The world's most expensive holiday package

Got a million dollars to splurge on a holiday? You stand to figure in the Guinness Book of World Records. A hotel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is hoping to enter the Guinness Book of World Records by offering what is being dubbed as the world’s most expensive holiday package.

Priced at $1 million, the package by the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi offers pure opulence for two guests to stay seven nights in a 680 sq m palace suite on an all-inclusive basis, the state-run news agency reported.

"As well as luxurious living with The Palace, the package covers first class return trip from any international destination serviced by Etihad Airways to Abu Dhabi, chauffeur-driven Maybach at your disposal daily during your stay in Abu Dhabi, and daily spa treatment in the Anantara Spa," the report quoted Janet Abrahams, director of sales and marketing at Emirates Palace Hotel, as saying.

"The package seeks to give celebrities, luminaries and well-known businessmen the lifetime chance to stay in the unique iconic Emirates Palace, experience seven days of wonder and at the same time the opportunity to effectively promote their business message," she said.

Built at a cost of over $3 billion, the hotel is reputed to be the most expensive hotel ever built and has 302 rooms and 92 suites. The hotel is owned by the government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi and is currently managed by the Kempinski group. According to Abrahams, the package also offers to take guests on journeys to explore neighbouring countries.

"The offer is tailor-made to the guest requirements, but as an example we can include day trips by private jet to Iran to create your own Persian carpet from the most exclusive and well-renowned hand-maker, to Dead Sea in Jordan to experience the famous sea and afternoon Anantara spa treatment in the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar, to Bahrain for a deep sea pearl diving experience," she said.

"Your pearl will then be hand designed with unique jewellery settings and at every step of your excursions, your Emirates Palace butler will be there to guide and assist you." Guests can also enjoy a ’Royal Golf Experience’ at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club and make their own individual perfume with experts from YAS Perfumes.

Other features of the package include a deep-sea fishing trip, ’Emirates Palace Sunset and Desert Island Tour’, gifts including Emirates Palace Gold Champagne, the rarest pearls in the world from Robert Wang and a selection from Holland and Holland Sporting Guns.

Abrahams said that guests who book for the package would be able to say that they were part of an industry first and collaborate with the Emirates Palace Hotel in registering with the Guinness Book of World Records. The hotel’s general manager Hans Olbertz said the premier property is seeking to establish Abu Dhabi as a world-class tourism destination for vacationing and promoting the Emirates Palace as a signature landmark of Abu Dhabi to the world.

He disclosed that part of the costs of the package would be donated to social and charitable organizations in the UAE.

Forex futures trading to begin soon

It is expected that Indian banks and residents will be allowed to trade in foreign currency futures by the month-end, going by the new guidelines announced by the Indian central bank here on Wednesday.

The guidelines finalized by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said that only dollar-rupee contracts can be traded and the size of each contract would be $1,000.

The contracts shall be quoted and settled in Indian rupees and the maturity of the contracts shall not exceed 12 months, the guidelines said. Banks can participate in the futures market with the permission of RBI and none "other than an Indian resident" shall participate in the currency futures market.
The gross open position of a trading member should not exceed 15 per cent of open interest or $25 million and gross open position of any bank should not exceed 15 per cent of open interest or $100 million.

UK's new rules promote genuine applicants

The UK government has announced its plans for a new student visa system under the Points Based System (PBS). Known as Tier 4, the new system aims to be more transparent and to simplify existing immigration rules for genuine students and education providers.

Under the new rules, universities and colleges will be required to take greater responsibility for their international students, which includes obtaining a special license for recruiting international students and reporting those who fail to attend classes.

"The new system is not meant to discourage students going to study in the UK but to weed out bogus colleges and students," said Dan Chugg, director, press and communications, British High Commission. All colleges and universities will have to maintain attendance sheets and ensure that all students’ paperwork is in order, including keeping copies of their passports and alerting the UK Border Agency (UKBA) if students fail to enrol.

Education providers who fail to follow the new rules will face a ban on recruiting international students in the future and bogus colleges will be shut down.

Representatives of British universities in India have welcomed the new rules. Richa Jain, India manager, Nottingham Trent University, said: "The new system is probably going to help increase the number of students going to the UK. And if it doesn’t, it would mean that bogus students have stopped applying. Besides, some students used to drag their degrees in order to extend their stay in the UK but, now, they would have to complete it on time."

Similarly, Kalpana Das, country co-ordinator (India), Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), added: "Often students accept offers from several universities, use one for their visa application but on arriving in the UK, end up going to a different university. As a result, the university is left with vacant seats and the government is left unaware of the student’s location. However, under the new rules, the student’s passport will specifically mention which university the student is going to and they cannot change universities."

Chugg stated that the new rules would apply to all students above the age of four outside the European economic region. "Students would also need to provide their fingerprints for biometric visas and IDs," he added. According to Liam Byrne, UK’s border and immigration minister, all those who come to Britain must abide by the rules. "By locking people to one identity with ID cards we will know exactly who is coming here to study."

Further, visas will only be granted to students who show a proven track record in education and are applying for a course that meets a minimum level of qualification. Students on courses for longer than 12 months will have to show they have sufficient funds to pay their first year of fees, plus 9,600 pounds to cover their first year in the UK. Students wishing to bring their dependants with them will need to show they have a further 535 pounds per-month for each person they bring.

Teach him money matters

Children should be taught the value of money. Here’s how you can motivate your child to save money Money is important. It gives people the power to make decisions and grab opportunities. Educating children on its importance should start early in life. Children should be motivated to become regular savers and investors.

Child psychologist Dr Nandgopal says that as soon as a child starts counting numbers, he should be introduced to money. “Parents should play an active role in providing them with information. For instance, teach what he can buy with a one rupee coin and to recognise the money, the symbols in the coin, etc. There are two ways that children learn — by observation and repetition.” Talking to children about your values on money — on how to save it, how to make it grow, and how to spend it — will have a lifelong impact on them.

“Children should be made to understand the difference between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’. This will enable them to make good spending decisions right from childhood,” says psychologist Dr Raghurami Reddy.

Setting goals is primary for learning the value of money. “If a parent has the habit of buying everything that his kid asks for, this will only spoil the kid. What I do at home is I set a goal for my daughter — give her a task and award her pocket money in denominations that she can count. And, she in turn puts it into her piggy bank.

Once the money grows, she is entitled to buy toys, chocolates, etc. I think this has made her responsible. These days, banks are providing savings accounts for kids and so parents could try that option,” says a parent, Suchitra Kumar.

Keeping good records of money is another skill that ought to be taught. “I have encouraged my children to maintain a book on their savings and spending. Kids should also be taught the concept of borrowings and interest to be paid on that amount,” says a parent, Deepthi Nair.

Social dad: As good as mom or even dad!

Social dad is the cool new name for the cool new stepfather.And he’s probably just as good a dad as the biological one – even better, perhaps. A study by Lawrence M Berger of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US says that a man who is ‘married to or cohabiting with the child’s mother, but is not the biological father’ – a social father – is trusted more and may be better with the child in terms of parenting.

And examples abound. The new kid on the block, Imran Khan, has one, for instance – actor Raj Zutshi. In a recent interview, Imran said that his real father, Anil Pal, lives and works in the US.

“Dad is a software engineer who has been living in the US for 25 years now. My parents got divorced when I was one-and-a-half years old. Practically speaking, I have no memories of when my parents were married to each other,” he said. So who was his father figure, then? “It was my stepfather, Raj Zutshi,” he said. Zutshi and Nuzhat got divorced a couple of years ago. DT asks other social dads and their spouses if they make good fathers...

My man, my kid’s dad
Actress Maninee De Mishra, who married actor Mihir Mishra, says that the strong bond between Mihir and her daughter is the result of the effort that they both made in the initial stages of the relationship. She says, “I wanted to facilitate an understanding between Mihir and Dianoor. Mihir’s decision to be with Dia and me was voluntary, but for Dia, it wasn’t. In such a relationship, it’s important to ensure that the child doesn’t suffer. Fortunately, I can take no credit for the crackling chemistry the two share. I had never seen Mihir cry, but the first time Dia called him papa, his eyes welled up and he told me how overwhelmed he was. Right from the beginning, the mother should clarify her stance and say that she and her kids are a package deal. Once, I got home to find Dia and Mihir in fits of laughter at a cartoon film they were watching. That moment proved how close they are as a father-daughter duo.”

Actress Pooja Bedi also says that ex-boyfriend Hanif Hilal was a great dad to her kids. “I don’t let my relationships come home unless I’m ultra-serious about them,” she says. “If I get to know that the man isn’t comfortable with my kids, he is rejected from my life too. Though Hanif and I aren’t together anymore, it’s been a wonderful experience with him. He helped my kids with homework and took them to their classes. He was always there. In fact, if my daughter Alia was sick, he was the one who rushed her to the doctor. Though he was involved with an older woman, he undertook a father’s responsibilities and executed them well. He loved my kids unconditionally.”

And the dads say, of course we’re good
The social dads say that there are a host of factors that make them good parents. Says Mihir, “Social fathers try harder to seek the child’s approval, and often end up forging a great bond. Moreover, the father is mentally prepared to adapt to the situation and the child’s needs and expectations. One can’t force a relationship, but one can always work to make it a success. You can either strike a chord with the child, or fail – there’s no third option. For me, the adapting was simpler since Dia also took the initiative. Now, we are best friends and the worst enemies!”

Image guru Dilip Cherian is also a social father to his wife Devi’s children. “Indian society is going through a change in areas of marriage,” he explains. “Social fathers are probably more ready and competent to bring up their wife’s kids, and they also try harder to meet their expectations. For some biological fathers, fatherhood may be a social compulsion, but for social fathers, it’s a mature choice. Marrying a lady with kids means knowing exactly what you’re getting into. Biological fathers may also be too young to handle the responsibility and may lack the time and experience of life that a man entering a later stage of fatherhood may have. In such relationships, credit also goes to the children who may have gone through the phase of missing a father figure in their lives and are more than ready to adjust to the new person coming into the family.”

Devi seconds her husband’s views. “Social fathers are much, much better because both the father and the kids make an effort to accept each other. There is this sense of comradeship – children feel that their mother may be hurt if they don’t accept the man as their father figure and the man would never want his wife to feel that since the kids are not his, he isn’t interested. And so both, the father and the children, go out of their way to try and get along. In due course, the child will start doing things that his/her father does. It may be as simple as starting to eat sushi because their father likes it, but these things make the father say, ‘They are looking up to me and I must not fail them’.”

What about the stepmoms?
However, Pooja gives the issue a slightly different twist. “It’s great to give stepfathers the oh-so-cool tag of ‘social’ fathers! But what about the tag of ‘evil’ that stepmothers have? Poor stepmoms – they’ve been considered evil since the time the fairytales, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, came about. I guess the social fathers bit should’ve happened for women first. Moms put a lot of effort into child rearing and that should be respected. This kind of undoes what mothers have been doing all this while. Get the title for women first! Fairytales have done enough harm,” she says.

‘Satyam: No Place to Run; No Place to Hide’...says Upaid

The House of Lords has refused Satyam leave to appeal the case between it and Upaid. The only issue now left open in the UK is how much Satyam will have to pay Upaid in legal fees."The road now leads to substantive resolution. It must be obvious, even to Satyam’s management, that justice is at hand," said Upaid Chairman & CEO Simon Joyce. He praised the UK’s "swift and definitive" judicial ruling that assures Satyam will face a jury in Texas, as Upaid had intended from the outset.

"Satyam appears to have been in a state of denial. They lost in the UK high Court and again on appeal and have now lost in the House of Lords. Next they will lose in Texas", Joyce said.

"Satyam management is still trying to wriggle out of Federal Court jurisdiction in the Eastern District of Texas," Joyce added. "Even if they were to do so, which we’re confident they will not, they’ll face all but identical proceedings in the Texas State Court made up from the same essential jury pool."

Joyce, noting that Upaid has been waiting a year for Satyam’s answer to the charges contained in Upaid’s complaint, said that Satyam has so far "used denial, dodge and delay. Their shareholders will be hoping they now recover their sense of reason. It may be more likely that Satyam will become desperate as they see the avenues of escape closing one by one."

Upaid spokesperson Joanne Hunter pointed to Satyam’s "minuscule" (less than 1%) stake in Upaid. "Given their record to date they will now probably try to use this to undermine Upaid from within. But it won’t work. We have the commitment and wherewithal to see this through to the finish."

Trial is set for early June in the Federal court. "This time next year we expect that Satyam will have to post an extremely large bond if they hope to appeal," Hunter said. "That will immediately hit their bottom line."

Hunter pointed out that Satyam’s own filings in the UK admit that "extremely large sums of money are at stake". Though the exact amount of damages is not yet knowable, Upaid is required to file their damage calculation model with the Federal court within weeks.

"Satyam would help themselves if they started to repair our intellectual property rights that have been put in jeopardy by their wrongful acts," she said. "The damages grow with every day."

For copies of the letters from the claimant and the House of Lords, please contact Catriona Biggart or Becca Daniel at Skywrite Communications. Telephone: +44 (0) 207 608 4650 or email: upaid@skywritecomms.com.

About Upaid

Upaid is the mobile and online payments specialist. Applications range from the recharge of prepaid accounts via SMS, to electronic bill payment and presentment, to billing for mobile content. The Upaid platform supports a complete eco-system for mobile commerce, giving users the choice of an operator-driven or independent billing system.

Upaid holds a portfolio of over 1,000 granted patents in the arena of e- and m-commerce. We work with Brazil’s leading mobile operators and banks to enable recharge transactions, serving a user base of over 50 million consumers, processing 2 million transactions per month. Upaid holds the franchise for VISA Mobile Service in the CEMEA region. Upaid has offices in the US, UK, and Brazil. Upaid is a registered trademark of Upaid Systems, Ltd.

For more information, please visit www.upaid.net.

Marriage can boost your lifespan

Forget long walks and cutting on calories, the secret to a long, healthy life is marriage. According to new figures, men who lose their life partner often die soon afterwards. The figures reveal that widowers over 85 have the highest rate of death per 1000 (191.6), while married men in the same age group have a death rate of only 140.3 per 1000.

"It seems longevity and marriage are directly linked and marriage is good for your health," the Daily Telegraph quoted Australian Minister Justine Elliot, whose office analyzed the figures, as saying.

The figures suggested that married people have lower death rates and live longer because they are more likely to look after each other’s health and serve as role models to children.