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Oasis
Obsessed with
childhood
obesity
Editor’s letter
Welcome to the new-look The Peninsula.
Our commitment to serious news, both local and
overseas, remains the same. Our news team — encom-
passing 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 mod-
ern 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 arrange-
ments 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 read-
able 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 in-
depth 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 immeasur-
able. 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 read-
ers. So please let us know your views, both positive
and negative. You can email us at: editor@thepenin-
sulaqatar.com
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!
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 pay-
as-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 promo-
tions 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 pro-
vider gets closer, customers can expect many
more special promotions and price wars in
the near future. THE PENINSULA
ith
SIGN OF CHANGE: New white street signs that are clearly visible even at night have come up on the major roads of Doha recently.
Burdened
By MOBIN PANDIT
DOHA: Inflation and other finan-
cial 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 fami-
lies have so far had easy access to
personal loans to relieve the burden
of mounting inflation.
This may not be the case as commer-
cial banks in the country are becoming
increasingly cautious due to the wors-
ening world financial situation.
The banks are not going to remain
as liberal as they have been in the
recent past in personal credit dispen-
sation due to an impending liquid-
ity crunch, a senior banker, who did
not wish to be identified, told The
Peninsula yesterday.
And, worse, with the galloping infla-
tion 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.
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
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 yester-
day in Qatar) the three convicted men
on death row, Amrozi, Mukhlas and
Imam Samudra, were executed by fir-
ing squad,” said the attorney general’s
office spokesman Jasman Panjaitan.
Sports 33
Young gun
reaches
Doha final
Personal loans
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 defi-
nitely increasing and causing financial
TEACHER: Russia’s Nadia Petrova shows how it’s done to a group of children during a
tennis clinic at the Khalifa Tennis Complex. See also pages 33 & 34 (QASSIM RAHMATULLAH)
“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”
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
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
Volume 13
Number 4052
Sunday
9 November 2008
11 Dhul-Qa’ada 1429
Price: QR2
Subscription Price: QR1.8
(ABDUL BASIT)
Peninsula graphic: Mahesh / Abraham
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 fam-
ilies 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 contribu-
tor to higher inflation, many people
moved into single accommodation,”
added Afridi. THE PENINSULA
Downturn a treat
for therapists
London’s masseurs, physiothera-
pists 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 pro-
vides massage sessions in homes
and workplaces across the capi-
tal, said she is the busiest she has
been since starting her business,
Inspired London.
In a sign of growing competi-
tion for the “pampering pound”,
she plans to double her team of
six qualified masseurs to cope
with increased demand, particu-
larly from large corporate clients.
“It used to be only the forward-
thinking 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 cor-
porate 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 litiga-
tion if they fail to help stressed-out
employees. FINANCIAL TIMES
See also pages 26 & 27