photos: Ghada Abd El-Kader The Italian Technical and Vocational Institute Don Bosco celebrated the departure of some 600 graduates to resume their training in Italy at a conference, Ghada Abdel-Kader reports. Don Bosco expresses the Italian commitment to the Egyptian Reform of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) -- aimed at enhancing human resources in a development context. As of next academic year, Don Bosco will extend its educational activities with university courses in Italian, Arabic and English having EU accreditation. On the occasion -- in the course of the International Mobility Project financed by the Italian Ministry of Labour and implemented in Egypt in cooperation with the Ministry of Manpower and Migration -- Italian Ambassador to Cairo Antonio Badini said, "Thanks to the joined efforts of the Italian and Egyptian governments, the Italian-Egyptian private sector is able to provide a skilled labour force of highly qualified technicians and competitive managers for both the national and international labour market." Present were Minister of Education Yousri El-Gamal, Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry Rashid Mohamed Rashid, Head of the Immigration Department Magda Abdel-Rahman, Don Bosco director Don Renzo Leonarduzzi, Suez Cement Managing Director Roberto Callieri, Iveco Human Resource (HR) Manager Luca Merlo and representatives of the Italian--Egyptian private sector. photos: Ayman Barayez To celebrate Eid Al-Fitr, Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Farag El-Dokali hosted a reception for members of the Moroccan community at his residence. At the Indian Cultural Centre's annual Iftar party, the guests included the Indian Ambassador to Egypt A Gopinathan, board members of Egypt-India Friendship Association and Indian students studying at Al-Azhar University. At the Cairo Sheraton, Al-Shweifat International School held a charity party for the orphans and special-needs children of Al-Amal Institution. With school teachers and students dancing with Al-Amal children, everyone had a wonderful time. The Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) is calling for submissions to the 2007 round of the Shankar International Children's Competition. Launched in 1949 by the late cartoonist Shankar Pillai, the competition covers 130 countries and awards prizes in writing, painting and drawing to encourage creativity among children. This year it is open to children born no earlier than January 1991. The deadline for entries is 30 November. Results will be announced in August 2007, with the winners appearing in the monthly Children's World. The first Banipal Prize for Arabic Literature was awarded to my friend Humphrey Davies, for his translation of Elias Khoury's Gate of the Sun (Harvill Secker, 2006). Humphrey 's work was dubbed "a great achievement" that "brilliantly captures the nuances and style of the original" -- not surprising for anyone familiar with his translations of Naguib Mahfouz 's Thebes at War (American University in Cairo Press, 2003) and Alaa Al-Aswany 's The Yacoubian Building (AUC Press, 2004). But guess who the runner-up was? Al-Ahram Weekly 's very own assistant editor-in- chief and Culture Page Editor Hala Halim, for her translation of Mohamed El-Bisatie 's Clamor of the Lake (AUC Press, 2004). " Hala Halim 's translation superbly renders the original's lyricism and fluidity", went the judges' statement. The judges this year were author Moris Farhi, literary journalist Maya Jaggi, and literary translator from Arabic and academic Roger Allen, with Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef acting as non-voting chair. Set up by Banipal, the magazine of modern Arabic literature in English translation edited by Margaret Obank, the Banipal Trust for Arab Literature, which grants the prize, was founded in 2004 to support the publication of Arab authors in English translation. The prize enjoys the patronage of Mohamed Ahmed Al-Sowaidi. Painter Mohamed Abla 's exhibition, "The Family", opened at the Zamalek Art Gallery on Sunday. Open till 23 November, it includes 75 prints showing the artist's own family and childhood memories. For the fourth year now, Eid Al-Fitr was celebrated in grand style at the Pharaonic Village under the title of "Nations Celebrations", with the embassies of Russia, the Congo Democratic Republic, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Bangladesh representing their countries' food, costume and folk dance. Village chairman Abdel-Salam Ragab presented the audience -- among whom were several dignitaries -- with Pharaonic souvenirs. Syrian musicians Lena Chamamyan and Basel Rajoub came out on top of the first Radio Monte Carlo Moyen-Orient Music Award following a ceremony held last month in Al-Hussein Cultural Centre in Amman, Jordan. Organised by Radio Monte Carlo in partnership with the European Commission in the framework of the MEDA programme to promote new talents in the Mediterranean basin, the award comprises a cash prize of 6,000 Euros and an international promotion campaign on Radio Monte Carlo Moyen-Orient and its partners. Both winners had performed, on the same night as Moroccan singer Souad Massi, at the Institute du Monde Arab in Paris. Chamamyan, who demonstrated a passion for music at the age of five, is of Armenian descent. An economics graduate, she is currently studying classical songs at the Higher Music Institute; she has written the scores for, among other things, the Tunisian film Behind the Mirror and the Syrian television series Nizar Qabbani, and participated in numerous jazz concerts. She was honoured by Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafi (The Egyptian Culture Resource). Aleppo-born Rajoub began his musical career playing trumpet; at the Conservatory he studied eastern and European classical music as well as Jazz. His work is a rich blend often featuring an unusual mix of sounds such as piano and brass.
