Since the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) closed the zoo in March 2020 “until further notice”, as a precautionary measure to prevent the outbreak of the corona virus and limit its spread at that time, the authority has not announced any specific date for its reopening, which was receiving about 170,000 visitors annually before the pandemic, from all segments of society and age groups, and was considered one of the most important tourist and recreational facilities in the country, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The daily said, the citizens now demand the restoration of this recreational outlet and its reopening to visitors, pointing out that it is not logical to close recreational facilities without announcing a timetable for their reopening. After doing away with the restrictions related to the repercussions of the pandemic months ago and resuming most recreational activities in parks, complexes, malls, restaurants and others, it has become necessary to know the fate of the zoo, which has an area of 180,000 square meters, and is rich in many types of animals and birds and reptiles, in addition to a tram that takes visitors around the zoo moving on the green track. The zoo on the first and second days of any holiday in the past received about 2,000 visitors.

According to informed sources, the opening of the zoo again will take some time, given the need to restore and develop its facilities, especially animal cages, electrical installations, toilets and infrastructure in general. The sources pointed out the completion of these works require time between 6 to 12 months, in the event that these works are completed immediately. The sources added that the park contains 190 species of animals, birds, reptiles and mammals, with a total of about 1,500 animals, and these animals were not affected by any diseases or losses during the period of closing the park more than two years ago, indicating that this is due to the conclusion of a contract with a company to supply food inside cages throughout those years. The sources pointed out that the zoo is awaiting more government attention, to ensure the opening of this recreation within a short time, noting that the documentary cycle between government agencies may be one of the reasons for the slow completion of its maintenance work.

In light of the fact that the current prices are among the lowest in the world, Al-Anba daily reports that the government does not intend to increase fuel prices in order to match international prices.

Sources say the Government Subsidy Review Committee, headed by the Ministry of Finance, does not plan to discuss fuel price increases. According to him, the committee submits its recommendations and decisions to the Council of Ministers; reviews market conditions to compare them with subsidy values; and evaluates subsidies in order to determine whether they should be increased, reduced, or granted to specific groups.

The Legal and Financial Committee of the Council was tasked with reviewing the latest draft ordinance that the municipality of Kuwait had prepared on public hygiene and trash transportation. The new proposal includes severe measures to ensure public cleanliness, such as fining offenders up to 500 dinars for hanging clothing or other items carelessly on the streets. The proposal also forbade grilling in public places such as sidewalks, streets, squares, public parks, waterfronts, and state-owned properties, unless it is clearly stated that grilling is permitted there. Anyone who disobeys this instruction will be fined a maximum of 5,000 dinars and a minimum of over 2000 dinars.

Additionally, washing carpets and furniture while facing the street is prohibited due to the draught. It makes it against the law for owners of abandoned and damaged vehicles to leave them in public areas like squares and public spaces, including boats, homes, and mobile prefab chalets.

The Ministry of Health has established the Pharmacovigilance Office under the Drug Control Sector as part of its efforts to improve health care and drug safety, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily obtained a copy of the tasks assigned to the office as follows: receive reports on the side effects and quality of pharmaceutical preparations, evaluate reports and indicators, monitor the marketing of registered drugs, continuous assessment of the safety and quality of pharmaceutical preparations, monitor and evaluate the side effects of pharmaceutical preparations to find out their causes and present solutions, monitor relevant news from international bodies and organizations, take appropriate decisions regarding the safety of pharmaceutical preparations in circulation, and follow up reports on adverse effects and problems related to the quality of all health-related products like medicines, medical, pharmaceutical, vegetable and veterinary preparations, medical devices and equipments.

The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) revealed that 1.437 million citizens and residents live in only 8 residential areas, representing 31% of the country’s total population. A recent report by PACI related to the historical data of the regions and the extent of the increase and decrease of population in 180 residential and agricultural areas until the end of last year, of which Al-Qabas obtained a copy of, showed that the Salmiya district is the most populous, with a total of 282,541 people, followed by the Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. The report pointed to the displacement of Jleeb during the past year, which resulted in 56,779 people leaving the region and moving to other regions, where the total population until the end of 2021 was about 271,000, after they were close to 328,000 in 2019.

The figures showed the Sabah Al- Ahmad city has 60,257 residents after the district opened the doors for residents in 2015 and as for the West Abdullah Al-Mubarak district where the population registration began in 2020 has 1,257 registered residents. The sources added, there were 10,608 people registered in the Northwest of Sulaibikhat district, where people started moving in, in 2015 and until last year, as well as approximately 10,000 people in the suburb of Abu Fatira, which entered on the list of residential areas in 2009.

It was clear, according to the PACI report, the noticeable decrease in the population numbers in many areas, including Anjafa, Al-Bida, Al-Maseela, Abu Al-Hassaniya, Al-Khairan Al-Sakani, where the numbers do not exceed a thousand people; while 652 people were registered in the Al-Bida region, 515 in the Residential Khiran, 841 in Al-Maseela and 360 in Anjafa. Civil information data indicated that approximately 500,000 people live in the Jahra Governorate in comparison with the data of other regions in the country’s governorates it turns out that the Jahra regions are overcrowded, especially the city of Saad Al-Abdullah, which houses approximately 115,000 people.

It is noteworthy to mention Taima and Sulaibiya districts have 119,000 people distributed over 10,000 plots, which is a high number compared to the total housing provided by the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) for the purpose of benefiting the owners of housing requests, as a temporary housing alternative. Civil Information data showed 27 people are registered among the residents of the ‘Sulaibikhat Cemetery’ area, a majority of those registered as residents in the cemetery area are workers affiliated to the Kuwait Municipality, and they work in professions related to burial and washing the dead.

The Ministry of Information has confirmed that holding musical concerts in public places must be in line with the law in accordance with the ministerial decision issued in this regard, it reports Al-Rai daily. The daily quoting security sources stressed that any violation of these requirements exposes the violators to legal accountability.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Information, Anwar Murad, said that the ministry “immediately took the necessary measures against the company organizing a concert that was held in a hotel on the second day of Eid al-Adha.

In this context, MP Ahmad Mutee said “after contacting the Minister of Information regarding holding of the concert contrary to Islamic law, deterrent measures were taken and the organizing company’s license was withdrawn.” He added, “Everyone who contributed and dared to hold this party, which is against the morals of our conservative Kuwaiti society, will be held accountable and deterred.”

At examination centers affiliated with the Ministry of Health, pilgrims returning from Holy Land were asked to conduct PCR tests within three days of their arrival.

There are examination centers open between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. at the Jaber Bridge and at the Jaber Al Ahmad Hospital. There are also private centers available.

The Immune app will display the follow-up results of PCR tests. Within 10 days of returning back home, seek medical attention if you exhibit any symptoms of COVID infection.

Shri Sibi George, the Indian ambassador to Kuwait, is most likely to be named as the new ambassador to Japan. Sibi George will take the place of Sanjay Kumar Verma, the Indian ambassador to Japan who is relocating to Canada, according to Indian media reports.

A formal announcement has not yet been made, though. The new appointment in Kuwait received no mention in the reports, either. Both the Indian diaspora and Kuwaiti citizens praised Sibi George, who established new standards for the Indian Embassy in Kuwait. He had altered the Embassy's appearance to make it the second home of the more than 10 lakh Indians who now reside in Kuwait.

Sibi George's departure from Kuwait will be a big loss for the neighbourhood since he launched numerous new programs for community welfare and promoted Indian among the people. Sibi George has previously worked in Tehran, Riyadh, Switzerland, Cairo, Doha, and Washington, D.C.

 Kuwait’s imports of perfumes and its preparations amounted to 219.6 million dinars, an increase of 21%, with a value of 37.969 million dinars during 2021, compared to 191.367 million dinars in the year 2020, reports Al-Anba daily.

A recent statistics show that Kuwait’s imports of essential oils, extracts of resinous materials, perfumes, decoctions or cosmetics (toilet) amounted to 53.34 million dinars during the first quarter of last year, and 54.22 million dinars in the second quarter and 52.8 million dinars in the third quarter, and 59.25 million dinars in the fourth quarter of the year.

In a development that reflects some relative improvement, Kuwait ranked 14th in the Arab world in terms of the flow of foreign direct investments during 2021, according to the Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman), reports Al- Seyassah daily. In a report issued this week, it confirmed that, “Kuwait attracted about KD 198 million during last year, a growth rate of 239.8 percent, compared to 2020, which witnessed the exit of investments of about KD 142 million”.

Despite the modest share of Kuwait in the total inflows to the Arab countries, which amounted to 0.4 percent, Dhaman clarified in its annual monitoring that Kuwait ranked third with seven percent of the total inflows issued by Arab countries in the year 2021. With regard to foreign direct investment balances issued by Arab countries, it revealed that Kuwait came in fourth place with a share of 6.7 percent. It also acquired 13.6 percent of the volume of crossborder merger and acquisition deals that the Arab countries witnessed during 2021.

Dhaman highlighted that foreign direct investment flows from Arab countries to the world rose at a rate of 46 percent to $ 52 billion, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE contributing about 90 percent of those flows, with shares of 46.1 percent and 43.5 percent respectively. It affirmed significant increases in foreign direct investment inflows to the Arab countries by 42 percent, to reach about $53 billion in 2021, and to represent its share of 6.3 percent of the total incoming flows to developing countries and 3.3 percent of the total global flows amounting to about $ 1.58 trillion.

Flydubai, a low-cost airline, has halted service to Sri Lanka because of the political and economic instability in the South Asian nation. The airline promised to issue refunds to those customers who have purchased tickets.

From July 10 until further notice, Flydubai flights between Dubai and Colombo Airport (CMB) have been cancelled. We will keep a close eye on the situation in Sri Lanka, according to a flydubai spokesperson's statement on Monday.

Sri Lanka is a well-liked tourist location, and local airlines transport plenty of people from Dubai to Colombo. In April, the low-cost airline flydubai listed Colombo as one of its most popular destinations and reported an increase in flight demand.

However, despite fuel and food shortages in the nation, the acute political and economic turmoil is driving UAE and other airlines to halt flights to Sri Lanka. Since there are hardly any dollars available to import food and fuel, Sri Lanka has been in upheaval. The government is held responsible by the people of Sri Lanka for the severe corruption and nepotism that caused the economy to collapse.

The leaders of the South Asian nation were compelled to leave their official houses as a result of widespread protests. A spokeswoman for Flydubai stated in a statement that passengers who have made reservations to take these flights will be contacted and given the option of receiving a refund. The statement apologised for the disruption to the travel plans of our passengers.

The airline, which has its base in Dubai, announced last month that it is gearing up for a record-breaking summer due to an increase in demand for travel following the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the course of the airline's busiest summer ever, it anticipates carrying three million passengers. It predicted that flydubai's network of 102 destinations will have an average of 8,500 departures each month, which is more than pre-pandemic levels.

On World Population Day, India will overtake China as the world's most populous country in 2019. You did indeed hear it correctly! China will be outnumbered by us in terms of population. The population of India has surpassed 140 crores as of this moment.

The Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs predicts that by mid-November, there will be eight billion people on the planet, followed by 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. The world population is projected to increase at its slowest rate since World War II, peaking at 10.4 billion people in the 2080s and staying there until 2100. In addition, India is anticipated to surpass China as the world's most populous country in 2023. More than half of the projected increase in the global population by 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries, including India.

Asia currently has 4.7 billion people, accounting for 61% of all people on earth. Africa has 1.3 billion, Europe has 750 million, Latin America and the Caribbean have 650 million, and Oceania has 650 million people (370 million). Northern America and Oceania are home to the remaining 5% of the world's population (43 million).

One of the ten countries with a net migration forecast to exceed 1 million between 2010 and 2021 was India. A number of these countries experienced exodus due to temporary labour migration. Pakistan saw the largest net emigration of people (16.5 million).

According to the 2011 Census, India's population was 1.21 billion. The population of India is presently expected to be above 1.37 billion and will reach over 1,508,525,200,416 in 2022, according to United Nations estimates from 2020 and Worldometer data from 2022. Lakshadweep, with a population of only 68,000, is the least inhabited state, whereas Uttar Pradesh is the most populated with a total of 23.32 crore people. With 3.79 crore residents, Telangana comes in at number twelve, whereas Andhra Pradesh comes in at number ten with 5.3 crores.

The eighth billionth person to inhabit the planet is expected to be born this year, which makes this year's World Population Day (July 11) particularly significant. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres remarked, "This is a time to celebrate our variety, recognise our shared humanity and marvel at advances in health that have extended lifespans and significantly lowered maternal and child death rates."

A video clip went viral about a brawl with knives between two groups which took place in Salmiya. The Ministry of Interior was able to close a horrific case of stabbing of a Kuwaiti citizen in public street in full view of the victim’s wife and passerby. A Kuwaiti citizen and his partner were arrested. A case of attempted murder was registered. 

The MOI received a report about the stabbing incident in Hawally governorate, based on the information the accused was hunted down based on vehicle number plate. The owner of the car who used a knife and stabbed another was arrested from his apartment as he was about to leave his apartment in Salmiya he was arrested, he was accompanied by another not related to the incident. 

Tools used for drug abuse were found with them and a case of attempted murder and stabbing was registered under 193/2002 in Salmiya. According to the accused he justified his act due to previous disputes with the victim. The source added that the victim had a severe stab wound to the thigh, the accused and his wife went to the Salmiya police station and registered a case with a medical report.

Elangovan crafted the saint’s image to spread awareness on organic farming

In a novel attempt to spread awareness on organic farming, a farmer of Malaiappanallur near Kumbakonam has raised paddy on his field in a pattern that reflects the image of Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar.

P.G. Elangovan, 62, a staunch advocate of organic farming, had begun the work of raising seedlings on Kuzhithattu (hole plates), specifically sourced about three months ago, for the purpose. Thiruvalluvar, who dedicated a separate ‘adhigaram’ to agriculture in Thirukkural, was presented in the image with the colour-variation of ‘Chinnar’ variety of paddy (brown) and ‘Mysore Malli’ (green).

With the support of K. Vilvanathan of Arts College in Kumbakonam, the farmer drew a picture of Thiruvalluvar on about half acre of the field. He then meticulously planted the paddy seedlings on the lines, 65 days ago. Normally, it takes four to five hours to complete paddy transplanting on half an acre. But, it took five days for Elangovan to complete the task.

He had to work patiently to figure out the sitting posture of the saint-poet, whose work has transcended across borders for its universality and acceptance. The paddy crop is now at milk stage. On bird’s eye view, it aptly reflects the image of Thiruvalluvar. 

“We, the society, are in a dire need of emulating the message of Thiruvalluvar on organic farming. There can be no other personalities than Thiruvalluvar to propagate the message. Hence, I have chosen his figure to spread awareness of organic farming,” says Mr. Elangovan, who adopted the environmental-friendly farming about 10 years ago.

The field receives a steady stream of visitors from different parts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts. They spend time understanding the method in which the image has been made. Mr. Elangovan does not get away from the responsibility of explaining the artistic work to visitors.

Mr. Elangovan, a follower of ‘Nel’ Jayaraman who fought for preserving traditional paddy varieties, said he would be happy if at least one farmer in each village of the State switched to organic farming post his initiative.

According to the report, India’s population stands at 1.412 billion in 2022, compared to China’s 1.426 billion.

India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country next year, according to a report by the United Nations on Monday which said that the world population is forecast to reach eight billion by mid-November 2022.

The World Population Prospects 2022 by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, said that the global population is projected to reach eight billion on November 15, 2022.

The global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen under 1% in 2020.

The latest projections by the United Nations suggest that the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050.

It is projected to reach a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s and to remain at that level until 2100.

“This year’s World Population Day [July 11] falls during a milestone year, when we anticipate the birth of the Earth’s eight billionth inhabitant. This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognise our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said.

“At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another,” he added.

The report said that “India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country during 2023.”

The world’s two most populous regions in 2022 were Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, with 2.3 billion people, representing 29% of the global population, and Central and Southern Asia, with 2.1 billion, representing 26% of the total world population.

China and India accounted for the largest populations in these regions, with more than 1.4 billion each in 2022.

More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.

The 60th anniversary of the issuance of the Kuwaiti passport, due on Sunday, is a reminder of the adoption of Act 11 (1962) on this important sovereign document in the reign of late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah. The issuance of the first passport gained additional significance as it following the independence of the country in the previous year, which opened the way for a new historical era marked with renaissance, construction and development in all areas.

Over the past six decades the passport underwent several stages of modernization till it reached the current state-of-the-art form, said Co. Mohammad Al-Khedr, deputy director of the General Directorate of Nationality and Travel Documents at the Ministry of Interior. “The new biometric passport, or the e-passport, first issued in 2018, is one of the latest passports in the Arab region meeting the world technical and security standards,” he told KUNA.

Col. Al-Khedr noted three types of smart passports being issued at present, namely the ordinary, the diplomatic and the special, are in keeping with the requirements and standards of the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in terms of size, color of cover, design of front cover and technical sophistication. “The passport is made up of 64 pages and all data are written in Arabic and English.
“According to Henley Passport Index, the Kuwaiti passport ranks 56th as the world’s best passport and third on the Arab scale,” he said, noting that holders of Kuwaiti passport enjoy visa waivers for travel to 95 countries around the globe.

During the international High Security Printing Conference, held in Warsaw, Poland, in 2018 with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior participating, the Kuwaiti passport won the award for outstanding achievement and technical sophistication of a travel document, he recalled. For citizens’ convenience, the General Directorate of Nationality and Travel Documents added the online passport renewal service in last September, he said, noting that nearly 188,000 passports have been issued during the first half of 2022.
More services are under study, including the home delivery of passport and the launching of outlets for renewal of passports at public areas such as shopping malls and the airport, Col. Al-Khedr went on.
On the chronicle of passport development, Basem Alloghani, a Kuwaiti researcher and historian, said Kuwait and the United Kingdom signed in 1899 a treaty allowing Kuwait to take charge of the issuance of travel documents instead of the British viceroy.

“The then travel document was just one paper for one rupee (nearly 75 fils) and valid for just one year,” he said. For a Kuwaiti citizen to travel to Iran at the time, he or she had to get a small paper carrying their names and one sentence reading: “In reference to so-and-so, he/she is one of the citizens of Kuwait; please make his/her travel easy.” It used to cost one rupee while a similar document for travel to Saudi Arabia cost two rupees (150 fils) and it was valid for just one trip, Alloghani added.
In early 1950s, the Public Security Department took charge of the issuance of passports.
Act 15 (1959) in the reign of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah provided for launching a department for police and public security which assumed the mission of issuing travel documents until the independence of Kuwait in 1961.Following the independence, the state departments were reshuffled and the Ministry of Interior as assigned the mission of issuing passports for the first time on July 10, 1962, Alloghani added

The Kuwait International Airport saw a sizable flow of people leaving the country to enjoy the first day of the Eid Al-Adha celebrations. Approximately 70,000 people were transported on 280 planes that were operating on the first day, according to reports.

The sources noted that Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and European nations accounted for the majority of trip bookings. Authorities emphasised that in order to escape the heavy traffic at Kuwait International Airport, all travellers seeking to depart must arrive 4 hours before the departure time.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Friday received a cable of greetings from His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the holy occasion of Eid Al-Adha. In his cable, His Highness the Crown Prince wished His Highness the Amir everlasting wellbeing and the homeland more security and progress. He also expressed best wishes for all Arab and Muslim nations. In a reply cable, His Highness the Amir expressed sincere wishes for His Highness the Crown Prince, the homeland and all Arab and Muslim nations.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Friday received cables of greetings from National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim, His Highness the Chief of the National Guards Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah, His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on the holy occasion of Eid Al-Adha. In their cables, the political top brass wished His Highness the Amir everlasting wellbeing and the homeland more progress and prosperity. In reply cables, His Highness the Amir thanked the senior officials for their sincere sentiments, expressing the best wishes for them and the homeland and all Arab and Muslim nations.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Talal Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on Friday expressed greetings to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the holy occasion of Eid Al-Adha. In a press release from the Ministry of Defense, Sheikh Talal, on behalf of all leaders and personnel of the Ministry, wished His Highness the Amir and His Highness the Crown Prince everlasting wellbeing. He also wished the homeland more progress and prosperity, under the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir