Dubai: The world’s tallest building is 828 metres and has been named Burj Khalifa by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Until now, the building has been known as Burj Dubai.
Unveiling the nameplate, Shaikh Mohammad said: “We built the high rise for people with strong will and determination. The highest point in the world should be linked to the big names and I announce today [Monday] the opening of Burj Khalifa Bin Zayed.”

He added: “Today, the UAE has put a new spotlight on the world map.”
Immediately after the opening, about eight skydivers appeared in the sky carrying UAE flags and pictures of Shaikh Mohammad and Shaikh Khalifa. They landed right in front of Shaikh Mohammad.
The final height of the “superscraper” was revealed yesterday during a spectacular opening ceremony watched by thousands of UAE residents who crowded onto the Dubai Mall promenade and surrounding area.
For many the high point was a breathtaking fireworks display that lit up the building to its full height.
As thousands of residents and visitors gazed up at the tower, which had been shrouded in darkness, light exploded around it in an awe-inspiring display, while the Dubai Fountains in front of the tower danced in synchronisation.
Ten thousand individual white fireworks danced around the structure, shooting off the building from every level, making the show the tallest display ever.

Spectators delight
The show was broadcast to millions across the world by several local and international media organisations. The inauguration of the tower coincided with the fourth anniversary of Shaikh Mohammad’s accession as Ruler of Dubai.

Equipped with cameras and smiles, spectators took photographs of everything in their path — be it the Burj Khalifa, the fountains, their loved ones, even the crowd itself.
“This structural marvel makes all Emiratis proud,” Mohammad Obaid, a military officer from Dubai, says. “It is proof to the world that the UAE’s economy is stable,” added the father of two.

“I want my son to see this and remember this day. I’ve already booked for us to go to the top of the tower on Thursday.
An overwhelming sense of patriotism filled the Burj Park Island as people stood in the thousands to witness the Dubai Fountains performing to the national anthem.

Future residents of the Burj Khalifa were also among the invited guests to see their future home in all its glory. Shabamah Faisal, who currently resides in Sharjah, bought a two bedroom flat on the 80th floor of the Burj.
“It’s great to see that this is the building we’re going to be living in. The reason I bought here, apart from the fact that it’s the tallest building in the world, is because I believe the tower represents Dubai’s juxtaposition of tradition and modernity perfectly.”
The UAE’s business community was enthusiastic about the significance of the Burj for the city and its economy.

New milestone
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Speaker of the Federal National Council, called the Burj Khalifa a “distinctive achievement by Dubai to be added to the pages of history”.
“This is another milestone in the development and progress, which transformed the emirate into the world’s fastest growing city and helped make the UAE a leading regional and international nation,” he said.
Abdullah Ebrahim Lootah, CEO of Lootah, said the tower symbolised the aspirations of the next generation.
“The country will reap the benefits of this for years to come,” he said. Mehdi Amjad, CEO of Omniyat, said the “phenomenal project” would have a positive effect on Dubai’s tourism industry.
Blair Hagkull, managing director MENA region, Jones Lang LaSalle, however said that the Burj was an achievement for the entire region.
“It is a landmark in every respect. The ability to plan, construct and deliver something of this scale and complexity is remarkable… today Dubai has delivered,” he said.

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Today Dubai celebrates the opening of Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, as well as the anniversary of the accession of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, as Ruler of Dubai. These twin celebrations mark both the abilities and professional skills of those who have built and managed this extraordinary project, and of Shaikh Mohammad’s vision and leadership that allowed the idea to flourish in the first place.

These celebrations follow a shocking year as Dubai has dealt with the global recession which hit its economy and its real estate sector in particular. The long-running eight- or nine-year property boom came to an abrupt end, and the resulting slowdown was very painful for both private- and public-sector companies, and culminated in the highly exaggerated international crescendo of rumour and allegation after the Dubai World debt freeze.

However, Dubai did get its refinancing package in place thanks to the government of Abu Dhabi. Dubai Government bonds were bought by the UAE Central Bank and Abu Dhabi banks, and there was direct support for the Dubai Financial Support Fund. Dubai is now placed to look ahead with confidence as it reverts to its core economic activities as both a regional trading hub and as an emerging global centre of the knowledge economy.

The opening of the Burj Dubai shows that companies are still breaking the mould in Dubai, and are able to surprise and impress the world. The full wonder of the technical achievements in the building of Burj Dubai will only come out over the next few months.

All this happened in Dubai, where Shaikh Mohammad, first as Crown Prince and then as Ruler, has been the driving force behind turning Dubai into a major global centre. In the early 1990s Dubai became the leading regional re-export centre, but the new globalised world was about to require a totally new approach.

Shaikh Mohammad’s particular insight was to recognise that Dubai’s future needed more than being a regional trading hub. He was determined that Dubai would be ready to take part in the emerging knowledge economy, and by setting up centres of excellence such as Internet City, Media City, Health Care City as well as Dubai International Financial Centre, he helped to shift Dubai’s economy onto a different level.

He also took advantage of the long-running boom to build the excellent infrastructure that Dubai now enjoys. The combination of both welcoming the knowledge economy, and massive infrastructure investment have positioned Dubai for decades of growth as it comes through the recession.

Sound, light, water, fireworks open tallest tower.

Sound, light, water, fireworks open tallest tower

Dubai: The inauguration of Burj Dubai — the world’s tallest building — will feature a spectacular display of fireworks, light beams, choreographed water displays and sound and music effects that will portray the evolution of the world’s most iconic new building in a breathtaking sensory journey.

In all, 868 high-powered stroboscope lights will be integrated into the facade of Burj Dubai and the tower’s spire — and each stroboscope will be operated individually to create a series of hypnotic lighting sequences.

The entire display is controlled by a sophisticated arrangement of ultra-high-tech IT systems, which choreograph at least 50 sequences of lighting, fireworks, water and sound effects.
Event experts from France, Britain and the United States collaborated on the project, demonstrating the global spirit of teamwork which defines Burj Dubai itself.
Powerful strobelights will be fixed near the pinnacle of the tower, and six “narrow beam” searchlights will be positioned 700 metres up the tower.
The entire inauguration consists of a pre-show and three themed acts — From the Desert Flower to Burj Dubai, Heart Beat, and From Dubai and the UAE to the World — and a fireworks finale.
A giant screen on Burj Park Island as well as several television screens located in Downtown Burj Dubai including the Waterfront Promenade, will convey the inauguration to the spectators.
The international media, including Dubai TV, will broadcast the event worldwide.
The public can watch the inauguration from the Waterfront Promenade adjacent to The Dubai Mall.
The inauguration begins with a short film depicting the story of Dubai and the evolution of the Burj Dubai as the world’s tallest building.
The carefully choreographed sound, light, water and fireworks display will follow.
The first act in the light and sound show, themed From the Desert Flower to Burj Dubai, is a co-ordinated water, light and fireworks display.
Guests can watch the unfolding of the desert lily, Hymenocallis, the design inspiration of the Burj Dubai.
The segment ends with a rhythmic water and fireworks show.

The second act, Heart Beat, captures the construction of the tower in a dynamic light show.
An astonishing example of technological innovation, the display recreates the effect of a beating heart and uses no fewer than 300 space cannon projectors to generate a shadow-like image of the tower.

In the third act, From Dubai and the UAE to the World, sky tracers envelop the tower in a strong halo of white light before reproducing the sunbeams of the developer’s corporate logo.
These then expand in all directions as the lighting rig on the tower’s spire activates.

In its spectacular finale, the show will feature an impressive show of 10,000 fireworks on and from the tower.
The sparkling display will illuminate the entire Downtown Burj Dubai area.

Grand opening

• The opening ceremony is expected to start at 8pm
• Entertainment shows available in the vicinity from 7:30am
• Local: Dubai TV and Dubai One channels, starting from 1:30pm to 9pm, plus Sama Dubai, Dubai One and Noor Dubai
• Other TV stations including international broadcasters in Arabic, English and Indian amongst others will have coverage of the Burj Dubai opening.

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History is peppered with intriguing tales of people who, for all intents and purposes, inexplicably vanish from the face of the earth without a trace. These stories – some of the most fascinating in the annals of the unexplained vary from being well-documented to having the flavor of mere legend and folklore. But they are all fascinating because they force us to question the solidity of our existence. Where did these vanished people go? A time portal? Another dimension ? Into a UFO? Consider those chilling possibilities as you read these amazing reports:

The Bennington Triangle

Between 1920 and 1950, Bennington, Vermont was the site of several completely unexplained disappearances:

• On December 1, 1949, Mr. Tetford vanished from a crowded bus. Tetford was on his way home to Bennington from a trip to St. Albans, Vermont. Tetford, an ex-soldier who lived in the Soldier’s Home in Bennington, was sitting on the bus with 14 other passengers. They all testified to seeing him there, sleeping in his seat. When the bus reached its destination, however, Tetford was gone, although his belongings were still on the luggage rack and a bus timetable lay open on his empty seat. Tetford has never returned or been found.
• On December 1, 1946, an 18-year-old student named Paula Welden vanished while taking a walk. Welden was walking along the Long Trail into Glastenbury Mountain. She was seen by a middle-aged couple that was strolling about 100 yards behind her. They lost sight of her when she followed the trail around a rocky outcropping, but when they rounded the outcropping themselves, she was nowhere to be seen. Welden has not been seen nor heard from since.
• In mid-October, 1950, 8-year old Paul Jepson disappeared from a farm. Paul’s mother, who earned a living as an animal caretaker, left her small son happily playing near a pig sty while she tended to the animals. A short time later, she returned to find him missing. An extensive search of the area proved fruitless.

The Vanished Cripple

Owen Parfitt had been paralyzed by a massive stroke. In June, 1763 in Shepton Mallet, England, Parfitt sat outside his sister’s home, as was often his habit on warm evenings. Virtually unable to move, the 60-year-old man sat quietly is his nightshirt upon his folded greatcoat. Across the road was a farm where workers were finishing their workday by pooking the hay. At about 7 p.m., Parfitt’s sister, Susannah, went outside with a neighbor to help Parfitt move back into the house, as a storm was approaching. But he was gone. Only his folded greatcoat upon which he sat remained. Investigations of this mysterious disappearance were carried out as late as 1933, but no trace or clues to Parfitt’s fate were ever uncovered.

The Disappearing Diplomat

British diplomat Benjamin Bathurst vanished into thin air in 1809. Bathurst was returning to Hamburg with a companion after a mission to the Austrian court. Along the way, they had stopped for dinner at an inn in the town of Perelberg. Upon finishing the meal, they returned to their waiting horse-drawn coach. Bathurst’s companion watched as the diplomat stepped over to the front of the coach to examine to horses – and simply vanished without a trace.

Time Tunnel

In 1975, a man named Jackson Wright was driving with his wife from New Jersey to New York City. This required them to travel through the Lincoln Tunnel. According to Wright, who was driving, once through the tunnel he pulled the car over to wipe the windshield of condensation? His wife Martha volunteered to clean off the back window so they could more readily resume their trip. When Wright turned around, his wife was gone. He neither heard nor saw anything unusual take place, and a subsequent investigation could find no evidence of foul play. Martha Wright had just disappeared.

The Mysterious Cloud

Three soldiers claimed to be witnesses to the bizarre disappearance of an entire battalion in 1915. They finally came forward with the strange story 50 years after the infamous Gallipoli campaign of WWI. The three members of a New Zealand field company said they watched from a clear vantage point as a battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment marched up a hillside in Suvla Bay, Turkey. The hill was shrouded in a low-lying cloud that the English soldiers marched straight into without hesitation. They never came out. After the last of the battalion had entered the cloud, it slowly lifted off the hillside to join other clouds in the sky. When the war was over, figuring the battalion had been captured and held prisoner, the British government demanded that Turkey return them. The Turks insisted, however, that it had neither captured not made contact with these English soldiers.

The Stonehenge Disappearance

The mysterious standing stones of Stonehenge in England were the site of an amazing disappearance in August, 1971. At this time Stonehenge was not yet protected from the public, and on this particular night, a group of “hippies” decided to pitch tents in the center of the circle and spend the night. They built a campfire, lit several joints of pot and sat around smoking and signing. Their campout was abruptly interrupted at about 2 a.m. by a severe thunder storm that quickly blew in over Salisbury Plain. Bright bolts of lightning crashed down on the area, striking area trees and even the standing stones themselves. Two witnesses, a farmer and a policeman, said that the stones of the ancient monument lit up with an eerie blue light that was so intense that they had to avert their eyes. They heard screams from the campers and the two witnesses rushed to the scene expecting to find injured – or even dead – campers. To their surprise, they found no one. All that remained within the circle of stones were several smoldering tent pegs and the drowned remains of a campfire. The hippies themselves were gone without a trace

Popularity: 21% [?]