♣ The Faculty of Humanities at the oldest institution of learning in the Muslim world, Al-Azhar, organised a seminar on 3 April to pay tribute to the late Pakistani professor Amjad Hasan for his work in Egypt. The head of the Urdu Department at Al-Azhar, Ibrahim Mohamed Ibrahim, referred to the late professor as the Father of Urdu in Egypt. Hasan worked to promote Urdu language and literature in Egypt by teaching in the most prestigious universities: Cairo, Al Azhar, Ain Shams and Alexandria. Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of Pakistan Manzoor ul Haq praised Hasan's devotion to the Urdu-Arabic exchange. His writings and translations, he said, have been of great value. Hasan was born in 1929 and first came to Egypt in 1960 to study at Al-Azhar. He remained associated with the Radio Cairo Urdu Service until he died in 2007. He is buried near Cairo.
♥ The Student Conference On Pharmaceutical Studies (SCOPS ) is a student dependent and certified organisation based in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Ain Shams University since 2005. It aims at unleashing the hidden potential of pharmacy students in Cairo, bringing science to life through inspiring and training pharmacy students for the real-life situations and, most recently, organising the annual Employment Fair. This large-scale event took place on 6-8 April, and hosted 30 pharmaceutical companies as well as pharmacies and training centres, offering vacancies and summer trainings and the opportunity for networking. The fair was launched by Professor Abdel-Nasser Singab, dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, and professor Samar Mansour, general supervisor of SCOPS. The fair, which has helped employ thousands of students in the past, also includes a hepatitis awareness campaign and a community service booth.
♠ Saudi filmmaker Ahd is participating with Horma (Sanctity) in the official short film competition of the sixth Gulf Film Festival (11-17 April). Sanctity is also participating in the International Short Films section at the Bird's Eye View Film Festival in London (3-10 April), which this year celebrates Arab women filmmakers. It was also part of the seventh Ayam Beirut Al Cinema'iya Arab Film Festival that closed on 24 March. It was awarded an Arab Short Film competition prize at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival and became the first Saudi film ever to be screened at the Berliale. Ahd's acclaimed directorial debut was the short film The Shoemaker, in which she played the title role opposite Egyptian actor Amr Waked. The film received numerous awards at Arab and international festivals. ¨ The first edition of the Hurghada International Children's Theatre Festival opened last week under the auspices of the Red Sea Governor Major-General Mohamed Kamel. Egyptian, Arab and international troupes from around the world are participating in the event. Following a folk-inspired operetta, the opening ceremony saw actors Nelly, Mahmoud Kabil, Mamdouh Abdel-Alim and Cairo International Film Festival Manager Soheir Abdel-Kader honoured for their work for children. Present were singer Nadia Mustafa, TV presenter Poussy Shalabi and Saudi Arabian writer Abdallah Abdel-Mohsen.
