Chairman’s Message
Whenever I talk about cricket I am exhilarated. For many of us, cricket holds a special place in our hearts. The sound of leather hitting willow gives us a feeling of unity and purpose, triggering emotions that transverse cultures and nations. Considering how CSS enjoyed a glorious past in UAE cricket, we are able to welcome this season’s Kerala Premier League with deserved pride. In many ways my happiness is boundless because, this year, CSS Group is KPL’s title sponsor, especially while we walk towards our 20th Anniversary.
Like all sports, cricket has its ups and downs but here we are at CSS Group KPL Season 3. It’s something of an irony that once you are hooked, cricket never leaves you and you certainly cannot leave cricket. A love of cricket grasps your heart. KPL Dubai season 3 has gained a wonderful response from the cricketing fraternity. 12 teams from 12 districts of Kerala are competing for the coveted trophy. The patronage we received from the media was boundless. The corporate world also supported us with generous sponsorship. Although the KPL matches will be half way through when you read this message, I feel that this is an opportune time to say, “Thank you”, to all those who have supported this event.
From the bottom of my heart I welcome you all to the ICC Grounds, to cheer on the enthusiastically competitive teams. At CSS we have always appreciated that team efforts bring results and it’s this recognition which drives us forward together. A team spirit, epitomised on the cricket pitch and emulated in the workplace, will always remain a corner stone to success.
My best wishes to all my Dear Readers.
CSS Group KPL Dubai Season 3 kicked off to a glittering & glamorous start on the 17th October at the ICC Grounds, Sports city Dubai. The inaugural function which was attended by celebrities and dignitaries from DCC went off with a colorful performance from DJ Kips & Music Band Masala Coffee. The toss went up at 7:30 in the evening for which hundreds of fans from both Palakkad Harvestors and Cochin Diwans, who played the first match witnessed. KPL Directors, T S Kaladharan, CTK Nasir, Paul T Joseph & Thomas Philip were present on the ground. KPL convener Radhakrishnan (Radhu) narrated the events from the ground. KPL Director & ambassador Bharat Suresh Gopi, Narain & Bhama cheered the onlookers. Josh FM 97.8 RJ Parikshith did live programme from the venue. Friends from the media, and other team members and owners were present for the function.
A total of 12 Glorious Teams named with 12 Districts from Kerala is playing the tournament for the coveted KPL trophy. Each team consists of a minimum of 2 players preferable from the respective districts of Kerala in a playing XI and the remaining from local talent with one player under the age of 22 and maximum of 2 overseas players.
KPL Dubai is the biggest Asian sporting event of the region and it gives you the opportunity to be known to and reach, one of the largest communities in the region. After the super hit Indian Premier League and in consideration of the 4.5 million Asian populations in the UAE – the highest number among all expats, Kerala Premier League Dubai was formed under the guidance and support from the Dubai Cricket Council, and the generous patronage from the sponsors and the cricket loving community in Dubai. KPL successfully completed 2 seasons of cricketing festival in Dubai and has entered the third season with a bang. The final will be played on the 21st November 2014.
Fida Asghar (Manager)
The Sales Strategy Meet 2014 of CSS Group will be held at the beautiful destination of Paphos in Cyprus. As part of enhancing the sales programme, every year, the middle & top management of the group company assemble at any of the renowned destinations of the globe for discussing about the past sales and designing new sales programme. Each office and each department will have separate presentations and suggestions regarding the sales enhancement. All suggestions will be finally reviewed by the Top management who approves a consolidated sales programme which will be incorporated into the sale process.
The inter school cricket tournament in Dubai was sponsored by CSS Homeward Bound from the title position. Ten schools, divided in two groups of five each, were contesting for the top prize.
In a thrilling competition, this year also CSS Abu Dhabi won the Mahabali Crystal Award for the best flower carpet (Pookkalam).Every year, in connection with Onam celebrations, at CSS Group, a competition is being held among all offices for bagging the best creator of Pookkalam on the main day of Onam, ie; Thiruvonam. Each office engages their best team to making amazingly beautiful designs only with flower and take photographs to be sent to a judging panel comprising of renowned people from art, music & cinema. Here are some snaps from the competition arena.
A Shipper in a standard bills of lading is responsible for the “Load, Stow and Count” of his cargo/consignment and hence if the Shipper intends on using a Flexitank to transport his consignment he should discuss with a flexitank operator the most suitable type of flexitank that will be compatible with the product to be shipped. Here the Shipper must also provide vital information detailing of the nature of the product and whether it could ‘solidify’, ‘taint’ or ‘damage’ the container in the event of a leakage, etc.
As far as possible it is also better to open the container only at the time of the joint survey, in the presence of all concerned parties. Ensure that all the details pertaining to the damage are inspected and recorded before the container is returned.
When I was a youngster I spent many happy hours, with my friends, building a sledge out of bits of wood. Somehow we managed to fly down slops, in summer sledging over short grass and in winter across firm snow, without breaking our necks! However, in recent years,‘sledging’ has gained greater prominence with cricket aficionados.This term apparently originated in the 60’s when Australian bowler Grahame Corling wasserenadedby some players singing ‘When a man loves a woman’- at that time a hit by USA soul singer Percy Sledge. It was attempt to taunt Corling so as to distract him from focusing on his play. Since then this practice, of trying to weaken an opponent’s concentration, has taken on the surname of Percy Sledge by being called ‘sledging’. Other sports have methods of distracting a competitor’s attention but the technique in cricket is unique. To understand thisit is necessary to explore cricket’s history. Despite the apparent recent popularity of sledging, the practice of witty banter between players is as old as cricket itself. Therein lies the difference between cricket and other sports. Ever since John McEnroe’s infamous outburst, on the tennis courts in Stockholm in 1984, the nature of goading in sport has risen to a level at which no genuine cricket fan would approve. The reason for this is based in cricket’s past. The first recorded cricket match took place in Kent, England in 1646. The game quickly became popular with the first ‘laws of cricket’ being established in 1744. The thrust of them focused on “gentlemen” playing the game. Subsequently conduct, on and off the pitch, required that all participants, players and spectators, behaved in an acceptable gentlemanly manner. Honour and integrity were at the forefront of play. A player never argued with the umpire. If you were given out – you walked! Generations of UK schoolboys had it drummed into them that,even if you felt you had been wrongly dismissed, you did not argue with the umpire’s decision. It probably made-up for all the times you should have given out and weren’t! Accordingly gentlemanly conduct ruled supreme. There is now an on-going debate, in the cricketing world, as to what constitutes poor sportsmanship or good humoured banter. Anything which descends to abuse is unacceptable. This is not what sledging is all about as it should never cross the sportsmanship line. Sledging should be kept to humorous, sometimes slightly off the wall remarks and clever verbal attempts in order to distract an opponent.
With the freight and logistics sector on an upward rise, given the recent growth the UAE is experiencing, CSS Group is pleased to announce that it is in the preliminary stages of developing a new state of the art office and warehouse facility adjacent to its flagship Container Freight Station in the Jebel Ali Freezone. The new office building will be having a sprawling size of over 15,000 sq. ft. with warehousing facilities of over 30,000 sq. ft. The planned expansion is an evidence of how CSS Group has embraced opportunities of growth by strategically ensuring that their infrastructure is aligned with the constantly evolving economy of the UAE.
The team at CSS Projects, Oil & Energy, recently undertook a transformer movement from Derince, Turkey to the Ras Al Khor substation in Dubai. The volume of the cargo was 1000 CBM, and included a 308 tonne power transformer and accessories. Given that the weight of the transformer was greater than the crane gear a special 650 tonne crawler crane had to be arranged at both origin and destination ports to arrange the loading and unloading of the transformer. As the shipment was time sensitive, the team at CSS had to ensure that there were no delays at any stage of the shipment until the final destination. Once it reached the port of destination, the transformer was discharged onto a 14 axle hydraulic trailer at Jebel Ali port and was then moved to the electric substation for final installation by jacking & skidding method. “This movement is a great example of how the team here at CSS Projects, Oil & Energy is able to handle movements that require multiple special handling methods, especially in the case of time sensitive shipments. The experience the team consists of gives them the confidence to immediately address the situation on hand and provide the client with the most effective solution in the given time frame,” added Raj George Sr. VP, Projects Oil & Energy.
The FPS Group Annual General Meeting and its week-long programme of associated meeting and events will be held at the Hotel Solverde Spa & Wellness Center, Oporto, Portugal from October 20-25, 2014. This year’s FPS AGM theme is, “New era, new spirit.”
A similar tale to “Homeward Bound,” a remake of a 1963 film titled “Incredible Journey”, which is the story of two dogs and a cat who undertake an incredible journey to reunite with their owners, CSS Homeward Bound recently handled the relocation of a Havenese cross (K9) and a male cat from Kathmandu to Senegal.
Weighing 5 and 6kg’s, the pets flew in from Nepal with a stopover in Dubai for two days. Given the sensitive nature of the cargo, CSS Homeward Bound was able to expedite permissions with the Ministry of Environment and DNATA as it requires an inter-terminal transit. CSS Homeward Bound also arranged for the pets to be taken care of by the Dubai Kennels and cattery, as direct flights to Dakar are only every two days from Dubai.
Dubai Trade, the premier cross-border trade facilitator, and Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company (ADNIC), one of the region’s leading providers of insurance solutions for individuals and corporates, recently organized a forum to announce the official launch of Tradeshield for online cargo insurance.
With all eyes on a possible lifting of sanctions on a resource rich Iran, BBC World News had a special feature on highlighting the opportunities that would be available especially for the freight forwarding and logistics sector in the region. Titled, “Iran attracts investors hoping for trade sanction relaxation,” the BBC World News filmed part of its segment at the CSS Group’s Container Freight Station based in Jebel Ali Freezone. Iran’s nuclear talks have been extended until November, but whilst the negotiations continue, many companies have been re-building business relations with their Iranian counterparts driven by the enormous potential the lifting of the trade restrictions would bring. CSS would like to extend a special thanks to Mark Lobel and Ola Naguib from the BBC for giving them the opportunity to be a part of the ground-breaking series.
HER EXCELLENCY REEM AL HASHIMY, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF EXPO 2020 HIGHER COMMITTEE AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR THE UAE, UPDATED THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITIONS (BIE) ON THE UAE’S PREPARATIONS FOR HOSTING EXPO 2020, IN PARIS LAST MONTH.
Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for the UAE, updated the General Assembly of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) on the UAE’s preparations for hosting Expo 2020, in Paris last month. This was the first formal address to the General Assembly made by the Expo 2020 Higher Preparatory Committee since winning the right to host the World’s Fair. “Dubai Expo 2020 will be the platform to continue to execute on our country’s visionary leadership around the need for connectivity and mobility, economic opportunity and sustainable practices as the pillars of today’s interdependent world,” she said, in her speech to the assembly. “The infrastructure and the progressive policies that serve this vision will continue to grow in size and quality to serve the participants and the visitors of Dubai Expo 2020. Our goal to deliver on an Expo with seamless operations will leverage the national efforts to implement a greater vision shaping the next 50 years of our country,” she added. Al Hashimy also pointed out that while Expo2020 was a win for Dubai, the event will also have great impact throughout the MENASA region. “The tremendous support we received in November marked a significant victory, not only for us but for all countries across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Our support base ranged from the countries of the North as well as the South – the East as well as the West.?This recognition furthers our commitment to develop an inclusive platform that allows our partners on this global stage to truly showcase the best they have to offer, and — in that journey — create linkages and partnerships with others,” she said.?The delegation to the BIE was led by HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Department of Civil Aviation, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group and Chairman of the Expo 2020 Preparatory Higher Committee. “The Dubai Expo 2020 road map is well progressed as we resolutely honour our commitment to create a truly transformative World Expo, that through partnerships and collaboration will seek to foster innovative, inspirational and practical solution-creation for our collective future,” said HH Sheikh Ahmed.
At the end of last year it was with great pride that DP World received the country’s highest business accolade, the prestigious Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award for Most Outstanding Performance for 2013.
Our Mission of a global approach to a local business environment where excellence, innovation and profitability drive our core business philosophy of exceptional customer service correlates directly with the framework of MRMBA. For this reason, the award carries an extra significance as it is a reflection of our core Vision, Mission and Values.
Dating back to as early as 2600 BC, games have been a universal part of human experience and are present in all cultures. Games play an important role in the development of children and this is true throughout the world. Like everywhere there are traditional games that are specific to this region.