On 20 June, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to annually observe Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 's 2 October birthday, as the International Day of Non-Violence. Piloted by India, with 142 co-sponsors, the move, according to Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Hon'ble Shri Anand Sharma, reflects the respect that Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) commands throughout the world, highlighting the relevance of his message for our times. The idea had its genesis during the course of "Peace, Non-Violence and Empowerment: Gandhian philosophy in the 21st century", an international conference held in New Delhi in January to commemorate the centenary of the Satyagraha Movement launched by Gandhi in South Africa, with 91 countries and 122 organisations represented, alongside many Nobel laureates. Last week, investors of the Sinai Association organised a farewell party for Italian Ambassador to Cairo Antonio Badini and his wife Dounia in Sharm El-Sheikh. Badini seized the opportunity to honour Egyptian businessman Anwar Helal, granting him the Order of Commander of Merit of the Italian Republic for his distinguished efforts in developing tourism and reinforcing economic ties between the two countries. The event boasted the presence of ambassador of the Vatican, Italian military attaché and his wife, president of the American University in Cairo (AUC), David Arnold and his wife, and businessmen Mohamed Abu Youssef and Mohamed El-Gafi. Badini 's term in Egypt was busy enough, but he has been busier than ever bringing it to a close. He also attended the ceremony held at the Don Bosco Institute organised by IVECO, in cooperation with the Italian Embassy, to distribute scholarships for 34 students of the first and second year and 18 graduation diplomas recognised by the Egyptian and Italian governments. Present were Education Minister Yousri El-Gamal and Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Rachid Mohamed Rachid, among others. Earlier in the week, Badini met Egyptian journalists from various newspapers and magazines to thank them for supporting the activities of the embassy with their articles. He also launched his newly released book A Story of Success, in which he reviewed the last round of the Cairo International Book Fair, at which Italy was the guest of honour. During the meeting, Badini promised to continue supporting cultural exchange between Egypt and Italy, initially through discussing the possibility of Egypt being the guest of honour at the upcoming Torino Book Fair, scheduled for October/September 2008. photos: Ayman Barayez On the occasion of holding the Arab Ministers of Information conference, Egyptian Minister of Information Anas El-Fiqi organised a big reception at the Manial Palace. The event included a bevy of luminary TV announcers and introducers such as Mervat Farrag, Dina Ramez, Dalia Nasser, Moufida Sheeha and Mehra Rashed. It was crowned by the presence of Libyan, Sudanese, Kuwaiti, Yemeni, Jordanian and Moroccan ministers of information. Chairman of the TV and Radio Union Suzanne Hassan, Al-Ahram Editor-in-Chief Osama Saraya, back page Editor Mona Ragab and Nisf Al-Donia magazine Editor-in-Chief Afkar El-Kharadli were among the attendees. Prominent cinema stars Adel Imam, Nabila Abeid and Hussein Fahmi were also there. The Embassy of Japan in Egypt presented the book My First Mountain written by her Majesty Empress Michiko, to the College du Sacre-Coeur du Caire in a ceremony involving Masako Ishikawa, the wife of Ambassador Ishikawa, handing a copy to the principal Soeur Thelin Genevieve. The book is the story of a six-year- old girl who climbs a mountain with her elder brother for the first time in her life. The book was inspired by the empress's souvenir of a hike she took with the imperial family in 1985. Professor Ahmed Mustafa of the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, Cairo University, translated the text into Arabic. The book is also available at the library of the Japanese Embassy in Egypt. photo: Sherif Mahmoud In cooperation with King Abdul-Aziz University's Diabetics Centre in Saudi Arabia, the Egyptian Society for Assistance to Young Diabetics (AYD) organised a charity event, Sukkar Mazbout, involving a tent set up on the grounds of Al-Haram Mövenpick Hotel over 23-28 June. It was in response to the UN calling on the world to pool efforts to raise awareness of diabetic children, and focuses on empowering eight- to 13-year-old diabetics to independently deal with their illness. photos: El-Sayed Abdel-Qader The African Society in Cairo (ASC) hosted the African Culture and Arts Festival at the Opera House, held for the first time in Dakar in 1966: exhibits and performances marked the occasion. ASC head, Ambassador Mohamed Nasreddin honoured a number of figures including the name of the late ambassador Kamal Salaheddin, who was assassinated in Mogadishu and whose daughter Laila received the award. The founder of the ASC, the late ambassador Abdel-Aziz Isaac, and founder of the African Journalists Union, Abdel-Moneim El-Sawy, were also honoured. The Lions Clubs International Foundation has honoured the Cairo Capital Lions Club with the accolade "distinguished" with Nagwa Emad, president of the Cairo Capital Lions Club and Khaled Helmi, one of its founders, receiving the Melvin Jones Fellow Honour from the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) in recognition of their outstanding humanitarian service. The fellowship is LCIF's highest honour in recognition of dedication to humanitarian service. It was created in 1973 and takes its name from the founder of the Lions Club's International, Melvin Jones. Cairo Capital Lions Club officials were presented with the Melvin Jones Fellow Honour at the annual conference of the Lions Clubs in Egypt, in the presence of Samir Abu Samra from Lebanon, regional director of the Sight First Programme, and Ahmed Salem, governor of the Lions Egypt District. Helwan University English literature Professor Suzanne Mohamed Ouf recently gave a lecture in the Italian city of Lecce on the Egyptian female liberation movement, tackling misconceptions about women in Islam and highlighting the role of the National Council of Women and the Suzanne Mubarak Women's Peace Movement. The British Ambassador Sir Derek Plumbly recently presented 28 Egyptian Chevening Scholars and nine Chevening Fellows with award certificates following their completion of post- graduate studies in Britain. Another 33 due to travel to the UK in September attended the event. "I am delighted that once again we are able to send a number of bright, young, talented Egyptians to the UK to pursue post-graduate study," Plumbly said. The Chevening scheme is 21 years old. The British Council will accept applications for scholarships for 2008/9 starting 13 July, 2007. Applications are accepted online at www.chevening.com until 30 September, 2007.
