TII conference on translation studies
The Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII) of Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) and Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) have announced this year’s conference programme, to be held from April 14 to 16.
The three-day conference features three panels, focusing on this edition’s theme, “Texts in Contexts: New Cultural Constellations in Translation Studies,” while keynote addresses will be open to the public as they explore theoretical and literary translation discussions.
Dr Ovidi Carbonell Cortes from the University of Salamanca, a keynote speaker, will analyse the perspectives on Arabic-Spanish translation, while Samuel Shimon will describe the past and present state of literary translation based on his experience as the founder and editor of Banipal Magazine.
The call for papers attracted contributions from regional and international scholars specialised in translation studies. The presentations will address theoretical and cultural questions related to translation, starting from the Tower of Babel, Abbasid Era, and Chinese tradition, to contemporary discussions of English and French translation of classical Sufi poetry, The Thousand and One Night, and Egyptian author Alaa al-Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building. In addition, there will be a presentation on translating the Qur’an into English.
Deadline to replace old number plates of vehicles ends today
The deadline for replacing old number plates of vehicles with new ones in Qatar ends today. Traffic Department has urged people to hurry to its workshop for the installation of new number plates.
Those who fail to get the new plates before the end of the deadline may be subject to some action, traffic department sources said without specifying what the penalty would be. The replacement is not linked to the renewal of the registration of the car.
The project for replacing old number plates with new plates that have only Arabic numerals with watermarks was first launched in November 2011. During its initial stages, there was a huge turnout of vehicle owners making the designated places for the process very crowded. However, the process became more relaxed later.
Most owners of private vehicles said that the process was hassle free. While most of the vehicles now feature new number plates, there are still a quite few who have to get the new plates.
Camel racing festival begins
The camel racing festival to win the coveted sword of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani began yesterday at the Al Shahaniya Camel Race Track.
The event will last till April 10.
More than 6,000 camels from Qatar and elsewhere in the GCC are participating to win various prizes such as gold and silver daggers in addition to the sword of HH the Emir which will be given to the winner of the final event of the festival - HH The Emir’s Main Race.
The winners of the first round of races were Al Gharbiya of Nasser Mohamed Zayed Khalfan al-Mansouri, Mubarak Mohamed al-Amri and Matar Hamad Matar al-Shamsi.
Races in the festival run over distances of 6, 8 and 10km. Shell has signed an agreement with the Hejen racing committee to sponsor HH the Emir’s Main Race.
Top League official hails summit outcome
Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab League ambassador Ahmed Ben Helli has hailed the outcome of the 24th Arab Summit, which was held in Doha last Tuesday under the chairmanship of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
Ben Helli said the Arab League has entered a new phase since the summit. Talking to Qatar News Agency (QNA) in Cairo, he said the Doha summit added a new dimension when it prioritised the people’s interest to official positions.
“This was clearly expressed by the Doha Declaration released at the end of the summit,” he said.
He pointed out that the Doha summit focused for the first time on supporting stability in countries undergoing changes as it called for their help to overcome their economic problems.
Overwhelming response to FCB competition
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development has received an overwhelming response from FC Barcelona (FCB) fans, eager to win a competition that offers the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel with the FCB team.
In total, Qatar Foundation received over 800 entries from across the region for its ‘48 hours only’ competition, with 10 submissions shortlisted. One lucky winner, Khulood Ebrahim from Bahrain, was selected for producing an outstanding photomontage design, which captured the spirit of the partnership between Qatar Foundation and FCB.
Through their ongoing partnership, Qatar Foundation and FCB aim to unlock human potential among young people across the world by working on various projects and programmes. In her photomontage, Khulood was able to capture the values shared by the two organisations, as they endeavour to encourage human development and the pursuit of excellence in education, research, science and sport.
Khulood will soon be flying with a friend to Barcelona, before travelling with the FCB team to Paris and watching the first leg of the Champions League Quarter Final tie between FCB and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). The clash, which will be taking place at PSG’s iconic Parc des Princes stadium, will pit two of Europe’s footballing giants against each other, and has a strong local connection due to PSG’s Qatari ownership and Qatar Foundation’s partnership with FCB.
Qatar Foundation will continue to present a series of events featuring fantastic prize competitions and live match screenings in the weeks ahead. The first leg of the FCB PSG tie takes place on April 2. That evening, Qatar Foundation will host a ‘fans zone’ event, where a variety of fun-filled sporting competitions will be held, followed by a screening of the big match.
The event is open to the public, and attendees will be invited to enter a ‘golden goal’ contest to guess the correct time of the first goal scored in the live game. The contestant whose guess is closest to the right answer will win two tickets to travel to Camp Nou to watch the second leg of the FCB vs PSG tie on 10 April.
On the evening of the second leg, Qatar Foundation will again set up a fans zone, running a similar programme of competitions before a live screening of the game. This time, attendees will be offered the chance to win two tickets to a Primera Liga match at Camp Nou later in the season.
Qatar University wins debate championship
By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter
Mohamed Shaheen and Hyder al-Maesagdi from Qatar University yesterday won the championship at the final of the 2013 Qatar Universities Debate League.
Elin Francis and Arwa el-Zanusi from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Services came runners up.
Eight bright youngsters from the nation’s top four universities vied for the top honours at the final of the 2013 Qatar Universities Debate League that was organised by QatarDebate Centre, an initiative of Qatar Foundation. The final round of the two-day competition was held at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar .
The other two teams in the final round were Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) and Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMUQ).
Nasser al-Attiyah, Qatari rally driver, was the chief guest on the occasion who gave away the prizes to the winners.
The executive director of QatarDebate Dr Hayat Maaraffi was also present on the occasion.
The award for the top speaker of the tournament was won by Patrick Steighen of CMUQ while the second best speaker award went to Dana al-Ansari of the same university.
Speaking to Gulf Times, al- Attiyah said that the debate competition was something that provided a lot of confidence to young people.
He explained: “Youngsters working in any field needed a lot of confidence and platforms such as debates provided a great opportunity for them to come out of their inhibitions. This will help them a long way in shaping their career. Debating just like car racing needs a lot of critical analysis and mental strength.”
During the final round of the competition, all the four teams debated on the topic “This House Believes that Developing Countries Should Prioritise Economic Development Over Civil- Political Rights”.
Speaking for the motion WCMC-Q and CMUQ argued that economic prosperity of the nation is the priority over political and civil rights.
On the other hand, Qatar University students and Georgetown University students opposed the arguments and said that political rights and civil movements paved the base for economic improvement of the country.
Awqaf ministry signs MoU with Al Jazeera
QNA/Doha
The Awqaf (Islamic Endowments ) and Islamic Affairs Ministry and Al Jazeera Media Channel represented by Al Jazeera Media Training and Development Centre (JMTDC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) relating to media training for the ministry’s associates.
The MoU was signed by Khalid Ali Juhar, the executive director for human resources and administrative affairs at the Al Jazeera Channel and Mohamed Hassan al-Malki, the human resources department’s director at the Awqaf ministry.
In a statement he gave following the signing ceremony here yesterday, Juhar said the Memorandum of Understanding mainly focuses on training and updating the skills of the ministry’s associates - 200 imams and preachers - on communication skills.
The MoU represents a framework for media co-operation between the two countries especially in the training, development and consulting field and reflects the Awqaf Ministry’s desire to benefit from the JMTDC’s expertise and know-how in this respect.
For his part, Munir Daeimi, the director of Al Jazeera Media Training and Development Centre said that the Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework for the relationship between the Ministry of Endowments and Al Jazeera network, and will be followed by other detailed memos in specific programmes.
He pointed out that this is not the first local or international co-operation for the centre with the ministries, agencies and institutions, whether governmental or non-governmental, since the centre has already signed other co-operation memoranda with the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning and Qatar TV.
Under the memorandum of understandng, some 200 Qatari preachers and imams will receive training course focusing on presentation skills and art of communication with the public within the framework of efforts of the Ministry of Awqaf to prepare and qualify this important category of employees of the ministry.
Construction worker dies
Vijaykumar Shivshankar, a 40-year old Indian construction worker, who was injured in a fall from a height while on duty earlier this month, died at the Hamad Hospital yesterday.
Vijaykumar, who hailed from Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala, fell from a height while installing an air-conditioner in an under-construction building on March 9, his friends said.
The deceased had been in Qatar for only about a month when the tragic incident occurred, they added.
