Emirates Palace unveils gold dispensing ATM

Emirates Palace has raised the luxury stakes in the Gulf even higher by unveiling an ATM that dispenses gold.

The machine, which monitors the price of gold minute-by minute, offers small bars that weight up to 10 grammes engraved with the Emirates Palace logo, as well as a variety of coins.

Thomas Giessler, the inventor of the Gold to Go machine, chose Abu Dhabi because of its luxury atmosphere, and hopes it will tie in nicely with the region’s traditional ties in gold commerce.

“A gold machine should be made of gold,” said Thomas Geissler, the chief executive of Ex Oriente Lux AG. “This is now at a hotel made out of gold. It is the perfect place.”

Six coins of differing weights come engraved with a maple leaf, kangaroo and Krugerrand, symbols of the gold-producing nations South Africa, Canada and Australia.

Emirates Palace Hotel general manager Hans Olbertz said: “We seized upon this idea and, as one of the most exclusive hotels in the world, we wanted the Emirates Palace to play a pioneering role and be the first hotel in the world to offer its guests this golden service.”

The idea is aimed at both a souvenir and an investment. Gold is still one of the most sustainable forms of investment and is currently as a record high price due to volatility in the current global economic market.

The machine is armed with various security measures, including anti-money laundering software. If the machine develops a fault, it will automatically shut down.
A website that updates the price of gold every 10 seconds transmits the information to the ATM, which updates its rates every 10 minutes.

Emirates Palace is considered one of the most opulent hotels in the world. It picked up seven of the most coveted honours at last week’s prestigious World Travel Awards at a glittering gala held at The Address Dubai Marina.

Emirates Palace won “Middle East ‘s Leading Meetings & Conference Hotel”, “Middle East’s Leading Meetings ‘&’ Conference Resort 2010”, “UAE’s Leading Hotel”, “Abu Dhabi ‘s Leading Beach Resort 2010”, “Abu Dhabi ‘s Leading Hotel”, “Abu Dhabi ‘s Leading Meetings ‘&’ Conference Hotel” and “Abu Dhabi ‘s Leading Resort”

Commenting on the achievement, Janet Abrahams, Director of Sales and Marketing, Emirates Palace, said: ‘‘We are extremely delighted to win these high-class coveted titles in one strike which underpin our leadership and excellence in the region’s hospitality industry.

‘‘These prizes come as a vote of confidence in our hotel powerful brand,’‘she said.

According to her, the Emirates Palace has maintained its leading position despite the tremendous challenges the world tourism and travel industry has been experiencing over the past two years.

The World Travel Awards, now in its 17th year and the global travel and tourism industry equivalent of the Oscars, is helping to drive up standards of customer service and business excellence throughout the world.

Glittering Sunday...NSE, BSE to trade Gold ETF on May 16

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will hold a special session on Sunday, May 16, 2010 to trade Gold ETF on account of Akshaya Tritiya.

As Akshaya Tritiya is considered an auspicious day for the buying and wearing of gold. The National Stock Exchange has decided to hold a glittering session of trade on Sunday May 16, 2010 from 9:00am to 3:30pm (IST).

Globally, the Exchange traded funds (ETF) market is an important vehicle through which retail investors gain access to a broad range of assets. The ETF market in India is poised for strong growth driven by two critical growth drivers - new products and new investors. Compared to other geographies where ETFs are popular, India is unique in the sense that the ETF market till date has been driven by gold ETFs, both in terms of number of instruments and AUM (assets under management). Given the economic and cultural importance of gold to the average Indian family, gold ETFs will continue to serve as the catalyst to attract more retail investors to the ETF segment.

World Gold Council is all geared up for the most auspicious day in the Hindu calendar, ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ which falls on May 16th 2010 this year. The festival is all about prosperity and it is believed that buying and wearing new gold jewellery on Akshaya Tritiya brings luck and success to an individual and his family. As Akshaya Tritiya is considered an auspicious day for the buying and wearing of gold, there will be several promotions and offers around the festival time at leading jewellery retailers across the county

3G Auction...All-India price at Rs113.27bn

The Government is all set to pocket a cool Rs500bn from the auction of third-generation (3G) mobile spectrum if one includes the matching bids from state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL). At Thursday's close, the Centre is expected to garner about Rs456.90bn from 3G auction alone as against projection of Rs350bn from the combined 3G-BWA auction. So, quite clearly, the final figure from the 3G-BWA auction process could well be somewhere around Rs600bn. "The revenue from 3G auction alone may cross Rs400bn. Revenues from 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum put together may touch Rs500-550bn," Telecom Minister A Raja was quoted as saying last week.

Meanwhile, bids for one set of pan-India 3G mobile licences reached Rs113.27bn, more than double the base price of Rs35bn, on the 23rd day of the auction. As per the details given by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), four more Clock Rounds were completed on Thursday. With this, the total number of Clock Rounds completed to date has come to 132. The 3G auction started on April 9. BWA bidding will start two days after the 3G auction concludes.

Proceeds from the two auctions would help the Government bridge the fiscal deficit. India's fiscal deficit may come down to 5.2% of GDP from the estimated 5.5% of GDP. The Government has pegged the fiscal deficit at Rs3.81 lakh crores for FY11. Mumbai and Delhi continued to be among the most sought-after circles with highest bids of Rs19.87bn and Rs19.20bn, respectively. The reserve price for both the Mega Metro circles is Rs3.2bn. Maharashtra's bid stood at Rs10.62bn while that for Andhra Pradesh was at Rs9.79bn, and Gujarat at Rs9.45bn.

According to the DoT, the bidding activity requirement was set at 100% on Thursday. The 3G auction would continue till the available number of slots is equal to number of bidders in all 22 circles simultaneously. Out of a total of 22 circles for the 3G spectrum, 17 have three slots, while in rest of the five circles, four blocks of spectrum are available. The successful bidders would be allotted air waves in September after the spectrum is vacated by the defence forces. The BWA auction is also expected to be equally competitive, as 11 players are in the fray for just two slots for each circle, while the reserve price for pan-India licence is Rs17.5bn.