Istanbul has a well-established transportation network with bus routes reaching almost everywhere, trains from both Asia and Europe making it into the very city center, boats and ferries along the Bosphorus, a clean and fast subway although it only serves a route with limited stations. Yellow cabs are easy to find almost everywhere in the city and they are not expensive at all. They all charge using a meter and it does not cost much to ride cabs around the city unless the distance is really long. However, some taxi drivers are known to turn the ride into a thrill or a speed race which is not really fun unless you are late for your flight. Tipping is not necessary at the cabs but you can round up to the next lira. You do not have to leave any extra cash after that. The traffic, however, tends to slow down a lot or almost stop at many intersections during the rush hours. The city center, however, has a lot to offer so this might be the ideal time of the day to take a walk around and discover the city.
On most of the popular routes, it is possible to take a shared cab which is called ‘Dolmus”. They are slightly bigger than cabs and they are yellow as well. The sign on the top reads ‘Dolmus” instead of “Taksi” . Most of them have a seating capacity of approximately 10 people and they charge a flat fee along the route. You can take the city ferry to ply over the Bosporus in all directions from one continent to another. One of the best ways to explore Istanbul is to do so on water. That is really a sight while you will have the advantage of paying nothing more than a regular transportation charge. For a short trip from the European side, just hop on a ferry to Uskudar and you can be back in an hour.
If you are planning on riding the ferry, the bus or the subway, it is advisable to purchase “akbil” which is a pre-paid electronic chip embedded on a plastic similar to a key fob. You can use your pre-paid credit on the Akbil and you will have access to city’s transportation network with just a tap. There is always a direct bus service between the airports and Taksim. Taksim is the center of the transportation network, with buses, subways and dolmus’ coming in from various destinations of the city. Taksim bus stop and the central subway station is only a few minutes from where Hotel Lamartine is located.
If you will arrive Istanbul by car, your safest option will be to park it in a parking lot and take advantage of other transportation opportunities during your stay. For a western driver, Istanbul’s traffic can prove to be really difficult to navigate in, the streets can get complicated and the local drivers sometimes may not be patient enough to show enough respect to slower drivers.
India just reported GDP growth of 9.4% for the fiscal year ended March 2007. This is way above the 8% predicted rate of growth and moving toward China’s stunning 10.4% growth rate.
India, like China is becoming an engine of global growth. The U.S. is clearly no longer the important engine of global growth that it once was. Let us face facts. The U.S. has lost much of its global political leadership, and now its global economic leadership is coming into question.
The U.S. is still the world’s biggest economy, but with a growth rate of less than 1% in the last quarter, and with close to double digit growth in India and China there is little doubt that the U.S. will lose its status as the world’s biggest economy within a decade if these trends persist.
We are American, and we are pro-America, but we are also realists. Let us invest in those areas where the money is to be made. Let us invest in the countries that are growing fast and in the commodities and precious metals which will benefit from these trends. Let us look at the transportation companies whose products and services are necessary to effectuate this growth and at the energy and base metals which are the building blocks of any economy. Let us also look at the global financial intermediaries that will provide the financing for this growth and at the precious metals stocks where many of the profits will be invested.
In our opinion, gold will play a major part as a vehicle that central banks will acquire to strengthen their balance sheets. Recently, Spain sold some gold. The buyers were the central banks of countries with growing economies-the buyers were Asian central banks.
As power shifts from the U.S. and Europe to Asia, so do the central bank gold holdings shift from U.S. and Europe to Asia.
For more information on global investment visit http://www.howtoinvestglobally.com For more information on Monty Guild’s investment management visit http://guildinvestment.com
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Threats of security continue to pervade the global market since September 11. Bombings and threats promising mayhem and destruction had led to a surge in investments around security and surveillance systems. This is fueling the change in how we capture, store, and monitor video.
According to Shivanu Shukla, an industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan “There has been strong interest in being able to remotely monitor surveillance cameras, run video analytics, and integrate surveillance with other physical security systems.”
Shukla notes that network-based video surveillance systems are becoming popular. Frost estimates the video surveillance market to grow from $992.1 million in 2006 to $3956.7 million in 2013.
Analog vs. digital
Analog video surveillance systems consists of analog cameras connected via cables to multiplexers and in-turn connected to monitors and key boards. But what happens when the area that needs to be monitored is a significant distance away and there is a need to record 7×24?
Network surveillance solutions allow existing analog cameras to be connected to a video server, which is connected to the network, and monitored by any computer that is on the network, or the existing control room.
“Storage of the video can be done by network video recorders (NVRs), which can be anywhere on the network, as opposed to digital video recorders (DVRs), which need to be placed close to the cameras or the switcher/multiplexer. In a complete network surveillance solution, network cameras are used to connect directly to the IP network, without the need for an external encoder,” says Shukla.
Video surveillance deployments in Asia are mostly analog based due in part to the market’s price sensitivity. But this is changing as the security threats continue to remain high on radar of both commercial and the public.
Kiran Kumar, a Frost Research Associate, notes that government and transportation sectors are spearheading video surveillance deployments, with large projects for airports, city surveillance, and other critical infrastructure surveillance.
“Fast developing physical infrastructure such as airports, seaports, highways, and rail networks is a key driving force for the strong adoption for video surveillance systems,” says Kumar.
There are three main factors limiting the continuing growth of analog video surveillance systems:
Cost: Set-ups and installation costs of traditional coaxial or fiber-based cabling for analog video systems over large areas is very high. Large-scale projects for city surveillance and monitoring of harbors and ports take a significant role in effecting change to network surveillance.
Scalability: Despite DVRs having improved the recording quality of analog cameras, there is still the physical restriction of its installation near the analog matrix.
Flexibility: Integration of analog video surveillance systems with other systems can be cumbersome. Analog surveillance systems are limited to centralized video analytics, which requires additional hardware, cabling and is difficult to scale.
Benefits of network surveillance
Digital technology is helping extend the capability of surveillance beyond what can be achieved with traditional systems.
Technology now allows us to monitor an area from any location in the world in real-time without any significant investment.
Storage of video can be done on NVRs that can be anywhere on the network. How much video we can store digitally is limited only by the amount of hard disk space. And because the video traverses through the network, backups can be done remotely.
Scalability of network surveillance systems is easy and inexpensive. Network cameras can be connected to the network without rewiring.
With network surveillance systems, intelligence can be distributed either directly at the camera or encoder, or centralized on the NVR or a separate server.
Network surveillance systems are cheaper to build and maintain with reusability of existing IP network infrastructure, highly scalable with little incremental costs, low maintenance costs, and ability to reuse existing legacy surveillance cameras and other display and monitoring equipment as key factors for adoption of digital surveillance techniques.
Limitations of going digital
Not everything is bright and rosy. Due to its dependence on the network, security teams will need the support of the IT department.
“The key challenge to adoption is to get the security and IT teams to adopt network surveillance. Existing network infrastructure makes the proposition of network surveillance stronger. However, organizations where such infrastructure is less developed would be slow to move to network surveillance,” says Shukla.
He concedes that network surveillance adoption is changing the dynamics between the security personnel and the IT teams within enterprises, hindering its adoption rate. The introduction of network surveillance implies the participation of the IT division in security matters.
“Security personnel are typically more conservative and not open to major changes in their environments. Network surveillance adoption would depend on the successful interactions and communication between the two teams within an enterprise,” notes Shukla.
Although Frost & Sullivan expects the trend towards network surveillance to be strong, adoption of analog system will continue to grow as well, albeit slower than network surveillance deployments.
“While remote access, scalability, and distributed intelligence are the key drivers for network video surveillance, price, perceived reliability, and conservative nature of security teams to change and adopt new technologies will hinder adoption,” says Kumar.
Traditionally, cameras have been the point of entry for vendors into the market; subsequently their offerings include DVRs, NVRs, encoders, and software, together with switchers and multiplexers.
Increasingly, due to the emergence of network surveillance solutions, there is an effort from vendors to approach the surveillance solution from the NVR or DVR front, by offering better management software, virtual matrix systems and video content analytics as a solution package.
As traction for network video surveillance picks up in Asia Pacific, providing complete end-to-end surveillance solutions is expected to become a key to succeed in the market.
Eva air is a airline of the country Taiwan, its a transportbussines by air, ground and sea Eva air fly Cargo and Passengers, the most Boeing 747 of Eva air are Combi, half freight, half passengers. They fly of the main airfield of Tapei where they got their base too Eva air has destiny’s to especially, USA, Europe and Asia.
This mountainous country, filled with natural beauty is often referred to as the Switzerland of Asia. The Tian Shan Mountains cover more than 3/4 of the land and furnish endless hiking and mountaineering opportunities.
The remainder of country is varied, with the subtropical, fertile Fergana Valley in the southwest to temperate foothills in the north. Kyrgyzstan’s diverse geography and the hospitality of the people make it a wonderful tourist destination.
The capital and largest city is Bishkek, located in the north, near the border with Kazakhstan. In centuries past it was an important stop along the Silk Road and many historic sites have been preserved among modern Bishkek’s wide, tree-lined boulevards and well-cared-for Soviet-era gardens. The nearby Ala Too Mountains provide a gorgeous backdrop as well as a cool respite from summer heat and many alpine winter recreational activities.
To the city’s east is the world’s second largest mountain lake, Issyk-Kul. Though surrounded by snow-capped peaks of the Tian Shan, the lake never freezes, hence its name, which in the Kyrgyz language means “warm lake.”
Along the way, a stop at Cholpon-Ata lets you take in the open air art museum, said to date from 500 BC. Here, you see stone carvings depicting wolves, goats, long horned ibex, horses and snow leopards along with sacrificial and hunting scenes.
South of Issyk-Kul is the Jety-Oguz gorge, a lush valley with striking red sandstone formations called the Seven Bulls, from which the gorge takes its name.
Traveling further southwest you come to the small town of Kochkur where Kyrgyz felt carpets are made. Nearby is the beautiful Skazka Valley. Here, centuries of wind and melting snow have sculpted the limestone cliffs into magnificent arrays of columns and crags, ranging from bright orange to deep red in color.
Kyrgyzstan maintains its nomadic, independent traditions and more than 2/3rd of the population still live in rural areas. Many still make their living as shepherds and livestock herders, moving their flocks higher in the mountains during summer and back into lower valleys in cooler months. The simple, efficient yurt hut so common throughout Central Asia makes for good overnight lodging anywhere in the country.
The hospitality of the Kyrgyz people is legendary and any stranger will be invited in for a cup of the national drink, fermented mare’s milk and, more of ten than not, a full meal of Kyrgyz home cooking. The other national passion is horsemanship and horseback is the preferred mode of transportation in many rural areas.
Kyrgyzstan’s second major city is Osh, located in the southwest part of the country. It is reputed to be some 3000 years old, older than Rome, as locals proudly proclaim, but its position along the Silk Road assured it a place of prominence through history. Located near the fertile Fergana Valley, Osh is dominated at its center by Sulaiman Too (“Solomon’s Mountain”), which is the burial place of the Muslim prophet Suleyman Sheikh. Since Mohammed is said to have once prayed here, the Osh has become one of the holiest cities in Islam and many come here on pilgrimages.
The city’s archaeological-cultural museum houses artifacts discovered in the city’s surroundings. On the banks of the river that flows through the city lies one of the largest and most picturesque bazaars in all of Asia and the largest mosque in Kyrgyzstan, the Shaid Tepa Mosque.
Julia Feydman, has always been fascinated by the rich history of Central Asia. Over time, her passion as well as many memorable trips to the area have grown into a successful, U.S. based travel agency – East Site, Inc. Kyrgyzstan travel is one of the major routes her company specializes in. Visit her Central Asia travel website today and discover many more ancient jewels of the Great Silk Road!
HONG KONG, 12 January, 2008 – TGR Group Asia, the visionary developer behind Jumeirah Private Island Phuket, has today announced that Jumeirah Hotel Beach Villas are being released for sale from 1 January 2008, just in time for lovers seeking the ultimate Valentine’s Day gift!
Jumeirah Private Island Phuket is an 80 acre exclusive island resort scheduled for completion in late 2009/2010 and set to offer levels of luxury, privacy and security as yet unseen in Asia Pacific.
In total, there are 12 Beach Villas & Ocean Villas set amongst tropical gardens that all command open sea views. The beach villas offer direct beach access and views of scattered islands. Jumeirah Beach Villas & Ocean Villas are an investment based purchase with a compulsory lease back to the Jumeirah Group in place. Buyers can expect a minimum guaranteed yield of 5% for the first 3 years although projections are in-excess of 7%; and sixty days personal usage per year.
Each Jumeirah Beach Villas has direct beach frontage, 220sq metre indoor living space, 350sq metre external living space and a total plot size of 650 sq metres.
If you would prefer to take up permanent residency on the island, there are just a few remaining properties of the 48 residential villas being constructed, starting at US$3 million. So far homeowners from 14 different countries have committed to making Jumeirah Private Island Phuket their tropical residence.
All properties enjoy full access to a number of luxurious Jumeirah managed facilities including a super yacht marina capable of accommodating yachts of up to 70m with 24-hour access. Facilities will include four restaurants and bars as well as extensive leisure and fitness facilities including a large free form swimming pool, tennis court and Jumeirah’s signature Talise Wellness Spa. In addition, the Island will offer boutique hotel, phuket homes, Jumeirah Phuket villas, beach villas phuket, Jumeirah Island, a business centre and a library with dedicated reading room.
The island, set to be managed by Dubai based luxury international hospitality group Jumeirah, is located less than 500 metres off Phuket in the Southern Gateway of Phang Nga Bay and will encompass exclusive residential villas, resort, super yacht marina and yacht club.
Jumeirah Private Island Phuket will offer spectacular views of the limestone karsts of Phang Nga Bay to the north, views of the beaches of Ao Po Bay to the west and two 450 metre white sand beaches with views of both Naka Yai and Naka Noi.
The greatest care has been taken to protect the ecology of the island. Only 25% of the island will be built on, an integrated rainwater collection scheme will be in operation, thermal insulation in all roof structures will reduce air conditioning energy consumption, double block cavity wall and double glazed windows and patio doors will encourage thermal efficiency.
The resort can be reached by a seven minute helicopter rise or by a 15 minute car journey to Phuket villas followed by a four minute private motor yacht ride. Transport on the island itself will be by electric car only. For more You can directly contact to:
Anthony Franklin, Partner & Marketing Director T. + 66 (0) 81968 5352 anthony.franklin@tgr-asia.com. More information can be found at: http://www.tgr-asia.com
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“Singapore and Hong Kong are no longer feasible for manufacturers of low-margin, high-volume goods, and some have found that China is not the answer. We believe Malaysia is a very good option if you put it all together – and there are ample resources in terms of labor and land that are affordable with a fantastic lifestyle,” says Noel Gulliver the Managing Director of Asia distribution hub, PKFZ. Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) has seen static growth among the investors since its soft opening and began operations on November 1st, 2006. Among the first tenants in Asia distribution hub PKFZ is Norway’s Aker Kvaerner, which his company manufactures subsea equipment used to pump oil and gas. Aver has taken up 27.6ha of land in PKFZ since he first built his plant back then, and today, he owns 14% of Asia distribution hub’s land in total; spent RM400million in building a manufacturing center which will play a pivotal role in support of his gas and oil exploitation in Asia. Among PKFZ’s early local heavyweights investing in Asia distribution hub is Pantech Group Holdings Bhd, which had taken 2.8ha of prepared land. Pantech manufactures pipes, fittings and flow control (PFF) products. Pantech’s facility in PKFZ does re-export of PFF products to their clients across the region. PKFZ is Asia’s distribution hub located at the Straits of Malacca, Malaysia. Its integrated solution enables integration of commercial and industrial parks to ease transportation and transshipment costs. An integrated free zone creates a niche market for manufacturing and logistics businesses around the world and also, means commercial and industrial parks sit next to each other – transactions, communications, transfers, upgrades and so forth can be done in an area of its own without much hassle.
