ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Monday 9 December 2013 5 Safar 1435 - Volume 18 Number 5908 Price: QR2 QP, Japan firms Deulofeu late ink elastomer strike denies complex deal Arsenal victory Business | 17 Sport | 28 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Emir meets Moroccan PM 40pc marriages Rail to cross among Qataris end in divorce DOHA: The rate of divorce in the Qatari community is high, gas pipelines but figures suggest expatriates aren’t too far behind in this respect. Statistics for 2011 reflect that for every 100 marriages that took place in the country in the year, at 24 points there were 40 divorces. Among the expatriate commu- nities the ratio of divorce in the QP, Qatar Rail in talks to solve issue year was 25. In other words, for every 100 expatriate couples tying BY SATISH KANADY Attiq Al Yaeeshi, Lead Process the knot in Qatar, 25 broken mar- Engineer, Transmission and riages were recorded. DOHA: With Qatar Distribution, QP, told The Releasing the figures, the Petroleum’s (QP) gas distri- Peninsula that discussions were Supreme Council of Family Affairs bution network intersecting on with Qatar Rail to address said the Family Counselling Centre Qatar Rail’s proposed Metro the issue. (FCC) had begun pre-marriage network at several places, QP Ali Attiq said intersection of counselling to help fight the high is likely to reroute its network the gas distribution network and divorce rate. And nearly three- at several points. It is in talks the rail network would not force fourths (64.9 percent) of those with Qatar Rail to sort out the QP to redraw its distribution attending the counselling pro- issue. network in a big way. grammes were women, figures for The Doha Metro, an inte- In a presentation made in Abu the years 2009-12 show. However, gral part of the Qatar Rail Dhabi in 2012, QP’s Transmission the FCC’s success rate in resolving Development Programme, will and Distribution department had martial disputes has been increas- cover the Greater Doha area and noted that Qatar’s proposed rail ing over the years. will include connections to town and metro network crossed QP’s In 2012, for example, the Family centres and vital commercial and ‘existing proposed’ gas distribu- Court referred some 4,038 cases of residential areas in the city. In tion network at least at 24 points. marital discord to the FCC, many central Doha, the Metro will be QP is working on the Ras of which were settled amicably. underground, while on the out- Laffan-Dukhan corridor in THE PENINSULA skirts it will mainly be at ground consultation with the Ministry The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane at Al Bahr Continued on page 5 level or elevated. of Municipality and Urban Palace yesterday. Benkirane is in Doha to participate in the second annual conference of Arab Research Centres. Talking on the sidelines of the Planning. It is also replacing old “QatarGas Distribution Projects” pipelines with new ones. conference here yesterday, Ali “In the last 10 years, we improved our GDS. To move forward we are upgrading the existing GDS with state-of-the- Sponsorship, exit permit under review art technology.” Ali Attiq noted that QP’s DOHA: Qatar’s human rights the National Human Rights was being studied by the authori- ratify as many international con- transmission and distribution watchdog reiterated yesterday Committee (NHRC), said the ties concerned in order to look for ventions on human rights as pos- network in the country was that the sponsorship and exit organisation was actively follow- suitable alternatives. sible. 3,100km long and had 75 distri- permit system was being stud- ing up on workers’ rights issue. She was speaking here yes- “We are actively monitoring bution centres. The network is ied by the government for a pos- “We are working to help create terday as a representative of the the human rights situation in now four times bigger than what sible review. an environment that would pre- NHRC at an Arab-European Qatar,” she said. it was in 2009. The idea is to look for a better vent human rights violations and Youth Symposium hosted by The NHRC is cooperating By 2020, it will be six times alternative to the system and have protect workers’ rights in a more Qatar. with other Arab countries to its size in 2009. The Mesaieed an environment where workers’ effective way,” said Al Sulaiti. Taking part in a panel discus- help make the Arab region free expansion plans are expected to rights are more effectively pro- In this regard, she said that sion on human rights in Arab and of human rights violations, she boost the feeder, he said. tected, said a rights body official. the existing sponsorship system European countries, Al Sulaiti pointed out. THE PENINSULA Jameea Al Sulaiti, from (which includes exit permit rules) said the NHRC was trying to THE PENINSULA More than 50 National Day celebrations heads of state for get under way in Al Sadd Mandela funeral DOHA: Traditional sword The new location has been pre- JOHANNESBURG: Fifty- dance, Al Arda, beating of the pared in a way that would take three heads of state and gov- Qatari drums and display of visitors on a journey to the past, ernment have so far confirmed camels and horses marked the through history and traditions of attendance at upcoming memo- launch of National Day celebra- Qatar, helping the young genera- rial events for peace icon Nelson tions at Darb Al Saai grounds in tion of Qataris to know how their Mandela, South African Foreign Al Sadd yesterday. forefathers were living. Minister Maite Nkoana- A huge crowd, including a The venue has been divided Mashabane said yesterday. number of Qatari children in into various sections named as The dignitaries will include US traditional attire, witnessed the Souq Waqif, Doha, Al Izba, Al President Barack Obama, along celebrations. Darb Al Saai, which Nasa, Al Shaqab, Al Maqtar, Al with three former American was moved to a new location in Al Beda and Al Meshabia and so on. presidents, Brazilian leader Sadd is a major attraction of the A variety of sports and games Dilma Rousseff, French President annual National Day festivities. for children are also being held as Francois Hollande and British An array of events has been part of the festivities. Prime Minister David Cameron. lined up at this venue this year The events will take place from There has been “unprec- under the National Day theme 8am to noon and from 3pm to edented interest” to attend the Camel riders during the launch of the National Day celebrations at Darb Al Saai grounds in Al Sadd yesterday. “our hearts are the source of our 11pm daily. statesman’s funeral week after glory” . THE PENINSULA he died Thursday night, Nkoana- Mashabane told a news confer- ence in Johannesburg. Many leaders will attend a memorial service tomorrow at the Soccer City stadium, where Mandela made his last major pub- Anti-graft crusader stuns India with huge election win lic appearance during the 2010 football World Cup. NEW DELHI: Some of the big- to symbolise a clean-out of rot- the city. The challenge for him is a city-state with a burgeoning especially since one internal Scores of dignitaries are also gest celebrations of state elec- ten politicians. The upstart Aam now is to grow his movement in population of about 16 million. survey ahead of the Delhi elec- expected to attend, including UN tion results in Delhi yesterday Aadmi (Common Man) Party is time for national elections due by The remarkable rise of the tion found that about a third of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, were not for the winners, but led by mild-mannered former civil May — a task that could pit him bespectacled Kejriwal from the the party’s supporters wanted to Kofi Annan, Martti Ahtisaari, for a brand-new anti-graft party servant Arvind Kejriwal who has against leading opposition candi- ashes of a street protest move- see Modi as prime minister. The Lakhdar Brahimi and Mary that stormed India’s establish- vowed to end the stranglehold of date Narendra Modi. ment two years ago has shaken state results in Delhi, along with Robinson. Talk show queen Oprah ment to win a close second place. India’s two largest parties in the “I’m fully confident that finally national parties which, only days three other state elections whose Winfrey and singer-activist Bono, Hundreds of activists wearing capital and beyond, and clean up the country will win, people will before yesterday’s results, had dis- results were counted yesterday, as well as Richard Branson and boat-shaped “Gandhi hats” bear- politics in the process. win, democracy will come, and missed the buzz around the new were a resounding rejection of the Peter Gabriel are expected to be ing the slogan, “I am a common Kejriwal defeated the three- India will win,” Kejriwal said, party as hype. Congress party, which has ruled among the celebrity mourners. man”, gathered at the party’s time chief minister of Delhi in her addressing supporters after bring- It is uncertain how much the India at a national level for two AFP modest headquarters, cheering own constituency and his party ing to an end Dikshit’s 15-year run Aam Aadmi Party can grow in consecutive terms. REUTERS See also page 10 and waving brooms in the air came close to winning control of in the city.