ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Home | 2 Business | 17 Sport | 25 Qatar Red Qatar National Losing Irfan Crescent Cement Company huge setback completes Gaza to raise production for Pakistan, college project. by 12 percent. says Misbah. WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH 2015 • 27 Jumada I 1436 • Volume 20 Number 6373 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Awareness campaign CMC poll pits Single counter brothers against each other DOHA: Two siblings might soon for all face each other in one of the 29 constituencies in the upcoming Central Municipal Council poll due on May 13. A preliminary list of nominees issued by elec- MoI services toral authorities yesterday show that five women figure on it among a total of 103 candidates. Number of online services to go up And interesting as it might seem, three of these women DOHA: Soon, a single counter nationals and wives of Qataris. have their first name as Fatima. at government services centres Al Ansari said that recently his The five women include the lone will begin providing all visa and department has opened a serv- woman CMC member, Sheikha Al related services, says a top inte- ices centre at The Pearl-Qatar Jefairi, from Old Airport ward. rior ministry official. Currently, and one in the towers area of the She is seeking re-election for the there are 19 services centres West Bay to cater to the rising fourth term from her bastion con- across the country, and they population in those areas. stituency and is among 17 sitting have separate counters for dif- The centres are besides the members of the civic representa- ferent services. online services of the interior tive body whose names appear on These services include issuance ministry which serve large num- the tentative list of nominees who and renewal of different types of bers of people. “The Metrash 2 are seeking another term. Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and British Ambassador Nicholas visas, ID cards and residency per- service is particularly very popu- The two brothers who have Hopton planting trees inside the embassy garden. Olive, pomegranate and fig saplings were planted as part mit (RP), among other things. lar and has contributed to eas- filed their nomination and whose “We are gradually working to ing pressure on our centres,” the of the awareness campaign ‘Ghars’ initiated by the Quranic Botanic Garden, a member of Qatar Foundation. names appear in the tentative list make sure that a visitor goes to a official told Al Sharq. (Report on page 4) SALIM MATRAMKOT which will be finalised early next single counter at a services centre The ministry is planning to month, will be locked in a tussle and gets his work done. The sys- expand the online services for with each other if none of them tem of separate counters for dif- the benefit of people and eventu- withdraws due to family or com- ferent services will be removed,” ally plans to go paperless sooner Private hospitals seek right to munity pressure or the nomina- said Brigadier Abdullah Ahmed rather than later. These services tion of both or either is cancelled Al Ansari. He is the head of the will be available in both, Arabic due to technical or other reasons. Unified Services Department and English. Meshal Hassan Al Dhahnem which runs the 19 services cen- The official said his depart- import life-saving medicines and Ali Hassan Al Dhahnem might tres that provide many govern- ment was set up in 2007 and has see facing each other in the Old ment services, including issuance emerged as very popular ever DOHA: Faced with a con- and clinics say that they have the national health insurance Airport constituency in Doha in and cancellation and renewal of since. “We have added a new serv- tinuing shortage of several life been forced to rely on the HMC scheme (Seha). A number of a triangular contest with the sit- visas, RPs and traffic-related ice recently for companies. They -saving medicines in the local for several life saving medicines citizens now prefer the private ting member, Sheikha Al Jefairi, works, under one roof. can do the visa work for their market, leading private hos- since the private dealers are not facilities to the public hospitals comfortably perched. No one has The Department is part of the employees at our centres.” pitals are seeking permission interested to import them in bulk and health centers since they so far defeated her since she first General Directorate of Borders, In December 2014, for example, from the authorities to import due to the relatively low demand. can avail of their services under fought the civic election in 2003. A Passports and Expatriate Affairs Al Rayyan Services Centre handled medicines directly. Private hospitals are allowed to insurance cover. lawyer by profession, she had won at the Ministry of Interior, popu- some 90,000 visitors. “Everyone, Currently supply of medicines bring some medicines for emer- “Suppliers don’t have enough unopposed then. larly known as the immigration irrespective of where he or she in the country is channelised gency but the procedures are stocks of some medicines because The three Fatimas appearing department. stays, can visit any services cen- through the licensed dealers lengthy and complicated, they say. they don’t import them in bulk. on the preliminary list of nomi- The service centres issue dif- tre and avail our services,” said Al under supervision of the Supreme They are calling on the authori- HMC occasionally provides nees are Fatima Al Kuwari, who ferent types of entry and stay Ansari. Al Ansari said that the visa Council of Health (SCH). Hamad ties to review the entire system medicines to private hospitals challenged Sheikha in the last visas, including work, business clearance committee (for clearing Medical Corporation (HMC) also for importing medicines to sup- but not in sufficient quantities,” election in 2011, Fatima Yusuf and tourist, family and visit. They family visas, for instance) at the imports medicines for the pub- port the private sector. a local Arabic daily quoted Dr Al Ghazal (from constituency renew visas as well as transfer immigration department has now lic healthcare facilities and has The issue has now cropped Mohammed Al Emadi, director number 10, and Fatima Salem and cancel RPs. They also issue begun interviewing people through exclusive rights to bring some up with a surge in the number of Al Emadi Hospital as saying. Jesaiman, from the 15th ward. ID cards for expatriates and exit video conferencing as well. rare medicines. of patients at private clinics and Continued on page 6 Continued on page 6 permits, including to under-age THE PENINSULA Officials of several hospitals hospitals with implementation of THE PENINSULA THE PENINSULA INSIDE Protest against settlements Page 9 Exit polls: Likud, Zionist It’s time for Gulf states to wake up By Dr Mohammad Union neck and neck Saleh Al Misfer JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime the ruling party taking 28 seats. Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Netanyahu’s Likud which was rightwing Likud party was seen trailing the Zionist Union of How long must we neck-and-neck with the centre- Isaac Herzog by up to four seats in wait for the HR law left Zionist Union in yesterday’s the final polls published last week, general election, exit polls said. outperformed all expectations by By Dr Rabia bin Analysts said the polls indi- staying in step with its centre-left Sabah Al Kuwari cated Netanyahu had managed rival. And in the coalition horse close the gap with his centre-left trading that will begin in earnest rival, and would be much better today, Netanyahu retains much placed to pull together a majority more room for manouevre than Solar storm may of 61-seats. Herzog given the backing he has Figures published by public from an array of smaller right- disrupt power Channel 1 and private Channel wing and religious parties. 10 television both gave Likud and “Netanyahu has managed to MIAMI: A pair of solar erup- the Zionist Union 27 seats each catch up in the final lap,” said tions over the weekend have in the 120-member Knesset, or Claude Klein, a specialist in con- unleashed a severe geomagnetic parliament. A third poll by private stitutional law at Jerusalem’s storm that could disrupt power Channel 2 gave Likud a one-seat Hebrew University. AFP and communications on Earth, A Palestinian returns a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops during a protest against land confiscation by Israel lead on the Zionist Union, with See also page 7 US officials said yesterday. for settlements, near the West Bank town of Abu Dis near Jerusalem, yesterday. The storm ranks as a G4 on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scale of one to five, with five being the worst. “Today we are experiencing a Falling euro brings cheer to Europe-bound tourists severe geomagnetic storm,” said Thomas Berger, director of the BY SACHIN KUMAR trading at 3.92 Qatar riyal while in May last hotels and shopping will be cheaper for tour- of the US, is likely to raise its interest rates Space Weather Prediction Center. year a euro was fetching 5.07 riyals. ists. The fall in euro has coincidentally timed this year. This hike will make dollar further Residents of Alaska, Minnesota, DOHA: Tourists going to Europe from “Europe is a major tourist destination for well with the tourist season in Qatar which will strong as global investors will invest money Wisconsin, Washington, North Qatar this year will enjoy a welcome visitors from Qatar.