MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012
local Justice installs K-net system to facilitate fees payment
KUWAIT: The marines unit of British Royal Marine Forces and the Kuwait Coast Guards jointly carried out an exercise that included disembarking and inspections operations. Both parties performed successfully at the exercise which was carried out with high skills and top performance levels. The Assistant Undersecretary Lt Gen Sheikh Mohammad Al Yousuf Al Sabah deputed the head of marines operations, Maj Sheikh Mubarak Ali Al Sabah, to receive the marine unit.
KUWAIT: The Ministry of Justice has installed the K-net pre-paid system with the aim of facilitating work and payment of fees, following suit with other state departments operating the local payment network. Undersecretary Abdul-Aziz Al-Majed, who launched the K-net payment system at the ministry’s services centers and departments of the General Directorate for Execution of Verdicts, indicated that the first and second stages of the project were already in effect; which is payment at the Department of Real-Estate Registration and Documentation, the courts’ chambers, the ministry’s services stations and the Ministry of Justice Office at Kuwait International Airport. The new system relieves the ministry of total dependence on cash payments, which is costly because the State makes contracts with special companies for money transfer, Al-Majed said. General Manager of Knet Abdullah AlAjmi indicated that the new system was linked with the electronic payment system of the Ministry of Interior, noting that the expansion of the state electronic payment networks reached its 20th
anniversary. Elaborating, Al-Ajmi said up to KD 100 million worth of fees were paid to the State through the electronic system this year. Collected money for up to 21 government departments was paid in 500,000 processes. Up to KD 55 million were paid for the Ministry of Justice alone. Nabil Al-Rubaiaa, the advisor of the bureau of the justice undersecretary, said returns of the ministry increased as a result of installment of the high-tech system, predicting that the department would collect up to KD two-four million via the network per year, eventually. The K-net machines have been installed at all service centers of the Ministry of Interior, he added. K-net, over the past year, expanded operations, reaching 100 million ones, at an estimated fund of KD seven billion. For his part Badr Al-Sultaiteen, in charge of the department of planning and corporate resources and the director of the government electronic payment project, indicated that his ministry was also operating the Knet payment system, indicating that citizens could also use the internet to pay the fees. — KUNA
Missing teen found in boyfriend’s apartment KUWAIT: A teenager reported missing at the Sabah Al-Salem police station was found inside her Fintas apartment rented by her boyfriend who was taken into custody to face charges of sexually assaulting a minor. The 17-year-old’s family sought the help of the police when she disappeared following a quarrel with her brother who had come to know about the relationship between her and the young man. When the girl did not answer the calls made by the police from different numbers, a detective thought of using a phone belonging to a Bangladeshi man present at that time at the police station. The girl answered the phone, gave the officer the name of the number’s owner, and asked him to stop trying to contact her. The brief conversation was enough to allow the detectives to detect her phone’s signal, and helped them locate her inside a Fintas apartment. Armed with warrants, the detectives raided the apartment and found both the girl and her boyfriend there. It was found that the man was already married, and had allowed his girlfriend to stay at his apartment after she insisted that she would return to her family. Investigations further revealed that the two had spent an entire week at the apartment and all this while, the man’s family believed that he was with his friends at their chalet. Meanwhile, it was found that the girl used a smart phone app that helped her know the identity of her callers and, thus, enabled her to avoid calls from her family or the police. The girl maintained during her interrogation that her boyfriend protected her from potential kid-
nappers by providing her a place to stay in. Next day, the man was arrested from his house in Al-Jahra after a forensic examination confirmed that the girl had a sexual relationship with him during the time she was missing. Mystery behind youngster’s death Investigations are on to find the circumstances in which a man died inside his family’s house in Al-Khaldiya. The man, who was in his twenties, was declared dead by paramedics who responded to an emergency call from the family which had found him in an unconscious state. The body was taken for an autopsy to know the cause of death. Pedestrian hurt A pedestrian was hospitalized in a critical condition after being hit by a car. The driver of the car fled from the scene immediately afterwards. The accident occurred at the Airport Road where paramedics and police rushed following an emergenc y call. The victim, an Indian, was rushed to the Farwaniya Hospital with serious injuries. Eyewitness gave the police descriptions of a white Japanese car they said had hit the victim. Investigations are on to trace and arrest the driver. Jet ski accident A middle-aged woman was hospitalized following a jet ski accident reported recently at the Nuwaiseeb chalets beach. The woman, a Kuwaiti in her fifties, was rushed in an ambulance to the Al-Adan Hospital after she suffered some injuries, including a wound at her back. The incident happened when she was jet
skiing with her sisters, and accidently hit another jet ski whose rider, however, escaped unhurt. Stealing from a colleague A woman was arrested for stealing money from her colleague’s bank account with the help of her brother who, too, was arrested. Investigations were launched after a Kuwaiti woman told the police that someone withdrew KD2900 from her bank account. The detectives viewed the sur veillance tapes which showed a man withdrawing money from the complainant’s bank account and driving away. They were able to identify the suspect through his car’s license plate number, and arrested him. The expatriate man later admitted that it was his sister who gave him her colleague’s credit card, which he used to withdraw the money. The police later arrested the woman who repor tedly used a close friendship she had established with her coworker to monitor her activity, and was thus able to steal her credit card from her bag and also return it before she could notice. Six rescued after losing way back from Kubbar Six people were escorted to safety after they lost their way back to the mainland from a trip to the Kubbar Island. The rescue was made possible by joint search operations between the Kuwait Coastguard Department and the US Navy personnel. The six Kuwaiti men were found early Saturday morning after five hours of search which was launched after a midnight emergency call. —Al-Rai, Al-Watan
A snippet of Gulf Bank’s Ramadan TV commercial.
Gulf Bank receives ‘Best Integrated Commercial’ Award Ebtihaj Al-Roumi, Assistant General KUWAIT: Gulf Bank announced yesterday that it won the ‘Best Integrated Manager, Marketing at Gulf Bank said: Commercial’ Award, received during the “Receiving this award is truly an honour. At Media Creativity Awards ceremony which Gulf Bank we take great pride in all our was held on Sept 25 under the patronage advertising campaigns. It is even more rewarding to know that the of Undersecretary of the awards committee consisted Ministr y of Information of media officials who chose Sheikh Salman Hamoud Althe winners based on a preSabah, at the Crowne Plaza set criteria and specific stanHotel. The event was dards after extensive evaluaorganized by the Arab tion. Ramadan is a special Media Forum to recognize time of the year and we and shed light on the existalways work at being creative ing creativity and innovawhile simultaneously relaying tion within the marketing warm greetings to our cusand advertising sector in tomers and the community. Kuwait. We would like to thank the The theme of Gulf awards committee as well as Bank’s Ramadan TV comEbtihaj Al-Roumi our advertising agency, mercial communicated the Impact & Echo, who worked anticipation and excitement of the approaching of Iftar timing with us to achieve this recognition. On and breaking the fast — sending warm behalf of the management of Gulf Bank we say thank you. “ greetings to the bank’s loyal customers.
Riyadh to host GCC culture ministers’ meeting
Meshari Al-Sanousi
Fun City winter timings KUWAT: The Entertainment City has announced a shift to winter timings with effect from yesterday, Sunday October 7, 2012. It will now be open from 4:00 pm until midnight on weekdays, and from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm on weekends. This was announced by Deputy Managing Director for Entertainment City Affairs at the Touristic Enterprises Company, Meshari Al-San’ousi, who also said that on Mondays, the facility stays open exclusively for female visitors. Al-San’ousi also announced that the management has prepared special programs and activities for visitors, and has ensured that all necessary maintenance was carried out for all the rides at the Entertainment City.
KUWAIT: Minister of Information and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah will be heading the Kuwaiti delegation, scheduled to participate at the GCC Culture Ministers meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday. The meeting will discuss common cultural topics between the GCC countries in order to promote cultural activity in the Gulf, including the activities that took place during 20112012, in addition to scheduling activities until 2016, National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) said in a press statement here yesterday. The meeting will also discuss axis of cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), Russia, China, Arab World Institute in Paris as well as reviewing the visions of the Gulf states for common festivals, especially the Gulf Festival, which will be held in Turkey. Other issues include developing a mechanism for an electronic link between cultural institutions and national libraries in the GCC
states as well as discussing ways of how to set up a database for the cultural institutions and their employees, in addition to other topics of cultural affairs. Three creative Kuwaitis will be honored among a distinct creative group from the GCC countries who have offered a lot for the development of cultural affairs, arts and literary studies and they are Abdulaziz AlSurayie in the field of theater, Dr Mursel AlAjmi in literary studies and Abdulwahab AlAwadhi in visual arts, NCCAL added. In addition, NCCAL said that the Culture Ministers meeting will be preceded by a preparatory meeting for the agents responsible for culture on Monday, and will be headed by NCCAL Secretary General Ali Al-Youha. Last November, Kuwait hosted the first session of the Gulf Musical Festival as part of its commitment to support the GCC countries’ activities, during which a group of music creators were honored, in addition to holding a series of seminars that highlighted the artistic heritage of the Gulf.— KUNA