The Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage will be holding a ceremony to honour the winners of the Merit and Promotional State Award 2008 at the Qatar National Theatre next Sunday, it was announced yesterday.
HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari said that the event showed that the state is providing a favourable environment for talented people who contribute to the renaissance Qatar is currently witnessing.
“It is a good omen that such honouring comes at a time when the ministry of culture, arts and heritage is about to finish the preparations for the launch of celebration of Doha as the capital of Arab culture 2010,” the minister was quoted as saying by QNA.
The minister added the awards underscored Qatar’s commitment to the promotion of scientific research, arts and literature.
“Those who are winners today and those who won earlier will encourage others to follow in their footsteps,” he added in a statement.
The cash award of the merit prize was increased to QR250,000 and the promotional prize to QR150,000.
The state merit prize is given for Islamic studies, medicine and journalism while the promotional prize categories are Islamic studies, human and social science, applied and pure science and arts.
Among the renowned winners were the Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf Qaradawi, who has been awarded the merit prize for Islamic studies, and Dr Hajar Ahmed Hajar, minister of health from 1999-2005, who won the prize for medicine.
The winners of the State Merit and Promotional Prizes were announced last August by HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari, who is also the head of the prize Trustees Committee. |
