QNA/Doha
The weekly Cabinet meeting, presided over by HE the Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, yesterday welcomed the outcome of the 20th session of Jerusalem Committee, held in Marrakesh on January 17 and 18 under the chairmanship of King Mohamed of Morocco.
The Cabinet asserted that the final statement issued at the meeting and the recommendations and positions assume great importance especially in view of the serious and escalating Israeli violations.
These practices require an urgent and firm international intervention as well steps to compel the Israeli occupation authorities to respect the international law and resolutions.
The Cabinet reiterated Qatar’s firm support for the rights of the Palestinian people foremost of which being their right to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The Cabinet then took steps to issue a draft law to amend some provisions of Law No 8 of 1990 on the regulation of human food control after the Cabinet took note of the Advisory Council’s recommendation.
According to the rules of the draft law, upon a decision by the director of the competent municipality or the director of the competent department at the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning and Ministry of Public Health, a violating store may be closed.
Closure shall be through administrative means and a banner reading “the store was closed due to violation of human food control regulating law” is to be posted outside the store. The closure decision will also be posted on the website of the ministry that issues the decision.
The Cabinet then approved draft memoranda of understanding on strategic co-operation between the General Tourism Authority and Qatar Airways, Mowasalat Company and the supreme committee for the projects and heritage.
The Cabinet then reviewed a letter by HE the Minister of Justice on the outcome of the 29th session of the Arab Justice Ministers Council, held in Sana’a during November 2013 and took the appropriate decision.
During the session, HE the Prime Minister gave the floor to HE the Minister of Transport who presented to the Cabinet data related to public transport, Karwa Company and the plan for its privatisation by offering it for public subscription in the future, the Ministry’s plan to increase taxi companies and cars to provide service to the public as early as possible and future projects such as stops, stations and express transport.
The Minister presented data related to the New Doha Port project explaining that capacity of the port in its first phase will be 2mn containers in 2016 and 4mn containers in 2020 to reach 6mn containers in the third phase in 2030, with an attempt to merge the first and second phases to reach the third phase in 2020.
He also explained date related to the expansion of the current Doha Port and the increase of its capacity to reach 750,000 containers, pointing to the support the State provides to the transport sector and care for improving services in this sector.
He referred in this regard to the recent approval by the Cabinet of a draft law on public transport (buses) at Mowasalat Company which has been referred to the Advisory Council.
Qatar to host GCC security forum
|
Doha is set to host the GCC Digital Security Forum on February 4-5. |
The forum will be held under the patronage of HE the Minister of Communication and Information Technology Dr Hessa Sultan al-Jaber and organised by Meeza in collaboration with Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group.
This will be the leading regional forum that will discuss not only digital security breaches and attacks on companies and its economic repercussions within the GCC, but also the strategies and counter-measures needed to overcome these threats and reinforce defences against cyber intruders and hackers.
The forum comes at a time when the issue of defending digital networks and systems against intrusions and threats has become a concern on the minds of governments, public institutions and private companies. This is especially true when digital crime is costing the world billions of dollars in losses.
With this in mind, most countries in the region have created specialised agencies to respond to incidents and breaches and defend the existing digital networks, critical industries and the Internet economy at large, which is increasingly becoming critical to sustained long-term economic growth.
According to organisers, topics of discussion will focus on GCC governmental actions taken to enhance the security of their infrastructure and networks from cyber attacks. The discussions will also re-evaluate current digital policies, laws and strategies within the region. This will entail fortifying the co-operation between governments and the private sector, as well as building inter-governmental co-operation in the sphere of digital security.
In parallel, the forum will discuss how organisations and companies have improved their understanding of digital security and developed strategies and programmes and nurtured robust internal to meet with these challenges.
The forum will also evaluate the regulatory authorities’ efforts and CERTs (Computer Emergency Response Teams) and their approach to dealing with incidents and breaches and further strengthening the resilience and security of networks.
The forum will welcome more than 30 regional and international speakers, including HE Dr al-Jaber; Rashid al-Naimi, chairman of Meeza; Hamadoun Tore, secretary general of ITU; Khalid al-Hashmi, cyber security executive director of Q-CERT, Qatar; Den Sullivan, head of architectures, emerging markets, Cisco Systems; Noboru Nakatani, executive director, Interpol Global Complex for Innovation; Troels Oerting, head of European Cyber Crime Centre; Dr Fadi Aloul, cyber security adviser ; and Andy Archibald, deputy director, Cyber, National Crime Agency (UK).
QCCI attends Riyadh meeting
The Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry (QCCI) participated in the first meeting of the GCC working group to study incentives and advantages to the private sector in the region.
The meeting began yesterday at the Riyadh-based GCC General Secretariat.
QCCI is represented in the meeting by its Deputy Director General Saleh Hamad al-Sharqi and Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, an economic expert.
The participants will discuss ways of giving incentives and advantages to the private sector in the GCC countries which will bring about drastic changes in the respective government’s action with investors operating in the private sector in these countries.
The meeting is in response to a decision of the GCC Committee on Financial and Economic Co-operation.
Under the decision a team from the ministries of finance and economy from the member states was set up to discuss incentives and advantages for the private sector in the GCC.
Street work is nearing completion
Around 65% of work on the development of Jassim bin Mohamed Street has been completed, local Arabic daily Al Sharq has reported.
The project includes the development of a street with two lanes on either side, as well as a median, between Al Rayyan Street and Jassim bin Mohamed Street. The street will be developed in such a manner that it provides an entry to Souq Waqif, the daily reports.
Seven intersections with traffic signals will be set up on the street and the work also includes the construction of a new tunnel for pedestrians, connecting Souq Waqif with the Msheireb area, the report adds.
53 students enrol for nursing course at UCQ
A total of 53 students have enrolled to study nursing at the University of Calgary–Qatar (UCQ) for the 2014 winter semester. “At a time when Qatar faces a critical shortage of nurses, it is very encouraging to see a growing number of men and women seeking a career in nursing,” UCQ associate dean -- academic Lucille Wittstock said. One of the new students, Sheikha Mohamed, who is pursuing a degree while working as a school nurse under Primary Health Care Corporation said: “I have always wanted to be a nurse; nursing is a noble profession and a satisfying career. It is a selfless job. My highest reward is seeing a smile on a patient’s face and knowing that I have helped them through rough times. As a school nurse, I try to introduce the profession to the young generation because there is a need for professional
Qatari nurses.”
