The National Center for the Application of International Health Regulations at the Ministry of Health is working to protect the country from emergency health risks through several axes, most notably: monitoring and follow-up, taking preventive measures, and preparing periodic health reports from the reality of the health field.

The sources indicated that the Ministry of Health has not recorded any infection with monkeypox in the country until today, after the disease spread to about 72 countries, according to figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the CDC, until the date of the 20th of this month. Globally, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian public health researcher, and official who has been WHO Director-General since 2017, said in a statement to the media said, the rapid spread of monkeypox is a global health emergency.

The World Health Organization’s description of monkeypox as a “public health emergency of international concern” aims to sound the alarm that a coordinated international response is needed, and could trigger global funding and efforts to cooperate in the exchange of vaccines and treatment.

Residence affairs departments completely halted family visit visas, only limited visas were issued by the undersecretary of the residence sector and the general director of residence affairs and his assistant since 20,000 expats had violated their visas. Their visit ended and they did not leave or did not leave after their visit ended.

The First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior are responsible for reopening the family visit visa. As a result, it is not known when the visas will be reissued  , commercial visits are still being issued

In order to issue new visas to domestic workers who have lost their original visas, the Residence Affairs department published a circular on using the PF7 feature (reissuing) in the visa issuing system without canceling the previous visa before it expires.

The Kuwaiti passport maintained its position in the third place in the Arab world and 59th globally, in the list of the most powerful passports in the world, according to the latest index from the global consultancy company “Henley” British passports for the third quarter of 2022, since it enables its holders to enter 96 countries without obtaining prior visa, reports Al-Rai daily. The Kuwaiti passport came behind the UAE passport, which ranked first in the Arab world and 15th globally, as it enables its holders to enter 176 countries without a prior visa, followed by the Qatari passport in second place in the Arab world and 57 globally, because Qataris can enter 99 countries.

Globally The fourth in the Arab world is the Bahraini passport which is ranked 66th globally, followed by the Omani and Saudi passports, which ranked fifth in the Arab world and 68th globally respectively, with the possibility of entering 81 countries. Those ranked came from sixth to the tenth are as follows – Tunisia (77 globally) – Morocco (82 globally) – Mauritania (87 globally) – Comoros (93 globally) – Algeria, Egypt and Jordan (94 globally). Djibouti ranked 11th in the Arab world and 98th globally. Lebanon and Sudan followed in 12th place in the Arab world and 103rd globally, then Libya, Palestine, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, respectively.

The Syrian passport came at the bottom of the list, despite the fact that it is the most expensive passport in the world in terms of price, as its cost reaches 800 dollars, and it was only ahead of the Iraqi passport, which came last in the Arab world and 111th globally. Japan’s passport topped the list globally, with access to 193 countries, followed by Singapore and South Korea passports in second place (192 countries), then Germany and Spain in third place (190 countries).

A researcher specialized in domestic labor affairs Bassam Al- Shammari has called on government agencies related to employment such as the Ministry of Interior and Public Authority for Manpower to reconsider the decision that bans the transfer of domestic workers from one employer to another in the event of a dispute between the two parties and the insistence of workers not to continue with the employer and reserve all legally guaranteed rights, reports Al-Anba daily. 

In a press statement, Al- Shammari explained that a decision must be issued in this regard without considering deportation as the first step to take. Rather, it must be preceded by serious attempts to benefit from the workforce by re-employing them. If this is not possible, they must receive all their dues before leaving.

Rehabilitating workers and returning them to the domestic and private labor market is one of the most important solutions to eliminate labor shortage, contribute to the stability of the labor market, remove injustice from the majority of workers, and address the shortcomings and the observations of human rights organizations regarding the negative aspects of the sponsorship system.

He highlighted the importance of adopting the proposal for the final clearance that proves that the domestic worker has received all his entitlements stipulated by law upon leaving either permanently or for periodic leave.

Al-Shammari affirmed that this procedure is in place in neighboring countries, and the results have proven successful both for civil and domestic workers, as it has led to a decrease in cases related to violation of material rights. He said employment has increased by 90 percent, which made these countries attractive to all types of employment.

Al-Shammari stressed the need to give the worker an end-of-service gratuity, one month’s salary and a paid leave of 30 days after completing 11 months of work, in accordance with the domestic labor law and the executive regulations. He indicated that these benefits, if not applied, may turn into violations against domestic workers and cause disputes and losses, something that affects the costs of recruitment and causes reluctance to send workers to Kuwait.

The chief of the World Health Organization said the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an “extraordinary” situation that now qualifies as a global emergency, a declaration Saturday that could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and worsen the scramble for scarce vaccines. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the decision to issue the declaration despite a lack of consensus among experts serving on the U.N. health agency’s emergency committee. It was the first time the chief of the U.N. health agency has taken such an action. “We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations,” Tedros said. “I know this has not been an easy or straightforward process and that there are divergent views among the members of the committee,” he added.

A global emergency is WHO’s highest level of alert, but the designation does not necessarily mean a disease is particularly transmissible or lethal. WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, said the director-general made the decision to put monkeypox in that category to ensure the gobal community takes the current outbreaks seriously. Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Declaring a global emergency means the monkeypox outbreak is an “extraordinary event” that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response. WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.

Head of Fresh Dairy Producers Union Abdul Hakim Al-Ahmad said the country’s consumption of milk and its derivatives is about 1,200 tons per day, while the total production of farms is 200 tons — only 18 percent of the consumption, reports Annahar daily. In a statement to KUNA, Al-Ahmad revealed that 50 farms are affiliated with the union; including 44 milk producers with more than 21,000 animal heads — 9,505 of which are milking cows that produced about 74 million liters of milk in the past year with an average of 21.5 liters per head per day.

He affirmed the commitment of farm owners to achieve self-sufficiency in the future and to cooperate with various parties in this field, especially since the current food crisis might continue for a long time and it could recur in the future

The criminal record check (PCC) of new expats entering Kuwait on new work or family visas will be approved online. From September, India will be the first country to implement this paperless system, later it will be implemented with all countries with coordination between the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kuwait Embassies.

The new feature for those coming from India, from September onwards on new work or family visas will have to submit their Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) at Kuwait Embassy in their home country, the Kuwait embassy will verify for its authenticity and only after cross checking it will be sent over to Kuwait Ministry of Interior online to verify the valid sponsor or to check if the visa is for former resident of Kuwait.

This new paperless system is made by the Ministry of Interior, represented by the Director General of Residency Affairs, Brigadier Hamad Al-Tawala, his assistant, Brigadier Ali Al-Adwani, the director of the central administration, Colonel Musaed Al-Ajmi, the head of the conferences department, Colonel Issa Al-Ziyadi, directors of departments in the governorates, their assistants, and department staff.

 The management of the National Center for Occupational Health and Safety in the Public Authority for Manpower said that the noon work team was able to monitor a number of violations at the new maternity hospital in the Al-Sabah Medical District, reports Al-Jarida daily. Head of the Noon Work Team Hamad Al-Makhial said in a statement to KUNA that the team conducted an inspection tour of the hospital, Wednesday, to ensure the extent to which business owners applied the decision to ban workers at noon, in order to protect their health and safety of all workers due to the scorching heat. He explained that the methods followed by the team to register the violation start in the first stage by giving the worker a citation to “ honor the law which bans working under direct heat of the sun from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm” and hand it to the employer to warn him.

He stressed there is cooperation from a large number of companies with the team to avoid allowing workers in the open during the mentioned period, indicating that the team’s work comes in implementation of the role of Kuwait, which is a signatory to human rights conventions.

Al-Makhial indicated that since the first of last June, the team was able to visit 330 sites, during which 290 violations by companies were detected. It is noteworthy that the ban on employment of workers at noon in open workplaces starts from 11 am to 4 pm from the first of June until the end of August due to the high temperatures, in implementation of the administrative decision No. 535 of 2015.

Meanwhile, the Customer Service Sector in the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy intends to establish a center for auditing electricity and water bills before their issuance in order to avoid manipulation of the amounts due, reports Al-Rai daily quoting sources. Sources disclosed the center will audit invoices in all sectors of the ministry, especially the investment and commercial sectors. Sources stressed that Minister Ali Al-Mousa is keen on ensuring that the invoices are accurate. On the other hand, sources revealed the ‘hidden’ team in the ministry has uncovered a number of irregularities in the performance of employees, confirming that the relevant departments have been notified to take the necessary measures. Sources added the team also monitors the quality of service provided by the ministry and measures it in a scientific and accurate manner, as well as help the employees in improving their performance to better serve the public

On the occasion of Hijri New Year 1444, the Civil Service Commission announced holidays for all ministries, government agencies, public authorities and institutions on Sunday, July 31.

Official work for all ministries, government agencies, public authorities and institutions will resume on Monday 1st August.

While the US State Department’s report on human trafficking for the year 2022 reduced Kuwait’s classification on the Watch List placing Kuwait on the second level (orange), the head of the National Office for Human Rights, Ambassador Jassem Al-Mubaraki, said that he was not surprised by this decline, describing the sponsorship system as “similar to the system of slavery, servitude and forced labor,” reports Al-Rai daily.

Al-Mubaraki said in a statement to the daily, that he spoke repeatedly, and conveyed his opinion to officials of the need to abolish the sponsorship system, as it harms the reputation of Kuwait, explaining that these sponsors bring workers in exchange for a material amount, according to nationality, and the prices of recruiting some nationalities may reach more than 2000 dinars. He asked, “Do they think that the world does not see what is happening in Kuwait?” He reiterated the “necessity of abolishing the sponsorship system, and putting an end to what is happening in the recruitment offices of domestic workers.” He added, “The world sees advertisements posted on websites where servants are offered for sale, and this is slavery, although the decision has been issued by the Council of Ministers to ban such advertisements.”

A prominent Kuwaiti labour activist has urged Kuwaiti authorities to reconsider a ban on domestic workers being transferred between employers in cases of disputes to alleviate labour shortages.

Bassam Al Shamiri, a Kuwaiti expert in domestic labour affairs, told Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba that a decision should be issued in this regard and deportation should not be the first step. The first step should be to re-employ workers who have been laid off. The workers should receive their full dues before they leave the country if this is impossible," he said.

Kuwait's employment market needs to be stabilized and eased by rehabilitating and returning domestic workers to the labour market, according to Al Shahmiri.

When the domestic worker leaves for good or goes on vacation, the final clearance must be approved, which demonstrates that all his/her dues have been paid in accordance with the law. A similar measure is in place in neighbouring countries. The program has proven successful for both private sector and domestic workers, reducing cases of violations of workers' financial rights by 90%, making these countries attractive to workers of all types.

Due to global COVID-19 restrictions, Kuwait has experienced shortages of labour in several fields in recent months.

The purchase committee of the Kuwait Municipality has agreed to fl oat a tender worth half a million dinars for the preparation of advisory studies for the project to develop and beautify Kuwait City for a period of ten months, reports Al-Qabas daily. The committee stipulated the availability of financial accreditation, and the necessary approvals obtained from the regulatory authorities in accordance with the laws and regulating circulars.

The Kuwait City beautification project aims at creating a sustainable urban environment in line with the environmental, economic, cultural and recreational aspects of the Kuwaiti way of life. It is worth mentioning that the municipality has taken measures for including the Kuwait City beautification project in the budget of the 2022/2023 fiscal year in order to be able to implement the Cabinet’s decision within the required timeline. Coordination is ongoing with various institutions in the public and private sectors, ministries and civil society organizations to cooperate, participate and present their initiatives related to this project.

The municipality’s vision is that Kuwait City should be sustainable and contribute positively to the local and regional development plans, while adhering to the highest standards of sustainable development and civic social responsibility, and improving Kuwait’s civilized vision. The municipality has undertaken to achieve its mission by providing an appropriate environment to facilitate and support development initiatives in both public and private sectors and civil society organizations in order to achieve a sustainable recovery, and realize the vision of the State of Kuwait for an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable city.

Meanwhile, an informed source revealed that the Supreme Planning Committee, in its last meeting concerning the transfer of the tent market, assigned the head of the Public Markets Committee Eng. Muhammad Sarkhouh to coordinate with the projects sector, and hold an urgent meeting with Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) to discuss the application of the necessary conditions and requirements, find appropriate solutions for all obstacles according to the existing situation, and submit a report.  

In reaction to the decision of the Minister of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy Ali Al-Mousa to form a committee to set controls for charging electric cars locally, officials from car companies and specialists in electrical cars highlighted the need for all concerned parties to cooperate to make the service successful, as it will lead to a reduction in the value of fuel subsidies, and limit carbon emissions and environmental pollution, reports Al-Rai daily.

During an interview, many company officials agreed on the importance of studying the experiences of the neighboring countries that preceded Kuwait in providing electric car charging stations, setting controls that encourage local agencies to provide the service quickly, and solving all obstacles they faced technically, financially and economically. In this regard, the Director of Marketing at GMC Behbehani Motors Tony Trantic stressed the need to provide electric car chargers in commercial complexes, ministries, cooperative societies, hospitals and government agencies, as well as to ensure large capacities for them in the parking lots of these entities.  

Against the background of the Court of Cassation’s assertion that the Umm al-Haiman area is not suitable for housing because it has turned into a hotbed of pollution, a number of citizens residing in the area revealed that they intend to file new cases against the concerned government authorities to compensate them for the damages they have sustained over the past years, as well as to demand that they be given alternative housing in other areas, reports Al-Qabas daily. A tour of Umm Al-Haiman revealed the increasing suffering of the people due to the emission of fumes from dozens of factories close to the houses. The citizens indicated that they had submitted complaints more than once to the government authorities to save them from the clutches of pollution, but none of the officials have acted.

A new Kuwaiti government has been appointed, three months after the ex-Kuwaiti government resigned. Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah will become the country's new Prime Minister.

Al Qabas newspaper reports that an Emiri decree appointing Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al Salem as Prime Minister was issued today. 

The new government will also be formed under Sheikh Mohammed's leadership.

As the fourth son of the 12th Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, who ruled Kuwait from 1965 to 1977, Sheikh Mohammed was born in 1955.

A graduate of Claremont College in California, he holds a PhD from Harvard University in Economics and Middle Eastern Studies.

A former deputy prime minister and Kuwait's foreign minister, Al Sabah served as both. Kuwait appointed him ambassador to the US in 1993. Until 14 February 2001, when he was appointed state minister for foreign affairs, he held this position. From January 2003 to July 2003, he served as minister of finance. While retaining his position as foreign minister, Mohammad was appointed deputy prime minister on 11 February 2006.

As a protest against alleged corruption within Kuwait's government, he resigned from office on October 18, 2011. Upon leaving office, Al Sabah worked at Oxford University as a visiting fellow.

 The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) has launched a service that provides an overview of population growth from 1990 to 2021, reports Al-Jarida daily.

In a recent press statement, PACI revealed that the service facilitates monitoring of population growth in any region throughout the country on the authority’s website.  

 The Ministry of Health is closely following the latest developments in diseases and epidemics locally and globally, especially after the outbreak of the “Marburg” virus in Ghana, where the World Health Organization announced on Sunday first outbreak there, indicating that the virus belongs to the Ebola family, and is transmitted via the animals, reports Al-Qabas daily. The sources reiterated the situation in Kuwait is good and safe, and stated that the health authorities had not received any notification or new recommendations from the WHO until yesterday about the Marburg virus, the virus that is known since 1967 and most of its cases appeared in the south and east of the African continent, pointing to the readiness of the medical and nursing staff to deal with any diseases or epidemics that may be registered in the country, given the continuous cumulative experiences through its dealings with the Corona virus and its variants since February 2020. 

The sources indicated that the disease is considered a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever, and is transmitted to humans through fruit bats, and is also transmitted from people to people by direct contact with the body fluids of the infected people and surfaces.

The sources ruled out the need to resort to health authorities to tighten procedures with travelers through air and land ports during the current period, given the absence of any new instructions or guidelines issued by the WHO on travel. The sources stated that the symptoms of infection with the virus, according to international reports, begin with fever, muscle aches and body pain, headache, cough and sore throat, followed by diarrhea or vomiting, as well as bleeding from the mouth, nose or internal organs, noting that there is no specific treatment or approved drug for the disease so far. The sources reiterated the continuous coordination with the WHO noting that the health situation in Kuwait is good, and the medical system has gained great experience. Reports say the Marburg virus belongs to the Ebola family and is transmitted from animals; the virus is known since 1967 and has spread to southern and eastern Africa; the disease is considered highly contagious hemorrhagic fever; it is transmitted between people through direct contact with body fl uids; symptoms start with fever, muscle aches, headache and cough and there is no specific treatment or approved drug for the disease yet.

 The Kuwait Vaccination Center at the exhibition grounds in Mishref is witnessing a huge turnout of people who want to get vaccinated in light of the intensified public awareness campaigns on the importance of vaccination including the booster doses, reports Al-Rai daily. Official statistics revealed that 85 percent of citizens and expatriates have been vaccinated.

Around 3,436,600 people or 87.62 percent of the population eligible for vaccination got the first dose; while the number of those fully vaccinated reached 3,326,073 or 84.81 percent and those who got the booster dose reached 1,386,614. Sources attributed the increase in demand for vaccination to rising societal awareness on the importance of vaccination, the travel season, keenness to be protected from the virus, large segment of those qualified to get the third dose, and fourth dose for certain categories.

Sources reiterated the call for the initiative to get vaccinated, including the booster doses, in order to increase the level of protection and expand the scope of herd immunity

The Indian rupee fell to more than 80 per US dollar for the first time on record Tuesday, as the greenback extended its rally and foreign capital outflows intensified. The rupee hit 80.0600 against the US dollar in early trade, Bloomberg data showed, before paring losses on suspected central bank intervention to close at 79.9487.

High inflation and rising interest rates in the United States coupled with fears of an impending recession in the world’s biggest economy have fuelled a broad dollar rally in recent weeks as investors become increasingly risk-averse. Tighter US monetary policy has exacerbated outflows from emerging markets such as India, where foreign investors have withdrawn a net $31 billion in debt and equity this year.

Data released last week showed that US consumer price inflation hit a fresh four-decade high in June, exceeding market forecasts and stoking expectations of another large Federal Reserve rate hike next week. In a written statement to the Indian parliament on Monday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman attributed the rupee’s sharp fall to external reasons.

“Global factors such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, soaring crude oil prices and tightening of global financial conditions are the major reasons for the weakening of the Indian Rupee against the US dollar,” she said. At the same time, the Indian currency has strengthened against the British pound, the Japanese yen and the euro in 2022 so far, Sitharaman added. But higher crude prices have resulted in a deteriorating trade balance in a country that imports 80 percent of its oil.

India’s merchandise trade deficit widened to a record $26.18 billion in June, official data showed last week, largely because of higher crude and coal import prices. In its monthly economic review, the finance ministry said costlier imports could widen the current account deficit and cause the rupee to depreciate further. Consumer price inflation in India, the world’s sixth-largest economy, cooled slightly to 7.01 percent in June after hitting an eight-year high of 7.79 percent in April.

But price rises have persisted well above the central bank’s two-to-six percent target range despite consecutive interest rate hikes in May and June. The central bank has also sold more than $34 billion of its foreign currency reserves in an effort to stabilize the rupee. “The near-term outlook for the rupee will continue to be weak as it tracks developments on the oil and gas front in international markets,” forex market expert K Harihar told AFP.

“The weakness will persist until trade deficit numbers come down or capital inflows counter it,” he said, adding that the rupee could fall to 81 per US dollar without an agreement between Europe and Russia on gas supply. The rupee’s move followed Russia’s Gazprom telling Europe late Monday that it cannot guarantee gas supplies following maintenance work on its Nord Stream pipeline. India’s benchmark Sensex index closed 0.45 percent higher on Tuesday. – AFP

Google on Tuesday celebrated the 113th birth anniversary of famous Malayalam poet Balamani Amma with a Doodle illustrated by Kerala-based artist Devika Ramachandran. The Doodle shows Balamani sitting by a window and composing a poem. Several books can also be seen in the scene.

Balamani was a recipient of multiple awards, including the Saraswati Samman -- India’s most esteemed literary award -- and Padma Vibhushan -- India’s second-highest civilian award. She published more than 20 anthologies of poetry, prose, and translations.

Known as the grandmother of Malayalam literature, Balamani was born on July 19, 1909, in Nalapat, her ancestral home in Punnayurkulam located in Kerala’s Thrissur district. She never received any formal training or education but was instead schooled at home by her uncle Nalappat Narayana Menon, who was also a popular Malayali poet. He had an impressive collection of books and works that Balamani studied at a young age.

At 19, she married V.M. Nair, the managing director and managing editor of Mathrubhumi, a Malayalam newspaper.

In 1930, at the age of 21, Balamani published her first poem titled Kooppukai. Her first recognition as a gifted poet came from the former ruler of the Kingdom of Cochin, Parikshith Thampuran, who awarded her with the Sahithya Nipuna Puraskaram.

In it’s tribute, Google said in a blog post, “As an avid reader of Indian mythology, Amma’s poetry tended to put a spin on the traditional understanding of women characters. Her early poems glorified motherhood in a new light—she became known as the ‘poetess of motherhood’.”

“Her works adopted the ideas and stories of mythological characters, but depicted women as powerful figures who remained ordinary human beings. Her most famous works include  Amma (1934),  Muthassi (1962) and  Mazhuvinte Katha (1966),” it added.

Balamani’s daughter Kamala Das was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature in 1984.

“Balamani Amma’s poems describing her love for children and grandchildren earned her the titles of  Amma (Mother) and  Muthassi (Grandmother) of Malayalam poetry,” Google’s post read. She passed away in 2004 and her cremation was attended with full state honours.