♣ A grand Iftar banquet was hosted by Indian Ambassador to Egypt Navdeep Suri and his wife Mani at his residence. Around 180 guests attended, including the Egyptian cabinet ministers, leaders of political parties, officials, diplomats, academics, artists and media representatives. Among other guests were the Minister of IT and Telecommunications Atef Helmi, former prime minister Essam Sharaf, President of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party Mahmoud Abul-Ghar, former deputy prime minister Yehia Al-Gamal, President of the Egyptian Council of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Mohamed Shakir, President of the Egyptian Writers Union Mohamed Salmawy, former minister Maged Othman and founder of the Democratic Front Party Osama Al-Ghazali Harb, together with former MP Mona Makram Ebeid, ambassador Abdel Raouf Al-Ridi and singer Iman Al-Bahr Darwish. In his welcome remarks, Suri greeted the Egyptian people on the occasion of the Holy Month of Ramadan, emphasising the importance of peace at this critical juncture. Noting the value of coexistence, he described India's composite culture, exemplified by the diversity in India's political leadership. Prominent Quran reciter Salah Al-Gamal delivered a few verses of the Quran. In an interview to the Indian news channel DD News after the Iftar, Helmi said that Egypt was keen to expand cooperation with India in the IT and telecommunications field, especially after the recent signing of an agreement for this purpose. He mentioned that Egypt hoped to learn from India's experiences, and become a gateway for the region in the e-medicine, e-learning and other IT enabled services. He also welcomed Indian investments in the field of telecommunication.
♥ Heba Morayef, an American University in Cairo (AUC) alumna who is the Human Rights Watch Egypt director, was recently named by Forbes as a Power Woman for 2013, included in the annual Women to Watch list. Morayef, a prominent advocate of human rights in the Middle East, has been with Human Rights Watch for the last five years. She is responsible for documenting human rights violations, analysing the situation and trends in the country, as well as researching, writing and publicising reports about violations. Morayef graduated from AUC in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in political science, specialising in public international law as a way to focus on human rights advocacy. “It was a good time to be at AUC because there was a lot going on, like the second Intifada and the Iraq war, and campus activism was integrated into what was happening outside of the university in downtown Cairo,” she said. During her time at AUC, Morayef began campaigning for human rights as a method of advocating change. “At that time, big political change in Egypt seemed impossible, so a career in politics was unappealing,” she said. After graduation, Morayef worked in the United Nations Development Programme's Human Rights Capacity Building Project and AUC's International Human Rights Law Outreach Project. She earned an LLM from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2005.
♠ The Rotana Satellite Channels company held its annual Ramadan Sohour at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel, overlooking the Nile, in a festive evening featuring Al-Tanoura troupe. Present were actors Mahmoud Kabil, Yousra, Nabila Ebeid, Dorra, Madline Tabar, Dalia Mustafa, Emmy Samir Ghanem, Ghada Ibrahim, Leqaa Swedan, Kamal Abu Rayya, filmmaker Inas Al-Degheidi, producer Ismail Kotkout, talk show hosts Tamer Amin and Tamer Abdel-Moneim, head of Tamarod campaign Mahmoud Badr as well as the cast of Ramadan TV series Ahla Ayam (Best Days).
¨ The crew of the Ramadan TV series Al-Da'eya (The Preacher) starring Hani Salama, Riham Abdel-Ghaffour and Basma organised a Ramadan Iftar at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel. Among the attendees were actress Laila Elwi and her husband businessman Mansour Al-Gammal, producer Mohamed Al-Adl, actor Sami Al-Adl, media figure Hala Sarhan and her son Mohamed Emad Adib, singer-cum-actor Mohamed Hani and writer Fathia Al-Assal.
♣ Producer Mohamed Hefzi's Sohour brought together director Tarek Al-Erian and his wife the Syrian singer Asala Nasri, producer Hassan Ramzi, his wife and their son actor Sherif Ramzi, actress and producer Boushra, directors Mohamed Diab and Amr Salama, TV presenter Ingy Ali, Syrian actress Kenda Aloush and actor Khaled Al-Nabawi.
♥ On the occasion of the opening of the Ramadan tent Al-Vinni in Kattamya, the owner, businessman Tarek Wahba organised a prestigious celebration and Sohour featuring TV satirist Bassem Youssef, who delivered a speech for the large audience, including society ladies and businessmen and heads of Lions Club.
♠ The CBC satellite company, headed by businessman Mohamed Al-Amin, held its annual Ramadan Iftar at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel. Present were media figures Lamis Al-Hadidi, Magdi Al-Gallad, Mohamed Hani and Military Council Spokesman Ahmed Mohamed Ali as well as CBC personnel. Both Al-Hadidi and Al-Amin gave speeches.
♣ Receiving its 10th festival award, the Egyptian film Snapshot won the Best Scenario (Amr Salama) and Best Actor (Ahmed Fahmi) at the 16th African Film Festival of Khouribga. Directed by Karim Al-Adl, Snapshot is an action thriller starring Eyad Nassar, Dorra, Horreya Farghali and Ahmed Fahmi. The film tells the story of a photographer who witnesses a murder under mysterious circumstances, thinking it was a dream at first; he soon realises it did occur in real life, raising his suspicions about everyone around him. The film won three awards in the 39th Egyptian Cinema Film Association Festival, namely: Best Cinematography (Abdel-Salam Moussa), Best Music for Hani Adel and Best Movie Poster Design (Youssef Adel from Cover Media Company). It also received five awards from the Catholic Centre Cinema Festival including Best Music, Best Decoration, Creative Certificate to Cinematographer and Sound Engineer, in addition to the Special Jury award, which went to Al-Adl.
¨ For the second year running, the Embassy of South Korea organised a competition entitled “Korean Culture In the Eyes of Egyptian Youth” at the Conferences Hall of the Faculty of Al-Alsun, Ain Shams University. The contest featured questions about South Korean culture, literature and history, and included some 40 contestants who are the scholars of the Korean language and culture department. During the event, the South Korean Embassy Cultural Attaché Park Jae Yang distributed memorial gifts among the participants and also honoured the first five winners while the first winner was invited to visit Korea and tour its touristic and historical sites.
