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Qatar Museums is presenting 'Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams' at M7 in Msheireb Downtown Doha, until March 31. The retrospective features a selection of pieces being shown for the first time, including ensembles from the private collection of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, a long-standing client of Christian Dior Couture. Olivier Gabet, curator A media preview of the exhibition was conducted on Saturday with Sheikha Reem al-Thani, acting deputy CEO of Exhibitions and Marketing at Qatar Museums welcoming the gathering. The curator of the exhibition, Olivier Gabet, explained each of the collections on display at the exhibition. The first fashion exhibition of its ambition and scale in the Middle East, it has been reinvented anew following successful presentations at prestigious museums in Paris, London, Shanghai and New York, according to Qatar Museums. The exhibition, specially conceived for Qatar and curated by Gabet, celebrates nearly 75 years of creative passion, punctuated by captivating haute couture dresses and works from the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Gabet is director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. “The exhibition, 'Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams', has captivated audiences around the globe with its stunning design and breathtaking fashion creations. Qatar Museums is pleased to present a special presentation of the exhibition in Doha, in collaboration with Dior and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Qatar Museums gives special thanks to Place Vendôme for their generous support as the presenting sponsor of the exhibition,” said HE Sheikha al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Chairperson, Qatar Museums. “Christian Dior was a true visionary,” HE Sheikha Al Mayassa continued. “So, it is especially meaningful to us that 'Designer of Dreams' is the first major exhibition to open at Qatar Museums’ M7, a creative hub that supports Qatar’s burgeoning fashion and design industries. This inspiring space provides a platform for local talent and supports aspiring and established creative entrepreneurs in Qatar to realise their ambitions.” Resembling a majestic entrance, a décor evoking the legendary 30 Avenue Montaigne welcomes visitors, followed by a selection of silhouettes designed by each of Christian Dior's successors – Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri. Also featured is the 'Bar' suit, a manifesto of the New Look, designed by Christian Dior for his first collection in 1947. The House’s multiple sources of inspiration – like the sumptuousness of Versailles – are revealed, while the unmissable toile room, a tribute to the savoir-faire of the Ateliers, promotes the excellence of the 'petites mains'. A floral bouquet of timeless elegance, the 'Miss Dior' fragrance blossoms before Maria Grazia Chiuri's eponymous new haute couture dress for Dior. The beauty of world cultures is showcased in the Dior Around the World section, reflecting cultural references for each country represented, for example Middle Eastern-inspired stained-glass windows by Philippe-Joseph Brocard. In the heart of a garden recalling Monsieur Dior's love of flowers, looks are enhanced by delicate embellishments or poetic prints, like an haute couture herbarium, presented alongside embroidery by Rébé and precious botanical works dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Continuing this dreamlike journey, the J'adore universe is exalted by a cascade of golden raindrops composed of 3,000 perfume bottles in a creation by the artist Liu Jianhua. The work 'Precious Stonewal'l (2020) and the 'J'adore' perfume bottle designed by Jean-Michel Othoniel (2012) also appear like an echo. The irresistible Diorama window, revisited in pastel shades, dialogues with an installation specially created for this exhibition by the artist Joël Andrianomearisoa, titled 'Les Saisons Imaginaires' and made from a thousand upcycled Dior silk scarves. More than 50 'Lady Dior' handbags have been reinterpreted for the 'Dior Lady Art' project, granting painters, sculptors and designers carte blanche to transform this emblem according to their artistic vision – an accessory that owes its iconic status to its extraordinary ambassador, Lady Diana. The public can also admire one of the Princess of Wales' outfits, alongside looks that have graced other dazzling celebrities, including Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence. The final gallery, a ballroom paying tribute to the "kingdom of dreams", offers an enchanting encounter between virtuoso evening gowns and a series of haute couture ensembles belonging to Her Highness Sheikha Moza. "An odyssey from yesterday to today, all in the name of Dior magic," Qatar Museums said in a statement. 'Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams' is sponsored by Place Vendôme with additional support from Qatar Airways. The exhibition is part of the ongoing cultural legacy established as part of the Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture, an initiative celebrating the longstanding ties between both nations.

Experts at Qatar Foundation (QF) have proposed a dynamic web-based sustainability dashboard for corporate buildings in the country to monitor, categorise and report energy consumption as a means to combat climate change. “Energy efficiency is one of the most powerful tools for combating global climate change. The equation is straightforward: less energy used, means less emissions generated,” said  principal scientist at Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (Qeeri), part of QF’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Buildings alone account for approximately 32% of global energy use, and nearly 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions. This essentially means there is lots of room for improvement when it comes to their energy efficiency. “The problem is even more serious here with buildings accounting for the largest portion of total electricity consumption. In 2020, buildings in Qatar consumed over 50% of the total electricity generated,” said, Dr Beitelmal. According to Mohammed Ayoub, a senior research director at Qeeri, the urgency of climate change necessitates decisive action across all sectors, including building energy consumption. “If building operators in Qatar adopt this proposed sustainability dashboard to track their detailed energy consumption and use this information to map clear reduction targets, they will see immediate and noticeable improvements in their energy efficiency. This, in-turn, will translate into significant reductions in building carbon footprint across the country,” he explained. A sustainability dashboard would allow more environmentally-conscious organisations in the country to cement their commitment to the environment while encouraging others to follow suit. “Think of the dashboard as an energy report card. It will detail exactly where the energy is being used and how much. What we get is overall energy consumption of the building; however, the challenge with this is, it doesn’t categorise the consumption,” said, Dr Beitemal. The advantage of categorised energy consumption readings is that it will allow to identify which areas need to be prioritised when implementing energy efficiency measures. “A building can be designed to be sustainable, but that doesn’t mean it will automatically become energy efficient. This is where the dashboard will come in by offering a granular overview of the building’s energy consumption and uncovering which areas need to be made more efficient,” continued, Dr Beitemal. The experts noted that to get this off the ground, will require great effort. “It might be that some buildings don’t actually record the necessary data, but that doesn’t mean they can’t. The other challenge with such initiatives is that people might think of it as an energy audit that would highlight their energy inefficiency and reflect negatively on them,” maintained, Ayoub. Several institutions in North America have implemented sustainability dashboards with success. The ability of such a dashboard to show clear data on what is really going on, allows users to make effective data-driven decisions and see their impact on energy efficiency in real-time. Dr Beitelmal said: “I personally think, QF has everything it needs to get the ball rolling on this. We have the infrastructure, the engineers, the scientists, and most importantly the vision to become leaders in sustainability.” “The important thing to remember for corporations here is, instead of looking at it as an expose which will uncover shortcomings, we need to look at it as a learning process that offers us the opportunity to improve our energy efficiency,” added, Dr Beitelmal.

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has started construction works on the Mebaireek Interchange project and upgrade of Khalid Bin Ahmed Interchange, known as Industrial Intersection on Salwa Road, as part of the expressway programme. The project aims to enhance traffic flow on Salwa Road for commuters heading to the Industrial Area and surrounding areas such as Ain Khaled, Al Murrah, New Fereej Al Ghanim, Muaither, Al Sailiya, Mebaireek and Abu Nakhlah. Ashghal had arranged a tour of the sites for the media and briefed them about the features of the project. Speaking to the media, Noah al-Joof from the Highway Projects Department at Ashghal said: “The project includes distinctive construction methods such as the use of precast steel beams to reduce closure of the underpass at Al Furousiya and Salwa Interchange. The Mebaireek Bridge is also to be implemented in phases to avoid traffic closure for Salwa Road users. The project is to be completed by the third quarter of 2022.” For the Mebaireek Interchange, Ashghal will build a new two-level interchange between Al Sailiya Interchange and Mesaieed Interchange, connecting Salwa Road and Mebaireek Street. The proposed interchange includes two main bridges, each 330m long, with several exit points, loops and accesses to local roads connected to the new interchange, facilitating traffic movement in all directions. According to the official, works on the new intersection include construction of bypass roads and local roads with a total length of about 3km, in addition to the construction of 3km of pedestrian paths and 3km of bicycle paths, whereas the area of tree plantation on both sides of the intersection is about 41,000sqm. The Mebaireek Interchange will contribute to improving traffic flow in the area, shortening journey time by 50% and accommodating more than 8,500 vehicles per hour. Construction of the Mebaireek Interchange aims to provide a direct free link for commuters through Salwa Road towards the Mebaireek and Al Sailiya areas through service roads in both directions of Salwa Road, for road users heading between Doha, Mebaireek and Al Sailiya areas, and for those heading from Mebaireek and Al Sailiya towards the external areas in the south and west of Qatar such as Abu Nakhlah, Mekainis and Al Karana. The upgrade project of converting Khalid bin Ahmad Roundabout into a signal-controlled intersection includes the development and expansion of Khalid Bin Ahmed Interchange, converting the roundabout into a signal-controlled intersection to connect Salwa Road, Al Furousiya Street and East Industrial Street. It will enhance traffic flow by accommodating 8,500 vehicles per hour instead of 5000, and cutting mobility time to about 80%. The signal-controlled intersection will consist of six lanes with many entry-exit points, 2.8km-long connection roads, and tree planation over approximately 10,000sqm. The new signal-controlled intersection will regulate traffic and provide more traffic safety instead of existing roundabout, with necessary expansion, which will facilitate the connection of traffic between Salwa Road, Al Furousiya Street and East Industrial Street, and serve residential neighbourhoods in the area. “This will reduce travel time to various destinations by approximately 80%, while construction of the Mebaireek Bridge and several local roads connected to the new Mebaireek intersection will reduce the journey time to about 50%. The construction of two intersections on Salwa Road will enhance traffic flow between Doha, Al Rayyan Municipality and external areas, as it provides alternate option to Al Sailiya Interchange,” explained al-Joof. He also said Ashghal will rely more on local materials and local manufacturers in the project work to supply materials such as lighting poles, traffic signs, sewage pipes, rainwater drainage pipes, asphalt and precast hard materials including manholes, concrete and steel. “Construction of the Industrial and Mebaireek intersections will contribute significantly to enhance the movement of passengers and goods, as they constitute a link between the Abu Samra border point in the southwest and Hamad Port. The Mebaireek Interchange will play a major role during FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 for fans arriving by road, as it is the only land route for neighbouring countries to Qatar,” he added. Some 80% of the construction materials are locally made, Ashghal said.    

The focus on reporting from regions that are often overlooked is what makes the channel different from other news networks, noted Dareen Abughaida, principal presenter at Al Jazeera English Channel. “The breadth of our coverage, and our emphasis on reporting from regions that are often overlooked is what distinguishes us from other news networks. We have challenged mainstream Western media domination by being the voice of the voiceless,”Abughaida told Gulf Times. Abughaida joined Al Jazeera in 2010 in the news department as the Arab Spring was beginning to unfold in the region. “As a journalist and an Arab, I couldn’t have joined at a better time - as we were there to cover every angle and we were fortunate enough to witness history unfold hour after hour, and day by day. Having grown up in the region, and being of Palestinian/Lebanese descent, I understood the challenges, and the demands of people who were fighting for freedom, justice, dignity and economic opportunities. And Al Jazeera was, and still is, the go to channel when it comes to the Middle East,” she said. According to Abughaida, her job mainly is to question the status quo and provide the viewer with an honest assessment of news stories they need to be well-informed. She said: “We wouldn’t be doing our jobs as journalists if we didn’t ask challenging questions to everyone involved, and hold decision makers to account. And despite the pressures exerted on the network and its journalists, Al Jazeera will always continue to respect people’s rights to be heard by covering stories from all around the globe and ensuring that our reporting and storytelling maintains integrity in the face of scrutiny and these challenges.” Abughaida believes that through the channel’s storytelling and news bulletins, the viewer walks away truly informed on the day’s events. “We explore how the impact of decisions made in world capitals directly affect people on the ground. Our reporting gives a voice to those often neglected. We go to them.We make the effort, we care, we stay,” she said. "Our newsroom is an incredibly diverse and multicultural environment, and the diversity extends right across the network and transcends departments. People come from different cultures, and different backgrounds, and they speak different languages. And all are bound by the passion of storytelling and curiosity about the world around us. As a presenter, I learn from everyone here, it enriches me both personally and professionally when I am exposed daily to other cultures and other ways of thinking," she said. The presenter is of the view that as Al Jazeera continues to deliver groundbreaking TV news content, the global media landscape is facing an ever increasing set of challenges during the digital transformation. “However, challenges quite often present opportunities! Al Jazeera’s journey will continue into the digital space as the network looks towards the future and expands into other types of media and platforms while simultaneously continuing to maintain its original principles and commitment to being fearless in the pursuit of truth wherever it may be. Keep watching this space,” she added.    

Empathy is one major pillar to help overcome the challenges posed by the tsunami of change the world is going through, especially in the past two years, a Qatar-based emotional intelligence coach has stressed. “Perhaps Covid-19 was one of those sudden challenges on a global scale that put many organisations out of business or led leaders to take tough decisions in an emotionally hijacked moment with the sole reason to save and sustain their business. In addition, there came the sudden, massive dependency on technology, which fuelled the distancing between people not just on a physical level but even on a human-to-human basis,” Joseph al-Haddad told Gulf Times. “When we start talking to one another without any judgement, when we connect with each other from a caring perspective, the true sense of communication begins and that is where empathy plays its role in creating a safe space for us. Regardless of the advancement in technology, nothing can replace the conversations and interactions between human beings and empathy is a necessity for our survival as a species” he explained. Al-Haddad, who has trained about 10,000 individuals in Qatar and the region both face to face and online, is a certified emotional intelligence coach from Six Seconds in the US, and a professional certified coach from the International Coaching Federation. “I strongly believe that my role as a coach, consultant and facilitator is helping me support the social and human development pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030 through coaching and training people, from graduates to executives and others. I guide leaders and other individuals to understand and manage themselves better. I help them understand that emotions are at the core of everything we do,” he said. According to al-Haddad, "emotions drive people and people drive relationships and performance". “If you don’t understand your emotions, you can’t understand other people and can’t manage performance in any area of life. Using different assessments, I help people understand themselves better to connect with others both on an individual and professional level." The main areas of his coaching practice are executive, relationship and self-development coaching. “I am also a neuro-linguistics practitioner, which in simple terms is the study of patterns. I work with people to help them understand the patterns that are not working for them and support them in creating new patterns in their life,” he pointed out. “In our brain we don’t delete our habits. When we want to change a habit and start implementing the change, our system starts to build a new pathway upon a previous pattern. The more we understand the reasons behind a change, the easier it becomes to build a new pattern. Understanding why we are doing something or why we are changing something, helps us not go back to our old, wrong practices,” he added.    

Since its inception on November 1, 1996 with the Arabic channel, the network has been a pathbreaker, holding major impact on the global news media, turning out to be the 'voice of the voiceless', said, a top official of Al Jazeera Television Network as the media house marks its silver jubilee on Monday. “I am always concerned about the editorial correctness of news and not about its political correctness. Every day of Al Jazeera is a milestone for us as something new happens and we get the trust of more people by reporting the true facts. I always go with the news, facts, its correctness, honesty and objectivity,” Salah Negm, director of news at Al Jazeera English, told Gulf Times, recollecting the journey of the network for the last 25 years. “Every event, since our inception, we have covered in a different way which made our competitors and their networks to review their ways. When we cover an event or a conflict, we make sure that we have correspondents or representatives from both sides, voicing the opinion of both sides,” Negm said. He said that Al Jazeera was the only channel in Afghanistan that had a bureau and the satellite news gathering ability before 9/11. “During Operation Desert Fox in Iraq, Al Jazeera had presence there. During the Palestinian Intifada, the channel had news gathering ability from both sides. When our office and that of Associate Press in Gaza were bombed, we had it live on our channel,” he said. The news director maintained that there would be people who may or may not like the way the channel is covering the news. “We have to get a balanced view from various angles for an impartial reporting. Covering every story is a challenge. Getting every rights and facts irrespective what the official version or other views, is one of the challenges. Apart from logical challenges, there are many other things. Security and logistics are very important for the safety of the staff,” Negm said. Refuting the allegations of the channel having links with some organisations such as Al Qaeda, Negm said that any successful news organisation needs to have reliable contacts. “We get the information from these sources and that is not to having any links with them. If you don’t do that you are conveying a non-complete story. You have to present the views of all the parties and put them before people. These are normal journalistic works.” He also claimed that the ‘Bin Laden Tapes’ aired by Al Jazeera were made available to some other channels and they did not broadcast them. “We released only what were news-relevant from the tape. The entire tape was more than 60 minutes,” he pointed out. The official stressed that the channel always asks relevant and basic questions. “It is more important to ask the right questions at the right time than getting the answers. We do ask the right questions and we are deliberately keen to do that. When we cover some event we just don’t parachute and leave but we stay and try to unearth facts because there are consequences for every incident and we try to bring them forth. We want to highlight the impacts of the incidents on the people,” he said. Box Al Jazeera Network statistics Al Jazeera Media Network: •    Five TV channels •    Two Centres - Centre for Studies & Human Rights •    One Media institute •    More than 70 Bureaus around the world •    Broadcasted to over 430mn unique homes in 150 countries •    Available at over 2.4mn hotel rooms. •    5 digital channels •    20 websites •    Media content in 7 languages Social Media: •    Over 100mn followers on Facebook •    Over 25mn followers on Twitter •    More than 6mn followers on Instagram •    More than 14mn YouTube subscribers •    More than 3,000 employees, from over 90 nationalities    

Fearless journalism to become the 'voice of the voiceless’ has been the identity of Al Jazeera Network, according to one of the anchors of the media house. “Your work speaks for itself and there will always be people who will cast allegations. That might also be the reasons why we get banned from reporting in some places. But, we always want to tell the world the stories that were not told by other news media and that is why we are always different,” Kamahl Santamaria, principal anchor, told Gulf Times, as Al Jazeera Network marks its 25th anniversary. Santamaria who was part of Al Jazeera English from its inception in1996 believes that when the channel is restricted from reporting, it is a proof of doing the right job. “We don’t look at the agenda of the other news channels. We do best what we can, for our viewers by setting the right news agenda. Our highlight is that on many occasions, we do not look like other channels. It is so important that we maintain our identity by being different,” Santamaria said. The anchor feels that the Arab Spring was a huge and decisive moment for the channel. “What really changed for us was the Arab Spring. During the Egyptian revolution, the front page of YouTube was streaming Al Jazeera. Thereafter, we could see so many journalists from other channels arriving there from the US, the UK and elsewhere,” he said. Santamaria who has covered four US elections recollected some of the experiences. “It started with president Obama’s election and since an American president’s election is so connected with the entire world, it is always very exciting. However, president Trump’s election was entirely different as the outcome was quite against all the electoral forecast. We should have understood the popularity that he did have and we failed in that. Most media got their shock of their lives,” he said. According to Santamaria, covering and watching what is happening in Egyptian Revolution during the Arab Spring and knowing that the whole Middle East has been shaken up has been one of the big moments of his career with Al Jazeera. “Another striking moment in my career with Al Jazeera was while reporting Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013. During the reporting, I met a fisherman whose house was blown away in the typhoon. He went inside of what is left of his house and brought a plate of fish saying this was the entire catch he had. He cooked it and offered to me. It was one great moment of realisation, the story of a simple, helpless individual which is all the more important to me,” he said. Santamaria said it was unthinkable in 1996 to have a 24-hour news channel from Doha. “But when we look back, it shows how the news channel has evolved and its global impact, making Qatar a news hub. When we started, several parts of the world such as the Middle East, North Africa, Southern Asia, South America were under-reported. We could change that. People watch us, people rely on us and there is a great responsibility on what we do. They come to you because they trust you,” he said.    

Various components of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will enable people in all professions to do their jobs better, augmenting human capabilities within next 10 years, a leading Qatar-based AI expert has said. “The digital ecosystem will keep developing, fuelled by the pervasive presence of AI components. AI will be used for augmenting our sensorial experiences and mutual interactions. We will have seamless access to a vast amount of diverse multi-media data. AI will support or fully control processes and workflows in all domains,” Gianni Di Caro, associate professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, told Gulf Times. Prof Di Caro said that modern AI technologies are having a truly transformational impact on the society. “AI is augmenting our abilities, making us better at what we do. AI components and solutions are widely being integrated in systems and societies to support processes, interactions, and decision-making.” “In the coming years, making use of AI, doctors will be making more reliable diagnoses and more precise surgeries. Drivers will be driving in a safer environment. Lawyers will let AI find the right laws and cases and check normative compliance of legal documents. Merchants will be able to perfectly tailor their products and stock to the needs of their customers. Financial investors will use AI to process massive historic and contextual data to give solid predictions of future scenarios,” he said. According to the academic, governments will play a major role in the development of Responsible AI to define forms of governance for the development and use of AI systems to ensure compliance to local ethics and norms. “Especially at this stage of early development of AI, governments might not have professional experts able to fully tackle and understand the technical challenges of modern AI systems. Therefore, governments shall work in tight co-operation with academy and industry leaders to define operational methodologies, which, for instance, might include conscious or unconscious biases,” he said. Prof Di Caro advocates that central role of governments is to support the spread of the AI culture in their country with schools and public information channels as essential tools to educate the citizens to an appropriate and responsible use of AI applications. Regarding the education scenario, Prof Di Caro is of the view that fully interactive digital educational assistants using a variety of multimedia contents will soon populate educational markets as AI applications emphasise personalisation and individualisation. “AI assistants will adapt to students’ skills and weaknesses. When the AI will be paired with robotic or virtual reality platforms, the experience with the assistant will be fully immersive for the student and will allow exploring many different modalities for teaching. Creating a culture of AI will be a core advantage in forthcoming years, such that it will be necessary to define and implement appropriate curricula, both for students and teachers to prepare the new generations to be both informed users and developers,” he said. However the expert noted that there are several challenges that can prevent the increased use of AI. "Developing responsible and explainable AI frameworks and systems to boost transparency and trust, ensure compliance to ethical and legal norms, and to remove unwanted biases in behaviours are some of these challenges. Another, long-term grand challenge targets building machines that can co-operate and collaborate seamlessly with humans and can make decisions aligned with changing and complex body of human values, preferences, and moods,” he said. "The massive energy consumption associated to train AI models and partly to use the applications is another challenge. The environmental impact of AI is significant and cannot be neglected, especially given the climate change," he added.    

Award-winning, ‘A Hero’ by Asghar Farhadi, Academy Award winning director and a collaborator of Doha Film Institute (DFI) will get the ball rolling for the 9th edition of Ajyal Film Festival, it was announced on Tuesday. The seven-day festival from November 7-13 will feature a diverse mix of virtual and in-person events including film screenings, interactive discussions, multi-media art exhibit, Qatar’s largest pop-culture event, Geekdom, and a drive-in cinema as part of a multisensory experience for all ages. Speaking at a press conference, Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, festival director and chief executive officer DFI, said: “The festival will feature 85 films from 44 countries. It includes 31 Features and 54 shorts; 22 Arab films; 32 films by women filmmakers. It will also feature 13 diverse films supported by the Doha Film Institute, which include recipients of the Spring/Fall Grants, co-financing, Qatari Film Fund and mentorship through the year-long labs and development workshops.” Alremaihi noted that the past two eventful years have been full of uncertainty due to Covid-19 and its wide social and economic impact has resulted in a display of the strength of the human spirit. “The collective crisis has helped us realise the importance of social interaction, and that we are all in it together. Ajyal 2021 reflects our deepened understanding of the world, where we appreciate now more than ever the importance of people coming together for creative expression and community,” she said. The festival’s physical presence include locations at Katara, Sikkat Wadi Msheireb, Lusail and Vox Cinemas Doha Festival City. “The festival returns with this year’s theme, 'Press Play' to move forward out of pause mode and rekindle people’s passion for play, exploration, and discovery through shared cultural experiences. As one of the first film festivals in the world to adapt to a hybrid format last year, Ajyal demonstrated that we have the can-do spirit and this year, as the world slowly starts to re-open- we continue to represent the innovation and forward thinking of Qatar’s leadership,”Alremaihi explained. The ninth edition of the festival will deliver a weeklong calendar of film screenings and community-oriented events under the theme ‘Press Play!’ to celebrate the return to in-person events in the spirit of togetherness and the resilience of the nation in addressing the pandemic. DFI officials said that the festival will follow all directives of the Ministry of Public Health to deliver a safe festival experience with a balance of virtual and safe in-person elements. The inaugural film 'A Hero' is poignant and understated, and the moral dilemma the film unearths, demonstrates Farhadi’s unique ability to turn ordinary human situations into cinematic masterpieces. Tickets for the 8th Ajyal Film Festival have already gone for online purchase from Tuesday ( today). This year’s DFI supported films include 1982, And Then They Burn the Sea, Border, Costa Brava, Lebanon, Don’t Get Too Comfortable, Fever Dream, Land of Dreams, Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege Night, Olayan, Orca, School of Hope and Virtual Voice. The 2021 Made in Qatar programme presented by Ooredoo, includes 10 films that represent the evolution of our homegrown talent and storytellers. This year’s programme includes world premieres, and screenings of films presented to international audiences at leading film events in Locarno and Venice. The Made in Qatar selection includes: A Lens Under Water; Don't Get Too Comfortable; Olayan, And Then They Burn the Sea, When Beirut was Beirut, Border, Fever Dream, Kan Fe Nas, Remnants and Virtual Voice. Abdulla al-Mosallam, chief administrative officer, DFI and deputy director of Ajyal Film Festival and Aya al-Blouchi, Ajyal Film Programme and Youth Programmes special director were also present at the press conference.    

Qatar National Library (QNL) received a book donation from the Nation’s Library of the Presidency, Turkey yesterday at a special event held at the library. HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari, Minister of State and President of QNL, welcomed the Turkish delegation led by Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism. Other members of the Turkish delegation included M Mustafa Goksu, ambassador of Turkey; Batuhan Mumcu, chief of cabinet; Selim Terzi, adviser to the minister; Gokhan Yazgi, director-general; Nese Cildik, adviser to the minister; Burcu Kuyucu, first secretary; Fatih Gurkan, chief of protocol and Kadir Serdar Zengin, protocol officer. The delegation also included a number of businessmen. Speaking to Gulf Times, HE al-Kawari said: “Turkey is an important partner for Qatar economically, politically and culturally. The minister has come with a great collection of books as a gift to Qatar National Library. The books are in different languages including Arabic, Turkish and English. Moreover the library is an important stop for every visitor to the country.” HE al-Kawari said that QNL has received book collections from embassies of several countries. “During the visit of the Turkish delegation, we discussed many topics to enhance the relationship with our library and Turkish libraries in general. This Wednesday, we are going to sign an agreement between QNL and Uma Library in Ankara,” said the QNL president. “Uma Library is one of the newest libraries and a very important one which opened a few years ago. The library is planning to open its doors for other libraries around the world for collaboration and our agreement signing will be followed by a visit to the Turkish library soon.” The Turkish minister highlighted the historical relations between Qatar and Turkey. “We want to provide additional value through the establishment of these events and collaborations,” he added.    

Two experts from Qatar Foundation Research Development and Innovation (QF RDI) have suggested several tips to make sustainability tech startups to be successful in the evolving and challenging sustainability sector. John McEntire, director, Industry Development and Knowledge Transfer and Abeer al-Hammadi, director, Innovation and Economic Development both from QF RDI, have pointed out a five point formula: Thinking Corporate; Flexibility and Adoptability; Moving towards Independence; Thinking twice about Intellectual Property (IP) and Listening to the Market as the mantras to be successful . “Since the turn of 21st century, the world has become accustomed to a steady and multiplying stream of electric vehicles on the roads, increased usage of solar and wind power, and implementing greener industrial methods across construction, manufacturing, transport, and agriculture, among others. The startup community is at the forefront of developing the latest sustainability-based technologies, whether renewable energies, sustainable materials, or waste management solutions,” noted, McEntire. Al-Hammadi says that the prime focus should be on thinking corporate. “Although your startup may be focused on driving change for the greater good, it is vital that you act like any other business and have a fixed focus on generating revenue. If you do not have a coherent and robust business plan, including ways to sustain your venture, for example in the form of human resources, infrastructure or funding – it will not succeed, despite all your green credentials,” explained al-Hammadi. According to McEntire, for every startup there are always twists and turns and flexibility and adaptability are the keys. He remarked: “Markets and competition are never static; situations can alter in the blink of an eye, and startups must be prepared to adapt to circumstances and make changes to their initial plans. Competition can arise from anywhere, and your competitors may not look like you. Competing firms may be using a range of approaches to solve the same problems as you are, so you’ll have to think outside the box to identify and counter them.” He also stated that funding is vital for startups to gain traction and begin to mature, especially in the beginning. “Firms that rely solely on currently available grants can quickly become insolvent as strained economies can disrupt the availability of these types of funds. Startups that develop and, in time, learn to stand on their own two feet, however, tend to generate and sustain higher amounts of revenue and create more job opportunities,” he said. Al- Hammadi highlighted that IP is incredibly important to any business, and for those at the forefront of technology and innovation, it’s even more crucial. “Entrepreneurs must identify the parametres of their IP and decide whether their idea is worth patenting. In some instances, maintaining a trade secret and not putting a patent into the public domain may well be the better choice. It’s advisable to seek specialised counsel and discuss all the options available to protect your creation,” she pointed out. The experts also maintained that to be successful, it is important to allow holes to be poked in your ideas. McEntire advised: “Keep your customer and the problem you are trying to solve front of mind. Listen to what people are saying about your idea or product and find quick solutions to recurring issues. Make sure that you are transparent and accountable, especially when it comes to your sustainability, so that you can communicate these aspects of your business to the market and respond effectively when questioned.”

Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), part of Qatar Foundation, is to launch the sixth edition of its national campaign, Qatar Sustainability Week (QSW), from October 23-30. “This year we have more partners and more sustainability initiatives with several activities," QGBC director Meshal al-Shammari told a press conference on Tuesday at Msheireb Museums. Some of the major activities will take place at the Qatar National Convention Centre, Museum of Islamic Arts among other locations. "The objective is to raise awareness among the community through sustainability-oriented activities, as well as showcase the progress Qatar has made in the area of sustainability,” he explained. “We have more than 200 initiatives across a range of seminars and conferences including family, sports, and awareness-based activities. Two of the biggest events that are planned to take place are Msheireb’s QSW exhibition and the Talk Green Series at Baraha. QGBC will also be hosting dedicated Focus Days during this year’s QSW, covering Green Hotels and Eco-Events for Qatar, challenges and pathways, in addition to Climate Change and Adaptive Strategies,” explained al-Shammari. Al-Shammari also said that QGBC’s Sustainability Summit will be held at a later date and its loyalty programme, ‘ Green Passport’ is being revamped along with its partners. In line with Qatar’s Sustainable Development Goals, QSW aims to provide individuals and community groups with innovative and practical solutions to the environmental challenges facing Qatar and the region, in order to drive the adoption of more sustainable lifestyles. QSW is a unique platform for engaging public and private sector stakeholders under an overarching umbrella to link various sustainability practices and transform dialogue into action. It includes conferences, awareness sessions, exhibitions, guided tours, edutainment events, and public interest activities and initiatives. Strategic partners of QSW include Msheireb Properties, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, Qatar Museums, Qatar Tourism, Tarsheed/Kahramaa, Qatar Rail, Qatar Free Zones Authority, Total Energies, QNB, Education Above All, Al Wakra Municipality and Tadmur Holding. “The success of any form of sustainability focused initiative is dependent on collaboration, in our case between both public and private sector businesses, as well as individuals and the wider community. We’re proud to be working with such a strong group of strategic partners on this year’s Qatar Sustainability Week and without them we would not be able to achieve our mission to promote and champion Qatar’s sustainability efforts,” said al-Shammari. “As we move towards a post-pandemic society, we must take action to once again prioritise sustainability, for the sake of our environment as well as the health of our population. Together, we can make a difference and match our power and passion with action, in order to drive real change.” Representatives of the strategic partner organisations of the event were present at the press conference and gave insights on their involvement in this year’s QSW, as well as their partnership with QGBC. The press conference also introduced this year’s community partners, which include Greener Future, Doha Environmental Actions Project, BigB MeetUp and the International Business Council Qatar-Businesswomen Building a Sustainable Future.    

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) of India is likely to announce this week the schedule for the new format of examinations for classes 10 and 12, Indian media have reported. CBSE in July had announced that for classes 10 and 12, the academic year will be divided into two, - Term 1 and Term 2 - with separate examinations held at the end of each term. The first term examinations are slated for November –December while the second term examination will be held in March – April. Until this year, there was only one Board examination for these classes, conducted at the end of the academic year. While Term 1 examinations would be held in MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) format wherein students would be asked to fill in the OMR (Optical Mark Reader) sheets, Term 2 examination will have case-based, situation-based, open-ended questions. Ideal Indian School principal, Syed Shoukath Ali told Gulf Times that the timetable for the examinations can be expected very soon and the examinations are to take place in November –December for the first term. “The first term examinations are conducted with multiple choice questions. The exams will be held online for a duration of one and half hours. The second term examinations will be for two hours and likely with theory questions,” he continued. As for the syllabus for the examinations, Ali said that it will be similar to the semester system. “The portions taught in the first term will be used only for the Term 1 examination and not to test in the second term as in the previous years. The second term examination will cover only the portions taught in that term. Term 1 and Term 2 marks would be clubbed for final CBSE Board Result.” He also noted that CBSE has not yet disclosed how the weightage of marks of each term will be allotted when the final results are declared. The final decision will be taken by the board depending on the situation and the nature of the examination incase of any Covid-19 interruption happens. The First Term examinations will be conducted by CBSE but students can take the examinations at their own schools and not at different exam centres as in the case of previous examinations. Though students have to take two examinations, they need not register twice for the examination as the registration formalities are completed at the first instance. Quoting Sanyam Bharadwaj, controller of examinations at CBSE , several Indian media outlets said that additional blank space or circle would be given in the OMR answer sheets for the comfort of candidates. “While revising, if the candidate realises that they have selected the wrong choice, they can strike it off, select the correct circle and write the same in the additional blank space,” Bharadwaj told Indian media. He said that such responses will be calculated on the basis of a combination of intelligent character recognition and optical mark recognition techniques. He added that the Term1practicals will be conducted by schools themselves. However, Term2 practicals will be conducted by the CBSE based on the Covid situation.

The Delta variant of Covid-19 is far more contagious than smallpox and virulent than other mutations of the virus, says a study recently published by Qatar Medical Journal and featured on QScience. “The R-naught of the original Covid-19 strain found in Wuhan was 2.4-2.6 while that for the Alpha strain was 4-5 and for the Delta strain, it was 5-8. This implies that a person infected with the Delta variant of Covid-19 can transmit the infection to eight people,” it is explained. R-naught is an epidemiological term indicating how contagious an infectious disease is. It is a reproduction number to measure the transmisibility of infectious agents. Mohamed A Hendaus and Fatima A Jomha, the authors of the study ‘Delta variant of Covid-19: A simple explanation’ note that with such high R-naught, the Delta variant could be twice or even more transmissible than original Covid-19 strain. “These data signify that the Delta variant of Covid-19 is more infectious than smallpox, which has an R-naught of 3.5-4.6. Hence, it is crucial for people to comply with physical distancing and other precautionary measures to better take control of the infection caused by the Delta variant,” says the study. The article also suggests that several of these Covid-19 mutations may affect immune responses, especially at the level of antigenic regions of receptor-binding proteins, permitting better attachment to the receptor cells and evading immunity more easily. The article highlights a study in mainland China which identified 167 patients with Delta variant infections. “Data were retrieved from daily, sequential polymerase chain reaction testing of the isolated subjects. The authors showed that the viral load of the first positive test of patients with Delta variant infections was ∼1000 times higher than that of the patients with 19A/19B strain infection, which caused the epidemic in early 2020. This insinuates the impending faster viral replication rate and more infectiousness of the Delta variant in the initial phase of the infection,” it said. Another major point in the article is that vaccine efficacy showed modest differences against the Delta variant and the Alpha variant after the administration of two doses. "However, these differences in vaccine effectiveness were more prominent after the administration of the first dose. A recent study published in the 'New England Journal of Medicine' included a total of 19,109 patients affected by Alpha variant or Delta variant. It demonstrated that the efficacy after one dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine or Pfizer–BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was particularly lower in individuals infected with the Delta variant than in those infected with the Alpha variant," said the article. After administering two vaccine doses, the effectiveness of Pfizer vaccine was 93.7% among patients infected with the Alpha variant compared with 88.0% among those infected with the Delta variant. The same study showed that for AstraZeneca vaccine, the efficiency of two doses was 74.5% in individuals infected with the Alpha variant and 67.0% in those infected with the Delta variant. The article also points out that halting the spread at the source remains the key in preventing the spread of the virus as well as preventing new variants of the virus. "Regularly used precautions employed since the beginning of the pandemic should be strictly followed. These measures include physical distancing, avoiding closed places or crowds, wearing a face mask or face shield, and cleaning hands frequently. By reducing the amount of viral transmisibility, the odds of a new variant emerging are low. Making the Covid-19 vaccine available globally is crucial in ensuring herd immunity,” it concluded.

Students of Qatar Academy for Science and Technology (QAST), a STEM-focused school and part of Qatar Foundation’s Pre-University Education, are seeking solutions to real-world sustainability challenges in collaboration with a team of professionals from Qatargas through a programme titled, ‘Carbon Footprint Project’. Vaughan Lewis, assistant principal, QAST, said: “ One reason Qatargas collaborated with our school on this project is that we focus primarily on science, technology, and mathematics, and instead of just lecturing them or giving them some information about the carbon footprint, we allowed our students to find some sustainable solutions themselves.” Lewis explained that the goal of this activity is for students to realise that they do not have to wait until they graduate from school or university and get a job to make a difference in their community, but that they can do so while at school by coming up with their own solutions. A four-day workshop brought together Grade 8, 9 and 10 students as the Qatargas team explained to them the importance of reducing their carbon footprint. The purpose of this activity was to encourage students to think about how they can reduce their carbon footprint and help reduce global warming. QAST students presented new ideas through presentations, in both Arabic and English, on how to reduce the carbon footprint of their community through sustainability in various areas such as electricity and water consumption, food waste, transportation, and buying and selling. A Grade 9 QAST student Salma Hossamelden Ratab, said: “I learned a lot – I didn’t realise before how food waste relates to our environment and climate change. “My team’s project was about food waste and what can we do to reduce it, as food waste or food imported from abroad is one cause of global warming emissions, so we were looking for solutions and ways to reduce it and improve our lives.” Another student Samir Shabaneh said: “We learned the importance of reducing our carbon footprint for society, and about many solutions to stop or reduce our carbon footprint – because if it continues to rise, we will no longer have enough fresh air to breathe.” Jenna Yaser Darweesh, a Grade 8 student, said: “From this experience, I learned how much energy an air conditioner consumes to make the place the right temperature for us. Through our project, we aim to encourage others to use the Metro instead of the car, because it does not pollute the air and so reduces carbon emissions.” “The carbon footprint is a tremendous challenge facing our world, and we can’t reduce it without changing our daily habits that may affect the environment, such as the excessive use of electricity and water. If we don’t, there will be dire consequences for life on this planet,” noted, fellow Grade 8 student, Huxley Lewis. Afra Mubarak al-Hajri, senior environment regulatory and compliance officer at Qatargas, remarked: “Through our cooperation with QAST, we aim to raise awareness among students about environmental challenges, and the reason we chose QAST is that it is one of Qatar’s leading schools in various fields of science.” Dr Gregory J Moncada, director of QAST, added: “Our mission empowers students to become innovators who master the knowledge and skills required to create solutions for challenges that face Qatar and the world. The Carbon Footprint project is an excellent example of how QAST invites stakeholders into school to share their challenges and then inspire our students to learn about and then participate in the development of real-world solutions.”

Cyberattacks are increasing during the Covid-19 as people are being lured to visit Covid-19-themed malicious domains, cautioned a scientist from Qatar Computing Research Institute ( QCRI) a Qatar Foundation entity. “The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted profoundly every aspect of our society and in the cyber world, attackers quickly exploited the confusion, uncertainty, and anxiety caused by the pandemic, and launched various types of Covid-19-themed attacks," said, Dr Faisal Farooq, principal scientist, QCRI. Malicious domains are a key component of many such attacks. People who are lured to visit such domains could have their credentials stolen, get infected by malware, or fall victim to scams, cautioned Dr Farooq, who pointed out that cyberattacks on healthcare systems are on the rise globally. “Cybercriminals have launched complex and coordinated attacks from financial threats to those targeting privacy. The health sector has unique vulnerabilities, providing very large attack surfaces because of the number of diverse interacting entities, the fast adoption of the Internet of Things, and remote connectivity. Insider breaches and compromised credentials also pose very real threats, as different entities access electronic medical records, often with conflicting interests,” he noted. According to the scientist, attacks against health systems are mainly motivated by financial goals while privacy and identity theft are also among the top motives. He explained: “The health industry faces a new paradigm with the three main challenges: Privacy, medical device security and financial attacks against healthcare systems. To facilitate scientific research and collaboration, techniques have to be developed to enable data sharing while protecting an individual's privacy. Such research requires a deep understanding of the domain knowledge of healthcare, and close collaboration between security researchers and healthcare experts.” “Compromises of medical devices impose significant risks to patients. They could also be entry points for attackers to penetrate the whole healthcare system. One challenge is supply chain security. The devices themselves may have vulnerabilities when shipped. Further, applications that are deployed as cloud-based services are expected to induce significant growth in the healthcare industry. Fast adoption of such systems without establishing the right technological measures to validate their security properties may cause significant damage,” he continued. Dr Farooq maintained that while healthcare systems are increasingly connected to the internet, they are exposed to financial attacks, such as ransomware. "Healthcare systems tend to have IT infrastructure which is not well maintained or is hard to patch as many systems are based on old Windows systems that are not supported officially anymore. This requires, on the one hand, continuous training of healthcare personnel to follow best cybersecurity practice, and on the other hand, processes for regularly cybersecurity evaluation,” he remarked. Dr Issa Khalil, another principal scientist at QCRI, said that cyberattacks are especially concerning because these attacks can directly threaten not just the security of health systems but also the health and safety of patients. “Some cyberattacks expose sensitive patient information and lead to substantial financial costs to regain control of hospital systems and patient data. From small, independent, practitioners to large, university hospital environments, cyberattacks on healthcare records, IT systems, and medical devices have infected even the most hardened systems. Hackers of all types have found numerous ways to make money from illegally obtained healthcare data,” he pointed out. Cybersecurity must be the responsibility of every healthcare professional, from data entry specialists to physicians and board members. Importantly, patients also have the responsibility to safeguard their personal information and be vigilant when providing information electronically. Effective cybersecurity goes beyond privacy and reputation to control of patient data and healthcare systems and, ultimately, to providing safe, accurate, and uninterrupted treatment,” added Dr Khalil.    

Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data Analytics could be the “firewalls” against any future disease outbreaks and epidemics and can help develop vaccine candidates faster, according to two scientists of the premier computing research institute in Qatar. The duo from Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University have also highlighted that AI has had a major role in identifying new variants of Covid-19 such as the Delta. “As for therapeutics, AI can be used for the rapid development of vaccine candidates. AI has been successfully used to identify segments of the viral genetic code that are most susceptible to change and the change to its structure, virulence, and attack mechanism,” said Dr Faisal Farooq, principal scientist, QCRI. “With this information, immunologists can design vaccines for a more manageable number of targets which can then be tested in animals. This significantly reduces the discovery or candidate generation phase and reduces the overall time a potentially successful vaccine candidate gets into a trial,” he said. According to Dr Issa Khalil, principal scientist, QCRI, modern technologies such as AI and Big Data Analytics are going to be a giant firewall against disease outbreaks and epidemics due to their potentials for rapid detection, screening, and diagnosis. “When it comes to outbreak detections, AI-based models can be developed and trained to analyse massive amounts of data from heterogeneous sources, taking on a task that typically requires human experts to work tirelessly around the clock and with incredible speed. This is the real strength of AI-based methods, making analysis more efficient and scalable, complementing, and learning from human intelligence to support timely decision-making. AI is likely to play a critical role in the early detection of future outbreaks to stop or limit spread and save lives,” explained Khalil. He noted that identifying and validating a new variant like Delta is somewhat a classical in-vitro study which is performed mostly manually in a lab using sequencers with little to no use of AI techniques. “However, where AI has been very useful is to identify possible clusters and outbreaks that present very differently from the expected spread caused by the current variant. This can point to a new variant which is then confirmed in the lab,” he said. He cited that the first variant of Covid-19 called the Alpha was detected in Kent, UK because 50% of the samples coming in for testing were all similar forming a cluster which after further sequencing were identified to be a variant. “AI techniques are very efficient and accurate in detecting such anomalous patterns very early. As such AI models provide the added value that such variants can be identified early. However, the verification of the actual variant has to be performed in the lab.” Dr Farooq said there are AI models that learned from the way the Covid-19 genome has been evolving to generate possible future variants and detect changes in the code that can be consequential e.g. ones that can evade the current vaccines. “These modelling experiments are in-silico (performed on computer or via computer simulation) and as such cheap, effective, and can be run in a matter of hours instead of the in-vitro counterparts that would take months. One key thing to note is this does not eliminate the need for lab testing. However, once these strong in-silico candidates are identified, now a significantly smaller set needs to be tested in the lab. As such, we can have a huge jumpstart in identifying new vaccines, boosters, or therapies,” he said. Dr Khalil said that right from the beginning of the pandemic, scientists at QCRI have developed AI models for various aspects of Covid-19 – ranging from epidemiology, contact tracing, mobility analysis, self-assessment tools as well as drug discovery. “We developed AI techniques to generate drug candidates that can bind to key coronavirus proteins, inhibit replication, and hence have the potential to be a therapy. Our work was cited internationally especially by a company called, Innovation Pharma that produces the drug Brilacidin for some other condition,” he said.    

Two photographs of Qatar Foundation's Education City buildings have been placed among the top 10 photographs in Matrix4Design and Urban Photo Award for 2021. The 10 finalist photographs were exhibited at the Metroquality showroom, via Solferino 24, Milan from September 6 to 17 on the Fuorisalone. An Indian expatriate’s photograph of Education City Mosque is one among them. Arnab Sarkar, an architect by profession, is very passionate about photography and was mentored by Indian National Award winning photographer, Kamalesh Kamila. The Urban Photo Award organises photography competition every year across the globe and thousands of photographers submit entries. Post judging, the photos are displayed in multiple exhibitions across Italy and other European countries. From last year, Matrix4Design joined hands with them to select 10 best architecture photographs, which have changed the shape of those countries and are true photography gems. Sarkar participated in the competition this year and got selected among the final top 10. He said,” I chose the Education City Mosque in Qatar because I wanted to spread the message to the world that religion is not just about being confined to a specific group. It is about love and constructive ideas too.” Sarkar started photography from the age of 16 and has 23 years of experience. He has bagged several awards and global recognitions. He was a student of the Department of Photography at R K Mission Vidyamandira, Belur, West Bengal. His passion for photography has led him to specialise in areas such as nature, wildlife, travel and cultural photography. “I love photography, especially wild and nature photography. I have extensively travelled in 11 countries so far starting from South Africa to South Asian countries. I have been able to picturise these countries beautifully to my audience,” he said. Sarkar has worked in multiple assignments with National Geographic and other renowned organisations. His works on Travel and Architecture, Eyes of people from different communities have been highly appreciated. Sarkar who is in Qatar for the last several years, has captured almost all major events in the country. His photographs have been exhibited at Indian Cultural Centre. Presently he is on mission to capture the inner beauty of Qatar to display to the world at the FIFA World Cup next year. “People have a lot of pain and stress in their day to day life. Photography should reflect positivity and help them get away from their troubles. I look forward to bringing a smile on the faces of people through photography,” he added. Box A photograph of the Ceremonial Court in the Education City by Francesca Pompei has also been placed among the first 10 photographs of the competition. The Ceremonial Court is located inside the Education City of Qatar Foundation. It is a large multi-functional open space designed to host events, ceremonies and concerts.