Peninsula Qatar, 9 November 2008

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Volume 13 Number 4052 Sunday 9 November 2008 11 Dhul-Qa’ada 1429 Price: QR2 Subscription Price: QR1.8

Oasis

Sports 33

Obsessed with ith childhood obesity

Young gun reaches Doha final

Editor’s letter

Rachel Morris Managing Editor

Hala charges to be slashed DOHA: Call charges for Qtel’s Hala prepaid service will be slashed from today as part of a massive overhaul. Customers using the payas-you-go system will benefit “immediately” as the changes will go live from today, sources have told The Peninsula. In the most wide-ranging set of enhancements since the Hala service was launched in 2000, call charges will be dramatically reduced and a range of new services introduced. Qtel is upping the ante with a wave of promotions and special packages to face competition from Vodafone Qatar, which will start operations in March 2009. The changes follow exhaustive surveying of Qtel customers and the recent success of “packages” targeting Qatar’s multicultural expatriate communities. During the summer and Ramadan periods, more than a million people benefited from the range of offers, including cheaper calls at night, which comprised the most diverse Qatar-based customer campaign in the company’s history. As the entry of the second mobile service provider gets closer, customers can expect many more special promotions and price wars in the near future. THE PENINSULA

SIGN OF CHANGE: New white street signs that are clearly visible even at night have come up on the major roads of Doha recently.

(ABDUL BASIT)

Burdened By MOBIN PANDIT

Personal loans

DOHA: Inflation and other financial pressures are taking their toll on families in Qatar, with some even taking out personal bank loans to make ends meet. Limited and middle income families have so far had easy access to personal loans to relieve the burden of mounting inflation. This may not be the case as commercial banks in the country are becoming increasingly cautious due to the worsening world financial situation. The banks are not going to remain as liberal as they have been in the recent past in personal credit dispensation due to an impending liquidity crunch, a senior banker, who did not wish to be identified, told The Peninsula yesterday. And, worse, with the galloping inflation showing no signs of easing, middle and lower-middle income families have no option but to bear the burden. “Inflation is rising. I think it is more than 15 percent presently,” said Dr Nasser Al Shafi, a well-known financial analyst who works in the government sector.

The banks are not going to remain as liberal as they have been in the recent past in personal credit dispensation due to a possible impending liquidity crunch. Some people are in heavy debt. And many residents have left after taking huge loans.

Some people are in heavy debt. And many residents have disappeared after taking huge loans, said the banker. Nationals are burdened more with mortgage and credit card loans. “But, thankfully, indebtedness is not a major problem in our communities so far. It’s manageable,” said Al Shafi. Social activist and businessman Hassan Al Jefairi does not agree with Al Shafi and says: “Indebtedness is definitely increasing and causing financial

Peninsula graphic: Mahesh / Abraham

Welcome to the new-look The Peninsula. Our commitment to serious news, both local and overseas, remains the same. Our news team — encompassing local, business and sports as well as the best news photographers in Qatar, will continue to bring you the hard-hitting, relevant and informative coverage you have come to expect from The Peninsula. The Peninsula’s new design is intended to enhance our content and make for a better experience for you, the reader. We have made many changes to better connect with and meet the needs of our growing and increasingly diverse readership. We have chosen a new typeface – one that is modern and active as well as pleasing to the eye. We have added more colour and infographics and simplified the design to emphasise news and information rather than decoration. We have increased the number of pages to 48 and broken the newspaper into four distinct sections – News, Business, Sport and Oasis in order to bring you more news relevant to your life. The Peninsula has entered into exclusive arrangements with newspapers around the globe to bring you up-to-date information. We have joined forces with the world’s most respected business newspaper, The Financial Times, to bring you their exclusive news and analysis in these turbulent times. To better serve our multicultural readership, we have also signed deals with respected newspapers The Times of India and The Philippine Star. We are turning our weekly Oasis into a daily lifestyle section with many interesting pages to read. Each day of the week will be dedicated to a specific issue – Women, Health, Technology, Schools, Travel and Motoring. This new approach means we can cover these topics in depth. Also inside Oasis you will find Eating Out, Doha Scene and Doha’s first comprehensive and most readable TV guide. We have beefed up our entertainment coverage to bring you the best of Hollywood, Bollywood and Filipino showbiz news. We have also overhauled our puzzles, adding for the first time Samurai, which has taken the world by storm. On Fridays, we will carry Oasis Weekend, an expanded version of the daily pull-out with more indepth features. This major re-design, reflects months of discussion and research as well as hard work by many people. The redesign process was started by Mohammed Abdo and spearheaded by our own designer Abraham Augusthy. We give our special thanks to Nigel Gourlay, whose guidance and assistance was immeasurable. The team at The Peninsula would also like to acknowledge the support and guidance of our General Manager, Abdul Latif Al Mahmoud, who has been with us every step of the way. We will continue to respond to you, our valued readers. So please let us know your views, both positive and negative. You can email us at: [email protected] We have more new and exciting projects in the pipeline which will be unveiled in the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your first taste of the new-look The Peninsula!

and emotional strain to people. A large number of families are in debt. Credit cards are their saviours.” Many nationals took bank loans to buy Qatari shares when the equity market was doing well some six months ago. “They have lost heavily since the market index has dipped hugely since,” claimed Al Jefairi. “Yes, a number of people even sold off their properties to invest in local stocks,” confirmed prominent psychiatrist Dr Taher Shaltoot of the Hamad Medical Corporation. “We have been seeing more cases of depression since the inflationary

Indian PM arriving today DOHA: The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, is arriving here on an official visit this evening. During his 24-hour stay, he is expected to call on The Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and discuss issues of bilateral, regional and global importance. According to sources in the Indian embassy in Doha, there is a likelihood Singh may also raise issues related to the Indian community here. A meeting with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani, is also lined up. THE PENINSULA

pressure began mounting,” he said. According to him, more people, both nationals and residents, are fearing what lies ahead. Elders in resident communities say most limited-income people have sent their families home to cope with the rising prices. The heads of these families are now living a spartan life. This is especially true of Indians and Pakistanis, say Sam Bashir and Firoz Khan Afridi. “Since spiralling rents have been a major contributor to higher inflation, many people moved into single accommodation,” added Afridi. THE PENINSULA

Downturn a treat for therapists

TEACHER: Russia’s Nadia Petrova shows how it’s done to a group of children during a (QASSIM RAHMATULLAH) tennis clinic at the Khalifa Tennis Complex. See also pages 33 & 34

Indonesia executes Bali bombers CILACAP: Three radicals sentenced to death for the Bali bombings which killed 202 people were executed by firing squad early this morning in Indonesia. “At around 00.15am (8.15pm yesterday in Qatar) the three convicted men on death row, Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, were executed by firing squad,” said the attorney general’s office spokesman Jasman Panjaitan.

“The autopsy results show that all three are dead. The family members are now bathing the bodies,” he said. Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and ringleader Imam Samudra, 38, were killed with shots to the heart in an orange grove near their prison on Nusakambangan island off Java. A brother of Mukhlas and Amrozi — the latter dubbed the “smiling assassin”

for his courtroom antics — said the family had been informed. “May our brothers, God willing, be invited by green birds to heaven now,” Mohammad Chozin told reporters in the family’s village of Tenggulun, east Java. Some 200 radicals had gathered at the village, amid fears of a violent militant backlash across the mainly Muslim country. AFP

London’s masseurs, physiotherapists and alternative therapists are seeing a surge in demand for their services as the economic downturn sends City workers’ stress levels soaring. Anna Abrahams, who provides massage sessions in homes and workplaces across the capital, said she is the busiest she has been since starting her business, Inspired London. In a sign of growing competition for the “pampering pound”, she plans to double her team of six qualified masseurs to cope with increased demand, particularly from large corporate clients. “It used to be only the forwardthinking companies looking for us but now everyone is more open to try these things,” she said. “It has immediate effects. People will feel calmer and they will be more alert. People are realising that it does have very real benefits and it is a great morale boost.” Increased corporate bookings - Inspired London’s are up 50 percent this year - are not just due to enlightened employers. Health and safety legislation means that companies could face litigation if they fail to help stressed-out employees. FINANCIAL TIMES See also pages 26 & 27