How Dubai fireworks on New Year’s eve entered record books

January 14, 2014

Dubai_fireworks

Dubai, Jan 14: Dubai fired 479,651 shells of fireworks on New Year’s eve, dazzling its way into the record books.

Not only did Dubai succeed in breaking the world record in the world’s “Largest Fireworks Display” category, the emirate also managed to smash it by firing roughly 80,000 shells per minute and 1,332 fireworks per second.

Revealing the details of the record, Guinness World Records said Dubai fired enough shells in the first 60 seconds to break the previous Guinness World Record, an hour-long show of 77,282 fireworks achieved in November 2011 by Kuwait.

As part of the rigorous verification process, Guinness World Records adjudicators physically counted all fireworks before and after the performance resulting in them confirming and verifying this extraordinary record-breaking achievement.

Thousands of people, who watched the spectacle from various locations, were left mesmerised by the dizzying array of colours.

Commenting on the new record, Talal Omar, Guinness World Record’s Adjudicator, stated: “This is an iconic record title that has been challenged and broken on a phenomenal scale by Dubai. I am pleased to confirm that Dubai has achieved a new Guinness World Record title for the Largest Fireworks Display.”

Spread across a shoreline of 95 kilometres, the fireworks were launched from stations mounted across all seven continents of the World Islands, its surrounding breakwater and across the entire Palm Jumeirah.

To ensure that the display was a triumph, a team made up of over 1,000 experts from the UAE and other countries were hired.

A further 200 pyro-technicians worked on the project and 100 computers installed to control the showdown to the millisecond. Accompanying the fireworks performance was music, specifically composed for the event and inspired by a local song.

Materials for the display were sourced locally and internationally. The display took ten months to plan and more than 5,000 man-hours to install.

The event, organised by Dubai, marked the end of an outstanding year for the city, which was awarded the World Expo 2020, and also celebrated the UAE’s 42nd National Day.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Dubai, Jan 10: Iran denied on Thursday that a Ukrainian airliner that crashed near Tehran had been hit by a missile, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said in a statement, according to state TV.

"All these reports are a psychological warfare against Iran. All those countries whose citizens were aboard the plane can send representatives and we urge Boeing to send its representative to join the process of investigating the black box".

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News Network
May 11,2020

May 11: Saudi Arabia will triple its value-added tax rate and suspend a cost of living allowance for state workers, it said on Monday, seeking to shield finances hit by low oil prices and a slump in demand for its lifeline export worsened by the new coronavirus.

Historic oil output cuts agreed by Riyadh and other major producers have given only limited support to prices after they sank on oversupply caused by a war for petroleum market share between the kingdom and its fellow oil titan Russia.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, is also being hit hard by measures to fight the new coronavirus, which are likely to curb the pace and scale of economic reforms launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"The cost of living allowance will be suspended as of June 1, and the value added tax will be increased to 15% from 5% as of July 1," Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said in a statement reported by the state news agency. "These measures are painful but necessary to maintain financial and economic stability over the medium to long term...and to overcome the unprecedented coronavirus crisis with the least damage possible."

The austerity measures come after the kingdom posted a $9 billion budget deficit in the first quarter.

The minister said non-oil revenues were affected by the suspension and decline in economic activity, while spending had risen due to unplanned strains on the healthcare sector and the initiatives taken to support the economy.

"All these challenges have cut state revenues, pressured public finances to a level that is hard to deal with going forward without affecting the overall economy in the medium to long term, which requires more spending cuts and measures to support non-oil revenues stability," he added.

The government has cancelled and put on hold some operating and capital expenditures for some government agencies, and cut allocations for some reform initiatives and projects worth a total 100 billion riyals ($26.6 billion), the statement said.

Central bank foreign reserves fell in March at their fastest rate in at least 20 years and to their lowest since 2011, while oil revenues in the first three months of the year fell 24% from a year earlier to $34 billion, pulling total revenues down 22%.

"The reforms are positive from a fiscal side as greater adjustment is essential. However, the tripling of VAT is unlikely to help that much in 2020 revenue wise with the expected fall in consumption," said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

She said she kept unchanged her deficit forecast of 16.3% of GDP for this year, which already factors in a greater than previously announced spending cut.

About 1.5 million Saudis are employed in the government sector, according to official figures released in December.

In 2018, Saudi Arabia's King Salman ordered a monthly payment of 1,000 riyals ($267) to every state employee to compensate them for the rising living costs after the government hiked domestic gas prices and introduced value-added tax.

DIFFICULT TIMES

A committee has been formed to study all financial benefits paid to public sector employees and contractors, and will submit recommendations within 30 days, the statement said.

In late 2015, when oil prices fell from record highs, the kingdom slashed lavish bonuses, overtime payments and other benefits once considered routine perks in the public sector.

In a country without elections and with political legitimacy resting partly on distribution of oil revenue, the ability of citizens to adapt to such reforms is crucial for stability.

"Tripling the VAT will test the limits of the balance between revenues and consumption as the economy dives into a deep recession. The move will impact consumption and could also lower the expected revenues," said John Sfakianakis, a Gulf expert at the University of Cambridge.

"These are pro-austerity and pro-revenue moves rather than pro-growth ones," he said.

Hasnain Malik, head of equity strategy at Tellimer, said the VAT rise could bring about $24-$26.5 billion in additional non-oil fiscal revenue. The rise would hit consumer spending further but was a needed step towards fiscal sustainability, he said.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Beirut, Aug 7: A devastating explosion that destroyed much of Beirut might have been the result of a missile attack or bomb, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said, as the death toll from the blast rose to 154.

More than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate had been sitting in a port warehouse for six years, but there have been conflicting accounts about why Lebanese authorities decided to empty the shipment of explosive material. The vessel carrying the flammable cargo was heading from Georgia to Mozambique when it stopped in the Lebanese port to load up on iron, according to the ship’s captain.

By Friday, 19 suspects had been arrested and Lebanon’s former director general of customs Chafic Merhy had been questioned by military police.

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