forward with our expansion plans and more new routes are on the way. Madrid starts up 1st August and Dakar in Senegal begins a month after that."

Also representing Emirates for the first flight were Richard Vaughan, Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Worldwide; Salem Obaidalla, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation; Boutros Boutros, Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Ram Menen, Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

They were joined by Brigadier Obaid Mehayer Bin Suroor, Deputy Director of Dubai Naturalisation & Residency department and members of the UAE media.

After arriving at Ruzyne International Airport in Prague, the Emirates’ aircraft received a water cannon welcome, while a traditional Rosenka dance group performed on the tarmac.

Amongst those welcoming the flight were Jaroslav Ludva, the Czech Ambassador to the UAE and Miroslav Dvorak, CEO of Prague Airport.

Mr Dvorak said: "The Emirates’ flight is the first scheduled all-year-round non-stop service to Dubai. It will enable Czechs to travel directly to the Middle East for the first time, whilst also linking passengers to a range of destinations in the Eastern hemisphere. Thanks to this network of connections, we are expecting a great deal of interest in flights to Dubai."

Last night, more than 300 guests were invited to a special gala dinner at Prague’s Municipal House where Michael Bolton headed up the entertainment. Guests also enjoyed New York’s String Angels and the Czech National Symphonic Orchestra.

EK 139 leaves Dubai daily at 1030hrs and arrives in Prague at 1450hrs. EK 140 departs from Prague at 1620hrs and gets into Dubai at 0010hrs the following day.

An Airbus A330-200 aircraft is being deployed for the service, offering up to 278 seats across Business and Economy.

Trade between the Czech Republic and the UAE has leapt from under USD 26 million (AED 95 million) in 1993 to USD 678 million (AED 2.4 billion) in 2008, according to the Czech Foreign Ministry.

Nearly 30% of exports to the UAE are glass products including Czech-made Bohemian glass.

Aside from glass, Czech exports include electrical equipment, jewellery, beverages, data processing devices, machine tools, cars and car parts.

Emirates SkyCargo has served Prague until now by moving goods by road via Vienna. The new non-stop service provides extra capacity in the belly hold of the passenger flights, bringing more flexibility over the movement of goods.

Speaking about the Czech Republic as a destination, John Felix, Senior Vice President, Emirates Holidays, said: "As Emirates Airline’s tour operating arm, the introduction of new routes helps us consolidate and continue to grow the variety of holidays we offer our customers. Europe is a key market for us and Prague is a stunning addition, popular amongst a wide range of tourists, and a gateway to the rest of central Europe. It’s therefore an exciting opportunity for our business and our customers in the Middle East."

 

UAE Company Opens India’s Longest Bridge

Done Events, the event management arm of Arab Media Group, led the traffic-stopping fireworks, lights and laser show that marked the opening of the eagerly-awaited Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai. Thousands of viewers took in the night-time show, the handiwork of nearly 4,000 labourers and 150 engineers.

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link is the first and longest open sea cable-stay bridge in India, and was inaugurated in the presence of numerous state and federal ministers.

Done Events Managing Director Richard Bellia stated: “Being a part of a historical occasion was an incredible privilege for Done Events, and the public response was phenomenal. The experience and multicultural knowledge available in the Done Events team as well as the expertise gained from working in the region on world class events for prestigious clients such as the Dubai International Film Festival and Qatar Airways, to name a few, have stood us in good stead — we are expanding into overseas markets and putting the UAE on the map as a result.”

Launched in 2005, Done Events serves a growing portfolio of regional and international clients. Done Events is credited with staging the first Broadway musical to play in the Middle East with the 2006 show of Chicago—The Musical. It has also supported numerous high-level government events since its inception.