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THURSDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10317 December 29, 2016 Rabia I 30, 1438 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals Kerry says In brief settlements QATAR | Transparency New system for sick leave soon A new system for issuing sick leave put Mideast will be introduced next year, an off icial source was quoted by local Arabic daily Arrayah. The source told the daily that the new system will include modifications to the current system to guarantee more peace at risk transparency and accuracy. Besides, there are a number of suggestions and recommendations under study Reuters Israel and the Palestinians or salvage the for possible implementation in the Washington Obama administration’s record of failed new system. The source pointed Middle East peace eff orts. out that the new system will be in In a statement, Netanyahu said co-operation between the Ministry S Secretary of State John Kerry Kerry’s speech “was skewed against of Public Health and the Ministry warned yesterday that Israel’s Israel.” The Israeli leader said Kerry of Administrative Development, Ubuilding of settlements was en- “obsessively dealt with settlements” Labour and Social Aff airs for more dangering Middle East peace, express- and barely touched on “the root of the control on the issue. There will be ing unusually frank frustration with confl ict - Palestinian opposition to a specified places for approved sick the long-time American ally. Jewish state in any boundaries”. leave certificates, and the maximum Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin The Israelis are looking past Obama number to be granted at one time. Netanyahu shot back at Kerry and ac- and expect they will receive more fa- US Secretary of State John Kerry lays out his vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians yesterday in the Dean Acheson More details on the system will be cused him of showing bias against the vourable treatment from Trump, who Auditorium at the Department of State in Washington, DC. US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted yesterday that Israel and a announced soon, the daily added. Jewish state. takes offi ce on Jan 20. future Palestine should live as two states based on the territory they held before the 1967 Six Day War. In a 70-minute speech just weeks The Republican used his Twit- ARAB WORLD | Confl ict before the Obama administration ter account yesterday to denounce hands over to President-elect Donald the Obama administration, including Talks on Syria truce, Trump, Kerry said Israel “will never its UN vote and the nuclear accord it but ‘still obstacles’ have true peace” with the Arab world reached with Iran last year. Turkey and Russia are discussing if it does not reach an accord based on “We cannot continue to let Israel a possible nationwide ceasefire in Israelis and Palestinians living in their be treated with such total disdain and Syria, but obstacles remain to any own states. disrespect. They used to have a great Cabinet go-ahead for deal, a rebel off icial said yesterday. His remarks added to strain in the US- friend in the US, but not anymore,” Earlier, Turkey’s Anadolu agency Israeli relationship - characterised by Trump said in a series of tweets. “Stay reported that Ankara and Moscow personal acrimony between President strong Israel, January 20th is fast ap- had reached a ceasefire deal that Barack Obama and Netanyahu - after the proaching!” would go into eff ect at midnight, but United States cleared the way for a UN Trump had openly lobbied against alternative medicine neither capital nor the parties to the resolution last week that demanded an the UN resolution and would be ex- conflict confirmed the report. end to Israeli settlement building. pected to veto any further ones deemed Labib Nahhas, foreign relations head “Despite our best eff orts over the anti-Israel. he Cabinet has approved the re- urveda and acupuncture in the coun- the occupied Palestinian territory, in- for the powerful Ahrar al-Sham rebel years, the two-state solution is now He has vowed to move the US em- quirements and specifi cations try, Gulf Times had reported. cluding East Jerusalem, and demands group, reiterated that rebel factions in serious jeopardy,” Kerry said at the bassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and Tfor opening complementary The Qatar Council for Healthcare an immediate and complete cessation had not been presented with any State Department. “We cannot, in good has appointed as ambassador a lawyer medicine centres in the country. Practitioners later started an imple- of all settlement activities as they are off icial proposal and said there were conscience, do nothing, and say noth- who raised money for a major Jewish In this regard, the Cabinet gave its mentation plan to regulate comple- illegal under the international law, ac- still obstacles to a deal. Page 11 ing, when we see the hope of peace settlement, has cast doubt on the idea nod to a draft decision of HE the Min- mentary medicine practices in Qatar. cording to the QNA report. slipping away.” of a two-state solution and even ad- ister of Public Health defi ning the re- The decision to start regulating com- The Cabinet expressed hope that the WORLD | Timekeeping “The truth is that trends on the vocated for Israel’s annexation of the quirements and specifi cations at its plementary medicine was taken to pro- resolution would constitute a motiva- ground - violence, terrorism, incite- West Bank, a notion even further to the weekly meeting yesterday. vide a legal framework to ensure that tion and incentive for the international 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. 1... An extra ment, settlement expansion and the right than Netanyahu’s own stance. The draft decision identifi ed com- the benefi ts of these practices could be community to revive the peace process second to see out 2016 seemingly endless occupation - are Kerry’s speech provided some insights plementary medicine as an addition of enjoyed without unnecessary risks. on the basis of international legitimacy As if 2016 has not been long enough, destroying hopes for peace on both into an issue that he personally feels pas- some special practices - involving al- The regulatory framework stand- and the Arab peace initiative, and the the year’s dying minute will last an sides and increasingly cementing an sionate about and had hoped to resolve ternative treatment - to modern medi- ardises the complementary medicine cessation of all Israeli violations and extra second to make up for time irreversible one-state reality that most during his years as secretary of state. cine, the offi cial Qatar News Agency practice so that only licensed and qual- practices against the Palestinian peo- lost to Earth’s slowing rotation, people do not actually want.” He defended the US decision to al- (QNA) reported. ifi ed practitioners are issued a medical ple. timekeepers say. Countries that Kerry condemned Palestinian vio- low the passage of a UN resolution de- Alternative medicine treatment is licence and allowed to practice in Qa- Further, the Cabinet reaffi rmed use Co-ordinated Universal Time - lence which he said included “hun- manding an end to Israeli settlements, a set of skills and practices based on tar. Qatar’s fi rm stance in support of the several West African nations, Britain, dreds of ... attacks in the past year.” saying it was intended to preserve the experience, which is used to diagnose, After HE the Prime Minister and legitimate rights of the Palestinian Ireland and Iceland - will add the His parting words are unlikely to possibility of a two-state solution. treat or maintain health as well as pre- Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin people, primarily the right to establish leap second during the midnight change anything on the ground between vent physical and psychological ail- Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani chaired the their independent state with Jerusalem countdown to 2017 - making the ments. It is diff erent from the means meeting at Emiri Diwan yesterday, HE as its capital. year’s final minute 61 seconds Abbas believes peace is achievable of treatment used in modern medi- the Deputy Prime Minister and Minis- Meanwhile, the Cabinet took the long. For others, the timing will be cine, which include surgery, radiation, ter of State for Cabinet Aff airs Ahmed necessary measures to ratify an ‘en- determined by the time zone they Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before talks restarted. chemotherapy, etc, QNA said. bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud couragement and protection of mutual live in, relative to UTC. The Paris responded to US Secretary of State Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat The Ministry of Public Health (for- said the Cabinet also approved a draft investments’ agreement between the Observatory said in a statement: John Kerry’s Middle East speech in read out a statement saying Abbas had merly known as the Supreme Council decision of HE the Minister of Public governments of Qatar and Argentina. “The sequence of dates of the Washington yesterday by saying he “reiterated his full commitment to a just of Health) had issued a notifi cation Health on the conditions and specifi - It also reviewed some topics and UTC second markers will be: 2016 was convinced peace with Israel was peace as a strategic option”. US-backed in January this year, approving the cations for physical therapy centres. took the appropriate decisions, includ- December 31 23h 59m 59s, 2016 achievable, but continuing to demand peace talks between Israel and the practice of complementary medicinal The meeting also welcomed the ing a draft law on the organisation of December 31 23h 59m 60s, 2017 that Israel halt settlement building Palestinians broke down in 2014. treatment such as hijama/wet cup- UN Security Council Resolution 2334, real estate registration. January 1, 0h 0m 0s.” ping, chiropractic, homoeopathy, ay- which condemns Israeli settlements in Qatar’s fog due to a ‘once in three years’ phenomenon

he dense fog that blanketed in the country since Sunday. The ease the eff ects of the higher humidity Gulf Times learnt. “No activity has Doha and other parts of Qa- conditions resulted in a sharp drop in levels, he observed. been possible early in the morning in Ttar during the afternoon earlier visibility at a number of places, lead- On driving safely in foggy weather, the past few days,” said a veteran fi sh- this week was caused by a phenom- ing to slow movement of vehicles and he said the Met department and Min- erman in Al Khor. enon that happened once in two-three prompting the authorities to issue istry of Interior co-operated in issu- Today, strong winds and high seas are years, a senior offi cial said yesterday. safe-driving tips. ing guidelines on how to do so. These expected in some off shore areas. The Besides the morning and evening, Explaining the intense fog, al- include using low-beam lights, main- wind speed may reach a high of 22 knots thick fog was seen in Doha and other Mannai told QNA that it was the taining adequate distance, reducing at times, with the sea level rising to 7ft. places even in the afternoon on some outcome of conditions involving a the speed and using the wipers. A minimum temperature of 14C is occasions since the start of the foggy high-pressure area, easterly winds Yesterday, meanwhile, traffi c was expected in Abu Samra today, while in spell on Sunday. and lower temperatures. The com- slow on many roads in the early hours Doha it will be 19C. Abdullah Mohamed al-Mannai, di- bination led to increased humidity as Qatar experienced another foggy rector of the Meteorology Department at sea and on the shore, which even- morning. “Widespread” fog was re- at the Civil Aviation Authority, told tually caused the fog. He noted that ported from most parts of the country Global warming eff ect the offi cial Qatar News Agency (QNA) December and January are the two early in the morning along with zero that it was highly likely that January months that see the maximum fog visibility at times, according to the Met Abdullah Mohamed al-Mannai, director would witness similar fog formations, formation, particularly late at night department. of the Meteorology Department, yes- although these would not be as intense and early in the morning. The situation improved gradually terday told QNA that global warming as the recent ones. As for the fog formation in the after- Fog outside the Hamad International Airport departures terminal around Tuesday and, unlike the previous days, the fog has impacted the change witnessed The coming days, though, will see an noon, al-Mannai said it’s a phenom- midnight: PICTURE: Bonnie James did not return in the evening in places in Qatar’s weather this year. He noted improvement, he noted. enon that takes place once every two like Doha. that industrial advancements and reli- The Met department, too, tweeted to three years and is referred to as the said this is unlikely. He explained that Al-Mannai also forecast that hu- Besides aff ecting road traffi c and the ance on fossil fuels such as coal have yesterday that ‘settled weather’ is ex- ‘marine layer’. temperatures will drop in the coming midity will increase in January, noting movement of luxury boats, the foggy increased carbon dioxide levels and pected during the weekend, signalling Asked if Qatar will witness a cold days, but not to the levels where it can that this is always the case in winter. conditions also forced some fi shermen ultimately led to a rise in temperatures. an end to the foggy spell experienced wave in the coming period, the offi cial be described as a cold wave. However, the lower temperatures will not to venture out in the early hours,

Gulf Times 4 Thursday, December 29, 2016 QATAR

The Mada centre at Qatar University. Mada and QU join hands to help students with disabilities

atar Assistive Tech- It is where the groundwork from Mada’s newly opened educating both the PWDs nology Centre for social integration is station at QU. It is equipped and a variety of stakeholders Q(Mada), a non-profi t laid, and it makes PWD and with all of the essential as- about the ways in which ICT organisation dedicated to their communities aware sistive technologies neces- can be used to enhance and connecting Persons With that disabilities do not sary for the success of stu- access quality education. Disabilities (PWD) to the subtract from capabilities. dents with disabilities. Mada aims to increase world of information and We are honoured to have Mada is committed to en- employable PWDs in lo- communication technol- made a meaningful imprint cal workforce by off ering ogy, has joined hands with on the campus of Qatar We are honoured tailor made courses and Qatar University (QU) to University and to facilitate to have made a programmes and enable provide assistive technol- educational opportunities meaningful imprint on independent living by en- ogy to disabled students on for students with disabili- the campus of Qatar couraging the creation of QU campus. ties.” University and to an accessible community “Education is one of Hamad al-Marri from facilitate educational and friendly ecosystem for the three key pillars of QU recalled that since the opportunities PWDs. our mission at Mada, and launch of Mada services, it for students with Mada’s vision of enhanc- many of our services re- has become easier for stu- disabilities” ing life of PWDs is brought volve around this area,” dents with disabilities to to life through the use of said Maha al-Mansouri the access assistive technolo- hancing three key areas of ICT. Mada is committed to CEO of Mada. gies within a shorter time education, employment and encouraging the develop- “We believe that educa- period. This has allowed community. It supports the ment of assistive technolo- tion has the potential to more people to benefi t from students with disabilities gies in the Arabic language positively impact the PWD the equipment provided. in Qatar accessing quality to support the needs of community in many ways. Students will benefi t mainstream education by PWDs in Qatar.

Gulf Times 6 Thursday, December 29, 2016 QATAR

The congress participants. HMC’s Trauma Centre hosts four-day congress

amad Medical Cor- portance of collaboration poration’s (HMC) between Ambulance Serv- HHamad Trauma Cen- ice teams, intensivists, tre recently hosted delegates, trauma surgeons, database including speakers from the registries, trauma research US, the UK, Canada, Europe, offi ces, injury prevention India, and the GCC region, teams, trauma fellowship for a four-day congress. programmes, nursing staff , The theme of the con- radiologists, clinical phar- gress was ‘Trauma Team macists and rehabilitation Journey from Inception to specialists. Verifi cation’. Around 200 Delegates agreed upon delegates took part. Speak- the important role of col- ers shared their experience lecting and analysing ac- and best practices in the curate data on the leading development of trauma sys- causes and risk factors for tems designed to save lives trauma. They cited that in- and reduce disabilities. vesting in the hardware, the The congress focused on software and the manpower three main topics, including for the creation of trauma the trauma system verifi ca- Dr Hassan al-Thani, head of Trauma Services at HMC addressing the congress. registries were essential tion and accreditation proc- steps to identifying priority ess, updated damage control rector and the congress of critically injured trauma care of trauma patients to areas for injury prevention approaches in the manage- chairman. patients in our region. This discuss damage control ap- and improving the delivery ment of trauma patients, He said a thought-pro- conference is an important proaches in surgery, one of of trauma care. and clinical research. voking combination of global step forward in meeting that the hot topics in trauma care The Hamad Trauma Cen- “The event has made a and regional perspectives has important goal,” he added. nowadays. tre is the national Level I signifi cant contribution to provided participants with Dr Ayman El-Menyar, di- “They were able to inter- Trauma Centre of Qatar. the continuing professional the opportunity to create lo- rector of Clinical Research act on how to limit damage Last year, HMC received the development of all health- cal solutions that can be ap- in Trauma and Vascular control and save lives with Trauma Distinction Award care providers who care for plied to their own patients Surgery and congress co- early interventions because of Excellence from Accredi- trauma patients,” said Dr and healthcare setting. chair, recalled the event was most trauma patients usually tation Canada International, Hassan al-Thani, the head “Together, we share the a perfect opportunity for present with severe injuries.” becoming the fi rst trauma of Trauma Services at HMC, ambition of improving the multi-disciplinary teams He noted that the con- organisation in the world to Hamad Trauma Centre di- evaluation and management of experts involved in the gress highlighted the im- earn the recognition. Gulf Times Thursday, December 29, 2016 7 QATAR

Saudi adventurer Nasser Mohamed Al Jarallah al-Qahtani receiving a memento from a Qatari off icial at Souq Waqif in Doha. Saudi walkathon adventurer completes Qatar leg

audi adventurer Nasser Moham- the eastern zone province of Saudi ed Al Jarallah al-Qahtani, who is Arabia to Bahrain. The Qatar leg was Son a mission to walk through the the third journey on foot. GCC countries, has concluded his Qa- The fourth journey will start from Al tar leg, which started from Abu Samra Batha crossing, Saud Arabia to Dubai, Land Post and terminated at Souq Wa- then to Muscat, Oman. Al-Qahtani qif, Doha. plans to end his journeys at the head- He completed the journey over 10 quarters of the GCC at the Saudi capi- morning and evening sessions. tal Riyadh. The objective is raising the He expressed his appreciation for awareness of the GCC people on the high development witnessed in the importance of walking and Qatar at all fi elds, which he described sport in general, in addition to as a source of pride for all the GCC encouraging them to keep a clean people. environment. He also noted the great investment Al-Qahtani explained that his walk- in developing the skills and potentials ing journey through the GCC region of Qatari people. has lasted 60 days so far. Al-Qahtani thanked the Ministry of He started from Al Khafj i Governo- Culture and Sports and Qatar Sports rate in Saudi Arabia and walked to Ku- Association for their support and gen- Al-Qahtani starts his walking adventure wait. The second journey started from erous reception. from Qatar’s Abu Samra Land Post. Gulf Times 8 Thursday, December 29, 2016 QATAR

Portuguese embassy QRCS takes part in fi fth issuing Schengen visa he Portugal embassy in available on the embassy web- Doha is issuing Schen- site. Tgen visa since Novem- The visa applicant will re- ber 1, 2016, it was announced ceive a date and hour to go to yesterday. the Portugal embassy in order ‘GCC Inmates Week’ “This is a very important to collect the biometric and step that shows the impor- data. All this information can atar Red Crescent Soci- ance to help them adapt to their tance Portugal is having in be seen at: https://www.doha. ety (QRCS) took part in circumstances, start a new life Qatar,” ambassador António embaixadaportugal.mne.pt/ Qthe activities of the fi fth full of hope and hard work, and Tânger said in a statement. en/consular-section/consu- ‘GCC Inmates Week’ dubbed as become good people who serve Portugal follows a simple larservices/visa-information “Together to Achieve Reform,” their families and society,” process for issuing Schengen “Above all, Portugal is seen which started last Sunday. QRCS social development di- visa. It is mandatory to fi ll an as a good country to live, visit The event was attended by rector Rashid Saad al-Mohan- online form. A check list for and even start a business,” the a number of offi cials and rep- nadi said. the required documents is envoy added. resentatives from Ministry of He noted that the inmates’ Interior (MoI) departments, families were also advised on charities, and civil society or- how to treat the inmates posi- ganisations. tively upon their release. The QRCS corner, which has “This participation manifests MEC recalls Ford Escape, been receiving dozens of guests, our achievements and work to- aims to promote its humanitar- wards sustainable development ian mission and social develop- by encouraging the inmates to Mustang and Lincoln MKC ment activities for the benefi t feel independent and attain their of diff erent segments of the so- potential,” al-Mohannadi said. ciety. “They did a great job in train- he Ministry of Econo- with the dealer to follow up A public exhibition was held to ing workshops of metal work, my and Commerce, in on the maintenance and repair show the production of peniten- electrical repair, and refrig- Tcollaboration with Al- works and communicate with tiary inmates as a result of the erators,” he added. Recently, the Mana Motors Company, has customers to ensure that the vocational courses under QRCS’ programme was expanded to in- Director General of Public Security Major General Saad bin Jassim al-Khulaifi visits QRCS’ corner as announced the recall of Ford necessary repairs are carried “Imdad Penitentiary Inmate Re- clude A/C and solar panels. Secretary-General Ali bin Hassan al-Hammadi looks on. Escape, Mustang model year out. habilitation” programme. The training content is su- 2013-2015 and Lincoln MKC The MEC has urged all “The ‘Imdad programme’ pervised by Qatar Independent the Qatar Central Bank’s ‘Social training penitentiary inmates. graduates. The inmates and their model year 2015 over a po- customers to report any addresses a special group by Technical School, according to and Sport Contribution Fund’ Launched in 2012, the “Im- families also received psychoso- tential defect in the side door violations to its Consum- giving them psychological, be- al-Mohannadi. over three years, which embod- dad” programme has so far held cial and behavioural support and latch. er Protection and Anti- havioural, and vocational guid- He lauded the contributions of ies their belief in the benefi ts of 20 courses with a total of 150 incentive bonus. The MEC said the recall Commercial Fraud Depart- campaign comes within the ment through the following framework of its ongoing ef- channels: Hotline: 16001, forts to protect consumers and e-mail: [email protected], ensure that car dealers follow Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, In- Gulf delegates attend events to mark ‘GCC Inmates Week’ up on vehicle defects and re- stagram: MEC_Qatar, MEC pairs. mobile app for Android and The MEC will co-ordinate IOS: MEC_Qatar everal delegates from the GCC countries partici- Spated in the events held to commemorate the ongoing GCC Inmates Week at the Gulf Mall. Maid to be jailed, deported The exhibition is held under the theme “Together to achieve reforms”. The delegates vis- for stealing gold chain ited the Penal and Correctional Institutions Department yes- terday. Penal and Correctional he Court of Appeal up- lice station accusing her maid Institutions Department direc- held the ruling of the of stealing her golden chain. tor Brigadier Mohamed Saud TCourt of First Instance When the police searched the al-Otaibi, accompanied by Dr The delegates from other GCC countries with the MoI off icials at the and sentenced an Asian maid room of the maid, they found Mohsin Moaidh al-Arjani, rep- GCC Inmates Week celebrations at Gulf Mall yesterday. Artistic talent on show at the event. to one year in jail and subse- the chain hidden within her resentative of the General Secre- quent deportation for stealing things. tariat of the GCC, met the visit- the prison inmates. Rehabilitation Section head Lt Col including tug of war, table ten- rector of the Security Monitor- a gold chain worth QR200,000 However, the maid claimed ing delegates. The Inmates Aff airs Section Jassim Mohamed al-Kaabi, and Ft nis, billiards as well as they vis- ing Department of the General from her employer. she found the chain in the The guests were delighted head Brigadier Mohamed Abdul- Lt Adel Mirza al-Qasimi also at- ited the workshops, welding, Secretariat of GCC countries Local Arabic daily Arrayah room of another maid and had to understand the care and lah al-Ahmad, Ladies Inmates Af- tended the meeting. electricity and industrial units said the facilities made by Qatar reported yesterday that the kept it safe until somebody rehabilitation facilities pro- fairs Department head Brigadier The delegates witnessed the and play halls of the inmates. for prisoners helped them create case started when the victim claimed it, but the court was vided by the department for Ali Abdul Aziz Murad, Care and sport activities of the inmates Mohsin Moaidh al-Arjani, di- so many amazing products. fi led a complaint at the po- not convinced.

Cabinet reviews draft law on real estate registration

The weekly Cabinet meeting, presided over by HE the Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, yesterday reviewed a draft law on the organisation of real estate registration. The Cabinet also reviewed a memo of the Minister of Public Health on the outcome of the Third Meeting of the GCC Health Ministers Committee (Riyadh — October 2016).

NHRC workshop on The campaign is rewarding customers for using their Commercial Bank Visa credit card during the months of October, mixed migration November and December. concludes

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) concluded Commercial Bank announces fi rst batch a training workshop on mixed migration and asylum seeking, which it organised over two of Visa credit card campaign winners days in co-operation with the GCC regional representative of the Off ice of United Nations ommercial Bank has with a total of 150 winners. QR7,500 or more. cards for retail purchases High Commissioner for announced the fi rst As an added bonus to “Customers can also stand that can be instantly re- Refugees (UNHCR). Cbatch of winners the monthly prize draws, the chance to win three grand deemed for fl ights, hotels The workshop has of its ‘Win with Commer- three additional custom- prizes totalling 500,000 Re- and discounts from Qatar’s recommended that a legal cial Bank Visa Credit Card’ ers will stand the chance to ward Points through a mini- leading stores. guide be drafted that includes campaign. win 100,000, 150,000 and mum spend of QR15,000 on Commercial Bank also is- systems of refuge before The campaign rewards 250,000 Reward Points in a retail purchases. Now is the sues Limited Edition credit referring it to the Arab League, customers for using their grand prize draw at the end of best time to use their credit cards, a leading ultra-pre- with the guide featuring a Commercial Bank Visa the campaign if they spend a card during the holiday pe- mium card package that specific definition for the credit card during the minimum of QR15,000 in any riod when spending at home provides preferential and refugee as well as building months of October, Novem- given month of the promo- or abroad.” personalised services for mechanisms of co-operation ber and December. tional period. Commercial Bank issues discerning high net-worth with relevant authorities and Fifty customers have Roya Khajeh, Commercial a wide range of credit, debit individual customers. This activating the role of these won 10,000 Reward Points Bank AGM, head of cards and payroll (WPS) cards to programme allows Limited partnerships. by spending a minimum of and payments, said: “We suit all customers’ needs, Edition customers the op- The workshop discussed QR7,500 during October on encourage customers to according to a press state- portunity to enjoy “unique on the second day a set of retail purchase transactions use their Commercial Bank ment. The bank’s Rewards lifestyle experiences and aspects, including registration using their Commercial Bank Visa credit card during the programme allows custom- an enhanced rewards pro- as a protection method in Visa credit card. This is the campaign period to qualify ers to earn Reward Points gramme”, the statement cases of mixed migration. fi rst of three monthly draws for the draw by spending when using their credit notes. Gulf Times Thursday, December 29, 2016 9 QATAR

Training programme for Video Home staff Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition to open on Feb 20 Video Home recently conducted Indesit/Ariston product training programme to enhance the product knowledge oha Jewellery and of sales staff and extend, through them, the benefits and features to customers. The programme was conducted Watches Exhi- by Massimo Maggioni, training manager at Indesit Company (Italy), and attended by the sales staff of all Jumbo Dbition (DJWE), Electronics showrooms. Also in attendance were merchandisers and sales staff of hypermarkets and major home held under the patron- appliances dealers in Qatar. A group of 30 attended the training programme. Video Home COO Rohit Pandit age of HE the Prime briefed the attendees on the brand value that Indesit has around the world, especially its association with leading Minister and Interior appliances company Whirlpool Corporation. Manoj Kumar, assistant general manager for the multi-brand division Minister Sheikh Abdul- of Video Home, also addressed the trainees. lah bin Nasser bin Kha- er history of business lifa al-Thani, yesterday events in Qatar, as its or- announced the fi rst de- ganisers and exhibitors tails of its 2017 chapter, have been witnesses to scheduled to be held the sector’s growth year from February 20 to 25 at after year, reaching the the Doha Exhibition and point now where it set Convention Centre. for success on the glo- The event is expected bal stage, with enhanced to feature well over 500 facilities, event organi- brands represented by 40 sation capabilities, and exhibitors from 10 coun- expanded exhibition tries. The exhibition is space spread through organised by Qatar Tour- world-class venues.” ism Authority (QTA) and Al-Obaidli added that delivered by Auditoire. a large-scale region- QTA works to facilitate al campaign had been the growth of business launched two months events in Qatar by work- before the exhibition’s ing with, and empower- opening date, with the ing, the private sector aim of attracting visitors to organise and deliver to the event from around quality exhibitions and the Gulf. events. DJWE is the longest- Ahmed al-Obaidli, di- running and one of the rector of exhibitions at most anticipated exhi- QTA, pointed out in a bition in Qatar’s annual statement that identifi ed calendar of events and in Qatar’s National Tour- reinforces the country’s ism Sector Strategy as a position as a premium core sub-sector, business business events destina- events play an impor- tion. Plans for the 2017 tant role in attracting the edition of Doha Jewellery seven million annual visi- and Watches Exhibition tors Qatar is targeting by will give outstanding local 2030. talent the chance to shine “DJWE is truly a suc- alongside global luxury cess story in the broad- brands. Gulf Times 10 Thursday, December 29, 2016 QATAR/REGION Rota hosts Malabar Festival raffle draw winners training workshop

for teachers The first two raff le draw winners of the ongoing campaign ‘Malabar Gold & Diamond Festival’ were announced in the presence of Ministry of Economy and Commerce’s Field Control Department head Ejayan Ali Almarri, Malabar Gold & Diamonds zonal head Naufal Thadathil, deputy branch head Raju T each Out To Asia University, and spon- to enable them to integrate Johny, branch manager Abdulla Shaff i and other off icials. The winners Ragesh C A and Rafeek will receive the prize of 250gm gold each. (Rota) has hosted an sored by Muntajat. internet technologies and RiEARN (Internation- Shamma al-Dosari, ICT project-based learning al Education and Resource for education specialist into their curriculum. Network) teacher training at Rota, said the iEARN- Marwan Muftah, Ara- workshop on project based Qatar programme equips bic Language and Islamic learning methodology. teachers with the skills to Studies Department co- A group of 124 teachers empower students to real- ordinator at Michael E. from 20 independent and ise their full potential and DeBakey High School who Healthcare practitioners attend private schools attended the make positive contribu- attended the workshop, workshop. The event pro- tions to their communities. said: “The programme vided the opportunity for “The workshop is a truly enabled us to further our the participants to collabo- global initiative that has professional development rate with an online network been specifi cally tailored and introduced us to an orientation session at QU of educators and learners to meet the needs of teach- invaluable global learning across 140 countries. ers and students in Qatar. network. I look forward to iEARN is a non-profi t iEARN’s model of global incorporating these inno- he Continuing Profes- and prepare them to be- organisation that connects project-based learning al- vative teaching methods sional Development come distinguished health- schools and youth organi- lows young students to into our curriculum, which T(CPD) unit at Qatar care providers in multiple sations worldwide via a acquire skills in critical will enrich my students’ University College of Health health systems. The CPD virtual network to em- thinking and cross-cul- learning experience.” Sciences (QU-CHS) recently Unit had been accredited power young teachers and tural awareness while con- The iEARN-Qatar pro- held an orientation session. by Qatar Ministry of Public students, encourage inter- necting their learning to gramme builds on the basic The “Orientation to Health. scholastic collaboration, real world issues, making principle of project-based training courses in public The event brought to- and promote debate on learning both challenging Learning by connecting health programme at QU: gether many health educa- world issues in real time. and enjoyable,” al-Dosari classrooms around the Field experience and health tors and healthcare practi- The programme allows added. world via an online net- education practicum” ses- tioners who supervise and participants to take advan- Since the programme work. sion was delivered by Dr train QU Public Health stu- Some participants at the orientation session. tage of the collaborative fea- was launched in 2008, iEARN is the world’s Ghadir Fakhri al-Jayyousi, dents during training cours- tures of iEARN, which ena- more than 670 teach- largest non-profi t glo- lecturer and training co-or- es at Qatar Cancer Society. She also highlighted the Hiba Bawadi recalled that professional practice and to bles them to meet national ers from 110 schools have bal network that enables dinator at CHS Department Dr al-Jayyousi gave an goals of the Field Experi- the College of Health Sci- provide eff ective Continu- requirements and enhance attended iEARN-Qatar teachers and students to of Public Health. introductory presenta- ence and Health Educa- ences is one of the earliest ing Medical Education/CPD personal development. workshops and partici- use the internet and other It aimed to highlight the tion on QU Public Health tion Practicum courses and accredited CPD providers programmes to stimulate a For the third year pated in numerous iEARN technologies to collaborate importance of providing programme followed by a stressed the importance of for healthcare practitioners positive change in knowl- running, the train- projects with their stu- on projects that enhance training for supervisors discussion about the main realising these goals during in Qatar. edge, competence, and ing workshop was or- dents. learning and make a dif- who train students in vari- objectives of experience- the training programmes. “The College continues in performance of healthcare ganised in collabora- The programme also ference in the world. More ous health organisations based learning for students. CPD unit co-ordinator Dr its eff orts to identify gaps in practitioners.” tion with the National off ers educators an op- than 50,000 educators and Centre for Educational portunity to join the Rota two million youth across Development, College Knowledge Network for 140 countries make up the of Education at Qatar professional development global education network. Two expats jailed for 7 years for illicit drug trade Jordan court A Doha Criminal Court drug consumption. the policeman and the has sentenced two Sri According to the file of the first defendant met at Lankan men to seven years case, the first defendant the Industrial Area and in jail and subsequent coincidentally off ered to the latter arrested while sentences deportation for illicit drugs sell some quantity of the delivering the illicit drug. trade and consumption. illicit drug marijuana to an A search of his room Local Arabic daily Arrayah undercover policeman for revealed more amounts of reported yesterday that QR1,900 at Doha Industrial the illicit drug. There were the court also fined both Area. So, the Drug also two other persons fi ve to death QR200,000 each for Prevention Department in the same room and the same crime. A third of the Ministry of Interior one of them turned out defendant from the same was notified and the to be the partner of the nationality was sentenced necessary legal procedures first defendant while the to three months in jail, were taken to conduct other was proven to have for ‘terror’ subsequent deportation surveillance. consumed the illicit drug Work going on as part of the Doha South Sewage Infrastructure Project. and QR10,000 fine for illicit At the designated time hashish. AFP later that they had foiled IS Amman attacks in the kingdom, which had already been hit by deadly Excavation works of attacks over the past year. court in Amman yes- On December 18, 10 people terday sentenced to including a Canadian were Adeath fi ve Jordanian killed in a shooting rampage sewage project begin members of a cell linked to the the popular tourist destina- Islamic State jihadist group for tion of Karak, in an attack “terrorism”. claimed by the Islamic State xcavation works for the main network. As a result, it will reduce the The state security court group. trunk sewer, a part of the Doha environmental impacts through the also handed down jail terms Two days later, in a raid on ESouth Sewage Infrastructure full control of odours in sewage treat- of between three and 15 years a house in Karak province, Project, have started. ment works and conveying system, and to another 16 Jordanians in the the authorities arrested a man The project comprises the construc- reduce other environmental problems same case. suspected of funding the at- tion of a 16km main trunk sewer, di- arising from sewage overfl ow due to ex- They were found guilty of tack. vided into three segments, eastern, cess hydraulic pressure on the existing deadly “acts of terrorism”, the Also yesterday, an Alge- northern and western, besides the con- drainage network, where sewage fl ows manufacture of explosives and rian belonging to “terrorist struction of 11 shafts for excavating the exceed its capacity. “possession of weapons and groups” was killed in Maan main tunnel. The main trunk sewer will The project is expected to be com- ammunition for use in terror- governorate in the south of the convey the sewage that fl ows through pleted by the fi rst quarter of 2019. The ist acts” and recruiting people kingdom, a security statement pumping stations to the existing Doha Doha South Sewage Infrastructure for “terrorist organisations”. said. south treatment works. Project is the fi rst project in the re- The group of 21 were mem- He refused to surrender and The Doha South Sewage Infrastruc- gion to implement the CEEQUAL an bers of an IS cell that was opened fi re before being killed ture Project is designed to serve areas in international evidence-based sustain- broken up in March during a by security forces, it said, add- the south of Doha. ability assessment, rating and awards large-scale security operation ing that another man was ar- The project can be linked to future scheme for civil engineering, infra- in the northern town of Irbid, rested at the scene. infrastructure projects, and when com- structure, landscaping and works in near the border with Syria. Jordan is part of the US-led pleted, it will enable the decommis- public spaces. Seven suspected jihadists military coalition against IS sioning of more than 20 old pumping The Joint Venture “Bouygues and a member of the Jordani- and has carried out air strikes stations. Travaux Publics” and “UCC” is the an security forces were killed targeting the extremist group. The project will link a number of ar- project contractor and “CH2M” is the during that operation. It also hosts coalition troops eas in the south of Doha to the sewage Project Management Consultant. The authorities announced on its territory. Bahrain activist to stay in jail despite bail

AFP tion, and banned him from travel- “He will remain in jail pending tions of “spreading false news and ru- Dubai ling abroad, with the case set to the case being handled by the public mours and inciting propaganda dur- resume on January 23. prosecution, until the investigation ing wartime which could undermine The decision followed repeated re- is concluded,” prosecution chief Mo- the war operations by the Bahraini opes that Bahraini activist quests to release the 52-year-old who hamed Salah said in a statement car- armed forces and weaken the nation”. Nabeel Rajab would be freed has suff ered recurring health prob- ried by the state news agency BNA. Bahrain is part of a Saudi-led coali- Hwere dashed yesterday af- lems, and after mounting pressure Salah said Rajab was being ques- tion battling Houthi rebels in Yemen. ter the prosecution said he will stay from international rights groups. tioned in another cybercrime case The Shia activist, who had been in custody pending another case, But the prosecution swiftly said on a similar charge of “spreading pardoned for health reasons last year, shortly after he was granted bail. Rajab will remain behind bars for fur- false news about the situation in the was rearrested in June and is on trial A court had earlier ordered that ther questioning in a separate case, kingdom”. on a list of charges, including insult- Rajab be freed pending trial on cutting short celebrations by his sup- The prosecution said Rajab was ing a state institution and Saudi Ara- charges of spreading false informa- porters and relatives on social media. bailed in the case involving accusa- bia in online postings. Gulf Times Thursday, December 29, 2016 11 ARAB WORLD Russia, Turkey said to Tunisia to decide on agree Syria ceasefi re plan against Rebels say details still to Fateh al-Sham, formerly the Al be submitted to opposition Qaeda affi liate Al Nusra Front, fighters which has worked more closely with the rebels since changing militants AFP its name. Istanbul Erdogan had on Tuesday launched one of his most bitter AFP Last week, Interior Minister attacks yet on US and Western Tunis Hedi Majdoub told Tunisia’s urkey and Russia have policy in Syria, which he said parliament that 800 militants agreed a ceasefi re for all was marked by broken prom- had already returned from the Tof Syria that was expected ises. unisian ministers will front lines, stressing however to come into force today, Turkish He accused the West of not meet today to decide on that the authorities have them state media said yesterday, but just supporting Kurdish militia Tan action plan against on their radar. rebel groups said no such offi cial that Ankara regards as a “terror militants returning from for- Despite such assurances, truce had been agreed. group” but even Islamic State eign battlefi elds, a govern- Tunisians rallied outside par- The state-run Anadolu news (IS) militants. ment source said, as fears liament at the weekend to pro- agency said the plan aims to The Turkish leader said the mount they could destabilise test against allowing militants expand a ceasefi re in the city of West was failing to back Tur- the North African country. back into the country. Aleppo - brokered by Turkey and key’s own incursion inside The ministerial meeting to Politicians and their parties Russia earlier this month to al- Syria in support of pro-Ankara be chaired by Prime Minis- have expressed similar con- low the evacuation of civilians fighters to oust IS from the ter Youssef Chahed follows a cerns, criticising the authori- - to the whole country. border area, which has taken number of gatherings between ties’ inaction. If successful, the plan would increasing casualties in recent security and judicial experts form the basis of upcoming po- weeks. on the matter. “We will not put them litical negotiations between the But in an angry statement, the “There will be a ministerial all in prison because we Damascus regime and the op- US embassy in Ankara rejected meeting tomorrow with a view would not have enough position, overseen by Russia and the “considerable misinforma- to launching a strategic action prisons but we will Turkey in the Kazakh capital As- Syrian workers remove rubble from a rooftop as they clean up the water station in Aleppo’s Suleiman tion circulating in Turkish me- plan,” the source in the prime monitor them” tana, it added. al-Halabi neighbourhood. Aleppo’s residents are impatient to end their water shortages, with the main dia” about US operations against minister’s said yesterday. But in a speech in Ankara af- pumping station functioning at a third of its capacity. IS in Syria. The United Nations esti- The national union of inter- ter the report was published, “Assertions the United States mates that more than 5,500 nal security forces has called President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “News talking about their ap- ously quiet as Assad’s forces, She emphasised that the talks government is supporting Daesh Tunisians are fi ghting along- on the government to strip made no reference to the plan, proval of a ceasefi re is incorrect.” backed by Russia, took control were not intended to replace the (IS) are not true,” it added. side extremist groups, includ- Tunisian militants of their na- while Kremlin spokesman Dmit- Anadolu said both sides were last week of Aleppo in the big- peace process based in Geneva In continued bloodshed, air ing in Syria, Iraq and Libya tionality. ry Peskov said he could not an- working for it to come into force gest defeat so far for the rebels in which has sought to fi nd a solu- strikes carried out by uniden- where the Islamic State group President Beji Caid Essebsi swer on an issue “about which I but gave no further details. the civil war. tion for the Syrian confl ict. tified aircraft killed at least 22 seized swathes of territory. said in early December that don’t have enough information”. Ankara and Moscow have been Ankara has also hosted a suc- But the direct involvement of civilians, including 10 chil- Concern about their re- his country was “taking all the A Syrian rebel source, who on opposing sides in the Syrian cession of closed door talks be- Turkey and Russia comes as Er- dren, in a village held by IS in turn has risen since Tunisian necessary measures” to en- asked not to be named, said in civil war, with Turkey seeking tween Russia and Syrian opposi- dogan is increasingly express- Deir Ezzor province, the Syrian Anis Amri was identifi ed as sure that militants returning Beirut that details still had to be the ouster of President Bashar tion rebels over the last weeks ing impatience at the role of the Observatory for Human Rights the suspected attacker who from Syria and Iraq are “neu- submitted to opposition fi ghters al-Assad, who is backed by Rus- Al Jazeera network said a new United States in Syria. said. mowed down 11 people with tralised”. and said there was no agreement sia and Iran. meeting is planned today in An- Previous ceasefi re plans had Syria’s confl ict began in 2011 a hijacked truck at a Berlin Citing the constitution, he as yet. But the two countries have kara, this time between military been brokered by US Secretary as an uprising against Assad Christmas market last week said however that “we can’t “The armed revolutionary fac- recently started to co-operate representatives of Syrian rebels of State John Kerry and Russian but quickly morphed into a civil and also killed the driver. prevent a Tunisian from re- tions have not received any offi cial more closely on Syria, especially and Russia. counterpart Sergei Lavrov. war after the regime unleashed The source, who spoke on turning to his country”. proposal for a ceasefi re in Syria,” after a deal in the summer to No date has yet been set for the They met with only temporary a brutal crackdown against dis- condition of anonymity, said the “We will not put them all Labib Nahhas, head of foreign normalise ties battered by Tur- Astana talks and Russian foreign success and failed to lead to a so- sent. “comprehensive strategy” that in prison because we would relations for the powerful Ahrar key’s shooting down of a Russian ministry spokeswoman Maria lution for the confl ict. The war has killed more than the government was reviewing not have enough prisons but al-Sham rebel group added on his warplane last year. Zakharova said the meeting was It remains unclear how the 310,000 people and forced mil- had been drawn up in the prime we will monitor them,” he offi cial Twitter account. Turkey remained conspicu- still at the planning stage. latest ceasefi re plan will apply to lions more to fl ee their homes. minister’s offi ce last month. added. Five dead, many injured as train hits bus near Tunis

AFP A local court offi cial said signals and called for new measures against the Tunis safety gates had been out of service at destruction and theft of safety barri- the time of the crash. ers. “This failure is at the root of the “We must organise awareness t least fi ve people were killed collision,” Moez Bouraoui, a court campaigns on the importance of this and more than 50 injured yes- spokesman from Ben Arous south of equipment that protects lives,” he said. Aterday when a train slammed the capital, told Mosaique FM. Authorities in Tunisia have called into a public bus before dawn near The national railway company said for greater caution on the roads fol- Tunis, the Tunisian interior ministry it had begun an investigation to deter- lowing accidents including a collision said. mine the cause of the accident. between a bus and a lorry in August The articulated bus was torn in two President Beji Caid Essebsi visited that killed 16 people and injured 85. when it was struck on the tracks at some of the injured at the Ben Arous A 2015 World Health Organisation around 6am near Sidi Fathallah, some hospital. report said Tunisia had the second 10km south of the capital. “I have been told that the signals worst traffi c death rate per capita in Five people including a child were have not been working for more than North Africa, behind war-torn Libya. killed and another 52 were taken to 15 days,” Essebsi said. Tunisia logged 24.4 deaths per hospital, many with serious injuries, “This is not normal. We must put 100,000 inhabitants, according to the ministry said. an end to laziness, it is everyone’s re- data from previous years, fewer than Among the injured were eight soldiers, sponsibility.” Libya’s 73.4 but far more than 2.9 in Mosaique FM radio station reported. Transport Minister Anis Ghedira Britain.

Abbas meets Jordan FM Sudan lawmakers vote to bring back post of premier

AFP power, Bashir con- Khartoum cluded a year-long national dialogue aimed at resolving udanese law- the insurgencies in makers voted Sudan’s border re- Syesterday to gions and healing bring back the post the country’s crisis- of prime minister, a wracked economy. position abolished The talks, after President Omar launched in October al-Bashir came to 2015, were boycotted power in a 1989 by most mainstream coup. opposition and The move to armed groups. delegate limited On October 10, powers to a prime Bashir submitted minister fits with a “national docu- reforms proposed ment” to serve as a by a national dia- framework for a new logue between Ba- Sudanese constitu- shir’s government tion. and some opposi- That led to yester- tion groups. day’s amendment, Bashir scrapped approved by all 387 the post after lead- MPs present out of a ing a bloodless coup total of 425. against then-pre- While it gives the mier Sadiq al-Mahdi prime minister re- with the help of sponsibility for “ex- Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas (right) meets with Mahdi’s brother-in- ecutive power in the Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh at the Muqataa, the law, Islamist leader country”, it still al- Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Hassan al-Turabi. lows the president to Ramallah yesterday. In October, after a form a government quarter-century in or sack ministers. Gulf Times 12 Thursday, December 29, 2016 AFRICA Dozens of Boko Haram fi ghters surrender in Niger

Reuters losses over the border in Ni- The fi ghters arrived in the ticipate in the development of Haram fighters, but authorities 2mn during a seven-year insur- controlled an area about the size Niamey geria. remote desert town of Diff a in the country and help us get rid of said there was the possibility gency aimed at creating an Is- of Belgium in early 2015 but has “Thirty-one young people groups and were being held by the trauma.” of reintegrating them back into lamic state in Nigeria. In recent since been pushed back by inter- from Diff a, who were enrolled local authorities. “I learned that In June, tens of thousands society. A security source said a years its attacks have spilled into national forces including troops ozens of Boko Haram a few years ago in Boko Haram, the fi rst who surrendered were of people fled Diffa as Boko meeting was planned in Diffa to neighbouring Niger, Cameroon from Niger. fi ghters have given decided to surrender,” minis- not arrested, and I surrendered,” Haram swept the region. Five discuss “the conditions of sur- and Chad. Nigeria’s army captured its Dthemselves up to au- ter Mohamed Bazoum wrote on a former Boko Haram combatant Niger soldiers were killed by render”, without providing fur- Hundreds of Boko Haram last enclave in the vast Sambisa thorities in southern Niger, the Twitter, above pictures of him told national television. the militants near Diffa in Sep- ther details. fi ghters surrendered in Chad in forest last week, President Mu- interior minister said, days after touring the area near Nigeria’s “We expect a pardon from the tember. It was not clear what Boko Haram has killed 15,000 October and November as the hammadu Buhari said on Satur- the Islamist group suff ered key northeast border. government so that we can par- will become of the ex-Boko people and displaced more than group ceded territory. The group day.

Militant outfi t suspected of kidnapping French woman Mozambique’s ‘ultimate

Reuters Dine have all conducted attacks Bamako in Mali this year from bases in the desert north. Samake said he would start Malian state prosecutor proceedings next week for high- said yesterday that mili- profi le attacks last year on the criminal’ dies in hospital Atant group al Mourabit- Radisson hotel in Bamako, the oun is suspected of kidnapping Byblos hotel in Sevare and La Ter- Convicted murderer, offi cials said yesterday. In 2006, Mathe a French-Swiss aid worker from rasse restaurant in the capital. In rapist and armed Convicted murderer, achieved notoriety when the city of Gao in northern Mali. all, about 38 people were killed. burglar Ananias Mathe rapist and armed burglar he became the fi rst person Sophie Petronin has not been Two Malians and a Maurita- was renowned for Ananias Mathe, from Mo- to ever escape from the seen publicly since Saturday, nian suspected of carrying out or his many audacious zambique, was renowned maximum high-security when men snatched her and planning the attacks would ap- attempts to break out of from his many audacious C-Max Penitentiary in drove off in a pickup truck. She pear before a judge, Samake said. prison attempts to break out of Pretoria. He was reported ran a charity for malnourished A rebellion by ethnic Tuaregs prison. to have smeared himself in children and had lived in Gao for in 2012 that sought to create a AFP He died in hospital in petroleum jelly, squeezed 15 years, authorities said. new state called Azawad was Johannesburg Durban on Tuesday “due through a tiny window, “The fi rst indications show hijacked by militants linked to to complications with broken down a wall and that she was certainly taken Al Qaeda who seized northern digestive issues”, correc- used a steel bed bar for hostage by a terrorist group, al towns. prisoner who es- tional services spokesman a hook to hold a rope Mourabitoun,” prosecutor Bou- French troops drove them out caped twice from Thulani Mdluli Kwazulu made from bed linen and bacar Sidiki Samake said. a year later but they still launch A high-security jails told the SABC state broad- clothes. Al Mourabitoun has not attacks and have spread to ar- in South Africa died while caster. “We have been giv- However, it was also claimed responsibility for the eas once considered safe, despite being treated for an illness ing Ananias Mathe (the) suspected that he had in- kidnapping. The group is led eff orts by a 13,000-strong UN that guards reportedly at medical attention he de- side help, and six prison by Algerian militant Mokhtar force to keep them at bay. fi rst suspected was part serves for the past three wardens were dismissed Belmokhtar, who has been a The separatist group, the Co- of another escape plot, months,” he said. over his escape. Ananias Mathe prominent fi gure in insurgencies ordination of Azawad Move- across North Africa and the Sa- ments (CMA), this week sus- haran border region. pended its participation in a Mourabitoun, Al Qaeda in committee charged with imple- the Islamic Maghreb, and Ansar menting a 2015 peace accord. Time to celebrate as the year rolls by

Nigeria gets rid of 50,000 government ‘ghost workers’

DPA “We are trying to recover the Lagos huge amount of money that has been illegally collected with the ghost names,” he said, adding he Nigerian government that 11 people have been arrested has removed the names so far, of whom four have already Tof 50,000 ghost work- been charged. ers from its pay roll, saving as All the names that were un- much as 200bn naira ($637mn), covered from February to date a presidential spokesman said. have been deleted from the “The ghost names were found government’s pay records. in several government establish- President Muhammadu Buhari ments where they over bloating came to power last year with salaries and the pension bills,” a pledge to fight corruption presidential spokesman Garba which is endemic in the oil- Shehu said. rich country. Picnickers have a good time at an amusement park in Ikeja district in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos.

Nigeria’s Chibok girls kept from family over Christmas

A group of 21 Nigerian Chibok parliamentarian for several days. girls brought home for Christmas “What is the point of bringing after almost three years in them home if we as their parents captivity were prevented from can’t see them?” said one of the celebrating at home with their fathers, who asked not to be families, sources said yesterday. identified. The 21 were among more than A mother accused the 200 mostly Christian schoolgirls government of “deliberately released in October after being breaking our hearts in this festive snatched by jihadist Boko period”. Haram gunmen in April 2014 in a The girls were not given kidnapping that sent shockwaves permission either to attend across the world. Christmas mass, angering The group had been brought Chibok residents as well as their back to Chibok under heavy relatives. “We are a community escort to spend Christmas at and we take these girls as ours home but family and relatives whether they are related to us or said that instead they had been not,” said local resident Ayuba kept inside the house of a local Alamson.

Ivory Coast signs deal for construction of two power plants

Ivory Coast will build two 350 rising economic stars, but rapid With electricity demand increasing megawatt (MW) charcoal power growth has strained power supplies. by about 10% each year, the Ivorian stations in the western cocoa town of Government spokesman Bruno Kone government is pushing for investments to San Pedro by 2021 to address growing told reporters in Abidjan that one plant double output to 4,000 MW by 2020. national demand for electricity, the was scheduled for completion in 2020 China Energy Engineering Corporation government said yesterday. and the second in 2021. is leading construction of the 500mn Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa He did not say how much they would cost euro ($520mn) Songon power station, grower, has emerged from a decade- but did say that the Ivorian firm S Energies whose two gas and one steam turbine long political crisis as one of Africa’s would have to raise money for the project. will produce 372 MW of power.

Floods in southwest Congo kill at least 50

Flooding this week in the Democratic said Therese-Louise Mambu, health Scientific models predict that climate Republic of Congo port city of Boma minister for Kongo Central province. change will bring increased rainfall to killed at least 50 people and left “The damage is very serious,” she said. central Africa over the course of this another 10,000 homeless, authorities “We continue to look for other bodies.” century. Central and western parts of the said yesterday. Resident Jeanne Nzita said: “Everything Congo Basin are expected to be worst Torrential rain on Monday night caused was taken away – the windows and the hit. Dozens died late last year in the the Kalamu River to overflow, flooding doors. All that remains of our house is capital Kinshasa as it recorded unusually two districts of the southwestern city, the walls and the roof.” heavy rains during the rainy season.

DR Congo opposition activists released

Nineteen pro-democracy activists released, their organisation and a DR Congo) on December 21 ... arrested during a protest against UN official said. “Lucha confirms were released on Tuesday,” the the Democratic Republic of Congo’s that 18 comrades arrested opposition movement’s Ghislain President Joseph Kabila were during a sit-in in Goma (in eastern Muhiwa said. Gulf Times Thursday, December 29, 2016 13 AMERICAS

PEOPLE POLITICS LAW LEGAL OFFBEAT Uruguay’s last dictator, Chilean leftist presidential Cuba bans naming statues, Ex-Argentine leader Tycoon asked mayor to Gregorio Alvarez, dies at 91 hopeful in lead in key poll public places after Castro indicted in graft scheme shut street for wedding

Uruguay’s last military dictator, General Gregorio An independent leftist senator running for There will be no Fidel Castro streets or plazas Former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez was Food and beverage distribution tycoon Christopher “El Goyo” Alvarez, died yesterday at age 91 of president in Chile’s 2017 election is leading in in Cuba, in keeping with the late revolutionary indicted on charges she ran a corruption scheme Reyes had asked Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to heart failure, a defence ministry off icial said. Alva- a head-to-head matchup against the right’s leader’s wishes, as spelled out in a law Cuban with a public works secretary who was arrested in close a major downtown street with the subject line rez, who played a central role in a 1973 coup that front-runner, a poll released yesterday showed, legislators passed on Tuesday. President Raul June while trying to stash millions of dollars in a “street closure for my daughter’s wedding. Reyes, installed a military regime in Uruguay, ruled the spicing up a race once expected to feature only Castro, 85, said that before dying at the age of 90 convent. A federal judge accused them and other 62 – said by Forbes magazine to be the 206th richest country from 1981 to 1985. He was serving a 25- establishment favourites. The survey by pollster on November 25, his brother Fidel had requested off icials of the Fernandez administration of crimes American, with a net worth of $2.9bn has been a ma- year prison sentence for human rights violations MORI shows Alejandro Guillier, a journalist-turned- that no monuments or statues be erected in “including the deliberate seizure of funds principally jor donor to Emanuel and to Illinois Republicans. The committed during the dictatorship. Suff ering from politician, winning a potential runoff election by his honour, and that no streets or buildings be meant for public road works.” Corruption charges e-mail was among hundreds released by the mayor’s dementia and respiratory problems, he was trans- five points against Sebastian Pinera, a conserva- named after him. Lawmakers adopted the bill have long swirled around Fernandez and her attorney in recent days as part of a settlement of ferred two weeks ago to the Montevideo Military tive, investor-friendly ex-president. When asked implementing his wish. While he was an omni- husband and predecessor, the late Nestor Kirchner. a lawsuit with the Better Government Association. Hospital, where he died. Human rights activists who they would vote for in a race between the present figure in the lives of Cubans after taking She denies wrongdoing and accuses Argentina’s However, Emanuel did not respond to the e-mail, called on Uruguayans to remember victims of the two, 35% of survey respondents said Guillier and power in 1959, Fidel Castro always opposed the current leader, Mauricio Macri, of using the courts to leaving Reyes, his daughter and their guests to slum regime on the occasion of his death. 30% favoured Pinera. erection of statues in his likeness. persecute her. it by crossing the street like ordinary mortals. Legislator charged with pointing gun, punching wife

Tribune News Service ing named by The State news- New York paper – said the state legislator had grabbed a Smith & Wesson handgun from a vehicle outside outh Carolina state Rep. their home and pointed it at her, Chris Corley was arrested according to the report. That Son charges of punching his happened after his punch drew wife in the face and pointing a blood, she said. 9mm pistol at her when she ac- The lawmaker then went cused him of cheating, accord- into a bedroom, after saying ing to Aiken County sheriff ’s he “was going to kill himself,” records. his wife, 37, told deputies. As Corley, an Aiken Republi- Corley headed for the bed- can, was charged with first- room, his wife and the chil- degree criminal domestic vio- dren ran to her mother’s house lence, a felony, and pointing across the street, the report and presenting a firearm at his states. wife of 12 years in the presence The report does not mention of two of their children, ages a third child, who is listed in the two and eight, an incident re- current South Carolina Legisla- port states. tive Manual. The 36-year-old legislator faces Corley told a deputy who ar- up to 10 years in prison if convicted rived at the couple’s house that of the domestic violence charge, he and his wife got into an ar- which is the second most serious gument because she thought he charge related to domestic vio- was cheating on her. He said his US president-elect Donald Trump watches as Carlyle Group founder and CEO David Rubenstein departs following their meeting at the Mar-a-lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, yesterday. lence. The most egregious charge wife tried to punch him in the is domestic violence of a high and face, but he pushed her off . She aggravated nature. scratched his forehead, accord- A judge in Aiken released Cor- ing to the report. ley on a total of $20,000 in surety bonds, banned him from going Corley’s wife told near his wife or holding a fi rearm deputies that her and told the lawmaker he could husband threatened to travel only to and from his job in kill her and the only thing Augusta, Ga. that stopped him was the Trump lashes out at The little-known legislator screams of the children thrust himself into the national spotlight in 2015 when he sug- The arrest warrant does gested on the fl oor of the South not say if the Smith & Wesson Carolina House that removing SD9VE 9mm used in the inci- the Confederate fl ag from the dent belongs to Corley. Investi- State House grounds was tanta- gators believe Corley owns the mount to the state’s Republican gun; however, it’s unclear if he Obama on Twitter Party surrendering to political has a concealed-weapons per- correctness in the wake of the mit, Captain Eric Abdullah, a Agencies “Doing my best to disregard had run again and articulated now been largely complimentary movement questioning the au- Charleston church shooting spokesman for the Sheriff ’s Of- Washington the many infl ammatory Presi- it, I think I could’ve mobilised a of the way Obama and his people thenticity of the president’s massacre. fi ce, said. dent O statements and road- majority of the American people have handled the transition. birth certifi cate and suggesting Corley, wearing a white long- Sheriff ’s deputies arrived blocks,” Trump wrote on Twit- to rally behind it,” Obama told Obama made an apparent he was not born in the US. sleeve Southern Tide T-shirt, around and arrested him, ac- S president-elect Don- ter. “Thought it was going to be the interviewer, his former sen- reference to Trump yesterday After Obama released his blue athletic shorts, tennis cording to the report. Abdullah ald Trump yesterday ac- a smooth transition — NOT!” ior adviser David Axelrod. when he spoke at Pearl Harbor long-form birth certifi cate, shoes, handcuffs and shackles, said Corley is co-operating with Ucused Barack Obama of The social media jab is the Trump has responded on after his historic meeting with Trump bragged that he was the said little during his bond hear- law enforcement. making “infl ammatory” state- latest from the 70-year-old real Twitter numerous times in re- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo one who forced him to do so and ing. His attorney, who declined Corley’s next court appear- ments and complicating the im- estate mogul aimed at Obama, in cent days, writing one that there’s Abe, telling the US not to “turn for years continued to claim un- to give reporters his name, is ance is scheduled for Febru- pending transfer of power — the what has become a most uncon- “NO WAY” Obama would have inward.” certainty about Obama’s birth- believed to be a relative of Cor- ary 10, Aiken county magistrate latest salvo in an escalating war ventional transition between beaten him and later adding that “It is here that we remember place ley’s. Melanie DuBose told the law- of words with the current com- the outgoing Democrat and the the president “campaigned hard that even when hatred burns Trump frequently attacked Corley’s wife told deputies maker. mander-in-chief. incoming Republican leader. (and personally) in the very im- hottest, even when the tug of Obama on the campaign trail on that her husband threatened to Because of the seriousness of The unorthodox personal Obama said in an interview portant swing states, and lost.” tribalism is at its most primal, issues ranging from ObamaCare kill her in their Graniteville home the charges, Corley could be fac- and public criticism of a sit- released earlier this week that he Although Trump didn’t detail we must resist the urge to turn to the Iran nuclear deal to the and that the only thing that ing suspension from the South ting president comes less than could have been re-elected for a his complaints in his morning inward, we must resist the urge fi ght against terrorism. stopped him was the screams of Carolina House of Representa- a month before the 70-year-old third term if he had been eligible broadsides on Twitter yester- to demonise those who are dif- Obama and fi rst lady Michelle the children, according to the tives. House Speaker Jay Lucas Trump — who defeated Obama’s and that the nation still largely day, the president-elect has ferent,” Obama said. Obama frequently campaigned Aiken County Sheriff ’s Offi ce is monitoring the situation, said preferred successor Hillary embraces his political vision. made it clear that it didn’t sit Early in Obama’s presiden- for Clinton during the presiden- report. his spokeswoman, Caroline Del- Clinton in November’s presi- “I am confi dent in this vision well with him cy, Trump became one of the tial election and openly criti- Corley’s wife – who is not be- leney. dential election — takes offi ce. because I’m confi dent that if I Trump and his team have until leading voices in the “birther” cised Trump.

Union plans 30% budget Bullfight Amazon snubs police cuts in wake of Trump win plea in murder probe Guardian News and Media for having “always-on” micro- Guardian News and Media union. In the memo, obtained by Last month the SEIU presi- Seattle phones to enable its voice-con- London the Guardian, Henry said “the dent joined the New York state trolled features, the vast major- outcome of the November 2016 attorney general, Eric Schnei- ity of the recordings it makes are election results” had made it derman, and others in denounc- mazon has refused to not saved for longer than the few he two-million-member necessary to “dramatically re- ing Trump’s nominee for labour hand over recordings from seconds it takes to determine if union that was a driving think” the SEIU’s plans for ex- secretary, Andy Puzder. Puzder is Aan Echo smart speaker a pre-set “wake word” (usually Tforce behind the Fight for pansion. the CEO of the restaurant group to police investigating a murder “Alexa”) has been said. $15 minimum wage protests is In an e-mailed statement, that owns Hardee’s and Carl’s in Arkansas, according to court Only if that wake word has planning to cut its internal budg- an SEIU spokeswoman, Sahar Jr, two fast-food chains; he has records seen by tech industry been heard does the device’s full ets by 30% in anticipation of the Wali, told the Guardian that broadly criticised minimum news site The Information. complement of microphones Donald Trump administration, the planned cuts were neces- wage increases and advocated for Arkansas police issued a war- come on and begin transmitting according to an internal memo. sary “as we prepare to fight automating jobs currently per- rant to Amazon to turn over audio to Amazon. The Service Employees In- back against the forthcoming formed by low-income workers. recordings and other informa- While that would seem to limit ternational Union (SEIU) presi- attacks on working people and The Fight for $15 campaign has tion associated with the device the use of the Echo data in the in- dent, Mary Kay Henry, has told our communities under an ex- achieved success in California owned by James Andrew Bates. vestigation, the device is also oc- staff that “because the far right tremist-run government”. Wali and New York, and it has cut into Bates has been charged with casionally accidentally activated, will control all three branches said that SEIU was looking for the margins of the fast-food in- the murder of a man found through similar sounds. of the federal government, we “financial refinements to im- dustry from which Puzder hails. dead in his hot tub in Novem- Those snippets of audio could will face serious threats to the plement” that would best allow But there are other threats to the ber 2015. potentially be useful to police in- ability of working people to join the SEIU to grow. union, notably from rightwing The Seattle-based tech com- vestigating a crime, as could the together in unions” and that “Working families are fed up legislatures pushing anti-labour pany twice declined to provide timing information of when they cuts would start immediately, with not being able to improve laws. the police with the information were recorded. with a 10% budget reduction by their families’ lives no matter Anti-labour activists man- they requested from the device, According to the report, the this Saturday. News of the De- how hard or how long they work aged to have a National Right- although it did provide Bates’s court records show police took cember 14 internal memo was while greedy corporations and to-Work bill, sponsored by the Spanish “rejoneador” Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza account information and pur- the Echo and extracted some first reported by Bloomberg on self-interested politicians con- Kentucky senator Rand Paul, in- performs during a bullfight at the Canaveralejo bullring in chase history, the report said data from it. Police also extracted Tuesday. tinue to rig our economy and po- troduced in February last year. It Cali, department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. court records show. data from a diff erent smart home Trump’s triumph shocked the litical system,” Wali wrote. was referred to committee. Although the Echo is known device, a water meter. Gulf Times 14 Thursday, December 29, 2016 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

Korean Air pledges tough measures on unruly passengers

AFP ter 1980s US pop singer Richard crew members to use them more trained” crew restrain a violent the passenger grabbing a female investigating and have sought uproar. Korean Air heiress Cho Seoul Marx lashed out at the company aggressively”, he added. passenger on a fl ight from Hanoi fl ight attendant by her hair and an arrest warrant for the passen- Hyun-ah, who was company on social media for its handling The airline will also put at to Seoul’s Incheon Airport. another crew member pointing ger, identifi ed as a 34-year-old vice-president at the time and of the incident. least one male crew member Local television footage a taser. heir to a South Korean cosmet- sitting in fi rst class, became en- orean Air said yesterday it Until now, the use of stun on every flight, buy new ropes showed a male passenger fl ail- Fuentes said the all-female ics company. He consumed two- raged when a fl ight attendant would let its crew use stun guns or tasers has been limited to tie down unruly passengers ing, punching and spitting as crew did not know how to use the and-half shots of whisky during served her some nuts in a bag Kguns more aggressively to situations where there was an quickly and step up crew train- female crew members and other taser nor how to secure the rope the fl ight, Korean Air said, but rather than on a plate. and put more male staff aboard “imminent threat to the lives of ing in mock-up cabins. Korean passengers struggled to hold around the man and “never fully added they have no information She lambasted the chief stew- fl ights to clamp down on vio- passengers and crew or to safe Air’s 700 male attendants ac- him down and tie him to his seat got control of him”. on whether he had drunk alcohol ard over the behaviour of his cab- lence, after an incident involving navigation”, said airline spokes- count for only one-tenth of its with a rope. Marx posted photos Marx said the fi asco lasted before boarding. in crew and ordered the Seoul- an unruly passenger. man Nathan Cho. But “regula- flight attendants. on Twitter and Facebook taken four hours until he stepped in The airline was at the centre of bound fl ight that had just left the South Korea’s fl ag carrier said tions on the use of stun guns or Marx said last week he had to by his wife, TV host and model along with other male passen- a notorious “nut rage” incident gate in New York to turn back so it was tightening security af- tasers will be changed to allow step in to help “clueless and ill- Daisy Fuentes which showed gers. South Korean police are in 2014 that triggered a national he could be ejected.

Myanmar men may face jail for Japan hails Pearl Harbor not marrying visit, braces for Trump pregnant women AFP Tokyo

AFP they are bullied into not getting Yangon married after living together. apanese yesterday hailed a We will give them protection historic visit by Prime Min- under the law.” Jister Shinzo Abe to Pearl yanmar’s government Buddhist-majority Myan- Harbor, praising his message of is drafting a law that mar is a socially conservative reconciliation with the United Mcould see men jailed country, where gender stere- States but wary of the future af- for up to seven years for getting otypes are deeply entrenched. ter Donald Trump takes offi ce. a woman pregnant but not mar- While attitudes have started Interest in Abe’s visit to the rying her, a senior official said to change since the isolation- site of Japan’s December 7, 1941 yesterday. ist junta stepped down in 2011, attack that drew the US into The provision is part of activists say women are still World War II has been high, with tough new legislation designed treated like second-class citi- many favourably comparing it to to strengthen women’s rights zens. There are currently no President Barack Obama’s jour- as the country opens up after laws to prevent domestic vio- ney this year to Hiroshima. half a century of military rule. lence against women or combat Both visits were highly chore- Director of the social welfare sexual harassment in the work- ographed and in their remarks – department Naw Tha Wah said place. Obama in Hiroshima and Abe in the new law would criminalise The penal code includes Hawaii – neither apologised or domestic violence for the first some provisions against rape, even explicitly said their coun- time and make gang-rape a although that does not cov- tries carried out the respective capital offence. er husbands who abuse their attacks. But despite the careful If passed in parliament, the wives unless they are under the words, the symbolism of their law would also carry a penalty age of 13. standing together again, this of up to five years in prison for Last year parliament passed time at Pearl Harbor, was clear any man who refuses to mar- controversial laws backed by to most in Japan. ry a woman after they have hardline Buddhist nationalists, National broadcaster NHK lived together, and up to sev- restricting marriage between provided live coverage of their en if she is pregnant. “We are Buddhist women and men of joint address around 7am (Japan now drafting a bill to protect other faiths. time). It was delivered after the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Barack Obama depart together after speaking at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Seen in the back- women and prevent violence Naw Tha Wah said the bill is two men visited the memorial ground is the USS Missouri. against them,” Naw Tha Wah currently in its final draft, but to the battleship USS Arizona, said. needs cabinet and parliamen- sunk in the surprise Japanese ministers, who visited the con- Imamura’s action is “likely to for a “sincere apology” to Asian War II. Commentator Takashi “Women can complain if tary approval to become law. attack. troversial Yasukuni war shrine have a negative impact on Ja- countries that suff ered from Ryuzaki said that comment was Kuniyoshi Takimoto, 95, a in Tokyo just hours after Abe pan’s diplomacy and off set the Japanese militarism. designed to engage the US pub- former navy aircraft mechanic went to Pearl Harbor. Masahiro positive image of Abe’s historic Abe aimed to highlight the lic who supported Trump. Climber falls to death in NZ’s Southern Alps on a carrier that took part in Imamura, minister in charge of visit,” she said. signifi cance of close military “Rather than off ering an the raid, praised Abe’s words. the reconstruction of northern Abe’s visit was also closely and economic relations with the apology, the message of grati- A mountaineer fell several had not yet confirmed the man’s “It was a beautiful message that Japan after the 2011 tsunami, watched in China, where it was US as Trump prepares to assume tude for what America did after hundred metres to his death identity. deeply refl ected the sentiment was quoted by public broad- noted that he stressed ties with power amid major questions the war was expressed,” Ryuzaki yesterday at Mount Aspiring in It took the volunteer Wanaka of both American and Japanese caster NHK as saying the timing the US over Asia. “If Japan really about his policies, several Japa- said on a TBS morning show. New Zealand’s Southern Alps, Police Search and Rescue three people,” he said. But Takimoto of his visit was “a coincidence”. wants to reconcile over histori- nese media outlets said. Trump, The desire for a continued police said. The man, believed to hours to locate and recover the was also critical of Abe’s hawk- But Haruko Satou, professor cal issues, Abe chose the wrong during his campaign, accused solid Japan-US relationship is be a tourist, fell from the north- man’s body. The climber’s death ish policy to expand the role of of international politics at Os- place,” the nationalist Global Japan of not paying its fair share what most Japanese, including west ridge, the most commonly- was a tragedy, rescue co-ordi- Japan’s constitutionally con- aka University, suggested that Times newspaper commented, in supporting the military al- Tokyoite Kazuko Masuda, 57, say climbed path to the mountain’s nator Sergeant Aaron Nicholson strained military, including en- while Imamura’s true intention saying he should visit Nanjing, liance, and suggested Tokyo they want. 3,000m peak, and onto a glacier, said. “The very busy start to the abling combat missions abroad. was unknown the timing was the site of a 1937 Japanese mas- could even develop its own nu- “Mr Trump utters all those police said. summer outdoor season is a “The beautiful message has a suspicious. “It’s natural to think sacre, or elsewhere in China. clear deterrent. strong words... but I really hope The climber was a Czech man sobering reminder of the inher- catch,” he said. that he chose the same day when China’s foreign ministry Abe’s speech also expressed he as an individual is the kind of in his mid-20s, the New Zealand ent risks in mountaineering,” Abe’s visit was slightly over- Prime Minister Abe visited Pearl also weighed in, with spokes- Japan’s appreciation for US re- person who walks an honour- Herald reported. Police, however, Nicholson said. shadowed by one of his own Harbor,” Satou said. woman Hua Chunying calling construction aid after World able path,” she said.

Vietnam’s growth declines China fl exes military muscle in ’16 but remains resilient before power shift in the US

AFP growth on fragile global eco- by contrast seen its economy AFP With its escort warships, the Li- tector Washington, which has 10 said the often nationalist Global Hanoi nomic conditions, a punishing stagger under a military junta. Beijing aoning was in the South China aircraft carriers in service and a Times. regional drought and a toxic “Vietnam is in a sweet spot Sea earlier this week, according network of naval bases all around Although the US spends far leak in central Vietnam that right now,” Frederic Neumann, to the Taiwanese defence minis- the globe, said David Kelly, re- more on its military than China ietnam’s economic devastated the local fi shing and co-head of Asian economic re- n aircraft carrier in the try which monitored the carrier’s search director of Beijing-based does, Beijing’s growing assert- growth eased off in 2016 tourism industries earlier this search at HSBC Holdings Plc Pacifi c and a newly up- passage off its shores. consulting fi rm China Policy. iveness in strategic regions like Vbut remained resilient in year. However robust manufac- in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg Agraded combat aircraft: The manoeuvres were preced- For China, the presence of the the South China Sea coupled the face of a global trade slow- turing gains helped the econo- News. China’s military is showing off ed by exercises on “refuelling and Liaoning is above all “symbolic” with the uncertainty surround- down and environmental disas- my expand in the fourth quarter “Foreign companies continue its newest equipment less than confrontation in fl ight”, accord- and aimed at its “domestic audi- ing Trump’s policies has set off ters, authorities said yesterday. to 6.68%, up from 6.4 in Sep- to invest in Vietnam to take ad- a month before the swearing-in ing to the offi cial news agency ence”, Kelly said. jitters among Washington’s allies The communist country’s tember. vantage of its highly competi- of US president-elect Donald Xinhua. For now, experts say the Peo- in Asia. In recent years Beijing GDP picked up in the fourth Foreign investment also tive labour and low cost. The Trump, who has raised tensions “The threat from our enemy is ple’s Liberation Army Navy has strengthened its claims to quarter to clock in at 6.2% shot up 9% year-on-year, with outlook is bright and it is one between Beijing and Taipei. increasing day by day,” Taiwan’s would have little hope of coun- the South China Sea and fuelled in annual growth, a dip from Vietnam attracting a record of the standout economies in In recent days state media an- defence minister Feng Shih- tering the smaller but technolog- regional tensions by expanding last year’s 6.68%, offi cial data $15.8bn in 2016. The Southeast Asia.” nounced that the country’s only kuan said during a promotion ically superior US-backed Japan tiny reefs and islets into artifi cial showed. “Although there has Asian nation has increasingly An analysis published by the aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was ceremony for generals. “We need Maritime Self-Defense Force, let islands hosting military facili- been no breakthrough in GDP become a regional magnet for World Bank earlier this month on its way to the Pacifi c for the to maintain combat vigilance at alone the US Seventh Fleet. The ties. growth in 2016, it was still a private investment, especially said strong domestic demand fi rst time, while a new fi ghter, the any time.” second-hand, Soviet-built Li- Brunei, Malaysia, the Phil- success as the fi gure is relatively in its growing manufacturing and export-oriented manu- FC-31, had its debut fl ight test. The demonstration of Chi- aoning has “almost no strategic ippines, Vietnam and Taiwan high and stable,” Nguyen Bich and consumer sectors. Analysts facturing gave the country’s They are the latest steps in the na’s naval capacity comes amid signifi cance,” Kelly said. But, he have contested Beijing’s claims Lam, director of the General have hailed it has a bright spot economy a favourable outlook. years-long build-up of China’s mounting concern on the main- added, “it reminds the US that while Washington has repeatedly Statistics Offi ce, told reporters in the region. It also hailed low infl ation rates, military, as Beijing seeks greater land about the momentum of China can apply pressure on this called on China to uphold free- in Hanoi. Neighbouring Thailand, once which the government said global power to match its eco- Taiwan’s independence move- region.” dom of navigation, sending ships He blamed the tempered the star of Southeast Asia, has were kept below its target 5%. nomic might and asserts itself ment, worries fuelled by Trump’s In mid-December the Chinese and aircraft to pass close to the more aggressively in its own suggestion that he would con- navy announced that the vessel new islands. backyard, but the timing raises sider recognising the self-ruled had conducted its fi rst live-fi re Beijing is also modernising its Workers’ union in Australia told to audit membership questions about its intentions. island as an independent nation. exercises, including tests with a air force. The China Daily re- The show of strength comes Nevertheless, it is “impos- dozen missiles. ported that it recently tested a The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) has been told In correspondence seen by ‘Guardian Australia’, Enright after Trump broke four dec- sible to say whether the timing Beijing says the exercises are new prototype stealth fi ghter, an to audit its membership numbers after concerns told the AWU on November 15 that the “integrity” of ades of US policy by accepting a is intended to send a signal to routine, but state media have improved version of the FC-31 over inaccurate reporting of membership for six AWU historical membership reporting had become an phone call from Taiwanese Pres- Trump”, said Bonnie Glaser, a expressed pleasure that the Li- Gyrfalcon previously known as years. The Fair Work Commission (FWC) ordered issue. He said that, between 2009 and 2014, the AWU’s ident Tsai Ing-wen, even though China expert at the Washington- aoning is battle-ready and that the J-31. the audit after the union admitted it had published financial report for each year cites the exact number of China objects to any offi cial con- based Center for Strategic and another aircraft carrier, entirely Meanwhile, Chinese commen- incorrect historic membership numbers in financial members as the union’s annual report from six months tact between its foreign partners International Studies. Chinese-made, is under con- tators say Beijing must waste no reports from June 2009 to 2014. earlier, something he said was “inherently unlikely”. “For and leaders of Taiwan. “I’m more inclined to see this struction. time in building more aircraft The FWC discovered the problem after reviewing the example, in the June 2014 financial report, the union China views self-ruling Tai- as an inevitable development and “Aircraft carriers are strate- carriers, with the Global Times AWU’s annual returns and financial reports. Chris Enright, reported 120,289 members, the identical number as wan as part of its territory await- possibly a long planned exercise.” gic tools which should be used urging the government “to think the director of the Fair Work Commission’s regulatory had been reported in the annual report for December ing unifi cation, by force if neces- Beijing has a long way to go to show China’s strength to the about setting up navy supply compliance branch, has warned the AWU it may have 31, 2013,” he wrote. “This pattern has occurred in each sary, even though the two sides before it can claim military supe- world and shape the outside points in South America right contravened the Registered Organisations Act. of the years between 2009 and 2014. split in 1949 after a civil war. riority over Taiwan’s main pro- world’s attitude toward China,” now”. Gulf Times Thursday, December 29, 2016 15 BRITAIN

INVESTIGATION CELEBRITY LAW AND ORDER PEOPLE ACCIDENT Two arrested after MasterChef judge Torode 97 held in raids on Ex-footballer Gascoigne Fishing crew missing man shot dead in car injured in riding fall 300 nail-salons in hospital after hotel row as boat capsizes

Two people have been arrested on suspicion MasterChef judge John Torode has left hospital Immigration off icers have raided nearly 300 Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne was A search is under way for missing crew members of murder after a man was shot dead in West after a “lucky escape” in a riding accident. A nail salons and arrested 97 people, mostly from involved in a fracas in a London hotel, several of a fishing boat which capsized in the English Bromwich. The two men, aged 19 and 24, photo posted on Instagram of Torode, 51, in a Vietnam, for suspected immigration off ences witnesses said, and taken to hospital after Channel. It overturned off the Kent coast on were arrested on Daggers Lane soon after the hospital bed sparked concern for the Australian as part of a drive to tackle modern slavery, sustaining a head injury. The Metropolitan Police Tuesday night, the Maritime and Coastguard shooting in Dartmouth Street at about 14:30 chef’s well-being. Lisa Faulkner, his partner, the Home Off ice said yesterday. “Operation said off icers were called to a disturbance at Agency (MCA) said. One crew member was GMT on Tuesday, West Midlands Police said. wrote that he was “very bruised” and thanked Magnify”, a week-long operation concluded London’s Ace Hotel in Shoreditch on Tuesday rescued from the upturned hull. The search is The 33-year-old male victim was a passenger in the staff of St Mary’s hospital in Paddington, earlier this month, was a cross-government night before a 49-year-old man was taken to continuing for the other crew members. a stationary car. He died after being shot in the west London. Faulkner tagged the photo drive to stamp out illegal working by targeting hospital. A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: A coastguard search and rescue helicopter head. The scene of the incident is cordoned off “#luckyescape” and “#blessed”, but the cause of specific “risk” industries, said the Home Off ice “The man has been taken to an east London based at Lydd, two lifeboats from Ramsgate and for forensic investigations. Off icers are appealing the accident remained a mystery. On Tuesday in a statement. “This operation sends a strong hospital where he remains in a stable condition.” the coastguard rescue team from Margate are for anyone who saw a grey Audi Q5 being evening, after the photo prompted messages message to those employers who ruthlessly Witness Alvin Carpio said Gascoigne, who has involved. The BBC understands the fishing boat driven away from the scene shortly after 14:30 of support and concern, Faulkner tweeted that seek to exploit vulnerable people and wilfully faced a long struggle with alcoholism, was is from Belgium. A spokeswoman for the MCA on Tuesday to come forward. The car has been Torode was “well and happy and sitting on the abuse our immigration laws,” Immigration kicked down the stairs after an altercation with said she could not confirm the nationality of the recovered. sofa and all is good”. Minister Robert Goodwill, added. another guest. vessel or how many people were missing.

Fatal crash Dutch woman with kids told to leave after 24 years in UK

Guardian News and Media make arrangements to leave,” the London letter said. When she phoned the Home Offi ce to discuss the decision Dutch woman who has communicated to her in October, lived in the UK for 24 years, four months after her application, Aand has two children with she was told her case could not be her British husband, has been discussed on the phone or by e- told by the Home Offi ce that she mail. Hawkins said her treatment should make arrangements to by the Home Offi ce was as absurd leave the country after she ap- as a “Monty Python” sketch. plied for citizenship after the EU In a written complaint, Hawkins referendum. The story of Monique said the worst aspect about the Hawkins highlights the practical process was the inability to con- A woman died and over a dozen were injured in a pile-up involving around 20 vehicles on a major road in heavy fog near Witney, northwest of London yesterday. diffi culties faced by millions of EU tact anyone. She wrote: “I do not citizens concerned that they will believe there is any other business, not have the right to stay in Britain organisation or even legal process post-Brexit. in the world that would treat its Hawkins had considered ap- customers/clients/applicants in plying for citizenship before but this manner.” She also protested decided not to as it did not confer that while the Home Offi ce would any rights beyond her current EU not discuss her case with her per- rights. However, after the referen- sonally, it was willing to respond to dum she changed her mind, fearful her MP Dominic Raab, who inter- that those rights would be dimin- vened on her behalf. Child refugees launch ished after Britain leaves the EU. She has now written to appeal, European citizens marrying but says in her complaint: “I am Britons do not automatically qual- now left totally in limbo. I do not ify for UK citizenship under cur- know how long to wait for a reply. I rent rules and Hawkins was con- do not know whether my applica- cerned that if she did not apply she tion will be reopened or not.” She would be forced “to join a US-style added that she did not know if she action against govt two-hour immigration queue” would get the refund she was en- while the rest of her family “sail titled to. Guardian News and Media Of the 28 refused, 11 are aged fusing these applications and Bulgarian forest, was physically and vulnerable boy” who needs through the UK passport lane”. She was told the reason for the London 14, seven are 15, nine are 16 and failed to use its discretion in re- and sexually exploited by peo- treatment, a Home Offi ce social In order to get citizenship, she rejection was because she had one is 17. Sixteen are from Erit- sponse to extreme cases. ple traffi ckers and was shot with worker who assessed him said fi rst had to get a “permanent resi- not included her original pass- rea, 11 are from Afghanistan and The judicial review focuses on rubber bullets and teargas while there was no evidence that he dency” document, which involves port, even though she had told the hirty-six child asylum one is from Sudan. They have the specifi c circumstances of one in the Calais camp. had any particular emotional or an 85-page application form. Home Offi ce her father had died in seekers who previously been dispersed to 15 reception 14-year-old boy from Afghani- His wrist was broken there psychological needs. Hawkins said the Home Offi ce the Netherlands and it was needed Tlived in the Calais refugee centres around France. stan as well as on the broader is- when he was beaten by a French He was one of many children had overlooked vital information by Dutch authorities. camp have issued a legal chal- In the legal challenge the gov- sues aff ecting all of the children. police offi cer wielding a baton. who were informed on Decem- in her submission – she was un- In her complaint, Hawkins lenge to the home secretary. ernment is accused of reneging on The boy’s father helped Nato He tried to kill himself on four ber 15 and 16 that their appli- able to supply an original of her points out that she included a They claim Amber Rudd acted its commitment to bring vulner- troops and was targeted by the occasions while in Calais. cations to come to the UK had Dutch passport because her father solicitor-approved photocopy of unlawfully in the way she han- able accompanied refugee chil- Taliban as a result. The boy was His legal team at Duncan Lewis been unsuccessful. He has twice had recently died and she needed her passport plus a covering let- dled their applications. It is the dren to the UK under Section 67 shot in the neck by the Taliban Solicitors wrote to the Home Of- expressed a desire to kill himself her passport to continue to travel ter to explain why she could not be fi rst time children from the camp of the Immigration Act, known as when they came to the fam- fi ce on November 2 and Decem- since being moved to a reception to the Netherlands to support her without her passport for the four have taken individual legal ac- the Dubs amendment. This makes ily home searching for his father. ber 5 to raise concerns about the centre in France. mother. to six months it takes to process. tion against the government. provision for particularly vulner- He was lucky to survive and fl ed boy’s condition but neither letter In an initial response to the le- However, the department not She said the application form The children were dispersed able children to come to the UK at his home country and travelled received a response. gal action, Home Offi ce offi cials only rejected her application but included a box for reasons for not across France after the site the discretion of the government. through eight countries to reach While social workers have as- said they could not prioritise sent her a letter which took no including a valid passport as long was dismantled on October 31. According to the children’s France. sessed him to be suff ering from cases of children who had legal account of her right to be in the as it was due to circumstances Twenty-eight of those bringing lawyers, the Home Offi ce has Along the way he was buried suicidal ideation and depression, representatives, and that if the country irrespective of their de- beyond your control. “Clearly my the legal action have had their failed to allow the relocation of alive while travelling in a car at- and an independent psychia- child felt the French authori- cision. “As you appear to have father dying did not qualify in the applications refused, while an- many of the most vulnerable tacked by Iranian military, al- trist assessed him to be suff ering ties were not looking after him no alternative basis of stay in the Home Offi ce’s eyes as beyond my other eight are awaiting deci- children to the UK, failed to give most starved to death when he from post-traumatic stress dis- properly he could seek redress United Kingdom you should now control,” said Hawkins. sions from the Home Offi ce. proper written decisions in re- spent four days and nights in a order and to be a “traumatised through the French courts. Eight in 10 middle-aged Hyde Park wildlife Best-selling author Richard Adams dies

Britons ‘are overweight’ Guardian News and Media Bright Eyes, sung by Art Garfun- London kel, topped the UK charts for six weeks. Guardian News and Media adviser to One You, said: “The catastrophic. The book, which critics have London demands of modern day living are “There are an estimated 11.9mn ichard Adams, the author credited with redefi ning anthro- taking their toll on the health of people at increased risk of devel- of Watership Down, has pomorphic fi ction with its natu- the nation and it’s those in middle oping type 2 diabetes in the UK Rdied aged 96. ralistic depiction of the rabbits’ ight out of 10 of middle- age that are suff ering the conse- because of their lifestyle and more A statement on the book’s of- trials and adventures, won Adams aged people in the UK weigh quences most, as their (ill-)health than 1mn who already have the fi cial website said: “Richard’s both the Carnegie medal and the Etoo much, drink too much or reaches worrying new levels. condition, but have not yet been much-loved family announce Guardian children’s prize. do not exercise enough, analysis “More than 15mn Britons are diagnosed. with sadness that their dear fa- The statement announcing his from Public Health England (PHE) living with a long-term health “Type 2 diabetes can lead to se- ther, grandfather, and great- death quoted a passage from the shows. condition, and busy lives and desk rious complications such as am- grandfather passed away peace- end of his best-known work. It Modern life is harming the jobs make it diffi cult to live health- putation, blindness, heart attack, fully at 10pm on Christmas Eve.” read: “It seemed to Hazel that he health of the nation, accord- ily. But just making a few small stroke and kidney disease. We The novel, fi rst published in would not be needing his body ing to the organisation, which changes will have signifi cant ben- know how hard it is to change the 1972, became one of the bestsell- any more, so he left it lying on the has launched a campaign, One efi ts to people’s health now and in habits of a lifetime, but we want ing children’s books of all time, edge of the ditch, but stopped for You, aimed at the 83% of 40 to later life.” people to seek the help they need selling tens of millions of copies. a moment to watch his rabbits and 60-year-olds – 87% of men and Many more middle-aged people to lose weight, stop smoking and Adams did not begin writing to try to get used to the extraor- 79% of women in this age bracket are being diagnosed with diabe- take more exercise.” until 1966, when he was 46 and dinary feeling that strength and – who are overweight or obese, tes, with the rate among the 40- People are being urged to con- working for the civil service. While speed were fl owing inexhaustibly exceed the chief medical offi cer’s 60 age group doubling in the past sider their health and the simple on a car trip with his daughters, he out of him into their sleek young alcohol guidelines or are physically 20 years. Obese adults are more steps they can take to improve it began telling them a story about a bodies and healthy senses. inactive. than fi ve times more likely to de- in the run-up to the new year. The group of young rabbits escaping “‘You needn’t worry about Obesity is one of the biggest velop type 2 diabetes, which 90% online quiz “how are you?” helps from their doomed warren. them,’ said his companion. problems for this group: 77% of of adults with diabetes have, than participants assess their health In an interview with the ‘They’ll be alright – and thou- men and 63% of women in middle those who are a healthy weight – and off ers advice on how they can Guardian two years ago, the au- sands like them.”’ age are overweight or obese. Obes- have a body mass index of between eat better, be more active, stop thor recalled: “I had been put on A spokesman for Oneworld ity in adults has risen by 16% in 18.5 and 24.9. smoking and consider their alco- the spot and I started off : ‘Once publications, which brought out the past 20 years. Research shows Dan Howarth, the head of care hol consumption. there were two rabbits called Ha- a new edition of Watership Down that many people cannot identify at Diabetes UK, said: “We know After receiving an individual’s zel and Fiver.’ And I just took it on with illustrations by Aldo Galli, a healthy body, suggesting being that people often bury their heads lifestyle information, the website from there.” said: “Very saddened to hear that overweight has become the new in the sand when it comes to their provides a health score and links to It was made into an animated Richard Adams has passed. His normal. general health, but the conse- free and personalised information, A swan takes off in Hyde Park in London yesterday. fi lm in 1978, and the follow- books will be cherished for years Prof Sir Muir Gray, a clinical quences of doing nothing can be apps and tools. ing year the fi lm’s theme song to come.” Gulf Times 16 Thursday, December 29, 2016 EUROPE

Hollande Police detain alleged contact pardons woman who killed of Berlin truck attacker husband AFP fi rmed remains subject to Chambery before heading to Milan. Berlin further investigation,” the A train ticket from Lyon to statement added. Milan via Turin was also found AFP Amri, 24, went on the run on Amri’s body. Paris erman police yesterday and was the focus of a four-day But investigators are still try- detained a Tunisian they manhunt before being shot dead ing to determine how Amri was Gbelieve “could have been by police in Milan, northern It- able to leave Berlin and cross rench President Francois involved” in the Berlin Christ- aly, after opening fi re fi rst. most of Germany to reach the Hollande yesterday par- mas market attack, with alleged German police said they Netherlands. Fdoned a woman who killed links to Anis Amri, the suspect- found his fi ngerprints and his Amri was known to Tunisian her abusive husband, allowing her ed assailant shot dead in Italy temporary residence permit in police as a juvenile delinquent to walk free from jail where she last week. the cab of the truck used in the who drank and took drugs. was serving a 10-year sentence. The arrest was the fi rst in Berlin attack, next to the body In 2011, he left his home Hollande “considered that Germany by investigators seek- of its registered Polish driver, country for Italy. There he spent Mme (Jacqueline) Sauvage’s ing to uncover if Amri had ac- who was killed with a gunshot four years in prison for starting place was no longer in prison but complices in the December 19 to the head. a fi re in a refugee centre, during with her family,” the president’s attack when he allegedly hi- The Berlin rampage was which time he was apparently offi ce said in a statement. jacked a truck and drove it into a claimed by the Islamic State radicalised. The case, which has seen many Berlin Christmas market, killing group, which released a video After serving his sentence he twists and turns since Sauvage, 12 people. last Friday in which Amri is made his way to Germany in who is in her late 60s, shot her “The deceased suspect Anis shown pledging allegiance to IS 2015, taking advantage of Eu- husband Norbert Marot three Amri had saved the number of chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. rope’s Schengen system of open times in the back a day after their this 40-year-old Tunisian na- More than a week after the borders - as he did on his return son hanged himself in 2012, is a tional in his phone. The inves- attack, investigators were still A handout photo released by the Italian Police allegedly shows Anis Amri, the suspected Berlin truck to Italy last week. cause celebre in France. tigations indicate that he could battling to fi nd out if Amri attacker, in a CCTV frame grab taken at 22.14pm (local time) on December 22 at the Torino Porta Nuova German security agen- Hollande accorded Sauvage have been involved in the at- had help before and after the railway station in Turin. cies began monitoring Amri in a partial pardon in January this tack,” the federal prosecutor’s assault. March, suspecting he was plan- year for killing Marot, a violent offi ce said in a statement. Three other men, including came closer to tracing Amri’s for the Dutch public prosecu- later found on his body. ning break-ins to raise cash for alcoholic who she said raped her The suspect was taken into Amri’s nephew, were arrested escape route to Milan. tion service, said: “We believe Amri got off the bus at the automatic weapons to carry out and her daughters. custody early yesterday after by Tunisian authorities last The Tunisian had boarded an he was in Nijmegen, most likely Lyon-Part-Dieu rail station, an attack. But the pardon reduced her federal police offi cers searched Friday. overnight bus at the Dutch city last Wednesday.” one of the sources said. But the surveillance was halt- prison sentence rather than his Berlin home and work Yesterday, a spokesman at the of Nijmegen, near the German “There are video images and Surveillance cameras ed in September because Amri, commuting it, and in August a premises. anti-terrorism unit said that border, that took him to Lyon in it’s very likely him,” De Bruin fi lmed Amri at the station last who was supposed to have been French court refused to release “The extent to which the their probe was ongoing, de- central France, sources close to said, adding that “it’s most Thursday. deported months earlier, was Sauvage, who has become a sym- suspicions against the de- clining to give further details. the investigation said. likely here where he received a From there, he took a train seen primarily as a small-time bol of the suff ering of domestic tained person can be con- Separately, investigators Wim de Bruin, spokesman SIM card,” which Italian police to the French Alpine town of drug dealer. abuse victims in France.

Criminal case opened after bear’s killing Spain detains 2; Plane crash linked to possible causes outcry

Russian investigators said yesterday they had opened a bullets found malfunction of wing fl aps criminal case into a group of men who filmed themselves crushing AFP fying terrorism,” without giv- a bear to death by repeatedly Madrid ing any further details. DPA driving over it in off -road vehicles The arrests come as Spain Moscow in the Siberian tundra. strengthens security during A video posted on YouTube on panish authorities said the holiday season. Monday, apparently shot on a yesterday they had ar- Authorities in Madrid are nvestigators believe that a mobile phone, showed men in Srested two suspected taking unprecedented meas- malfunction of wing fl aps two heavy trucks shouting “Crush jihadists in Madrid and found ures for New Year’s Eve, when Icould be behind the crash him! Crush him!” and poking the bullets and weapon magazines thousands gather in the central of the Russian military air- bear as it struggled to rise from while conducting raids linked Puerta del Sol square for tra- plane into the Black Sea on the snow. to the detentions. ditional celebrations that see the coast of the Russian city The video, which has since been According to the Europa Spaniards swallow 12 grapes of Sochi over the weekend, the removed from YouTube, was Press news agency, the maga- for each stroke of midnight. Interfax news agency reported widely circulated by Russian zines were of the type used for All those entering the yesterday. media and caused a public outcry. assault rifl es such as the AK- square will be searched. A fl ight recorder recovered Investigators in the Sakha 47, but a police spokeswoman Bollards will be used on from the aircraft revealed that Republic, in northeast Siberia, was unable to confi rm this nearby roads alongside police there could have been a prob- said they had opened a when contacted by AFP. vans to guard against truck at- lem with the mechanism con- criminal investigation into the The interior ministry said tacks like those that hit Nice trolling the wing fl aps. This incident. the two men were Spanish and in France in July, and Berlin on may have led the plane’s crew They said they were looking at had been detained for “glori- December 19. to misjudge the seriousness of whether the men were guilty of the situation, the news agency causing the death of an animal by Man suspected of planning attack held cited an undisclosed source treating it sadistically, a charge close to the investigation as that carries a maximum jail term Police in southwest France Islamist militant attacks, police saying. of two years. have arrested a man suspected have increased their presence The crash, shortly after This handout video grab released by Russian Emergency Ministry yesterday, shows a diver looking The men caught on camera were of having planned an attack on at tourist spots in major cities take-off on Sunday, is believed at a piece of the crashed military plane carrying 92 people, including dozens of members of the Red shift workers driving vehicles New Year’s Eve, a police source and other densely populated to have killed all 92 people Army Choir during searches in the underwater area outside Sochi, in the Black Sea. that belonged to a exploration said yesterday. areas after an attack on a aboard. Most of the passengers company prospecting for Two other people, one of whom Berlin Christmas market earlier were members of an esteemed any explosive has been found fl aps, damn it! Commander, A massive search operation resources in the mineral-rich is suspected of having planned this month. military band, the Alexandrov on the recovered remains of we’re falling.” across several kilometres is on- region, investigators said. an attack on police, were The man arrested in Cugnaux, Ensemble, set to perform for victims or wreckage. At least 15 corpses and going. “There should be real jail time arrested in another police raid in west of Toulouse, “is known troops in Syria, the fl ight’s des- Russian tabloid Komsomol- hundreds of fragments of Russian authorities have for this sort of crime!” Sergei south west France, in Toulouse, to (police) services, he is tination. skaya Pravda published pur- bodies and the plane, in- cited the strong current in the Donskoi, Russia’s minister the police source said. suspected of wanting to carry Investigators have ruled out ported excerpts from a record- cluding some sections of Black Seanear Sochi as a rea- for natural resources and the In France, Britain and Germany, out an attack on December 31,” terrorism as a likely cause. Au- ing of the crew from the fi nal its fuselage, have been son for the fragmentation and environment, wrote on social which have all been targets of the police source said. thorities have said no trace of moments of the fl ight: “The recovered. spread of the debris. media.

About 16,000 turkeys culled PSD proposes leftist after bird flu found Number of migrants About 16,000 turkeys have been culled after bird flu of the high risk H5N8 strain was found on another German farm, authorities veteran for PM said yesterday. leaving Germany up The case was discovered on a farm in the Kleve area in the Reuters “Sorin Grindeanu goes there professor at Babes-Bolyai central German state of North Reuters its stance on immigration in back 19,720 refugees through Bucharest (to lead the government) for University in Cluj. Rhine Westfalia, the Kleve local Berlin recent months, prompted by the fi rst 11 months of 2016 - up a full four-year term as prime “He is a regional pillar of the government authority said. concerns about security and from 8,913 in all of 2015. Most minister,” Dragnea told report- PSD, former deputy mayor, Around 77,000 turkeys, chickens integration after admitting were from Afghanistan, Syria, omania’s Social Demo- ers. “We have chosen not to former minister, young. He and ducks were also culled this early 55,000 migrants more than 1.1mn migrants from Iraq and Nigeria. They had been crat party (PSD), victor throw the country into political meets the criteria.” week after the contagious H5N8 who were not eligible for the Middle East, Africa and registered in other EU countries. Rof a general election two crisis. The PSD’s clear election strain was found on four farms in Nor were likely to be de- elsewhere since early 2015. As public support for her weeks ago, yesterday proposed “We had to fi nd a solution in victory has heightened uncer- a major poultry-producing region nied asylum left Germany vol- Most of those leaving in 2016 pro-refugee policies wanes former telecommunications a colleague loyal to the govern- tainty over Romania’s ability in the north German state of untarily in 2016, up by 20,000 returned to their homes in Al- ahead of September’s federal minister Sorin Grindeanu, a ing programme and the party,” to keep its budget defi cit below Lower Saxony. from the number who left of bania, Serbia, Iraq, Kosovo, election, Merkel has said it veteran leftist politician, for he added. the EU’s ceiling of 3 percent The contagious H5N8 strain has their own volition in 2015, the Afghanistan and Iran, Sued- is vital to focus resources on prime minister. Dragnea said it was unlikely of gross domestic product, as been found in over 500 wild government said yesterday. deutsche Zeitung newspaper those fl eeing war, and to keep The PSD’s fi rst pick to lead a new leftist government would their governing programme birds in Germany in recent weeks. “That’s a considerable increase said earlier. Those leaving are public support up by deporting the cabinet was Sevil Shhaideh, be in place before the end of the includes ambitious spending Outbreaks on farms have been from last year,” Interior Ministry eligible for one-off support of foreigners to countries where a close associate of PSD leader year. He has said he will closely plans. relatively rare after the government spokesman Harald Neymanns up to 3,000 euros that is sup- there is no persecution. Liviu Dragnea, who was ruled watch over the government’s The PSD and its ALDE jun- introduced tough sanitary rules told a news conference, saying posed to help support fi nding Attacks and security alerts out of the job by his criminal performance. ior ally will send the proposal to prevent infection by wild birds the 2016 fi gure had climbed to employment at home. involving refugees and mi- sentence in a 2012 referen- The PSD won the Decem- to President Klaus Iohannis including orders to keep poultry 54,123 through December 27. “The Separately, German secu- grants have boosted the popu- dum-rigging case. Shhaideh’s ber 11 election by a wide mar- later in the day and the presi- indoors in high-risk regions. increase is welcome. It’s always rity offi cials said the number of larity of the anti-immigration nomination was rejected by the gin and, with coalition partner dent is expected to endorse A series of European countries preferable when people leave the those deported after their asy- Alternative for Germany (AfD) president. and long-time ally ALDE, has a prime minister-designate and Israel have found cases of country voluntarily instead of lum requests were rejected rose party, whose rise above 10% in Grindeanu, a 43-year-old 250 of the 465 seats in the two today. H5N8 bird flu in the past few being deported.” to almost 23,800 from January opinion polls could complicate mathematician and former houses of parliament, meaning “It is a great responsi- weeks and some ordered poultry A Finance Ministry spokes- to November - up from almost Merkel’s re-election hopes. deputy mayor of the western it would easily get parliamen- bility that I feel, not just flocks be kept indoors to prevent man said the government 20,900 in all of 2015. On Tuesday, seven refugees city of Timisoara, currently the tary approval for its govern- my colleagues’ vote but the disease spreading. France has would boost funding slightly to There has also been a rise in from Syria and Iraq aged 15 to head of Timis county governing ment. that of Romanians for a widened high risk restrictions to 150mn euros in 2017 to support the number of refugees turned 21 were detained in Berlin on council, is expected to easily win Grindeanu “is a hard pro- governing programme the entire country after several eff orts to encourage people to away at the borders. A report charges of attempted murder for the presidential seal of approval, posal to refuse”, said Sergiu that we must enforce,” cases of the H5N8 strain were leave Germany. by the Neue Osnabruecker Zei- trying to set fi re to a homeless political commentators said. Miscoiu, political science Grindeanu said. detected. Germany has toughened tung daily said police had turned man in an underground station. Gulf Times Thursday, December 29, 2016 17 INDIA Rise in baby traffi cking cuts adoption numbers, fuels trade

Reuters lous country with 1.25bn people, ity (CARA), India’s main body to This includes giving birth par- Last week, police in Mumbai by the clinics to dupe them. Two agencies in Maharash- Mumbai while some 12,400 families want monitor and regulate adoptions. ents up to 60 days to reconsider arrested a gang that was con- Offi cials said monitoring the tra were recently shut down for to adopt. About 3,010 babies “In India, we expect the pool their decision. vincing single mothers - who waiting list for adoptions was selling babies for amounts rang- were adopted in 2015/16. of children available for adop- To ensure transparency, the can face social stigma or ostra- one way to try to identify and ing between Rs200,000 and n increase in baby traf- Government offi cials oversee- tion should outnumber the adoption process in India went cisation in India - to part with track down the traffi ckers but Rs600,000 ($3,000-$9,000), fi cking in India is reduc- ing adoptions said an increasing- number of waitlisted parents, online last year with waitlisted their babies then selling them they were aware that “bypass Kumar said. Aing the number of chil- ly long wait to adopt was closely but there are touts and in some families and the children avail- to childless couples in various mechanisms” were taking root. Adoption experts suggested dren available for adoption and linked to a rise in human traffi ck- cases even agencies that sell able for adoption featured on a states across the country. One adoption agency owner, that problem areas of the coun- fuelling the lucrative trade as ing in the country, with two baby children to childless couples.” website. In West Bengal, police found who did not wish to be identi- try should be identifi ed. more couples wait to adopt, gov- selling rackets busted in India Under Indian laws children But Kumar said traffi ckers babies were being stolen from fi ed, said he often received calls “It would help check the ma- ernment offi cials said yesterday. over the past two months.. who have been surrendered by often tried to get hold of these women who delivered at clinics, from waitlisted families saying laise if low adoption fi gures in Government fi gures show “There are more such rackets their birth parents or brought in babies before the parents - often with medial staff telling them they had been off ered a child certain states of India are ana- currently 1,700 children are (of baby traffi cking),” said Deep- by the police are declared legally unwed mothers - made it to the their child was stillborn. from an unwed mother at a price lysed,” said Sunil Arora, presi- available for adoption in India, ak Kumar, chief of the Central free for adoption after various government department to sur- Some were even given the bod- and wonder if they should go dent of the Federation of Adop- the world’s second most popu- Adoption Resource Author- legal processes are completed. render the child. ies of stillborn babies preserved ahead. tive Agencies. Crackdown on currency casts shadow over GST bill

Reuters sit and compromise. They don’t New Delhi deserve it.” Failure to break the deadlock could tip India into a fi scal crisis: rime Minister Narendra the GST would need to come into Modi’s crackdown on the eff ect by mid-September, when Pcash economy has shat- the old system of indirect taxa- tered the consensus needed for tion is due to lapse. a new national sales tax, plung- The lingering uncertainty is ing his boldest reform into limbo worrying companies needing to and threatening to entrench an understand fi nancial implica- economic slowdown. tions of the new tax. People queue up outside the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) off ice to exchange old notes in Kolkata yesterday. Modi’s government already had “With so many vital details its work cut out to fi nalise a deal still missing, they are feeling left with India’s 29 states to launch in the lurch,” said Saloni Roy, a a Goods and Services Tax (GST) senior director at Deloitte. on April 1 that would transform Modi’s shock move last month Asia’s third largest economy into to scrap Rs500 and Rs1,000 a single market for the fi rst time. notes was aimed at India’s shad- But his decision to scrap 86% of ow economy. the cash in circulation, in a bid to But the ensuing cash crunch Keeping banned notes purge the economy of black mon- has caused job losses, disrupted ey, has caused huge disruption. supply chains and slowed con- A slump in business activity struction activity. stemming from the cash crunch With cash shortages show- has caused the revenue of state ing no signs of abating, some governments, which collect val- economists are calling for emer- ue-added tax on goods and other gency stimulus to cushion the after March 31 off ence duties, to slump by 25-40%. economy against the impact of The states won’t risk another demonetisation. Cabinet approves ordinance, Narendra Modi, seeks to amend I promise to arrest the bearer,” reveal how much black money not paid any compensation to the setback by rushing the sales tax Ambit Capital, a Mumbai bro- but mum on jail for violators the Reserve Bank of India Act, said Ashutosh in a tweet. has been recovered since No- families of the deceased?” into force. kerage, forecasts growth this fi s- aimed at extinguishing the li- Vikram Mohan asked friends vember 8,” he said. On Tuesday, Gandhi and “The investment and eco- cal year will be only half of the IANS ability of the government to- to arrange for his bail before Gandhi questioned Modi on West Bengal Chief Minister nomic environment in the coun- roughly 7% level many expect. New Delhi wards bearers of such notes. March 31 since he intended to the economic loss to the nation Mamata Banerjee too the prime try is in bad shape,” said West The Reserve Bank of India has Sources declined comment hold a couple of demonetised and put forth a list of posers. minister to task on the issue. Bengal Finance Minister Amit shaved its growth outlook by half on whether the ordinance also notes as souvenirs. “How many jobs and livelihood Banerjee wondered if Modi Mitra, who earlier headed a pan- a percentage point to 7.1%. he cabinet yesterday ap- sought a jail term for violators. However, the ordinance have been lost since this policy would quit if the cash crunch el tasked with building a consen- To make up for their losses, proved an ordinance “The ordinance primarily makes it clear that collection of was announced? How many lives persisted even after the end of sus on the GST. states are seeking compensa- Twhich makes posses- seeks to shield the government old notes up to ten in number have been lost due to demoneti- the 50-day deadline he himself “How is the country going to tion. He has already agreed to sion of demonetised Rs500 and against future litigations that will not invite prosecution. sation? Why has the government had set. absorb the dual shock of GST cover states’ revenue losses for Rs1,000 notes beyond March 31, may follow for not honouring Meanwhile, Modi continued and demonetisation?” fi ve years after the GST’s launch, 2017 illegal, providing for a jail the promise to pay,” a senior of- to be in the fi ring line of the op- Bank manager arrested over currency racket The GST is India’s biggest tax but further concessions would term for violators. fi cial said. position yesterday 50 days after overhaul since independence in narrow his room for manoeuvre People can deposit old notes Reacting to the develop- he announced the scrapping of The Enforcement Directorate and lawyer Tandon. On 1947. It would replace a plethora in his annual budget presented in banks until tomorrow and ments, Communist Party of the high denomination notes. yesterday arrested a December 23, the Income Tax of federal and state levies with in February. with the Reserve Bank of India India (Marxist) leader Sitaram While the Congress de- manager of the Kotak Department also carried out one tax, easing compliance, One top fi nance ministry of- up to March 31 next year. Offi - Yechury said the government manded a White Paper on the Mahindra Bank for his alleged raids at the bank branch in broadening the revenue base and fi cial dismissed demands for cial sources said “The Specifi ed has chosen this back door or- November 8 note ban, the CPM links with hawala trader New Delhi. Lodha, a leading boosting productivity. compensation for demonetisa- Bank Notes Cessation of Li- dinance method to bring in the said Modi had a lot to hide. Parasmal Lodha and Delhi- businessman with interests It took Modi more than two tion as unreasonable. abilities Ordinance” will be sent law. “We are against this ‘ordi- Daring Modi to disclose the based lawyer Rohit Tandon. in real estate and mining, years to forge a political compro- But states are adamant. to President Pranab Mukherjee, nance raj’,” he said. amount of black money seized Sources said Ashish Kumar was arrested at the Mumbai mise on the tax in August. Now, “They have brought it upon currently in Hyderabad, for ap- People also took to social after demonetisation, Congress was arrested for allegedly airport while he was trying demonetisation “has created a us,” V Narayanasamy, chief min- proval before notifi cation. media to react. “After the ordi- vice-president Rahul Gandhi converting over Rs250mn in to flee to Malaysia. Kotak trust defi cit,” said Kerala Finance ister of Puducherry, said. The ordinance, approved nance - RBI’s promise: I prom- put forth a charter of demands demonetised notes linked to Mahindra Bank said it had Minister T M Thomas Isaac. “Now they must pay for our during a cabinet meeting ise to pay the bearer... (will be- and sought a White Paper on the industrialist J Sekhar Reddy suspended Kumar. “After this, I am not going to loss.” chaired by Prime Minister come) Government’s promise: currency ban. “Modi-ji should Delhi legislator to contest Modi set to ‘fly’ high Baijal to succeed Jung against Punjab CM in poll as Delhi Lt Governor IANS Airlines, additional secretary New Delhi at Ministry of Information & IANS (CBI) in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots sembly at present – challenged Broadcasting and joint secretary Lambi, Punjab case. Badal for an open debate on the in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. AAP’s Sangrur MP and come- development in Punjab. ormer top bureaucrat He also served as vice chair- dian-turned politician Bhag- Earlier, reacting to announce- Anil Baijal will succeed man of Delhi Development elhi Chief Minister want Mann will contest against ment of Jarnail’s name from FNajeeb Jung as the Lt Authority, the development Arvind Kejriwal yester- Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Lambi, Amrinder Singh said in a Governor of Delhi, Home Min- commissioner of Goa and Dday announced that the Sukhbir Singh Badal for Jalala- tweet that the move reeked of an istry sources said. counsellor in-charge of Indian Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi legis- bad seat. “underhand deal” between AAP The ministry had earlier in Aid Programme in Nepal. lator Jarnail Singh will contest “This time, we will not let and Shiromani Akali Dal to en- the day sent the fi le related Baijal started off from the against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Sukh- sure Badal’s victory. to his appointment to the Union Territories Cadre and Parkash Singh Badal in Lambi bir Singh Badal and (Congress Kejriwal responded by asking president, who is currently in superannuated in 2006 as sec- assembly segment in next year’s state unit president) Amarinder the Congress leader if he would Rashtrapati Nilayam in Se- retary of Ministry of Urban elections. Singh get a walkover in the elec- fi ght against the Badals and Ma- cunderabad, Telangana, for his Development. Addressing a public rally at tions. That is why we are fi eld- jithia or from a “safe seat”. southern sojourn. He retired in 2006 as the ur- Lambi, Badal’s family borough, ing our strongest candidates Meanwhile, two more Akali Later in a tweet, Exter- ban development secretary. Kejriwal claimed the Congress against Amarinder, Badal, Su- Dal leaders joined the Congress. nal Aff airs Minister Sushma While in that ministry, he and Akali Dal leaders had entered khbir and (Revenue Minister Former legislator Ramesh Swaraj congratulated Baijal. anchored the designing and into a tacit understanding and Bikram Singh) Majithia to give Singla and Ashok Bittu were Baijal’s appointment comes rollout of the fl agship pro- were fi elding weak candidates them a taste of the political welcomed into the party fold by a week after Jung resigned last gramme of Jawaharlal Nehru against each other’s top leaders dust,” Kejriwal said. Amarinder Singh. He said it was Thursday, taking everyone by National Urban Renewal Mis- for the assembly elections to be “Both Amarinder and Badal their “homecoming”. surprise. sion (JNNURM) with a fed- held early next year. not only jointly contest election Singla, who joined the rul- A 1969-batch IAS offi cer, Ba- eral grant equivalent of about Jarnail Singh shot into the to facilitate each other’s win but ing Akali Dal in 2014, is a former ijal was in the executive council Rs600bn, for improvement of limelight when he hurled a also share business interests in Congress MLA from Nabha, as of the think-tank Vivekananda infrastructure and provision of shoe at then home minister P sand and gravel, transport and well as former Punjab Congress International Foundation. basic services in the urban ar- Chidambaram in New Delhi in liquor business,” the Delhi chief general secretary and ex-Punjab In his career of 37 years, Bai- eas of India. April 2009 to protest against minister added. Youth Congress president. Workers make kites with images of Prime Minister Narendra jal held several eminent posi- He holds master’s degrees in the clean chit given to certain Addressing the gathering, Bittu is a fi ve-time council- Modi at a workshop for the upcoming kite flying festival, tions including that of union arts from the University of Al- Congress leaders by the Cen- Jarnail Singh - who represents lor from Nabha, who joined the locally known as Uttarayan, in Ahmedabad, yesterday. home secretary, chairman and lahabad and the University of tral Bureau of Investigation Rajouri Garden seat in Delhi as- Akali Dal in 2014. managing Director of Indian East Anglia. Gulf Times 18 Thursday, December 29, 2016 INDIA

EDUCATION RELIGION AVIATION APPEAL POLITICS Haryana varsities to have Dalai Lama off ers SpiceJet aircraft didn’t India needs digital BJP spreading rumours to common entrance test prayers in Patna enter wrong bay: off icial payment laws: CMAI malign our image: AAP

All universities in Haryana under the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama SpiceJet yesterday dubbed as “completely As digital payments go up after Responding to allegations of irregularities Department of Higher Education will have a offered a special prayer at Budha Smriti false and incorrect” media reports that its demonetisation, the country needs in its funds, the Aam Aadmi Party yesterday Common Admission Entrance Examination park in Patna after participating in a tree aircraft had entered the wrong bay at Delhi’s separate digital payment laws and digital said canards are being spread by the from the 2017-18 academic session, a state plantation drive yesterday, officials said. Indira Gandhi international airport a day earlier. payment courts should be established Bharatiya Janata Party to tarnish the party’s government off icial said yesterday. The “The Dalai Lama visited the park along On Tuesday morning, two aircraft of IndiGo across India along with an appropriate image ahead of Punjab and Goa elections. universities included in this are Kurukshetra with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and and SpiceJet came face to face on the taxiway, legal framework, the CMAI Association of The AAP claimed that most of its funds come University, Kurukshetra; Maharishi Dayanand offered a special prayer after participating which could have led to an accident. “Sections India (CMAI) said yesterday. “All cases of through banking channels and it is the only University, Rohtak; Chaudhary Devi Lal in a function to plant saplings of Bodhi of the media report that the SpiceJet flight SG money lost in digital payments may not fall truly cashless party in the country. “False University, Sirsa; Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila tree,” a district official said. It was the 123 operating on the Delhi-Hyderabad route in the category of cyber thefts or breaches. allegations are being made about donations Vishwavidyalaya, Khanpur Kalan; Chaudhary Dalai Lama who inaugurated the 22-acre entered the wrong bay yesterday... the flight With proliferation of digital payments received by our party. Similar tactics have Ranbir Singh University, Jind and Chaudhary in the heart of Patna in 2010. Earlier, Nitish concerned never at any point in time enter across India in big and small towns, there been used by the BJP for the last three Bansi Lal University, Bhiwani. “The admission Kumar received the spiritual guru at Patna the wrong bay, but was following Air Traffic may be widespread cases of small amounts years,” AAP leader Dilip Pandey said in New would be done purely on the basis of marks airport and thanked him for visiting the Control (ATC) instructions at all times,” a here and there throughout the country. Delhi. “Our 92% of funds come through obtained in the entrance examination. A state capital. The DalaiLama later left for SpiceJet spokesperson said in a statement. There is also need for legal framework banking channels. The rest 8% we receive high-level co-ordination committee has Bodh Gaya in a state government airplane Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of India for data storage and data protection,” N in cash is also deposited in the banks. The also been set up to monitor the admission to participate in 34th Kalchakra puja, (AAI) has suspended a controller following K Goyal, president of CMAI said in New BJP is spreading rumours to misguide process,” the off icial said. beginning today. the incident. Delhi. people.”

40kg gold Tyagi like family looted from member, but Muthoot no sympathy if Finance in guilty: IAF chief Hyderabad IANS Hyderabad IANS not convicted, should be given New Delhi his due credit being a former ive men, posing as Central IAF chief. Bureau of Investigation “A former air chief is like Foffi cials, allegedly looted ndian Air Force Chief, Air an extended family. If anyone 40kg gold from a Muthoot Fi- Chief Marshal Arup Raha in my family goes through a nance offi cer in Hyderabad yes- Iyesterday said his scam- rough patch I think we should terday, police said. tainted predecessor S P Tyagi stand by them... If charges are The suspects escaped with was like a “family member” proved, then of course we have gold ornaments valued at about but if corruption charges in the no sympathy.” Rs100mn after fi rst convincing AgustaWestland helicopter The CBI has alleged that Ty- the staff they were CBI offi c- deal were proven against him agi and other accused received ers and then threatening them the IAF would have no sympa- bribes from AgustaWestland with weapons at the Ramachan- thy for its former chief. for helping the manufacturer drapuram offi ce of the company Addressing a press confer- win the $556.262mn contract on the outskirts of Hyderabad. ence days before he retires as to purchase the helicopters for Police Commissioner Sand- the IAF chief and chairman the Communication Squadron Rescuers and railway off icials stand next to damaged coaches of a passenger train after it derailed near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh yesterday. eep Shandilya said the suspects Chiefs of Staff Committee, of the Indian Air Force to carry also looted Rs100,000 in cash. Raha said the law of the land the president prime minister Earlier the police had said 46 must be followed in the scam and other VVIPs. kg gold was looted. that has rattled the force with The accused had allegedly According to the police, the fi ve Tyagi’s arrest on December 9 hatched a conspiracy to re- men came to the Muthoot Finance for allegedly accepting bribes duce the service ceiling of the branch in the morning and told in clearing the procurement helicopters from 6,000m to the staff that they were CBI offi c- of 12 AW-101 VVIP helicop- 4,500m to make AgustaWest- ers and wanted to check records ters from Britain-based Agus- land eligible for the contract. 61 injured in UP and gold in the lockers as they taWestland. The CBI claimed that Ty- were investigating a case of theft. Tyagi, the fi rst chief of any agi and his brothers received When the branch manager wing of the armed forces to be €126,000 after May 2004 and said he was not in a position to arrested in the country, was €200,000 after February 2005 show the lockers without per- given bail by a New Delhi court in the form of consultancy fee mission from top offi cials, the on Monday. from Gordian Services. unidentifi ed men threatened ac- “Such issues have come up It added that Tyagi also re- train derailment tion against him for disobeying from time to time. Be it Bofors ceived cash from Guido Ralph the orders of CBI offi cials. or be it some other acquisi- Haschke and Carlo Valentino Latest crash raises concern picking up their luggage from Following the accident, cluding 7,000 passenger trains When the lockers were opened, tions, there have been prob- Ferdinando Gerosa, who were over rail safety near the tracks. routes of at least 32 trains had to carrying more than 20mn peo- the intruders started collecting lems,” Raha said. linked with Gordian Services. Local government offi cials be diverted, North Central Rail- ple. the gold ornaments in their bags. He, however, admitted that Tyagi, the Indian Air Force Agencies at the accident site said some way offi cial Amit Malviya said. But it has a poor safety record, As the employees raised objec- if the corruption charges were chief from 2004 to 2007, has Lucknow coaches had crashed into each The railways has also ar- with thousands of people dying tion, one of the men whipped proved it would be “bad for the denied the charges saying the other and turned sideways after ranged 12 buses to bring passen- every year in derailments, colli- out a gun, threatened the branch armed forces, or whoever is in- deal was executed after his coming off the tracks. gers to Kanpur and fi ve buses to sions and other accidents. manager and other employees and volved. tenure. train derailed in India “We can confi rm two deaths take passengers to Agra. This was the third accident locked them in a bathroom. “It is not only the armed Meanwhile, Raha said 200 to yesterday injuring 61 and injuries to at least 61 per- The reason for the derailment signifi cant in recent months. The robbers also took away forces that are involved in pro- 250 more fi ghter aircraft were A people, police and rail sons, who are admitted at dif- is yet to be ascertained. On November 20, at least 146 the hard disk of CCTV cameras curement. There are so many required to be inducted in the officials said, the third signifi- ferent hospitals around Kan- The railways minister and people were killed when a train with them. Police have launched agencies involved. Can’t pin next 10 years to meet the air cant accident in recent months pur,” Zaki Ahmad, inspector Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister derailed near the same city. a massive hunt for the robbers, the blame on one particular force’s operational requirement. that have raised concern about general of Kanpur police said. Akhilesh Yadav have separately A train rammed into a van who escaped in an SUV. organisation or service. To my India has suffi cient number the safety of the ageing rail “The incident happened announced compensation of taking children to school at a The police commissioner said mind many of the issues that of aircraft in the heavy cat- network. around 5.30am. There were pas- Rs50,000 each to the seri- level crossing in north India in 16 teams have been formed to have sprung up in recent times egory in Sukhoi-30s, whereas The train came off the tracks sengers, other than the 61, who’d ously injured passengers and July, killing eight of them. track down the culprits. The po- have their origin some time gaps in the medium and light- and crashed near the northern received minor injuries and left Rs25,000 to those with minor Prabhu has promised to re- lice were trying to identify the back, a decade back. These weight categories needed to be city of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh after receiving fi rst aid,” he added. injuries. place old tracks and upgrade suspects by analysing the foot- are being investigated. It is fi lled, he said. early in the morning. Railways Minister Suresh The chief minister has also safety systems. age from CCTV cameras around premature for me to say any- The IAF chief said that 36 “Our latest assessment is Prabhu said senior department directed offi cials to ensure The government spends Muthoot Finance branch. thing,” he said. Rafale jets being bought by that 61 people got injured in offi cials had already rushed to prompt and proper treatment more than 90% of the railways’ Meanwhile, dozens of account Raha said he didn’t know India from France were not the accident,” said Anil Kumar the accident spot. to the injured and warned there revenues on operational costs, holders who had kept their gold about the evidence the Central enough. Saxena, spokesman for Indian “Immediate medical help be- should be no carelessness in the leaving little for upgrades of the in Muthoot Finance branch Bureau of Investigations (CBI), “We are still inducting Railways. ing provided to the injured. Mo- treatment and relief to the acci- colonial-era system. gathered outside and wanted to which is probing the case, has Sukhoi-30s; it will last us for The train had just pulled out bilized resources, directed all dent victims. Some analysts estimate know from the offi cials when against Tyagi. another 40 years. The Light of the station and its speed was concerned to ensure rescue and Yadav also instructed district the railways need Rs20tn would they get back their gold. “The Air Force believes the Combat Aircraft (Tejas) will fi ll “rather slow”, he said. relief,” Prabhu said on Twitter. offi cials to extend all help to and ($293.21bn) of investment by The offi cials told the people law of the land has to be fol- some void in the lightweight Television footage from the “Thorough investigation will co-operate with the railways 2020, and India is turning to that their gold was complete- lowed... Let the investigation category... Rafale is an excel- scene showed mangled, toppled be carried out to ascertain the authorities in carrying out res- partnerships with private com- ly insured. They said nobody be complete. Whatever the lent aircraft. But we have just carriages. cause,” he added. cue and relief operations. panies and seeking loans from should be worried as Muthoot decision of the court, we will 36 aircraft; we require more Two coaches had fallen off a The train was travelling to India’s creaking railway sys- other countries to upgrade the Finance has 160 tonnes of gold abide by that.” aircraft in the medium-weight bridge into a small canal while Ajmer in Rajasthan from Seal- tem is the world’s fourth largest. network. at 4,500 branches spread across He said Tyagi, as long as is category,” Raha said. some passengers were seen dah in Kolkata. It runs 11,000 trains a day, in- the country.

Expelled MP’s husband hurt in High command warns clashes outside AIADMK offi ce Kerala Congress leaders IANS to K Muraleedharan, party leg- Thiruvananthapuram islator and son of former chief Agencies lowing the death of former chief Pushpa’s husband and support- minister K Karunakaran. Chennai minister J Jayalalithaa. ers and assaulted them. “I was attacked by anti-so- Several party offi cials had The sources Pushpa was sit- aking a serious note of cial elements. I was informed pleaded with Jayalalithaa’s close ting in a car outside the offi ce the infi ghting in the by many journalists that I everal people were in- aide V K Sasikala to take over when the clashes erupted. TCongress’ Kerala unit, should not attend the meeting jured in a clash between as the party’s general secretary Reacting to the violence, Mu- the party high command yes- as the atmosphere is charged SAll India Anna Dravida which was opposed by Pushpa. nicipal Administration Minister terday asked its members not and I would be taken to task. Munnetra Kazhagam workers Police were deployed outside S P Velumani told a Tamil televi- to speak in public about party But I decided to come and take and supporters of Rajya Sabha the AIADMK offi ce in the morn- sion channel that Pushpa had no issues. part in the meeting and was member Sasikala Pushpa out- ing, anticipating the arrival of right to stake a claim to the AI- “It has been directed to all roughed up by ‘paid’ people,” side the ruling party’s office in Pushpa to fi le the nomination ADMK leadership. in Kerala that henceforth none said Unnithan. Chennai. form to contest the top party “Who is she? She has no links should speak in public about “I am deeply pained at what One of the injured was Push- post. with the party. She was expelled party issues. They can do it in has happened in my party in pa’s husband Lingeswara Thila- Hell broke out when Pushpa’s by Amma (former chief minister party forums only and anyone Kerala and I wish that it is re- gan. husband and others entered the Jayalalithaa). There is no doubt violating this would have to solved at the earliest,” veteran Pushpa was expelled from the offi ce to submit the nomination that Chinnamma (V K Sasikala) face strong action,” Congress Congress leader A K Antony AIADMK sometime back but she papers. The staff refused to ac- will take over as party general general secretary Mukul Was- told reporters in Delhi. did not resign from the upper cept the papers saying the senior secretary. This is a unanimous nik told reporters in Delhi. Ever since the defeat in the house of parliament. staff were not present. demand of partymen and the de- Wasnik’s directives came May assembly polls, the party The general council meeting “Sasikala Pushpa, her hus- sire of 1.5crore partymen.” soon after a tiff broke out at has been divided with former of AIADMK is to be held near band and a general council AIADMK spokesman Avadi the Kollam district Congress chief minister Oommen Chan- here today and Pushpa had an- member, K S Mani, from Mum- Kumar said: “The violence was Police escort Rajya Sabha member Sasikala Pushpa’s husband committee offi ce when senior dy, state party president V M nounced that she would contest bai wanted to fi le the nomination instigated to deliberately create Lingeswara Thilagan after he was prevented from entering the off ice leader Rajmohan Unnithan was Sudheeran and leader of op- for the party’s top post of general papers,” according to sources. a ruckus on the eve of the party of the All India Anna Dravida Munnertra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in roughed up by angry Congress position Ramesh Chennithala secretary which fell vacant fol- Soon the crowd pounced on general council meeting.” Chennai yesterday. workers suspected to be close heading their own factions. Gulf Times Thursday, December 29, 2016 19 PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN Slim chances for Pakistani expatriates to vote

Internews headed by then Chief Justice If- election reforms. tinue, but he was unsure if cilities in countries where large The Foreign Offi ce kept mum, number of reasons. Islamabad tikhar Mohamed Chaudhry, had The panel, which received any tangible method could number of Pakistanis live. indirectly indicating that this Many Pakistanis living abroad issued a decree to this eff ect on more than 1,200 proposals from be worked out. The distance between cities would not be possible. are not computer literate. May 9, 2013. various stakeholders, proposed and towns where these Pakista- Use of postal ballots was also Chances of misuse of technol- ven three years after the The ruling was passed just some options for allowing the The ECP had asked the nis live and where consulates are considered as an option in coun- ogy could not be ruled out. Supreme Court directed days before the general elections expatriates to take part in the Foreign Offi ce to check located was also an important tries such as the United States. Another option initially con- Ethe election authorities to held on May 13 of the same year, general elections. with governments of these issue. Given the size of the Pakistani sidered by the ECP was allocat- ensure voting rights for millions because of which the judgment Subsequently, the main com- countries if they would It is necessary that the Elec- community abroad, this option ing a few reserved seats for over- of Pakistanis living abroad, no could not be implemented. mittee formed a sub-committee allow setting up polling tion Day in Pakistan falls on a was also considered unworkable. seas Pakistan in the parliament viable mechanism has been de- On its part, the Election Com- headed by Law Minister Zahid stations for the Pakistani public holiday in that country. To use postal ballots, a voter on the pattern of seats in the veloped to introduce the facility mission of Pakistan (ECP) initi- Hamid to vet the proposals. community In some Middle Eastern coun- should fi rst apply for a ballot pa- Azad Kashmir legislative assem- for expatriates by the 2018 elec- ated work on various options This sub-committee later cre- tries, where a majority of over- per, once he/she receives it, they bly where member of assembly tions. but failed to arrive at a workable ated yet another smaller panel A proposal suggested setting seas Pakistanis work, democ- tick the candidate of their choice elect a representative outside the The Parliamentary Commit- solution. that was headed by PTI legisla- up polling stations in Pakistani racy, elections and voting are and post it back. country. tee on Electoral Reforms tabled The ECP sent some proposals tor Dr Arif Alvi. embassies and consulates. largely alien concepts. In Pakistan’s context, the But this option too would not its interim report in the parlia- to the parliamentary committee Finance Minister Ishaq This option is workable in a The ECP had asked the For- authorities were unsure if this enable overseas Pakistanis to ment this week. on electoral reforms, which was Dar, who heads the main few countries where a limited eign Offi ce to check with gov- method could escape misuse. vote in a direct manner. The panel kept the issue of formed in August, 2014. parliamentary committee, number of Pakistanis are resid- ernments of these countries Electronic voting, using In- Similarly, the use of electronic voting rights for overseas Paki- This parliamentary panel said that the discussion for ing. if they would allow setting up ternet, was another option dis- voting machines for voting is stanis open for discussion. was tasked to formulate a devising a voting mechanism It emerged that Pakistani con- polling stations for the Pakistani cussed. unlikely to materialise in the The Supreme Court’s bench, comprehensive package on for expatriates would con- sulates cannot set up those fa- community. But it was rejected for a next elections. Toxic liquor: Pakistan switches on three suspects arrested

AFP fourth is in police custody,” he fourth nuclear plant Islamabad added. The suspect in police custo- AFP dy had confessed to preparing Islamabad akistani police yester- the brew by mixing it with 20 day caught three men litres of aftershave and other Paccused of preparing chemicals. akistan’s fourth nuclear home-made liquor mixed The development was con- power plant went online with aftershave that killed 39 fi rmed by another senior po- Pyesterday, a joint collabo- people including a fourth sus- lice offi cial Usman Akram ration with China that adds 340 pect after they consumed the Gondal. megawatts to the national grid as toxic brew on Christmas Eve. Though legal breweries ex- part of the government’s eff orts More than a hundred peo- ist in Pakistan, alcohol sales to end a growth-sapping energy ple were also sickened in the and consumption are banned defi cit. incident, one of the country’s for Muslims and tightly regu- Pakistan is one of the few de- deadliest cases of mass al- lated for minorities and for- veloping countries pursuing cohol poisoning, which hap- eigners. atomic energy in the wake of the pened in a Christian neigh- While wealthy Pakistanis Fukushima nuclear disaster in bourhood in the town of Toba buy foreign alcohol on the Japan in 2011, as it seeks to close Tek Singh some 340km south black market at heavily in- an electricity shortfall that can of Islamabad. fl ated prices, the poor often stretch up to 7,000 MW in peak “Four people have been resort to home brews that can summer months, or around 32 % identifi ed who prepared and contain methanol, commonly of total demand. distributed the toxic liquor,” used in anti-freeze and fuel. The Chashma-III reactor, lo- senior police offi cial Atif Im- Eleven Christians died in cated some 250km southwest of ran, who is investigating the October after consuming tox- capital Islamabad, is the third case, told AFP, adding the ic liquor at a party in Punjab built as part of a collaboration group had also consumed the province. between the Pakistan Atomic alcohol themselves. In October 2014, 29 drinkers Energy Commission (PAEC) and “One of them died because were killed after consuming China National Nuclear Corpo- of the liquor, two others are methanol-tainted liquor over ration (CNNC). in critical condition while the the Eid public holidays. The country’s fi rst nuclear plant was supplied by Canada in 1972, with an installed capacity of 137MW. “Today we have crossed an important milestone in the Chinese president journey to free the nation from scheduled power cuts. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurates along with off icials of The Chashma-III reactor in Chashma, some 250km southwest of I am thankful to Allah and capital Islamabad. greets PM Sharif congratulate the entire nation,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cording to a recent report com- told an inaugural ceremony at- missioned by the British govern- Internews cusing on the construction tended by Chinese and Pakistani ment. Islamabad of China Pakistan Economic offi cials. China meanwhile is ramp- Corridor (CPEC). According He added a fourth Chashma ing up investment in its South to the Prime Minister House, plant was expected to be com- Asian neighbour as part of a hile extending Chinese president has ex- missioned by April 2017. $46bn project unveiled last his heartfelt fe- tended his sincere greet- Two more reactors would fol- year that will link its far-west- W licitation on the ings and good wishes on the low at an unspecifi ed date in ern Xinjiang region to Paki- birthday to Prime Minis- birthday of Prime Minister central Pakistan, as well as two stan’s Gwadar port with a se- ter Nawaz Sharif, Chinese Nawaz Sharif. giant 2,200 MW power stations ries of infrastructure, power President Xi Jinping has In his letter, the president in southern Karachi. and transport upgrades. assured Pakistan that he has said China attaches great Islamabad is aiming to pro- Last week Pakistan’s main wants to transform the pro- importance to the develop- duce 8,800 MW from atomic bourse announced that a Chi- found political friendship ment of China- Pakistan co- energy by 2030. nese consortium was set to ac- between Pakistan and China operative partnership. Pakistan has been struggling quire a 40 % stake in the stock into tangible development The diplomatic observers to provide enough power to its exchange in a deal estimated at dividend, so as to bring real are attaching significance to nearly 200mn citizens for years, $84mn. benefits to the peoples of the communication by the and Sharif has vowed to solve the Shanghai Electric announced the two countries. Chinese leader since it has crisis by 2018. in August it would buy a ma- President Xi has pledged come in the wake of criti- The energy sector has tradi- jority stake in the utility that that he is willing to work with cism about the CPEC in the tionally struggled to cover the supplies energy to Karachi for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif country by the detractors of cost of producing electricity, $1.7bn, in the country’s biggest to push forward the continu- the government and external leading the government to divert ever private-sector acquisi- ous progress of the all-round opposition of the gigantic $2bn annually as a subsidy, ac- tion. Prime Minister Sharif speaks during the inaugural ceremony of The Chashma-III reactor. pragmatic cooperation fo- projects.

US adds LeT student wing Blast in Kabul hits Afghan MP’s vehicle, three wounded to list of ‘foreign terrorists’ AFP But parliament speaker Abdul Kabul Raouf Ibrahimi told lawmakers that a relative of the MP had also Reuters two Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders to been killed. Washington the US list of “specially designat- n Afghan MP was among “I heard a big explosion that ed global terrorists,” subjecting at least three people shook nearby shops. I saw rescu- them to US sanctions. Awounded when a road- ers pulling out several wounded he United States yes- LeT was banned by the Pa- side bomb struck his vehicle in people from the destroyed vehi- terday announced it kistani government in 2002 Kabul yesterday, offi cials said, in cle,” said Abdul Manan, a a bak- Twas adding the student but it has continued operating the latest in a series of attacks on ery shop owner near the scene of wing of the Pakistan-based through front organisations, lawmakers. the attack. organisation, Lashkar-e- according to US offi cials, and No group has so far claimed The attack comes as Taliban Taiba, to its list of “foreign their leaders conduct public responsibility for the blast tar- insurgents are pressing ahead terrorist organisations.” rallies and interviews. geting Fakuri Behishti, an MP with a nationwide off ensive. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or The State Department an- from central Bamiyan province, Last Wednesday at least eight Army of the Pure, has been nounced that it amended the who was on his way to parlia- people were killed when Taliban accused of orchestrating nu- designation of LeT as a “foreign ment. suicide bombers stormed the merous attacks, including a terrorist organisation” to in- “The bomb was placed un- residence of an Afghan lawmak- 2008 assault in Mumbai that clude what it called the group’s der a bridge and it detonated er in Kabul, an attack that lasted killed 166 people, six of them student wing. “Since the origi- when the MP’s vehicle was pass- nearly 10 hours. Americans. nal designation occurred, LeT ing through,” interior ministry Helmand MP Mir Wali sur- The State Department move has repeatedly changed its name spokesman Najib Danish told vived the assault with injuries, against the student group, Al- and created front organisations AFP. but two of his grandsons and Muhammadia Students, came as in an eff ort to avoid sanctions,” “Three people including the bodyguards were among those the Treasury Department added the State Department said. MP were wounded.” killed. Afghan security forces inspect the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan yesterday. Gulf Times 20 Thursday, December 29, 2016 PHILIPPINES

CRIME PLANS PROPOSAL TRAVEL OUTBREAK 23 injured in blast at Tycoon keen to make ‘Legitimise and regulate More private roads to be Number of Zika town celebration Philippines ‘next Hawaii’ Uber, Grab,’ says senator opened to motorists cases climbs to 52

A homemade bomb exploded during Japanese gambling tycoon Kazuo Okada, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday said the Two private properties in Quezon City and a Health secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial yesterday celebrations in a town in the Philippines who is opening a new $2.4bn casino resort popularity of transport network vehicle services government property in Makati City will be said the number of Zika cases in the country yesterday, wounding at least 23 people, a in Manila, yesterday said he hoped to make (TNVS) was enough reason for the government to opened to motorists as alternate routes to further has reached 52, with the latest case involving a military spokeswoman said. The explosion the Philippines “the next Hawaii” as he looks fully legitimise and regulate their operations. The ease traff ic congestion Metro Manila. Thomas pregnant woman from Quezon City. The woman occurred while the people were watching a to expand his business there. In addition to lawmaker made the statement after popular ride- Orbos general manager, Metropolitan Manila from Quezon City is the fourth pregnant female to boxing match at a plaza in the town of Hilongos Manila, Okada said he was also exploring hailing apps Uber and Grab came under fire for Development Authority, said Ayala Land has contract the Zika virus in the country. One from the in the province of Leyte, 620 kilometres south- the possibility of operating resorts on the excessive “surge pricing” during the holidays. This agreed to open Vertis North in Quezon City for four women infected with the Zika virus, a 16-year- east of Manila, according to First Lieutenant Philippine islands of Palawan and Boracay, prompted the Land Transportation Franchising and light vehicles passing through the northbound leg old from Las Pinas, gave birth to a healthy baby Cherry Junia, the army spokeswoman. The both major tourist attractions, in a bid to tap Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to cap the surge fares of EDSA going to North Avenue and Balintawak. this month. Ubial said the department of health bombing comes days after 12 people were the lucrative Chinese market. “I would like to of Uber and Grab to twice the fare. The senator He said the scheme can potentially decongest (DOH) would continue to monitor the health of injured by a grenade explosion outside a make the Philippines the next Hawaii, given has filed Senate Bill 1001 or the Transport Network the portion of EDSA in Quezon City by allowing the pregnant women who had contracted the Zika Catholic church in the southern Philippines that there are a lot of great beaches here,” he Service Act that seeks to legitimise the operation of motorists to pass through Vertis North. Also, Orbos virus. A DOH off icial said earlier manifestations of during a Christmas Eve service. One police told ABS-CBN television in an interview aired Uber, Grab and other app-based transport services said an access road will be opened between the abnormalities in children born from Zika-infected off icer was wounded during the explosion. late yesterday. under the regulatory powers of the LTFRB. Quezon Avenue and North Avenue stations. mothers can be seen as late as two years of age. Duterte imposes Fire destroys homes his formula on the Philippines

Reuters dient in Duterte’s appeal that Davao makes him a more complex lead- er, and a potentially more potent one, than is appreciated abroad: odrigo Duterte has kept The people of Davao say he gets his word. “Forget the laws things done. Ron human rights,” he de- Residents laud his handling of clared in May at his fi nal presi- city services. Businesses praise dential campaign rally in Manila. his pro-growth policy. “If I make it to the presidential A top offi cial at the American palace, I will do just as I did as Chamber of Commerce in the mayor. You drug pushers, hold- Philippines applauds his team of up men and do-nothings, you economic advisers. better go out. Because, I’d kill Samuel R Matunog, a Davao you.” lawyer, businessman and human More than seven months af- rights worker, strongly rejects ter winning the presidency, Du- Duterte’s support for violence terte is rolling out on a national and killing. scale the model of government But he acknowledges there are he honed over 22 years and seven elements of his administration terms as mayor of this city on the worthy of support. “There are southern island of Mindanao. so many things that he does that Just as in Davao, blood is now I like,” he says. “Most important A number of houses were destroyed after a fire raged through a squatter colony, in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines, yesterday. fl owing in the capital Manila and to him is the basic welfare of surrounding areas as the police working people.” and vigilantes, inspired by the With the national levers of president, conduct a wave of power in his grasp, Duterte is killings. trying to apply to the Philip- A Davao-based human rights pines, a nation of 101mn peo- group, the Coalition Against ple, the same recipe of fear and Summary Execution (CASE), has populism that he employed in compiled fi gures showing that his eff orts to tame Davao, a city death squads in the city were re- of 1.6mn. sponsible for at least 1,400 doc- To advance the drug war, his Speaker seeks probe umented killings between 1998 political allies have introduced and 2015. legislation to bring back the Scaled up, Duterte’s war on death penalty — and to lower the drugs is now well under way age at which people can be pros- across the nation, and the body ecuted for crimes to just nine. count is setting records. Meanwhile, he is promising a Police have killed more than raft of measures certain to please into ‘Goldberg plot’ 2,000 people since he was in- wage earners and the poor — in- augurated on June 30, and are cluding free tuition at state uni- By Manila Times “Of course we cannot force “It is not new for ambassador him to his knees and eventually out if there is basis to this re- investigating about 3,000 more versities and colleges, and free Manila them (US embassy staff ) but we Goldberg to be accused of such a remove him from offi ce.” ported ouster plot against Pres- deaths. irrigation for rice farmers. will extend the invitation,” the plot,” Yasay said. “He should be Duterte and Goldberg had a ident Rodrigo Duterte.” Human rights monitors be- He also wants to replicate fea- speaker said. a very important and infl uential rift before the latter ended his The plan, if carried out, lieve many of these were carried tures of the Cuban health system. ouse Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, as well as Foreign person,” he said. stint in Manila in October. Du- would constitute a violation out by vigilantes with offi cial The task of managing the more Alvarez has called for a Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., Yasay said The Manila Times terte badmouthed Goldberg for of Philippine sovereignty and sanction, a charge the govern- than $300bn national economy Hcongressional investi- said they were not surprised report involved “a serious mat- the envoy’s criticism of his joke would be tantamount to sub- ment denies. dwarfs any challenge Duterte gation into the “blueprint” al- that the US would be involved in ter that we have to dig deeper during the election campaign version of the Filipino voters’ In Davao, Duterte built a per- faced in Davao, to be sure. legedly drawn up by former US such a plot. into.” “I would not take this about the 1989 rape of an Aus- will, Alvarez said. sonality cult around his crack- While his war on drugs is well ambassador Philip Goldberg to “I was not surprised. The threat lightly,” Yasay said. tralian missionary. Ako Bicol party-list Rep. down on crime. advanced, his promised econom- undermine and oust President US always meddles…if it has Goldberg, according to The In a statement on Tuesday, Rodel Batocabe, a Duterte ally, Part Mao, part Castro, part ic reforms have barely started. Rodrigo Duterte, calling the no hold over a country’s presi- Manila Times, said “political ac- Alvarez said of the ouster plot: said there might be diffi culty in gun-toting Filipino warlord, the “He wants to make the Philip- supposed plot “anathema” to dent,” Alvarez said in Filipino. tors (the opposition) would need “If true, this has serious conse- inviting witnesses. “Such probe avowedly socialist mayor ruled pines a bigger Davao City,” Jesus democracy and a “subversion” Yasay told radio station dzRH all the political weapons in their quences not only on our coun- might face a blank wall since we his city as a lethal enemy of Dureza, one of Duterte’s closest of the people’s will. he had been hearing of “serious arsenal to replace the Duterte try’s political stability but also cannot invite US embassy offi - wrongdoers and a champion of advisers, said in an interview Alvarez said the Congress threats” against Duterte from administration with something on the economic and social fab- cials and/or operatives as wit- the poor. on the president’s plan to boost could invite members of the overseas, and that he wouldn’t more to the opposition’s liking.” ric of our nation. It would also nesses just like Jaybee Sebas- His salute was a clenched fi st the economy by eliminating intelligence community and US put such activity past Goldberg, Goldberg allegedly urged have grave repercussions on our tian, or in the event that they — a symbol now emblazoned on crime and drugs. “But the work Embassy staff to a probe in Jan- who was expelled by Bolivia in the US government to employ relationship with the US. snubbed us, we cannot arrest souvenir mugs and other Duterte is much tougher as corruption uary to dig deeper into the sup- 2008 for allegedly fomenting a combination of “socio-eco- “In view of this serious al- them just like what Congress memorabilia. and crime are well-entrenched posed plot, fi rst reported by The civil unrest against the govern- nomic-political-diplomatic legation I am calling for a con- did to (Ronnie) Dayan,” Bato- But there is another ingre- in Manila, at the national level.” Manila Times on Tuesday. ment of Evo Morales. moves against Duterte to bring gressional investigation to fi nd cabe told The Manila Times. Vice President Robredo’s Typhoon causes P4bn approval rating drops damage to farm sector By Manila Times rigation covering 3,540 hectares Manila of land and 3,818 farmers in By Manila Times Leoncio Evasco Jr., on the orders The vice president’s support- Calabarzon, Mimaropa and Bicol Manila of President Rodrigo Duterte, ers also pointed out that there were aff ected. barred Robredo from attending was no outcry when Philippine amage caused by Typhoon Also, P83.5mn worth of dam- Cabinet meetings. National Police chief Ronald “Nina” to the farm sector age to infrastructure (road and ice President Maria Le- The vice president said she “Bato” de la Rosa went to Las Dhas reached over P4bn, river control facilities) were re- onor “Leni” Robredo saw was determined to improve her Vegas to watch the boxing fi ght aff ecting 65,247 hectares in two ported in Marinduque and Ori- Va 12-point decline in her performance following the rat- of senator Emmanuel “Man- regions, the department of agri- ental Mindoro. net satisfaction rating in the ings drop. ny” Pacquiao, and when Ilocos culture (DA) reported yesterday. In its update yesterday, the latest Social Weather Stations “Through the Angat Buhay, Norte Governor Imee Marcos In a report, Christopher Mo- National Disaster Risk Reduc- (SWS) survey, along with other the Offi ce of the vice president’s and brother Ferdinand “Bong- rales, head of the DA’s fi eld pro- tion and Management Council top government offi cials. poverty alleviation programme, bong” Marcos went with Presi- grammes operational planning (NDRRMC) said 132,908 families The SWS poll found that 58% we are determined to continue dent Duterte to China when division, estimated production or 602,770 persons were aff ected of respondents were satisfi ed with our mission to uplift the lives of Typhoon “Lawin” struck Ilocos losses at 268,355 metric tonnes by the severe weather conditions Robredo’s performance. Twenty- the poor and the marginalised,” Norte. (MT) of rice, corn and high-val- brought by Nina during its on- one percent were dissatisfi ed and Robredo said in a statement. The same SWS poll also saw ue crops. A total of 66,963 farm- slaught on December 25 and 26. 20% were undecided. “We thank the Filipino peo- the net satisfaction rating of ers were aff ected in Calabarzon These individuals came from This translated to a +37 net ple for their continued trust and senate president Aquilino Pi- and Bicol regions. 785 villages in Calabarzon, Mi- satisfaction rating in December, support. We assure you that we mentel decline by seven points The report said 168,581mt maropa, Bicol and Eastern Visa- down from +49 in September. are listening to your voice so we to +30 in December from +37 in of palay were lost, amounting yas, NDRRMC executive director The survey, conducted on De- can serve you better,” Robredo September. to P2.36bn, while corn post- Ricardo Jalad said. cember 3 to 6 among 1,500 adult added. House Speaker Pantaleon Al- ed 24,071mt of losses worth Nine road sections and three respondents nationwide, had a Robredo drew fl ak from Duterte varez had +10 net satisfaction P312.91mn. Damage to high-val- bridges were still impassable due sampling error margin of three supporters this week for going on rating, down 13 points from Sep- ue crops amounted to P1.25mn. to debris and fl ooding in Cagay- percentage points. Results were vacation in the US with her three tember’s +22. Chief justice Mar- Morales said drones were de- an Valley, Calabarzon, Mima- fi rst published in the newspaper daughters as Typhoon “Nina” hit ia Lourdes Sereno recorded a net ployed to take photos of agri- ropa, Bicol and Eastern Visayas. BusinessWorld. her native Bicol region. rating of +16 in December, down cultural areas damaged by Nina. Agriculture Secretary Em- Robredo resigned from the Her supporters, however, from +26 in September. “This is to picture the magnitude manuel Pinol announced that Cabinet as chairwoman of the defended her by citing that re- The SWS earlier reported or a of damage using unmanned aerial President Rodrigo Duterte had Housing and Urban Develop- lief operations led by Robredo’s net satisfaction rating of +63 for vehicles or drones, and to validate approved the allocation of an ini- ment Co-ordinating Council Naga City offi ce were in place President Duterte, with 77% of damage and losses,” he said. tial P500mn for the rehabilitation last December 4. Robredo left even before the typhoon struck 1,500 respondents satisfi ed and The national irrigation ad- of the agriculture and fi sheries her post after Cabinet Secretary on Christmas Day. 13% dissatisfi ed. Maria Leonor: satisfaction rating falls ministration reported that ir- sectors in typhoon-hit areas. Gulf Times Thursday, December 29, 2016 21 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL Four injured Five held for ‘plotting as Myanmar attack’ in Bangladesh navy opens Agencies Islam declined to elaborate giance to Islamic State, which their ranks privileged, educated most of the women militants Dhaka when asked about the militants’ police believe was involved in young men and women. detained so far were relatives of fi ring on target and how they planned to organising the attack on the cafe Although law enforcement male militant leaders. attack but said police had also in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter on agency members have so far According to sources, militant olice in Bangladesh have seized 60kg (132 lb) of explo- July 1. failed to determine the number outfi ts use their female members arrested fi ve suspected sives, when the fi ve were de- Islamic State claimed re- of women involved in militancy, as a distraction. PIslamist militants be- tained in overnight raids in the sponsibility for what was recent operations in diff erent An intelligence offi cial ex- fi shermen lieved to be plotting to attack capital. the worst militant attack in parts of the country have ex- plained that this technique is New Year celebrations, a coun- The fi ve were paraded before Bangladesh. posed the increasing number of known as the ‘couple module’. ter-terrorism police chief said the media but did not speak to Police have killed more than women militants in Bangladesh. The militant groups pair up a AFP der and arson at the hands yesterday. reporters. 40 suspected militants in raids During the operations con- female and a male member who Dhaka of soldiers - accounts that The fi ve were believed to be Authorities have already since the cafe attack, includ- ducted at Dakkhinkhan, Kaly- identify themselves as husband have raised global alarm and members of a faction of the banned all outdoor gatherings ing the man police said was the anpur, Narayanganj and Gazipur, and wife. galvanised protests around Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bang- in Dhaka from dusk on Decem- mastermind, Bangladesh-born law enforcement agencies found “It’s usual that male militants our Bangladeshi fi sher- Southeast Asia. ladesh (JMB) group, which was ber 31 to dawn on January 1 on Canadian citizen Tamim Ahmed evidence of women suicide will try to attract female in or- men were injured when More than 34,000 Rohing- blamed for an attack on a cafe in security grounds. Chowdhury. bombers being present in these der to implement their couple FMyanmar’s navy alleg- yas have since fl ed to Bangla- Dhaka in July in which 22 peo- Militant attacks have in- According to police sources, organisations. At least 20 wom- module technique… accord- edly opened fi re on them while desh, which has deployed ex- ple were killed, most of them creased in mostly Muslim Bang- several women militants are en militants have so far been de- ingly male militants infl uence they were fi shing along the tra border guards to prevent a foreigners. ladesh, a country of 160mn active in the country. tained from diff erent parts of the their wives to get involved into countries’ troubled border in large-scale infl ux of refugees. “They planned to attack on people, over the past few years Most of them are members country. militancy. We are trying to know the Bay of Bengal, an offi cial Thousands of the fl eeing New Year’s Eve,” Monirul Is- with several prominent liberal of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bang- Abdul Baten, joint commis- why women, who are not paired, said yesterday. refugees have been sent back lam, head of the counter-ter- writers and members of religious ladesh (JMB), Hizb ut-Tahrir, sioner of Detective Branch (DB) are increasingly getting involved A group of 14 fi shermen, to Myanmar by Bangladeshi rorism police unit, told a news minorities killed. and Nobbo (New) JMB. These of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, with militancy,” said another four of whom have been hos- border guards. conference. The JMB has pledged alle- militant outfi ts now have in told newsmen last week that intelligence offi cial. pitalised with bullet wounds, told coastguard offi cials that The incident comes a Myanmar navy ship had en- as tensions along tered Bangladeshi waters and Bangladesh’s opened fi re on their trawler on southeastern border Leaders at ex-PM’s funeral Tuesday. with Myanmar’s List of “They said the navy ship Rakhine state started fi ring on them with- run high, aft er out any warning,” coastguard Myanmar’s military sacked offi cer Saiful Absar said over launched a massive phone from southern Saint crackdown on Martin’s Island, which is close Rohingya Muslims in workers to where the alleged incident October happened. “Four fi shermen were More than 230,000 Ro- sent for injured. They had bullet hingyas already live in Bang- wounds all over their hands ladesh, most of them illegally, and feet,” he said, adding they although around 32,000 review had been taken to a hospital are formally registered as in the coastal district of Cox’s refugees. Bazar. But Dhaka is wary of ac- DPA The coast guard is investi- cepting more Rohingyas fear- Dhaka gating whether the Myanmar ing it would encourage the Navy had intruded into Bang- Buddhist-majority country to ladesh’s territorial waters, he push more of the stateless mi- ore than 1,600 garment added. nority into densely populated workers have been The incident comes as ten- Bangladesh, amid growing lo- Msacked in Bangladesh sions along Bangladesh’s cal resentment over the new after labour unrest forced many southeastern border with arrivals. factories to suspend production Myanmar’s Rakhine state run Amnesty International has for more than a week in an in- high, after Myanmar’s military said Myanmar’s military has dustrial district near the capital launched a massive crack- committed atrocities against Dhaka, police said yesterday. down on Rohingya Muslims in the minority group which are A list with the names of 1,611 October. tantamount to “crimes against sacked workers was sent to the Sri Lanka’s former president, Mahinda Rajapakse, centre, and Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, right, assist in transporting the Myanmar’s army says it humanity”, while Human labour ministry for review, dis- coff in of former prime minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake during his funeral at the national parliament in Colombo yesterday. Wickremanayake, is hunting militants behind Rights Watch published satel- trict police chief Shah Mijan who served twice as the Island nation’s prime minister, first from 2000 to 2001 and then from 2005 to 2010, died of an unspecified illness on deadly raids on police posts. lite images showing hundreds Shafi ur Rahman said over phone. December 27 at the age of 83. But Rohingya survivors of burned down houses in “Maybe not all of them are have described rape, mur- Rohingya villages. troublemakers. Those who are innocent will be reinstated to their jobs,” said Rahman, who is responsible for keeping order in the industrial district. Workers returned to the fac- Wild elephant Lanka faces threat of power crisis in 2017 tories on Monday as owners reo- pened their units fi ve days after they decided to shutter 59 facto- IANS The Public Utilities Com- power plant, was a key factor in further suggested that CPC ries fearing unrest as a group of kills woman, Colombo mission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) January 2017. should supply fuel as per the workers demand a pay hike. said that a successive failure of The PUCSL suggested to look- requirement. Several thousand employees monsoon had caused very low ing into the possibility of shifting The Ceylon Electricity Board went on strike in those facto- ri Lanka’s electricity regu- hydro reservoir storage, less than any maintenance at the available was also suggested to take im- ries on December 13 to demand injures 2 men lator has informed the 500 GWh, and the commission’s power plants to avoid shutting mediate action to purchase a minimum wage of 16,000 taka Spower and energy ministry recommendations were made down during the critical period shortage in generation from ($204) instead of the existing that urgent steps must be made to mitigate the impact of power January to April. available plants and the CEB and 5,300 taka per month for an DPA and 56-year-old man,” he to buy new power plants, post- shortages during the period from The commission further the Sustainable Energy Authori- entry-level worker. Kathmandu said. pone maintenance work at the January to April 2017, Xinhua suggested the state owned ty should “expedite connection” Security agencies have The wild elephants also available power plants and in- reported. Ceylon Petroleum Corpora- to start commercial operations launched an investigation into destroyed four houses before crease rooftop solar generation The PUCSL said that the full tion to improve the fuel quality under small scale generation on the recent unrest as the factory wild elephant killed returning to the Berdiya Na- to avoid a power crisis in the fi rst availability of Lakvijaya coal in order to get the maximum Standardised Power Purchase owners accused more than 150 a 31-year-old woman tional Park when police shot quarter of 2017. plant, the country’s only coal output from the plant. It was Agreements. people of inciting violence, at- Aand injured two men into the air, Giri added. tacks on factories, looting and early yesterday in a vil- The injured people were theft. lage near a national park in taken to a hospital in Nepa- The monthly minimum wage south-western Nepal, local lgunj, the nearest town. for textile workers was raised in police said. A four-year-old girl was Jumbo soccer 2013 as Bangladesh faced severe A herd of three elephants killed on Sunday when a one- criticism after the collapse of the ventured into the village of horned rhinoceros attacked Rana Plaza factory building that Manau in Bardiya district villagers in Nawalparasi dis- killed more than 1,100 people. and went on a rampage, said trict in south-central Nepal. Nearly 4,000 clothing fac- senior police offi cer Netra Frequent attacks by wild tories are in operation in Bang- Mani Giri. animals in Nepal have raised ladesh, the second largest after “One of them killed the concerns about the safety of China. 31-year-old woman and people living near protected Annual trade is worth $28bn. wounded a 14-year-old boy areas.

Nepal court to hear plea on local polls

Agencies Last week, a division bench the existing structure or a new Kathmandu of Justices Cholendra Sum- set-up is raging, especially af- sher Rana and Hari Krishna ter the government registered Karki had taken the decision a constitution amendment he Supreme Court in Ne- to seek amicus briefs from the bill, polarising the political pal is set to hear from the NBA and the SCBA. An amicus parties. Tamicus curiae whether curiae is a party that is not in- According to the constitu- the local level elections should volved in a particular litigation tion, the country must hold be held under the existing set- but that is allowed by the court three levels of elections - local, up or under a new one. to advise it on a matter of law provincial and federal, by Janu- Lawyers Shailendra Kumar or policy directly aff ecting the ary 2018. Local elections have Dahal, Purna Man Shakya and litigation. not been held in the country for Bishwa Kant Mainali from the The court will hear from more than 16 years. Supreme Court Bar Associa- the plaintiff and the govern- A commission formed to tion (SCBA) and lawyers Sushil ment attorney fi rst. After determine the number and Panta, Bipulendra Chakrabarti hearing arguments on both boundaries of the local units and Prem Bahadur Khadka sides, the amicus curiae (village and municipal councils) from Nepal Bar Association will off er its opinion on the under the federal set-up has People watch elephants playing football during the 13th Elephant Festival in Sauraha, a tourism hub in southwest Nepal’s Chitwan district, (NBA) will off er their opin- matter. fi nalised its report and is wait- yesterday. The five-day Elephant Festival is organised by the Regional Hotel Association of Sauraha to promote tourism and raise awareness ions on the case, reports the Debate over whether to ing for Prime Minister Pushpa about wildlife protection. Kathamndu Post. hold the local elections under Kamal Dahal to receive it. Gulf Times 22 Thursday, December 29, 2016 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Deputy Managing Editor: K T Chacko Qatar’s successes and

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar [email protected] milestones in 2016 Telephone 44350478 (news), 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) As 2016 draws to an end, sign agreements for the benefi t of Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani Anti- technology, which covered the sectors Fax 44350474 Qatar and its counterparts in various Corruption Excellence Award” to of sustainability, intelligence and Qatar looks back at its fi elds. In addition, HH the Emir’s its awardees in Vienna this year to eco-friendliness. All these advances achievements during the determination to the success of the appreciate the contribution of entities qualifi ed Qatar to consider space GCC union led to his keenness to visit and personnel towards fi ghting and satellite fi elds where in 2016 it year various GCC states to attend diff erent corruption. fi nalised the design of Es’hailSat 2 and events, conferences and activities. Qatar has hosted many diff erent planned to launch it in 2017. QNA On the Darfur peace agreement delegations and public workers from All these achievements are GULF TIMES which was led by Qatar’s mediation, around the world, marked by the supported by the strong foundation Doha HH the Emir visited the North historic visit of the Custodian of the of higher education and scientifi c Darfur to celebrate the successes of Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin research which is recognised by major he year 2016 has witnessed ending the war in the province and Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia to international institutions in the fi eld, many diff erent successes and inaugurating the era of construction enhance the relations between the two by placing Qatar University in the milestones in Qatar adding to and development. nations. 49th ranking worldwide based on the The reason why Tits overall development under During his opening speech in the In terms of Qatar’s rankings in QS World University Rankings and the leadership of HH the Emir Sheikh United Nations last September HH the diff erent fi elds, it held the 14th place based on Time Magazine rankings, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and the Emir presented called on the world to in the latest world competitiveness Qatar University ranked fi rst due to its guidance of HE the Prime Minister honour its commitments and shoulder report (2015-2016) by the World fast-paced growth where it increased India is not a and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah responsibilities towards the regional Economic Forum and ranked fi rst in its publications by 246% during the bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani. issues without selectivity saying: “It the Middle East in competition with past fi ve years. HH the Emir’s foreign visits is not possible for us to ignore the 140 countries worldwide, and the This year Qatar also ranked the during the year played a major role weakness of the legal and institutional second and 12th rankings in the Middle top among GCC states in terms in Qatar’s politics granting the system of the United Nations and its East and the world respectively in the of the number of tourists visiting sporting power country prosperity in all perspectives, inability in many situations to apply index of Economic Freedom issued in the country. It has proved not only including its partnership agreements justice”. 2016, and the fi rst in the Middle East a family destination but also a with other countries, and issues Meanwhile, HE the Prime Minister for information and communications cultural one with the help of Qatar Why does India, with its 1.3bn strong population, win pertaining the GCC and the region. and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah technology digital economy. Museums and its enrolment of Al so few medals at the Olympics and other global sporting During the year, HH the Emir visited bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani visited In the infrastructure fi elds, Zubarah Archaeological Site as part events? Russia, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Qatar achieved high rankings for of the Unesco World Heritage List. France, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Arab Emirates, and India to strengthen Hamad International Airport, In addition, sports tourism has Almost every Indian working abroad is forced to look Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, the ties of friendship between Qatar road infrastructures, marine ports, contributed to the overall growth of for the nearest hiding place when he is inevitably asked Mauritania, Argentine, and Colombia and its counterparts. governmental electronic services, tourism led by the 2022 FIFA World this question every time the Olympics are on. to strengthen bilateral relations and HH the Emir presented the “Sheikh information technology, digital Cup. While even countries with much lesser resources like Kenya and Ethiopia have plenty to shout about during the Games, thanks to their mighty distance runners, India with its galloping economy and super power dreams, just about manages to register on the medal table, thanks to one or two fl ash-in-the-pan performances. Well, if there are still people out there mystifi ed by the whole India-at-the-Olympics conundrum, they only need to look at a recent bit of news emerging out of the country. The Indian Olympic association (IOA) at its annual general meeting on Tuesday decided to honour two of its former presidents by making them “presidents for life.” While the idea itself is ridiculous in this day and age where democratic norms govern sports bodies in most countries with even the tenures of offi ce-bearers limited to two or three terms, what takes the cake in this case is the display of brazen disregard for ethics and morals by the IOA. The offi cials in question, Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala, have been under the scanner for a long time for corruption related to the Self-serving Commonwealth Games offi cials which India hosted in 2010 in New Delhi. continue to They are accused of scamming the country be the bane of to the tune of millions Indian sports of dollars, and Kalmadi, who was IOA president from 1996 to 2011, even spent 10 months in jail where he came up with the classically lame explanation that he was suff ering from dementia to put off investigators. However, India’s notoriously slow and complicated legal process ensured he got out of jail, and in 2012 he was allowed by a Delhi court to attend the London Olympic HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani greeting the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia during his historic Games. visit to Qatar early this month. But Kalmadi’s desire to attend the opening ceremony was scuttled by the Delhi High Court which said his participation in the function would be an “embarrassment for the nation.” The furore caused by the IOA’s decision forced Sustainability reporting good for business Kalmadi to reject the post yesterday, but it nevertheless established the body’s reputation as an organisation By Dana Haidan aligning business and stakeholder stakeholders such as customers, Finally, sustainability reporting can which feels confi dent about getting away with anything. Head of Corporate Responsibility objectives. communities and investors, and help strengthen the brand and market at Vodafone Qatar Our leadership passionately demonstrate leadership, openness positioning of a business. Those “The (sports) ministry will never accept such tainted believes that the Information and and accountability. In our case, the companies that are perceived to be people in the Indian Olympic Association and that is why Communication Technologies process by which we developed our leaders and innovators benefi t from we have expressed our reservations right after they were sk business industry plays a crucial role in reporting approach led us to engage a stronger position when it comes appointed last evening,” Indian sports minister Vijay executives achieving sustainable living and with more than 1,820 key business to attracting investment, initiating in the improving livelihoods. It is this stakeholders, helping to strengthen new activities or entering new Goel said. Middle belief that has driven us to deepen and deepen ties with a range of markets. Monitoring and measuring “This move is against the constitution of IOA and is not A East for their views our understanding of sustainability organisations and individuals who activities focused on supporting our acceptable to the Sports Ministry. I am disappointed by on sustainability and its impact on our long-term are critical to our success. diff erent customer segments, for the decision because both are facing cases of corruption.” reporting, and success and to focus so closely on Sustainability reporting can example, has enabled us to identify you’re likely to get our sustainability approach in recent also lead to improved processes greater opportunities to create shared Goel reiterated his stance on Twitter: “Transparency a mixed response. years. and systems. Examining internal value through programmes and and accountability is vital in sports; until Kalmadi and Some might As a result, we have benefi ted management and decision-making initiatives that directly contribute Chautala resign or are removed, we will not deal with consider that their time and resources directly from the way that such processes can reduce costs by to these segments’ development. IOA in any form.” are better spent on corporate reporting can enhance our company’s measuring and monitoring issues such In this way, we have partnered with responsibility branding initiatives. accountability for its impacts, build as energy consumption, materials organisations and led projects focused It is no secret that self-serving offi cials have been the Or else they might think that such trust and facilitate the sharing of use and waste. Again in our case, on youth empowerment working bane of Indian sports for decades. It is a pity that this reporting activity has little direct values on which to build a more reporting has helped us identify how with the likes of the Youth Company, still continues to be the case, inevitably leading to the relevance to their business objectives, cohesive society. We live in a investments in hybrid power systems supporting education and community country’s embarrassing performances at the Olympics. most important of which is generating world where the public expects can help cut diesel consumption development whilst also promoting revenue and profi t. Moreover, others greater transparency from the across our operation, enabling us to Vodafone products and services might consider that sustainability organisations and entities that play achieve an expected 64% reduction customised for young people. reporting involves disclosing more such an important role in our lives. by the end of next year. We have also Happily, it seems that growing information publicly than is entirely Sustainability reporting is one piece of cut water consumption by 27%. As numbers of businesses are To Advertise necessary. the puzzle towards increasing levels of an area of focus that we identifi ed in waking up to the benefi ts that But the fact is, such views overlook trust between society and business. our 2014 report, water conservation is we have experienced ourselves, [email protected] the true value that sustainability Aligning with the Global Reporting particularly signifi cant in Qatar where and recognising a role for better Display reporting can deliver to businesses. Initiative (GRI), whose standards supplies are limited. sustainability reporting in their Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 And as our experience at Vodafone we adhere to, we believe that It is also true that sustainability organisations. In 2015, 166 Qatar has demonstrated, a focus on sustainability reporting is a vital reporting can help progress an sustainability reports were published Classified sustainability reporting not only step towards achieving a sustainable organisation’s vision and strategy. in the Middle East, increasing by a rate Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 helps a business manage its social and global economy. The GRI actively Comprehensive analysis of strengths of 40%, and it seems this trend is set environmental impacts but it can help promotes some key advantages that and weaknesses and engagement with to continue. Subscription strengthen its operations, increase sustainability reporting delivers. stakeholders can lead to more robust The hope is that growing numbers [email protected] effi ciency and improve how resources The first benefit highlighted by and wide-ranging organisational of businesses will discover that are managed. It can also play a major GRI is the way that transparency visions and strategies. In our business, sustainability reporting is not just a role in building and strengthening about non-financial performance it has enabled us to follow a more cornerstone of what it means to be a 2016 Gulf Times. All rights reserved relationships with shareholders, can help build an organisation’s systematic way to implement our good business, but it is most certainly employees, and stakeholders through reputation, open up dialogue with strategy and measure performance. good for business too. Gulf Times Thursday, December 29, 2016 23 COMMENT Trapped behind the walls

Walls can’t prevent hunger borders between the US and Mexico evil will continue to exist. Moreover, and poverty. They can’t stop and between India and Bangladesh. as the collective conscience of the The Palestinians in the West Bank world seems to have vanished, evil radicalism or violence. They and Gaza – along with hundreds of will continue to get stronger to can’t prevent wars. They thousands of refugees in Europe – are become an overwhelming force. living their lives surrounded by walls. Today, 66mn people have been can’t barricade helpless In the Western Sahara, in Algeria forced to leave their homeland. The refugees and Morocco, immense deserts are majority of these people are innocent separated by walls. The cities of women, children and old people Belfast, Sao Paolo and Homs have who are trying to escape from death. By Harun Yahya been divided in two by walls. Indeed, They have nothing left to lose other Istanbul each country’s desire to protect its than their own lives. These innocent own security is very natural, but these people are waiting for us to open our precautions will never produce results. doors and extend our help to them, to ohn Walls can’t prevent hunger and provide a cure for their desperation. Carpenter’s poverty. They can’t stop radicalism The refugee problem is not an issue fi lm Escape or violence. They can’t prevent wars. that humanity can ignore or simply try JFrom They can’t barricade helpless refugees. to hide behind walls. The most urgent New York Walls cannot solve problems. necessity of the current situation made quite an People driven to desperation will feel is to carry out a comprehensive impact when it was released in 1981. even lonelier behind these walls. The mobilisation of aid. The movie takes place in a dark lovelessness and hatred resulting from Humanity lived with the shame of future where Manhattan Island had this state of mind will create an angry slavery for 300 years. South America, been transformed into a massive, generation, fuel radicalism and some Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia were maximum-security open-air prison people will resort to violence for their heavily exploited due to the ravenous surrounded by 15-m high walls. The problems. hunger of imperialist powers, and people’s struggle for life trapped The world has lived with the tyranny continued in the 20th century behind the walls created horror and Palestine refugee camp experience with world wars and close to 200mn fear in the audience. for the past 70 years. This issue, people were massacred in a matter Open-air prisons represented a which could have been easily resolved of a few decades. Today Germans scary and heartless future portrayal with a simple population exchange, live with the shame of having the for the people of 1980s. They were escalated into Arab-Israeli wars. Three Nazis as a part of their past, the dystopian punishments that could large-scale wars have taken place and British of having exploitative rulers, be seen only in a dark future apt for became the basis of many ideologies Americans for their ancestors that horror movies. Yet within just 35 that currently cause bloodshed across massacred Indians, Spanish for their years, these walls have become a the Middle East. Three generations of soldiers who ended the civilisations part of everyday life across the entire Palestinians currently reside in these of the Inca and the Maya for a couple world. Today, in 65 countries, people camps. PLO, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, The Israeli separation wall. of trunks of gold, and Russians are separated by high walls. There is Abu Nidal, Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, for their communist leaders that also an important diff erence between the Popular Front for the Liberation behind walls to gravitate towards is not possible for walls to stop this for 7bn people. The duty of condemned millions to starvation. the imaginary walls of Carpenter’s of Palestine and many other groups radicalism. Therefore, the measures deadly desperation. The solution for conscientious and sincere people Being remembered by future dystopian action fi lm and the actual were born and developed in these that are necessary to be taken against the tragedies refugees experience is to share these resources fairly generations for having condemned walls of today: The people of the 21st camps. Refugee camps surrounded radicalism are not to build new walls, doesn’t lie in building walls. The and correctly. Poverty, hunger, innocent people to death behind century often confi ne innocent people by weapons have created only more but to intellectually counter and problems which cause millions of destitution, and violence are walls will be the shame of today’s behind walls rather than criminals. violence. disprove radicalism. people to abandon their homes should common problems of the world people. Today, walls are no longer a way to People outside the walls often have The immigrants risk journeying be fought with knowledge. While a and humanity needs to act with a punish criminals. Instead, they have a false sense of security. It is because thousands of kilometres over large part of the world lives below the collective conscience. Trying to zHarun Yahya has authored more than turned into huge blocks meant to keep it is impossible to build a wall of dangerous high seas to reach security. hunger threshold, losing their lives confine these problems within walls 300 books on politics, religion and people from seeing the ugliness that enough height to stop ideologies. It With their children and their whole due to poor nutrition, the other part is nothing but burying heads in the science, translated in 73 languages. He lies beyond. becomes easier for people who are families, they are trying to reach shouldn’t waste their resources. sand. Unless an intellectual path is may be followed at @Harun_Yahya and Today, walls have been built on the humiliated and rendered as outcasts European coasts on scrappy boats. It Our world has enough resources followed to solve these problems, www.harunyahya.com Letters Weather report Three-day forecast Benazir lives in her staged a high-profi le return to her home week and some two weeks of holidays or the parents. Having a week’s TODAY city of Karachi in October 2007, drawing in December. holiday in January and another week High: 26 C supporters’ hearts millions of supporters to an 11-hour The Supreme Council of Education in February is not benefi cial even for Low : 19 C Expected strong wind and high rally. Foreshadowing of the attack that (SEC) had advised schools to revise the school staff . seas at places Dear Sir, killed her, the triumphal return parade their holiday schedules to bring in I request the authorities concerned was bombed, killing at least 134 of her uniformity among all schools but this to look into this and do the needful. Charismatic, striking and a canny supporters and wounding more than has not been correctly implemented FRIDAY political operator, Benazir Bhutto, 400, Bhutto herself narrowly escaped by all the schools. It seems some Sadique K P High: 28 C was reared amid the privileges harm and shouted at later rallies, schools are still confused over the [email protected] Low: 17 C of Pakistan’s aristocracy and the “Bhutto is alive!” and yes she’s truly winter holidays. The earlier system of Sunny ordeals of its turbulent politics. living in hearts of her supporters and bi-annual vacation had given room for Smart, ambitious and resilient, she followers. parents to schedule their annual leave Please send us endured her father’s execution and (Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in such a way that it did not clash with SATURDAY her own imprisonment at the hands on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi, the leave plan of their colleagues. your letters High: 29 C of a military dictator to become the while campaigning ahead of elections For most parents now, the only option Low: 17 C country’s – and the Muslim world’s – scheduled for January 2008.) is to travel during the summer vacation. By e-mail Sunny fi rst female leader. As a result, air fares soar during July- [email protected] A woman of grand aspirations with a Waqar Qadeer August. By January itself, tickets are Fax 44350474 taste for complex political movements, Doha overbooked for the summer holidays. Or Post Fishermen’s forecast Letters to the Editor Bhutto was fi rst elected prime minister Earlier, parents had the option OFFSHORE DOHA in 1988 at the age of 35. The daughter of to go on vacation along with their Gulf Times Wind: NW 08-18/ 22 KT one of Pakistan’s most intelligent and Confusion over children either in winter or in summer P O Box 2888 Waves: 3-5/7 Feet democratically inclined prime ministers, but the new system has reduced it to Doha, Qatar INSHORE DOHA winter holidays Wind: NW 08-15/18 KT Zulfi qar Ali Bhutto, she inherited the summer only. It is understandable that Waves: 1-3/4 Feet mantle of the populist People’s Party employees who have their families in All letters, which are subject to ed- iting, should have the name of the that he founded, and which she came to Dear Sir, Qatar want to go on vacation during Around the region personify. school holidays. writer, address and phone number. Weather Weather Despite numerous accusations of This year there was no winter Though some schools give holidays The writer’s name and address today Max/min tomorrow Max/min corruption and being removed as prime vacation for certain Indian schools in January, February and March they may be withheld by request. Abu Dhabi Sunny 26/19 Sunny 26/19 minister twice for the same charges, she whereas some schools have given one are not useful for either the students Baghdad P Cloudy 16/07 M Sunny 19/07 Dubai P Cloudy 19/12 P Cloudy 22/13 Kuwait City Sunny 20/09 Sunny 19/11 Manama Sunny 23/16 Sunny 25/16 Muscat Sunny 29/19 Sunny 29/20 Riyadh Sunny 23/11 Sunny 27/12 Live issues Tehran M Sunny 11/03 P Cloudy 13/07 Airline passenger details easy prey for hackers

Guardian News and Media Chaos Communication Congress two are Sabre, founded in 1960, and fl ights and chalk up the air miles. London hacker convention in Hamburg. Amadeus, founded in 1987) uses a Even more damage could be done While it was presented at a hacker diff erent system for generating them, with the information contained convention, “much less hacking but all have multiple problems that in the booking. There is enough he worldwide system used to was actually needed to exploit” the make them weaker than a simple six- personal and flight data in them to co-ordinate travel bookings booking system, Nohl said. character password. craft convincing phishing e-mails between airlines, travel At the core of many of the For instance, some providers iterate purporting to report problems with Tagents, and price comparison weaknesses was the standard use the fi rst two characters sequentially, the flights or bookings. websites is hopelessly insecure, of just two pieces of information to meaning all the PNRs generated in The PNR weaknesses are just according to researchers. authenticate a booking: the six- one day will have the same opening scratching the surface of the The lack of modern security character PNR, combined with the characters. Others reserve some codes problems with the GDS in general, the features, both in the design of the user’s last name. for specifi c airlines, again narrowing researchers said: there appears to be system itself and of the many sites “If the PNR is supposed to be a the range of guesses an attacker has no good logging for who has accessed and services that control access to it, secure password, then it should be to make. data and why, and access controls Around the world makes it easy for an attacker to harvest treated like one,” Nohl said. “But they Many of the portals into the GDS in general are almost non-existent, Weather Weather personal information from bookings, don’t keep it secret: it is printed on system also have minimal security allowing anyone from any company today Max/min tomorrow Max/min steal fl ights by altering ticketing every piece of luggage. It used to be features – or at least had minimal involved in your booking to see the Athens Rain 07/01 M Cloudy 06/02 details, or earn millions of air miles by printed on boarding passes, until it security features until Kohl and whole thing. Beirut Showers 17/12 P Cloudy 16/11 Sunny 31/23 attaching new frequent-fl yer numbers disappeared and they replaced it with Nikodijevic notifi ed them. One saving grace, they said, was Bangkok 31/21 P Cloudy Berlin M Cloudy 04/-2 Sunny 03/-2 to pre-booked fl ights, according to a barcode.” Some websites that have access that the whole system might end Cairo P Cloudy 19/08 Sunny 18/07 German security fi rm SR Labs. However, the barcode is also easy to the system and allow you to use up being rewritten anyway. As Cape Town M Sunny 32/19 P Cloudy 28/18 Known as Global Distribution to read using a number of apps, your PNR and last name to check the the “Smith” example shows, the Colombo S T Storms 32/23 S T Storms 33/24 Systems (GDS), the technology dates meaning many of the 80,000 travellers status of your fl ight off er no defences namespace for booking codes is Dhaka Sunny 27/17 Sunny 28/17 Hong Kong Cloudy 16/13 P Cloudy 20/16 back to the 1960s, when one of the who have posted pictures on the at all against an attacker guessing slowly fi lling up. Simply running out Istanbul Rain 05/01 Rain&Snow 03/01 fi rst companies in the fi eld, Sabre, #boardingpass tag on Instagram thousands of combinations a minute. of characters for new bookings could Jakarta S T Storms 31/25 S T Storms 31/24 was founded. To most travellers, are at risk of information theft, as The researchers were able to access force a rewrite of the system long Karachi P Cloudy 29/16 P Cloudy 30/14 the technology is most obviously Nikodijevic demonstrated. multiple records. Looking for bookings before security fears do. London Sunny 08/01 Fog 08/06 Manila P Cloudy M Sunny 32/24 associated with the six-character “This is supposed to be the only under the name “Smith”, for example, If not, Nohl suggested that a rise 32/25 Moscow Cloudy -3/-7 Cloudy -2/-3 Passenger Name Record (PNR) way of authenticating users,” Nohl and using a thousand randomly in cybercrime could do the same job. New Delhi Sunny 24/10 Sunny 23/10 frequently used to enable online said, “and it’s printed on pieces of generated booking codes, fi ve came “Airlines sometimes notice this, but New York Rain 09/02 M Cloudy 06/-1 check-in and ticket retrieval. paper you just throw away at the end back with active bookings. only when it becomes excessive,” Paris Sunny 05/-4 P Cloudy 02/-3 The PNR system was also the of the journey.” Attackers could use that access to he said. “I just hope it becomes so Sao Paulo S T Storms 33/21 S T Storms 33/21 Seoul Sunny -1/-9 M Sunny 03/-9 route for many of the weaknesses A bigger problem for most users, cancel a fl ight in exchange for airline excessive that it can’t be ignored so Singapore S Showers 32/24 T Storms 33/24 demonstrated by Karsten Nohl and though, is that the six-character code credit and then use that to book that it gets fi xed, because then the Sydney P Cloudy 38/24 M Cloudy 35/24 Nemanja Nikodijevic, the researchers is easy to guess. Each GDS provider new tickets. Or they could add your privacy issues get fi xed as well. Privacy Tokyo Clear 14/02 Clear 09/02 who revealed the fl aws at this year’s (there are several, but the biggest frequent fl yer number to hundreds of is never enough on its own.” Gulf Times 24 Thursday, December 29 , 2016 QATAR Quality Mall in Al Khor to be opened on New Year’s Day oha’s Quality Group a wide range of food items, ing, according to Olakara International is provisions and household who also announced their Dopening their seventh wares, said Olakara, while company has already ac- retail outlet in the country at adding that the place would quired retail space to launch Al Khor on January 1 at 11am, also house money exchang- another hypermarket in it was announced yesterday. es, beauty salons, confec- Wakrah. It is expected to be Quality Group chairman tioneries, laundry, phar- commissioned in the middle Shamsudheen Olakara ex- macy and an extensive food of 2017. plained that the new three- court. There are about 50 The Quality Group’s fi rst storey Quality Mall, spread independent retail outlets at hypermarket in Malaysia over more than 140,000 sq the complex. will be ready for opening in ft, would feature a number The Quality Mall would March-April 2017. It is lo- of franchises, outlets and also feature an 18,000 sq ft cated about 75km, south of independent kiosks, deal- entertainment zone, which Kuala Lumpur, he said. In ing in fashion accessories, includes a bowling alley, Abu Dhabi too, the group is apparels, home appliances, virtual cricket and football entering the retail market. electronic goods and many centre, gaming zone, and Quality Group Interna- more. a conceptual snow house, tional is also running a hy- The Quality Mall is sur- which the operators termed permarket in India’s Ben- rounded by a parking area as a new attraction in the galuru. Besides Olakara, the which could easily accom- country. group offi cials Shahid, Ram- modate nearly 300 cars, he A host of attractive off ers shad Hassan, Mins Mathew said. The Quality Hyper- and discounts are given to and Rayees Ahamed were market at the mall would sell customers to mark the open- also present. Shamsudheen Olakara (centre) announcing the business plans of Quality Group International yesterday as other off icials look on. PICTURE: Jayan Orma Katara hosts innovative painting exhibition

atara-the Cultural Vil- channels of peace. The opening a number of diplomats, and re- “The fi ne paintings created by in supporting the humanitarian relentless call for peace, dignity has exhibited her works on nu- lage has inaugurated a of the exhibition, which show- nowned artists. al-Ansari employ a highly tech- campaign for Aleppo,” said Dr and freedom from the ruthless merous occasions on a range of Kpainting exhibition ti- cases 25 works by Qatari artist Al-Ansari uses mixed media nical style to convey the neces- al-Sulaiti. injustice and persecution cur- themes. tled ‘Salam’, which aims to pro- Jamila al-Ansari was attended in her unique paintings to high- sity of peace in the region. The Al-Ansari, a graduate in Arts rently prevalent in the region.” The exhibition will be open mote cultural innovation and by Katara general manager Dr light the atrocities happening in exhibition comes at a time when from Qatar University, said, “the The artist is popular both na- to the public until January 12 at connecting people through the Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, the region. Katara has been deeply involved paintings are expressions of the tionally and internationally and Building 18 at Katara.

Qatari artist Jamila al-Ansari briefs Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti and other dignitaries about her paintings at the exhibition.

Some of the paintings by al-Ansari at the exhibition. The exhibition revolves around the theme of peace.