HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday held a telephone conversation with Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
They reviewed bilateral relations and the latest developments in the region.
Minister leaves
for New York
HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari, who is also Chairman of the 13th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII), left Doha yesterday for New York to participate in the deliberations on the Report of the Trade and Development Board to the Second Committee for the 69th session of the UN General Assembly.
Registration for dhow festival at Katara to begin today
Registration for the fourth Traditional Dhow Festival starts today at Katara - the Cultural Village (beach management) and will remain open until Thursday.
The festival, to be held from November 18 to 22, is aimed at reviving the maritime heritage of
ancestors and promoting it among the younger generation.
Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, general manager of Katara, said: “Over the last three years, the Traditional Dhow Festival has attained great success, especially with the generous sponsorship of HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani for its third edition, which witnessed the launch of the historic Fath al-Khair voyage. In addition, Katara received around half-a-million visitors during these. All these factors have made Katara eager to launch the fourth edition to continue with the success.”
Dr al-Sulaiti expects the festival to be a great heritage event that will provide both locals and expatriates with much entertainment. It will comprise diverse activities and competitions that will appeal to different categories of visitors.
He stressed that the festival is a good opportunity to promote Qatar as a key destination for marine tourism among both Arab and foreign tourists.
Colours of Desert Art and Painting show opens
The Colours of Desert Art and Painting Exhibition, organised by the Middle-East Art and Silk Painters (MAPS), opened on Friday evening in Katara Cultural Village in the presence of a large audience of artists from various nationalities, mediamen and art lovers.
Paintings and art works of 25 artists from various nationalities, including Qataris, were on display at the exhibition.
Artists participating include, Rashmi Agarwal (Head of the Society), Fouad al-Emadi, Sara al-Thani, Abdulrahman Aldorani, Abeer Harmouch, Elsy Tabet, Lyuba Jalladyan, Wafaa Elabdali, Anish Sharma, Eman Nasr and others. Middle-East Art and Silk Painters is a Doha-based an Art Community and Chapter of Silk Painters International (SPIN), USA for Silk Painters, different medium artists, painters and creative people.
90% of calls made to
999 ‘non-emergency’
Only 10% of the about 6,000 calls received a day by the Emergencies Section in the Central Operations Department at the Ministry of Interior are of emergency nature, a senior official has said.
Major Khalid Saleh al-Ansari, Chief of the Emergencies Section said the remaining 90% were inquiries, information about minor accidents, mistaken calls or even children making calls without realising the importance of the matter.
The Emergencies calls section includes 24 units for receiving calls round the clock, local Arabic daily Arrayah quoted him as saying to the Police Magazine.
Colonel Saeed Hassan al-Mazrooi, Director of Operations Department stated that it was important that the person making the call should be calm and able to give accurate information. Such a person should not intentionally dramatise or downplay the details of the situation.
According to him, the Central Operations Department includes the Sections of Command and Control, the Emergencies Services 999, the Security and Traffic Monitoring and the Blacklist Section.
Colonel al-Mazrooi said the calls through 999 are transferred to the operations rooms in the Command and Control Section and the field patrols are also informed for follow-up action until finalisation of the case.
A separate unit has been created to receive information on 992 from the deaf using a video system.
Man, divorced wife fined for exchanging insults
A Criminal Court has fined a man and his divorced wife for exchanging insults over phone, local Arabic daily Arrayah has reported.
The man has been given a month’s suspended jail term and directed to pay a fine of QR1,000.
The court has also imposed a fine of QR1,000 on his divorced wife, the report states.
The two were convicted of using insulting words against each other through mobile phone text messages.
The court said the reason behind the suspended sentence for the man was that his children required the presence of their father, according to the report.
Qatar, Belgium to update aviation pact
Civil aviation authorities in Qatar and Belgium have held talks in Brussels and agreed to update the provisions of the existing air transport agreement between them.
A statement released by Qatar Civil Aviation Authority said that the two countries agreed to add more cargo and passenger rights for the national carrier Qatar Airways.
The agreement was signed by Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Abdul Aziz al-Noaimi and Deputy Director-General of Belgium Civil Aviation Authority Nathalie Dejace.
