The famous Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre in Kuwait was named the winner of the Leading Culture Destinations Berlin Awards, dubbed the "Oscar for Museums" around the world, in the category of "New Cultural Destination of the Year" in the Middle East and North Africa on Thursday.
The award acknowledges Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Centre as a cultural symbol of innovation and unique experiences that serves as a prominent destination for local communities and guests, according to the organizers, Leading Culture Destinations, and visit Berlin organizations.
The Kuwaiti center competed against 38 other cultural sites from 21 countries for the prestigious honor.
Maha Al-Mansour of the Amir Diwan cultural center’s department and Talal Al-Aqab of the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre's relations department got the award.
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The Public Authority for Food and Nutrition clarified to media outlets that it is not true that salmonella outbreaks in many European countries and the United Kingdom have been linked to Kinder chocolate products. All food products, including those in the European warning, are subject to laboratory testing to ensure their safety and compliance with standards.
An authority statement said that it immediately reported the incident to the International Network of Food Safety Officials INFOSAN, which is investigating the incident to provide us with the latest information and developments before approval of the sale of the product can be made.
According to the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition, news and information should always be verified before being published and obtained from official sources.
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Accelerating global warming is driving a rising tide of impacts that could cause profound human misery and ecological disaster, and there is only one way to avoid catastrophe: drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Spread across 10,000 pages, these are the main takeaways from a trio of UN reports on climate change published in August 2021, February 2022 and on Monday.
The three tomes-each with its own roster of hundreds of authors-focus on physical science, impacts and the need to adapt, and finally how to slash carbon pollution. This will be the sixth such trilogy since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) delivered its first report in 1990 and positioned itself as the final word on the science behind global warming. Here are five key findings from the three reports:
Beyond a doubt
Whatever climate sceptics might say, scientific evidence has removed any lingering doubt that human activity is “unequivocally” responsible for global warming, which has seen the planet heat up an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. The atmospheric concentration of CO2 – the main driver of warming, emitted mainly by burning fossil fuels-rose at least 10 times faster between 1900 and 2019 than any time in the last 800,000 years, and is at its highest in two million years.
Bye bye 1.5C?
The 2015 Paris Agreement calls for capping global warming “well below” 2C, and 1.5C if possible. A crescendo of deadly impacts already being felt and a slew of new science has led most countries to embrace the more ambitious aspirational goal. But that ship may have sailed. In every IPCC projection for a liveable future, Earth’s average surface temperature increases by 1.5C or 1.6C by around 2030 – a decade earlier than estimates made only a few years ago.
In theory, it will be possible to cap temperature increases to below the 1.5C threshold by the end of the century, but even a temporary “overshoot” could cause irreversible damage to fragile ecosystems at the poles, in the mountains, and in coastal areas. If countries do not improve on the emissions reduction pledges running to 2030, made under the Paris treaty, even staying under 2C will be a serious challenge. Current national policies would see Earth warm 3.2C by 2100.
Avalanche of suffering
Once a problem on the distant horizon, the devastating consequences of climate change have become a here-and-now reality. Nearly half the world’s population-between 3.3 and 3.6 billion-are “very vulnerable” to global warming’s deadly impacts, which are certain to get worse. Heatwaves so extreme as to literally be unliveable; superstorms made more deadly by a water-logged atmosphere and rising seas; drought, water shortages, more disease-carrying mosquitoes and ticks…
These and other impacts are set to become worse, and will disproportionately ravage Earth’s most vulnerable populations, including indigenous peoples. Hundreds of millions could eventually be forced from their homes by sea levels-pushed up mainly by melting ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica-that will continue to rise across the next century no matter how quickly humanity draws down emissions. Even if global heating is capped at 2C, oceans could gain half-a-meter by 2100 and two meters by 2300, double the IPCC’s estimate from 2019.
Only option left
The IPCC insists that it does not provide recommendations, only background information and policy options so decision makers can make the right choices to ensure a “liveable future” for the planet and its inhabitants. But all roads leading to a 1.5C or even a 2C world “involve rapid and deep and in most cases immediate greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors”-including industry, transportation, agriculture, energy and cities.
Hitting those temperature goals will require a massive reduction in fossil fuel use, the IPCC says: 90 percent, 25 percent and 40 percent less coal, gas and oil, respectively, by 2050, and 90 percent, 40 percent and 80 percent less by 2100. The use of coal plants that do not deploy carbon capture technology to offset some of their pollution to generate power must decline by 70 to 90 percent within eight years.
Tipping points
The new trio of IPCC reports emphasize as never before the danger of “tipping points”, temperature thresholds in the climate system that could, once crossed, result in catastrophic and irreversible change. The good news is that we seem to have pulled back from emissions scenarios from human sources that could by themselves result in a 4C or 5C world. The bad news is that “low probability/high impact” tipping point scenarios in nature could lead us there all the same.
The disintegration of ice sheets that would lift ocean levels a dozen meters or more; the melting of permafrost containing vast stores of the same greenhouse gases we are desperately trying to keep out of the atmosphere; the transformation of the Amazon basin from tropical forest to savannah-all could be triggered by additional global warming. Where are those triggers? Scientists are not sure, but they do know that the risk is much higher in a world that has warmed 2C above 19th-century levels than one that has warmed 1.5C. Above 2.5C, the risk is “very high”. – AFP
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Experts and astronomical centers in Kuwait have unanimously agreed that the month of Ramadan will complete 30 days of fasting and accordingly, the first day of Eid al-Fitr will be Monday, May 2, reports Al-Jarida daily.
Based on these timings, the Eid holidays will be 9 days, starting from Friday 29 of this month until Saturday, May 7, with Sunday, May 1 and Thursday, May 5 counted as days of rest because they fall between two days off.
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This year's Ramadan, the average length of fasting hours in a day in Kuwait is around 15 hours. In the month of Ramadan, the number of fasting hours varies by country, depending on the length of the day, which is determined by the distance between the country and the equator.
New Zealand has the shortest fasting hours this Ramadan, with fasting hours of around 11 hours and 20 minutes, while Finland, Norway, Greenland, and Russia have the longest fasting hours, with fasting hours of up to 20 hours in these nations.
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The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has addressed government agencies with the terms and conditions for disbursing end-of-service benefits to non-Kuwaiti employees, based on numerous requests received from the authorities concerning the disbursement of end-of-service benefits, reports Al-Anba daily. The conditions and controls include a copy of the end-of-service gratuity form issued by the integrated systems, a clearance issued by the Ministry of Interior’s Department of Sentences Enforcement for those cases for which the end-of-service gratuity is required to be paid, and a clearance issued by the Ministry of Electricity and Water and Ministry of Communications.
Other requirements include a copy of the contract concluded for the case for which disbursement is required, a copy of the decision issued for the termination of the service, evidence of career progression, and details of the comprehensive monthly rewards, provided that it includes all the increments granted during the service. All financial and functional data must be entered on CSC’s integrated systems.
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Unusual heat is attributed to the lack of rainfall due to the absence of active western disturbances over north India.
India recorded its warmest March in 122 years with a severe heat wave scorching large swathes of the country in the month, the India Meteorological Department said on Saturday.
The weather department attributed the unusual heat to the lack of rainfall due to the absence of active western disturbances over north India and any major system over south India.
The country as a whole recorded a rainfall of 8.9 mm, which was 71 per cent less than its long period average rainfall of 30.4 mm. It was also the third-lowest precipitation in March since 1901 after 7.2 mm in 1909 and 8.7 mm in 1908.
"Over the country as a whole, the average maximum temperature (33.10 degrees Celsius) recorded in March 2022 is the highest ever in the last 122 years," the IMD said in a statement.
In March 2010, the country had recorded a maximum temperature of 33.09 degrees Celsius.
The MeT department said the country's average mean temperature of 26.67 degrees Celsius in March was the second highest after 26.671 degrees Celsius recorded in March 2010.
The countrywide average minimum temperature of 20.24 degrees Celsius in March was the third highest in 122 years after 20.26 degrees Celsius in 1953 and 20.25 degrees Celsius in 2010.
In Northwest India, the average maximum temperature (30.73 degrees Celsius) is the highest in the last 122 years. March 2004 saw an average maximum temperature of 30.67 degrees Celsius.
The average minimum temperature of 15.26 degrees Celsius was the second highest in the region. March 2010 had a mean minimum temperature of 15.4 degrees Celsius, it said.
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The Ministry of Health has announced the Covid-19 vaccination schedule for the holy month of Ramadan, reports Al-Rai daily. According to the ministry, the vaccination against Coronavirus will continue from Sunday to Thursday during Ramadan as follows: From 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at Kuwait Vaccination Center in Mishref; from 8:00 pm to 12:00 midnight at Jaber Bridge Center, primary healthcare centers and Jleeb Youth Center.
On the other hand, the Ramadan working hours for the expatriate medical examination centers in Shuwaikh, Subhan, Jahra and Ali Sabah Al-Salem are from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm for the morning shift and from 1:00 to 5:00 pm for the evening shift. All those who intend to visit these centers must book their appointment through the ministry’s official website.
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Kuwait's luxury goods market, which is the third-largest behind the UAE and Saudi Arabia in terms of personal luxury, grew at the fastest rate in the Gulf area in 2021 compared to 2019, at 35 percent.
According to a report released by the Chalhoub Group in collaboration with the Fashion Authority titled 'Personal Well-being in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries in 2021: The Story of Early Recovery and Growth,' the luxury goods market in the Gulf in 2021 showed an early recovery similar to pre-pandemic levels, earning $9.7 billion at the end of the year, up 23% from 2019.
According to a local Arabic daily, several factors will drive growth, including increased domestic spending in Saudi Arabia, the return of international tourists to the UAE, the entry of new categories of consumers into the luxury sector, the innovation of new categories in the sector such as wellness and skincare, and the acceleration of e-commerce growth.
The survey, on the other side, stated that e-commerce for beauty, elegance and high fashion products is still robust in the Gulf, with 11 percent of beauty and elegance products traded and 15 percent of high-end fashion products traded.
According to the survey, all GCC nations except Bahrain had double-digit growth in the high-end fashion sector in 2021 as a result of Gulf consumers diverting their spending inward, with Kuwait seeing a 49 percent increase, Saudi Arabia 44 percent, and the UAE 40 percent.
According to the survey, local customers spend 60% of their spending on luxury in their home country, a significant rise from before the pandemic, and consumers in the region are also interested in buying with certain brand expectations.
Meanwhile, the personal luxury goods market in the Gulf is predicted to reach $11 billion by 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 7% between 2021 and 2023.
The entry of new consumers into the sector, the relocation of spending on luxury (driven by several factors, including travel restrictions, brand availability, high improved inventory levels, in addition to improved customer service and focusing efforts on building a customer base), local events (as the region seeks to attract more international brands by advertising industry-specific events), and local events (as the region seeks to attract more international brands by advertising industry-specific events) are the six main catalysts for market growth in 2021, according to the report.
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The Civil Services Commission revealed that in the last 5 years 13,000 expats working in the government sector were terminated. Expats working in various government agencies had reached 79,000. With new rules of Kuwaitization (Resolution No 11/2017) as per 5 yr plan coming into force, the expats’ figures have come down to 66,000 most of them working in the Ministry of Health and Education.
New ratios of job groups will be allocated in the ministries, government agencies and institutions as the 5 yr plan related to Resolution No 11/2017 is ending in August. The replacement policy will continue as long as specialist jobs vacancies are available for expats in those fields.
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Traffic seen on the first official business day of Ramadan. Solving the traffic problem takes more than developing public transportation alone. The problem will most likely persist as long as the population growth remains high while the country’s infrastructure remains unchanged since the 1980s. There is general consensus in Kuwait that only way to resolve the issue is by building new and expanded road and urban infrastructures.
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An elevator in a Mangaf apartment crashed on Saturday evening, killing an Indian national.
Muhammed Shafi, a Kerala resident, has been identified as the dead. He was going to the building for delivery while working at a nearby Bakkala.
Firefighters had to break into the elevator to get their bodies out.
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Interacting with what was published by Al-Jarida daily in its publication issued, under the title ‘Variation of salaries for domestic workers according to nationality, harms the recruitment’, sources in the Public Authority for Manpower revealed that the authority is currently working to raise the minimum wage for domestic workers to 75 dinars instead of the current minimum 60 dinars per month.
The sources indicated that according to Law No. 68 of 2015, issued on domestic workers, and its executive regulations issued by the Minister of Interior at the time through the Ministerial Resolution 2194/2016, “the basic wage received by the domestic worker and the like shall be no less than 60 dinars per month (200 dollars).
Preserve
Emphasizing that out of the authority’s keenness to preserve the rights of these workers, it seeks to raise the minimum wage and equalize them with their peers working in the private sector covered by Law 6/2010 and its amendments. On the role of the relevant government agencies in general, and PAM in particular, in fixing the defect in determining the salaries and wages of these workers according to nationality, and trying to equalize all female workers residing in Kuwait, it indicated that the responsibility of the concerned government agencies is to implement the text of Article 19 of the aforementioned law means the basic wage that the domestic worker receives as specified in the work contract between the two parties, provided that it is not less than the minimum wage making sure that the worker receives his monthly salary without interruption, and taking legal measures in case the employer delays the payment.
The sources added as for the monthly wage, it is what is agreed upon in the work contract signed between the two parties (the worker and the employer), especially since the contract is the law of contractors, provided that the aforementioned minimum wage is not violated.
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Long rows of flower beds at Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden, located at foothills of Zabarwan range and spread over 20 acres, is home to 15 lakh tulips of 68 varieties
To relive the scenes from 1981 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Silsila, hundreds of locals and tourists on Wednesday thronged the country’s largest blooming tulip garden in Srinagar, which opened in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic that had kept people indoors.
Long rows of flower beds at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden, located at the foothills of the Zabarwan range and spread over 20 acres, is home to 15 lakh tulips of 68 varieties.
“I have seen a tulip garden in the famous song, Dekha ek Khwab, from Silsila. The stark resemblance and the expanse of the garden have made us relive those beautiful scenes from the movie,” Nisha Rawat, a tourist from New Delhi, accompanied by her husband, said.
The song was shot at the Keukenhof tulip gardens in The Netherlands. It had received rave reviews not only for the lyrics but also the scenic beauty dotted by hundreds of tulips. The iconic images finally have a lookalike backdrop at the Srinagar garden, attracting honeymooners and local couples equally.
Hundreds of locals and tourists visited on day one of its opening. J&K Chief Secretary A.K. Mehta, who threw open the garden, said tourists visiting Kashmir were the highest-ever so far compared to any season, whether COVID-19 or before. “We are expecting a further increase in the footfall of tourists in Kashmir,” he stated.
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It is the Navy’s premier technological training establishment
President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday presented the President’s colour to INS Valsura, the Navy’s premier technological training establishment.
The President’s Colour is bestowed on a military unit in recognition of the exceptional service rendered to the nation, both in peace and in war.
‘Nishan Adhikari’ Lt. Arun Singh Sambyal received the President’s Colour on behalf of the unit in an impressive parade, the Navy said. A special postal cover was also released to commemorate the occasion.
“The award ceremony commenced with insertion of Drum Toli for Pile-of-Drums ceremony. It traces its history back to a time when soldiers on field used to arrange their drums in a pile to form an altar,” the defence spokesperson said on social media.
INS Valsura trains officers and men on operation and maintenance of sophisticated and technologically advanced equipment on board warships.
The Navy was the first Indian armed force to be awarded the President’s Colour by Dr Rajendra Prasad on May 27, 1951.
Torpedo school in 1942
INS Valsura, started on 30 acres of land as a torpedo school in 1942 under the British, has today grown into one of the foremost technological training institutions of the country spread over 600 acres.
In line with the Navy’s futuristic road map to power its warships, including the proposed Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-II with electric propulsion, in 2018 a medium voltage laboratory was set up by Siemens, Germany, at INS Valsura to familiarise and train naval engineers in the nuances of medium voltage power generation, protection and distribution.
The Navy stated that INS Valsura imparted quality training on contemporary and niche technologies through progressive augmentation of training infrastructure. “Setting up of Artificial Intelligence, big data and medium voltage labs in the recent years exemplify its quest for technological excellence in contemporary technology also in training officers and sailors.”
Overall, the establishment conducts more than 262 courses a year and has an annual training throughput of more than 750 officers and 4,200 sailors. In addition, 1,800 trainees from 15 Friendly Foreign Navies have been trained till date.
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According to astronomer Adel Al-Saadoun, Ramadan will begin on Sunday, April 3. A crescent will be visible to the naked eye on Saturday, April 2, but it will be impossible to see on Friday, April 1, according to Astronomer Adel Al-Saadoun.
Ramadan will begin on April 2nd this year, the Al-Ojiri Scientific Center announced earlier.
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Statement by Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations
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According to a local newspaper, Kuwait has banned the use of mosques for iftar banquets during Ramadan to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Kuwait's Ministry of Awqaf (Endowments) and Islamic Affairs has emphasized the ban in a circular, however, which allows the distribution of benevolent pre-cooked meals outside mosques when daily fasting ends, Al Jarida said.
Ramadan tents have also been banned inside mosque precincts, according to the ministry.
There will be no laxity on the part of the ministry in dealing with any violations of the circular issued for health and organization reasons, since repercussions of the Coronavirus are still affecting some sectors, the paper quoted Awqaf sources as saying.
They said the ban on holding Ramadan tens near mosques aims to prevent gatherings indoors. According to the sources, COVID-19 and its variants are still present at pre-pandemic levels despite the decline in daily infections.
As part of an effort to ease anti-virus restrictions, Kuwaiti authorities said all mosques would be back to normal within the next few weeks. Mosques no longer require worshippers to observe physical distance.
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The Cabinet, headed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, held Thursday an extraordinary meeting with officials of several monitoring and control bodies to review government agencies’ performance and cooperation. During the meeting, President of the State Audit Bureau Faisal Al-Shaya briefed the cabinet about the main points mentioned in the SAB’s report of FY 2020/2021.
He highlighted the Bureau’s role of prior control over the state agencies’ financial transactions and apprised the cabinet off the financial violations it registered against government bodies and disciplinary trials it conducted against violators this year. For her part, Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission Mariam Al-Oqail informed the cabinet about the government bodies’ violations of rules of debts, training courses and goals of replacing foreign workers with nationals.
Furthermore, President of the Bureau of Financial Controllers Khalifa Alejail and a number of the authority’s officials addressed the cabinet about the Bureau’s role in ensuring an effective prior control of the government bodies’ financial performance. Head of the Government Performance Follow-Up Agency Sheikh Ahmad Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah talked about the agency’s recommendations to enhance the government efficiency and upgrade its performance
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The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has called on its affiliated government agencies to comply with CSC Resolution No. 11 of 2017 about Kuwaitization of jobs, stressing that no appointment of a non-Kuwaiti should be requested in compliance with the job percentage set by the Kuwaitization decision, reports Al-Qabas daily. The CSC request came in the letter it addressed to the concerned authorities, after receiving a number of requests it received for appointments of non-Kuwaitis from various government agencies, including from the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs recently which was subsequently rejected.
In its reply the CSC stressed that any request for the appointment of a non- Kuwaiti that exceeds the percentages specified in the CSC decision is a consequential violation. The CSC indicated that the deadline for acquiring the Kuwaitization percentages, according to the decision, ends on August 26, 2022, pointing out that the legislator obligated the authorities to reduce the number of non- Kuwaiti employees annually until reaching the percentages of national labor specified in the decision in each job group over a five-year period stressing that the five-year deadline is approaching the end.
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