TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2014 LOCAL In Brief Sharia college KAC Employees By A Saleh KUWAIT: MP Nabil Al-Fadl reminded of a memo presented by former education minister Rasheed Al-Hamad proposing following other GCC states’ steps in combining the Sharia and law colleges. “The Cabinet ignored that proposal under pressure from Islamists,” he underlined. The lawmaker also inquired about how much Sharia College graduates were needed in local job market and the total number of these graduates so far. Schools transformation KUWAIT: The Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Mubarak Al-Khrainej urged Communication Minister Essa Al-Kandari to work on putting Kuwait Airways employees’ demands into practice as soon as possible, pointing out that they were all legitimate ones that had been already approved by the Fatwa and Legislation Department on Sept 20, 2012 that approved increasing KASCO employees’ basic salaries by 25 percent. KUWAIT: MP Majed Moussa condemned a Ministry of Education’s decision to turn two kindergartens of Jahra educational zone in Saad Al-Abdullah into primary schools two months after the school year has already started. He added that many area residents were upset with this sudden decision and rejected it. Photo o f t h e d a y KUWAIT: Winds reaching over 60 kilometers per hour in velocity caused a sandstorm yesterday that dropped visibility to less than 500 meters in some areas. The bad weather conditions halted sea navigation to and from the country’s three major ports: Al-Shuwaikh, Al-Shuaiba and Al-Doha, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported quoting Captain Marzoug Al-Qahtani, Director of Sea Operations at AlShuwaikh Port. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and Joseph Shagra KOTC receives oil tanker Initiative launched to help students overseas KUWAIT: The Ministry of State for Youth Affairs seeks to enhance abilities of the Kuwaiti students posed to study abroad, the ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for development Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi said yesterday. The Ministry has offered all forms of support to projects that seek to realize youth expectations, Al-Mutairi told a press conference at the launch ceremony of the “Best Ambassador” initiative, in cooperation with the National Anti Drugs Media Project (Ghiras). The cooperation between the Ministry and Ghiras offers evidence of collaboration among the state institutions to care for youth in all fields, Mutairi said. For his part, Ghiras Executive Director Ahmad Al-Shatti said the “Best Ambassador” project aims at qualifying Kuwaiti youth who will study abroad, providing them with basic information and skills, and educating them on organizing priorities and the potential difficulties they could meet overseas. One of the chief aim of the project is to educate the students on the dangers of drug taking and addiction, Shatti added. The project comprises a plan to arm students with education, knowledge and positive behavior through training courses and workshops that qualify them to live as expatriates, he noted. The “Best Ambassador” is a voluntary project concerned with the Kuwaiti students who are to study abroad, launched by Ghiras and sponsored by the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs, the Ministry of Higher Education, Kuwait Airlines, the National Bank of Kuwait and the Kuwait Aviation Fuelling Company (KAFCO), Director of Ghiras Student Project, Dr Ammar Al-Hussaini said. —KUNA Kuwaiti-Iranian cultural relations strong: Official KUWAIT: Cultural Advisor at Iran’s Embassy in Kuwait Dr Abbas Khamayar described Kuwaiti-Iranian cultural relations as strong and special. Khamayar’s remarks came in a press conference yesterday on the occasion of the planned visit of Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Janati, which starts today. Janati is visiting Kuwait upon an invitation from the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters to contribute to a seminar on the late Iranian poet Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi (1326-1390). The cultural and artistic cooperation between the two countries is thriving currently, Khamayar said, adding that Iran has recently hosted a large number of Kuwaiti cultural and art activities including formative art gallery. Moreover, many media, academia and cultural delegations have recently visited Iran and vice versa, he said. Iran is planning to hold a plethora of cultural activities in Kuwait in the coming months including a whole week for Iranian cinema movies, he said. Khamayar noted that such activities play a key role in boosting people-to-people relations. —KUNA KUWAIT: Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) announced yesterday the official delivery of the 4th and last Medium Range Tanker of its Phase III Fleet New Building Project taking place in South Korea. “Mutriba” is the last of four medium range product tankers being constructed at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in Ulsan, South Korea. The ceremony took place at KOTCs headquarters situated in Shuwaikh Administrative Area, hosted by KOTC’s CEO Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah. The delivery documents were signed by KOTC’s CEO and Tae Young Si, General Manager and HMD representative to the Middle East, in the presence of Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the state of Kuwait, Boonam Shin, and ClassNK Classification Society representatives Koichi Murata and Sayyed Farrukh Gilani. Classed to Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (Class NK), “Mutriba” is approximately 186 meters in length, 32 m in breadth, and 18.5 in depth, having a deadweight of approximately 47,000 tons and a cruising speed of 15.2 knots. KOTCs fleet with the entry of “Mutriba” shall comprise of 29 different types of oil/gas tankers with various capacities. By the 31st of KUWAIT: The two sides sign the documents. —KUNA the current month, the final vessel of the Phase III KOTC Fleet New Building Program “Al Kout” will be delivered by DSME bringing the fleet to 30 modern vessels. These tankers are designed and constructed to meet maritime regulatory and industry latest trends as well as forthcoming requirements that have not yet come into force. The vessels are constructed in full compliance with the international and industrial environmental requirements for the carriage of hydrocarbons by sea with the adoption of greatest possible spectrum for the control of discharge and treatment of ballast water, emission of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and volatile organic Compounds more. Addressing piracy matters, these vessels are designed with highest security measures, equipped with the latest piracy deterrent solutions such as Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD), high pressure water jets, razor wire fencing, CCTV with night vision capabilities, secure accommodation arrangement at all access points and the application of the Citadel concept. —KUNA Transparency Society takes part in international conference BERLIN: A delegation from the Kuwaiti Transparency Society took part in the annual conference for Transparency International that concluded Sunday. This year ’s edition saw Transparency International celebrating Kuwait’s great role in sustaining its reputation overseas in terms of supporting transparency values, both domestically and regionally, said society chairman Dr Salah Al-Ghazali in statements to KUNA. “This participation comes after renewing Kuwait’s membership in the international organization for three more years, which was preceded by a thorough and inclusive revision of the Kuwaiti branch’s implementa- tion of the Organization’s general requirements, standards and strategy,” he added. He carried on saying that the conference’s agenda included, among other issues, revision of anti-corruption policies followed by every branch under the Organization in order to realize the best model in this regard. Transparency International was established in 1993 and is now present in more than 100 countries. The movement works relentlessly to stir the world’s collective conscience and bring about change through the creation of international anti-corruption conventions, the prosecution of corrupt leaders and seizures of their illicitly gained riches, national elections won and lost on tackling corruption, and companies held accountable for their behavior both at home and abroad. The Organization has recently elected Jose Ugaz from Peru as new chairman, and is currently leading a campaign; ‘Unmask the Corrupt’, which focuses on secret companies, and how the corrupt are able to move vast sums of stolen money through them and enjoy luxury lifestyles at the expense of the public, calling on the public to take action and lend their voices to be heard at the G20 leaders’ summit next November. —KUNA