February 2012
105 posts
8 tags
What to do at QITCOM 2012
The second edition of QITCOM, Qatar’s information technology conference, is just around the corner, running from March 5-7.
Featuring speakers & exhibitors from around the world and up-and-coming innovators from across the Middle East, there’s a lot going on in those three days, so we thought we’d break it down for you:
Open to the public: Everyone (over the age of 18...
8 tags
Hamad Hospital to get new appointment system in... →
The Outpatient department Hamad General Hospital is getting a new appointment system as of March 4.
This means that appointments with specialists doctors at the government-run facility will only be at fixed times, and only through a referral from either primary healthcare or the emergency department. Walk-ups will no longer be accepted.
After a doctor make a referral, patients will have to...
8 tags
9 tags
“In some countries, the wealth is equally distributed, while in others it’s very...”
– Gian Luca Clementi, associate economics professor at New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, in a Forbes article about Qatar’s status as the richest country in the world by GDP per capita.
Qatar, which has the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves, booked an...
6 tags
7 tags
Qataris express concern about hiring 'beautiful'...
Qatar has hit a new wrinkle in its search for manpower outside of the Asian countries it typically depends on - a growing fear that European maids will be too tempting for their employers.
Countries that Qatar usually sources its domestic labor, including the Philippines and Nepal, have begun requiring the government to guarantee certain rights for their citizens.
Partly in response to this,...
9 tags
6 tags
Supreme health council shutters two clinics,... →
Qatar’s Supreme Council of Health shut down two private healthcare clinics and temporary closed down 20 more last year for “procedural errors such as failure to renew the licence or defects in the buildings.”
The SCH also blacklisted 41 doctors and nurses for forging documents to procure a licence to practice in Qatar.
The Peninsula reports:
“Once we have blacklisted a...
7 tags
Katara book fair closes today
The Katara Art Center is holding its first annual book fair this weekend, closing tonight at 10pm. The fair will be held in Building 5 at Katara Cultural Village.
During the free family-friendly event, several Doha-based book sellers are supposed to be offering their wares at discount prices, as well as presenting new publications.
Don’t expect to make a day out of the fair, though -...
7 tags
Doha Film, Salma Hayek to tie up in adaptation of...
Khalil Gibran’s famous fictional work “The Prophet” will soon be made into an animated film, with the help of the Doha Film Institute.
The film, which will be divided by chapters and comprise of shorts directed by different award-winning filmmakers, begins pre-production this month.
Actress Salma Hayek, who hails from Mexico but has Arab roots, along with Clark Peterson and...
7 tags
MET: Expect rain, dust, wind this weekend
Doha residents should expect scattered rains and windier weather conditions tomorrow, the Qatar Meteorology Department has said.
Most of Saturday will be overcast and dusty with a chance of rain at night, MET officials forecast.
The MET added that though the minimum temperature is supposed to rise from 12C (54F) to 14C (57F) today, it will drop by Sunday thanks to winds from the northwest.
...
6 tags
7 tags
8 tags
Report: Divorce rate on the rise in Qatar due to... →
Local media reports say divorce is on the rise amongst nationals in Qatar due to a wide range of factors - from jealousy and financial pressures to “misbehaving” and impotency.
No specific percentage of increase is offered, but a report in The Peninsula newspaper today cites the Arabic-language Al Raya saying:
The rate of early divorce here is high due to a mix of social factors...
6 tags
Al Jazeera English wins UK award for 'news channel...
Britain’s Royal Television Society (RTS) has for the first time named Al Jazeera English its pick for news channel of year, beating out the BBC and Sky News.
Al Jazeera English, now in its sixth year on air, also took the prize for “Innovative News” program for its new social media-oriented show The Stream.
Both The Stream and Al Jazeera English have been heavily focused on...
6 tags
Bengal tigress gives birth to two cubs at Doha Zoo →
The endangered Bengal tiger species grew by a fraction this week, as a female tiger gave birth to a pair of cubs at Doha Zoo, the Ministry of Environment has announced.
Globally, the Bengal tiger population, which is concentrated in India, is less than 2,500 and shrinking, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The Peninsula reports:
“They need a distinct care,...
7 tags
8 tags
“Lick your lips; it’s like licking the desert.”
– Christine, blogger at Just Kooki, during a recent trip to the Thakhira Mangroves with her family, who was skeptical about enjoying the experience.
The mangroves, a swamp just north of Al Khor, turned out to be just gorgeous and goopy enough to entertain everyone involved.
For tips on how to get...
7 tags
Qatar Red Crescent donates $500,000 to Syrians in... →
Expressing concern for the rising death toll in Syria - which rights groups say has surpassed 5,000 - Qatar Red Crescent Society has launched a fundraising campaign to aid Syrians refugees.
The charity, which has just donated $500,000 to the effort, aims to raise $5.48 million (QR20 million) over the next six months, with the goal of reaching some 40,000 people, said Saleh Ali al...
8 tags
Fresh speculation over Souq Najada's imminent...
Rumours have been swirling for months that Souq Najada, the 12-year-old shopping plaza opposite Souq Waqif, is about to be shut down.
Confirmation of the demolition of Najada - informally known as the mobile phone souq - remains elusive, but The Peninsula newspaper reports that shopkeepers have now received notice of a government takeover of the complex:
The notice clearly says the property...
7 tags
7 tags
Questions arise over dress code in Qatar - where...
A recent incident involving an expat in a knee-length dress and an irate “veiled” woman has set off a flurry of discussion about what is and isn’t appropriate to wear here.
On Qatar Living, qwertyness writes:
It was a friday afternoon and I was on my way to lunch with a friend. I was wearing a sundress that covered my knees, with a sweater covering my shoulders. It was NOT...
7 tags
8 tags
6 tags
“Sacrifice on the part of some Arab states is needed if we have to see the less...”
– Yousuf Hussein Kamal, Qatar’s finance and economy minister, calling on wealthy Arab countries to invest in their less fortunate neighbors ahead of an Arab business convention in Doha.
The Peninsula reports:
The Minister said that some Arab countries like Egypt had been witnessing fairly high...
7 tags
Did we mention that it's windy? →
The Qatar Meteorology Department says strong winds and cooler temperatures could be with us until Thursday!
Forecasts put the low tonight at 13 degrees C (53 F), and gusts of wind could reach speeds of 47 kph, so hold onto your hats and ghutras!
6 tags
8 tags
“You may be a great singer, but you may be a failed human being.”
– Yusuf Islam, aka Cat Stevens, in an interview with Gulf Times about restarting his singing career after a long hiatus.
Islam, who performed in Qatar last week, expressed admiration for the country’s rapid development efforts, but reminded it that culture extends beyond architecture.
Gulf...
7 tags
Qatar raises bar on nursery standards
Qatar’s Ministry of Social Affairs has imposed new rules on the country’s 105 nurseries, requiring, among other things, the businesses to have closed-circuit cameras, a full-time nurse, a children’s library and a social worker for kids with learning disorders.
There are no details on how these new standards will be enforced, or what grace period nurseries will have to make...
6 tags
7 tags
Report: Despite increase in housing units,... →
Despite an increase in residential housing in Qatar, real estate agency Asteco says prices aren’t expected to fall any further because new companies are coming to the country daily.
“The ever increasing amount of international companies coming to Qatar is having a positive effect on the real estate market,” the company’s managing director Jed Wolfe told Oxford Business Group.
...
8 tags
“Despite the large number of buffers that protects Qatar from contagion, the lack...”
– Anthony Skinner, director at Maplecroft, a British-based risk advisory firm, in a Reuters analysis piece on the challenges facing Qatar in the coming decades.
Those challenges include, but are not limited to:
Finding enough talented people to manage Qatar’s lofty vision. “They have...
6 tags
7 tags
'Call me Henry' - Economist dubs Qatar's Emir... →
Alternately praising and denigrating Qatar’s Emir for his skillful diplomacy, a new snarky piece in the Economist compares him to the controversial Henry Kissinger, a politician who has played a significant role in US foreign policy decisions since the 1970s.
The piece asserts:
(The Emir) says he strives to be friendly with everyone. A thick wallet seems to help, though his pragmatism...
7 tags
Qatar health officials: Get some sun!
Qataris continue to suffer from a Vitamin D deficiency, despite the abundant availability of sunshine here, a new HMC survey of its employees has found.
It was not clear how many people were involved in the survey, but some 90 percent of respondents were deficient in the “sunshine vitamin.”
The Peninsula reports:
Vitamin D plays a key role in keeping particularly children immune...
6 tags
8 tags
First impressions of Doha - do you remember yours?
It’s been almost five years since I moved to Qatar, and it’s getting hard to remember my first impressions of the place - something I need to do for an upcoming piece I’m writing.
But I do recall being surprised that so many American fast food eateries have set up shop here. The stark class divisions, crazy traffic and sweltering heat also threw me off balance.
On the...
8 tags
Qatari buys easy-to-remember phone number for... →
A wealthy Qatari businessman paid a dear price for an easy-to-remember (ETR) mobile phone number at a Qtel charity auction yesterday.
The man shelled out QR1.4 million ($284,000) for the number, which is presumably unlisted. The lowest price paid for a ETR number during last night’s auction was QR200,000, a Qtel spokesman said.
The Peninsula reports:
An incredible set of memorable,...
5 tags
7 tags
Ezdan Mall due to open in Gharafa this September,... →
Ezdan Real Estate Company issued a news release recently trumpeting its upcoming Ezdan Mall along Al Shamal Road.
The new mall is meant to have 400,000 square feet of retail space across three floors.
Says Malik Q Awan, the mall’s new manager:
It is at the heart of the prime shopping district, surrounded by other shopping mall and a hypermarket, with 50,000 footfalls in the area. And...
8 tags
“The [Bahrain] government should act fast on political, economic, social reforms...”
– Khalid Al Sayed, editor-in-chief of The Peninsula newspaper, writes in an editorial today entitled “Bahrain: Revolution and reforms”.
Al Sayed argues that the nearby island kingdom was one of the first in the Gulf to embrace political reforms, but ultimately “floundered” in...
7 tags
Construction of Doha Metro due to begin in 2013 →
Qatar Railways announced yesterday that the much-anticipated Doha Metro project will begin construction early next year.
A call for tenders on the project has already been delayed, but the company says they will awarded before the end of 2012.
Phase 1 of the Doha Metro, which includes a Red Line from the south of Doha through the city toward Lusail, is supposed to be completed in time for...
7 tags
7 tags
7 tags
9 tags
Bahrain uprising anniversary marked by protests,...
Although Qatar has witnessed a year of economic growth and political prominence on the world stage, neighboring Gulf Arab state Bahrain has experienced a very different narrative.
Pro-democracy protesters launched a wave of demonstrations there on February 14, 2011 on the heels of Tunisia’s and Egypt’s uprisings, calling for government reform. One serious division though, was the...
7 tags
7 tags
“Boys tend to ape female qualities such as the style of speech, reflexes and some...”
– Abu Abul Rahaman, Qatari parent, in an Al Sharq story about a community-wide debate on whether young boys should be taught by female teachers for fear that they will start imitating them.
The Peninsula reports:
Saweed Al Mannsly, agreeing with him said when there are no male teachers in a boy’s...
7 tags
7 tags
HMC: Demand for nose jobs, other cosmetic... →
The number young people turning to cosmetic procedures to improve their looks is on the rise in Qatar, says one doctor at Hamad Medical Corp.’s plastic surgery department.
Rhinoplasty in particular appears to have grown in popularity; HMC, which performs surgeries free of charge for nationals, has “thousands” of patients on a two-year waitlist for the procedure, according...