Minister of Culture Abdel-Wahed Al-Nabawi, Minister of Urban Development and Informal Housing Laila Iskandar and Head of the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces (GOCP) Mohamed Abdel-Hafez Nassef inaugurated the Ramadan programme “Egyptian Nights”, organised by the Central Administration of Art Affairs at the Manshiyet Nasser Culture Palace, headed by Ahmed Ibrahim. The ceremony featured an exhibition of handicrafts and arabesques and works from the children's caricature workshop in addition to a GOCP publications fair. On his first meeting with the Egyptian press, including Pack of Cards and Listings editor Reham El-Adawi, the newly named Indian Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya invited all Egyptians to celebrate International Day of Yoga (IDY) on 21 June. To mark the occasion, a special event at India House in Zamalek will be held at 7.30 pm on the day, slated for the evening to fit the Ramadan schedule. “Yoga is seen as a celebration of life in the entire world. Throughout the world, people will be performing a Common Yoga Protocol on that day. An audiovisual presentation on the Common Yoga Protocol can also be viewed on youtube at http://youtu.be/4a9GieNT4Z8,” Bhattacharyya explained. The winners of the photography competition “Yoga in Egypt” will also be awarded on 21 June. The UN General Assembly officially declared 21 June IDY on 11 December 2014, responding to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for adopting the Summer Solstice as international yoga day. “The date is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and has special significance in many parts of the world,” Modi said. The great yogi mystic Sadhguru noted the importance of this day in the tradition: “On the day of the summer solstice, Adiyogi (the first yogi) turned south and first set his eyes on the Saptarishis or Seven Sages, who were his first disciples to carry the science of yoga to many parts of the world.” Swedish Ambassador Charlotta Sparre gave a reception at the garden of the embassy in Zamalek to mark Swedish national day. Present were Minister of Health Adel Adawi, Chairman of the Board of Suez Cement Company Amr Mehanna, executive manager of the American Chamber Hisham Fahmi, Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem Al-Zamanan, Iraqi Ambassador Diaa Al-Dabbas and Omani Ambassador Khalifa Bin Ali Al-Harithi. Eight Egyptian photographers who participated in the embassy's photography competition were awarded for capturing unique photos for the colours of the Swedish flag as well as tourist attractions in Egypt. Jordanian Ambassador Bishr Al-Khasawena gave a reception to celebrate Jordan's 69th national day. Present were the Secretary-General of the Arab League Nabil Al-Arabi as well as former secretary-general Amr Moussa, Jordanian actor Mounzir Raihana and Egyptian actors Laila Elwie, Youssra, Samir Sabri and Ahmed Bedeir. Eduniversal, a global ranking and rating agency specialising in higher education headquartered in Paris, ranked the Master of Arts programme in journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo (AUC) the first in Africa. Eduniversal recently published its master's rankings for the 2014-2015 academic year, based on a global survey of 5,000 international recruiters, 800,000 students and over 10,000 representatives from 1,000 academic institutions in 154 countries. Each year this ranking evaluates over 12,000 postgraduate programmes and it is the only ranking that evaluates individual masters programs worldwide in 30 fields of study. The Arab Anglican Church in London organised a grand celebration on Sunday to celebrate the election of Father Andre Zaki as Head of the Anglican Sect. Attending were a number of officials and religious leaders as well as members of the Egyptian community in London. Father Zaki stressed the importance of Arab churches abroad supporting the role of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi at this critical moment in Egyptian history. The first Arabic edition of Sergei Prokofiev's masterpiece Peter and the Wolf, translated and narrated by Egyptian author Nazih Guirgis, is officially part of the Butler Library Prokofiev Collection and Museum at the University of Columbia, New York City. The work premiered at the John Kennedy Center, Washington DC on 25 February 1990. The second took place at the AUC Ewart Hall on 9 March 1996 by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mustafa Nagy. Guirgis had then invited his late friend Oleg Prokofiev, the younger son of the great composer, to come to Egypt. He had narrated the work in English while Guirgis read out the Arabic. The book was introduced by Oleg Prokofiev and Prokofiev Historian and Professor of Slavic Languages at University of New York at Albany Harlow Robinson. Girgis also produced a ballet performance of the work that toured Egyptian cities. Film star Hend Sabri headed to the Netherlands to attend the screening of her two films Asmaa by Egyptian director Amr Salama and The Silence of the Palace by Tunisian director Moufida Tlatli. The events were part of the film exhibition ‘Where do we go now? Arab women behind the camera' (5-21 June), taking place at the EYE National Museum for Film in Amsterdam. The program ‘Where do we go now?' will present films of the recent years by female Arab filmmakers that encourage discussion of women's issues in the Arab world from the political, social and religious point of view. At the biggest film market in the world, which is held within the framework of the Cannes Film Festival, Sabri announced the establishment of a new production company, Salam PROD., which will unveil its first projects at a later date. The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transportation (AASTMT) held a forum to discuss the graduation projects of the International Business department students in the presence of Alexandria Governor Hani Al-Messeiri. On the occasion, AASTMT President Ismail Abdel-Ghaffar honoured actors Farouk Al-Fishawi, Ragaa Al-Geddawi, Dorra, TV presenter Tamer Shaltout as well as Lebanese, Palestinian, Spanish, Sudanese and Chinese diplomats and Egyptian businessmen. The Arab Federation for Youth and Environment, in collaboration with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) organised the seventh Arab Youth Forum to encourage cultural and environmental tourism in the Arab countries at Beit Al-Sehemi in Fatimid Cairo. According to Secretary-General of the federation Mamdouh Rashwan, the forum discussed the means to minimise the environmental dangers of the cultural tourism. Present were Minister of Environment Khaled Fahmi, ISESCO representative Salaheddin Al-Gaafarawi and Al-Ahram Weekly Environment Editor Mahmoud Bakr. Egyptologist Zahi Hawass celebrated the launch of his new book The Legend of Tutankhamun with photographs by Sandro Vannini at Marriott Hotel. This is Hawass's 10th book on the Golden Pharaoh, exploring new information about his life. The event was presented by Jihan Al-Sadat, the widow of late president Anwar Al-Sadat. The grand finale was a singing recital by Azza Balbaa. Actors Laila Elwie, Mahmoud Qabil, Al-Ahram Weekly's very own Lubna Abdel-Aziz, political analyst Mustafa Al-Fiqi, businessman Samih Sawiris and former minister of tourism Hisham Zaazou were all present.
