Gulf Times

4 Wednesday, September 2, 2020

QATAR

Nearly half of permitted students

attend Indian schools on day one
By Joseph Varghese
Staff Reporter

A
bout 50% of the permit-
ted students attended
physical classes at vari-
ous Indian schools yesterday on
the first day of the new academic
year – the first time since schools
were closed due to the outbreak
of Covid-19.
Government had permitted to
resume the academic year with
30% of the students attending
the classes at the school campus
and the rest continuing online
classes.
With blended education in
practice, most Indian schools
had prepared a schedule allow- Senior students attend classes yesterday at MES Indian School, abid- Students enter Birla Public School following social distancing yester-
ing 30% of the students to attend ing by the Covid-19 protocol. Students’ temperature being checked at Ideal Indian School. day.
the classes on the campus for one
or two days a week. While some scheduled to attend the class. with all the safety precautions. Ali pointed out that very few one. “We had good attendance at Ministry of Education and High- she explained. The school has
schools appealed the parents to This is very encouraging as par- We hope the situation improves students availed the school all the three campuses. Officials er Education and the Ministry of adopted a blended learning sys-
drop and pick their children, sev- ents and students are eager to in the coming days,” she added. transportation. “Though we had from the Ministry of Education Public Health on Covid-19 pre- tem with only a third of students
eral schools had provided school make sure that physical classes Ideal Indian School principal made arrangements for school and Higher Education had visit- vention and control in schools, attending the physical class on
transport adhering to strict take place at the earliest. School Syed Shoukat Ali also noted that transport, very few students ed the school and they were very principal Hameeda Kadar said in a day, with the rest attending
Covid-19 protocols. Schools also appreciates the trust shown by about 50% of the allotted stu- opted it. This could be due to the happy with the arrangements a statement. online classes from home. The
had applied all the necessary pre- the parents towards the arrange- dents had attended the school on certain concerns of the parents made. We hope the number of “The first three days of the schedule for school days and re-
cautions to make sure that every ments made for reopening.” the first day. and students. Many of the buses students go up in the coming commencement of the academic mote learning were shared with
student follows the Covid-19 Nafees also noted that it was “Out of the prescribed 30%, had only a handful of students days. We have also refrained from session is primarily dedicated to the students and parents.
preventive and precautionary heartening to welcome the stu- we had over 50% of the students while some of them returned arranging school transport and raising students’ awareness on “Further guidelines will be
measures. dents after such a long time. attending classes. However, in empty,” he explained. have appealed the parents to drop Covid-19 protocols. shared from time-to-time in
DPS-MIS principal Asna Na- “The day went off very well and lower classes, the strength was Birla Public School’s construc- and pick the kids,” he said. During the school hours, stu- WhatsApp groups and parent-
fees said that almost 50% of the all of us complied well with the considerably lesser but higher tion manager Jackson T Solomon MES Indian School reopened dents were advised to practice portal as per the directives of
allowed students attended the guidelines issued by the govern- classes recorded good number echoed the same sentiments and after summer break yesterday mindfulness about keeping safe the Ministry of Education and
school. “We received 50% out ment. We have also provided of students. Our school timing is said that all the campuses of the following the guidelines and distance from others, proper Higher Education,” the principal
of the one-third of the students transport facility for the students until 12.30pm.” school were functional from day recommendations issued by the ways of eating and sanitising,” added.

Vodafone, Qatar Rail partner to provide Wi-Fi on metro QIB ‘exclusive’ Home
V
odafone Qatar, in partnership
with Qatar Rail, has launched a
public Wi-Fi service on the Doha
Finance offer for Qataris
Metro Red, Green and Gold lines to pro-

vide passengers with Internet access at
all stations and on board trains.
“The fully managed Wi-Fi is one of
Qatar’s very few projects to provide
seamless Internet access while users are
on the move,” Vodafone Qatar said in a
statement yesterday.
The coverage spans the Metro fa-
cilities, both above and below ground,
including the 37 stations and all trains
on each of the three lines, to give pas-
sengers uninterrupted connectivity. HE
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki al-
Subaie, MD and CEO of Qatar Rail, said:
“We are pleased to have Vodafone join
us as the official Wi-Fi provider for the
Doha Metro rail network.
The extensive Internet coverage
makes our passengers’ journey more
convenient and comfortable by facili-
tating connectivity from any part of the
rail network. With Vodafone’s expertise
on hand, we are confident to provide
best-in-class service to our customers.”
Seamless Internet access for Doha Metro users.
Vodafone Qatar CEO Sheikh Hamad
Abdulla al-Thani said, “The Doha Met-
ro is one of the most important public
facilities in the country, providing an af-
fordable, fast and convenient means of
transport to thousands of people daily.
We are proud to be Qatar Rail’s partner
of choice in adding Wi-Fi access to their
superior service.
Vodafone Qatar is committed to
making the best telecom service avail-
able to consumers, and with our world-
class network, Metro patrons will be
able to experience our reliable Internet
connection during their commute.”
The public Wi-Fi will feature a highly
secure data privacy platform along with
a sophisticated tool that will enable Qa-
tar Rail to analyse the customer journey
in terms of the frequency with which
they use the Doha Metro, the duration
and geographic movement to help im-
Vodafone Qatar CEO Sheikh Hamad
Abdulla al-Thani.
prove the quality of their service, the
statement notes. Anyone on the Metro
premises will be eligible to register for
the service regardless of the telecom
operator they use or if they are roaming
in Qatar.
Upon registration, they will imme-
diately have access to 30 minutes of
free Internet access daily, valid for use
throughout the day of activation.
Users can also choose to purchase
one of several premium plans for their
day-, week- or month-long Internet
consumption.
Q
IB has launched an “exclusive”
Home Finance offer, in line with its
“commitment to providing the best
and most competitive” offers in the market
for its customers. Whether customers want
to buy a new home or a land, the new offer
allows Qatari citizens to benefit from re-
duced profit rates, extended grace period and
waived fees when purchasing their home
through QIB’s Shariah-compliant home fi-
nance programme.
The offer is valid for a short period of time,
the bank said. During this period, salaried
Qatari customers will benefit from competi-
tive home finance profit rates starting from
reducing rate of 4.5% p.a., inclusive of Life
Takaful coverage. Customers applying for
QIB’s Home Finance will also be eligible for
the 12 months’ repayment grace period al-
lowing them to own their home today and
start paying the instalments after one year.
Furthermore, during the campaign peri-
od, customers will only pay a nominal feasi-
bility fee and there will be no separate charge
for the property mortgage or any property
evaluation fees. QIB’s Home Finance offer
covers up to 70% of the property’s value and
offers a repayment period of up to 20 years.
On the new promotion, D Anand, QIB
general manager (Personal Banking Group)
said, “QIB has established itself as one of
the leading banks in Qatar by following a
customer centric approach in everything it
does. In collaboration with leading real es-
tate developers in Qatar, we are providing
to our customers a comprehensive solution
granting them access to exclusive pack-
ages that respond to all their needs and cover
their plans to purchase their desired homes
in Qatar.”
Customers can submit their request to
apply for home finance through QIB’s web-
site and a QIB representative will contact
them for further information. For assist-
ance, customers can call QIB’s 24x7 call
centre at 44448444, or visit their nearest
QIB branch to find out more about eligibility,
benefits and the application process.

Al Meera launches Truth Bottle Recall

campaign for wise water usage of Mazda
CX9
A
l Meera Consumer Goods
Company launched a new
campaign in a series of sus-
tainability initiatives as part of its ef-
models
forts to instil environmental-friendly

values across various segments of the
society. The ‘Truth Bottle’ campaign
aims to raise awareness on wise water
consumption in Qatar and the need to
preserve the valuable resource as the
country moves towards a sustainable
future.
Research shows that Qatar’s water
consumption per capita is one of the
highest in the world at 500 litres per
person per day. Many similar studies
point to the excessively high rates of
consumption and the need to change
the behaviour towards water usage.
Truth Bottle, conceptualised as a
half-full Al Meera water bottle, is dis-
played at specially designed stands
at Al Meera branches to engage with
Al Meera customers. Truth Bot-
tle prompts customers to a micro-
site through a QR code, where they
attempt to fill the bottle virtually.
Through a ‘Fill and Share’ button, the
campaign aims to raise awareness and
spread the message to as many peo-
ple as possible by reaching a target of
10,000 shares.
The thought-provoking bottle,
half-full, portrays the large numbers
of wasted water bottles left over in
meeting rooms, cars, and gatherings
calling for attention on the alarming
fact of high levels of water waste and
the importance of working together as
society members to preserve the local
water resource. The online experience
acts as an awareness platform on the
issue of water usage in Qatar and its
The Truth Bottle campaign aims to raise awareness on wise water
consumption in Qatar.
wider environmental implications.
The campaign aims at encouraging a
positive change in consumers’ behav-
iour while inviting every individual to
question their daily habits.
Commenting on the initiative, Al
Meera said in a statement: “Currently,
Qatar relies on seawater desalina-
tion as its primary source for drinking
water as well as for use in agriculture,
household and commercial purposes.
Even with the use of treated water, our
country’s fresh groundwater reserves
continue to be overused.”
“Truth Bottle aims to bring this in-
formation to the forefront of conver-
sation so that together we can start
working towards a more sustainable
future as a nation”.
As Qatar’s national retailer and
committed to the well-being of the
nation, Al Meera leverages its rela-
tionship with its wide customer base
to spread the message of mindful
water consumption, encourage more
conscious behaviour and foster a sus-
tainability driven nation as intended
under the Qatar National Vision 2030.
This includes encouraging lifestyle
changes in day to day tasks like wash-
ing cars, watering plants, doing the
dishes, or taking a bath.
The Truth Bottle campaign follows
in a series of sustainability initiatives
previously led by Al Meera. These
include the installation of plastic re-
cycling machines at select stores, the
launch of eco-friendly bags, recycling
of cardboard cartons and paper, and
a battery waste collection initiative
in collaboration with the Ministry of
Municipality and Environment that
allows customers to dispose of used
batteries.
T
he Ministry of Com-
merce and Industry
(MoCI), in co-op-
eration with National Car
Company, announced the
recall of Mazda CX9 models
of 2014-2015, due to possible
fault in the fuel tank hose,
which may lead to a fuel leak.
The recall campaign
comes within the framework
of the MoCI’s continuous
efforts to protect consum-
ers and ensure that dealers
follow up on vehicle defects
and repairs.
The MoCI said that it will
co-ordinate with the dealer
to follow up on the mainte-
nance and repair works and
will communicate with cus-
tomers to ensure that they
carried out the necessary
repairs.
The MoCI urged all cus-
tomers to report any vio-
lations to its Consumer
Protection and Anti-Com-
mercial Fraud Department,
which processes complaints,
inquires and suggestions
through the following chan-
nels: Call centre: 16001,
e-mail: info@moci.gov.qa,
Twitter: @MOCIQATAR,
Instagram: MOCIQATAR,
MoCI mobile app for android
and iOS: MOCIQATAR