Barshim aims to fly even higher in 2017

UDC’s Pearl-Qatar residential unit

sale surges

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met yesterday at Emiri Diwan with Director-General of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), Irina Bokova, who greeted the Emir on the occasion of her visit to Qatar to attend the third edition of Art for Tomorrow. They reviewed relations of cooperation and methods to develop them. → See also page 7

Emir meets Director-General of Unesco

BUSINESS | 21 SPORT | 28

Volume 22 | Number 7100 | 2 RiyalsTuesday 14 March 2017 | 15 Jumada II 1438

MEDINA CENTRALEMEDIINANA C CENENTRTRALESpecial Lease Offer

4409 5155

QNA

DEPUTY EMIR H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Qatar University (QU), presided over the third meeting of the Board of Trus-tees for the academic year 2016-2017, which was held at the Emiri Diwan yesterday.

The Board approved the restructuring of the College of Shariah and Islamic Stud-ies to include three departments — Department of Quran and Sunnah, Department of Creed and Dawa and Department of Fiqh. The Board also approved new undergradu-ate programmes in the College of Shariah and Islamic Studies. These are Bachelor of Islamic Studies, Bachelor of Quran and Sunnah, Bach-elor of Creed and Dawa and Bachelor of Fiqh and Princi-ples of Jurisprudence.

The board also approved the creation of the Depart-ment of Physiotherapy in the College of Health Sciences and agreed to the introduc-tion of Bachelor programme in Physiotherapy. The Board also approved the reactiva-tion of the Physical Education bachelor programme in Col-lege of Education.

Deputy Emir chairs third QU Board of Trustees meeting

New Turkish ambassador arrives

Online service for bakeries launchedThe Peninsula

The Ministry of Econ-omy and Commerce has launched an electronic service for the licensing, man-

agement and operation of bakeries. The system will ena-ble bakery owners to easily complete the procedures with-out visiting the Ministry.

The service, which is acces-sible through the Ministry’s website, enables applicants to issue new bakery licences, amend and renew existing licences, temporarily suspend a licence, as well as to reactivate and cancel a bakery licence.

Bakeries can also apply for an increase in their monthly flour quota, request a flour delivery and seek approval for the distribution of subsidised flour; a service that is only reserved for owners of baker-ies producing Arabic and local (baladi) bread.

The service enables appli-cants to issue a bakery license

for companies with an active commercial registration and a bakery facility licence at a sub-location.

The user must submit an application for the issuance of a licence, including data relating to the bakery and required doc-uments. Once the application is submitted, it is reviewed by the competent authority at the Min-istry, which dispatches inspectors to examine the bakery site.

→ Continued on page 8

Sanaullah Ataullah The Peninsula

The 22 primary Independ-ent schools covered by the Tarsheed22 (T22) cam-paign have reduced their annual consumption of electricity by 1.100 million unit and water by 4,350 cubic meter, saving QR 400,000 annually.

The campaign of second phase launched in the beginning of 2016-2017 school year helped decrease carbon emissions by nearly 700 tonnes per year, thanks to energy-saving tech-nologies and energy-efficient light bulbs, dimmer switches and aerated faucets.

Details were given at a cer-emony held at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC)

yesterday to award the most energy efficient school under Tarsheed22 (T22) campaign launched by Kahrmaa and the Supreme Committee for Deliv-ery & Legacy.

Three school received awards for being the most energy efficient school partici-pating in T22. They are Othman bin Affan Model Independent School for Boys, Abu Hanifa Model Independent School for Boys, and Abi Ayub Al Ansari Model Indpendent School for Boys.

Designed to educate Qatari youth about energy conserva-tion through a love of football, the program has achieved annual carbon emissions reductions surpassing 688 tonnes annually and brought

Qatar one step closer to achiev-ing a carbon neutral World Cup.

The event was attended by H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry; Fawzia Al Khater, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs of the Min-istry of Education and Higher Education; Eng Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, Kharamaa President; Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Leg-acy as well as other dignitaries and media representatives.

T22 supports 22 primary schools annually in communi-ties experiencing 2022 FIFA World Cup stadium construction. The program targets primary school students, their parents

and families, and school employ-ees using sports activities, sustainability and energy con-servation training, and energy monitoring in participating schools.

With the support of the Supreme Education Council, Tarsheed and the SC will expand the project to include all Qatari primary, intermediate and sec-ondary schools by 2022.

"T22 taps into the excitement surrounding the 2022 FIFA World Cup and uses football to present the material in a fun and engaging way. The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Leg-acy shares our commitment to sustainable development, mak-ing it a perfect partner for this project.

→ Continued on page 8

Arab opinion strongly negative on ISIL

TURKEY’S newly appointed ambassador to Qatar arrived in Doha yesterday to take up his new diplomatic responsibilities. Fikret Ozer was received at Doha’s Hamad International Airport by a host of Qatari officials and Turkish embassy staff. Ozer succeeds outgoing ambassador Ahmet Demirok, who served at the post from October 2013 to February 2017. Ozer had served as Turkish consul-general in Jeddah. Turkey-Qatar relations in recent years have been characterised by common stances on a host of regional issues, including the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings, the subsequent crises in Syria and Libya, and the situation in post-invasion Iraq.

Dr Mohammad Almasri, Executive Director of Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and Coordinator of Arab Opinion Index, during the press conference at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, yesterday. Pic: Ayyoob Abdullah

Mohammed Osman The Peninsula

The result of the annual Arab Opinion Index (AOI) survey showed that 89% of the participants expressed negative and very negative views about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) while only 2% expressed “very positive” views of ISIL. Three percent were “positive to some extent”. The number of people having negative views about

ISIL have increased from 85% in 2014 to 89% in 2015 and 2016, while the number of those having positive views have declined by 50% from 4% to 2% during the same period.

Overwhelming majority of the respondents (99%) said they know ISIL but 66% of them follow its news and 33% do not follow. The fifth edition of Arab Opinion Index 2016 was announced yesterday at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies by Dr

Mohammad Almasri, Executive Director of the center and Coordinator of the Arab Opinion Index.

The survey was based on face-to-face interviews with 18,310 respondents in 12 Arab countries namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania.

The survey samples also ensure fair representation of various population segments

with an overall margin of error between +/- 2 to 3%, said Almasri presenting the survey outcomes.

The Arab Opinion Index (AOI), the largest public opinion survey in the Mena region, was conducted by a team of 840 surveyors. They spent 45,000 hours for face-to-face interviews crossing a total of 760,000km across the population clusters sampled.

→ Continued on page 8

The service, which is accessible through the website of Ministry of Economy and Commerce, enables applicants to issue new bakery licences, amend and renew existing licences, temporarily suspend a licence, as well as to reactivate and cancel licence.

15 new hotels in next 12 monthsAT LEAST 15 hotels and serviced apartment buildings are scheduled to open in Qatar in the next 12 months, which will potentially add up 4,000 rooms to existing supply, it was disclosed at the Cityscape Qatar 2017 which opened yesterday. The hospitality sector in Qatar was thoroughly discussed at the conference with figures showing around 22,500 hotel rooms now available in Qatar, 88% out of which are 4 or 5 star category properties. There are currently around 25,000 hotel rooms in 64 developments at various stages of planning and construction in Qatar leading up to the FIFA World Cup in 2022. → Full report on page 2

3 schools win Tarsheed awards for saving energy

02 TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017HOME

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with President of the Libyan State Supreme Council, Dr Abdulrahman Al Sawihli, and his accompanying delegation at the Emiri Diwan yesterday. Al Sawihli expressed his appreciation of the efforts of the Emir and the State of Qatar in supporting the Libyan people in all fields. For his part, the Emir stressed Qatar's commitment to the Libyan people and support for its legitimate government and aspirations of establishing a state that respects the rule of law. The meeting focused on bilateral relations and the means to enhance them. The meeting also reviewed the latest developments in Libya.

Emir meets President of Libyan State Supreme CouncilQatar Media Corporation & CSR Network sign dealQNA

Qatar Media Corporation and Qatar Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Network signed a 3-year partnership

agreement as a first stage.The agreement aims at cre-

ating a national CSR group with strategic partners to promote CSR in Qatar. This agreement is a result of expanding the network's initiatives to include different sec-tors including media. The CSR Network is aiming to complement and enhance its successful part-nership agreement with Qatar University, especially concerning the national CSR report, CSR per-son of the year, CSR research studies, CSR workshops and lec-tures, and CSR exhibition and other initiatives.

The agreement was signed by Marketing Director of Qatar Media Corporation Ghanim bin Mubarak Al Ali and Qatar CSR Network's Advisory Board Chairperson H E Sheikha Athba bint Thamer Al Thani in the presence of a number of officials from both sides.

On this occasion, Ghanem bin Mubarak Al Ali said: "This agree-ment comes as the global interest

in CSR in general, and media responsibility in particular, is developing. Qatar Media Corpo-ration's CSR achievements have been reflected in the society. They are evident in supporting national talents and development of new generations of media profession-als in initiatives like (Future media specialist) and (Young Presenter) and (Fasaha -eloquence) and others."

Sheikha Athba said: "Our partnership with Qatar Media Corporation is a pride and an honour, it emanates while QMC is winning a society consensus on its leadership in the field of com-munity development through a

variety of effective and responsi-ble national programs. We will make sure that we represent together, with Qatar University and our strategic partners a national CSR group. We will do our best to support QMC's initia-tives, particularly in the area CSR in Media."

The agreement signing coin-cides with the tenth anniversary of establishing Qatar CSR net-work, and with the extension of the MoU signed with Qatar Uni-versity until 2020.

Since 2012, Qatar CSR Net-work produces the CSR report, which launching ceremony is hosted by QU annually, and started to be issued since 2015 under the patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Minister, and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (distribution partner to Qatar embassies around the world) with the con-tribution of ministers, ambassadors and leading fig-ures. The report promotes QU students' skills through their contribution in the report prep-aration; and is sponsored by major institutions, distributed locally with newspapers, hon-ors CSR leaders, and enjoys wide media coverage.

Details of upcoming ‘Esrar Race’ unveiledThe Peninsula

Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) unveiled details about its upcoming ‘Esrar Race’ in a press conference yesterday, revealing that the race, which is organised by AZF and ‘Diverse’, will be held from 7:00am-10:00am on March 25 at Aspire Park.Media representatives were welcomed at the press conference by senior officials from AZF,

including Nasser Abdullah Al Hajri, Director of PR and Communica-tion at AZF; Abdullah Al Khater, Events Manager at AZF; Khalid Saadoun Al Kuwari, co-organiser and CEO of ‘Diverse’; and Qatari Olympic champion, Mutaz Essa Barshim, as an ambassador.

Esrar Race is the first ever obstacle race to be held in Qatar. Designed to challenge even the hardiest athletes and non-athletes, the race consists of 14 obstacles,

including the commando crawl, tyres split steps, 6ft wall and 8ft. wall and inverted wall climbing, balance beam, sand bang carry-ing, vertical cargo net and monkey bar. The race is expected to attract over 200 men and women over the age of 18. Each obstacle will have different difficulty levels and will comprise primary and sec-ondary challenges to cater for those who don’t feel ready to attempt the highest difficulty.

Three winners from each gender group will also be awarded cash prizes, while AZF will donate 20 percent of the profit from the com-petition to Qatar Charity.

The race’s ambassador, Olym-pic silver-medalist, Mutaz Barshim, said: “I’m very thrilled to serve as the ambassador for the race so I can motivate young peo-ple, whether athletes and non-athletes, to participate and be part of this fun sporting activity.

Minister opens sixth edition of Cityscape Qatar 2017 The Peninsula

Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani yesterday opened the sixth edition of Cityscape Qatar 2017 at the Doha Exhibition and Con-vention Center (DECC).

Held under the Patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Min-ister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, the three-day event showcases the latest real estate developments in Qatar and wider region and is the largest international real estate development and investment event in Qatar.

After the inauguration, the Minister toured the exhibition, visiting a number of stands of real estate companies which are showcasing their latest develop-ments from Qatar and around the world.

Featuring over 85 exhibitors from 25 countries including Qatar, Pakistan, UAE, Oman, Bah-rain, Kuwait, Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus, UK, France, Jordan,

Lebanon, Lithuania, Morocco, Portugal, Italy, Georgia and many more, the esteemed three-day exhibition highlights the world’s best investment opportunities in residential, hospitality, commer-cial and retail sectors.

This year’s event features a dedicated Pakistan Pavilion with companies such as; Star Market-ing, Athar Marketing Network, Fast Marketing, DHA Bahawalpur, Multan, DHA Peshawar, Buch Vil-las Multan and Gulistan Marketing presenting more than 50 projects from all over Pakistan.

Ahmed Zakaria, Exhibition Director for Cityscape Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi said: “The opening of Cityscape Qatar 2017 today saw great turnout from both exhibitors, VIP’s and dele-gates, with the Conference opening to a packed house. Fol-lowing today’s presentations and high profile meetings, it is exciting to see that the Real Estate sector in Qatar has a very positive outlook with a greater focus on growing the private sector and attracting more inter-

national companies.” Meanwhile, the latest Qatar

Market Outlook report which was released by DTZ and discussed at length during the Cityscape Qatar Conference, examined the role of real estate in achieving Qatar’s

long term goals. Edd Brookes, General Manager of DTZ, stated that rental levels remain strong; driven by a growing economy, a rapidly expanding population and insufficient new supply coming to the market.

Cityscape Qatar 2017 is bring-ing together a number of leading local exhibitors including; Al Bandary Real Estate and Ezdan Real Estate to showcase a number of residential properties. These include three new projects for Al

Bandary Real Estate with Al Swida Village, residential apartments located in the up-and-coming Al Thumama area; Al Shahed Tower, hotel apartments, located in West Bay, Doha and Lusail Azure Tower, serviced apartment, located in the beach-side city of Lusail.

This year’s Cityscape Qatar also saw the launch of Ezdan Pal-ace Hotel, located on Al Shamal Road, Doha and slated for com-pletion by end of April, 2017. Ezdan Holding Group has announced at the exhibition that the first phase of its Ezdan Oasis project is soon to open which consists of 2,058 residential units and outlets, and will include 180 commercial units including res-taurants, cafes and vital facilities of different sizes.

Further leading regional and international heavyweights are participating including, Gold Sponsors Regus and Kohler, Al Qaseer Investment and Property Development, Kleindienst, Sin-pas, Retaj Real Estate, SAPST, KPM and Gulf Kingdom Estate.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani (left) and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani with Dr Abdulrahman Al Sawihli.

Officials at the signing ceremony.

The initiativeThe agreement aims at creating a national CSR group with strategic partners to promote CSR in Qatar.

The deal is a result of expanding the initiatives to include different sectors including media.

Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani along with other officials opening the sixth edition of Cityscape Qatar 2017 at the DECC, yesterday.

FROM LEFT: Abdullah Al Khater, Mutaz Essa Barshim, Nasser Abdullah Al Hajri and Khalid Saadoun Al Kuwari at the conference.

03TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017 HOME

Eateries start offering healthy food choicesFazeena Saleem The Peninsula

In a new trend, some res-taurants in Doha have started offering healthier items on menus and giv-ing customers a better

choice. They promote healthy food options to customers by eliminating unhealthy food items and drinks as well as bet-ter cooking methods.

Some restaurants The Peninsula spoke to, said that they took the initiative volun-tarily but have received a overwhelming reception from the customers.

“As part of our commitment to serve naturally healthy food than artificially added ones to our guests, we have included verities of natural healthy drinks in the menu as alternatives for carbonated soft drinks. We made this decision to give guests a healthy choice and it is well received,” said Vinodan Man-gottil, General Manager, Indian Coffee House.

“We have not limited our healthy offerings to drinks, but we adopt it in cooking methods as well. Our experienced chefs know the techniques how to reduce oil consumption in fried items, we have limited using seasoning products and include healthy ingredients,” said Mangottil.

The restaurant with the motto ‘Eat Healthy, Live Healthy,’ has stopped selling carbonated sweetened soft drinks since Qatar National Sport day 2017. Many have appreciated the initiative on

social media by saying “good initiative”, “appreciate your efforts in promoting healthy life”, and “highly commendable initiative.”

Tuan Hajireen Hassim, a long-time resident in Qatar, said, “I have health problems and mostly stick to homemade food, but we would like to go dining at restaurants with the family. It’s good that some restaurants are taking steps to serve healthy food not just by modifying their menus but also by adopting healthy cooking methods.”

Panini café is another cas-ual fine dining restaurant which includes a high percentage of healthy and organic products.

“Healthy food make guests feel better than unhealthy food, and we notice them being more satisfied with a healthy menu than with regular ones,” said Sanjeewa Wijetunga, Restaurant Manager, Panini Café.

The restaurant takes an

extra step to bring in items such as Eleusine coracana, or finger millet, a cereal type as well as to use fresh vegetables and fruits instead of the preserved ones.

“We bring vegetables grown in our own farms in Sri Lanka without any chemicals. We completely avoid using proc-essed fruits and vegetables,” said Wijetunga.

“At present we are taking steps to stop using any artificial food preservation items, to min-imise the use of sodium based products and to bake some of the pastry items instead of fry-ing. However even now we fry items in a proper level of tem-perature to reduce the bad effects of oil,” he added.

Also health authorities have taken several steps to create awareness about the importance of adopting food habits to main-tain a healthy lifestyle and reduce the risk of developing diseases such as obesity, diabe-tes and hypertension.

Dr Sheikha Al Anoud bint Mohammed Al Thani , Director of Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Diseases at Ministry of Public Health, speak-ing at a recent press conference said, “We can’t force or put a rule asking people to sell only healthy food. It’s the same that we can’t force people to buy only healthy food, but we cre-ate awareness about the importance of having such food. Now there is considerable awareness among people and we see them making the correct choices. Its remarkable if res-taurants voluntarily take steps to make their food healthy.”

107 honoured at QLC ceremonyThe Peninsula

Some 107 Qatari men and women who completed various leadership pro-grammes at the Qatar Leadership Centre (QLC) were honoured at a special ceremony, yesterday, attended by a number of Qatar’s most senior officials, leading executives, and special guests.

QLC has created a signifi-cant opportunity for outstanding Qataris to further develop their leadership abilities and advance their personal and professional development through its Exec-utive, Rising and Government Leaders programmes. The three programmes are aimed at highly qualified Qatari professionals who work in managerial and executive positions in diverse

government institutions, public sector organisations and the

private sector. “The centre was started with an aim to invest in our human resources, by devel-oping the capabilities of outstanding Qataris to support national progress toward the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030,” said H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khal-ifa Al Thani, Chairperson of QLC’s Board of Directors.

In her speech she detailed out the qualities of a good leader. “You cannot be a suc-cessful leader unless you implement what you have learned here. You should trans-late what you learned into tangible reality, and make it part and parcel in every aspect of your communication. Only then will horizon be your limit,” she told the participants.

Healthy lifeSome restaurants promote healthy food options by eliminating unhealthy food items and drinks as well as better cooking methods.

Some restaurants said that they took the initiative voluntarily but have received a overwhelming reception from the customers.

H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani at the function yesterday.

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser addressing people at El Obied celebrations. Pic: Aisha Al Musallam / HHOPL

Sheikha Moza at El Obied celebrations

04 TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017HOME

Over 10,000 students visit Traffic WeekThe Peninsula

Over 10,000 students yester-day visited the 33rd GCC Traffic Week at Darb El Saai and participated in the different activities. The students visited dif-ferent pavilions and listened to explanations from participants about their efforts to raise traffic

awareness.The traffic village at Darb El Saai

received about 5,000 students who attended lectures about traffic rules, training about driving and lectures about pedestrian crossings and traf-fic signals.

The village also featured compe-titions for students based on what they learned in the traffic village and

the winners got gifts. They also took part in driving sim-ulator training .

A number of workshops was organised in the "schools tent" which fea-tures stalls of more than 15 independent schools. Stu-dents have received tips and attended lectures about traf-fic safety. Also models of roads have been displayed in the tent to spread traffic culture among students.

Students also visited the Police Training Institute and driving schools pavilions and got information about driving tests and driving licence formalities through

displaying a small example of how people make driving tests.

Several other government and private entities are also participat-ing in the traffic week.

“The aim of our participation is to inform people about our associa-tion and to spread traffic awareness among visitors,” said Jaznan

Mohammed Al Hajri , Lawyer and Vice-Chairman of Qatari Lawyers Association.

"Every year we are participating in the GCC traffic week to spread traffic culture among the society though spreading information about traffic laws and punishments," he added.

Agricultural exhibition from March 22DOHA: The Ministry of Municipality and Envi-ronment has installed a number of billboards in the streets to raise public awareness about the fifth Qatar International Agri-cultural Exhibition. The exhibition is organised from March 22 to March 25. A number of compa-nies will participate in the exhibition.

Meanwhile, the Health Monitoring Sec-tion at Umm Salal Municipality last month registered 16 violations during 592 inspection visits. It also conducted 144 inspection raids on women salons.

The technical mon-itoring section also caught 12 violations related to buildings and excavations, while the public monitoring sec-tion caught 42 violations and 15 violations was referred to security authorities.

HMC holds health exhibition The Peninsula

As part of its efforts to help school students learn about roles and job opportunities in the healthcare sector,

Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Health Professions Aware-ness and Volunteering Program recently organised a two-day health exhibition at Ruqaya Inde-pendent Preparatory School for Girls. In addition to encouraging students to consider a career in the health sector, the exhibition aimed to help Qatar’s youth understand the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and adopting practices to protect themselves from diseases and injuries.

Balqees Al Khazraji, Director of the Health Professions Aware-ness and Volunteering Program at HMC, said: “The exhibition was attended by representatives of different hospitals and depart-ments within HMC as well as by external organisations. Students were introduced to various med-ical, nursing and allied health career options. We also presented various volunteer opportunities available within HMC’s Health Professions Awareness and Vol-unteering Program, including the Doctors Without Borders and

Engineers Without Borders programmes.

The event also served as an opportunity for HMC’s Corporate Nursing and Midwifery Depart-ment to introduce the role of nurses to the students in attend-ance and to discuss the promising career opportunities available in nursing. Staff from HMC’s Ambu-lance Service also held practical sessions on basic first aid tech-niques and students were also offered advice on how to prevent injuries and protect their own health, as well as the health and well-being of family members.

While HMC’s Departments of

Medicine and Paediatrics organ-ised educational sessions to raise awareness of the best ways to maintain good health and make healthy lifestyle choices, staff from a specialist dermatology clinic in Rumailah Hospital par-ticipated in the event to provide expert advice on how to main-tain good skin health. Heart Hospital staff also attended the event and offered information on the services delivered at the hos-pital. They educated students on cardiovascular diseases and how to prevent them. Members of the Audiology Unit, Podiatry Clinic, and Dietetics Department also

offered professional advice about their respective fields.

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) also participated, organ-ising various activities aimed at raising awareness about the importance of healthy eating for young people. Participants were provided with education and awareness materials on various health topics. The event also saw participation from a number of external organisations, including Sidra Medical and Research Center and Mental Health Friends Association (WEYAK). Represent-atives of the British Council also attended the event to present the various educational services offered by the organisation.

“The event saw active partic-ipation from professional teams representing the Communicable Diseases Department and the Blindness Prevention Program at the Ministry of Public Health. Both teams presented the Minis-try’s efforts to improve the health of Qatar's population. In addition, the event included exhibitors from the Qatar Armed Forces Medical Service, Ministry of Inte-rior’s Community Policing and Drug Enforcement Departments along with representatives from the Qatar National Anti-Doping Commission and Qatar Red Cres-cent,” Al Khazraji added.

‘Aspire for Education’ conference kicks offAmna Pervaiz Rao The Peninsula

Aspire Zone Foundation’s (AZF) Third Annual ‘Aspire for Education’ conference kicked off yester-day with AZF’s CEO Mohammad Khalifa Al Suwaidi and a host of other senior Aspire dignitar-ies attending the opening ceremony at the Torch Ball-room within the Aspire Zone.

The two-day regional con-ference is being held under the theme ‘Our Values, Our Pride’ and was inaugurated by Badr Al Hay, Director of Education and Student Care at Aspire Academy.

During the opening speech Badr Al Hay said: “Since its establishment in 2004, Aspire Academy has been on a jour-ney that has been developing students holistically, providing individuals with a comprehen-sive academic, social and sporting education.”

The senior AZF delegation was led by Al Suwaidi and included Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Mahmoud, Deputy President for Sports Projects at Aspire Zone, Ivan Bravo, Director-General of Aspire Academy, Ali Salem

Afifa, Deputy-Director General of Aspire Academy, among other senior officials from Aspire Academy.

Salah Al Yafi, Leadership Training Officer at Aspire Acad-emy said: "We aim to create a balance between science and sports. We have recently launched a book for students of 7-9 grade to understand five main skills which include, atti-tude, behaviour, skills, values and principles. This book teaches the students that ‘All students are leaders’. We have used tree as a metaphor to make students understand eas-ily the five skills, roots represent — principles, stems for values, growing leaves represent — skills and leaves on tree represent behavior. As behav-ior stands on top of skills rank.”

The conference aims to bring together education and leadership experts from Qatar, the GCC and other pan-Arab countries such as Syria and Jor-dan, under one roof to share best practice and discuss ground-breaking research into the role of positive societal val-ues on students’ wellbeing and its effects on the students’ per-formance at school.

HMC officials cutting the ribbon to open the exhibition.

Children taking part in the 33rd GCC Traffic Week at Darb El Saai.

05TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017 HOME

100 workers benefit from QC Open DayThe Peninsula

Under Raeyana Cam-paign, sponsored by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Qatar

Charity (QC) and its partners organised an Open Day for 100 workers of many manors. The Open Day conducted a number of entertainment activities and provided some health services.

The campaign’s activities took place at Khalifa Al Maliki manor, in which QC distributed bags containing winter clothes and toiletries to 100 workers.

Red Crescent offered the workers a course on first aid and a lecture about personal hygiene and protection from diseases.

Aster Medical Center con-ducted medical check-ups for targeted workers including dia-betes test, blood pressure, and cholesterol test.

Head of Communications Department at Ministry of Municipality and Environment

said that Raeyana Campaign has achieved a great success and demonstrated the bright side of Qatar in regard to human rights in general and workers’ rights in particular. Raeyana Campaign targeted workers who are unknown to the society due to their work nature. The Ministry of Municipality and Environment and its charity organisations including Qatar Charity provided its services to those needy work-ers wherever their location is. He praised the efforts of QC and its partners in the campaign, which promote environmental protec-tion and noble human values.

Khalifa Mohammed Al Malki, the owner of the manor which hosted the Open Day, expressed his sincere thanks for QC for their role in local development and supporting workers who made great efforts in the devel-opment process of the state.

Al Malki added that

providing the appropriate place for the campaign’s activities is the least a citizen can provide to achieve noble and humanitarian goals that serve the public interest.

Dr Ahmed Edilbi, head of health awareness at Qatari Red Crescent, said that the Red Cres-cent is happy with the participation of QC in this human-itarian move aiming for promoting human values, and

enabling workers to lead a decent life, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Municipality and Envi-ronment, to provide workers with a training course in first aid.

Dr Ahmed Moez, a represent-ative of Aster Medical Center, expressed his happiness for shar-ing QC and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment in this important humanitarian activity by conducting medical examinations for workers

including diabetes tests and blood pressure.

Beneficiaries of Raeyana Campaign expressed their sin-cere thanks and appreciation to QC for this generous act, which helped them practice some rec-reational activists. Mamoun Islam, one of the beneficiaries, confirmed that he met some friends he has not seen for a long time and he has benefited from many medical services.

Workers participate in “Raeyana Campaign” at Al Shahaniya organised by Qatar Charity.

Service for workersThe campaign’s activities took place at Khalifa Al Maliki manor, in which QC distributed bags containing winter clothes and toiletries to 100 workers.

Red Crescent offered a course on first aid and a lecture about personal hygiene and protection from diseases. Aster Medical Center conducted medical check-ups.

RAF opens physiotherapy centre in IstanbulThe Peninsula

Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitar-ian Services (RAF) has opened a physiotherapy centre in Istanbul, Turkey at a cost of QR1.8m for rehabilitation of Pal-estinians injured in the wars.

The centre equipped with advanced medical equipment has been built by RAF in collab-oration with Turkey's

Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH). The centre will provide physiotherapies to hundreds of Palestinians wounded during past several battles. They under-went surgeries and needed physical rehabilitation. But the patients were discharged from the hospitals after operations because physiotherapy was not available in the hospitals.

“RAF has been implementing many projects including

developments and those seasonal to support Palestinian people especially in Gaza and West Bank inside Palestine or outside whereby they found,” said Ahmad Yusuf Fakhro, Head of Financial Resources and Media Section at RAF. He was speaking in the inau-guration ceremony of the centre held in Istanbul.

The centre is equipped with advanced medical equipment and machines, hi-tech

laboratories required for the patients referred to physiother-apy starting from physical checkups, diagnosis and a com-plete plan for rehabilitation.

The centre is a five-storied building with many facilities like ward for patients. Enough spaces and rooms are available to pro-vide the physiotherapies to hundreds of the patients by qual-ified physiotherapists and medical staffs. RAF officials interacting with patients at the centre in Istanbul.

06 TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017HOME

The Peninsula

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in collaboration with Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Company, dealer of Nissan vehicles in Qatar, has announced the recall of Nissan Pathfinder 2016 model over potential defect in the fuel tank specifications.

The Ministry said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing efforts to

protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

The Ministry said that it will coordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with cus-tomers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out. The Ministry has urged all custom-ers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department.

Nissan Pathfinder 2016 models recalled

Demand for motorbike licence increasesAmna Pervaiz Rao The Peninsula

The number of expatri-ates seeking a motorbike licence has increased over the past few months, after

many eateries have stopped using cars for home delivery services, say sources from driv-ing schools.

The increasing popularity of motorbikes among Qatari and expatriate youth has also caused a rise in the demand for motor-bike licence. To drive a motorbike a special licence is required and the procedures for obtaining a licence are more or less the same as other types of driving licences.

Omer Kabaloo, General Man-ager of Al Khebra Driving Academy, told The Peninsula that the number of trainees at the

school obtaining a motorbike licence has increased by about 20 percent over the past few months, mainly because of increasing demand from delivery boys.

“Most of the restaurants have switched over to motorbikes instead of cars for food delivery.

A full course for motorbike includes 10 theory classes and 25 practical classes and the fee is QR1,475. A trainee can avail

four road tests. If a Qatari wants to get a motorbike licence, the registration formalities are sim-pler,” he added.

Kabaloo said a few European ladies have also obtained motor-bike licence through the Academy. The procedures to reg-ister for the licence for an expat is the same as that of a car driv-ing licence.

The required documents include a no objection letter from the employer, eye-test report, copy of applicant’s Qatari ID and four passport size photos. If the ID is not issued yet, a copy of the visa and the passport as well as the entry stamp in the passport are required, he explained.

An instructor at Al Khebra said motorbike training includes classroom instruction and a min-imum of 8 hours on-cycle training. Helmets are also pro-vided for those who do not have their own.

Theoretical training includes lessons on the challenge of motorcycling, motorcycle

controls, rider and motorcycle preparation, basic riding skills, advanced turning and braking techniques, special riding situa-tions and dangers of impaired riding.

Practical lessons include straight line riding, turning, shift-ing and stopping, advanced turning and braking techniques and collision avoidance manoeuvres.

Yousaf Khan, an employee at Dalla Driving Academy said the demand for motorbike licences have increased as com-pared to car driving licences.

“Most fast food outlets have replaced cars with motorbikes for door delivery. We are offer-ing full courses as well as short courses,” he said.

He said eye test is available at the Academy from 7am to 12pm and from 3pm to 7pm every day except Friday.

Riding highMost of the restaurants have switched over to motorbikes instead of cars for food delivery.

The increasing popularity of motorbikes among Qatari and expatriate youth has also caused a rise in the demand for motorbike licence.

The Dalla Driving Academy office in Industrial Area.

AAB bags safety compliance award for third yearThe Peninsula

Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. W.L.L. (AAB), the exclusive dealer of Toyota and Lexus in Qatar, received the safety compliance award during the General Directorate of Civil Defence (GDCD)’s celebration of the World Civil Defense Day. Rep-resenting the Ministry of Interior, GDCD’s celebration has the theme “Hand in Hand to Prevent Risks” at the Officers’ Club of Civil Defense in Doha.

The safety compliance award was given to AAB for exhibiting strict adherence and compliance to Civil Defense rules and regulations while ensuring maximum safety and fire prevention measures in the workplace.

AAB is among the few non-govern-mental and governmental institutions that received the award.

This is the third consecutive year that AAB has received the award. “Safety First” has always been a pri-ority in all its locations at all times. AAB ensures that its safety personnel are equipped with the correct knowl-edge and updated safety issues by sending them for regular training and certification processes.

AAB has grown to be one of Qatar’s leading automobile companies with operations spanning heavy equipment, pre-owned vehicles, rental and leas-ing. The company operates two Toyota showrooms and one Lexus showroom with eight services centres across Qatar.

AAB CEO with the real estate and security team.

INDIANA-2017 expo postponedThe Peninsula

The Indian products exhi-bition, INDIANA-2017 scheduled to be held from March 16, has been post-poned towards the third quarter of the year, a press release from the Indian Busi-ness & Professionals Network (IBPN), one of the three apex bodies of Indian Community in Qatar said.

IBPN along with its man-agement partner, Square Exhibitions Management, were planning to have the Indian product exhibitions and sale at Doha Exhibition Center.

“Due to certain logistical reasons coupled with the wish of all parties involved to have a bigger platform to cover larger sectors of Indian prod-ucts, we have taken a well-considered decision to move the event to either Octo-ber or December” said Hana El Husseini, CEO of Square Exhibitions.

“The prestigious partner-ship with Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) offering us their valuable

patronage for INDIANA-2017, provided us the option to go for a bigger platform to show-case a wider range of Indian products and services than we had originally planned,” said KM Varghese, President of IBPN.

“The nature of the event which was proposed to be a mix of B2C and B2B providing the manufacturers the rare opportunity to reach and sell their products direct to the consumers, will be kept intact” added Varghese.

Buoyed by the enthusias-tic support and participation of traders from the region and India so far, Dinesh Udenia, the Coordinating officer of IBPN and the First Secretary of Embassy of India, said “IBPN and Square Exhibition will now look forward to a larger rep-resentation of products and service sector from the exist-ing plan to have only 200 exhibitors.

The exact dates and further details are being worked out by all stake holders and will be announced very soon, added the communique.

WISE shares research plans at OxfordDOHA: Dr Asmaa Alfadala, Director of Research at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), recently presented an overview of WISE’s research efforts in education at a special Uni-versity of Oxford gathering.

During the talk, Dr Alfadala focused on the role of WISE research in support-ing creative action and building the future of educa-tion through collaboration. She presented the work of WISE to help raise awareness of education issues interna-tionally, and to play an active role in transforming educa-tion for today’s needs.

Dr Alfadala also pre-sented a preview of her current research on ways to support school leaders in any context and ultimately improve student outcomes.

It focuses on identifying appropriate, innovative leadership development approaches and strategies that can be shown to drive sustainable change in teach-ing practice with positive i m p a c t o n s t u d e n t learning.

“My research, which will be released before the WISE 2017 Summit in November, includes case studies illus-trating current approaches that systems and schools around the globe take to suc-cessfully develop and support their principals. The ultimate goal is to identify key lessons, tactics, and strategies that system lead-ers can use to build principals’ skills,” Dr Alfadala said.

The gathering was hosted by the University of Oxford’s Department of Education as part of its Oxford Talks series, and was attended by a range of international aca-demics and researchers. A representative of the Embassy of Qatar in the United Kingdom also attended.

07TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017 HOME

King's College marks official openingThe Peninsula

King’s College, Doha, a sis-ter school of the famous King’s College in England, held its official opening celebra-tions yesterday in the presence of Sheikh Mansoor bin Jassim Thani Al Thani, Chairman of the school, British Ambassador Ajay Sharma alongside representa-tives from Qatar’s Ministry of Education.

Representing King’s from the UK were Chairperson Linda Nash and Headmaster Justin Chippendale.

King’s College, Doha, opened its doors in Al Thumama last September and currently provides a traditional British education to almost 250 chil-dren aged 3 to 11 with phase two set to expand the school all the way up to age 18. The school is designed by award-winning architects and blends some of the finest early years and pri-mary school facilities in Qatar with top quality teaching and an

all-inclusive approach. The Min-istry of Education has recognised King’s College as an “Outstanding School.”

Sheikh Mansoor bin Jassim Thani Al Thani, sponsor and Chairman of King’s College, Doha, said: “In line with my country’s 2030 vision, it is with great pride that we formally celebrate the opening of King’s College, Doha today. The school

offers first-class teaching that caters to the needs of each child, blending the power of tradition and culture with inno-vation and enquiry. We offer an environment that encourages all children to be understand-ing and tolerant of others, whilst developing the self-con-fidence to be a creative and responsible member of society.”

The Peninsula

Keeping solidarity with the ‘World Cancer Day’, Lulu Group in association with Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) has conducted an awareness pro-gramme on cancer.

As part of the programme, all showroom staff of Lulu Hypermarket branches at Al Gharrafa and Al Messila wore T-Shirts carrying the message to create awareness on the importance of preventing can-cer, for two weeks to coincide with the World Cancer Day, which falls on February 4 every year.

It has given an opportunity

to the public to understand and spread a culture of health and an awareness on the necessity of supporting cancer patients. This year Qatar Cancer Society has organised the campaign in a comprehensive way, under theme ‘I can .. We can’.

Omar Al Twaissi, Marketing Coordinator of QCS, appreciated the efforts that Lulu Group has put forth in supporting Qatar Cancer Society in their cam-paign and thanked Lulu management for the initiative.

He requested the coopera-tion of all in the State of Qatar in their campaign to spread awareness about the disease.

He added: “Lulu Group has

always been in the forefront to support such activities as part of their ongoing drive towards corporate social responsibility. ‘World Cancer Day’ is a great opportunity to spread a healthy culture especially with the increase in the number of can-cer patients, which kills nearly 8.2 million people a year around the world. In addition to this, the World Cancer Day aims to achieve a set of objectives, the most important of which is to raise awareness of the disease and spread a healthy lifestyle culture, while also highlighting cancer-related effective health services readily available in Qatar”.

Children performing at the opening ceremony of King's College, Doha, yesterday. Pic: Kammutty VP/ The Peninsula

Lulu supports QCS efforts on World Cancer Day

Showroom staff of Lulu Hypermarket branches at Al Gharrafa and Al Messila wearing T-shirts carrying a message to create awareness on the importance of preventing cancer.

ACS seminar on Libya to analyse crisis in depthThe Peninsula

The ACS will organise a seminar “The Libyan Crisis: Field complica-tions and Prospects for Regional and International Initiatives" March 21 at 7pm at the Aljazeera Media Insti-tute’s platform.

An in-depth analysis of changes in the Libyan scene at both domestic and exter-nal levels, particularly after the changes on the ground effected by the recent fight-ing around Libya’s oil fields, will be delivered. An added factor is the conflict of inter-ests between regional and international powers over Libya and the Russian advent into the crisis.

The changes in the Lib-yan scene occurred after a 3-party initiative, sponsored by Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt for a political settlement to the Libyan crisis reached an impasse. This has occurred despite the support given by some European countries which showed concern with the Libya crisis, namely, France, Italy and Germany, under growing European fears of a joint Russian-Amer-ican domination of the Libyan file.

The ACS and Aljazeera Mubashir TV channel will host: Dr Mohamed Khalil Al Zarouq, researcher at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies; Dr Al Hussein Al Alawi, a Mauritanian researcher; Patrick Forestier, French Journalist; Al HawasTaqiya, researcher at the ACS.

Artists from 12 nations to attend expo

Amna Pervaiz Rao The Peninsula

International Artists of Doha (IAD) announced yesterday that its Fifth Annual Art exhibition 2017 will start on April 16 at

Wyndham Grand Regency Hotel.

The theme of the 10-day exhibition this year is ‘Time Passing’. Artists from 12 coun-tries will participate in the exhibition, officials said in a press conference.

Leila Bent Noubaker Elhaj, IAD Chairperson told The Peninsula: “The event will fea-ture live piano music by Academy for Dance Music & Arts (AIAD), three girls will be dressed by artist and stylist Hamda Al Thani to welcome guests. Daily public live paint-ing by IAD members will be done by one of the artists

during the exhibition. Visits for students from Qatar Founda-tion has been scheduled.”

29 artists from 12 countries are participating. The countries are Qatar, Austria, Canada UK, Pakistan, France , India, Tuni-sia ,Venezuela, Mexico, Germany and Thailand.

Jameela Al Shraim and Lina Alali are participating from Qatar. Adnan Siraj and Shazia S Bhanji are artists from Paki-stan. Shihar Hamza, Sree Kumar, Surabhi Gaikwad Uzgare,Urvashi Gaekwad Chauhan, Archana Bhardwaj, Nirmala Shanmugapandian, Mahesh Kumar, Ranjeesh Ravi, Salim Abdullah are artists par-ticipating from India, Annette Wendling-Willeke, Hannelore Seckel, Jens Heller are from Germany. Louise Bird from UK, Charlene Kasdorf, Jacinthe Lamontagne-Lecomte from Canada, Haifa Redissi and Leila Ben ChaiebElhaj from Tunisia, Johnatan Machado from Ven-ezuela, Juan Miguel Ramirez from Mexico, Klouchi Kader and Savita JhakerGandash from France, Nibras Al Rukabi Brit-ish Artist, OohSinchai Zonputh from Thailand and Willy Kem-pel from Austria.

In addition to original art-works being on display, all artists will contribute to a can-vas sized 150cm x 150cm, which will be offered to the public by way of a silent auction. 50 per-cent of the proceeds from the auction will go to to IAD to fund their future public events.

Unesco chief praises ties with QatarQNA

Director-General of Unesco, Irina Bokova, praised yesterday its organisation's partnership with Qatar.

Speaking to Qatar News Agency, Bokova expressed her appreciation for the constant cooperation with Qatar. The Director-General of Unesco praised her meeting with Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and said it was open to all issues related to cooperation between Qatar and Unesco. Bokova added that the meeting

also dealt with ways to protect heritage in times of struggle, particularly in the Arab world.

The Director-General of Unesco also highlighted the role of Chairperson of Qatar Foun-dation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, as a Unesco Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education and Advocate for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Direc-tor-General stressed that Sheikha Moza plays an active role around the world in these fields.

Bokova cited Qatar's posi-tive contribution as one of the

main drivers of Unesco's achievements in education worldwide. She praised the Edu-cate a Child programme, which was launched by Sheikha Moza, and provided education for mil-lions of children around the world who have no access to education.

Bokova noted that she also met with Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation (QF), H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani and discussed the importance of investing in edu-cation in times of emergency in different areas around the world.

10-day exhibitionThe participating countries are Qatar, Austria, Canada UK, Pakistan, France, India, Tunisia, Venezuela, Mexico, Germany and Thailand.

50 per cent of the proceeds from the auction will go to IAD to fund their future public events.

08 TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017HOME / GULF

Tokyo AP

Japan and Saudi Arabia agreed yesterday to explore ways to bolster Japanese investment and trade in the Middle Eastern

nation, possibly by setting up special economic zones there.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Ara-bia is in Japan for talks this week focusing on the economy, as the

country seeks a less oil-depend-ent growth strategy.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told King Salman that Japan wants to "vigorously advance its ties with Saudi Arabia.

Egyptian workers excavate a statue, recently discovered by a team of German-Egyptian archeologists, in Cairo's Mattarya district, yesterday. Statues of the kings and queens of the nineteenth dynasty (1295 - 1185 BC) were unearthed in the vicinity of the Temple of Ramses II in what was the old Pharonic city.

Unearthing history

Continued from page 1Together, we hope to change

how a generation of students thinks and acts when it comes to energy and water use. If the sec-ond phase of Tarsheed 22 is any indication, the future of Qatar and its children looks bright,” said Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, Kahramaa President, address-ing the ceremony.

Hassan Al Thawadi, Secre-tary General of the Supreme

Committee for Delivery & Leg-acy (SC) said: “Based on the Qatar National Vision 2030, the SC places environmental sustaina-bility as one of its core values. We work with our partners to deliver a sustainable 2022 FIFA World Cup™ and drive positive change towards a sustainable economy to ensure Qatar’s development.”

T22 also recognized the con-tinued commitment to the

winners of the 2015 T22 compe-tit ion – by offering solar-powered lighting systems to set an example for conserva-tion, reflecting Qatar’s National Vision 2030 for a more sustain-able future and environmentally friendly society. Three teachers won the awards for best school teachers transferred the knowl-edge of T22 to students: Dana Al Fadalah (Abu Hanifa Model Inde-pendent School for Boys), Farah

Al Ani (Abdullah bin Turki Model Independent School for Boys), Rabia Ali (Al Muthanna bin Haritha Model Independent School for Boys).

Three individuals won the awards for best school coordi-nators: Maryam Al Hammadi (Othman bin Affan Model Inde-pendent School for Boys), Alyaa Al Marykhi (Alukair Primary Independent School for Girls), Fadwa Mahjoub (Al Huda

Primary Independent School for Girls).

Three students won the award for best students who par-ticipated in the activities: Ola Abdulrahman Mekdad (Alukair Primary Independent School for Girls), Mohammed Abdullah Al Kuwari with a group of students (Abu Hanifa Model Independent School for Boys), and Ali Salem Al Marri (Othman bin Affan Model Independent School for Boys) .

QNA

Public Works Authority (Ashghal) will divert traffic for a distance of 1 kilometre on Lijmiliya Road for two months from tomorrow to enable the construction of a final 2.3 kilometre extension of road on the Al Sheehaniya – Leatooriya – Lijmiliya Road expressway project.

The Al Sheehaniya – Leatooriya – Lijmiliya Road expressway project is a new 31 kilometre expressway that will more efficiently link the regional towns of Al Sheehaniya, Leatooriya and Lijmiliya.

Once complete, the new expressway will enhance transport efficiency in rural Qatar by providing motorists with two lanes in each direction, which is double the vehicle capacity of the previous road.

The project wi l l simultaneously improve road safety through the installation of guard rails, s t r e e t l i g h t i n g a n d i n t e l l i g e n t t r a n s p o r t systems.

86 % Arabs renounce official recognition of Israel: SurveyContinued from page 1

Attitudes towards ISIL are defined by political considerations not by reli-gious beliefs because positive and negative views are found equal fre-quently between respondents who identify themselves as “Very religious”, “Religious” and “Not religious”. As explained by Dr. Mohammad Almasri, Coordinator of the AOI, only around 20% of respondents attributed its popularity to religious factors.

When respondents given the chance to name their first preferred method to defeat ISIL and terrorist groups; 17% suggested the intensification of military efforts; 15% suggested “ending foreign intervention”, 14% proposed “resolving the Palestinian Cause” as their first preferred method to defeat ISIL and similar terrorist bodies. Finally, 12% suggested ending the Syrian conflict to defeat terrorist groups. In broad terms, the Arab public supports taking a comprehensive set of political,

economic, social and military measures to confront terrorism. The survey covered eight areas including the general situation of the Arab citizens, opinions on the performance of the states and governments, public attitudes towards democracy, political and civil society participations, the role of religion in public and political affairs, and public views about ISIL. Moreover the survey assessed the public attitudes towards common factors among Arab nations where 77% believe that the various peoples of the Arab region constitute a “single nation”, with some varying differences

Regarding Arab Spring the survey showed that he Arab public is neatly divided as 45% agreed with the statement that the Arab Spring “will achieve its aims”, despite acknowledging present setbacks, compared to 39% who agreed with the opposing statement, that “the Arab Spring has come to an end”, and that the old regimes have returned

to power. 52% of respondents stated that they were worried, to varying extents, about the rise to power of such groups, compared to 42% who stated that they were not worried about Islamists coming to power. By comparison, 59% of respondents expressed their concerns/worries of the rise to power of non-religious/secular groups, while 33% stated they had no worries of secularists coming to power.

The 2016 poll report which came in more than 400 pages; reflected negative views about policies of regional and global powers for instance 75% of the Arab public has negative views about the United States policies towards Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. Similarly, around 66% of Arabs view negatively the policies of both Russia and Iran towards the same set of Arab countries.

The United States in particular was also identified as the greatest single threat to collective Arab security: 67%

of Arabs named both the US or Israel as the countries which posed the greatest threat to collective Arab security, and 10% of respondents designated Iran.

In a similar question, 89% of Arabs agreed that Israel is a threat to the stability of the Arab region; 81% agreed that US policies destabilized the region; and 73% regarded Iranian policies as destabilizing. The comparative figures for Russian and French policies were 69% and 59%, respectively. In sum, there is a firmly entrenched public view considering Israeli policies as destabilizing to the region.

This was in line with a widespread negative view of Israel, with the overwhelming majority (86%) of Arabs renouncing official recognition of Israel by their home countries.

Respondents offered a variety of answers when asked to define the single most pressing problem facing their country; where 44%, mentioned economic, 20% governmental

performance. A large majority of Arabs (72%) expressed views supporting democracy, compared to 22% opposing. Similarly, 77% agreed that a multi-party democracy was a good form of government for their home countries. In contrast, majorities varying in size from 61% to 75% expressed their opposition to a set of other forms of government,

Internet penetration has increased markedly over the years of the AOI, with 61% of respondents said they are internet regular users, compared to 37% who do not use the internet. Amongst internet users, 82% have accounts on Facebook; 33% on Twitter while another 32% on Instagram.

Meanwhile, 70% of social media users reported using their social media accounts to obtain political news and information while 68% use their social media accounts to express their views on political events, and 51% to “engage with” political affairs.

Service allows distribution of subsidised flour to bakeries

Continued from page 1After examining the bakery

site, the department’s director gives the approval. Once all fees are paid, the licence is printed.

Owners can request the amendment of the bakery’s con-tact information or designated manager. As for the amendment of the bakery’s site or trade name, it takes place automati-cally when amending the commercial register or commer-cial license.

The service also enables to renew a bakery’s expired licence or apply for the renewal of a licence that will expire in 30 days, provided that the commer-cial registration and license is active.

Applicants can also submit a request to temporarily suspend a bakery’s licence for a variety of reasons, such as labour short-age and maintenance operations.

The service also enables to reactivate a bakery’s licence in case the owner had previously submitted a temporary suspen-sion request.

To cancel a bakery’s licence

through its website the user should submit an application to cancel a licence, select the licence to be cancelled, identify the reasons behind the request, upload all required documents, and print a summary of the application.

Once the application is reviewed by the competent authority at the Ministry, the cancelled licence is printed.

The service allows the dis-tribution of subsidised flour in line with quota allotted for each bakery. The user should submit an application to request per-mission to obtain subsidised flour, identify the applicant, select the bakery’s license, spec-ify the flour quantity to be dispended and pay the fees through Doha Bank.

The Ministry said the flour, purchased through one or sev-eral orders, can be collected once the authorisation is issued.

The user can request an increase in the monthly quota for flour in a bid to increase bread sales or add new sale contracts.

The user should submit an

application to increase his monthly flour quota, specify the bakery ‘s licence, specify the requested quantity increase, upload required documents and print the application summary.

Once the application is reviewed, the competent authority at the Ministry decides whether to approve or reject the request. The competent author-ity also determines the increase and whether it applies perma-nently or for a month only. If the application is approved, the bakery owner can proceed to request the additional quantity by applying for a “permission to dispense” and “receive flour” services.

Once the fees are paid, the user can request the delivery of the purchased flour. Flour pur-chased through several orders can be delivered by installments. The user should select the bak-ery’s license number, determine the requested quantity, and print and submit the flour delivery application. Al-Matahin Com-pany then delivers the flour and collect delivery fees.

H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy & Industry, Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) and Eng Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, Kahramaa President, with the T22 Award winners at QNCC yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit/ The Peninsula

We hope to change how students think: Kahramaa President

Saudi and Japan seek to boost ties

Diversion on stretch of Lijmiliya Road from tomorrow

09TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

London Reuters

A record number of children were killed in Syria last year, more than a third of them in or near a

school, the UN children’s agency said ahead of the sixth anniver-sary of the war.

More than 850 children were also recruited to fight — more than double the number in 2015 — with some used as executioners and suicide bombers, Unicef said. “The depth of suffering is unprece-dented. Millions of children in Syria come under attack on a daily basis,” the agency’s regional direc-tor Geert Cappelaere said in a statement from Homs in Syria.

“Each and every child is scarred for life with horrific con-sequences on their health, well-being and future.”

However, the Syrian Observ-atory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said yesterday there are so far about 465,000 people killed and miss-ing in Syria’s civil war.

At least 652 children were

killed last year, up by 20 percent from 2015, the agency said. The figures — collected since 2014 — only represent formally verified casualties, meaning the true toll could be higher. Unicef also said there were at least 338 attacks against hospitals and medical personnel last year. Half of Syr-ia’s pre-war population has been uprooted in the conflict whose

six-year anniversary falls on March 15. Around 6.5 million people are displaced within Syria and nearly 5 million have sought shelter in neighbouring countries where conditions are getting increasingly desperate. The Nor-wegian Refugee Council (NRC) said nearly one million were trapped in besieged areas inside Syria with almost no aid.

Record number of kids dead in Syria last year: UN

Warning unit set up to monitor xenophobiaPRETORIA: South Africa and Nigeria yesterday said they would launch a jointly run "early warning" system to track and deter xenophobic attacks against Nigerian migrants. South African foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane met her Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey Onyeama in Pretoria in a bid to diffuse soaring tensions over a recent string of attacks on migrants living in the rainbow nation.

PM promises probe on beating of marchersRAMALLAH: The Palestinian prime minister promised to investigate the violent dispersal of an anti-government protest by Palestinian riot police. In Sunday's incident, helmeted troops beat demonstrators and journalists with clubs during a protest against President Mahmoud Abbas and his policy of security coordination with Israel. Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority which administers parts of the Israeli-occu-pied West Bank.

Israel denies entry to prominent UK activistJERUSALEM: Israel's ministry of strategic affairs said it denied a promi-nent British boycott activist's entry into the country. Revital Yakin-Karkovsky, a senior ministry official, said Hugh Lanning of the Pal-estine Solidarity Campaign was prohibited Sunday from entering Israel because his organization had close ties to the Hamas militant group and was one of the leading forces seeking to delegitimise Israel.

Karroubi's son sentenced to 6 months in jailDUBAI: The son of a detained Iranian opposition leader has been sen-tenced to six months in jail, after releasing an open letter from his father demanding to be put on trial after years of his house arrest. Mehdi Kar-roubi, a former speaker, has been under house arrest since 2011 after denouncing the results of 2009 election as rigged, and calling for street protests. His son, Mohammad Hossein Karroubi, was accused of publish-ing propaganda against the state over the letter to President Hassan Rowhani in which Karroubi said: “I want you to ask the despotic regime to grant me a public trial.”

Beirut AP

Syrian opposition fighters will be allowed to leave the last rebel-held neighbourhood in the city of Homs under a Russia-backed deal signed yes-terday, a Syrian official and an activist said. According to Talal Barrazi, the gov-ernor of Homs province where the city of Homs is the capital, the deal is to be car-ried out within six to eight weeks. The rebel fighters who decide to stay in Homs

can benefit from a government amnesty that was issued earlier, he added.

Homs, the country's third largest city, was once the center of the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

During the civil war, now in its sixth year, wide parts of the city were held by rebels and insurgents but the state even-tually regained control of all areas of the city except for Al Waer, the last rebel neighbourhood.

Al Waer is home to about 75,000 peo-ple and has been under a government

siege since 2013, triggering shortages of medicine and on occasion also food.

Barrazi's statement, carried by state news agency Sana, said the evacuation is the third phase of a deal reached last year that saw hundreds of fighters and their families leave Al Waer to other rebel-held areas.

Opposition activist Bebars Al Talawy, who is from Al Waer, said the agreement was signed Monday, adding that a com-mittee will be formed to prepare the lists of names of those who want to leave.

Deal to allow rebels to leave city of Homs

Nigeria's president resumes workABUJA: Nigeria's president is officially getting back to work after nearly two months in London on medical leave. President Muhammadu Buhari's aide Femi Adesina tweets that Buhari has signed a letter informing the National Assembly "of his resumption of duty from today."The president returned to Nigeria on Friday but left Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in charge of Africa's most populous nation over the weekend as he rested.

Toll reaches 465,000However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said there are so far about 465,000 people killed and missing in Syria’s civil war.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari (left) with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo after the President returned from seven weeks of medical leave, in Abuja, Nigeria, yesterday.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s obsession with making Scotland independent has got the better of her. She has demanded a second referendum on Scotland seceding from the United Kingdom. The demand comes at a time when Britain is at a crossroads as Prime Minister Theresa May gets closer to triggering a Brexit to bring the country out of the European Union. If the UK exits, Scotland follows. So long, Scotland has been reiterating its desire of staying inside the European single market — a wish that can only be fulfilled if the region separates from the United Kingdom.

Brexit could bring economic hardships to Britain and Scotland wants to stay away from the predicament. An isolated Britain could struggle to find a firm footing after decades of being in a single market. Scotland has always leaned towards separation and Sturgeon has found another ruse to look forward to achieving the dream by trying to trigger a second referendum.

It is for the British Parliament to give permission for the referendum, which Sturgeon wants held between the autumn of 2018 and early 2019. Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond who led the first referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 resigned after it was defeated. It is uncertain if Sturgeon would face the same fate but the stakes for the Scottish politician are certainly very high.

The oil wealth of Scotland is immense. The land of bagpipers and kilts presides over huge petroleum reserves — a measure of economic strength for any country in times of high energy demand fuelled by expanding industry and transport.

States in the 21st century are considered successful if they are associative and not extractive, the latter implying an undue reliance on natural resources. In fact, excessive reliance on oil reserves could put Scotland

in the league of rentier states if it ends up with weak supportive political structures and frail civil society institutions.

Scotland was another country 307 years ago. In a fast-paced world, states should not make history a ruse for undoing mistakes, if any, of the past. Instead of looking ahead and pressuring London for greater autonomy and powers, it would be wrong to exhort Scots to go and vote for separating from Britain a second time. The idea of separatism is built on the premise that coexistence is a threat to the party that wants to separate. In a globalised world, interdependence is the name of the game. States look for support within their internal framework and outside it. The idea of a bloc like the European Union has been built to bring about economic and social integration with the long-term aim of erasing boundaries between nations that share a common history.

An independent Scotland could be vulnerable economically, militarily and may become a victim of terror attacks in the absence of strong security structures. It is time the obsession with an independent Scotland ended.

10 TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017VIEWS

E S T A B L I S H E D I N 1 9 9 6

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDmsalim@pen.com.qa

Separatist dream

QUOTE OF THE DAY

For almost 70 years the unique partnership between Europe and North America has ensured peace and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic.

Jens StoltenbergNato Chief

Sturgeon’s demand for a second referendum on Scotland may backfire.

The union that binds together the four countries within the United Kingdom has never been more at risk. What nobody in the English political and media class seems to have realised

is how badly England will fare if Scotland, which is more than likely, and Northern Ire-land, which is plausible though by no means certain, split off.

It will be the end of England — the domi-nant power of the UK, when the term “Little England” will really come into its own.

Almost exactly two and a half years ago, the Scottish electorate decided against leaving the UK. They were told by pro-union cam-paigners that if they did vote to leave Britain, they would lose their membership of the European Union.

At the time this was probably true. There was no incentive for European decision-mak-ers to allow accession for Scotland, not least because it would embolden Spanish Catalo-nian independence, and therefore Spain at least — perhaps Belgium too — would veto Scotland’s membership.

Now the circumstances have changed. Britain has voted for Brexit, but Scotland did not, with just 38 percent of Scottish people voting to leave the EU. In contrast, 53 percent of the electorate in England voted to leave.

As Brussels reckons with the result, the European project is looking shakier than ever. What better way to bolster its reputation than for European leaders to say: “Well, England — you voted to leave, and best of luck to you. Scotland, welcome to the party.”

A second Scottish referendumTalk of a second Scottish independence

referendum is everywhere, and English min-isters and officials are now quietly briefing the press that a vote on Scottish independ-ence is “inevitable”.

The Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has said it would be “absolutely fine” if one took place. The Scottish Nationalist Party leader and First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has already said a referendum is “highly likely”.

Would the independence movement win, though? The prevailing narrative among the chattering classes of London is no; but they are wrong.

They base their arguments largely on the collapse in oil price, an industry upon which the Scottish case for independence had origi-nally rested.

Post-Brexit Scots originally looked as if they would vote pro-union once again in a second referendum but, as the negotiations draw closer, support for independence is now beginning to creep up.

Of course, yes, the oil price has dropped, and of course this means that the presented plans for an independent Scotland look less convincing in the new cheap oil world. But this is easily cancelled out if an independent Scotland has access to the Customs Union, and England does not.

If Scotland leaves, England will lose the Brexit gameAlastair SloanAl Jazeera

English manufacturers, who are actu-ally benefiting far less from a collapsing pound than was expected, need access to the European single market. Relocating to an independent Scotland, which is close by and helpfully speaks the same lan-guage, would be an easy choice.

Unfortunately, for every factory that ups sticks and heads over the border, that is one less factory, and fewer jobs, left in England.A very good deal for Northern Ireland

What of Northern Ireland? The case for their independence - or joining Ire-land, known as republicanism - is clearly being felt by the public.

The sudden and remarkable rise of Sinn Feinin the recent elections - an explicitly republican party - is perhaps evidence of this.

For the first time, parties who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK no longer have an effective majority in the parliament.

Even if Northern Ireland does not gain full independence as a result of his-toric tensions, those same historic tensions may cause the Northern Irish to get a very good deal from the EU after Brexit anyway.

This could take the form of custom spot checks, not dissimilar to arrange-ments between Norway and Sweden, or it could be that Northern Ireland is given special access to the customs union that England will not enjoy.

The other option, less likely but not implausible, is that Brexit pushes North-ern Ireland fully out of the UK. If so, no doubt some of those same manufactur-ers considering a move to Scotland, not to mention financial firms, might alter-natively hop across the Irish Sea.

Already, more than 100 major financial firms are said to have made inquiries with Irish regulators about such a move. Either

way, uniquely across the UK as it stands, far better access to the largest free trade bloc in the world will be enjoyed by Northern Ireland than by its English counterparts.

‘Boorish arrogance’What is remarkable about all this is

how little interest the London-centric media is showing in the imminent break-up of our country, not to mention that England is facing a long-lasting eco-nomic challenge when compared to her national siblings.

There have been some exceptions. Adam Boulton, a high-profile commen-tator and columnist, noted after the shock gains of the pro-Remain and pro-republican Sinn Feinparty in the Northern Irish elections that “the almost complete absence of reports in London-based ‘national’ newspapers on the Northern Ireland election shows the capital is barely aware of what’s going on across the Irish Sea now the bombs aren’t going off,” predicting that “restless Ulster may beat Scots to the exit”.

The increasingly imperious new Prime Minister, Theresa May, also seems oblivious. “Politics is not a game,” she jeered when she visited Scotland for her own party’s national conference in early March, as if a country that produced the highest turnout in British electoral his-tory since universal suffrage, at the last independence referendum, needed reminding of this.

She chided the SNP for wanting another referendum, accusing them of petty electioneering.

The Labour Party were also in hot water for sending their London mayor north to accuse the Scottish independ-ence movement, which is hugely pro-immigration, of playing the same divisive politics as Donald Trump.

The disconnect is extraordinary, but understandable when you consider how Little England increasingly looks in on itself alone, even to the detriment of the other countries in the UK. Woe betide their boorish arrogance - Little England may end up being the big loser of Brexit.

The writer covers international affairs, poli-tics and human rights for a variety of British newspapers and magazines.

Should Scotland and Northern Ireland leave the UK after Brexit, the term ‘Little England’ will really come into its own.

ED ITOR IAL

11TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017 OPINION

government official to face the real prospect of jail time over corruption charges — a symbolic victory for a system of government characterised by corruption and influenced by oligarchs.

His case comes amid rising public disillusionment over the extent to which reform is possible in Ukraine. It will be a make-or-break test for the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the fledgling independent agency created after the Maidan revolu-tion to investigate major corruption cases free from political interference. The outcome will also say a great deal about Ukraine’s progress in fighting corrup-tion and developing a stronger legal system more broadly.

For Dmytro Shymkiv, the deputy head of the pres-idential administration in Ukraine, the Nasirov case is an encouraging sign in what has been a three year effort to clean up the country’s dirty political system and a welcome indicator that change is indeed taking root — albeit at a slower pace than desired. “The fact that this is happening, the fact that this is transparent, the fact that this is taking place — it’s a good thing,” Shymkiv told Foreign Policy during an interview in Washington. NABU is now up and running, and an arrest was made after the collection of evidence by that independent institution. That, per Shymkiv, is how the system is supposed to work.

Following the ouster of corrupt former President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, a wave of euphoria fueled a reform effort among Ukrainian lawmakers. In Octo-ber 2014, the country’s parliament passed a major reform package, but many of the initiatives have faced resistance from lawmakers, causing the anti-corrup-tion measures to be delayed or watered down before being implemented. Still, Ukraine’s anti-corruption movement — fueled by an increasingly active civil society and NABU — have won some hard-fought

BJP’s Uttar Pradesh win: A turning point for Modi?

Among its numerous oddities, India is a land of serial elections. Hardly do a few months go by when national attention is riveted on a fresh round of crucial state or provincial polls.

Since the watershed victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP or Indian People’s Party), in the May 2014 elections, there have been state polls in 15 states and Puduch-erry, a former French colony which is a Union Territory, euphemism for an overgrown municipality. These elections were conducted in batches or indi-vidually on five occasions, signalling that India has been in the throes of a poll almost every sixth months.

But of all these, the most politically significant elections were in the round which concluded on March 11 with the declaration of results.

People in five states voted for a local or state gov-ernment in regions varying from the eastern fringe, Manipur, bordering Myanmar, to the tiny state of Goa on India’s western coastline.

A country within a countryVoters mirrored India’s social diversity with the

four most significant religious communities, Hindus, Muslims and Christians and Sikhs, being present in significant numbers in the electorate.

In the round of polls, which lasted more than two months from January 4 when the Election Commis-sion called for elections heralding the start of a boisterous campaign, the most crucial was in Uttar Pradesh which, besides being India’s largest state, is also politically the most significant.

Of India’s 12 former prime ministers, seven rep-resented this state and even Modi sought election to the Indian parliament from this state after shifting from Gujarat, his birthplace and the state where he was chief minister for 13 years.

In times of size, UP is astonishing, for with a pop-ulation of 204 million it almost matches Brazil. Equally significant is the fact that 19 percent of its population is Muslim, the religious community peri-odically locked in conflict with Hindus.

At 38,760,000, the number of Muslims in UP is more than the population of several Islamic nations. Moreo-ver, it must have always been borne in mind that British India was divided on a religious basis and although India opted to remain a secular nation, in contrast to Pakistan which declared itself an Islamic nation, the Hindu-Mus-lim conflict has been at the centre of several political

disruptions and remains an unresolved issue.Insecurity among Muslims has increased steadily

since the 1980s as the BJP emerged from the side-lines and acquired centre stage. Anxiety about safety and political representation has grown steadily since Modi came to power because of promotion of hard-line Hindutva policies. He is the second prime minister from his party, but the previous administra-tion between 1998 and 2004 was a coalition. Modi led his party to become the first in three decades to secure a majority. Moreover, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the previous prime minister from the BJP, was a moderate leader who attempted to sack Modi after the state-complicity Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002.

Landslide victory for BJPUP was in the spotlight during these polls

because the BJP won 73 of the 80 parliamentary seats in the state in 2014 and was instrumental in providing Modi with a clear majority.

The party had been out of power in the state for 15 years after losing in consecutive elections to regional parties, and this election presented BJP with the chance to stage a comeback.

As the results stored in electronic voting machines were tallied on Saturday, the entire nation watched agape as projections of even the most opti-mistic of exit polls were overtaken by the results.

When the numbers counter for the BJP and its two small allies eventually stopped rolling,