ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Monday 19 November 2012 5 Muharram 1434 - Volume 17 Number 5523 Price: QR2 QInvest signs Czech co-financing Republic win agreement Davis Cup Business | 18 Sport | 28 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Emir meets Erdogan Qatar to invest Israel should $13.1bn in power DOHA: Qatar is set to invest an estimated $13.1bn in the power sector in the next eight years. Most of the investments lift siege of will be in transmission and dis- tribution. Qatar is one of the countries in the Gulf, where power generation has grown considerably in the last decade. Gaza: Emir Driven by high GDP growth rates and population explosion, power consumption in Qatar 11 Palestinians killed in Israel strike has increased by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ABU DHABI: The Emir trying to broker a ceasefire and 9.3 percent between 2001 and H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Israeli media said a delegation 2011. See also page 17 Al Thani, who visited Gaza ear- from Israel had been to Cairo lier this month, said in com- for talks on ending the fighting, Qatar to get ‘passive ments broadcast yesterday that although a government spokes- Israel should lift its siege of the man declined to comment on the house’ next year Gaza Strip. matter. In an interview with Aljazeera, Egyptian President Mohammed the Emir also said that Israel Mursi met Hamas political leader DOHA: Qatar is expected to would not halt its offensive Khaled Meshaal and Islamic have its first energy-efficient in Gaza unless it met strong Jihad’s head Ramadan Shallah as ‘passive house’ early next year, resistance. part of the mediation efforts, but with the Qatar Green Building “The nature of Israel means a presidency statement did not Council partnering with that it will not stop its aggression say if they were conclusive. Barwa Real Estate company unless there is firm resistance like Izzat Risheq, a close aide to and Kahramaa to launch this what happened in Gaza and with Meshaal, wrote in a Facebook groundbreaking experiment Lebanon’s Hezbollah in the south,” message that Hamas would in the region’s green build- he said. agree to a ceasefire only after ing industry. A passive house The offensive that started Israel “stops its aggression, ends (Passivhaus in German) boasts last Wednesday has killed 69 its policy of targeted assassina- The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cairo an ultra low energy, airtight Palestinians, 11 of them yesterday tions and lifts the blockade of yesterday. They discussed bilateral relations and the latest developments in the region, especially the Israeli building design that requires lit- when an Israeli missile flattened Gaza”. aggression on the Gaza Strip and the Syria crisis. tle energy for space cooling. the home of one family. More Israel’s terms for ceasing fire, See also page 4 than 500 rockets fired from Gaza Moshe Yaalon, a deputy to the have hit Israel, killing three civil- prime minister, wrote on Twitter: ians and wounding dozens. “If there is quiet in the south and The Emir was in Cairo on no rockets and missiles are fired Saturday and yesterday where at Israel’s citizens, nor terrorist Ministry cracks down on fake ‘sales’ he held talks about Gaza with attacks engineered from the Gaza Egyptian President Mohammed Strip, we will not attack.” DOHA: The consumer rights aimed at cheating customers. inspectors to run checks on credit cards. “No outlet is allowed Mursi and Turkish Premier Gaza health officials said 72 watchdog has launched a mas- The CPD has been under the beauty salons and see if they com- to charge more than one percent Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Qatar Palestinians , 21 of them children sive crackdown on shopping public scanner for quite a while ply with rules regarding display of on a purchase made using a credit has carved a role for itself as a and several women have been centres amid complaints that and is widely accused of not doing prices for their various services card,” said a knowledgeable source. major player in both the Israeli- killed in Gaza since Israel’s offen- many businesses are taking cus- enough to prevent retail outlets and if so, whether they are fol- There are some who even Palestinian conflict and the sive began. Hundreds have been tomers for a ride by announcing from preying on customers. lowing the tariff list. claim that outlets at times Syrian civil war. wounded. false promotions. A major public complaint is that The CPD move apparently fol- charge one percent commission An Israeli missile attack that Israel gave off signs of a pos- The clampdown is also aimed at some outlets increase the prices lows customer complaints that on purchases they make using an killed at least 11 Palestinian civil- sible ground invasion of the making sure that no retail outlet of certain products and then some salons do not stick to the ATM card, which is illegal. ians included four children was Hamas-run enclave as the next launches a promotion without a announce ‘special offers’ which price lists they display in their According to CPD rules, apparently an attack on a top mil- stage in its offensive, billed as a nod from the Ministry of Business ensures sales without the cus- premises to comply with govern- no outlet can offer discounts itant that brought a three-storey bid to stop Palestinian rocket fire and Trade. Inspectors of the tomer realising that he has been ment rules. on products and services and home crashing down. into the Jewish state. It also spelt Consumer Protection Department a victim of price manipulation. The municipal ministry has what can only be offered in a International pressure for out its conditions for a truce. (CPD) affiliated to the trade min- These are misleading promo- women inspectors who regu- promotion (special offer) is a ceasefire seemed certain to US President Barack Obama istry have been given orders to tions and one can produce pur- larly visit beauty salons but their ‘buy-one-and-get-one-free’. mount in response to the dead- said that while Israel had a right raid major outlets indiscreetly. chase vouchers at the CPD with brief is to check compliance with In other words, outlets are not liest single incident in five days to defend itself against the sal- The CPD is in a belligerent a complaint if there is a suspi- health and safety rules. alowwed to give price discounts as of Palestinian rocket attacks on voes, it would be “preferable” to mood as an increasing number of cion of fleecing, say knowledgeable There have also been com- part of a ‘special offer.’ Israel and Israeli air strikes on avoid a military thrust into the people have been complaining that sources. plaints that some outlets charge a They can offer another item or the Gaza Strip. Gaza Strip. REUTERS many major outlets are launching And, arguably for the first time, two percent commission instead a different product free. Egypt has taken the lead in See also page 7 promotions which are basically the CPD is deploying women of one, on purchases made using THE PENINSULA Doha Tribeca Film Festival Kuwait detains Twitter users for Judges outnumber insulting ruler lawyers in Qatar KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s DOHA: There are more judges number of cases (23,422) were public prosecution yesterday in Qatar than lawyers. filed — as against only 11,578 such ordered the detention of four Official statistics reflect that disputes having gone to court in Twitter users for 10 days for there were 202 judges here last 2010. allegedly insulting the ruler of year as opposed to only 177 legal It is interesting to note that in the oil-rich Gulf state, a rights practitioners. 2009 not a single bad cheque com- group said. In fact, the number of judges plaint was taken to court, QSA The four were arrested on almost doubled last year from a statistics reflect. Wednesday and remanded in mere 105 in 2010 due, possibly, Traffic violations accounted for police custody pending further to an ever-increasing number of the third largest number of court investigation before the prosecu- court cases. cases last year, but their number tion issued its detention order, Qatari courts heard more than was only 3,096 as opposed to more Kuwait Human Rights News 38,000 cases last year, up from than 5,400 cases registered in Centre said on its Twitter account. 22,709 in 2010, with the yearly 2010. Three other Twitter users, jump in the number being over Crimes to do with breach of including a woman, who were 15,000. residency and immigration laws arrested with them were each Figures released by the national accounted for the second highest freed on bail of $3,550. office of statistics, Qatar Statistics number of cases after bad cheque The seven, described as oppo- Authority (QSA), suggest that litigations, totaling 7,514. sition sympathisers, were inter- court cases totalled barely 11,729 As regards lawyers, they rogated on allegations of tweets in the year 2009. totalled 167 in 2010, 16 of them deemed offensive and critical of In other words, the cases have women, whereas only two of the the Emir H H Sheikh Sabah Al more than trebled over a span 202 judges were females in 2011. Ahmad Al Sabah. of just three years — from 2009 Out of 177 lawyers, 117 were The clampdown on users of the until last year.