INDEX
QATAR
2,3,12
3
COMMENT BUSINESS SPORTS
10 1-8 1-8
QATAR | Page 12
BUSINESS | Page 1
ARAB WORLD INTERNATIONAL
4-9,11
Building permits issued in July see double-digit monthly growth
QRCS health education activities benefit thousands
NYMEX
- DOW JONES
- QE
42.26
-0.56 -1.31%
27,930.57
+190.84 +0.69%
9,767.18
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Latest Figures
SATURDAY Vol. XXXXI No. 11648
August 22, 2020 Muharram 3, 1442 AH
GULF TIMES
www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals
MoPH reports 113,216 total Covid-19 recoveries
Duhail crowned QNB Stars League champions
The Ministry of Public Health
Support hotline announced for schools blended learning system
(MoPH) reported yesterday 257 new confirmed cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) and 292 recoveries from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people who have recovered so far in Qatar to 113,216 cases. The MoPH said in a statement on Covid-19 developments in Qatar, that all new cases have been transferred into isolation and are receiving
necessary healthcare. Page 2
Turkey announces big gas find in Black Sea
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday announced the discovery of major natural gas reserves in the Black Sea, near the Turkish coast. “Turkey has made the biggest natural gas discovery in the Black Sea,” Erdogan said at the historic Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. The country’s drillship Fatih found some 320bn cu m (11.3tn cu ft) of natural gas, said Erdogan, announcing the “good news” he had promised the public earlier this week. Turkey aims to have the natural gas ready for public use in 2023, he said.
OSchools to inform parents through SMS about in-school days of attendance OBlended learning support hotline 155 OSix sessions/day for distance learning OStudents to attend school 1-3 times a week
Al Duhail players and officials celebrate with the Falcon Shield after winning the QNB Stars League title at the Al Janoub Stadium yesterday. In their final game, Duhail beat Al Ahli 1-0 thanks to Edmilson’s free-kick in the 24th minute. Duhail finished with 52 points, one ahead of Al Rayyan, who defeated Al Wakrah 2-0 in their final match at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium yesterday. Sport Page 1
chools will inform the parents concerned through SMS about the in-school days of attendance ment schools in the country with the forms and guidelines to implement the blended learning system, local Arabic daily Arrayah reported yesterday. The guidelines, which the daily said that it had a copy of, point out that the primary schools pupils shall attend classes at the school building in rotation. The pupils of classes I and III will accordingly go to school on Sundays and Tuesdays, while the pupils of classes II and IV attend on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the pupils of classes V and VI shall attend only on Thursdays of each week. As for the preparatory school, students of class VII shall attend on Sundays and Mondays, students of class VIII on Tuesdays, and class IX on Wednesdays and Thursdays every week. Students of class X shall attend Sundays and Mondays, students of class XI on Tuesdays and students of class XII on Wednesdays and Thursdays of every week. As part of distance learning, students will have daily assessment and discussions with their teachers and there will be a weekly assessment for each subject. In addition, the ministry will provide a good number of recorded lessons on its YouTube channel on weekly basis. Digital textbooks will be available in pdf format, besides other interactive textbooks. The teaching staff will be given adequate training on the remote learning techniques and all the related applications. However, teachers are not obliged to respond to the queries of students outside the official working hours, and schools cannot force them to do so.
S
for each student, under the blended learning system being implemented during the first term of the school year 2020/21 across all the educational stages including government and private schools, higher education institutes and kindergartens.
Libya’s UN-backed govt,
Russian doctors agree to Navalny evacuation
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education also announced yesterday the availability of a technical support hotline, 155, for students and parents.
Russian doctors treating opposition figure Alexei Navalny for suspected poisoning backed down yesterday and agreed he could be evacuated after his family and aides battled for him to be taken to Germany. The doctors in the Siberian city of Omsk, where Navalny was in a coma in intensive care, changed tack after initially insisting he was too ill to be moved. The 44-yearold lawyer and anti-corruption campaigner’s wife had appealed to President Vladimir Putin and staff had accused authorities of putting his life at risk by delaying the
rival announce ceasefire
The amendment of the back-toschool plan was released on Wednes-
AFP
Tripoli
Qatar welcomes truce agreement
- day, after
- a
- co-ordination meeting
Qatar welcomed the agreement between the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives on an immediate ceasefire, the suspension of all combat operations across Libya, and the activation of the political process. In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed Qatar’s hope that all Libyan parties would respond to the declaration of a ceasefire, expedite the completion of the political process, and lift the blockade on the oil fields to resume production and exports. hope for this declaration to contribute to supporting efforts for a political solution in Libya and rebuilding the country in a way that preserves the rights of the Libyan people and the rule of law. The statement renewed Qatar’s support for the Skhirat Agreement, and called on all Libyan brothers to uphold the national interest and adhere to dialogue without excluding any component of the Libyan society, leading to a comprehensive political settlement that preserves Libya’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and fulfils the aspirations of its people for security and stabil-
ity. (QNA)
with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), regarding the precautionary and preventive measures against Covid-19, and mitigating the academic consequences of school closures and delaying the beginning of the new academic year. ibya’s warring rival administrations announced in separate statements yesterday that they
L
would cease all hostilities and organise nationwide elections, a move widely welcomed by the UN and sev-
- eral countries.
- Blended learning combines online
learning and in-person teaching in the classroom. Students will attend classes 1-3 times a week to do coursework, experiments and exams. From September 1-3, students are to be informed about the blended learning approach in schools. During the first term, schools will receive only 30% of its students capacity to attend in-person classes on daily basis. Each student should attend inperson, one to three classes a week, as assigned by the school. Distance learning will take place through six sessions a day. The recorded lessons will be of 15-20 minutes duration. Students should access Qlearning portal through a dedicated login with their user names and passwords, and have access to MS Teams App. Parents will provide computers for their children, create a convenient environment and offer them support and guidance.
The surprise announcement came after multiple visits by top foreign diplomats to Libya in recent weeks, resulting in the first deal between the
evacuation. Page 8
Democrats endorse Biden nomination
- rival authorities since
- a
- December
2015 UN-backed accord in Morocco that led to an agreement on a unity government.
Former US Vice President Joe Biden accepted officially the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination during a speech delivered for the largely virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention from the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware. “It is an America we can rebuild together,” Biden said, pledging to make control of the coronavirus outbreak his first act if elected president. “We will never get our economy back on track. We will never get our kids safely back in schools. Never have our lives back until we deal with this
virus,” Biden added. Page 5
The statements were signed by Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the UN- recognised unity Government of National Accord (GNA), based in the capital Tripoli, and Aguila Saleh, speaker of the eastern-based parliament, backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar. The two have been at war virtually since the formation of Sarraj’s government in December 2015. The UN’s top official to Libya, Stephanie Williams, called for “all parties to rise to this historic occasion and shoulder their full responsibilities before the Libyan people”.
The statement expressed Qatar’s
elections next March”, and for the “end of all combat operations”.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said. The European Union’s diplomatic chief Josep Borrell praised the agreement as “important and positive” and called on all factions in the North Africa state to keep their commitments.
“Important and positive news coming from #Libya on a ceasefire
- Saleh also backed elections
- —
though he did not specify a date — and urged “all parties” to observe “an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of all fighting.” Italy welcomed the move, as did Germany and the Arab League.
“The announcement of the ceasefire in Libya is an important step in the relaunching of a political process that will promote the stability of the country and the welfare of the people,” Italian
The Educational Affairs Sector recommended that live streaming lessons should be avoided through MS Teams unless absolutely necessary. Teachers are urged to respond to the related queries and questions of students on daily basis during the official working hours.
- and the resumption of
- a
- political
process,” Borrell tweeted. “Crucial now that all parties stand by their statements. All Libyans deserve a political solution and a return to stability and peace.”
Magnitude 6.9 quake jolts Indonesia
Sarraj called for the holding of
“presidential and parliamentary
The Educational Affairs Sector at the ministry has supplied the govern-
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 struck off the coast of Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province early yesterday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported. The earthquake occurred more than 600km deep and about 220km south of the town of Katabu on the island of Celebes, according to the USGS, which said the quake was felt hundreds of kilometres from the epicentre. The quake’s epicentre was located 171km northeast off Larantuka district in East Flores Regency. There was no tsunami warning issued and no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.
Al Rayyan Stadium comes to life
WHO hopes end to pandemic in ‘less than two years’
think we can finish it in a shorter time
AFP
Geneva
than the 1918 flu.” The Covid-19 pandemic has to date killed nearly 800,000 people and inhe World Health Organisation said yesterday it hopes the planet will be rid of the coronavirus fected close to 23mn worldwide, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP. But the deadliest pandemic in modern history, Spanish flu, killed as many as 50mn victims and infected around 500mn around the world between February 1918 and April 2020.
T
pandemic in less than two years — faster than it took for the Spanish flu.
Sevilla down Inter for Europa League crown
“We hope to finish this pandemic before less than two years,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters from the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, insisting that it should be possible to tame the novel coronavirus faster than the deadly 1918 pandemic. Compared to back then, the world today is at a disadvantage due to its “globalisation, closeness, connectedness”, which has allowed the novel coronavirus to spread around the world at lightning speed, Tedros acknowledged.
Sevilla won the Europa League for a record-extending sixth time thanks to Romelu Lukaku’s own goal earning a thrilling 3-2 win over Inter Milan in Cologne. Lukaku turned Diego Carlos’ overhead kick into his own net in the 74th minute in what was a just about deserved triumph for coach Julen Lopetegui’s side. Sevilla had led 2-1 in the first half from Luuk de Jong’s brace of headers after Lukaku opened the scoring with a fifth minute penalty. Inter defender Diego Godin equalised to cap a thrilling start to the final.
Five times more people died of it than did in World War I. The first victims were recorded in the United States, before it spread to Europe and then around the world. That pandemic came in three waves, with the deadliest second wave beginning in the latter half of 1918.
“It took three waves for the disease to infect most of the susceptible individuals,” WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan told journalists.
With its glowing facade and brightly-coloured seats, Al Rayyan Stadium is slowly coming to life, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy tweeted yesterday. Al Rayyan is known for its love of traditions and local culture, as well as its hugely popular football team, Al Rayyan Sports Club. The close-knit community here is deeply committed to the team, whose new arena will host up to 40,000 fans at FIFA World Cup 2022 matches. Built on the site of Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, the new Al Rayyan Stadium will incorporate symbols of Qatari culture into its spectacular undulating facade. The facilities surrounding the venue will also mirror the country, with sand dune-shaped structures recalling the beautifully wild lands to the west. Sport Page 1
But the world also now has the advantage of far better technology, he said. By “utilising the available tools to the maximum and hoping that we can have additional tools like vaccines, I
After that, the flu virus behind the pandemic evolved into a far less deadly seasonal bug, which returned for decades.
Gulf Times
Saturday, August 22, 2020
2
QATAR
Digital transformation accelerating in Qatar, says expert
- of the entire recruitment process. tance of adopting digitalisation and hiring managers do their jobs
- whether we do it or not it’s gonna everyone is recognising and see-
- move to being fully digitised”.
- ing this benefit and moving to-
Citing an example, he said the wards it,” Fares pointed out.
- percentage of the use of mobile
- MoTC is set to hold another
- transformation is moving at
- a
By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter
faster rate within specific coun- Citing Qatar as an example, Fares in various processes saying it more efficiently: from sourcing tries in the region,” said Zein Al noted that a number of initiatives significantly increases efficiency, to onboarding candidates amid a Abedin Fares, international busi- on digital transformation in both saving more time and resources global public health crisis.
Bayt.com, he noted, also deals devices barely moved before the webinar on ‘Empowering Small with multiple government en- year 2000 but witnessed a surge and Medium Enterprises with
- he shift to
- a
completely ness professional at Bayt.com, at public and private sectors are be- in a sustainable way. digitised system in sev- a recently-held webinar themed ing adopted to better serve indieral government transac- ‘Sourcing and Hiring Talent Re- viduals and businesses.
According to Fares, the govern-
- ment itself (conventionally) en- tities and ministries across the in demand in the years after.
- Cloud’ on August 25, which will
T
- region in helping them digitise
- “People they want to do the present the concept of cloud
- tions in the region, particularly motely’.
- The Qatar government has tails more paperwork than having
- in Qatar, is accelerating due to
- programme under Qatar’s been in the forefront of digital systems to digitise its processes.
- A
- their recruitment processes. shift because it is easier for them, computing and the benefits it
Fares expressed confidence that it’s much convenient for them brings to organisations. In adrecruitment processes in both and it’s even more cost-effective dition, SMEs will learn how to public and private sectors will to do things in a digital system, overcome common business end up completely digitised in the you can reach to the whole world challenges by adopting cloud future “whether we like it or not, online and the benefit is huge and services. their keenness to become more Ministry of Transport and Com- transformation, making its trans- “We have to embrace it sooner or efficient and accessible amid the munications (MoTC), the Dig- actions and operations “more ef- later, but sooner is better than latcoronavirus (Covid-19) pandem- ital Transformation of Small and ficient, effective, accessible and er,” said Fares, who also discussed
- ic, an industry expert has said.
- Medium Business Enterprises customer-centric”.
- how the Internet helps human re-
- “We are seeing that (digital) webinar details the digitisation
- Fares underlined the impor- source professionals, recruiters,
Ministry sets dates for student enrolments and
MoPH reports 113,216
transfers
Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor set for major opening by month-end
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education announced that student enrolment and transfer in public schools for the 2020/21 academic year will reopen from August 23 through October 7. Parents can complete the enrolments and transfers according to the following dates: For Qatari siblings, children of Qatari mothers, and children of GCC citizens – August 23-24. For Qatari students, children of Qatari mothers and children of GCC citizens – August 25-31. For other nationalities – September 1 to October 7.
total Covid recoveries
QNA
Doha
he Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) reported
T
yesterday 257 new confirmed cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) and 292 recoveries from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people who have recovered so far in Qatar to 113,216 cases.
Parents can complete the
The MoPH said in a statement on Covid-19 developments in Qatar, that all new cases have been transferred into isolation and are receiving necessary healthcare. The health ministry said measures to tackle Covid-19 in Qatar have succeeded in flattening the curve and limiting the spread of the virus and the number of new daily cases and hospital admissions is continuing to decline each week. Qatar’s proactive and extensive testing of suspected cases has enabled the ministry to identify a high number of positive cases in the community. Qatar has one of the lowest Covid-19 death rates in the world. This is due to:
Very high quality of care provided through the public healthcare sector for Covid-19 patients
Qatar’s young population Proactive testing to identify cases early
Expanding hospital capacity, vulnerable,” the health ministry especially intensive care, to en- said. sure all patients receive the medical care they need
Protecting the elderly and Qatar, it is important for everyone
- those with chronic diseases.
- to play their role in controlling the
enrolment process online via the Public Service Portal. For applications to be complete, it is important to attach all the required documents, along with the medical assessment certificates for new students. In a related context, medical examinations for new students are still underway in a number health centres designated by the Ministry of Public Health.
By Shafeeq Alingal
Staff Reporter
he prestigious Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor project,
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being implemented by the
Public Works Authority (Ashghal), will witness a major opening by the end of this month, a senior official told Gulf Times. Engineer Yousef al-Emadi, director of Projects Affairs, explained that work on the project is fast progressing on schedule. In June, Ashghal announced
70% completion of the project and opened a new 900m bridge along Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor in the Bu Hamour area. “Openings will be carried out until the end of this year and several
The medical certificates will officially be approved and linked directly to the education ministry’s online enrolment system. Accordingly, parents can proceed with the online enrolment once the student is found medically fit.
Housing
this happening in other countries around the world. Now more than ever, we must be careful and protect the most medical conditions.