Church inaugurated in Mesaimeer

An Inter-Denominational Christian Church (IDCC) was inaugurated in Mesaimeer yesterday by Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah in the presence of around 600 guests.

The inauguration was graced by the presence of Minister of State for Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada and Indian Ambassador Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa.

Al Attiyah, who conveyed the message of the Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, for the occasion, said the Qatari government was encouraging everybody to accept all religions. “That’s why the government is allowing churches of any denomination to be constructed in Qatar,” he said.

The Indian ambassador said she was happy to be at the opening of the church, which reminded her of her days as a student, as she had studied in a Christian school.

“Around 200 of the guests were from the Indian community and around 10 priests and church leaders from other denominations attended,” said George Pothen, one of the coordinators of the IDCC.

After the hour-long ceremony, the guests toured the complex.

Original Article from: THE PENINSULA

Qatar among top 30 tech-savvy nations

Qatar is now ranked 29th among 134 countries with the highest use of Information, Communications and Technology (ICT), according to the latest survey conducted by World Economic Forum (WEF) and INSEAD, an international graduate business school and research institution.

Based on the Global Information Technology Report released on March 26, Qatar went up three places higher over the past year.

The report is considered the world’s most comprehensive international assessment of the impact of ICT on nations’ development and international competitiveness. According to WEF, this year the report surveys 134 developed and developing economies that account for more than 98 percent of

world GDP.

The report is based on the Networked Readiness Index, which shows that in 2008-2009, Qatar moved up to the 29th place from 32nd in the 2007-2008 survey. The preceding year, 2006-2007, Qatar was ranked 36th. In 2005-2006, the first year Qatar was included in the global assessment, the country was ranked 39th.

The Index examines how prepared countries are to use ICT in three areas: General business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; readiness of government, individuals, and businesses to use and benefit from ICT; and the actual usage of available ICT by these stakeholder groups.

The Report underscores that good education fundamentals, innovation and wide ICT access are key to nations’ social growth and economic competitiveness.

“Since 2006, Qatar has jumped ahead in the Index because both the public and private sectors are dedicated to leveraging ICT to help Qatar achieve its leadership role in the global economy,” said ictQATAR Secretary General Dr Hessa Al Jaber.

The only other country from the Arab region in the top 30 economies is UAE, ranking two places ahead of Qatar, at 27th. Denmark ranks first in the world, as it did last year. Portugal follows Qatar, at the 30th place.

Qatar’s government readiness and usage of ICT has this year witnessed a leap. The report indicated that Qatar is ranked 22nd in government readiness and 25th in government usage.

Original Article from: THE PENINSULA

Doha Votes for Earth

Many landmarks in Doha went dark at 8.30pm for an hour yesterday as lights, neon signs and all non-essential electrical equipment was switched off at public places, private firms, banks, coffee shops and hotels to mark Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and held on the last Saturday of March to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.

Qtel joined the event by switching off lights at its headquarters in West Bay. The Qtel Tower went dark from 8.30pm to 9.30pm. “It is an off day for us. But still some staff will be working over at our head office. They will be working under the light of candles during the hour”, Adel Al Mutawa, Executive Director of Group Communications, Qtel, told The Peninsula.

“We wanted to ensure that Qatar was represented during Earth Hour and given that our headquarters provides a key landmark in the city, we knew that turning the lights off in our tower would attract interest and attention across Doha. Environmental issues are one of the key pillars of our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and so there is a natural fit with an international event like Earth Hour”, he added.

Some offices and establishments switched off all their lights to join the event, while others switched off the lights in selected areas and functioned under the glow of candle light.

The hotels Doha Marriott, Ramada Plaza, Doha Sheraton and Sharq Village and Spa’s Six Senses Spa also heeded the global call by switching off lights in parts of their premises.

Leading tour and travel company, Regency Group Holding, also sent out a strong message about the need for action on global warming as it turned off the lights for one hour.

Several coffee shops in the city also joined the event. Colombiano Coffee House switched off the lights and received its guests in the light of candles for

one hour. “I believe supporting Earth Hour is even more important in Doha as we have in a big carbon footprint and tend to take our energy consumption for granted”, said George F Rizk, General Manager of Colombiano Coffee House, next to the QNB branch near Ramada signal.

HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank were among the banks that joined the event.

Several families in Doha too enjoyed their dinner by candlelight.

Original article from: THE PENINSULA

Qatar breaks two Guinness records

Qatar successfully claimed two new Guinness world records yesterday for the Largest Bowl of Pasta and the Longest Line of Sandwich.

Despite the lashing rain, the Doha Golf Club was packed with students, media persons, and guests eager to witness the historic occasion as Al Markhiya Primary Independent Girls’ School and Wataniya Restaurants collaborated to stage the record-breaking event.

“We wanted to do something for Qatar, so we decided to work with Al Markhiya Independent Girls’ School. Two hundred fifty employees of Wataniya joined hands with 170 students from Al Markhiya School to turn the project into a reality,” Ghaith A Timani, Operations Manager of Wataniya Restaurants, told The Peninsula.

The world’s longest line of sandwich at the Doha Golf Club yesterday.

Al Markhiya School organised the event while Wataniya Restaurants provided the staff, specifically Sbarro Restaurant, said Nasser Beydoun, Chief Executive Officer, Wataniya Restaurants. He added that it took them almost two weeks to prepare for the event though the actual cooking preparation took less than a day.

With the cooking involving 500 kilos of salami and mortadella, 1,000 kilos of coleslaw, 200 kilos of mozzarella cheese, and other ingredients such as mushroom, onion, garlic, spices, special sbarro pasta, and buttter, it could be the biggest food preparation event Qatar has witnessed, said Kamal Mustapha, Corporate Chef.

Mustapha emphasised they made sure safety and cleanliness were a priority. Talal Omar, Adjudication Executive of Guinness World Records, announced the feat officially declaring that Qatar broke two records. Qatar upset Italy when it broke the record the European nation set just 20 days ago for the longest line of sandwich. With a length of 1,730 metres, the Wataniya Sandwich outpaced Italy by almost 200 metres. Measuring two metres wide and 6 metres long, the bowl of Pasta weighed a whopping 4, 430 kg breaking the record set by the US in 2004 at 3,336 kg.

Receiving the award yesterday from Guinness World Record officials were Samira Al Zoubi, Manager, Al Markhiya Primary Independent Girls’ School, and Nasser Beydoun, Chief Executive Officer, Wataniya Restaurants.

Original article from: THE PENINSULA

Cinema Schedule

Online Cinema Schedules

Ten Movies provide film schedules for Qatar despite being an Emirates website: see Qatar Movies.

Qatar Cinemas provide schedules for their cinemas: The Mall, Royal Plaza, Landmark and Gulf/Doha cinema.

Qatar Cinemas are easy enough to find, but it is much harder to find the official website for the Grand Cinecenter in Qatar. To get the official schedule you need to navigate to BCC Movies, choose Now Showing and select Qatar.

Offline Cinema Schedules

Both the Gulf Times and the Peninsula provide film schedules for the cinemas in Qatar on their paper edition - the Peninsula’s is probably the better since its revamp.