Day: April 16, 2023

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A training program to support people of the Commission with special needs on evaluating polling stations.

The Support Unit for Persons with Special Needs of the High National Elections Commission organized today, Sunday, a training program via “Zoom” technology on evaluating polling stations, as part of preparations for the electoral process planned for this year.

The program, which is supervised by the Commission’s Systems Department, included sessions over three consecutive days aimed at training operations coordinators, raising awareness and communicating with the electoral administration offices on mechanisms for evaluating polling centers registered with the Commission, and their readiness to receive people with special needs on polling day to ensure their readiness in accordance with generally accepted international standards.

Today’s session witnessed interventions that highlighted some obstacles and the need to take action against them, and presented some lessons learned from previous electoral events, and ways to support units of people with special needs in electoral administration offices in setting up evaluation mechanisms.

The program was attended by the person in charge of the Support Unit for Persons with Special Needs of the Commission, “Magda Al-Katib”, the official in charge of the Support Unit for Persons with Special Needs in the Electoral Management Office in Tripoli, “Bassem Abu Hamida”, and “Halima Belhaj” of the International Organization for Electoral Systems (IFES).

Source: Libyan News Agency

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Saudi Aramco 4% of State-owned transferred to PIF’s Sanabil

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and the Board of Directors of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced the completion of the transfer of (4%) of Saudi Aramco’s total issued shares from the State’s ownership to the Saudi Arabian Investment Company (Sanabil Investments), a wholly owned company of PIF.

His Royal Highness affirmed that the transfer is a continuation of Saudi Arabia’s long-term initiatives to boost and diversify the national economy and expand investment opportunities in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

The transfer will also solidify PIF’s strong financial position and credit rating.

HRH said that the State will remain Saudi Aramco’s largest shareholder following the transfer, with total ownership of (90.18%) of the company’s shares, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The Crown Prince stressed that PIF continues with its mandate to launch new sectors, build new strategic partnerships, localize technologies and knowledge, and create more direct and indirect job opportunities in the local market.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

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UAE is India’s second biggest export destination, third biggest source for imports

UAE continues to be the second most important export destination for India, according to annual trade figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The US and the UAE retained the first and second places respectively in this category during the financial year 2022-23, the Ministry’s figures showed, according to Emirates News Agency (WAM).

The figures for the year were released a fortnight after the new year began.

They showed that India’s overall exports of merchandise and services rose by six percent during the financial year that got over at the end of last month.

The Netherlands rose to the third place in this category during the same period, replacing China.

The importance of The Netherlands was owed to a high level of refined petroleum products through the maritime nation last year.

The Ministry simultaneously released India’s trade figures for March 2023, soon after the month ended.

It showed the UAE in second place after the US among India’s export destinations.

Among the GCC states, only Saudi Arabia figured among India’s top export destinations and sources of imports.

Saudi Arabia was in the eighth place for Indian exports and in the fifth place as an import source.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

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Germany powers down its last three nuclear plants

Germany switched off on Saturday its remaining three nuclear power plants as part of a long-planned transition to renewable energy.

The shutdown of Emsland, Neckarwestheim II and Isar II came shortly before midnight, Xinhua News Agency reported.

It’s “the end of an era,” the RWE energy firm said in a statement confirming the three reactors had been disconnected from the grid.

Advocates of atomic energy say fossil fuels should be phased out first amid global efforts to tackle climate change, arguing nuclear power generates significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions and can be a safe source of energy when managed properly.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

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Japan’s festival float accident injures 11 in Osaka

Eleven people were injured as a large festival float overturned in western Japan’s Osaka prefecture.

The accident took place when a Danjiri, a large four-wheel wooden float pulled forward by many people using the float’s ropes, turned sideways after making a sharp turn at an intersection in the city of Sakai.

Footage on social media showed the float lost balance when being hauled at the scene, its upper left part bumping into a roadside sign, causing it to fall on its right side, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Eleven people were injured, including some who were pulling the float and some who were riding on it, with three of them seriously injured and taken to the hospital, national broadcaster NHK reported, citing the local fire department.

Around 140 people were pulling the float or riding on it, local newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported Sunday.

Pulling Danjiri floats weighing up to tons is one of western Japan’s traditional activities, but doubts have been raised in recent years as accidents often occur at Danjiri-pulling festivals, sometimes resulting in fatalities.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

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Housing Minister inspects ongoing Salman City projects

Minister of Housing and Urban Planning Amena bint Ahmed Al Romaihi inspected Salman city within the follow-up program for implementing projects in cities housing.

The minister affirmed that the projects in Salman City are accelerating to their completion phase with the aim of speeding up the delivery of units and apartments to the citizens benefiting from the project.

“Salman City is currently witnessing the implementation of 303 housing units and more than 1,300 ownership apartments, in addition to preparing housing plots and providing them with infrastructure services to make them ready for construction,” the minister said.

The minister highlighted that the most prominent characteristic of the projects is the use of modern building models whether in houses or apartments, according to the sixth generation of residential buildings and the interior model of the apartments were designed based on studies and citizens wishes were taken into consideration.

She reviewed the service projects that will be implemented in the city that will which include 9 mosques, 4 kindergartens, 3 schools, central park, Civil defense, police station, health center, communication towers, coast guard points and towers.

The minister confirmed that the completion rates in Salman City is accompanied by the progress of the implementation of projects in other housing cities such as East Sitra, East Hidd and Khalifa City as the ministry seeks to adhere to the timetables for the implementation of its projects.

Source: Bahrain News Agency