QATAR | Page 2 SPORT | Page 1 Nasser begins INDEX Dakar Rally DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 2, 16 COMMENT 14, 15 REGION 3 BUSINESS 1 – 8 QRCS distributes winter title defence 17,341.00 10,429.36 37.28 ARAB WORLD 3 CLASSIFIED 5 -168.00 -06.61 +0.82 INTERNATIONAL 4–13 SPORTS 1 – 12 aid to Palestinians -0.96% -0.06% +2.25% Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978 SATURDAY Vol. XXXVI No. 9955 January 2, 2016 Rabia I 22, 1437 AH GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals A New Year dawns In brief QATAR | Weather Strong winds, chance of rain Strong winds have been forecast inshore today at places by noon apart from a chance of light to moderate rain. The off shore forecast also features strong winds and a chance of scattered rain, in addition to high seas. The maximum temperature of 25C is expected at Mesaieed and Wakrah, followed by 24C at Doha and Abu Samra, 22C at Al Khor and 21C at Ruwais and Dukhan. The minimum temperature of 16C has been forecast at Al Khor, Dukhan, Abu Samra, followed by 17C at Mesaieed and Wakrah, and 18C at Ruwais and Doha. REGION | Budget Oman cuts 2016 The sun rises on the first day of 2016 yesterday as a lone cyclist enjoys a leisurely ride through the Doha Corniche. PICTURE: Jayan Orma spending Oman will cut spending this year by 15.6% in the face of lower oil prices but still face a huge deficit after posting one in 2015, Finance Minister Darweesh al-Bloushi said. Spending is projected at 11.9bn Dubai investigates riyals ($30.9bn) in 2016 compared with $36.6bn, a statement from Bloushi said. Revenues are projected PHCC launches at 8.6bn riyals ($22.3bn), down a cause of hotel fi re massive 26% from 2015, resulting in a deficit of $8.6bn, said the statement cited by the off icial ONA AFP jured, one was moderately injured and news agency. Oman’s deficit last Dubai one person suff ered a heart attack dur- year was $11.7bn. Oman said on ing the evacuation, they said. All victims have been discharged call centre for Wednesday it has decided a series of measures to boost non-oil revenues. nvestigators in Dubai were working from hospital except for a pregnant yesterday to determine the cause women and an elderly man who were INDIA | Pollution Iof a spectacular fi re that engulfed said to be “well” but were kept in “to a 63-storey luxury hotel on New Year’s ensure their safety,” the civil defence New Delhi pulls Eve three hours before midnight. said. cars off roads The huge blaze at The Address Firefi ghters spent the night trying to cancer screening Hundreds of thousands of even- Downtown hotel erupted around 9pm extinguish the blaze. numbered vehicles went off the on Thursday, sparking panic but no re- Heavy black smoke still billowed he Primary Health Care Cor- and respond to enquiries but also to to 69 years to make a preliminary roads yesterday in the Indian capital ports of serious injuries. from several fl oors of the hotel early poration (PHCC) has an- proactively reach out to individuals determination of the proper clini- New Delhi as authorities introduced Authorities went ahead with a daz- yesterday, an AFP photographer said, Tnounced the launch of a call who are already in the database of cal protocol for the patient. Based a novel odd-even vehicle restriction zling fi reworks display at the nearby as fi refi ghters continued to douse the centre for its Breast and Bowel Cancer PHCC and the Hamad Medical Cor- on their responses to the assess- policy aimed at curbing alarming Burj Khalifa — the world’s tallest sky- building with water. Screening Programme. Those who poration (HMC). ment, patients will be scheduled for levels of pollution. After seeing scraper — despite the inferno, the lat- Roads leading directly to the hotel would like to know more about the screening and will be guided into the widespread compliance, Chief est in a series of fi res in recent years to were closed but otherwise Dubai city programme and to book an appoint- “The launch of our the right pathway. Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal hit the buildings that make up Dubai’s centre appeared normal, with passers- ment for the screening, can contact 8001112 Call Centre, which “The launch of our 8001112 Call said he was overwhelmed by the futuristic cityscape. by stopping to take pictures of the the call centre on 8001112. complements our website, Centre, which complements our response of the people towards the They said the fi re is believed to have building with their mobile phones. PHCC, last month, had announced signals the start of our website, signals the start of our January 1-15 trial run that seeks to erupted from the outside of the build- UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdul- the launch of the breast and bowel proactive interaction with proactive interaction with the pub- allow on roads only odd-numbered ing on its 20th fl oor before spreading lah bin Zayed al-Nahyan praised the screening programme that will come the public” lic,” Dr Mariam Ali Abdul Malik, four-wheeled vehicles on odd dates along its whole facade. But the exact “professional” civil defence response into eff ect from this month, most managing director, PHCC said. “This and even-numbered ones on even cause was not yet known. to the fi re. probably from the 17th at the Al For bowel cancer screening, call will certainly open doors for more dates. There are no restrictions on Dubai government’s media offi ce is- Many Twitter users also praised the Wakra Breast & Bowel Cancer Screen- centre staff will promote the screen- people to experience our life-saving sued a civil defence statement said that response of fi re and emergency servic- Sundays. Page 10 ing Centre. This will be followed by ing service, discuss the screening cancer screening procedures. Our the process of cooling the hotel down es, pointing to the fact that there were the launch of a Mobile Unit as well as pathway and provide participants state-of-the-art call centre facility is CHINA | Population was “ongoing” yesterday afternoon. no major injuries, though some ques- the Breast & Bowel Cancer Screen- with the necessary information to run by staff who have all been trained “Security services are investigating tioned whether New Year’s festivities Two-child policy the causes and circumstances of the should have gone ahead. ing Centres in Leabaib and Rawdat Al make an informed choice about their and equipped with the knowledge, law takes eff ect fi re,” said the statement. Emirati state minister for foreign af- Khail health centres. healthcare. Bowel cancer screening is skill and personality to deal with the China ended its controversial one- Witnesses described scenes of panic fairs Anwar Gargash however defended The call centre, along with a user- for men and women aged 50-74 years. subject and with individuals who may child policy yesterday, allowing after the fi re spread, with residents the decision as “courageous” and “in friendly and highly informative web- Once the choice is made, patients will have varying attitudes and questions. married couples to have two screaming and some fainting as they favour of normal life against fear and site, provides added convenience be scheduled for an appointment at We are confi dent that this call centre children, after concerns over an rushed to evacuate the building. pessimism.” for the public to schedule cancer the most convenient PHCC screen- will eff ectively and signifi cantly con- ageing population and shrinking Still, authorities said only 16 people “The fi re will not leave its print on screening appointments. Manned by ing location within four weeks of the tribute to the overall success of the workforce. The “one child policy”, had suff ered mostly minor injuries de- year 2016,” he tweeted. highly trained and qualifi ed English phone call. programme.” instituted in the late 1970s, allowed spite the presence of thousands in the The government said evacuated and Arabic speaking staff and medi- For breast cancer screening, a risk Screen for Life has also launched couples to have only a single area to watch the celebrations. guests were being off ered alternative cal professionals, the call centre is assessment will be conducted by its social media Facebook and Twitter off spring. Page 7 At least 14 people were slightly in- accommodation. Page 3 not only designed to receive calls call centre staff on women aged 45 platforms, ScreenforLife Qatar. Iran pledges to ramp up missile programme Reuters “We don’t have enough space to store Iran under the breakthrough nuclear The standoff has turned into a diplo- demonstrate that they have not com- was planned for this week but delayed Dubai our missiles. All our depots and under- agreement reached in July. matic and political test for both Wash- promised on wider issues. for an unspecifi ed period without ex- ground facilities are full,” he said in Fri- Iran has abided by the main terms of ington and Teheran, even as the lifting US offi cials have said they are per- planation. day Prayers in Teheran. the nuclear deal, which require it to give of sanctions under the nuclear deal mitted to respond to the missile test by Rouhani, a relative moderate elected series of Iranian offi cials vowed Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan up material that world powers feared draws closer. imposing fresh sanctions against a list in 2013, has insisted that the nuclear yesterday to expand Tehran’s said Iran would boost its missile pro- could be used to make an atomic weap- Early in the New Year, the United of Iranian individuals and businesses deal does not include any off er to re- A missile capabilities, a challenge gramme and had never agreed to re- on and accept other restrictions on its States and European Union are expect- linked to the missile programme.