L O C A LSATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2014

KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunications com-pany in Kuwait, announced yesterday the introduc-tion of new Internet roaming services for postpaidcustomers in more countries and with additionalcapacities. Customers who enjoy traveling can nowstay connected to the Internet while abroad andexperience ease of mind through the company’s com-petitive rates.

Zain mentioned in a press statement that it waskeen on expanding the number of countries inwhich its postpaid customers can enjoy competitiveInternet roaming rates. These rates allow customersto surf the Internet flexibly and connect with lovedones while abroad. Customers who travel across theGCC can now enjoy connecting with friends, familyand coworkers through Zain’s competitive Internet

roaming rates with additional capacities. This pack-age allows them 300MB of Internet capacity for justKD 7. Customers will only have to activate the serv-ice and select the appropriate network in the corre-sponding country to start enjoying the new capaci-ties.

Additionally, Zain was keen to offer its competitiveInternet roaming rates in more countries around theworld to provide customers with a convenient andaffordable roaming experience wherever they are.Zain now offers 100MB of Internet capacity access forjust KD 7 in 29 countries globally, including Albania,Australia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Greece,Spain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands,Portugal, Romania, France, Canada, Turkey, SouthAfrica, Untied States of America, United Kingdom,

Austria, Poland, Croatia, South Korea, Morocco,Ghana, China, Malaysia, and New Zealand.

To activate the service, customers can simply senda text message with “DATA ON” to 99990 or call Zain’scontact center on 107 to enjoy the new Internetroaming service. After activation, customers can sim-ply choose the operator manually within the givencountries.

As a leading telecommunications company Zainunderstands the importance of Internet services to itscustomers’ daily lives, particularly when travellingabroad. Thus the company is constantly striving todevelop value-added services that meet and exceedcustomer expectations. Zain will continue to provideworld-class services to reinforce its leadership in theKuwaiti telecom sector.

Zain introduces Internet roaming in more countries

Competitive rates for postpaid customers while abroad

By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: The Indian Embassy, Kuwaithas outsourced its passport and visaservices to Cox and Kings GlobalServices (CKGS) as the contract with thecurrent service provider BLSInternational expires on Aug 2. The newservice provider CKGS will commence itsoperations in partnership with its localpartner Al-Qabas Assurex GeneralTrading and Contracting Company fromtomorrow.

The Indian embassy outsourced itsvisa and passport services in May 2009after it awarded contract to BLSInternational to provide the services tothe largest expat community in Kuwait.“The contract with BLS expires and CKGSwill take over as the service provider forthe next three years,” said Sunil Jain,Indian Ambassador, Kuwait. Addressinga press conference at the embassy,flanked by embassy officials and repre-sentatives of CKGS and Al-QabasAssurex, the ambassador said the num-ber of Indian expatriate community inKuwait has reached 7,62,000 now.

“The issuance of visas has shownencouraging trends ever since we liber-alized our visa regime three monthsago. The embassy has been currentlyissuing around 75,000 passports and asmany as 10,000 visas annually,” theambassador said. Although for the first

time in the Gulf region, CKGS has richexperience in handling similar kind ofwork as they are doing in Berlin andMunich in Germany, Sweden and at theembassy in Washington and five con-sulates in the US. “ Al-Qabas as theirlocal partner has also proven theirexpertise in this field as it has been pro-viding visa services for Italy andGermany in Kuwait,” he said. “The CKGSwill also be fulfilling a long-pendingrequest from the community by open-ing a passport centre at Abbassiya,” Jainpointed out.

The Cox and Kings Global Serviceswill operate from three centers fromAugust 3, 2014. They are: 1) BehbahaniTower, 17th Floor, Sharq, Kuwait forpassport and visa services. 2) 2nd Floor,Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh Block 1, Street 1,Xcite Building, Kuwait for passport serv-ices and 3) Complex Kais Alghanim, 4thFloor, Mecca Street in front of Al-AnoodComplex, Fahaheel, Kuwait for passportand visa services. The ambassador saidthe service charges also have been mar-ginally reduced. Service fee structure ofvarious services and value added servic-es rendered by Cox and Kings GlobalServices will be as follows:

Service fee:(1) Passport Service: KD1. 200(2) Visa Service: KD 3.250 Value added

services: (i) Photocopy: Fils 100 perpage

(3) Photo booth: KD 2.750 for 4 photos(4) Internet kiosk: KD 1.000(5) SMS service: fils 400(6) Courier service: KD 1.250 for Indian

nationals, KD 4.500 for foreignnationals

(7) Assisted form filling: KD1.000 forIndian nationals KD3.000 for foreignnationals.

The ambassador hoped that the tran-sition of passport and visa services fromBLS International to CKGS would besmooth and without any disruption ofservices. “The embassy doors are alwaysopen. In case of emergency, people canalways approach the embassy directlyfor visa or passport services,” the ambas-sador added.

KUWAIT: The Interior Ministry deniedrumors speculating that authorities atthe Kuwait International Airportclosed the arrivals’ gates, ‘trapping’passengers. Major General Anwar Al-Yassine, the Assistant Undersecretaryfor Outlets Affairs, said that responsi-bility for opening and closing thegates is not the responsibility ofauthorities at the airport, but theresponsibility of carriers according toregulations under the Directorate

General for Civil Aviation’s supervi-sion. Therefore, an error that causedthe gates to be closed recently is theresponsibility of the airline accordingto a statement that the securitymedia department released yester-day. The airport’s security depart-ment’s role is to protect safety, orderand public morals within inside andwithin the Kuwait InternationalAirport’s perimeter, the statementreads.

Indian embassy outsources visa,

passport services to Cox & Kings

Center in Abbassiya in response to long-pending demand

KUWAIT: Indian Ambassador Sunil Jainaddresses a press conference at theIndian Embassy.

Major General Anwar Al-Yassine

Police ‘not responsible’

for airport gate incident

Scientific Center

celebrates as visitors

reach 8 million

KUWAIT: The Scientific Center, affiliated to Kuwait Foundationfor the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), here Thursday celebrat-ed as visitors reached eight million since its inauguration in 2000.The center said in a press statement Thursday that it had a newachievement when the visitors reached eight million, adding thata distinguished gift went to Hadeel Al-Ruhaif, the visiting winner.The statement added that the center is interested in giving giftsto visitors on the basis of appreciating them as they visit its facili-ties which provide environmental awareness indirectly for anyvisitor. It added that the center is proud of making several accom-plishments over 14 years, which helps Kuwait participate in inter-national forums. — KUNA

Kuwait TV records KD 1

million advert revenue

KUWAIT: The Commercial Advertising Department in theMinistry of Information managed to break the KD 1 millionadvert revenue barrier during Ramadan, recording a 30 per-cent increase compared to previous years. The variety of pro-grams aired on Kuwait’s national television helped promotecommercial advertisements and attract sponsors and adver-tisers for programs and TV shows aired during the holymonth, Al-Jarida daily reported yesterday. Furthermore, theCommercial Advertising Department offered promotions toencourage advertisers to put advertisements on Kuwait TVchannels, according to sources quoted in the report.Mohammad Al-Awash, the new assistant director for theinformation department, prepares to present a new strategyfor commercial advertisement based on presenting offers toadvertisers and rewards to employees who successfullyattract advertisers, the sources said. — Al-Jarida