Month: December 2020

A Glimpse of Ancient Maldives – A Rich Cultural Heritage

Posted by dayat on in Travel

Historical references show that the first settlers of Maldives were the Dravidian people from Kerala who. In the ancient times the main business activity of the locals were sale of cowry shells, dried tuna fish and coir ropes.

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The Maldives is a nation consisting of twenty six atolls settling in the pristine blue waters of the Indian Ocean. Due to the climate and exotic surroundings of the country, the Maldives has become a much sort out venue for holiday makers and honeymooners.

The history of Maldives holds many secrets, treasured attributes and many untold stories quite unlike any other. But what can be gathered from historical references is that the first settlers of Maldives were the Dravidian people from Kerala who probably would have been fishermen from the south of the Indian subcontinent and western shores of Sri Lanka. However, according to the references from the Mahavansa, Maldives is marked by the arrival of Sinhalese people who were descendants from King Vijaya.

At the time of King Ashoka’s expansion in the region, Buddhism was introduced to the country and a great number of marvellous writings, architecture, sculptures and artistic achievements are from this era. At the end of 12th century AD Islam was introduced to the country and to this day the main religion of the country continues to be Islam. In the ancient times the main business activity of the locals were sale of cowry shells, dried tuna fish and coir ropes. With time and changing economic policies, the country opened doors for foreign investments out of which most are directed towards promoting the tourism industry.

With the increase in foreign investments a lot of world renowned hotel brands have invested in building chains of Maldives luxury resorts and hotels. This gives visitors and locals the opportunity to choose from a wide range of hotels to suite their budgets. The competition is so high in the tourism industry that one hotel tries to be more creative and amazing than another that it is impossible to name one as the best resort in Maldives. Many hotels feature special honeymoon packages, spas, desert island picnics, sunset cruises, a spread of mouth-watering cuisines and comfortable and relaxing lodging. Baros Maldives is a property complete with scenic beauty, warm and friendly hospitality, intimate settings, water sport activities, fine dining experience and elegant infrastructure, providing a truly memorable stay full of fun in the sun, sand and surf.

Understanding Mandatory Fees and Dealer Fees

Posted by dayat on in Autos, Cars

Buying a new car can be stressful, especially if you haven’t done it in over five years. There’s the issue of choosing a colour, make, extra features (if you want them), and of course the messy business of negotiating a price. If you don’t do the research before heading to the dealership, you could fall into a trap many buyers before you have succumbed to and leave the dealership with much more than you bargained for, and not in a good way.

Before you even start talking to a salesperson, arm yourself with enough knowledge about the car to reduce the likelihood of you getting taken for a ride (no pun intended). The first thing you need to do is the research on the car cost. Canada dealers get their units at wholesale prices. You can find out more about this via invoice price reports. Companies like Car Cost Canada offer invoice price reports at $39.95 while Unhaggle.com lets you access it for free. Once you get the factory price of the car, factor in what the dealer needs to make in profit and you can start benchmarking your price for negotiation.

Next, it is also important to understand which fees are mandatory and which fees are optional dealer fees that can be negotiated out of your purchase. The more information you have, the better your chances are of getting a reasonable price, and one that you can be happy with.

Here’s a quick rundown of the mandatory fees you’ll need to pay when purchasing a car according to the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry:

1. HST or Harmonized Sales Tax – 13% on car price
2. Air tax – Air conditioner excise tax of $100 for cars with air-conditioning
3. OTS tax or Ontario Tire Stewardship fee – For passenger vehicles and light trucks the fee is $5.84 per tire
4. OMVIC fee – A transaction fee to support OMVIC’s (Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council) dispute resolution activities
5. PPSA fee – If you finance/lease a car, the bank/leasing company will charge a fee for setting up the loan and registering the lien $50 to $75.
6. Licensing – Most dealerships will take care of this for you and will charge an admin fee of $50 to $75.

If it’s not listed above, consider it a dealer fee. An important thing to remember is that mandatory fees should not be added to the car’s price after you’ve negotiated it, it must already be included. The same goes for advertisements that include the price of a car – whatever is advertised should be the all-in price.

Don’t be pressured into buying additional products or features you don’t believe have value. If you’re being made to believe that a certain add-on is compulsory because it’s already been installed, you have the right to report them to the OMVIC for deliberately misleading you.

Dealer fees and add-ons like security packages which include a police traceable code in case of theft could already be part of your insurance coverage so make sure you do the due diligence and read your contracts before signing them.

A great way to avoid paying for more than the car is worth is to do extensive research online and see what other people are paying for the same car. Find out also if there are any on-going Canadian dealer incentives that you could take advantage of.

‘Bachelor’ star Juan Pablo and Nikki Ferrell: ‘It’s all over’

Posted by dayat on in Art and Entertainment, News, Uncategorized

“Bachelor” star Juan Pablo knows what he wants and he only has four ladies left. They are headed into hometown dates and ABC has been promoting a dramatic couple of episodes. If that wasn’t enough, former “Bachelor” stars, including Desiree Hartsock, Jason Mesnick and his wife, Molly Mesnick, are convinced that the season is practically done. According to a new Wetpaint Entertainment report published on Feb. 22, “Bachelor” star Juan Pablo’s season is practically over because he has already introduced Nikki to his daughter, Camila.

Molly and Jason invited Desiree to speak about the show on their Podcast show and it sounds like she thought it was unfair for Juan to introduce Nikki Ferrell to his daughter, Camila. Of course, he probably did it because Nikki is a front runner, but Desiree thought he should have waited.

“It’s almost like it’s all over because, if he chose one person to introduce to his family, [that’s who he’ll pick],” Desiree has said about the previous episode of the show. “He would not have introduced her unless he liked her a lot,” Des continues, adding, “I think it’s a little unfair [to the remaining women].” Emily Maynard did the same thing with Ricki, as Jef Holm met her before the others.

Do you think it was wrong for him to take that step with one woman?