Volume 23 | Number 7809 | 2 RiyalsThursday 21 February 2019 | 16 Jumada II 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 01 SPORT | 07

Copa America a big challenge, says Qatar coach Sanchez

QIB maintains lead with 42.3% market share of

Islamic assets

BU

lem

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS

Manchester City 3 Schalke 2

Glittering start to jewellery and watches expo

RAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurated the 16th edition of Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition (DJWE) yesterday at Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC).

The six-day event took off to a glittering start with the partic-ipation of more than 500 brands from 10 countries spread over DECC’s 29,000sqm space.

H E the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior along with a number of Ministers, Ambas-sadors, and VIPs toured the various pavilions to view the fine jewellery and watch collections on display including those by local designers.

The presence of interna-tionally renowned Indian film actress and fashion icon, Aish-warya Rai Bachchan, added glamour to the opening event as a special celebrity guest, courtesy of Qatar Airways, DJWE’s Official Airline Partner.

Qatar’s premier jewellery and watch patrons are exhibiting and presenting their collections to an international audience, including Alfardan Jewellery, Ali Bin Ali Group, Al Majed Jewellery, Amiri Gems, and Fifty One East. This year’s edition sees the participation

of world-class brands for the first time, such as Tiffany & Co and L’Atelier du Bracelet Parisien, and the return of Bulgari to showcase its unique collection of luxury jew-ellery and watches.

Akbar Al Baker, Secretary-General of QNTC, commented: “As the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition celebrates its 16th year, we are honoured that His Excellency the Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and Chairman of QNTC has opened the show, ushering in a new edition of one of the oldest and fastest-growing exhibitions in Qatar and the region.”

Al Baker said: “Over 15 years, DJWE has witnessed important developments, both in terms of the level of local and interna-tional participation, and in terms of the level of events taking place on the show’s sidelines, which have focused on harbouring and transferring industry knowledge between consumers, manufac-turers and experts.”

“We are proud of the sizeable Qatari participation in this key event, and I’d particularly like to recognize the Young Qatari designers who are contributing stunning and luxurious pieces that are presenting strong competition to international brands,” he con-cluded. The Young Qatari Designers (YQD) initiative returns for the third year with the participation of 12

local designers in a pavilion dedi-cated to Qatari talent.

A highlight of the DJWE 2019 is an Indian pavilion as part of the celebration of the Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture displaying dazzling collections of 13 designers representing the most important brands from across India.

Prestigious French watch making experts Objectif Horlo-g e r i e i s c o n d u c t i n g

unique handcraft workshop where visitors can learn about the fascinating and complex watch-making industry and assemble their own unique watches.

French industry expert Geoffroy Ader, in cooperation with the newly formed Qatar Watch Club, will hold informal discussions on the watch and jewellery industry at the Majlis, daily at 4pm and 5pm. Watch

lovers and collectors will gather with the Qatar Watch Club at the Majlis every day at 6pm.

Visitors can also get val-uable information about the world of jewelry, diamonds and pearls, through jewellery man-ufacturing workshops con-ducted by master jewellers and gemmologists. The exhibition also offers jewelry services and consultations, including

valuable advice from gem experts from the famous French auction house, Artcurial. Also, the one-day DJWE Forum takes place today at the Marriott Marquis City Center Doha as one of the highlights of the event.

DJWE is open to visitors every day from 12 noon till 10pm until Monday, 25 February, and on Friday between 4pm and 10pm. �P2

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurating the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition as Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive and Secretary-General of QNTC, Akbar Al Baker, and other dignitaries look on.

Third cycle of ‘Path Towards Personalised Medicine’ launchedQNA DOHA

Qatar Genome Program (QGP) and Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), both members of Qatar Foundation, have launched the third cycle of the ‘Path Towards Personalised Medicine’ (PPM), a fund designed to support research projects aimed at developing customised health care solutions in Qatar.

The third cycle builds on the success of the PPM’s previous two editions, which benefited from the biological samples and data collected by QF member Qatar Biobank and QGP from Qatar’s population. Successful applicants will work towards advancing genomic research in Qatar from basic research towards clinical implementation.

Board Vice-Chairperson of Qatar Biobank and Chairperson

of QGP Committee Dr. Asmaa Al Thani said: “The ‘Path Towards Personalised Medicine’ is making it easier for researchers in Qatar to conduct innovative genomic research, and the research made possible through this fund will no doubt effectively translate into tangible health care solutions and enhance future care for patients.

“We encourage researchers to make use of this opportunity, learn and contribute to Qatar’s

quest for personalised medicine implementation.”

Executive Director of QNRF Dr. Abdul Sattar Al Taie said: “Our partnership with Qatar Genome Program aims to foster and support precision medicine research that matures innovative health care practices and medical technologies in Qatar. Our ultimate goal is to integrate precision medicine practices into Qatar’s health care system, to

improve the management and treatment of chronic diseases faced by the Qatari population.

“This collaboration will further enrich and nurture local human capacity to effectively address the healthcare chal-lenges faced by the region.”

QGP is hosting a dedicated webinar session about the PPM today from 2pm 3pm, led by Sci-entific Communication Head, QGP Dr. Hamdi Mbarek.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani opened the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition.

500 brands from 10 countries taking part.

Atletico Madrid 2 Juventus 0

Container traffic rises at Qatar’s ports in JanuarySACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Ports in Qatar have started the year on a positive note as container traffic has increased in January. According to the data by Mwani Qatar, the ports handled 110,394 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) containers in the first month of this year, compared to 103,996 TEU containers in January 2018. Mwani Qatar manages Hamad Port, Doha Port and Ruwais Port in the country.

These ports received 334 vessels in January this year. They handled 30,693 tonnes of building materials last month compared to 22,641 tonnes of aggregates in January 2018. The ports received

46,764 tonnes of general cargo, 5,749 vehicles and 71,896 heads of livestock, last month.

Hamad Port, the largest port in the Middle East, led from the front as it occupied a lion’s share in monthly traffic. It handled 109,349 TEU containers and 5,534 vehicles in January.

The ports have delivered an impressive performance last year with all round growth in all the segments. The ports achieved highest annual performance in containers, vessels and livestock segments in 2018. The ports received 4,781 vessels and handled 1.34 million TEU containers during the year. �P2

Qatari force arrive in Saudi to take part in Al Jazeera Shield drillsQNA DHAHRAN

The Qatari force participating in the joint Dir’ Al Jazeera (Peninsula Shield) exercise (10) arrived at the King Abdulaziz Air Base in Saudi Arabia yesterday. The exercise began yesterday and will continue until 12 March.

The joint Gulf exercises aim to further unify the military strategic con-cepts and plans, and increase coherence and synergy between the participating forces. The force was received by head of the reception committee Brigadier General Nasser Ibrahim Al Salem.

Brigadier General Khamis Mohammed Dablan, Commander of the Qatari force, said that this exercise supports the bonds of cooperation and relations between the GCC coun-tries, highlights synergy in the mil-itary field and keeps abreast of the development to face challenges and dangers of various kinds.

02 THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019HOME

Shura Council to take

part in PAM meeting

DOHA: The Shura Coun-

cil will participate in the 13th

meeting of the Standing

Committees of the Parlia-

mentary Assembly of the

Mediterranean (PAM), which

begins today in Belgrade.

The meeting will address

several priority draft laws

for the Euro-Mediterranean

region and political and

security developments in

the Middle East, as well as a

draft resolution on climate

change and another on the

promotion of human rights.

The Shura Council is repre-

sented by Member of the

Council Ali bin Abdullatif Al

Misnad Al Mohannadi. QNA

OFFICIAL NEWS

Shura Council Speaker

in New York for meet

NEW YORK: Shura Coun-

cil Speaker H E Ahmed bin

Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mah-

moud arrived yesterday in

New York City to chair Qatar’s

delegation to a Parliamen-

tary Hearing to be held at

the UN headquarters from

February 21 to 22 under the

theme: “Emerging challenges

to multilateralism: a parlia-

mentary response”. Upon

their arrival, the Speaker

and the accompanying del-

egation were welcomed by

Consul General of Qatar to

New York, Nasser Ibrahim Al

Lenqawi. QNA

Cabinet approves

draft law regulating

auditing professionQNA DOHA

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani chaired the Cabinet regular meeting held yesterday morning at its seat at the Amiri Diwan.

Following the meeting, HE Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi stated that the Cabinet reviewed topics on its meeting’s agenda as following:

The Cabinet approved a draft law regulating the auditing profession and decided to submit it to the Shura Council.

The preparation of the draft law came to replace Law No. 30 of 2004 regulating the Auditing Profession within the framework of updating the leg-islation to keep pace with devel-opments related to the auditing profession.

The draft law included pro-visions relating to auditors’ records and conditions and pro-cedures for registration, as well as auditors’ rights and duties.

Under the draft law, all those to which the provisions of this draft law apply, should recon-ciliate their status in accordance with its provisions within six months from the date of its implementation. By a decision of the Minister, this period may be extend for a period or other similar periods.

Non-auditor partners of the accounting companies shall be excluded from the reconciliation of their conditions stipulated in the preceding paragraph.

The Cabinet also approved a proposal to amend some of the provisions of the Cabinet’s Decision No. 32 for the year 2013 regarding the appointment of the Committee’s chairman and members of the Grievance Com-mittee at Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA).

The committee, headed by a chairman who is a chief of the Courts of Appeal and has two members, who are judges of the Court of Appeals, and other two members, who have experience in the field relating to securities, is competent to decide on the grievances concerning the penal decisions issued by the QFMA.

Moreover, the Cabinet approved a draft agreement for economic, trade and technical cooperation between the Gov-ernment of the State of Qatar and the Government of the Republic of Haiti.

The Cabinet then was briefed on the State’s smart program and took the appro-priate decision thereon.

The Cabinet also reviewed the following topics and took the appropriate decision thereon: The letter of the Minister of Commerce and Industry on the Ministry’s visions concerning the recommendation of the Shura Council on the review and eval-uation of the issuance of factory licenses so that similar products are not licensed to create a balance to prevent dumping. The letter of the Minister of Edu-cation and Higher Education on the results of the Global Edu-cation Meeting within the Global Education 2030 Agenda (Brussels-December 2018).

Qatar, Azerbaijan review ways to boost relations

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with the Minister of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Kamaladdin Heydarov, and his accompanying delegation, on the occasion of their visit to the country. During the meeting, they reviewed the relations between both countries and ways to boost and develop them in different fields. In addition, they discussed a number of topics of common interest.

Prime Minister inaugurates Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurated yesterday the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center. The ceremony was attended by a number of Their Excellencies Sheikhs and Ministers, members of the diplomatic corps accredited by the State, businessmen, and representatives of the participating companies.

Container traffic rises at Qatar’s ports in January

FROM PAGE 1The ports also handled 1.4

million tonnes of general cargo; 71,173 vehicles; 324,248 tonnes of building materials and 957,487 heads of livestock in 2018.

Hamad Port witnessed huge rise in vessel and cargo movement in 2018 and achieved several milestones. According to Qterminals, Hamad Port handled around 1.33 million TEU containers, over 1 million tonnes of break bulk cargo, over 255,000 of bulk cargo, over 68,000 vehicles and over 400,000 heads of livestock during January to December in 2018.

Kuwaiti Speaker

meets Qatar’s envoy

KUWAIT: The Speaker of

the Kuwaiti National Assem-

bly, Marzouq Ali Al Ghanim,

met met with Qatar’s

Ambassador to Kuwait,

Bandar bin Mohammad

Al Attiyah. They discussed

bilateral relations and means

of boosting them. QNA

Katara unveils massive muralThe Cultural Village Foundation, Katara, inaugurated yesterday a new mural called “Challenge” on the wall of Building 39. H E Sheikh Thani bin Hamad Al Thani unveiled the mural in the presence of Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, and Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, former Minister of Energy and Industry with several dignitaries and visitors. The 15sqm mural took two months to build using more than one million pieces of mosaic tiles using the mosaic technique to enlarge the original painting. It covers the wall of Building 39 located on the new block at Katara’s premises. Through this initiative, Katara aims to promote the local artwork and motivate other local artists to produce more unique artworks as well as shows its commitment to support art and artists. Katara intends to undertake more similar projects in the near future to add more symbols and cultural taste to its decorations on its buildings.

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Defence Minister meets outgoing Malaysian Ambassador

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah met with the Ambassador of Malaysia to the State of Qatar, Ahmed Fadhel bin Shamseddin, on the occasion of the end of his tenure in the country. During the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister thanked the Malaysian Ambassador for his efforts in supporting bilateral ties in all fields, and wished him success in his future assignments.

Minister of Foreign Affairs’ Special Envoy meets Iraqi National Security AdviserQNA BAGHDAD

H E Dr. Mutlaq bin Majid Al Qahtani, Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Combating Terrorism and Mediation in Dispute Resolution met today with Faleh Al Fayyad, National Security Adviser in the sisterly Republic of Iraq.

The meeting was held during the participation of Mutlaq bin Majid Al Qahtani in the fourth international conference to combat the media of

the ISIS “Da’ash” organ-isation in Baghdad.

Discussions during the meeting dealt with the efforts of countries, and the international efforts to combat ter-rorism, combating the ‘Da’ash’ organisation and drying up of sources of funding, and combating violent extremism. Qatar’s participation in

the conference underscores the strong relations between the two brotherly

countries and the importance of enhancing them.

H E Dr Mutlaq bin Majid Al Qahtani with Faleh Al Fayyad during the meeting.

Qatar strongly condemns repressive policies of Israeli occupation forces in Jerusalem and Al Aqsa MosqueQNA DOHA

The State of Qatar has expressed its strong condemnation and denunci-ation of the repressive policies that the Israeli occupation forces continue to exercise in occupied Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque, the latest of which was the blatant assault on the sanctity of worshippers and the closing of the door of mercy.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this step is part of a process ini-tiated by the occupation forces for years, and aims to change the identity of the city of Jerusalem and the division of the holy shrine and the expropriation of the historic rights of the Palestinian people including Muslims and Christians, by forcefully imposing the status quo and terrorising weapons under the eyes of the international

community.The Israeli occu-

pation forces and those who support them must realise that these viola-tions are an affront to Islamic sanctities and the feelings of more than 1.5 billion Muslims around the world. This is a feeling of superiority over norms and values that the civilized world has settled for decades, the statement said.

It said that the Israeli occupation state would not have persisted in its aggression and viola-tions of human rights in worship, freedom of movement and a safe and dignified life, and to dispose of it from the responsibilities as occu-pying forces according to international norms and laws “without the silence of many interna-tional and regional actors.”

The statement called on all the Palestinian people to unite and to surpass their differences in order to assume their historical responsibility, and urged the interna-tional community to act to stop these ongoing violations by the Israeli occupation forces.

4th meeting of Qatar-Philippine joint committee heldQNA DOHA

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs organised the fourth meeting of the Qatar-Philippine joint committee set up in the bilateral agreement on regulating the employment of Filipino workers in Qatar. The two-day meeting concluded in Doha yesterday.

The meeting was chaired by Assistant

Undersecretary for Labour Affairs Mohammed Hassan Al Obaidli, while the Philippine delegation was headed by Under-secretary of the Department of Labour and Employment Claro Arellano.

They discussed labor relations between the two countries and the development of procedures for Filipino worker recruitment in Qatar and joint cooperation in pro-grammes and projects to enhance the pro-tection of workers.

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Qatar Airways’ award-winning

Qsuite on display at DJWETHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Airways welcomed a glamourous opening day of the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition (DJWE), held under the patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani. The exhibition was officially opened yesterday by H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani; in attendance were the Minister of Finance and Chairman of Qatar Airways Group, H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi; Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti; Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, and other VIP guests.

This spectacular exhibition, taking place at the Doha Exhi-bition and Conference Centre (DECC), features more than 500 international luxury brands dis-playing some of the world’s finest gemstones, jewellery col-lections and watches, along with special editions and unique pieces.

Visitors to the DJWE will also have the opportunity to experience Qatar Airways’ award-winning Business Class seat, Qsuite, which is on display at the show. Qsuite features the industry’s first-ever double bed in Business Class, as well as adjustable panels and movable TV monitors that passengers can adjust to transform their quad into a private suite, enabling colleagues, friends or families travelling together them to work, dine and socialise together.

Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is delighted to welcome the opening day of the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhi-bition. This much-anticipated event offers visitors the oppor-tunity to experience the quality and craftsmanship of some of the world’s finest gemstones and jewellery collections. It is also is the perfect showcase for our patented Business Class seat, Qsuite – a product we believe has truly revolutionised the concept of luxury in the skies. We invite all guests to experience our unique in-flight experience right here at the show.”

As the Official Airline Partner of the DJWE, Qatar Airways flown the interna-tionally-renowned Indian actress and Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, to Doha to open this year’s DJWE. The airline has also flown a host of other international celebrities and style influencers to take part in the event, including Chinese jewellery designer Beau Han Xu and fashion designer Grace Chen.

LEFT: Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti with Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker at the exhibition. ABOVE: Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker with Bollywood superstar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Qatar to participate in National Day celebrations of KuwaitTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The State of Qatar, represented by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, is participating in the national celebrations of the State of Kuwait through a number of festivities which will begin today at Murouj area in the State of Kuwait.

The Qatari participation comes under the supervision and organization of the Qatar Center

for Cultural and Heritage Events. The celebrations include a number of cultural, heritage and sports events. The participation by Qatar in celebration conveys the highest congratulations to the government and people of Kuwait.

It also comes under the slogan ‘Kuwait, Our Country’, which embodies a phrase echoed by the Kuwaitis in many different cir-cumstances. The Qataris are now coming to celebrate with the State

of Kuwait its National Day. The participation reflects the values of loyalty. The Qatari participation in the area of Murouj will continue until February 26, and includes about six cultural events, heritage and sports.

The Qatari participation also includes activities for children, with the aim of evaluating and enhancing the behavior of children, performed by the team of the Qatari Puppet Theater.

Qatar-Azerbaijan joint committee holds 2nd meetingQNA DOHA

The Qatar-Azerbaijan joint inter-governmental trade-economic and technical committee held their second meeting yesterday, amidst a friendly atmosphere reflecting a joint commitment to developing bilateral relations. The Qatari side was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Azerbaijani side was chaired by Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted the positive outcomes of the committee’s first meeting in terms of enhancing bilateral ties. His Excellency noted that the current year coincides

with the 25th anniversary of estab-lishing diplomatic ties. His Excel-lency said that the visit of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Azerbaijan in 2016, and the visit of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to the State of Qatar in 2017 contributed to enhancing bilateral relations and to increasing bilateral cooperation.

His Excellency praised the Republic of Azerbaijan’s active participation in the International Products Exhibition and Con-ference (IPEC), which took place in Doha last October.

For his part, the Minister of Emergency Situations praised the noticeable development in bilateral ties. His Excellency high-lighted the role of high-level visits in enhancing them, noting that the those visits saw the signing of a large number of bilateral

agreements. He added that joint companies also contributed to increasing trade and opening up further scope for cooperation.

The meeting focused on enhancing trade volume and exchanging visits between dele-gations, commerce chambers, businessmen, and the private sector, in addition to organizing

joint trade events for Small and Medium Enterprises. At the con-clusion of the second meeting of the intergovernmental trade-eco-nomic and technical committee, the meeting’s minutes were signed.

It is worth mentioning that the first session of the Committee held in Baku on January 31, 2017 wit-nessed many achievements, the

most important of which is to con-tribute to the success of the visit of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the State of Qatar, in addition to exempting nationals of the two countries from obtaining visa before visiting the other country, and the resulting increase in the number of tourists visiting the two countries, the

strengthening of cooperation in cultural and education fields, as well as increasing trade volume.

The committee was established in the frameworks of an agreement in that regard signed between the government of the State of Qatar and the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan that was signed in Baku on March 8, 2016.

Qatar’s delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and the Azerbaijani delegation headed by Minister of Emergency Situations, Kamaladdin Heydarov, during the meeting.

This spectacular exhibition, taking place at the Doha Exhibition and Conference Centre (DECC), features more than 500 international luxury brands displaying some of the world’s finest gemstones, jewellery collections and watches, along with special editions and unique pieces.

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Around 50 countries invited forSilk Road Exhibition in November

IRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

Aiming at presenting the state-of-the-art technologies of shipping services, transport, logistics and port management under one roof, Silk Road Exhi-bition will be held in Doha Exhi-bition and Convention Center (DECC) on November 3 to 5, 2019.

The exhibition, which is being organised in partnership of the Ministry of Transport and Com-munications (MoTC) and Al Sharq Media Management (AMM), an affiliate of Dar Al Sharq Group, will see participation from around 50 countries.

Abdul Latif bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud, CEO of Dar Al Sharq Group, was also present at the event which was attended by a number of diplomats and offi-cials representing different gov-ernment, semi-government and private companies.

Addressing a press con-ference yesterday, Exhibition Executive Manager Eizeldin Abdelrahman said that the Silk Road Exhibition will provide an opportunity for direct meeting

between exhibitors and many decision-makers from local authorities, delegations, public & private institutions of both par-ticipants and visitors.

Also, it will provide an ideal structure to establish business ties between participants to attract investments and spe-cialized modern technology to the State of Qatar.

He said that due to increasing trade freedom and economic growth, the world witnessed a general intensification in trade volume leading to a growing demand for transport, storage and other facilities in interna-tional ports along with the demand for integrated logistics solutions to meet the with global demand.

“The importance of the Silk Road Exhibition in Qatar is par-ticularly augmented since Qatar is part of the Silk Road.

The exhibition aims at attracting government, semi-governmental and private sectors working in the field of transport, shipping and logistics to meet under one roof to exchange experiences and

opening up new horizons for the exchange of investments between the participating coun-tries,” he added.

Eizeldin Abdelrahman said that it was expected that 50 countries will participate in the exhibition. “The Qatar National Vision 2030 and its huge projects and investments in the infra-structure, ports and logistics areas for the next few years will provide great investment oppor-tunities for international com-panies in various sectors that can meet with their Qatari counter-parts to foster growth and con-tinue to enrich the Silk Road and the humanity as a whole.”

He said that Qatar was one

of the most important countries where to invest due to its distin-guished management and stra-tegic position as commercial hub to the world. “This will also allow foreign companies looking to expand their business in Qatar and other countries in the region. There is no doubt that organising and hosting such important events and exhibitions will allow international companies to learn about the growth of Qatar and have an insight about the Qatari development in all sectors, to exchange experiences and discuss the global development for better practices.”

Noor Shahdad, Director of International Relations and Acting Director of Public and Relations and Communications

at MoTC said in the past six years the Belt and Road Initiative had been transformed into a major platform for building the interests and benefits of all the countries that support the initiative. “It achieves economic integration and promotes trade and communi-cation between them through the construction of the Silk Road which reduces the cost of logistics and time of cargo flights between those countries,” she said.

Shahdad said the Silk Road exhibition is a great opportunity for the projects being imple-mented in the State, with regards to public and private partnership, especially Manateq, Economic Zones Company and other initi-atives in this field.

“The exhibition will also

highlight investment opportu-nities in the technology sector and shipping companies, direct air freight and the latest tech-nology related to transport services and port management in the participating countries,” she said.

Companies and organiza-tions such as customs authorities; shipping and transportation companies by sea, air and land; logistics services companies; port construction and development companies; dry dock developers; insurance companies; ship-builders; containers builders; land freight trains; navigation technology management; navi-gation universities and training institutes etc will take part in the exhibition.

Abdul Latif bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud (second left), CEO of Dar Al Sharq Group, with other officials, during a press conference on the Silk Road Exhibition. PIC: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA

Eizeldin Abdelrahman, Executive Manager of Silk Road Exhibition, speaking at the press conference.

Show at QNCC to depict Kuwait’s cultural landscape of 1980sSIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

Under the slogan ‘Kuwait and Qatar One Nation’, Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) will host today and tomorrow ‘1980s Show’ depicting golden age of most important cultural activities, plays produced in Kuwait in 1980s.

“It is the first time to hold this show outside Kuwait. We are one people; not only we share the language and history but also our culture is the same and we will see this in the show,” said Jassim Al Qames, producer of the ‘1980s Show’ that will depict Kuwaiti plays and films

of 1980s. The event is being organized by Al Rayyan for Media and Marketing Company.

During a rehearsal of the show yesterday at QNCC for the main show to be held today and tomorrow, he said that the pres-entation is in fact a journey in the common culture between the two countries and it will make us feel more closer to each other.

“The show will be of two-hour duration and there are 80 musicians participating in it. It contains 55 pieces of music and video,” he said.

“It is limited to the nineteen eighties when we used to see Kuwaiti TV programmes daily. When this show was performed

in Al Kuwait, it impressed everyone.

We were surprised and the secret of that success and pop-ularity is the passion and love of the people for that period,” he said adding that in Qatar too they were we expect the same participation because all the seats are already booked.

Abdul Aziz Mohamed Al Amadi, Executive Director of QNCC commented: “It is nice to get back to the memories through a live show. We live with these timeless stories which are full of culture and pleasure. We are proud to host this event.”

He said that it would be a unique experience for all visitors. A rehearsal of ‘1980s Show’ in progress at QNCC. PIC: ABDUL BASIT / THE PENINSULA

Registration for Translation in Business & Finance workshop opensTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII), part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), is accepting registrations for its Translation in Business and Finance workshop, taking place from February 24 to 27.

The workshop, to be delivered by Hisham Ali, senior translation specialist, Trans-lation and Training Center (TTC) at TII, will help attendees develop the skills required to become an effective translator in the business sector using a range of hands-on techniques. Attendees will learn the funda-mentals of working with business documents, including how to edit, revise, proofread and adapt accounting docu-ments and financial statements.

Nada A Al Mahmeed, Trans-lation and Training Center Acting Director, said: “The workshop forms part of TII’s aim to promote continuous learning and personal development. Translation in the business and finance sectors is a specialized skill and one that is in high demand across businesses in the region.

The exhibition aims at attracting government, semi-government and private sectors working in the field of transport, shipping and logistics to meet under one roof to exchange experiences and opening up new horizons for the exchange of investments between the participating countries.

07THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019 HOME

THE PENINSULA DOHA

United Development Company (UDC), a leading Qatari public shareholding company and the master developer of The Pearl-Qatar and Gewan Islands, recently organised its annual staff gath-ering event to recognise its employees’ hard work and dedi-cation.

UDC President & CEO Ibrahim Jassim Al Othman, members of the Company’s Executive Man-agement and employees attended the gathering at Marsa Malaz Kempinski at The Pearl-Qatar.

The event honoured staff members who have completed ten years of service at UDC. Al-Othman presented certificates of appreciation and gifts to long-serving employees, thanking them for their achievements and wishing them continued success at UDC.

Addressing employees at the event, Al Othman presented the company’s achievements and financial performance in 2018, while highlighting strategic objec-tives set for 2019 and the Com-pany’s 5 years’ business plan, adding that UDC’s achievements

over the past year reflected the Company’s resilience and com-mitment to its development strategy.

Al Othman praised employees for their contribution towards the growth and progress of the Company, while reaffirming that UDC remains a prestigious work-place with a corporate culture that encourages diversity, knowledge transfer and best practice.

“At UDC, we believe human

capital represents a pillar of our development strategy. Long service awards are just one of the many incentives we have adopted as part of a strategy to appreciate our experienced employees,” Al Othman said.

A documentary was followed to highlight the Company’s accomplishments in 2018, which marked another successful year for UDC with the inauguration of Gewan Island, UDC’s latest real estate project, which is adjacent to The Pearl-Qatar Island. The project was unveiled by Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, at Cityscape Qatar 2018.

In addition to the above,

United Development Company has accomplished several mile-stones in the development of The Pearl-Qatar Island, including the launches of the third sale phase of residential units at Al Mutahidah Towers and the second stage of property sales at Giardino Village, in addition to commencing the construction works for two com-mercial showrooms at Abraj Quartier district.

UDC unveiled a project to build “United International School”, in Giardino Village dis-trict, an international school that will meet the needs of The Pearl-Qatar’s residents and those of the surrounding area; as well as other development projects that are cur-rently under way, such as the

development of Floresta Gardens, which will comprise residential towers, gated communities including villas and a shopping centre.

It is worth mentioning that the Company has recently won a number of international awards in recognition of its success in developing leading international integrated real estate projects including the following awards: International Finance Magazine Award which named UDC as the Best Real Estate Development Company in Qatar in 2018; as well as 2018-2019 “Best Mixed-use Development” award at the prestigious Arabian Property Awards, in addition to two awards from Qatar Business

Excellence Awards 2018.In addition to honouring

employees who completed ten years of service with UDC, two employees were recognised as “Employee of the Year” and “Manager of the Year”.

This annual staff gathering aims to establish communication channels and instill a spirit of teamwork between the man-agement team and employees. This, in turn, mirrors UDC’s belief in the significance of human capital towards achieving its cor-porate mission.

At the ceremony’s conclusion, attendees including awarded honours posed for a group photo-graph with the UDC President & CEO.

UDC President & CEO Ibrahim Jassim Al Othman during the Annual Town Hall Meeting.

UDC organises annual

staff gathering, honours

long-serving employees

Qatar-US relations ‘very good and very strong’THE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar University (QU) hosted a seminar on “The United States Position on Issues Related to the Middle East” featuring William Grant, the Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires of the United States to Qatar since August 2018.

Grant conducted the inform-ative session followed by a dis-cussion with the audience.

The seminar was attended by Dr. Hassan Al Derham, President of QU, along with other senior representatives from the Uni-versity, students, faculty and staff.

Grant began the seminar by providing an introduction to the US government saying, “We value the opportunity to explain our country’s policy, in our own voice, to the people of Qatar, and people of all backgrounds. The best way to understand other nations is through dialogue.”

He explained the role of the US embassy in four basic func-tions: establishing relationships with key people from the host country; providing certain services such as visas, services to American citizens living or vis-iting Qatar, and helping com-panies seeking to do business in

Qatar; keeping the government informed about key develop-ments in Qatar, such as the energy business, which is important to Qatar and has a major impact on the world energy market; and finally informing people from the gov-ernment and informing regular citizens about the US policies and interests through various ways such as through seminars and social media, which is increas-ingly popular in the region.

He also discussed the structure of the US government explaining that the US has a very active democracy and they have

three branches of government. The first branch is the judicial

branch, the second is the pres-ident or executive branch and the last is legislative. The executive and legislative branches are called co-equal governments.

“Any country, when

determining foreign policy, has to determine its interests and the other countries interests. Dif-ferent countries of the world can have various interests such as energy, human trafficking, coun-terterrorism efforts, and much more,” Grant said.

He explained that the US has relations with most countries, and established relations with Qatar soon after it declared inde-pendence, adding that the US has a very active role in the Middle East region and views this region as very important, noting that

relations between Qatar and the US are “very good and very strong” and “the cooperation we have with Qatar is very wide.”

“It’s much more than just defence,” he said, adding that Qatar and the US cooperate in terms of labour matters, edu-cation, energy, terrorism control, trade and investment, security for the World Cup and law enforcement.

He also noted that the Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani praised Wash-ington’s efforts toward the current Gulf crisis during the Munich Security Conference earlier this week.

In concluding the seminar, the floor was opened to question and answer from audience members, where students, faculty and staff alike asked various questions related to the US foreign policy. In responding to a question about the current blockade, Grant said, “I do want to mention the question of the blockade. Our position is very clear and we have stated many times, we are opposed to this dispute. We believe it is hurting our interests in this region. We’re not happy with the dispute, we want to see it end.”

William Grant, Chargé d’Affaires of the United States to Qatar.

Dr. Hassan Al Derham, President of Qatar University, and senior representatives from Qatar University attending the seminar.

CMU-Q, Barzan Holdings sign MoU to promote scientific researchTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) and Barzan Holdings have signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) to promote cooperation in the field of scientific research and strategic studies. Nasser Al Naimi, Managing Director of Barzan Holdings, and Michael Trick, Dean of CMU-Q, signed the MoU at a meeting to discuss areas of coop-eration and collaboration.

Al Naimi said that the agreement will help Barzan in its objective to create inno-vative security technologies to promote Qatar’s defence industries. “We are enthu-siastic about partnering with Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, and working together to provide opportunities for grad-uates in all of CMU-Q’s program meareas,” said Al Naimi.

Trick commented that the MoU will help both organisations: “Barzan Holdings and CMU-Q share the common goal of devel-oping human potential in Qatar. Our students are talented, creative and motivated to make real change, and they can add tremendous value to Barzan, and to Qatar.”

The agreement includes cooperation through scientific research, strategic studies and scholarships, as well as hosting

specialised scientific conferences and pro-moting community development.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar offers under-graduate programs in biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science, and information systems.

Graduates from CMU-Q are making a deep impact in Qatar and around the world. Most choose careers in top organizations, and many have completed graduate studies. With 11 grad-uating classes, the total number of alumni is nearly 800.

Nasser Al Naimi (right), Managing Director of Barzan Holdings, and Michael Trick, Dean of CMU-Q, exchanging documents after signing the MoU.

Ooredoo official sponsor of Tunisian exhibition for real estate and bankingTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Ooredoo will be the official sponsor of the Tunisian exhi-bition for real estate and banking within the framework of the company’s activities in the field of social responsibility with all segments of society.

Ooredoo is participating in the Tunisian exhibition with a special kiosk to showcase its products and activities to the Tunisian community in Qatar as the company offers a host of tailor-made services like trans-ferring money to Tunisia quickly, safely and at a reduced rate.

Ooredoo provides tailor-made services to suit all seg-ments of society from dif-ferent countries, either by providing tailored packages to meet the needs of

expatriatess to stay in contact with their family and friends at home, or to provide excellent financial services that give them many benefits such as money transfer and international top-up.

Manar Khalifa Al Muraikhi, Director PR and Corporate Com-munications at Ooredoo, said “Ooredoo is committed to sup-porting various community groups in Qatar, including the Tunisian community, and we are keen to provide products and services that are tailored to the needs of each of them; be it special rates to call home or via Ooredoo Money services to transfer money or even top-up for their loved ones”

The exhibition will continue until February 23 with the par-ticipation of financial institu-tions, tourism and retail companies.

During the event, Al Othman presented the company’s achievements and financial performance in 2018, while highlighting strategic objectives set for 2019 and the Company’s 5 years’ business plan, adding that UDC’s achievements over the past year reflected the Company’s resilience and commitment to its development strategy.

08 THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019HOME

School students get a glimpse of QU resourcesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

High school students and their parents from both female and male schools in Qatar discovered opportunities and got a first-hand feel for university life at Qatar Univer-sity’s (QU) ‘Open House Day’.

The three-day event was organised by the Student Activity and Orientation Department in QU from Feb-ruary 18 to 20, with the first day dedicated to male secondary schools and international schools, and the remaining two days allocated to girls’ schools.

During the event, exhibi-tions showcased the various colleges and departments of service at QU, thereby dis-playing to high school students and their guardians the wide variety of specialisations at QU, as well as the conditions of acceptance.

The Center of Continuing Education and the Foundation programme at QU familiarised student on dates related to pre-paratory exams, which qualify students for admission.

The event was also a val-uable opportunity for high s c h o o l s t u d e n t s t o

communicate directly with the faculty members in different disciplines and colleges in order to respond to their enquiries, orient them to uni-versity life, provide support and facilities for students and create an encouraging learning environment.

The Open House Day embodies one of the

University’s most important messages to connect with the outside community and to attract as many national stu-dents as possible to qualify them to participate in the coun-try’s labour market after graduation.

All secondary schools in the country, including private schools for boys and girls, have

been invited to attend as well as international schools, in order to benefit from all the services that are provided.

The app for the ‘Qarari campaign’ was shared, which is a mobile application that raises awareness to youth of the importance of selecting majors that fit their literary and scientific preferences.

Students and their parents visiting various pavilions at Qatar University during the Open House Day.

Dance performance today to celebrate Qatar-India 2019 Year of CultureTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Indian Embassy is organising a Contemporary Dance Performance by Dishaa Creative Dance Group led by Basu Sharma as part of the Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture celebrations.

There will be two perform-ances - tonight at the Ballroom of St. Regis Hotel for local digni-taries and diplomatic corps and tomorrow for the larger Indian Community at the Auditorium of DPS MIS School.

The event will be an amalga-mation of several Indian dance styles and will be enacted by a troupe of 12 performers. The Dance Group has structured its performance around six themes, in six parts named “Aura”, “Ele-ments”, “Two shades”, “Mohe Rang Do Laal”, “Jugalbandhi (fusion)” and “Holiya me ude gulaal”. The dance piece “Aura” highlights the significance of spir-ituality in our lives with per-formance fusing together yoga movements and Indian contem-porary dance. “Elements” depicts

fire and water elements . The “Two Shades” piece brings into picture the two sides of life. “Mohe Rang Do Laal” celebrates the festival of colour through Kathak dance. “Jugalbandhi” is a fusion of dances highlighting the cultural diversity of India. The event ends with a Rajasthani folk

dance in “Holiya me ude gulaal” performance. Given that the event provides a glimpse of India’s rich cultural heritage, it would be a fitting tribute to the immense diversity that India offers and also to the links between India and Qatar in the field of culture and music.

A performance by Dishaa Creative Dance Group.

Kenyan staff of Stark Security Services wins honour at UoA race THE PENINSULA DOHA

Michael Onger, a Kenyan expa-triate working with Stark Security Services, has won a Silver Medal in a race organised by the University of Aberdeen (UoA) on February 12, 2019.

Onger, first realised his joy for running at Primary School in the Rift Valley.

After joining Stark Security Services in November 2017, he continued his hobby and despite

working a twelve-hour duty at the Mall of Qatar, he also manages to train for up to three hours every day. Given his passion, he joined Al Rayyan Sports Club to improve his skills and achieve his dream.

Through his incredible devotion to his sport, he came second and won a Silver Medal in a race organised by the Uni-versity of Aberdeen on February 12. He won the prize of trip to Baku, Azerbaijan. Michael said: “My goal is to get an athletic sponsorship and join the Ath- letic Qatari National team”.

The officials presenting the appreciation certificate to Michael Onger.

DPS-MIS conducts quiz competition THE PENINSULA DOHA

DPS-MIS conducted ‘Inquisitive’, an inter-house quiz competition, in the school auditorium on February 14, 2019 for the students from four different houses with six fervent partici-pants in each house fought a tough battle to win the intel-lectual contest.

The students of classes III and IV were the exuberant audience to witness the exciting event.

The quiz was an interesting six-round competition com-prising of interesting segments called Incredible India, Take Your Pick (which included dif-ferent fields such as literature, movies, people and places and

Information technology) fol-lowed by Rapid Fire Round, Audio-visual Round and Salam Qatar which engaged the stu-dents for two hours.

The students showcased their brilliance by rapidly answering the questions with confidence.

The questions put forth to the teams were intriguing, exciting and made the audience cheer with fervour when their house teams answered correctly. There was an intense compe-tition with a score tie between Rose and Tulip Houses.

Tulip House scored and swept the first place. Emotional moments ensued and all the participants were congratulated for their brilliant participation and enthusiasm.

The inter-house quiz competition in progress at DPS-MIS.

H H The Amir’s Sword Festival to see 30 Qatari entrepreneurs’ productsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Supported by Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development (Bedaya Center), a joint initiative by Qatar Devel-opment Bank and Silatech, and Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF), 30 entrepreneurial projects will be showcasing their products at the H H The Amir’s Sword Festival, set to begin today at Al Rayyan Racecourse.

The festival is one of the most prominent international horse racing tournaments in the region, with the best local and interna-tional horses taking part.

With this remarkable part-nership with Qatar Equestrian Federation, Bedaya Centre will offer Qatari entrepreneurial projects the best platform to showcase their products, promote them and have access to wide spectrum of equestrian audience who will be attending the event.

During the The Amir’s Sword Festival, Bedaya Center will provide opportunity to 12 entre-preneurs to showcase their varied goods at “Dukan”, while it will

offer 15 start-up projects oper-ating in diverse fields, the chance to have their own stand-alone booths ranging from F&B, coffee shops, sweets and others. Moreover, two start-up projects will have the opportunity to set up coffee shops to operate in the VIP area. On this occasion, Reem Al Sowaidi, General Manager of Bedaya Center, said,” We are delighted to renew our part-nership with Qatar Equestrian Federation to provide opportunity to Qatari entrepreneurs to showcase the products of their start up projects in one of the most important events held by the fed-eration. Following the huge success we achieved last year, this would be our second participation with greater number of entrepre-neurs on board”.

“The large number of partic-ipants for this year’s event, reflects the fruitful collaboration we have with QEF. We hope that this part-nership will continue to be of interest in supporting Qatari entrepreneurs, given the fact that all the events and championships conducted by the federation draws huge audience”, she added.

Qatar Charity, Unicef implement WASH project in PakistanTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Charity (QC) continues to implement a project to provide water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The project is expected to benefit some 270,000 people in 19 areas of Shorkot located in the province.

The project, which will con-tinue until 2020, aims, in general, to contribute to

improving the health and well-being of the rural population by changing their culture of sani-tation, hygiene and safe drinking water.

The project is being imple-mented in 98 villages and 350 schools in coordination with the Ministries of Education and Health of Pakistan. It will ultimately be a support to the Pakistan Approach for Total Sanitation (PATS).

The emphasis will be placed on students through water,

sanitation and hygiene (WASH) approaches in school in line with Punjab’s schools strategy on WASH. It is worth mentioning that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has implemented four separate projects in the Punjab Province in the same field. Qatar Charity contributed to one of such projects with 35% of the total value of the project, as it overall cost amounted to $1.5mn.

Under the project, Qatar Charity carries out a range

of educational and awareness activities to provide beneficiaries with hygiene skills and knowledge. It will train 1,050 teachers in Shorkot and form 350 water, san-itation and hygiene clubs com-prising 193 government schools to improve school health and hygiene condition.

Qatar Charity has organised an interactive theater on hygiene to raise people’s awareness about poor sanitation situation through dramatic theater scenes.

1,300 parents accompanied children at operation theatrein ACC’s novel initiative THE PENINSULA DOHA

An initiative first piloted at Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) last year has resulted in more than 1,300 parents of children requiring surgery being able to accompany their child into the operating theatre while anaes-thesia is administered and their child falls asleep.

Dr. Khalid Al Jalham (pic-tured), Director of the Ambu-latory Care Center, said both surgery and induction of anaes-thesia can be distressing for parents and children alike. He says having a parent present when anaesthesia is administered can significantly reduce the child’s anxiety and a recent research has shown that the presence of parents during the induction improves the quality of anaesthesia.

Since the initiative was intro-duced in March 2018, paediatric patients requiring surgery for ear,

nose, and throat (ENT) and dental procedures have been able to have their parents with them from the time they leave their hospital room until they fall asleep inside the operating theatre.

Dr Al Jalham says the decision to allow parents into the oper-ating theatre was a joint initiative of the ACC’s Perioperative Nursing, ENT, Pediatric Dentistry, and Anesthesia Departments and was initiated to enhance both the young patient’s and parents’ experience. “Anxiety can some-times occur before surgery when a child has to leave their parent to enter the operating theatre, particularly among younger children. Since our first paediatric patient was accompanied into the theatre by their parent, we have seen a marked decrease in the level of anxiety of both children and their parents,” said Dr. Al Jalham. “A hospital, and particu-larly an operating theatre, is an unfamiliar environment for a child so having a parent there to reassure them makes the whole

experience far less stressful. Parents who are involved in the surgery preparation process are often calmed after seeing that their child is in safe hands and will be well cared for throughout the surgery,” added Dr. Al Jalham.

Dr Al Jalham called the initi-ative a ‘win-win situation’. He says in addition to helping reduce the anxiety level of both children and their parents, it also cuts down on the time spent in the operating theatre because there is often no struggle with admin-istering anaesthetic when the parent is by the child’s side.

“We are glad that parents have embraced this initiative, which is evident through their willingness to be a part of their child’s surgery journey. This ini-tiative was introduced to transform the process of pre-paring children for a procedure under general anaesthesia,” said Dr. Al Jalham.

09THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019 HOME

QNL holds workshop in Oman on scientific examination of library objects

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Preservation and conservation specialists learned about the latest best practices in a workshop organised in the Sultanate of Oman by Qatar National Library, in its role as IFLA’s Regional Pres-ervation and Conservation (PAC) Center, and Unesco. The three-day workshop, in collaboration with the National Records and Archives Authority in Oman, was attended by book and manuscript conservation specialists from Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Iran, and other countries.

The workshop, “Practical Methods for the Scientific Exam-ination of Library Objects,” focused on technical photography of heritage collections and the technique of reflectance spectroscopy.

Technical photography rep-resents a collection of images taken with a modified digital camera using different lighting sources and filters to acquire a selection of images, with each providing unique information about the object under exami-nation. Reflectance spectroscopy is an effective technique in iden-tifying pigments, and reveals information vital to preserving historical items.

“We are delighted that experts from across the Arab region attended the workshop and learned about the latest skills and tools for preserving historical manuscripts.

The session is more important than ever, as the preservation of valuable heritage in the region is facing several challenges such as limited resources and lack of tech-nical expertise,” said Stephane Ipert, Preservation and Conser-vation Manager at Qatar National Library.

“The state-of-the-art digiti-sation centre at Qatar National Library is working with partners in Qatar and the region to pre-serve the rich cultural heritage of Qatar and in libraries throughout the Arab region, and to raise awareness about conservation of rare books, manuscripts and doc-uments,” Ipert said.

The workshop is part of a larger project working toward preserving documentary heritage in the Arab region by under-standing the needs and challenges of the relevant institutions, and enhancing knowledge and infor-mation sharing.

Abdul Mohsin bin Saeed bin Sultan Al Hinai, Director General of the General Directorate of Doc-umentation at the National Records and Archives Authority

in Oman, said: “This course is a result of unique collaboration between the National Records and Archives Authority of Oman and Qatar National Library, which provides participants with nec-essary skills and knowledge. It is important that experts in this field understand scientific methods and modern skills to preserve heritage in libraries and museums.”

“We are pleased to host this workshop in the Sultanate of Oman. We have learned valuable information about the use of modern technologies in the field of conservation and preservation,” said Badriah bint Isa Al Nadabiah, Acting Head of Preservation Department at the National Records and Archives Authority in Oman. “The workshop covered the fundamentals of examining paper, including its decorations, illuminations and colours. It also focused on developing technical skills related to optical spec-troscopy and colors, and their rel-evance to technical examination of documents, manuscripts and books.”

Qatar National Library was selected as IFLA’s Regional PAC Centre in 2015, and now supports libraries across the MENA region to safeguard documentary her-itage in its diverse forms and formats.

A view of a workshop.

MME launches specialised technical engineering programTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) launched yesterday a specialised technical engineering program, with the aim of increasing the scientific and specialised knowledge and raising the capabilities of the staff in the applied fields.

The program will present specialised topics for the engi-neering, construction, planning and infrastructure sectors, as part of the ministry’s role in pro-viding specialised training for

the engineering and technical sector in the ministry, and all specialised professionals working in the companies in the state.

The Ministry’s Environ-mental and Municipal Studies Center, which carries out the program, also held a workshop on creating models for buildings and establishing Geographic Information Systems, and the role they play in having a united set of documentation for buildings.

The Director of the centre, Dr Mohammed Saif Al Kuwari,

said that launching the spe-cialised technical engineering program contributes to the real-isation of Qatar National Vision 2030 and the national devel-opment strategy. He added that the workshop aims to increase specialised knowledge and raise the capabilities of the staff in the applied fields. He added that the Information Modeling System for buildings provides significant advantages for the construction sector, by improving produc-tivity and efficiency in most con-struction processes in terms of time, cost and quality.

Dr Mohammed Saif Al Kuwari addressing the gathering.

QCDC gears up for Career Village 2019THE PENINSULA DOHA Qatar Career Development Center (QCDC), a member of Qatar Foundation, is finalising preparations for the 2019 edition of the Career Village, an event aimed at instilling a strong career culture among high school students and familiarising youth with the dynamics and challenges of Qatar’s job market.

The three-day event, which takes place from February 26-28 at Multaqa (Education City Student Center), will introduce students to career fields that will enable them to best serve their country. It will be open to vis-itors from 8am to 1pm and 4pm to 7pm.

The event will bring together representatives of leading com-panies from across different industries in Qatar, including education, culture, finance and business, energy, manufacturing,

transportation, communications, health, media, and security.

Exhibitors will brief visitors on professions in their respective industries and familiarise stu-dents with career opportunities and required academic tracks, while engaging visitors in a series of interactive activities to provide first-hand insight into the professions.

Additionally, the Career Village will also host a number of workshops that will help equip students with a range of life skills.

Ultimately, the event is intended to help visitors better plan their future career path.

Abdulla Ahmed Al Mansoori, Director, QCDC, said: “This year’s edition of the Career Village seeks to introduce stu-dents to the concepts of career guidance, and to instil a new culture among members of the Qatari community through the training workshops that will be

held throughout the event.“The event will also offer

students the opportunity to meet with a number of entrepreneurs who will brief them on how they secured support to kick-start their projects.”

A Mini Career Village will be the latest addition to the event, enabling children aged 5-10 years to learn about various careers and professions in a entertaining and interactive way.

Finally, an exhibition fea-turing a selection of photographs provided by participating insti-tutions will be organised on the sidelines of the event.

The images will show the stages of development of the exhibiting institutions, as well as the sector or professions they cover – from inception to the present day. It will also feature images of key personalities that contributed in establishing and developing these institutions and sectors.

Video Home wins LG Best Performer Service Award for second year in a rowTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Video Home & Electronic Centre/ Jumbo Electronics recently attended LG’s Middle East & Africa (MEA) Distributors Service Conference in which it was awarded the LG MEA Service Performance Award as a Best Performer for 2018 in the region.

This conference was attended by 23 service representatives from 15 service distributors across 13 coun-tries who competed round the year for the coveted award. Representatives from LG Headquarters in Korea were also present. The award was presented by Sanghyeon Park, President LG – MEA Service.

At the conference Video Home pre-sented some of its best practices during

the year which were aimed towards improving Repair Turnaround Time for all LG customers.

It achieved it by implementing a Service Call Management System to better manage service requests, it also integrated their systems with LG for a more dynamic automated interface for service call management, suffi-cient lead time was taken in to account for ordering spare parts to ensure

continuous availability, technician skill levels were improved through training and competitions, manpower was optimised for service centres to better manage load during peak summer time especially for air con-ditioners and productivity from each technician was improved through an incentive plan.

This is the second year in a row that Video Home & Electronic Centre has won the LG MEA Service Per-formance Award as a Best Performer in the region.

Also, last year, one of the techni-cians from Video Home & Electronic Centre won the Grand Master title at the LG MEA Service Skill Olympiad and went on to also win the No 1 position at the LG Global Skills Olympics that was held in South Korea.

Sanghyeon Park (left), President LG - MEA Service, and Brian Kwon (right), Director LG - ME Service, handing over the award to Shanmugha, Service Head at Video Home & Electronic Centre.

At the conference, Video Home presented some of its best practices during the year which were aimed towards improving Repair Turnaround Time for all LG customers.

QLC and QFFD forge strategic partnership on use of QSurveyTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Strengthening national research and data collection capabilities, Qatar Leadership Centre (QLC) and the Qatar Fund for Devel-opment (QFFD) signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU). The signatories thereby confirm their shared aspirations towards inclusive and sustainable devel-opment in line with the research-oriented development goals outlined in Qatar National Vision 2030.

As the world’s first bilingual online survey tool for the pro-motion of scientific research, www.QSurvey.com and its corre-sponding mobile app were launched in April 2018 under the patronage of H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of the QLC Board of Directors, as a free platform for efficient data storage and processing.

Researchers can rely on the tool’s secure data storage with native Arabic and English-lan-guage support and survey options. Notably, QSurvey users can analyze and export data onto a system of their choice, making it uniquely practical across a broad range of IT operation systems, such as Excel, PDF, and SPSS.

Noting the far-reaching sig-nificance of the joint initiative, Dr Ali J Al Kubaisi, Acting Managing Director at QLC, said: “We are proud to expand our national partnership network with the inclusion of QFFD – the leading

national development institution. At Qatar Leadership Centre, we believe in the importance of investing in Qatar’s human capital; and QFFD’s commitment to address key issues of education, health, economic empowerment, humanitarian assistance, and infrastructure represents the values we share. Through this MoU, we are establishing concrete steps towards proactive and inno-vative solutions for a research-led national development.”

Anchoring its objectives on the Global Sustainable Development Goals, QFFD works towards the achievement of critical devel-opment and relief efforts around the globe. Its role is therefore instrumental in shaping the coun-try’s development initiatives as part of a wider international com-munity. “Due to its advanced research and data analytics capa-bilities, QSurvey has achieved

industry-wide success as an inval-uable strategic and operational asset to both local and interna-tional partners. Notably, the tool provides private, public and gov-ernment organisations with secure and flexible services to gather internal and external reporting information, and opens the pathway for free, unlimited creative research to users,” he concluded.

Khalifa bin Jassem Al Kuwari, Director General of QFFD, said: “QLC is leading a significant modern enterprise development that is integral to the continued advancement of Qatar’s tech-nology and research sector. As a synergist for public development, we continuously explore new opportunities for collaboration and innovative tools to drive our operational involvement in more than fifty geographical regions around the world.

The officials at the event.

The State of Qatar appreciated the valuable contributions of the Committee to clarifying and interpreting the provisions of the Charter, and its role in the maintenance of international peace and security, the development of international cooperation and the promotion of respect for international law.

QNA

10 THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019VIEWS

Qatar concerned at current policies ignoring UN charter, international law provisions

The State of Qatar has expressed concern at the current trends and policies of the world, which ignore the provisions of

the Charter of the United Nations and international law and act against inter-national efforts, while reaffirming its commitment to the policy of strength-ening international cooperation and its international partnership to enhance the work of the United Nations. United Nations Organization.

This came in a statement delivered by Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Ambassador H E Sheikha Alya Ahmed bint Saif Al Thani, at the meeting of the “Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and the Strength-ening of the Role of the Organization”.

H E Sheikha Alya Ahmed bint Saif Al Thani said that the Special Com-mittee has worked for decades to promote respect for the Charter of the United Nations and international law,”, expressing regret and concern at the

current trends and policies of the world that ignore the provi-sions of the Charter and interna-tional law and counter interna-tional efforts.

In this context, H E Sheikha Alya referred to blatant cases which have harmed interna-tional coop-eration through the spread of tensions in

international relations, the attempt to impose dictatorial policies, interference in internal affairs and the undermining of the sovereignty of States under false pretenses and allegations, without regard for the serious consequences. “This is what the State of Qatar has been facing since June 2017. It faces illegal unilateral measures that violate the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, international law and human rights,” she added.

Sheikha Alia reiterated the position of the State of Qatar, which rejects any illegal policies, stressing the continu-ation of the State of Qatar’s policy of supporting collective action, enhancing

the work of the United Nations and achieving its goals in the areas of security, peace, development and human rights and to settle disputes by peaceful means based on the Charter of the United Nations.

The State of Qatar appreciated the valuable contributions of the Committee to clarifying and interpreting the provi-sions of the Charter, and its role in the maintenance of international peace and security, the development of interna-tional cooperation and the promotion of respect for international law, she said . The State of Qatar also appreciates the valuable contributions of the Committee to clarifying and interpreting the provi-sions of the Charter and its important role in revitalizing, strengthening and reforming the Organization. Her Excel-lency noted the Committee’s central role in the adoption of the Manila Decla-ration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, which empha-sized the importance of the Committee and the need to continue its work.

She added that the commitment of Member States to support the United Nations, as a multilateral system, was the cornerstone of achieving the goals and objectives of the international Organization and enabling it to address threats to international peace and security, development and human rights. “While Qatar reiterates its rejection of any illegal policies, it reaf-firms its policy of supporting collective action, strengthening the work of the United Nations and achieving its objec-tives in the areas of security, peace, development and human rights, and working to settle disputes by peaceful means based on the Charter of the United Nations. United nations”, Sheikha Alia noted. She said that the State of Qatar had continued to consolidate its international partnerships to strengthen the work of the United Nations and to continue to support the United Nations machinery to enable it to carry out its mandates, including the Office of the President of the United Nations General

Assembly, as the principal deliberative, representative and policy-making body of the United Nations.

She also stressed that the Special Committee was the appropriate forum to examine the legal aspects of those issues. She commended the Commit-tee’s tendency to reject any policies that were contrary to the principles and purposes of the United Nations and constituted a violation of the Charter. The ambassador stated that the General Assembly and the Special Committee have consistently affirmed the authority of the International Court of Justice as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and the role it plays in adjudicating disputes between States.

She reiterated Qatar’s support for the Court’s mandate and its adherence to the role played by the Court in the peaceful settlement of disputes. In this context, she referred to the decision issued in July by the International Court of Justice to approve the application of the State of Qatar to take measures against the UAE to take discriminatory measures against Qatari citizens in vio-lation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

She stressed that States’ respect for the decisions of the International Court of Justice is a test of compliance with international law and the basis of friendly relations and cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations”, adding that non-compliance with the decisions of the Court is an internationally wrongful act, a violation of the obliga-tions imposed by international law, and an undermining of international efforts in maintaining international peace and security. She also called for addressing the attempts not to implement the decisions of the Court and finding ways to implement them, in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Charter and the Statute of the Court.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The drugs problem was a national

security issue. I will not allow my country

to end up a failed state because of

drugs,

Rodrigo Duterte Philippine President

The political battles to come after the fall of the Islamic State

About half a decade ago, Islamist mili-tants bulldozed a dusty rampart

along the Iraqi-Syrian border. They styled the act as the erasure of a line drawn a century prior by European colonial powers, an artificial boundary that would be smashed under a new theocratic “caliphate” in the Middle East. At the time, these Islamic State militants held sway across a wide sweep of territory, extending from the environs of Aleppo in the west to Mosul in the east. They exploited the frailties of the Iraqi and Syrian gov-ernments and - through brutal violence and coercion - knitted together a new fiefdom amid the region’s conflicts. They administered schools and hospitals, collected taxes

and minted their own cur-rency. They also carried out mass executions, enslaved women, and looted and destroyed some of the world’s most treasured ancient sites.

But now, the “caliphate” is nearing its end, squeezed against the very border it thought it could negate. “By last week, there was only one dusty path out of the Islamic State,” wrote my Washington Post colleague Louisa Loveluck. She was reporting from near the Syrian town of Baghouz, along the Iraqi border, where US-backed forces had cornered what is believed to be the last cohesive remnant of the Islamic State - an estimated 300 fighters cowering in “a hamlet of tents.”

Under relentless coa-lition bombardment, the group has been driven from its urban strongholds and into the desert over the past two years. On Tuesday, airstrikes tar-geted the Islamist mili-tants, while trucks dis-patched by the Syrian Democratic Forces - a

Kurdish-dominated group backed by Washington that has led the fight on the ground against the Islamist militants - waited to evacuate the remaining civilians trapped by the Islamic State. About 42,000 civilians are taking shelter in Al Hol camp in Syria’s northern Hassakeh province, their numbers swollen in recent weeks by those able to flee the Islamist militants.

There are still believed to be hostages trapped among the enfeebled Islamic State, raising fears of civilian casualties in a final offensive. According to a report in the Associated Press, the remaining Islamic State fighters hope to negotiate safe passage out of Baghouz, possibly to Idlib province in north-western Syria, still home to a number of other Islamist factions.

“The militant group’s most die-hard fighters have seen escape as a betrayal,” wrote Loveluck. “But as the final battle loomed, others chose survival, laying down their guns and skulking out

among fleeing civilians, or using middlemen to nego-tiate surrender.”

But even once this last redoubt falls, there are many struggles ahead. President Trump is adamant that the defeat of the Islamic State will prompt a swift US with-drawal from Syria. Wash-ington lawmakers and senior US military officials are less sure, concerned that the Islamist militants will be able to reorganize in a new security vacuum. They argue for maintaining a military US presence while investing in the war-blighted region’s reconstruction.

“The coalition’s hard-won battlefield gains can only be secured by main-taining a vigilant offensive against the now largely dis-persed and disaggregated ISIS that retains leaders, fighters, facilitators, resources and the profane ideology that fuels their efforts,” Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, told a Senate committee earlier this month.

It is high time that the international community put in place serious and effective measures to stem the myriad violations by Saudi, UAE and Bahrain and the destruction of the Gulf social fabric.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

Siege victims’ rights

On the 625th day after the State of Qatar was placed under siege by the quartet of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt,

unleashing inexplicable suffering on the citizens and res-idents of the country, the European Parliament on Tuesday heard for the first time, horrific testimonies by a two of the victims of the unjust blockade and three others who have also been victims of Saudi, UAE and Bahraini viola-tions of human rights. Dr. Wafaa Yazidi, a Qatari national and victim of family disintegration, and Qatari student Jawahir Mohammed Al Meer, who was expelled from the Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi narrated the plight inflicted on them by those who imposed the siege to the members of the European Parliament. Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was brutally assassinated inside the consulate of his country in Istanbul, Briton Mathew Hedges, who was jailed in Abu Dhabi and sentenced to life imprisonment before his sub-sequent release after the British authorities intervened and Ali Al Aswad, a member of the Bahraini Parliament sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment, explained the

harrowing hardships they faced in these countries.

They described the posi-tions of the European Union and Western countries in general about the violations that affected them as negative and futile, blaming the govern-ments of those states of remaining silent on the basis of political interests.

Chairman of the Sub-com-mittee on Human Rights, Antonio Panzeri, stressed the commitment of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to defend human rights issues in various countries in the world, including victims of rights violations resulted from the Gulf crisis adding that the European Parliament will spare no effort to lift the blockade imposed on Qatar.

During the vibrant hearings, several MEPs called for halting weapons sale to Saudi Arabia, considering the human rights violations committed by that country. MEPs wanted effective steps to stop the violations of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Yemen and those resulting from the blockade on Qatar. They warned that Europe will bear the conse-quences of rights violations by the siege countries against Qatar if it did not take measures to stop the violators adding that the repercussions of the siege are not suffi-ciently discussed within the European Parliament.

Qatar has been calling on the international community to shoulder their responsibility and address the conse-quences of the unjust siege and the country has all the right to resort to international justice to ward off the political and legal abuse it faces.

It is high time the international community put in place serious and effective measures to stem the myriad viola-tions by Saudi, UAE and Bahrain and the destruction of the Gulf social fabric.

ISHAAN THAROOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Qatar’s Ambassador to the United Nations, H E Sheikha Alya Ahmed bint Saif Al Thani.

Nato is badly divided on Iran as well. Since the Trump administration withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal, Britain, Germany and France, along with the European Union, have been trying to keep the agreement alive despite Washington’s opposition.

11THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019 OPINION

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Pakistan’s cohesive policyprevents isolation efforts

Iran has a big advantage in the battle for the Middle East

HAJIRA MARYAM MIRZA ANATOLIA

HUSSEIN IBISH BLOOMBERG

Last week on February 14, a militant attack was carried out in the Pulwama district of India-held Kashmir.

Killing 40 paramilitary police officers, the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed took responsibility for the attack. After a meeting with the Cabinet Committee on Security

chaired by Narendra Modi, India placed allegations that the attackers were linked with the Pakistani state. Also, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced “complete iso-lation” and revoking “the most favoured nation status” to Pakistan under World Trade Organization rules (a trading status to ensure non-discriminatory trade).

The statement by the Indian leadership comes at a very fortuitous time with “more holes than Swiss cheese”, as it were, when one observes the geopolitical arena. As Narendra Modi’s policy towards Pakistan has been inconsistent and disjointed throughout his tenure, the blame-game is coupled with the Indian elections due to be held in April. The allegations also struck at a time when diplomatic efforts of Imran Khan’s government are aimed at revitalizing trade and ties globally. Khan’s visit to Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China, and Malaysia are a case in point. Moreover, in an effort to take Afghanistan seriously, it is positioning itself as a mediator in the Afghan peace process, which is reflective of the Khan government’s clear strategic objectives.

After taking the office last year, Imran Khan offered India an olive branch to restart bilateral talks, mediate peace, and a directed policy to resolve the dispute over Kashmir. Nevertheless, the Indian

government’s approach towards Pakistan is not within a similar conduit. In September, a scheduled meeting between the foreign min-isters of the two countries was can-celled, hence the Indian govern-ment’s volte-face, denting the nego-tiation prospects between the two countries.

It should be noted that Pakistan right now is not in an isolated situ-ation, and indeed far from it; the current diplomatic efforts under Imran Khan’s premier are unlike past scenarios. Previously, the country displayed fragile governance and an absence of a strategic direction and cohesiveness in its foreign policy.

Currently, through shifting power blocs and forging alliances, Paki-stan’s public diplomacy efforts are set to construct a new political and social imagination, with a straight-forward agenda in the geopolitical space. Therefore, Imran Khan’s saying that “Pakistan won’t fight anyone’s war” is in line with Islama-bad’s resolve in pursuing these stra-tegic values.

Taking an active approach to the Afghan peace process, Pakistan’s big question is whether it will be able to bring the Afghan Taliban to the nego-tiating table. Peace in Afghanistan cannot be achieved if Pakistan is not involved and requires an inclusive approach to achieve reconciliation. Therefore, Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Jannata Party (BJP)’s stance to isolate the country in the international com-munity is not realistic.

Similarly, through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan has established a strong strategic relationship with the emerging power of the globe. Chinese investments in Pakistan began in 2015, when the country was marred by corruption, an image of terrorism, and was therefore deemed as an unfavorable place for investments. Chinese investments have offered Pakistan economic prospects for the future. With the Sino-American relations worsening over China’s emergence across the Indian Ocean, which the US views with a suspicious eye, an alliance

between India and the US is flour-ishing to form a counter force against an assertive China in global politics.

With elections around the corner in India, the rise of the opposition force of Rahul Gandhi from Con-gress, and India’s economic woes put up a formidable challenge against Modi on his way to getting re-elected. The BJP is a political wing of the Hindu nationalist group “Rash-triya Swamesevak Sangh”. Retro-spectively, the BJP’s projection of policy towards Pakistan is similar to the anti-Muslim discourse amongst its supporters. It comes as no sur-prise that the post-Pulwama attack scenario fueled mobs of Hindutva supporters against Kashmiri stu-dents. As a result, the blame-game tactic against Pakistan works well in the BJP’s favour in enlarging its vote bank through an ultra-nationalist ideology.

Kashmir is India’s Achilles heel, and a strong, concrete diplomacy by Islamabad deeply unsettles New Delhi. Touqir Hussain opines that India’s focus also rests on keeping Pakistan off-balance and limiting its diplomacy in the Kashmir issue. The broader issue remains the lack of a cohesive policy towards Kashmir. No policy has been put in place for the people of Kashmir or against rising militancy, which has gained more ground under Narendra Modi’s leadership.

The attack in Pulwama was con-ducted by a local Kashmiri teenager, Adil Ahmad Dar. Reasons for a young person’s slide into extreme fringes call for a cool-headed assessment so that it is hopefully better understood why more and more people have been becoming involved in acts of violence. A culture of impunity, judicial killings, and abuses by security forces is deeply entrenched in the experiences of the populace in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Kashmiri occupation have been engendering violent behaviors and terrorism, and this can only be resolved through negotiation and mediating talks instead of episodic blame game or ongoing rivalry amongst participants.

Why can’t the US and its allies get the better of Iran? To all appear-ances, the face-off is a

colossal mismatch, with incompa-rably greater power arrayed against Tehran than for it. But Iran and its allies have several underappreciated advantages, not least the relative cohesion on their own side versus the disarray among their opponents.

Last week’s US-organized Warsaw Summit on “peace and security in the Middle East” was cor-rectly regarded by most participants and observers as an effort by Wash-ington to shore up the coalition opposing Iran’s regional Middle East ambitions. There were representa-tives of more than six dozen countries, all of whom are meaningfully opposed to Iran’s policies on nuclear proliferation, supporting terrorism and the like. They include most of Europe’s NATO members, many of the largest Arab countries and Israel. On its face, it’s a very large and formi-dable coalition.

By comparison, Iran’s committed allies seem a small and ragtag bunch: the Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah

in Lebanon, Shiite militias in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. True, in confrontations with the West Iran can call on the general sympathy of Russia and China. But those large powers are unlikely to bail Tehran out of a crisis, and they maintain good relations with many of Iran’s key opponents such as Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The key to the strength of Iran’s Middle East coalition is its relative vertical integration and discipline. Most of its members are either beholden to or dependent on Iran. So most important decisions are made by the Republican Guards or National Security Council in Tehran. Dissent is rare, and usually contained or irrel-evant. Even the outlying coalition members such as the Houthis, who do not pay much attention to Iran’s instructions, are valuable because their rebellion contributes to the chaos that Tehran strategically exploits.

The relative vertical integration of decision-making on the pro-Iranian side is also buttressed by cultural and religious deference to authority among Shiite Muslims. Shiites are typ-ically supposed to adhere to the

judgment of senior clerics, and Iran’s revolutionary Islamist appeal is pre-cisely to such religious-political authority.

In sum, Iran is a revisionist, anti-status-quo power that flourishes amid regional instability. None of this is true for its opponents. The coalition of Gulf countries, other pro-US Arab countries, Israel, the US, and most NATO states is quintessentially ori-ented to keeping the status quo, to preserving the global and regional order. And it is much harder to create and maintain structures than it is to blow them up.

This is not made easier by the dis-array in the anti-Iranian camp. The Gulf Arab countries and Israel don’t even have diplomatic relations. They remain profoundly divided over the Palestinian issue. All cooperation on security such as sharing intelligence must be limited and surreptitious. There’s no real possibility of an open alliance between them, as has become painfully clear to a disappointed Trump administration. And the Sunni-majority Arab countries are them-selves bitterly divided, as the ongoing boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt demonstrates.

NATO is badly divided on Iran as well. Since the Trump administration withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal, Britain, Germany and France, along with the European Union, have been trying to keep the agreement alive despite Washington’s opposition. They have created a “special purpose vehicle” for European companies to get payments for trading with Iran in currencies other than the dollar, bypassing the US banking system and, therefore, American sanctions. They all sent junior delegations to Warsaw, except for Britain, whose foreign minister said he was only there to talk about Yemen.

Another key NATO member, Turkey, opted out of Warsaw alto-gether, preferring to join Iran and Russia in a rival conference at Sochi, Russia, ostensibly to talk about Syria. Turkey is increasingly taking a neutral

Currently, through shifting power blocs and forging alliances, Pakistan’s public diplomacy efforts are set to construct a new political and social imagination, with a straightforward agenda in the geopolitical space.

attitude toward Iran, which it views as a rival rather than an adversary.

Finally, in contrast to the Shiite deference to clerical authority, most Sunni traditions encourage believers to judge everything for themselves and to pick and choose among various opinions for dif-ferent purposes. This allows Sunni extremists such as Qaeda to reject denunciations of terrorism by senior Sunni clerics in favor of jus-tifications by junior or marginal jurisprudents they claim to find more persuasive. It also makes it difficult, if not impossible, for Sunni Muslim powers to deploy religion as a politically unifying, integrating factor in a regional coalition that includes non-state actors and militias. The last time this was sys-tematically attempted, by the US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia during the Afghan war in the 1980s, it helped defeat the Soviet Union, but also produced Qaeda and the Taliban.

None of this is to say that Iran is in a stronger position than its adversaries. It’s not. Its economy is in ruins, it suffers from increasing political dissent at home, and it’s struggling to keep a grip on Iraq, which a few years ago seemed completely lost to Tehran’s influence.

No rational person would prefer to be in Iran’s position rather than those of its American and Middle Eastern adversaries. But Iran and its small but potent coa-lition do enjoy some clear advan-tages, including much stronger unity and relative integration, the advantages of being disruptive and, as Warsaw demonstrated so clearly, the utter disarray on the other side.

US President Donald Trump reinstates sanctions on Iran, after announcing his decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, at the White House on May 8.

12 THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA

Sudan crackdown

threatens lifting

of blacklist: US

KHARTOUM: A top US offi-

cial warned yesterday that the

“excessive violence” used by

Sudanese security forces to

quell anti-government pro-

tests could threaten talks to

remove Sudan from Wash-

ington’s state sponsors of

terrorism list. Deadly pro-

tests have rocked Sudan

since December 19 after a

government decision to tri-

ple the price of bread. “It is

absolutely unacceptable for

security forces to use exces-

sive violence to crack down on

demonstrators, to use deten-

tion without charge, certainly

unacceptable to use brutal-

ity, torture.. and needless to

say there’s no reason anyone

should be killed,” said Cyril Sar-

tor, senior director for Africa at

the US National Security Coun-

cil. The US-Sudan negotiating

process “which could eventu-

ally lead to the lifting of state

sponsors of terrorism desig-

nation... is being threatened

by the current developments”,

Sartor said in an interview at

the end of a four-day visit to

Khartoum. The protests since

December quickly escalated

into nationwide rallies against

President Omar Hassan Al

Bashir’s government, with

demonstrators chanting their

catchcry of “freedom, peace,

justice”. AFP

IN SHORT

Western powers warn

on violence in S Sudan

WASHINGTON: The United

States, Britain and Norway

yesterday voiced alarm over

a new flare-up of violence in

South Sudan, saying that all

sides needed to show their

commitment to peace. The

three powers, the so-called

troika that has led diplo-

macy and aid efforts aimed

at stabilising the troubled

young nation, urged all sides

to ensure the safety of civil-

ians in the southwestern area

of Yei. “This renewed vio-

lence risks undermining the

peace agreement and lowers

confidence of the troika and

other international partners

in the parties’ seriousness

and commitment to peace at

a critical time,” they said in a

joint statement. “We are con-

cerned that if the situation

escalates, the progress made

in implementing the peace

agreement will be irrevocably

set back,” they said. AFP

Iran to release three

Jordanian fishermen

AMMAN: Iran to release three

Jordanian fishermen held by

Tehran for violating the coun-

try’s territorial waters, the

Jordanian Foreign Ministry

said yesterday. In a state-

ment, ministry spokesman

Sufian Al Qudah said Iranian

authorities informed the Jor-

danian Embassy in Tehran

with the decision. The fish-

ermen had been held by

Tehran since late 2018 for

entering the country’s terri-

torial waters. The spokesman

said the fishermen were only

fined “for illegally entering

and fishing within Iranian ter-

ritorial waters”. ANATOLIA

A truck carrying men, identified as Islamic State (IS) group fighters who surrendered to Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), being transported out of the last IS holdout of Baghouz, in Syria’s northern Deir Ezzor province, yesterday.

IS nears defeatin last easternSyria enclave REUTERS NEAR BAGHOUZ, SYRIA

Islamic State looked close to defeat in its last enclave in eastern Syria yesterday as civilians poured out and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the remaining jihadists wanted to fight to the death.

More than 2,000 civilians left the village of Baghouz in a convoy of dozens of trucks. Coa-lition warplanes could be seen overhead and the sounds of inter-mittent gunbattles could be heard from the area, which is com-pletely surrounded by the SDF.

“The terrorists are entrenched inside, still betting on ending it militarily,” said Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF media office. “Our forces said from the start that they have two options: unconditional surrender or for the battle to continue until its end.” The US-led coalition said “the most hardened ISIS fighters remain in Baghouz”.

The village at the Iraqi

border is the last scrap of ground left to Islamic State in the Euphrates valley region that became its final major stronghold in Iraq and Syria after a series of catastrophic defeats in 2017.

Taking it will nudge the eight-year-old Syrian war towards a new phase, with US President Donald Trump having pledged to withdraw American troops, leaving a security vacuum that other powers would seek to fill.

The SDF could not be certain if some Islamic State fighters had

left Baghouz with the civilians, Bali said, adding security forces were checking the identities of everyone leaving. The SDF was working to evacuate some remaining civilians in Baghouz, he said. “We can’t storm Baghouz before confirming all civilians have been evacuated.”

SDF fighters, with troops of the US-led coalition against IS, waited at a position on Baghouz’s outskirts to question the evacuees and record their names, a Reuters witness said. Its fall marks a big moment in the group’s trajectory,

from winning control over vast territories in 2014 and pro-claiming the creation of a caliphate to rule over Muslims, to its stubborn demise under con-certed military assault.

Few believe the capture of Baghouz will end Islamic State’s threat: some fighters still hold out in the central Syrian desert and it has managed to stage repeated guerrilla attacks in areas where its territorial rule was ended.

However, it will heighten attention on the promised with-drawal of some 2,000 US troops

who have deployed into Syria during the fight against IS, and with it the fate of the Kurdish-led region that the US presence has helped to secure. Trump on Sat-urday tweeted: “We are pulling back after 100% Caliphate victory.”

Turkey has repeatedly threatened an incursion because it sees the Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the SDF, as a terrorist group inseparable from the PKK which has waged a three-decade insurgency inside its own borders.

Rowhani: US sanctions are ‘a terrorist act’REUTERS LONDON

Iranian President Hassan Rowhani said yesterday rela-tions with the United States had rarely been so bad and that sanctions imposed by the Trump administration targeting Tehran’s oil and banking sectors amounted to “a terrorist act”.

Animosity between Wash-ington and Tehran - bitter foes since Iran’s 1979 revolution - has intensified since US President Donald Trump withdrew from an international nuclear deal with Tehran last May and reim-posed sanctions lifted under the accord. “The struggle between Iran and America is currently at a maximum. America has employed all its power against us,” Rouhani was quoted as saying in a cabinet meeting by the state broadcaster IRIB.

“The US pressures on firms and banks to halt business with Iran is one hundred percent a terrorist act,” he said. Trump has reimposed the sanctions with the aim of slashing Iranian

oil sales and choking its economy in order to curb its bal-listic missile programme and its activities in the Middle East, especially in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States of hypocrisy for trying to wreck Iran’s nuclear programme while seeking to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s regional rival.

“Neither human rights nor the nuclear programme are the real concern of the US First a dis-membered journalist; now illicit sale of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia fully expose #USH-ypocrisy,” Zarif said in a tweet.

He was referring to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi con-sulate in Istanbul, which trig-gered international revulusion. The CIA has said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman likely ordered the killing, which Riyadh denies. Trump has stood by the prince, saying weapons sales to Saudi Arabia are an important source of US jobs.

Germany firm on Saudi arms ban despite British warningAFP BERLIN

Germany said yesterday it would hold firm on its decision to halt weapons exports to Saudi Arabia, shrugging off British warnings that the embargo could hurt European credibility and efforts to bring peace in Yemen.

“The stance of the gov-ernment is that we won’t deliver weapons to Saudi Arabia at the moment,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said after talks with his British counterpart about the

decision taken in October over the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Any future decision would be “dependant on developments in the Yemen conflict and whether what was agreed in the Stockholm peace talks are implemented,” added Maas referring to the Saudi-led war against Iran-backed rebels.

Earlier Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he would raise the issue with Maas, after Spiegel Online reported that the British minister

had written to his German coun-terpart to complain about the arms embargo.

Their differences were laid bare at a news conference fol-lowing the talks.

“In reality, because the UK has a strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, we’d been able to play a very important part in making the Stockholm talks happen,” said Hunt.

“And we don’t believe that changing our commercial rela-tionship with Saudi Arabia will help that, in fact we worry that

it would do the opposite -- it would reduce our influence on that process.”

In London, Britain’s foreign ministry confirmed a letter from Hunt to Maas but did not give details because it was “private”.

Citing the letter, Spiegel reported that London had urged Berlin to exempt major European defence projects like Eurofighter or Tornados jets from the weapons embargo.

Both the Eurofighter and Tornado jets contain German components. An export ban has

therefore had a domino effect on other European companies involved in building the aircraft.

Hunt had warned in his letter that Riyadh is already seeking compensation from Brit-ain’s BAE Systems over the German ban, Spiegel said.

Germany’s decision to freeze arms exports has also met with opposition from other European powers, including France, where President Emmanuel Macron had labelled it “pure demagoguery”.

A cyclist drives pasts a campaign poster for President Muhammadu Buhari in a street in Kano, Nigeria, yesterday.

Film industry pleads for poll peace in NigeriaAP KANO

As emergencies go, it has a catchy tune. Faced with a Nigerian election that could spiral into violence, some in the popular film industry known as Kannywood gathered this week to shoot an urgent music video appealing for peace.

On an impromptu set outside the northern city of Kano, young women bickered between takes but at “Rolling!” smiled and

swiveled in unison as male dancers sashayed by. While a drone camera buzzed overhead, a singer gestured and lip-synced a plea for Africa’s largest democracy to keep its cool.

“We are killing our children because of political violence,” the song said in the local Hausa language. “Go and cast your vote. Nigeria is a united country.”

Within hours, the video was edited and blasted across social media for Nigeria’s 190 million people and a vast diaspora that

enjoys products from the homegrown film industry Nol-lywood - considered the world’s third-largest behind Hollywood and Bollywood - and Kannywood, its northern wing, named for its location in Kano.

The video also will appear in DVD markets dedicated to Hausa-language films, where the industry explores sensitive issues such as child marriage via family dramas, sometimes with a dash of song-and-dance.

Zimbabwe launches new currency measureAP/HARARE

Zimbabwe, without its own currency for a decade, took steps to address its worsening economic crisis by allowing its surrogate currency, bond notes, and electronic funds to float freely against other major currencies, abandoning an official but artificial parity with the dollar.

Zimbabwe has not had a local currency since 2009 when

it abandoned the Zimbabwe dollar due to hyperinflation that reached 500 billion percent, according to the IMF. To curb the ruinous inflation, Zimbabwe adopted a multi-currency system dominated by the US dollar.

However, a shortage of cash dollars pushed the government in 2016 to issue a surrogate cur-rency called bond notes, to trade alongside electronic money, which are funds electronically deposited into bank accounts.

Most Zimbabweans, including civil servants, are paid electroni-cally into their bank accounts, but they cannot easily convert that money into cash needed to buy groceries and pay bills.

Officially, the government maintained the bond notes and the electronic money were equal to the US dollar. But both have been devaluing quickly against the dollar on the illegal, but thriving, black market, forcing many businesses, including the

government itself, to only accept the dollar for some transactions.

On the black market, in order to get $1 Zimbbabweans have had to pay up to four times that amount in bond notes or through electronic transfers.

The current crisis has resulted increased inflation and shortages of fuel and food. Yes-terday, the government announced measures to address the currency crisis.

Reduced tax reimbursement from Israel not acceptable: AbbasAFP/RAMALLAH

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would not accept partial payment of tax transfers owed by Israel, which decided to withhold reimbursements in retaliation for payments to prisoners jailed for attacks. “We shall not accept the (tax) money if it is not paid in full,” Abbas told a central committee of the Palestine Liber-ation Organisation in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday approved the freezing of $138m (¤122m) over the Palestinian Authority’s payments to pris-oners jailed for attacks on Israelis.

Abbas also said he would not end financial support for the fam-ilies of Palestinian attackers imprisoned or killed by Israel.

Few believe the capture of Baghouz will end Islamic State’s threat: Some fighters still hold out in the central Syrian desert and it has managed to stage repeated guerrilla attacks in areas where its territorial rule was ended.

13THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019 ASIA

Muslims hold placards during a prayer meeting to pay tributes to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a car into the bus carrying them in south Kashmir last week, outside a mosque in Kolkata, India, yesterday.

NIA takes over Pulwama terror attack probeAGENCIES NEW DELHI

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a fresh case and begun its probe in the February 14 terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama in which 40 troopers were killed, an official said yesterday.

NIA chief Y C Modi also inspected the attack site on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

“We have re-registered the Pulwama terror attack case,” said an NIA spokesperson. The first case in the attack, claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit, was registered by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on the day of attack.

The move comes five days after the worst-ever terror attack on security forces since militancy erupted in the state in 1989. “The NIA chief along with a team of officers including two Inspector Generals, Deputy Inspector General and Superintendent of Police visited the place of occur-rence of the February 14 incident.

“The officers of CRPF and local police were also present there. The NIA chief was briefed

by the officers about the progress made in the investigation so far,” the spokesperson said.

A day after the terror attack when an explosive-packed SUV rammed a bus carrying the Central Reserve Police Force troopers, the counter-terror agency officials, along with explosive and forensic experts, had collected material evidence from the site.

A team of senior NIA officers has been camping in Srinagar since the attack.

Meanwhile, India halted a key bus service with the Paki-stani-controlled Kashmir, cutting the only land route linking the

Pakistani inmatestoned to deathin Jaipur jail AFP JAIPUR

Indian prisoners stoned to death a Pakistani inmate in a jail yesterday amid mounting tensions over a suicide bombing that Delhi has blamed on its arch-rival neighbour, an official said.

The Pakistani had been eight years into a life term at Jaipur Central Jail in the western state of Rajasthan when he was attacked.

He was stoned to death after a quarrel, Rajasthan state director general of police Kapil Garg said.

The killing came amid calls for retribution across India over a car bombing in Kashmir last Thursday which killed at least 40 Indian paramilitaries.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack. India has accused Pakistan of backing the militants but Islamabad has denied any role.

The relations between India and Pakistan have been complex and largely hostile due to a number of historical and political events.

A Pakistani prisoner was killed by fellow inmates in a Kashmir jail in May 2013 in retaliation for a fatal attack on an Indian prisoner in a Paki-stani jail.

divided Himalayan region, Paki-stani and Indian officials said yesterday.

According to a Pakistani official, Shahid Mehmood, Indian authorities suspended the bus service this week without explanation.

The development comes amid escalated tensions between Pakistan and India in the wake of last week’s deadly suicide bombing in Kashmir against Indian paramilitary troops. At least 40 Indian soldiers were killed in Thursday’s attack, which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad.

Pakistan condemned the attack but cautioned India against linking it to the bombing without

an investigation.An Indian official confirmed

the service was halted on Monday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

The bus service between Muzaffarabad, the capital of Paki-stan’s part of Kashmir, and Sri-nagar, the capital of Indian-con-trolled Kashmir, was suspended so suddenly that travelers only learned about when they went to the terminal. Private cars, motor-cycles and other forms of trans-portation have long been banned.

The bus line, launched in 2005, served to reunite families on separate sides of the heavily militarized Line of Control.

“I came to Muzaffarabad from Rawalpindi to welcome my cousin but was told that no bus will come from Srinagar,” said Zareena Bibi, a 43-year-old Paki-stani woman.

Shehzada Akhtar, a 56-year-old woman from the Shopian area in Indian-controlled Kashmir, said she was prevented from traveling Monday following a death in her family on the other side of the line.

“I could not go to see my ailing uncle in 2016 when there was some tension between India and Pakistan,” Akhtar explained. “Now when my uncle has passed away, I am again unable to share grief with my beloved cousins.”

SC to hold Ayodhya title suit hearing on TuesdayIANS NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court will hold a hearing on February 26 on a batch of petitions challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict trifurcating the disputed site in Ayodhya and giving one part each to the Nirmohi Akhara, Ram Lalla and the original Muslim litigant.

The top court notice yes-terday said that the batch of peti-tions challenging the 2010 judgment would be listed for hearing on February 26 before the constitution bench

comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice S A Bobde, Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S Abdul Nazeer.

The court had on January 10 directed the hearing of the matter on January 29 but it did not take place due to the non-availability of Justice Bobde —one of the five judges in the reconstituted constitution bench.

On January 10, the top court had also directed its registry to “physically inspect the records which are lying under its lock and key, and make an

assessment of the time that will be taken to make the case ready for hearing by engaging, if required, official translators and give the report to the court”.

The original five judge con-stitution bench comprising Chief Justice Gogoi, Justice Bobde, Justice N V Ramana, Justice U U Lalit and Justice Chandrachud had to be recon-stituted as Justice Lalit recused himself after senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan pointed out that he had, as a lawyer, appeared in one of the Ayodhya related matters for former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister - and

present Rajasthan Governor - Kalyan Singh.

The new bench set up on January 25 saw the exit of not only Justice Lalit but also that of Justice Ramana.

Both Justice Bhushan and Justice Nazeer were on the three-judge bench headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which had on September 27, 2018, in a 2:1 verdict, declined one of the Muslim petitioners’ plea that the challenge to the 2010 High Court judgment on the title suit be heard by a five-judge consti-tution bench.

The petitioner had

contended that the high court had relied on a 1994 top court judgment, also by a five-judge bench, that a mosque is not integral to Islam for offering ‘namaz’.

The majority judgement (by then Chief Justice Misra and Justice Bhushan) said the obser-vation that mosque was not integral to Islam for offering prayers was in a different context and had no bearing on the title suit.

However, Justice Nazeer had favoured the hearing of the matter by a larger bench for the determination of the issue.

A Dassault’s Rafale fighter jet lands after a flying display during the inaugural day of the five-day Aero India 2019 airshow at the Yelahanka Air Force station, in Bengaluru, yesterday.

Grand alliance in Bihar to finalise seat sharing by MondayIANS NEW DELHI

With barely three months to go for the Lok Sabha elections, the “Mahagatbandhan” (grand alliance) in Bihar is all set to finalise the seat sharing formula in the state by February 25, party leaders said.

The development comes a day after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav met Congress President Rahul Gandhi in the national capital.

Confirming the meeting between Yadav and Gandhi, a senior Congress leader said, “The talks over the seat sharing formula in Bihar are in final round. We are hopeful that an announcement will be made by February 25.”

He also said that till date the talks have been positive.

Yadav was supposed to meet senior Congress leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh at his residence in Delhi last evening, but the meeting has now been shifted to Patna tomorrow.

A meeting of several leaders is also scheduled with RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.

The “Mahagatbandhan” in Bihar comprises the Congress, the RJD, the Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), the Hin-dustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) led by former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and the Vikasshil Insan Party (VIP).

According to sources in the Congress, the RJD would be getting the maximum number of seats followed by the Con-gress. The remaining seats will go to HAM-S, RLSP and VIP.

As per party sources, the RJD is willing to contest on 22 seats, while the Congress is eyeing 10 seats in the state.

The Congress has recently got a boost in the state after dis-gruntled BJP MP from Dar-bhanga Kirti Azad joined the party.

It will be tough for BJP to replicate 2014 in UP: SurveyIANS NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi still remains popular with the masses but it would be difficult for the BJP to replicate its 2014 success in Uttar Pradesh, says a survey on the evolving political scenario in the state ahead of the upcoming elections.

The survey also says that the tension after the Pulwama terror attack will have a significant bearing on the upcoming general elections.

Released yesterday, the survey report by market research and brokerage firm CLSA says that the BJP would find it difficult to replicate its 2014 success, though it could still win over half of the Lok Sabha seats in the country’s most pop-ulous state.

Our discussions with various politicians, including those of the BJP, indicate that the BJP would likely win 40-45 seats (out of 80) in UP, on the higher side against 73 back in 2014,” the report adds. A CLSA team travelled across Uttar Pradesh over the past two weeks to reach its conclusions.

During the course of its survey, it also found that Modi still remains popular on the ground across different castes, a factor that could translate into more votes in the caste-sensitive state. And in what may come as good news for the Opposition,

the CLSA report says the entry of Priyanka Gandhi -- which has already energised the Congress cadres -- may hurt the prospects of the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party (SP-BSP) combine and give the BJP a tough fight.

The SP and the BSP have joined hands to corner the Muslim and Dalit votes.

“Though the alliance is a for-midable opposition to the BJP, the entry of Priyanka Gandhi can still take away some of SP-BSP vote share. If not formal, at least, an informal alliance with the Congress will be required for the combine to work,” the CLSA report says.

The survey adds that a pos-sible alliance of the SP-BSP with the Congress can turn the tables and limit the gains made by the BJP, preventing a clean sweep of sorts registered by the party in the last general elections.

“We understand that the SP-BSP might tie-up with the Congress, at least informally, which could possibly limit the gains for the BJP,” says the report.

There is also a possibility of disgruntled party workers from the SP and the BSP, after the two joined hands, shifting to the Congress, which might help the BJP.

But CLSA says that cow vig-ilantism in the state has badly hurt farmer sentiments turning a large section against the ruling party.

India needs 2,300 new planes by 2040IANS BENGALURU

As India races to be the front-runner in the civil aviation sector, the country would need 2,300 new planes over the next 20 years, said Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu yesterday.

“We are drawing an action plan to build an ecosystem for making civil aircraft in the country, as we need 2,300 new planes to fly thousands of more passengers and ship tonnes of

cargo,” Prabhu said at the inau-gural event of the 12th edition of the five-day biennial Aero India air show here. As the aviation sector is booming at about 20 per cent month-on-month, the country needs more airports.

“Aviation sector is not just growing, but booming by almost 20 per cent month-on-month. We have 103 operational air-ports and will add 100 more in the coming years to connect even remote parts of the country,” the Minister said.

The growing civil aviation

ecosystem has the potential to attract an investment of $65 billion, he added.

“People from small villages are also becoming air travellers. We want to ensure every nook and corner of the country has air connectivity,” he said. Through the Central government’s UDAN regional connectivity scheme, the country has connected 235 new destinations spanning small cities and towns to increase con-nectivity and make air travel accessible and affordable, the Minister added.

India halted a key bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar, cutting the only land route linking the divided Himalayan region. Private cars, motorcycles and other forms of transportation have long been banned.

14 THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019ASIA

Pakistani art gets

representation at

Venice Biennale

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani art

has got representation at the

Venice Biennale 2019, a mega

international art event, as

Director General of the Paki-

stan National Council of the

Arts Jamal Shah was made

commissioner from Paki-

stan for the show by the

Ministry of Information and

Broadcasting.

This is Pakistan’s first official

entry to Venice biennale.

Eminent artist Naiza Khan will

be the exhibitor through the

collection curated by Zahra

Khan.

Naiza Khan’s work captures

the experience of living and

working in Karachi, where

everyday’s life is affected by

natural disaster, urban migra-

tion and political struggle. Her

practice includes paintings,

sculptures, wall drawings,

performance, and video.

The Venice Biennale is an arts

organisation based in Venice

and the name of the orig-

inal and principal biennial

exhibition the organisation

presents.

IN SHORT

Afghans to hold

meeting for

peace talks

KABUL: Afghan political and

tribal leaders will hold a large

gathering known as a Loya

Jirga next month to discuss

negotiations with the Taliban,

the president’s peace envoy

said yesterday.

Mohammad Omar Daudzai

said in a televised speech that

the gathering will aim to come

up with a framework for the

Kabul government to engage

in peace talks with the insur-

gents, who effectively control

nearly half the country. The

Taliban have so far refused

direct talks with Kabul but

have been negotiating with

the US to end its 17-year war

in Afghanistan. Daudzai said

the Loya Jirga would discuss

the government’s “values and

red lines.” He said most Afghan

politicians want the ongoing to

lay the groundwork for direct

negotiations.

Move to allow voters to enrol

on ‘third address’ opposed INTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) opposed the move to allow voters enrol in areas other than their addresses on computerised national identity cards (CNICs).

ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad told the com-mittee that around 15 million voters are enroled on ‘third address’, adding that would allow room for fake voters to be registered with the commission. After his objections, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs deferred decision till next meeting for a substitution in the Election Act-2019.

The move would allow voters to enrol on an address other than the permanent and temporary addresses mentioned in their CNICs.

The committee considered amendment in Section 6 and substitution of Section 27 in the Elections Amendment Bill 2018, moved by MNA Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali.

The committee meeting was chaired by MNA Mujahid Ali and attended by Minister for Parlia-mentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan and a number of legislators at the Parliament House. The

minister urged the mover to take back his amendment and bring an adjournment motion at the floor of the house. Moulana Chi-trali was of the view that it would be a human rights violation if a voter was denied his right to vote because of a difference of address on the voters list and his national identity card.

The mover of the amendment in Election Bill pro-posed substitution of Section 27 suggesting, “the registration of a voter at an address other than the permanent or temporary address mentioned in his National Identity Card shall remain valid till he applies for transfer of his vote or for mod-ification of his national identity card in which case his vote shall be registered according to the

temporary or permanent address mentioned in the national identity card”.

Moulana Chitrali said the purpose of the amendment was to save hundreds of thousands of people from a futile exercise in which elders, women and youth would have to pass through the practice of regis-tering their votes afresh and have to change addresses in their identity cards.

Though government employees had been exempted but their children were not entitled to avail this exemption and they would have to submit application afresh to get their names registered in the voters list after December 31, 2018.

The voters were facing the implication of Section 27 of the Election Act-2017. As the deadline of December 31, 2018 had come to an end, the Election Commission of Pakistan had launched a nationwide cam-paign to make general public aware about the change of vote of those persons who were reg-istered on third address.

Parliament inserted Section 27 to maintain transparency of electoral rolls on the recommen-dations of bipartisan Electoral Reforms Committee which eval-uated pros and cons thoroughly.

A Pakistani youth jumps from a boat alongside a river in Lahore, yesterday.

Jumping high

Tokyo to donate $10.6m aid to IslamabadANATOLIA ANKARA

Japan is set to donate $10.6m to Pakistan to help the country fight against malnutrition, improve livelihoods and boost capacities to respond to natural disasters, a UN agency has announced.

The United Nations Devel-opment Programme (UNDP) said Japanese aid will be used in the provinces of Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balo-chistan. “It will be a partnership that the Government of Japan signed with the United Nations Development Programme and the World Food Programme (WFP) in Islamabad,” UNDP said.

UNDP said that out of the total $10.6m, $3.5m will be used towards the early identification and treatment of 155,000 acutely malnourished mothers and children in Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa, including fam-ilies who have been displaced from Afghanistan and vul-nerable host populations.

Part of the Japanese donation will be allocated to increasing local and national preparedness levels against natural disasters, including the launching of pilot tsunami early warning systems, and enhancing the resilience of communities to coastal hazards with a specific focus on women and children.

PPP calls for determination of limits of suo motu powers INTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has expressed disap-pointment over the rejection of the review petitions in the benami accounts case and called for an early determination of the limits of suo motu powers of the Supreme Court.

“The points raised in the review petition particularly with regard to the limitations on exercise of suo motu powers are of fundamental importance and calls for a parliamentary debate on the determination of limits of these powers,” said Secretary-General of PPP Parliamentarians former Senator Farhatullah Babar in a party’s reaction on the

dismissal of review petitions filed in fake account case.

Farhatullah Babar also recalled the interview of Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Munich underlining that he had not been given an oppor-tunity to present his point of view in a court of law in the said case which, he said, was a negation of the constitutionally

guaranteed right to fair trial under Article 10-A of the Consti-tution. “Suo motu notice was taken by the Supreme Court on the ground of slackness in inves-tigations in the case,” he said.

He said Bilawal Bhutto had in his petition questioned whether slackness in the progress of a case constituted a valid ground for use of suo motu

powers. FIR had been registered, investigations were continuing, preliminary report had been finalised and the case was pro-ceeding in banking court,” he said, adding that is why the review petition also urged the Supreme Court to constitute a larger bench to address the con-stitutional issue of limits of suo motu powers.

Afghan chickpea vendor looks on as he waits for customers at his roadside stall near the Qargha Lake on the outskirts of Kabul, yesterday.

Cold business

Four development projects approved by Pakistani govt INTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) of Pakistan has approved four projects worth Rs806.2m.

It also referred another two projects amounting to Rs7404.6m to the Executive Committee of National Eco-nomic Council (Ecnec) for further approval.

Chaired by the Minister for Planning and Development Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar, the meeting discussed projects related to water resources, health, physical planning and housing sectors. The CDWP approved the feasibility study and detailed design of Burj Aziz Khan Dam project in Pishin Lora costing Rs67.41m.

The proposed dam envisages short reservoir of water of 23 million gallons per day (MGD), and will supply 21MGD drinking water to Quetta city.

The meeting discussed the Kachhi Canal project. Keeping in view the technical aspects of the project, the planning min-ister constituted a committee for carrying out detailed review of the project for submitting its report within fifteen days.

Talking about the project, he said the canal will irrigate mil-lions of acres of land in Dera Bugti district, boost agricultural production in the area and provide clean drinking water to local community.

In health sector, the Ministry of National Health Services, Reg-ulation and Coordination pre-sented four projects for Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad. The first approved project was the upgra-dation of existing facilities at PIMS Islamabad worth Rs200m.

The second project approved includes the construction of a female doctors’ hostel at PIMS worth Rs222.1m. The third project is related to the pro-curement of MRI equipment for PIMS radiology department at a cost of Rs316.73m.

A fourth project related to the extension of intensive care department of Mother and Child Healthcare Centre at PIMS worth Rs3,886.6m was referred to the Ecnec for approval.

The project aims to control pollution resulting from untreated sewerage directly coming into the Rawal Lake Islamabad from neighbouring settlements through installation of sewerage treatment plants.

Pakistan arrests Sindh Assembly SpeakerAP ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s anti-corruption body says it has arrested the speaker of a provincial assembly and member of an opposition party headed by former President Asif Ali Zardari.

In yesterday’s statement, the National Accountability Bureau says Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani was arrested in the capital, Islamabad, on charges of “pos-sessing assets beyond his known sources.”

The anti-graft body has

arrested several politicians and businessmen on corruption charges since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office last year following the removal of Nawaz Sharif by the country’s top court over corruption allegations.

Durrani is a member of the Pakistan People’s Party.

Afghanistan rebukes Pakistani envoy in ripple effect from Kashmir attackREUTERS KABUL

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Pakistani ambas-sador yesterday over his remarks that Afghan peace talks could be affected if India resorted to violence after last week’s attack on Indian paramilitary police in

Kashmir. In a statement issued after the meeting with Ambas-sador Zahid Nasrullah, the Foreign Ministry said it deemed his comments to be “in contra-diction with Pakistan’s commit-ments with regards to realising peace in Afghanistan”.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have risen sharply since

the attack, which the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad mil-itant group claimed responsi-bility for. India has blamed Pakistan, saying Islamabad has not done enough to control mil-itants based on its soil.

Pakistani authorities have denied any involvement in the attack. Nasrullah said that any

attack by India would “affect the stability of the entire region and impact the momentum” of the Afghan peace effort.

US envoys say Pakistan has an important role to play in the peace effort, given its links to the Taliban. At the same time, a former deputy Afghan defence minister said that Nasrullah’s

remarks would anger local gov-ernment officials, saying it played into fears that the coun-try’s long-running civil war is a proxy for rivalries by regional powers. Afghanistan’s deputy foreign minister, Idrees Zaman, earlier tweeted that Nasrullah had been summoned and handed a diplomatic demarche.

ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad told the committee that around 15 million voters are enroled on ‘third address’, adding that would allow room for fake voters to be registered with the commission.

15THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019 ASIA

Six dead in Malaysia

karaoke centre fire

KUALA LUMPUR: Six

people, including three for-

eigners, were killed when a

fire broke out yesterday in

a Malaysian karaoke centre,

with rescuers describing

scenes of chaos as the blaze

engulfed the building.

The fire erupted before

dawn on the fourth floor of

an eight-storey building in

the city of Ipoh, northern

Perak state.

Firefighters rushed to the

scene and found the bod-

ies of six people who had

died of smoke inhalation,

Perak fire department act-

ing director Sayani Saidon

said. “We came across two

locals, two Vietnamese

women and a Bangladeshi

man. We are still determin-

ing the identity of the sixth

person,” she said.

IN SHORT

Australia detains

nanny over alleged

Pinochet-era crimes

SYDNEY: Australia yes-

terday announced it had

arrested a nanny living in the

country for more than three

decades on allegations of

Pinochet-era kidnapping and

torture.

Adriana Elcira Rivas Gonzalez,

66, was detained on Tuesday,

a spokesperson for Australia’s

attorney general office said,

adding she “is wanted to face

prosecution in the Republic

of Chile for aggravated kid-

napping offences”.

She is alleged to have been a

member of dictator Augusto

Pinochet’s feared secret

police in the 1970s and is

wanted in connection with

the disappearance of a senior

Communist Party official.

Kim to travel by train for Hanoi summit REUTERS HANOI

Vietnam is preparing for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to arrive by train for his summit in Hanoi next week with US Pres-ident Donald Trump, two sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning said yesterday.

It could take Kim at least two-and-a-half days to travel the thousands of kilometres through China by train, from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to Vietnam, meaning he would have to set off later this week in time for his planned February 25 arrival.

Kim’s train will stop at the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang, where he will dis-embark and drive 170km to Hanoi by car, the sources said.

Trump and Kim will meet in the Vietnamese capital on Feb-ruary 27-28, eight months after a historic summit in Singapore in June — the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader — at which they pledged to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Negotiations have made little headway since then and there is growing

expectation that this time they need to reach a more specific agreement.

Separately, three other sources with direct knowledge of the summit preparations said the preferred location for the meeting between the leaders is the Government Guesthouse, a colonial-era government building in central Hanoi.

All five sources said the plans were subject to change. The sources were not authorised to speak to the media because of the sensitivities surround the secretive North Korean leader’s travel plans. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told

the summit organising com-mittee on Tuesday that security during the summit was “top pri-ority”, Vietnam’s government said on its website on Wednesday. The Metropole Hotel, opposite the Government

Guesthouse, will be a backup location for the summit, two of the sources said.

On Saturday, a witness saw Kim Jong Un’s close aide, Kim Chang Son, visiting the Gov-ernment Guesthouse and the

Metropole and Melia hotels in the centre of the capital. Kim could possibly stay in the Melia hotel during his visit, one of the sources said. Asked whether Kim would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on his way through the

country, or for any other details of the trip, Chinese Foreign Min-istry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was unaware of the sit-uation. “China and North Korea have a tradition of high-level mutual visits. As for the situation you mentioned, I have no grasp of it,” Geng told a daily news briefing. He did not elaborate.

Travel by train has been a favourite mode of transport for Kim Jong Un, and his father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung. North Korea experts have remarked on how Kim Jong Un’s overseas visits, such as his state visit to China in January, are reminiscent of Kim Il Sung.

“(His father) Kim Jong Il was very reclusive. He didn’t like meeting foreign delegations, and he didn’t really enjoy going to foreign countries,” said Thae Yong Ho, North Korea’s former deputy ambassador to Britain, who defected to South Korea in 2016, told media on Tuesday.

“But Kim Jong Un is a bit like Kim Il Sung. He really likes overseas activity,” said Thae.

Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, visited Vietnam twice, in 1958 and 1964. In 1958, Kim Il Sung went from Pyongyang to Beijing by plane, then from Beijing to Guangzhou by train.

Vietnamese artist Tran Lam Binh applies finishing touches to the portraits of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a cafe in Hanoi, yesterday, ahead of the second Trump and Kim summit.

MILF expresses gratitude to Duterte for autonomy pollsANATOLIA MANILA

Fresh off a successful refer-endum for an autonomous Muslim region in the southern Philippines, a group which fought hard for autonomy thanked the nation’s lead-ership for advancing their goal.

“We would like to express our gratitude to [Philippine President Rodrigo] Duterte for believing in the legitimate demand of Bangsamoro in the establishment of our identity and right to govern in a real autonomous structure,” the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said in a written statement. A two-round ref-erendum was held on January 21 and February 6 in southern Mindanao to grant the Moro Muslims autonomy.

The Philippines’ landmark Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) was officially ratified on January 25 following the first round, which granted comprehensive autonomy to Moro Musl ims, ending decades of conflict between the government and the Moro Muslims. The second round allowed the new autonomous region to be expanded to sur-rounding areas based on voter input. The statement from the MILF came before the appointment of Bangsamoro Transitional Authority (BTA)

members by Duterte, and it highlighted that steps in the post-referendum process should be maintained.

“The new political for-mation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will rise,” the statement said, adding that it would be the fruit of a decades-long process.

Duterte is expected to soon appoint members of the interim government to govern the new autonomous region for three years. In the new region, courts of Islamic law will be established, and the Philippines’ central gov-ernment will transfer its administrative authority in Mindanao to the Bangsamoro government.

The waters in the Bang-samoro region will be simul-taneously managed by the national government as well as the Bangsamoro gov-ernment. The autonomous government will be respon-sible for the management of energy resources.

Muslims will be free in their internal affairs, but bound to the Philippines in foreign policy, with some flexibility.

In addition, former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and MILF fighters will be eligible to join official armed forces.

Duterte warns of harsher drugs war aheadREUTERS MANILA

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned yesterday that his signature anti-narcotics campaign will be even harsher in the future, signalling no let-up in a bloody crackdown that has alarmed the interna-tional community.

Duterte won the presi-dency by a wide margin in 2016 on promises of

eradicating drugs and crime, and recent opinion polls indicate broad support for him and for the crackdown, despite widespread allegations of police cover-ups and summary killings resulting from weak intelligence.

Duterte said the drugs problem was a national security issue. “I will not allow my country to end up a failed state because of drugs,” he said in a speech. He did not

elaborate on how he would intensify a campaign that had already seen more than 5,000 people killed by police since he took office.

Human rights groups say many of those deaths were executions of people suspected of selling or using drugs, which police deny, insisting the killings were in self-defence. Critics, including the Catholic Church, say the campaign has overwhelmingly targeted the

urban poor and left drug kingpins largely untouched.

Asked by reporters later if the crackdown would be bloodier, Duterte said: “I think so.” A poll last week showed that about two thirds of Fili-pinos believed there were fewer drug users in their com-munity now than last year. Most respondents said it was vital for police to arrest sus-pects alive and believed police agreed.

Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray of the Philippines (centre) waves to fans as she arrives for a press conference in Manila yesterday. A parade in Gray’s honour will be held in Manila today.

Pretty queen

Taiwan: No deal with China unless force ruled outAFP TAIPEI

The President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen yesterday said no formal peace deal could be signed with China until leaders in Beijing rule out using force against the island.

Tsai was speaking a day after she confirmed she would run for re-election in early 2020 despite falling ratings and an increas-ingly strained relationship with China.

Beijing still sees democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, despite the two sides being ruled separately since the end of a civil war in

1949. Tsai was responding to recent comments by Wu Den-yih, head of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), that his party would pursue a peace treaty with Beijing if it were to regain power next year.

“There would be no so-called negotiation on equal footing and no real peace as China refuses to give up the use of force against Taiwan and forcefully pushes the ‘one country, two systems’ framework,” she said in a media briefing.

“China’s military intentions and its refusal to give up the use of force against Taiwan is a real source of regional instability and a threat to regional peace,” she

added. “One country, two systems” is China’s proposal to absorb Taiwan into the mainland but allow it to keep some of its freedoms. Beijing has made its dislike of Tsai and her inde-pendence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party clear.

After her election in 2016, it cut communication with her administration, stepped up mil-itary drills and poached several of Taiwan’s dwindling diplomatic allies. President Xi Jinping reit-erated in a speech last month that China would not renounce the option of using military force to bring Taiwan into the fold, describing unification with the mainland as “inevitable”. A KMT

win in 2020 would likely please leaders in Beijing given the much closer relationship it forged with the previous administration of Ma Ying-jeou.

Ma suggested in 2011 that Taiwan should consider a peace treaty with China within the coming decade, to formally bring an end to a civil war that has actually been over for seventy years. The proposal sparked crit-icism from detractors that it would be tantamount to a unifi-cation or surrender treaty.

Ma later stressed that he would only move ahead for a peace agreement with the approval of both the parliament and the public, and the issue had

been shelved since. The KMT’s drubbing at the 2016 election partly stemmed from voter unease over the party’s per-ceived cosiness to the mainland.

But Wu — a former vice pres-ident under Ma — has resur-rected the issue ahead of next year’s polls. He is among the KMT bigwigs who have been tipped to run for president.

Tsai said she believed voters would balk at the proposal unless Beijing withdrew its threats.

“I believe Taiwanese society would not accept any political agreement that could harm or eliminate our sovereignty or eliminate Taiwan’s democracy,” she said.

It could take Kim at least two-and-a-half days to travel the thousands of kilometres through China by train, from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to Vietnam, meaning he would have to set off later this week in time for his planned February 25 arrival.

16 THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019EUROPE

Putin threatens to target West with new missilesAFP MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to deploy new missiles against Western capitals as he delivered a state of the nation address yesterday aimed at boosting falling approval ratings.

But while he took a com-bative tone with the West, he reached out to Russians with promises of improved living conditions.

The longtime Russian leader warned Washington against deploying any new missiles in Europe following the collapse of a key Cold War-era treaty, saying Moscow would consider it a “serious threat”.

“I’m saying this clearly and openly, Russia will be forced to deploy weapons that can be used... against the decision-making centres that are behind the missile systems which threaten us,” Putin said.

The United States and Russia raised fears of a new arms race when they announced earlier this year they were pulling out

of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, a 1987 deal that limited medium-range missiles.

Washington was the first to announce its withdrawal, accusing Moscow of developing new weapons that violated the treaty, but Putin yesterday dis-missed the US claims as “far-fetched”.

The tough talk on missiles seemed aimed at stirring up patriotic support for Putin, who won re-election last year with more than 76 percent of the vote but has been recently struggling with dropping poll numbers.

A survey by Russia’s

independent Levada Center released in January found his approval rating at 64 percent — a figure many Western leaders could only dream of, but Putin’s lowest in five years.

Most of yesterday’s speech focused on promises to address poor living standards, a key source of frustration for many Russians nearly 20 years after Putin came to power.

“We cannot wait, the situ-ation must change for the better now,” Putin told assembled law-makers from Russia’s lower house State Duma and upper house Federation Council.

“Within this year (Russians) should feel changes,” he said.

Putin lamented that some 19 million Russians were living below the poverty line, saying: “This is too much...the state should help.”

Putin focused in particular on help for Russian families, pointing to a demographic crisis that has seen birth rates fall dras-tically since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Last year, the government’s statistics agency said the

country’s birth rate had fallen by 11 percent in 2017 to the lowest level in a decade.

“The incomes of Russian families should of course rise,” he said, promising new child benefits and lower taxes for larger families.

Putin, 66, appeared calm and confident as usual during the speech, but the Kremlin is reportedly deeply concerned by the fall in his personal approval ratings in recent months.

Russians appear increas-ingly frustrated with the slow pace of economic growth and the concentration of the coun-try’s wealth in a few hands in Moscow.

Moves by the government to implement economic reforms, including an increase in the retirement age and a rise in the value-added tax from January 1, have prompted widespread opposition including rare street protests.

Putin touched on several other issues of national concern during his 90-minute speech, including a waste-management crisis that has seen Russians outside Moscow protesting at plans to send the capital’s rubbish to provincial landfills.

“We must form a civilised and safe waste-management system,” Putin said, promising efforts to close dumps and boost recycling, which is nearly non-existent in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual state of the nation address in Moscow yesterday.

I’m saying this clearly and openly, Russia will be forced to deploy weapons that can be used... against the decision-making centres that are behind the missile systems which threaten us: Putin

Three MPs quit Conservatives over BrexitAFP LONDON

Three MPs quit Britain’s governing Conservatives yesterday over Brexit, saying the issue had “re-defined” the party and was “undoing all the efforts to modernise it”.

The trio said they planned to sit in parliament alongside eight former Labour lawmakers who, also citing their opposition to Brexit, resigned from the main opposition party this week to form new Independent Group.

“It is with regret that we are writing to resign the Conserv-ative whip and our membership of the party,” Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston said in a joint letter to Prime Minister

Theresa May.“We no longer feel we can

remain in the party of a gov-ernment whose policies and pri-orities are so firmly in the grip of the ERG and DUP,” the MPs stated, referring to the European Research Group, a pro-Brexit faction of Conservative law-makers, and the party’s Demo-cratic Unionist allies from Northern Ireland.

“There has been a dismal failure to stand up to the hard line ERG which operates openly as a party within a party, with its own leader, whip and policy,” they added.

The three lawmakers all backed Britain remaining in the European Union in the 2016 ref-erendum and have since voted

against multiple elements of the g o v e r n m e n t ’ s B r e x i t legislation.

In a swift response to their resignations, May said she was “saddened” by their decisions and thanked them for their “ded-icated service to our party over many years”.

She noted Britain’s mem-bership of the EU has been “a source of disagreement both in our party and our country for a long time” but would not stop her delivering on the refer-endum result.

“I am determined that under my leadership the Conservative Party will always offer the decent, moderate and patriotic politics that the people of this country deserve,” she added.

Microsoft warns of hacker ‘attacks’ on EU electionsAFP FRANKFURT AM MAIN

Tech giant Microsoft said it had detected hacker “attacks” ahead of European Parliament and national elections in the EU, in a warning to civil society groups, politicians and campaigns.

The firm said a group it calls Strontium was behind the attacks, known to security firms and government agencies as Fancy Bear or APT28 and widely believed to be linked to Russian intelligence.

“At Microsoft, we’ve seen recent activity targeting demo-cratic institutions in Europe,” security chief Tom Burt wrote in a blog post.

“Attacks are not limited to

campaigns themselves but often extend to think tanks and non-profit organisations working on topics related to democracy, electoral integrity and public policy and that are often in contect with government offi-cials,” he added.

Among others, Microsoft found the hackers targeted 104 employee accounts from well-known groups the German Council on Foreign Relations, the Aspen Institutes in Europe and the German Marshall Fund (GMF) between September and December 2018.

The hackers deployed so-called “spearphishing” tactics —using targeted fake emails or websites to try and harvest workers’ credentials and gain

access to computer systems.Among the targets were

employees based in EU members Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Romania as well as non-member Serbia.

“Organisations and indi-viduals need to be aware and prepared that malign forces, including sophisticated state actors, seek to exploit them in the digital space,” GMF president Karen Donfried said in a blog post. “It is more important than ever that we be vigilant to protect our democracies from foreign interference, including online.”

The Old Continent faces a string of votes in the coming months, including European Parliament elections in May, parliamentary polls in Estonia,

Finland and Belgium and pres-idential ballots in Slovakia, Ukraine and Lithuania.

“It is highly likely that foreign powers will target many of these elections,” former Nato Secretary-General and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned last week at Munich Security conference

Attacks could come “either by breaking into electoral systems, covertly supporting candidates or in getting toxic news in traditional and online media,” he added.

Former US vice-president Joe Biden backed Rasmussen in warning of “cyber attacks, dark money influence operations and disinformation” used by “Russian but also other actors”.

Germany launches initiative to halve food waste by 2030AFP BERLIN

Germany launched a drive yesterday to halve food waste by 2030 as research shows every consumer on average throws away 55kg of edibles a year.

The new strategy would target households, producers, retailers and the restaurant industry to get them to cut down the 11 million tons of food wasted a year.

The new push would aim to help Germany meet UN and EU targets and reduce its climate footprint, said Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Minister Julia Kloeckner.

“Every product contains val-uable resources: water, energy, raw materials, but also labour, care — and heart and soul,” she told national news agency DPA.

New research will look to develop “intelligent packaging” that could use a colour gradient to indicate whether food is still edible or past its use-by date.

Companies will be urged to take voluntary measures, such as fine-tuning delivery chains and appropriate portion sizes in restaurants, the ministry said.

The opposition Greens party, who have long urged a shift away from industrial-scale toward organic agriculture, crit-icised the strategy as too little too late.

One dead after avalanche hits Swiss ski resort

British Conservative Party MPs (from left) Sarah Wollaston Anna Soubry and Heidi Allen during a news conference in London yesterday.

Sweden summons Hungarian envoy over family policy rowAFP STOCKHOLM

Sweden said yesterday it had summoned Hungary’s ambas-sador to the foreign ministry amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries over Budapest’s new family policy. “The meeting will take place today ... in Stockholm,” foreign ministry spokesman Anton Dahlquist said, refusing to disclose other details.

On February 12, Sweden’s Social Democratic Social Affairs Minister Annika Strandhall wrote on Twitter that Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s seven-point family

planning policy “reeks of the 1930s” and that “what is hap-pening in Hungary is alarming”.

“Now Orban wants to have more ‘real’ Hungarian children. This kind of policy will harm the autonomy for which women have struggled for decades,” Strandhall said.

Several days later, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Sweden’s ambassador had been summoned and informed that Strandhall’s comments were “unacceptable”. “Hungary is spending money on families and Sweden is spending it on migrants,” Szijjarto said.

Macron’s aides face probe over bodyguard scandalREUTERS PARIS

French senators urged an inves-tigation into three top aides to President Emmanuel Macron, saying there was reason to believe they had withheld infor-mation from an official inquiry into a scandal involving Macron’s former bodyguard.

Delivering a scathing report after the seven-month inquiry into the so-called Benalla Affair, named for former security aide Alexandre Benalla who was caught on film beating a pro-tester on May 1 last year, the sen-ators said they had uncovered a number of questionable practices.

As well as doubts about the testimony of senior aides, the

senate’s investigative committee said it had reason to believe Benalla may have lied to them under oath, and it called for prosecutors to investigate both charges.

“What happened on May Day now appears to be the tip of the iceberg,” Philippe Bas, a senator from Les Republicains party and head of the investi-gative committee, said.

In response, French gov-ernment spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said Macron’s office would in due course reply to the “many untrue elements” in the Senate’s findings.

Over recent months the investigation has revealed how Benalla, who was fired from his job, was able to continue trav-elling on a diplomatic passport.

AP CRANS-MONTANA

A 34-year-old Frenchman whose job was to check the safety of ski slopes died over-night after being injured in an avalanche at a popular Swiss Alps ski resort, police said yesterday.

The man was one of four injured people who were rescued after being swept away on Tuesday afternoon by an avalanche that hit a slope on Plaine Morte, a glacier near the town of Crans-Montana.

“Unfortunately, overnight one of the four injured people died,” said Steve Leger, a spokesman for the Valais canton police department.

Leger said 43 people reached out, worried that their friends or family had been hit by the avalanche, but “we sys-tematically verified - found, located - these people and rule them out of danger.”

Nearly 250 rescue workers, medics, police officers and mil-itary personnel took part in the search, backed by eight heli-copters and a dozen search dogs. They searched all night but stopped Wednesday morning.

The cause for the avalanche wasn’t immediately clear. Roughly half of the 840-metre long avalanche made a direct hit across the ski slope. Leger said one possibility was that it could have been triggered by the passage of a skier.

17THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019 AMERICAS

Trump to cancel California rail project fundingAP SACRAMENTO

The Trump administration said that it plans to cancel $929m awarded to California’s high-speed rail project and wants the state to return an additional $2.5bn that it has already spent.

The US Department of Transportation announcement follows through on President Donald Trump’s threats to claw back $3.5bn that the federal government gave to California to build a bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Gov Gavin Newsom vowed a fight to keep the money and said the move was in response to California again suing the administration , this time over Trump’s emergency declaration to pay for a wall along the US-Mexico border.

“This is clear political retri-bution by President Trump, and we won’t sit idly by,” Newsom said in a statement. “This is Cal-ifornia’s money, and we are going to fight for it.”

It’s the latest spat between the White House and California. Trump earlier in the day linked the emergency declaration lawsuit to the train, noting that California filed the challenge on behalf of 16 states.

“California, the state that has wasted billions of dollars on their out of control Fast Train, with no hope of completion, seems in charge!” the president tweeted.

The train project has faced repeated cost overruns and delays since California voters approved it in 2008. The Trump administration argued Tuesday that the state hasn’t provided required matching dollars and can’t complete certain con-struction work by a 2022 deadline.

Newsom declared in his first State of the State address last week that he planned to scale back the project and focus immediately on building 275km of track in central California.

His office said he still plans to complete the full line, although he said the current plan would cost too much and

take too long.He’s pledged to continue

environmental work on the full line, which is required to keep the federal money.

But the US Department of Transportation said Newsom’s comments last week reinforced the administration’s concerns about the project.

“Governor Newsom pre-sented a new proposal that rep-resents a significant retreat from the State’s initial vision and commitment and frustrates the purpose for which Federal funding was awarded,” read the letter outlining the case for can-celling the money.

Congress nearly a decade ago approved the $929m that Trump wants to cancel. The state has not started spending that money. But it has already spent the extra $2.5bn that Trump now wants back.

The US Department of Transportation said it is “actively exploring every legal option” to get back the money.

The grant agreement between California and the federal government, signed in 2010, outlines several scenarios in which the federal government could take the money back.

It can take the money back, for example, if the grantee fails to make “adequate progress” or “fails to complete the project or one of its tasks” or if the state doesn’t meet its matching fund requirements.

If the federal government decides to take the money back, it doesn’t have to wait for Cali-fornia to write a check.

The agreement states the federal government could offset the money it would pay Cali-fornia for different transpor-tation or other projects.

Amnesty says Venezuela security forces punish anti-Maduro protesters REUTERS CARACAS

Venezuelan security forces have executed several people and arbitrarily detained hundreds of others in a campaign to punish people who protested against President Nicolas Maduro, human rights group Amnesty International said.

In a report titled “Hunger, punishment and fear, the formula for repression in Ven-ezuela,” Amnesty said dozens died during five days of protests from January 21 to 25, almost all from gunshot wounds, and 900 people were arrested.

Amnesty called on the UN Human Rights Council to take action to address the “total impunity that prevails in Vene-zuela” by creating an inde-pendent investigative body to report on the human rights situation.

The protests were sparked by opposition leader Juan Guaido’s call for people to demand a change in government after Maduro began a second term following a vote last year widely considered as fraudulent.

Guaido on January 23 invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency, though Maduro says Guaido is leading a US-directed coup against him.

“The authorities under Nicolas Maduro are trying to use fear and punishment to impose

a repulsive strategy of social control against those who demand change,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty.

“His government is attacking the most impoverished people that it claims to defend, but instead it murders, detains and threatens them.”

Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not respond to a request to comment.

Amnesty said state author-ities carried out extrajudicial executions as a method of social control, mainly using the National Police’s Special Actions Force (FAES) to target poor areas that had risen up against Maduro.

The FAES have carried out dozens of deadly raids in recent weeks. The unit has said reports of abuses are “fake news” spread by right-wing opponents and their “struggle is against all criminals that ravage our communities.”

Amnesty said 41 people had died, mostly from gunshot wounds, in protests in late January.

It said it had documented six extrajudicial executions by the FAES of young men linked to the protests.

Amnesty recommended that prosecutors at the International Criminal Court should consider the facts in its report and pos-sibly incorporate them in a pre-liminary examination already underway on Venezuela.

Trump signs order to create US Space ForceREUTERS WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump signed a directive to start the lengthy process of creating a new branch of the military dedicated to handling threats in space, the US Space Force.

Space Policy Directive 4 sets the foundation for a legislative initiative to establish a new force under the aegis of the Air Force, the branch currently responsible for space, comparable to the

Marines under the US Navy.The Trump administration

has said it plans to usher in the force by 2020. But the legislation will have to be approved by Con-gress, which could be an uphill battle with the House of Repre-sentatives now controlled by Democrats.

In an Oval Office signing cer-emony, the president called the Space Force a national security priority.

Among other things, the force will be responsible for a

range of space-based US military capabilities, which include eve-rything from satellites enabling the Global Positioning System (GPS) to sensors that help track missile launches.

The force would have both “combat and combat support functions to enable prompt and sustained offensive and defensive space operations,” the memo signed on Tuesday said.

Mac Thornberry, the top-ranked Republican on the House Armed Services Committee,

praised the initiative, saying in a statement that it “is an important next step towards real reform of national security space where we face real threats posed by Russia and China.”

Proponents of the Space Force have said it would make the Pen-tagon more efficient. But it has also faced criticism from some senior military officials and lawmakers. Democratic Senator Brian Schatz, who is on the Defense Appropri-ations subcommittee, last year criticised the idea.”

Oklahoma man stole Pepsi truck to get to the airportAP TULSA

Authorities said an Oklahoma man stole a Pepsi truck as the driver was unloading soda in the back.

Tulsa police said no one was hurt. The driver jumped out of the back when he felt his rig move. A trail of sodas spilled out as the truck drove off.

Steven Hart told police that he was trying to get to the airport after an argument with his girlfriend.

According to police when they caught up to the truck stopped in traffic, Hart jumped out and started to run off. Hart was arrested as the rig rolled into the back of a school bus.

Hart is being held on pending charges that include larceny and attempted escape from the county jail as he was being booked into custody.

Gov Gavin Newsom vowed a fight to keep the money and said the move was in response to California again suing the administration.

Obama, Curry attend summitFormer US President Barack Obama (second right) and Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry (right) during the MBK Rising! My Brother’s Keeper Alliance Summit, in Oakland, California, yesterday. MBK Rising! is bringing together hundreds of young men of colour, local leaders and organisations that are working to reduce youth violence, create impactful mentorship programmes, and improving life for young men of colour.

Trump nominates successor to deputy A-G RosensteinAFP WASHINGTON

The Trump administration announced it was nominating a successor to deputy attorney-general Rod Rosenstein, a move that confirms the departure of the Justice Department official who until recently oversaw the Russia probe.

Rosenstein will be replaced by Jeffrey Rosen, the current deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation, President Donald Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. The decision is subject to confirmation in the Senate.

US media had previously reported Rosenstein planned to resign mid-March. His departure was widely expected following the confirmation of new Attorney-General Bill Barr last week.

Rosenstein was responsible for the May 2017 naming of Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate allega-tions that Russia interfered in the last presidential election and that the Trump campaign col-

luded in that effort. Mueller was appointed after

Trump abruptly fired FBI director James Comey.

Rosenstein’s then boss, Jeff Sessions, who was fired last November, had recused himself from the probe because of his role in Trump’s campaign team.

Rosenstein was frequently attacked by Trump on Twitter, while congressional Republicans had also sought his removal.

His successor Rosen is a Northwestern University and Harvard Law School graduate and “a distinguished lawyer who has served at the highest levels of government and the private sector,” Barr said.

Rosen has worked in both the public and private sector, including as senior partner for the international law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

He previously served in the administration of Republican president George W Bush, first as general counsel for the Department of Transportation and later for the Office of Man-agement and Budget.

Mexico seizes over 630kg of cocaine at seaAP MEXICO CITY

Mexico’s navy said it has seized more than 630kg of cocaine from a speedboat off the coun-try’s Pacific coast.

A high-speed pursuit using a navy Black Hawk helicopter eventually stopped the boat that sported four powerful outboard motors.

The navy said in a statement that sailors roped down from the hovering heli-copter to the boat and detained 15 crew members off the coast of Sinaloa state. Eight of those detained were from Ecuador, four were Colombian and three were Mexican.

Cocaine is commonly moved by sea from South America to landing points in Central America and Mexico.

Winter storm closes schools, disrupts travel across USAP NEW YORK

A sprawling storm closed schools, snarled travel and threatened homeless popula-tions yesterday with snow and cold stretching from the Midwest to the East Coast and with heavy rain in the South.

Snow fell in New York City, and schools in several parts of the US closed amid predictions for messy afternoon commutes. Philadelphia closed city offices as of 1pm and put a “code blue” into effect, putting extra teams out to encourage homeless people to get into shelters.

New Jersey’s governor declared a state of emergency with up to 4 inches of snow expected before turning to rain.

Nationwide, more than 2,000 flights were cancelled and more than 3,400 were delayed, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. The mid-Atlantic region was especially hard hit as airlines pulled flights

ahead of the storm. Washington’s Reagan National Airport led the pack yesterday morning, with 37 percent of departures and 33 percent of arrivals cancelled.

Amtrak earlier announced modifications to its Keystone service between New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Tourists who made it into the Washington area before the storm hit were unbothered.

Farther west, snow forced

Minneapolis and St Paul schools and scores of other districts in Minnesota and Wisconsin to cancel classes.

Schools, businesses and gov-ernment offices in Kansas closed or announced plans to start late. Several school districts closed in Missouri, where officials said many roads across the northern half of the state were partially or completely snow covered.

Heavy rains caused problems

in parts of the Deep South. Flood watches and warnings cover the northern parts of Alabama, Mis-sissippi, and Georgia, and nearly all of Tennessee is at risk for floods.

The streak of bad weather is expected to continue through Wednesday night and in the days to come in some areas, fore-casters said.

Meanwhile, the Southwest braced for separate winter woes.

A man runs through Lafayette Park in front of the White House during a snowstorm in Washington, DC, yesterday.

18 THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019CLASSIFIEDS

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AL ASMAKH LISTINGSCALL CENTER: 4448 5111 / 4041 0757

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In July 2017, on the occasion of its hugely successful brand exhibition in New York, Patek Philippe launched the Ref. 5531 New York Special Edition as an exclusive debut

for the US market. Now, the micromechanical masterpiece has been added to the manufac-ture’s regular collection. It is a new grand com-plication with features in a domain that Patek Philippe has dominated for decades: a minute repeater, a World Time mechanism, an enamel arts dial, and a rose-gold case crafted in-house.

As a trailblazing innovation, the Ref. 5531 is endowed with a World Time minute repeater that in contrast to all other watches of this type strikes local time rather than home time and can be conveniently set to the respective time zone with a separate pusher.

Controlling the hour strike to one-second accuracy via the 24-hour display of the World Time mechanism is a horological feat that has never been accomplished so consummately and for which a patent application has been filed. This achievement is credited to the new self-winding caliber R 27 HU movement that con-sists of 462 parts and is crafted in the

manufacture’s haute horlogerie workshops. It is wound by a minirotor in 22K gold which is fully recessed in the movement and exhibits a hand-guilloched hobnail pattern.

From the front, the new Ref. 5531 shows a fascinating dial that reflects a grand Patek Philippe tradition: a magnificent cloisonné enamel depiction of the Lavaux vineyard terrace region on the shores of Lake Geneva, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Lapped rose-gold hands hover above this stage. The silhouette of the artis-tically pierced hour hand is inspired by the “Southern Cross” constellation. It always indi-cates the local time in the city aligned with the 12 o’clock position. The times of the other 23 world time zones are displayed opposite the respective place names by the concentric 24-hour scale that doubles as a day/night indi-cator thanks to its two differently colored ring halves.

The movement and the World Time dial are accommodated in an elegant rose-gold case. It owes its very slender looks to skeletonized lugs and the special shape of the crystal. The rectan-gular time-zone pusher is polished, and the crown is adorned with a Calatrava cross.

Dome table clock in cloisonné enamel

Patek Philippe looked to the finest works of cubism, a major artistic movement of the early twentieth century, when conceiving this unique

piece in Grand Feu cloisonné enamel.Tracing the complex pattern of geometric

forms that comprise this original creation required 13.5 m of gold wire (15 g) measuring only 0.15 x 0.6 mm in cross-section. To create his chromatic fireworks, also inspired by the cubist artists, the enameler worked with a palette of 51 transparent enamel colors, pro-ducing subtle effects of light, contrast and shading. Each enameled plate called for 9 firings at a temperature of approximately 840°C. Breguet hands point to an hour circle adorned with black-enameled Breguet numerals. The dial center is hand-guilloched in a swirling pattern beneath blue enamel, through which the decoration may be seen.

This unique piece is powered by the caliber 17’’’ PEND mechanical movement rewound by an electric motor.

Rare Handcrafts: Cubist Fantasy

Nearly 20 years after the debut of the Twenty~4 manchette watch that became a

paragon of timeless feminine elegance, the Genevan manu-facture is fulfilling a wish expressed by many discerning style-conscious women. To them, it is dedicating the all-new Twenty~4 Automatic, the first model of the collection with a self-winding mechanical movement in a round case. This highly contemporary watch was created to accompany eclectic and vibrant lifestyles around the clock, glistening with the fire of genuine dia-monds. It is available in stainless steel or rose gold with dials of various colours.

Since the company was founded in 1839, Patek Philippe has devoted much attention to its feminine clientele. With its pocket and pendant watches, lavishly decorated with refined artisanal techniques, the brand won the hearts of sophisticated female customers, among them Queen Victoria who had pur-chased a timepiece in blue enamel in 1851.

Patek Philippe is rein-forcing its position in the

growing segment of mechanical ladies’ watches and now presents a new self-winding wristwatch: the Twenty~4 Automatic. It is a timepiece for modern, self-confident women with taste who are decision-makers and pursue active life-styles. With its sleek elegance, it is a watch for any time of day, complementing every facet of daily life. The watch focuses on the woman who consummately handles latest-generation tech-nology but prefers a mechanical timepiece on her wrist, one that represents a grand tradition of quality and the lasting value of an artistically crafted master-piece. The caliber 324 S C was Patek Philippe’s choice as the

heart of the new feminine model. It is crafted to the strict standards of the Patek Philippe Seal and exhibits elaborate manual finissage (such as chamfered and polished edges and Geneva striping) that can be admired through the sap-phire-crystal case back.

The new Twenty~4 Auto-matic adopts the aesthetic appeal of the rectangular Twenty~4 with an exclusive bracelet featuring gently cam-bered central links framed by delicate two-tier outside links. With a supple fit, inimitable and elegant, it gently hugs the wrist. The self-winding version stands out with a totally new round case (36 mm in diameter)

featuring prominent yet subtle contours. And as always in Patek Philippe creations, pur-istic style melds with highly refined details. The beveled, diamond-set bezel is an elab-orate construction that echoes the profile of the central bracelet links at 12 and 6 o’clock, emphasizing the harmony of the overall design. This precious ensemble is crafted in the manufacture’s ateliers and complies with all of the craftsmanship standards prescribed by the Patek Philippe Seal. The case and bezel are cold-formed in high-tonnage presses and then care-fully machined to refine the contours. Afterwards, they are manually polished by experts with years of experience, an extremely demanding task given the complex forms espe-cially in the bracelet lug zones. The dials exhibit assertive per-sonalities. They are uncluttered and readily legible, with applied Arabic numerals in gold as well as baton hands with rounded ends and luminous coatings. The slightly domed sapphire-crystal glass under-scores the sculpted profile of the case.

New Twenty~4 Automatic: A stylish companion for modern, active women

For the very first time, a minute repeater sounds local time anywhere in the world

Patek Philippe launches new manually wound chronograph for ladies

In 2009, Patek Philippe introduced a chrono-graph intended exclusively for feminine wrists. It was the exclusive debut of a classic manu-facture-made chronograph movement (column wheel, horizontal clutch, manual winding) that

had been developed entirely in-house. That was also expressed by the name of the watch: Ladies First Chronograph Ref. 7071, built until 2016.

Now, the Genevan manufacture is enriching its collection of complicated wristwatches for ladies and endowing this chronograph – highly coveted by discerning women – with a totally new face.

The cushion-shaped case has been replaced with an elegant, round rose-gold case with a diameter of 38 mm featuring a bezel set with 72 diamonds. Its timelessly sleek design is emphasized by refined vintage-look details such as the fluted and delicately curved strap lugs, the round chron-ograph pushers with manually guilloched faces, and the gently cambered sapphire-crystal “box” glass.

The silvery opaline dial also combines a con-temporary style with classic aesthetics, showcasing sculpted Breguet hour and minute hands in rose gold and a display layout that makes it eminently legible. The pulsimeter scale of the new Ref. 7150/250R-001 respectfully pays tribute to the tra-dition of classic chronographs that can measure the cadence of an active lifestyle or the slightly increased heart rate of its proud owner.

The compact case accommodates the manually wound caliber CH 29-535 PS movement with an instantaneous 30-minute counter, crowning its classic architecture with six patented innovations. Its lavish finissage can be admired through the box-type sapphire-crystal case back that is slightly chamfered to echo the profile of the rear bezel.

The new Ref. 7150/250R-001 is the only chron-ograph in Patek Philippe’s watch collection for ladies. It is worn on a shiny mink gray alligator leather strap secured with a rose-gold prong buckle that sparkles with the fire of 27 diamonds.

All Patek Philippe products are displayed at the Al Majed Jewellery pavilion at Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition

20 THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019HOME