ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Monday 14 January 2013 2 Rabial I 1434 - Volume 17 Number 5579 Price: QR2 QNB Group Manchester assets rise United hold off 21.5pc Liverpool Business | 17 Sport | 28 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 PM meets Iranian VP Syrian troops kill 36 in attack on Schools lose rebel-held area AMMAN: Government forces killed at least 36 people, 14 of them children, in a bombard- monopoly ment of rebel-held areas on the outskirts of Damascus yesterday, Syrian opposition activists said. Video footage showed women on uniforms weeping over the dismembered bodies of children strewn across a field in Eastern Ghouta, near an air Ministry asks SEC to stop practice defence base on the edge of the town of Muleiha, 5km east of Damascus. BY MOHAMMED IQBAL school logo should be made avail- The air, rocket and artillery cam- able separately to be fixed on the paign is the heaviest since rebels DOHA: In an important move, uniforms. overran a helicopter base and the Ministry of Business and Enquiries with several private missile base near Damascus two Trade has stepped in to break schools yesterday revealed that months ago and encroached on the the nexus between some private they have been following their main international airport, inch- schools and commercial outlets own system for distribution of uni- ing steadily closer to the capital, in the sale of school uniforms. forms, which amounts to a clear the sources said. Russia urged the The Ministry has also asked violation of the Ministry directive. rebels to make counter-proposals the Supreme Education Council In theory, parents will be free to to those made by President Bashar (SEC) to stop private schools buy uniforms from any shop they Al Assad in a recent speech to from selling school uniforms choose, but they may find the pre- start a dialogue that could end the inside the campus from the next scribed cloth only with exclusive fighting. academic year. dealers. Sources in at least two Muleiha is the last major for- The Ministry directive comes Indian schools admitted that they tification in the area east of as part of its efforts to abolish all have opted for a specific brand for Damascus not yet to have fallen types of monopolistic practices in the uniforms. They have made tie to the rebels. REUTERS the local market. ups with leading manufacturers in Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani with Iranian Vice See also page 7 Some private schools have been India to provide the clothes. President for International Affairs, Ali Saeedlou, in Doha yesterday. forcing students to buy school “We give bulk orders to an uniforms from specific shops. The Indian company to prepare the Ministry, in a statement issued uniforms for our students so that yesterday, asked both the schools we can ensure uniformity in col- and the shops to stop this prac- our and design as well as the qual- tice, saying it is a clear violation ity of the cloth. Parents are free to Panel for awareness about divorce in syllabus of the Law No (19) of 2006 on buy it from outside provided they protection of competition and stick to the same brand and the DOHA: Qatar’s population on family and society before and the influx of foreign workers is the consumptions of water and prevention of monopoly. prescribed colour,” said a senior committee has recommended after marriage of a Qatari, the reduced. “A law that is on the electricity to put an end to It has asked the SEC to take official of an Indian school. that the study of adverse social panel said. anvil to regulate domestic work- waste. necessary steps to do away with He claimed that the system is impact of divorce be made part In a periodical report for 2012- ers must see the light of day soon “These are very precious such practices. also beneficial for parents since of secondary school curriculum 13, the Permanent Population to help curb human trafficking resources,” the report said, add- The Ministry has asked the it could cost them more if they in a bid to rein in the rising Committee (PPC) said that and ease the recruitment proce- ing that latest technologies can be schools to give parents freedom decide to buy the uniform from rate of marital discords in the social perceptions about divorced dures for household helpers,” said alternatively used to help reduce to buy uniforms for their children outside. He said the school was country. woman must change and they the PPC the waste. The education sector from shops of their choice. The selling uniforms and textbooks The panel has urged citizens, should be actively aided to be About labour lodgings, the PPC has been urged to set up institutes school can prescribe the colour inside the campus but will soon who like to live in spacious houses, assimilated in social mainstream. has said that the government and training centres to prepare and type of the uniform, but it stop this practice, following to move to smaller homes and Qatar, to recall, has one of should look at feasible options to nationals for the local job market. should not insist on a particular instructions from the SEC. A apartments and preferably stay the highest divorce rates in the provide suitable accommodation Talking of youth empowerment, brand for the cloth. source from another Indian school outside Greater Doha limits region. The panel has also rec- to low-income foreign workers. the panel talked in its report of The schools have also been said that their uniforms are sold where the density of population ommended that more and more The report also took a critical the need to have a law in place asked not to go for complicated through a textile shop in Doha has been growing. crèches and nurseries be opened look at the free utilities available to support them economically, colours and shades for the uni- dealing in a reputable Indian Focus must be put increasingly up to take care of small children to citizens and said an aware- socially and on the cultural front. form forcing parents to buy brand. THE PENINSULA on raising awareness about the so that the dependence of a fam- ness drive should be launched to THE PENINSULA it from exclusive dealers. The Continued on page 5 dangerous outcome of divorce ily on housemaid is curtailed and guide them about rationalising Continued on page 5 Seeds of revolution Libya plans Sri Lankan sentenced force to shield diplomats to death for murder TRIPOLI: Libya plans to cre- DOHA: A Sri Lankan has been pre-mediated, no out-of-court ate a special force to protect sentenced to death by a court settlement is permitted. Such diplomats, government sources here after he was found guilty settlements are allowed only in said, after a gun attack on an of killing an Indian. deaths caused accidentally. Italian consul exposed the pre- Wengadasalm Sudeshkar (22) The Sri Lankan embassy in carious security situation in the was charged with stabbing and Qatar, when contacted, said it was North African state. killing an Indian expatriate. The yet to be officially informed about Unidentified gunmen in incident occurred in 2011. the court judgment. Benghazi opened fire on Guido Sudeshkar came to Qatar in “We are aware about the ver- De Sanctis’s armoured car on 2010. The case is in appeal and a dict but haven’t received any Saturday. The diplomat was higher court is hearing it. official communication in this unhurt but the attack was a The court case here has gen- regard,” a senior embassy official reminder of the September 11 erated media interest in Sri said on grounds of anonymity. attack on the US mission there Lanka, the home country of the Embassy officials were, mean- that killed the ambassador and accused. According to a media while, quoted by the Sri Lankan three other Americans. report, the family of the vic- media as saying that details of “We are discussing putting in tim is ready for a negotiated the case had been forwarded to place a force that would look after settlement to the case and has the external affairs ministry in diplomats. There are also plans demanded more than QR100,000 Colombo and that the ministry to protect foreigners working as blood money. was taking steps to get Sudeshkar for foreign companies,” a defence However, as per Qatar’s laws if released. ministry source said, declining to A man looks at a banner on the eve of the second anniversary of the Tunisian revolution at Avenue Habib- the murder was in cold blood and THE PENINSULA be named as the proposal was still Bourguiba in Tunis, yesterday. See also page 6 being discussed. “The idea is it would be mixed between police and army but would likely come under the com- Troops brace for Mali Lanka sacks chief justice World Muslim congregation Another gang rape in India mand of the Defence Ministry.” The source said the members BAMAKO/PARIS: West African COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President TONGI, BANGLADESH: At least AMRITSAR: Six men have been were likely to be trained abroad states prepared to send troops to Mali Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday sacked three million Muslims gathered to arrested over the rape of a passenger on but did not give an estimate of and French aircraft bombed Islamist the chief justice by ratifying a controver- pray on the banks of a river near a coach in this Indian city police said, how many there would be.