AL AIN // On Sunday, 402 couples will be married before an audience that may reach 4,000, courtesy of Al Ain Municipality.
The evening event, which will traditionally feature only the male half of each couple, is believed to be the country's largest mass wedding and the first to be organised by the municipality for its staff.
One half of each couple works for the local government. Most are employed by the municipality, the Army or Al Ain Police. Forty of those marrying have special needs. Eleven of the government employees are women, who will celebrate with the other brides at an event on a later date. On Sunday, each couple can invite 10 guests.
"We are not just talking about 402 men and women celebrating their marriage, but 804 families celebrating together," said Mohammed al Hamadi of Tamouh Investments, one of the event's corporate sponsors.
"This will be the fourth mass wedding involving Al Ain Municipality, but the first specifically for government employees."
As with many of the country's mass weddings, it had been organised to help employees avoid the increasingly steep cost of marrying in the UAE, said Mubarak al Khaili, the mass wedding's chairman of the board, and the operations manager for the municipality's downtown area. The couples' employers will continue to offer help after the wedding, providing them with marriage advice and counselling through workshops and seminars.
The newlyweds will also be given an undisclosed cash stipend, round-trip airfare to Jeddah and three nights accommodation so they can perform an Umrah, a minor pilgrimage to the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca.
Those marrying must be Emirati and must earn no more than Dh16,000 (US$4,300) per month. The men must not have any other wives.
The wedding and dinner will take place at Khabisi Hall, also known as the Al Ain Convention Centre.
The municipality began planning the wedding in February, said Noura al Suwaidi, the wedding's chief organiser.
"The idea to hold a mass wedding for Al Ain government employees began as a simple dream but kept growing to the point that we now have hundreds taking part, making it the largest ever," Ms al Suwaidi said.
"Although this is the first mass wedding of its kind in Al Ain, the main objective was not to be the first, but to be socially responsible, directly benefiting Emirati citizens for generations to come."
The event is being sponsored by Tamouh Investments, Al Khaleej Tents, Munafasa Landscaping, the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and the Abu Dhabi Marriage Fund.
@Email:ealghalib@thenational.ae
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eco%20Way%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20December%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Kroshnyi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electric%20vehicles%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bootstrapped%20with%20undisclosed%20funding.%20Looking%20to%20raise%20funds%20from%20outside%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5