LOCAL/GULF 7

ARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2016

3-day operation includes distribution of cash, basic food parcels

IICO distributes aid for 1,850 Syrian refugees’ families in JordanAl-ZARQA, Jordan, April 4, (KUNA): A volunteering team from the International Islamic Char-ity Organization (IICO) launched a campaign of distributing relief ma-terials to Syrian refugee families in

four governorates in Jordan worth USD 200,000.

Head of the team Mohamamd Jassem Al-Houli said in remarks to KUNA that this initiative comes as part of the second stage of “We Are

With You” campaign conducted by IICO to ease the suffering of the Syrian refugees in various parts of Jordan.

The three-day campaign in-cludes distribution of cash mon-

ey, besides parcels of basic food goods worth USD 40 weighing 35 kilograms each, to be given to Syrian refugees in areas of Al-Zarqa, Irbid, Al-Azraq and Al-Mafraq.

The campaign is done under the supervision of IICO’s office in Jordan in cooperation with Jor-dan’s Islamic Charity Society, in order to alleviate the suffering of Syrian refugees in Jordan, he

added.Al-Houli expressed IICO’s ap-

preciation to the efforts exerted by Kuwaiti political leadership and people in aiding the Syrian refu-gees.

Left to right: His Excellency Dusan Horniak, Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor.

KUNA photoKRCS officials distributing aid to refugees.

Conference on ‘overhauling’education kicks off in KuwaitKUWAIT CITY, April 4, (KUNA): The scheduled 42nd edu-cational conference, themed “Our Educa-tional Curricula And Development Require-ments,” got underway on Monday with speak-ers underscoring His Highness the Crown Prince’s attention to this vital sector as well as the need to develop it to cope with modern-day scientific advance-ment.

Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Educa-tion Dr Bader Al-Essa, in his statement at the opening ses-sion of the convention, orga-nized by Kuwait Teachers Society (KTS), praised the event sponsor, His Highness the Crown Prince, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, for dedicating spe-cial concern for education and teachers.

Overhauling the education is a feature of civilization, said Dr Al-Essa, also the Minister of Higher Education, affirming that his department is revising the teaching curriculums and seeking to limit methods based on conventional ways such as memorizing and dictating.

Walid Al-Hasawi, the soci-ety chairman, boasted of His Highness the Crown Prince’s sponsorship of this annual gath-ering, affirming the approach to examine issues in the sector se-riously during the convention.

He expressed hope that it would cap with recommenda-tions to advance the education and encourage decision makers map out strategies to face chal-lenges in the field.

For his part, the conference general registrar, Abdulrahim Al-Kandari, said the confer-ence logo was chosen with aim of harmonizing schemes with requirements for techno-logical and scientific devel-opment.

Other key speakers lauded His Highness the Heir Appar-ent as well as His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for spearheading the approach for developing education. Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad was also lauded for earning the UN designation, the “Humanitar-ian Leader.” The State of Ku-wait has repeatedly affirmed the approach to develop edu-cation and cope with latest in-novations in technology and sciences. Digital methods and tools have been already incor-porated in the curricula.

Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Ali Mohammed Thanyan Al-Ghanim on Monday received Sudanese Foreign Affairs Minister His Excellency Ibra-him Ahmad Ghandour and his accompanying delegation. They tackled bilateral issues and ways to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries. At the end of the visit, Al-Ghanim presented a souvenir to the visiting minister, wishing him a good

stay in the State of Kuwait.

Minister praises Crown Prince for sponsoring event

Political, economic ties discussed

Khalaf Al Habtoor receivesSlovak ambassador to UAEDUBAI, UAE, April 4: Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group welcomed His Excellency Dusan Horniak, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the UAE at his office on Al Wasl Road on April 3. His Excellency was accompanied by Bra-nislav Lysak, Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission (Political, Economic and Consular Affairs) of the Slovak Republic.

The Slovak Ambassador paid a courtesy visit to Khalaf Al Habtoor and informed him on the results of the recent parliamentary elec-tions in his country and the upcoming Slovak Presidency of Council of European Union starting July 1, 2016. He also commended the noble deepening of bilateral diplomatic and economic relations between the UAE and Slovakia in recent years.

Al Habtoor said “Slovakia is a beautiful

country with good people, I have visited many times. Last year I met with Presi-dent Andrej Kiska, he is a great man and a true ambassador for his country and his people.”

He added, “I have invested in two hotels in Budapest, Hungary and I made my most re-cent acquisition of the historic Hotel Imperial, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Vienna. Business needs energy and passion. I am always look-ing for investment opportunities in Europe, hotels and commercial properties, both pri-vate and government owned.”

Al Habtoor received traditional Slovak crystal glass as a gift from the Slovak del-egation. The Chairman signed His Excellen-cy’s copy of his best-selling autobiography ‘Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor – The Autobiog-raphy’.

MoI gets psychiatrics list: The Kuwait Center for Mental Health has submitted to the Ministry of Interior a list of people who are suffering from psychiatric problems and are not ‘eligible’ to drive cars on public roads in the foreseeable future, reports Al-Anba daily quoting sources from the Ministry of Health.

The sources added, this is a preventive measure which bars the ministry from is-suing driving licences to people suffering from this malady. It also gives right to the concerned authority to withdraw the driving licences from those who drive on roads.

The sources disclosed a meeting is slated to be held between the Center and the traffic sector to put in place mecha-nism to prevent the issuance of driving licences for people suffering from mental illnesses.

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CBK allowed to modify loan: The Budget Deficit Committee formed by Ministry of Finance has allowed Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) to modify a loan worth KD 2 billion for the government, reports Aljarida daily quoting informed sources.

They said only local banks can share in this loan, which will be charged with the national currency and not US dollar, indicating that the cost of the loan will be identified based on the capacity of the market and the available currency in the banks.

The sources said the matter will be clearer in the coming few weeks after CBK holds a meeting with the banks and identifies their capability in preparing the loan.

They revealed that Ministry of Finance is expected to soon announce the budget of the year 2015/2016 which ended on March 31, 2016, indicating that

the deficit is expected to be about KD 6 billion.

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‘GCC must boost airports security’: GCC countries should enhance security and safety in airports in order to provide protection for its passengers, border security official said Monday.

This remark was made by Acting Assistant Undersecretary at the Interior Ministry’s border security Lieutenant Faisal Mubarak Al-Sineen at the 30th meeting of the GCC airports’ officials.

Airports’ security and safety should be built on GCC joint action vision in protecting its citizens from any security threats and on the results of filed visits that were made by GCC officials to major international airports.

Officials at the meeting pointed out that security challenges in the region is accelerating, especially those that threaten aviation systems; hence, it is im-portance to promote security cooperation among the GCC countries in this field. (KUNA)

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GCC panel ends meeting: The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) healthcare quality and patients’ safety commission concluded its two-days meeting Monday.

The two-day meeting highlighted sub-jects related to the general framework of the Gulf Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Strategic Plan 2016-2020, and followed up on the last strategic plan and implementation.

Moreover, the meeting discussed the establishment of unified standards to improve private medical sector’s perfor-mance within the national health system, through updating and developing the surveillance, supervisory, and auditing tools and mechanisms that comply with the national and international require-ments. (KUNA)

News in Brief

KRCS offers aid to 730 displaced families near IrbilThe Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) has provided humanitarian and relief aid to up to 730 internally displaced families at a refugee camp near Irbil.

Speaking to KUNA, Kuwaiti Gener-al Consul in Irbil Dr Omar Al-Kandari said the fresh help is part of a relief campaign carried out by the KRCS in all parts of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

He said the Kuwaiti consulate in Ir-

bil coordinated with the KRCS and Ir-bil Region’s government for presence in the refugee camp which is home to displaced families which have fled ongoing military operations in Nino Governorate.

Today’s aid campaign involves nec-essary food supplies that are enough for over 4,000 displaced persons for one month, the Kuwaiti diplomat

pointed out.The KRCS’s humanitarian initiative

came at the behest of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Al-Kandari added.

Kurdistan Region hosts as many as 1.8 million Syrian refugees and dis-placed persons who have fled ongo-ing violence in Nino, Saladin, Kirkuk, Diyala and Al-Anbar. (KUNA)

Expat teacherscan stay in jobKUWAIT CITY, April 4: Min-ister of Education and Higher Education Dr Bader Al-Essa has postponed the decision to terminate the services of expatri-ate teachers in order to carry out further discussions and studies in this regard. This means that expatriate teachers can continue to work in the year 2016/2017, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting informed educational sources.

They explained that the Public Education Sector had prepared a list with the names of 445 male and female expatriate teachers of computer science, science and social studies subjects particular-ly in the primary level. The sec-tor submitted the list to Minister of Education and Higher Educa-tion Dr Bader Al-Essa for his decision to terminate the services of the expatriate teachers due to presence of excess teachers for these subjects especially after the new syllabus for the primary level was approved.

The sources revealed that Dr Al-Essa refused to sign the deci-sion and postponed it to next year as new schools will be inaugu-rated soon and the ministry can seek the help of these expatriate teachers instead of looking for new teachers.