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08 Thursday, February 21, 2013 Nation BPS students go on eco-awareness trip to Al Khor TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA MEMBERS of the Eco Club of Birla Public School (BPS) recently took a trip to Al Khor as part of ‘A Flower Each Spring’ programme. They were enlightened about the various aspects of ecology during the trip. At the booth of birds, the lady volunteer explained to them the features of birds, the sizes of their beaks and eggs. Before learning about the flora and fauna of Qatar, birds and insects, the students were introduced to the plant of the year, Thilooth, a shrub that grows in the littoral salt marshes along the shores of the Gulf, especially in south-west Qatar. The students also took lessons about the disposal of different kinds of wastes and the bins used, like red for aluminum, blue for paper, brown for general wastes and more. They were also informed about the ongoing construction of Quranic Botanical Gardens, for the purpose of providing education about the flora mentioned in the Holy Quran and also for research. They cleaned the shore and collected as much waste as possible. They were told that “with diligent effort we can save not only mangrove but also the various kinds of plants.” The volunteers also showed the ways through Eco Club members of Birla Public School during a trip to Al Khor recently. which the early divers obtained pearls from the ocean floor. In the end, there was a quiz session to assess how much the students had learnt. ‘A Flower Each Spring’ programme is aimed at increasing community awareness about the flora of Qatar, their medicinal and other qualities and to stress the need for conserving the flora in order to check ecological degradation. It also seeks to encourage individuals to contribute to sustainable development, strengthen efforts dedicated to preservation and development of natural resources and encourage the private sector to utilise flora as a resource for manufacturing materials. Over 350 students to take part in MUN from today TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA Over 350 high school students from 20 local schools and 40 international schools representing at least 25 countries will converge in Doha from Thursday to Sunday to take part in academic simulations of the United Nations. The 8th annual Model United Nations (MUN) conference hosted by Education City’s Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFSQ) will take place at the Qatar National Convention Center where the students will debate, deliberate, consult and develop solutions to real world issues, in a recreation of the real workings of the UN. Over the years, several MUN conferences have been established and practiced all over the world. The Georgetown University Model UN projects - held on both the Washington D.C. and Qatar campuses - benefit in particular from the breadth of expertise and focus that a foreign affairs curriculum provides to both the student organisers and the participants. Kathryn King, associate director of student development at SFSQ, touched on the interplay of the MUN and Georgetown’s education mandate, saying “SFSQ’s MUN is run by Georgetown students. Additionally, we have the participation of Georgetown faculty with expert briefs offered in our committees and sample lectures given during the event.” The scope of the conference is further enhanced by the tremendous representation from both regional and international schools. SFSQ Dean Gerd Nonneman makes the point that “the opportunity to participate in the Model United Nations presents a transformative moment for a future generation of engaged citizens. High school students from around the world coming to Doha will gain a unique insight into the mechanisms of effective negotiation and global conflict resolution. We are incredibly proud of our university students serving as role models through the dedication and hard work they have invested in this important programme.” This year’s Model UN theme, along with the committees and committee topics chosen by the MUN Student Board, is focused on the issue of sustainability. William YangUn Cha, an SFSQ senior in international economics and the secretary-general for the upcoming SFSQ MUN, reflects on the chosen topic of sustainability as “particularly relevant to Qatar, the host country of our conference.” A student makes a point during the Model United Nations, in Doha, last year. METS 2 meet from March 18 TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA THE 2nd Middle East Turbomachinery Symposium (METS 2) will be held at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) from March 18 to 20 with short courses being offered on March 17 in conjunction with the symposium. The Turbomachinery Laboratory at Texas A&M University is organising the event with support from Qatar Petroleum, the host and titanium sponsor. Other major sponsors include: platinum – ExxonMobil and RasGas, gold – Qatargas, and silver – Dolphin Energy. In February 2011, the inaugural METS debuted in Doha with over 1,000 attendees and 60 exhibiting companies. Following this successful SANTHOSH CHANDRAN DOHA MEDIA Plus, a local advertising and event management company, has released two Malayalam language short films in Doha on Tuesday. Within a brief span of time, the concept of ‘home cinema’ has earned widespread acceptance in Kerala community. Mediaplus CEO Amanulla Vadakkangara said, “Home cinema’ is a kind of entertainment, which is now popular among the Kerala expatriate community in the Gulf region. These films are produced with less expensive technology and are low-budget. It provides an opportunity for young filmmakers to experiment with their concept on cinema without much financial commitments. As these films are themed on family affairs and comedy, it has enough audience among the Kerala expatriates in this region.” While the film ‘Virahathin A view of the Qatar National Convention Center in Doha. launch, METS 2 is primed to be the premier turbo machinery event in the Middle East, combining a world-class technical conference and international exhibition. METS 2 will be held under the patronage of Minister of Energy and Industry HE Dr Mohammed bin Saleh al Sada who will be the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony. The METS Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC), a group comprised of highly respected engineers from both regional and international companies in the industry, oversaw the development of the technical programme. Dr Dara Childs, director of the Turbomachinery Laboratory, and Abdulaziz al Naimi, manager (joint interest) at RasGas, serve jointly as MTAC co-chairs. The programme was developed with end users in mind, particularly users from oil and gas, petrochemical, and power generation industries. Delegates can choose to attend and engage in a combination of eight short courses, 12 lectures, eight tutorials, eight discussion groups and 21 sessions of case studies, led by 133 accomplished authors from around the world. Topics to be covered include compressors, steam and gas turbines, expanders, pumps and drivers including motors, and auxiliary equipment such as couplings, bearings, gear boxes, dry gas seals, and annular seals. The symposium exhibition show will host booths of 63 leading companies from the oil and gas, petrochemical, power, pumping and turbo machinery industries. The companies will display fullsize equipment, cutting-edge technology, and emerging industry trends. Highly-qualified technical personnel will be on hand to address business needs. During a part of the symposium, the exhibit hall will be open to the public upon completion of a freepass registration form. Online registration for the symposium will close on February 24 after which delegates must register on-site at the QNCC. In addition, delegates have the option to register for a tour of Ras Laffan. The Port of Ras Laffan was built by Qatar Petroleum as an export facility to support Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC), the world’s most sophisticated energy related industrial city. Two Malayalam short films released in Doha CIGI Qatar chapter President MP Shafi Haji (third right) releases a CD of short films, in Doha, on Tuesday. Vedhana’ (Pain of Separation) directed by Rasheed Naas narrates the story of love and family values, the other one, ‘Pavam Paramashudhan’ (Naïve and Innocent) directed by Ramesh Palemad, narrates a family story with a satirical flavour. Qatar chapter President of Centre for Information and Guidance India (CIGI) Kollam Shafi released the CD of ‘Virahathin Vedanta’ by handing it over to General Manager of Falkland Electrical and Trading Company, Teyseer Ibrahim. The other film, ‘Pavam Paramashudhan’, was released by NKM Group Managing Director NKM Mustafa with handover of its CD to Managing Director of Sulfer Chemical Ahmed Tuneri. Mediaplus CEO Amanulla Vadakkangara, Faleh Naser Faleh Foundation Manager KV Abdulla Kutty, Global Forum Vice-chairperson CK Rahel and Administrative Manager of Al Rawabi Group Mohamed Jamsheer were present on the occasion. Mediaplus marketing coordinator Abdul Fathah Nilambur proposed the vote of thanks on the occasion. ‘Francophone Cinema Week’ in Doha from March 7 TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA KATARA DFI Cinema, in collaboration with the French Embassy/Institut Français du Qatar and with the support of the embassies of Belgium, Canada and Switzerland, will present ‘Francophone Cinema Week’ (La Semaine du Cinéma Francophone) in Doha from March 7 to March 13. Coinciding with worldwide celebration of Francophonie Month (March), the Francophone Cinema Week’ would be held at Katara Drama Theatre, building 16, and feature a selection of the finest contemporary cinema from Francophone member countries including Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Morocco, Senegal and Switzerland. The programme will open with the Qatari premiere of the Cannes Palme D’or winner and five times Oscar nominated film, ‘Amour’ by renowned director Michael Haneke and will close with the worldwide box-office hit ‘The Intouchables’ directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric A still from the film, Armour. Toledano. Other titles that will be screened during this dedicated week include the heartfelt animation ‘Ernest et Célestine’ (Ernest & Celestine) by Stéphane Aubier, Benjamin Renner and Vincent Patar, a short film ‘Champs- Elysees Je T’aime’ by Qatari director Mahdi Ali Ali, from the Arab world the poignant story of ‘Yema’ by Djamila Sahraoui, the dark fairytale ‘Androman - De Sang et de Charbon’ (Androman - Blood and Coal) by Az Larabe Alaoui, the Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film 2012 ‘Monsieur Lazhar’ by Philippe Falardeau, an intense family drama based on a true story ‘À perdre la raison’ (Our Children) by Joachim Lafosse, the acclaimed Cannes title ‘La Pirogue’ (The Pirogue) by Moussa Touré and the 2012 Berlinale Silver Bear winner ‘L’enfant d’en haut’ (Sister) by Ursula Meier. Abdulaziz al Khater, chief executive officer, Doha Film Institute, said: “We are pleased that throughout the ‘Francophone Cinema Week’ audiences in Doha will have the opportunity to experience films from French-speaking countries, a variety of cultures and explore cinema from different parts of the world. This collaboration is part of our overall mandate to help enhance film culture and appreciation in Qatar.” Ambassador of France HE Jean-Christophe Peaucelle said: “It’s a great pleasure to collaborate with Doha Film Institute and share a great ensemble of French-speaking films with audiences in Doha. “Katara DFI Cinema provides an ideal platform to showcase such films and we are really pleased to have this programme. “We look forward to working with DFI and promoting awareness of this cultural initiative.”
Philippines / East Asia Thursday, February 21, 2013 09 Filipino rebels storm pineapple plantation; 1 killed Philippine police stand in front of a burnt payloader inside the compound of Del Monte Philippines Inc, in Manolo Fortich town, Bukidnon province, southern Philippines, on Wednesday. (AP) AP MANILA MORE than 100 communist guerrillas stormed one of the world’s largest pineapple plantations in the southern Philippines, killing a guard and torching farm equipment in their biggest attack this year, officials said on Wednesday. At least two other guards and a villager were shot and wounded by the New People’s Army guerrillas, who barged into a residential, recreational and office complex on the vast plantation of Del Monte Philippines Inc. late Tuesday in Manolo Fortich town in Bukidnon province, Army Lt. Col. Eugenio Osias said. Shortly before the assault, the Maoist guerrillas, who were disguised as army soldiers, blocked a patrol car carrying three police officers at a bridge in Manolo Fortich and seized weapons from them, Osias said. Reinforcement troops clashed with the rebels for 20 minutes prior to the Del Monte attack, but the guerrillas managed to withdraw and proceed to the plantation, where they shot to death a guard at the gate and later wounded two other guards, regional police chief Catalino Rodriguez said. The Maoist rebels burned farm equipment and destroyed a number of computers in an office. They ransacked buildings and seized firearms at the plantation’s Camp Phillips, a scenic complex of country homes, a golf course and a clubhouse for farm officers and workers, Del Monte senior manager Ramon Velez said. The rebels also burned a small Del Monte office building and a fertilizer warehouse in nearby Sumilao town, according to Velez. Rebel spokesman Jorge Madlos said Wednesday that the assaults were punishment for Del Monte’s refusal to heed a guerrilla demand to stop expanding its already-vast plantations, which they blame for harming the environment. Velez said the company, which employs about 10,000 people, adheres to all laws, including those pertaining to environmental protection. Osias called Madlos’ statement propaganda to cover a ruthless attack on civilians and a private company. “It’s not for environmental protection; it’s for extortion,” he said. Del Monte Philippines was part of the U.S.-based food giant until the 1980s, when Filipino investors started buying into the company. Now owned by Filipinos, it still supplies canned pineapple under a contract with its U.S. counterpart, Velez said. According to its website, the company operates the largest integrated pineapple operation in the world, growing pineapples across 20,000 hectares (49,421 acres) in the Bukidnon region, about 860 kilometers (535 miles) southeast of Manila. The 43-year-old Marxist insurgency is one of Asia’s longest-running. The rebels’ armed force has been weakened from a peak of about 25,000 fighters in the mid- 1980s to about 4,000 due to battle losses, surrenders and factionalism. The Philippine government still regards them as the country’s most serious security threat. Horsemeat scandal fears spread to Hong Kong AFP HONG KONG FEARS over a Europe-wide food fraud scandal concerning horsemeat sold as beef have spread to Hong Kong after an imported brand of “beef” lasagne was pulled from shelves, officials said on Wednesday. Hong Kong authorities last week ordered a top local supermarket chain to remove the lasagne made by frozen food giant Findus, one of the firms at the centre of the scandal. The product was imported from Britain and made by French firm Comigel. Western food is popular in the Asian financial centre, which has a large population of expatriates. Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety urged locals not to consume the item, which it said “might be adulterated with horsemeat which has not undergone tests for veterinary drugs”. The product had been sold at supermarkets run by ParknShop, one of the biggest supermarket chains in the southern Chinese city and owned by tycoon Li Ka-shing. “The product was removed from our stores last week following the government’s instructions,” a ParknShop spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday. The chain has about 280 stores in Hong Kong and the neighbouring gaming hub of Macau. A spokeswoman at the government’s food and environmental hygiene department said authorities would monitor the food fraud scandal closely but only one contaminated product had so far been sold in Hong Kong. Neither the supermarket nor the government could give the number of the Findus frozen beef lasagnes that were recalled in the city. Manila defends UN move over China challenge AFP MANILA THE Philippines said on Wednesday it was on “the right track” in seeking to have a UN tribunal strike down China’s claims to most of the South China Sea, after the Chinese government rejected the process. President Benigno Aquino’s chief aide, Rene Almendras, said the government expected China to ignore the plan to bring the matter up at the United Nations and stressed the case could still proceed without Beijing’ approval. “We will follow the process whether they agree to it or not,” Alemndras told reporters. “Of course, we are of the opinion that we are on the right track... we would not have started it if we did not think that we would have enough basis to file all these issuances.” The Philippines announced last month it had applied for its dispute with China over AFP MANILA BOYS shout in delight as they flip backwards off a bridge. Fishermen quietly cast rods out. They are joyful acts that should belong to an earlier era, before the Philippines’ Pasig River turned toxic. Yet some slum dwellers in Manila whose shanty homes choke the river and its tributaries have little choice but to live as if the national capital’s most important waterway is clean. “It’s hot. We have no other place to swim and escape the heat,” 16-year-old Christian Ivanes said as he took a break from jumping off a bridge near the mouth of the river with his friends. Ivanes, his seven siblings and a few hundred other illegal squatters live under the the South China Sea to be arbitrated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a 1982 treaty signed by both countries. President Benigno Aquino’s chief aide, Rene Almendras, said the government expected China to ignore the plan to bring the matter up at the United Nations and stressed the case could still proceed without Beijing’ approval. The Philippines wants the tribunal to declare Chinese claims to most of the sea, which is believed to sit atop vast natural resources and is home to rich fishing grounds, as unlawful. But China says it has sovereign rights over nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. On Tuesday China announced it had rejected the Philippines’ call for UN arbitration, insisting on bilateral negotiations with its less powerful neighbour. Although China has recently sent ships into the South China Sea to enforce its claims and established a local government to rule over the contested waters, it warned the Philippines not to increase tensions. “The Philippine side (should) keep its word not to take any action that magnifies and complicates the issue,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters in Beijing. Under the UN convention’s rules, the arbitration can proceed even if China declines to participate. China can choose to ignore any eventual ruling by the tribunal. Nevertheless, a UN verdict that its claims were unlawful would be a diplomatic blow. Illegal shanties choke Philippines’ Pasig river The swollen Davao river due to rains from tropical depression ‘Crising’, near Davao City, southern Philippines, recently. (EPA) bridge in stilt houses made of junk wood and plastic, their existence as desperate as any in an Asian megacity infamous for its brutal poverty. Shopping from the community stall at high tide requires wading ankle-deep through plastic wrappers and other garbage that is floating in black water. A thick stench rises with strong hints of untreated sewage and industrial waste. “There have been people who have gone into this with an open wound and died,” said Gina Lopez, a prominent environment campaigner who is leading the latest government drive to clean up the Pasig. The national government is spending 10 billion pesos ($240 million) a year to transform the waterway and its 47 tributaries, according to Lopez, chairperson of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission. Half the money is being spent on trying to relocate about 300,000 squatters who live directly along the banks of the river and tributaries, known locally as esteros. “As long as there are illegal dwellers living along the estero, using the place as their toilets and dumping garbage, MILITARY EXERCISES A US Marine holds a cobra skin during a jungle survival programme as part of the annual combined military exercises, Cobra Gold 2013, at a navy base, in Sattahip, on Wednesday. Cobra Gold is a joint, multi-national military training exercise that focuses on maintaining and improving military-to-military relationships among nations sharing common goals and security commitments in the Asia-Pacific region. (AFP) there’s no clean-up that can happen. So that’s the beginning,” Lopez said. The commission has cleared and rehabilitated four esteros since 2010, when President Benigno Aquino took power and implemented the programme, according to Lopez. It is aiming to start work on 16 more this year, then have all the esteros as well as the Pasig transformed by the time Aquino ends his term in 2016. At Estero de Paco, a 2.9- kilometre (1.8-mile) tributary that a few years ago was one of the most polluted in the city, shanty homes have been replaced with tree-lined boardwalks while watertreatment machines now nestle amid plants. The more than 1,300 families, or roughly 6,500 squatters, who lived within three metres (10 feet) of the channel have been relocated, while vendors at a nearby market have stopped dumping garbage into the water. Programmes with local water companies to improve sewage facilities have also been implemented. Flooding that regularly hits the area has lessened because drains are not blocked by garbage, according to Lopez, and the residents who have remained beyond the threemetre clearance zone appear much happier. “It’s like living in a subdivision now,” said Evelyn Quitala, 51, who has called Estero de Paco home all her life and runs a small shop from her two-storey concrete home. “We can now jog here along the footpath and our children don’t have to go somewhere else to play... and it is no longer smelly.”
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Qatar gives $100mn in aid to Syrians - Qatar Tribune

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