From the Editors: RTA initiatives to boost finances

RTA INITIATIVES TO PROPEL FINANCIAL SUSTENANCE: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) held an auction for distinguished number plates, yielding Dh31.55 million in proceeds. The highest price fetched reached Dh3.8 million. In another move, the RTA also invited bids to name five major bus stations in the city. These initiatives will help in raising funds for Dubai’s future infrastructure needs, while fulfilling the demands from passionate buyers as well as publicity for those who buy the naming rights. This way, the RTA can remain financially sustainable while catering to the need to continuously upgrade the infrastructure of the city.[COMMENT BY: Somshankar Bandyopadhyay, Assistant Editor]

NEW UK COVID-19 VARIANT A CAUSE FOR CONCERN: At a time when the acceleration in vaccine production, distribution and use is heating up around the world, a new, more infectious COVID-19 variant in the UK is giving health experts cause for concern. It is about 70 per cent more transmissible, but there is nothing to suggest that it is more deadly and no evidence that it reacts differently to vaccines. Even as many countries impose travel bans on the UK, the need of the hour is to continue to charge ahead with the vaccination programme, which has come as a big ray of hope after a year of despondency. The world is in this fight together, and it is a fight we will win. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]

BIG SAM IN BIG TROUBLE WITH WEST BROM: Sam Allardyce must be regretting making a return to Premier League football management as his West Bromwich Albion side look to be in big trouble. A 3-0 thumping by Aston Villa on Sunday leaves the team 19th in the table and ‘Big Sam’ is facing the harsh reality of relegation for the first time in his career. It is still early days in the Premier League season, but the Baggies look so out of sorts that it will take an epic turnaround if they are to survive the drop. [COMMENT BY: Matthew Smith, Sports Editor]

MUSIC FOR THE SOUL IN LOCKDOWN: In a year filled with doom and gloom, Ed Sheeran’s ‘Christmas present’, which could very well be new music by the reclusive artist, comes as a breath of fresh air even as the UK battles a new coronavirus strain and finds its festive plans dampened. Whether or not Sheeran’s gift, which he announced in a cryptic post on Instagram, is well received, artists such as the Grammy-winning star and Taylor Swift are using their time in lockdown to bring a spot of cheer to fans around the globe who find themselves stuck indoors while the pandemic rages on. Swift’s two albums, ‘Folklore’ and the recent ‘Evermore’, are testament that every dark cloud has a silver lining. [COMMENT BY: Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor]