Dubai Driving License – A tough ask even for experienced drivers

When I came to UAE I heard much negative news about difficulties in getting driving license. After spending couple of months I decided to go for it as I was confident since I was driving for more than 20 years. First of all I surveyed regarding available training institutes and found three of the following as reliable and having good market reputation.

1-      Emirates Driving Institute

2-      Belhasa Driving Institute

3-      Galadari Driving Institute

You may see most of the training vehicles of above mentioned companies on the road. Since I was working in Al-Qusais area, I had equal reach to all of the above due their yards/facilities located nearby. Even then, I preferred Belhasa which was having a branch office fairly close to my office. The other reason behind selection was one of my neighbor who claimed that he got license in his first test attempt.

After taking admission, I was very upset for almost a month as my classes were not scheduled because of unavailability of instructor/vehicle on my required timeslot. Although Belhasa staff members Rahul and Ashis were very cooperative, but it took almost 4 weeks to initiate classes.

When I reached Belhasa’s training facility on first day of theory class, I was impressed with the number of vehicles and covered area of the facility. Instructors were smart and delivered lectures with utmost dedication.

After theory class, I was told to appear in a signal test which was taken on PC the next day with MCQ style questions. I passed that quite easily as the concepts and road signs and symbols were amply taught in theory class.

My classes were finally schedule and my Instructor was Mr. Sher Ali Khan who was a fairly nice guy with lot of patience and dedication. I faced difficulty only because I had vast experience of driving Right Hand Drive cars but here I had to switch my mind to Left Hand Drive. Furthermore, Dubai is a very difficult city to drive car due to extreme high speed traffic sometimes running around  80 – 120 Kmh requiring extreme perfection from driver. Roads are well marked and signs are fairly visible everywhere. With not so strict background, you need to tune yourself to full law abiding driver.

I must say that my trainer was excellent as he spent a lot of time on key areas which were necessary for passing tests. After taking approx. 30 classes I passed internal road test and was ready for first RTA Test,

Believe me, I was so confident that I would make it in first go, but all those who were giving test with me ware saying that it is impossible as this is not the habit of RTA to pass in first attempt. When I went for test I was happy that all was going well but suddenly I made a silly mistake due to my background of Right Hand Driving, and the instructor immediately told to stop the car. I failed the first attempt and was scratching my head because of such a stupid mistake.

After taking additional classes as per rule, I was again ready for second attempt. This time I was too cautious and again failed because test taker was not happy about my extreme caution and slow speed. Now I started to think that people were correct about stories of 7 to 8 attempts.

I took a last chance and once again started training as per rule. This time I told my instructor to just concentrate on nearby areas of the yard as the test takers roam around area of 1 to 2 km and I need to be perfect in these areas. I spent plenty of time in nearby areas and was finally ready for my third attempt.

On the test day I was praying that this time test taker should be a good one who can give ample driving time to me. Luckily this time I tried to be composed and did what was told and maintained my speed as per road instructions. I was told at the end of the test that I had cleared the same. I was very happy that in minimal attempts as per Dubai standards, I managed to get driving license which is absolutely necessary for such a large and stretched city.

I would like to thank Belhasa staff especially Ashis and Rahul and above others, my instructor Mr. Sher Ali Khan for helping and guiding me.

Star Debutant Cricketers of Pakistan – We must respect these players and give fair chances to prove their mettle.

Star Debutant Cricketers of Pakistan – We must respect these players and give fair chances to prove their mettle..

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – Prediction for Team and Individual Performances

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – Prediction for Team and Individual Performances.

Prediction for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – ICC’s Prime Event

Prediction for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – ICC’s Prime Event.

Star Debutant Cricketers of Pakistan – We must respect these players and give fair chances to prove their mettle.

This is understood that a debut in International Cricket especially in Test Cricket is something full of pressures. A cricketer needs to be extra ordinary strong to counter all those feelings that can hamper his performance. Pakistan’s cricket is always lucky to have regular bunches of talent always lined up and knocking doors of international cricket. This is unfortunately true that due to inconsistence policies of Pakistan Cricket Board, negative influences, lobbying and players grouping, most of the talented debutants were not given fair chances to prove their mettle.

This is also visible that most of these Star Debutants are still playing well in domestic circuits but never recalled for reasons best known to our cricket board. Following record indicate that most of the star debutants turned out to be the best players of Pakistan cricket. I feel that this is high time that our media and those exercising influence on Pakistan Cricket Board should advocate the idea of bringing back most of them or at least give them another chance to cement their place in the team.

Pakistan Cricket Board should also adopt a proper rotation policy to give fair chances to all talented players being overlooked even after their best performances in domestic season. One of the star debutant Ali Naqvi is still scoring runs in domestic circuit, was never recalled after his brilliant debut. This is really disappointing for such a talented-player who deserve proper place in the team.

After careful analysis of the record appended with this article we can clearly see that new talent like Fawad Alam was merely given three tests although he performed well in all forms of the game. Yasir Hameed is constantly overlooked and Taufeeq Umar was finally recalled after such a long gap. I must say that Pakistan Cricket Board should adopt a properly formulated policy where top performers of domestic circuit become automatically eligible for selection in the national team. The inconsistence and talent killing policy will result in loosing top talent of Pakistan Cricket.

Star Debutant

Star Debutant

Most Runs in Test Cricket
Player	Score		Against	Venue	Year	Career	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	Last Active
Javed Miandad	163		New Zealand	Gaddafi Stadium – Lahore	1976	1976-1993	124	189	21	8832	280*	52.57	Retired
Saleem Malik	100	*	Sri Lanka	National Stadium – Karachi	1982	1982-1999	103	154	22	5768	237	43.69	Retired
Younus Khan	107		Sri Lanka	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	2000	2000-2011	66	117	8	5463	313	50.11	2011
Taufeeq Umar	104		Bangladesh	Cricket Stadium – Multan	2001	2001-2011	28	52	3	1932	135	39.42	2011
Yasir Hameed	170		Bangladesh	National Stadium – Karachi	2003	2003-2011	25	49	3	1491	170	32.41	2010
Azhar Mahmood	128	*	South Africa	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	1997	1997-2001	21	34	4	900	136	30	2010
Umar Akmal	129		New Zealand	University Oval, Dunedin	2009	2009-2011	13	25	2	822	129	35.73	2011
Mohammad Wasim	109	*	New Zealand	Gaddafi Stadium – Lahore	1996	1996-2000	18	28	2	783	192	30.11	2011
Fawad Alam	168		Sri Lanka	P Sara Oval, Columbo	2009	2009-2009	3	6	0	250	168	41.66	2011
Ali Naqvi	115		South Africa	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	1997	1997-1998	5	9	1	242	115	30.25	2011
Highest Score on Debut
Player	Score		Against	Venue	Year	Career	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	Last Active
Yasir Hameed	170		Bangladesh	National Stadium – Karachi	2003	2003-2011	25	49	3	1491	170	32.41	2010
Yasir Hameed	105		Bangladesh	National Stadium – Karachi	2003
Fawad Alam	168		Sri Lanka	P Sara Oval, Columbo	2009	2009-2009	3	6	0	250	168	41.66	2011
Javed Miandad	163		New Zealand	Gaddafi Stadium – Lahore	1976	1976-1993	124	189	21	8832	280*	52.57	Retired
Umar Akmal	129		New Zealand	University Oval, Dunedin	2009	2009-2011	13	25	2	822	129	35.73	2011
Azhar Mahmood	128	*	South Africa	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	1997	1997-2001	21	34	4	900	136	30	2010
Ali Naqvi	115		South Africa	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	1997	1997-1998	5	9	1	242	115	30.25	2011
Mohammad Wasim	109	*	New Zealand	Gaddafi Stadium – Lahore	1996	1996-2000	18	28	2	783	192	30.11	2011
Younus Khan	107		Sri Lanka	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	2000	2000-2011	66	117	8	5463	313	50.11	2011
Taufeeq Umar	104		Bangladesh	Cricket Stadium – Multan	2001	2001-2011	28	52	3	1932	135	39.42	2011
Saleem Malik	100	*	Sri Lanka	National Stadium – Karachi	1982	1982-1999	103	154	22	5768	237	43.69	Retired
Fewest of Opportunities
Player	Score		Against	Venue	Year	Career	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	Last Active
Fawad Alam	168		Sri Lanka	P Sara Oval, Columbo	2009	2009-2009	3	6	0	250	168	41.66	2011
Ali Naqvi	115		South Africa	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	1997	1997-1998	5	9	1	242	115	30.25	2011
Umar Akmal	129		New Zealand	University Oval, Dunedin	2009	2009-2011	13	25	2	822	129	35.73	2011
Mohammad Wasim	109	*	New Zealand	Gaddafi Stadium – Lahore	1996	1996-2000	18	28	2	783	192	30.11	2011
Azhar Mahmood	128	*	South Africa	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	1997	1997-2001	21	34	4	900	136	30	2010
Yasir Hameed	170		Bangladesh	National Stadium – Karachi	2003	2003-2011	25	49	3	1491	170	32.41	2010
Taufeeq Umar	104		Bangladesh	Cricket Stadium – Multan	2001	2001-2011	28	52	3	1932	135	39.42	2011
Younus Khan	107		Sri Lanka	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	2000	2000-2011	66	117	8	5463	313	50.11	2011
Saleem Malik	100	*	Sri Lanka	National Stadium – Karachi	1982	1982-1999	103	154	22	5768	237	43.69	Retired
Javed Miandad	163		New Zealand	Gaddafi Stadium – Lahore	1976	1976-1993	124	189	21	8832	280*	52.57	Retired
Top Averages
Player	Score		Against	Venue	Year	Career	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	Last Active
Javed Miandad	163		New Zealand	Gaddafi Stadium – Lahore	1976	1976-1993	124	189	21	8832	280*	52.57	Retired
Younus Khan	107		Sri Lanka	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	2000	2000-2011	66	117	8	5463	313	50.11	2011
Saleem Malik	100	*	Sri Lanka	National Stadium – Karachi	1982	1982-1999	103	154	22	5768	237	43.69	Retired
Fawad Alam	168		Sri Lanka	P Sara Oval, Columbo	2009	2009-2009	3	6	0	250	168	41.66	2011
Taufeeq Umar	104		Bangladesh	Cricket Stadium – Multan	2001	2001-2011	28	52	3	1932	135	39.42	2011
Umar Akmal	129		New Zealand	University Oval, Dunedin	2009	2009-2011	13	25	2	822	129	35.73	2011
Yasir Hameed	170		Bangladesh	National Stadium – Karachi	2003	2003-2011	25	49	3	1491	170	32.41	2010
Ali Naqvi	115		South Africa	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	1997	1997-1998	5	9	1	242	115	30.25	2011
Mohammad Wasim	109	*	New Zealand	Gaddafi Stadium – Lahore	1996	1996-2000	18	28	2	783	192	30.11	2011
Azhar Mahmood	128	*	South Africa	Cricket Stadium – Rawalpindi	1997	1997-2001	21	34	4	900	136	30	2010

This is to be noted that only Umer Akmal and Fawad Alam scored their centuries on debut outside Pakistan. This clearly indicate that both these players are future of Pakistan’s Cricket and must be retained with team for longer period of time.

Fawad Alam – A talented cricketer dropped from Worldcup Squad 2011 of Pakistan

Fawad Alam – A talented cricketer dropped from Worldcup Squad 2011 of Pakistan.

Find Jobs in new markets – Explore new destinations

Find Jobs in new markets – Explore new destinations.

Regional Police Network – Proposed Security Solution for Pakistan

Regional Police Network – Proposed Security Solution for Pakistan.

Dubai Metro, an ideal way to commute.

The people of Pakistan and India especially those living in big cities deserve similar transport facilities like the ones of Dubai. Ideally Metro is a class in its own with hi-tech facility with minimal human intervention is really a wonderful experience.

 In such an expensive city, Dubai Metro will be the preferred way of commuting once all stations are active. I can see that residential apartments close to Metro Stations will gain more popularity in coming days as people will prefer using Metro instead of using their cars. This is obvious that with growing parking problem and increasing parking fee, the best way to have peaceful journey will be Metro.

 The route is already covering major commercial areas and with new stations functional, the residential areas will be linked properly and the rush of cars is likely to reduce. Other countries of the region can benefit from the experience and offer their citizens decent and affordable way to travel.

 This will also reduce pollution, save fuel and make journey faster and cleaner. The efficiency of individuals will also increase as they will be relaxed during their journey instead of being active and alert during their drive. 

I must salute Dubai rulers for giving so much to their citizens. I also found a wonderful introductory video on youtube. com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg_oU_Tnok0 which i wish to share with you all.

UAE is an ideal place to work

My recent visit to UAE revealed that the country is really an ideal place to work. The infrastructure, the professional atmosphere, and the cultural mix indicate that it is an ideal playing field for individuals who wish to take challenges.

Unfortunately, in recent days due to recession, people are bit worried as the growing cost of living is hampering their prime goal of coming to UAE, that is saving money for their loved ones back home. As long as you are bachelor, the place is wonderful, but for families the place is becoming more and more expensive. Even taxi fares are so unfair that while you move between adjacent cities you are charged with an amount which hurts when the distance is minimal. I must say that authorities between states should workout a mechanism to give breathing space to working class. With so much to offer, a country should attract more skilled and qualified workers from around the world.

This is to be noted that families spend more rather than individuals so attracting families and giving incentives to them will make UAE more lively and attractive. Skilled and unskilled workers living with their families will have more energy and happiness when they work in UAE.