For all Arabic music fans, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni inaugurated the 14th Arabic Music Festival which took place at the Cairo Opera House's Main Hall, last week. The opening ceremony commenced with the speech of the Secretary-General of the festival Ratiba El-Hefni. Then Hosni and opera director Abdel-Moneim Kamel honoured 10 artists including Saudi singer Mohamed Abdu ; veteran pop star Hani Shaker ; and composer Mohamed Sultan. Among other guests who attended the opening ceremony were jazz player Yehia Khalil ; violin master Hassan Sharara ; and Syrian singer Safwan Bahlwan. photo: Amira El-Nakeeb My fun-loving colleague Amira El-Nakeeb spent a wonderful day, my darlings, in the Embassy of Indonesia, for the 60th anniversary celebrations of the island-nation's independence. Minister of Communications and information technology, Tarek Kamel, was recently named top 2005 minister in Africa by the African Information Communications Technology (ICT) Achievers Award. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology was also awarded the top public sector department embracing ICT in Africa. The awards are an annual event organised by the South African Department of Communications. Ambassador Hagar Islambouli, the Egyptian ambassador to South Africa, received the award on behalf of Kamel. Muslims, too, have the right to defend themselves. "They claim we are terrorists, bloody, backward, reactive, insane. The time has come to say who we are." The screen carried these words as the first Model Organisation of Islamic Conference (MOIC 06) delivered its powerful message to the world. The main theme of the MOIC 06, which opened this week at El-Sawy Culture Centre, was to set a new agenda for the organisation. Nadia Rashad, supervisor of the first global MOIC, played a crucial part in encouraging the students. Among the guests were Dato Mansour Eissa -- representative of the Malaysian Embassy and Professor Mona Aboul-Fadl. Heads of the committees included: Mona Akil ; Ahmed Adel ; Ahmed Moharam, Hussein El-Sayed ; and Karim Hussein played a vital role to make the event a success. What was really fantastic as my colleague Nesmahar Sayed told me was the enthusiasm evident in every single word uttered by the students. I do hope, my darlings, that the event will help improve the image of Islam. You know, darlings, that diamonds are a girl's best friend. You can imagine my excitement when I learnt that a jewellery show was organised by jewellery mogul Sherif El-Sergani at Al-Pasha Nile boat to display a collection of his new designs studded with precious stones. The models were draped in the most beautiful necklaces and bracelets. Amongst the guests were Counsellor of the US Embassy for Press and Cultural Affairs Haynes R Mahoney ; Goodwill Ambassador Mahmoud Qabil ; and a galaxy of celebrities and diplomats. On a cool November evening, art lovers gathered at the Picasso art gallery in Zamalek, to enjoy Farid Fadel 's most recent exhibition entitled "The Heavens Declare". The exhibition was inaugurated by Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, and attended by Ambassador of the United States in Egypt Francis J Ricciardone ; Minister of Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish ; and a coterie of distinguished personalities. Saudi Ambassador to Cairo Hisham Bin Mohieddin Nazer held a reception in honour of the Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul-Aziz Al - Saoud in the sumptuous surroundings of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Among those in attendance were Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif ; Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmi ; head of the People's Assembly Fathi Sorour ; head of Shura Council Safwat El-Sherif ; prominent writer Ibrahim Nafie and a galaxy of dignitaries. The diligent Governor of Al-Minya Hassan Hemeida along with my dear friend Italian Ambassador to Egypt Antonio Badini opened Al-Wehda Al-Mogamaa School in Al-Minya governorate. The school falls under the auspices of the project "Construction of Schools in Al-Minya, Al-Sharqiya and Sohag," financed by the Italian-Egyptian Debt Swap programme. The LE43 million project is aimed at building and restoring 23 schools in these governorates. At Al-Ahram art gallery, an exhibition of the Federation of Cartoonists Organisation (FECO), celebrating its 20th anniversary, was opened by General Manager of Al-Ahram Printing and Projects Department and member of Al-Ahram Board of Directors Mohamed Taymour. Artist and head of the federation's branch in Egypt Mohamed Effat pointed that artists from 21 countries including Argentina, Italy, Turkey, Japan, Holland, Slovakia, Canada, France, Egypt, Cuba, Spain and Australia took part in the exhibition. Our dear Al-Ahram colleague Said Badawi represented Egypt exhibiting some of his unique caricatures. Celebrating Child Day, the Al-Jazeera Children's Channel organised a celebration at Geneina Mall commercial centre, Nasr City. It also coincided with the launch of the channel's Egypt office in Cairo as part of its ongoing commitment to improving the lot of Arab Children. The channel's bureau expansion strategy aims at offering consistent quality programming content for children in the Arab world. I do believe that the Arab children will find the entire exercise both educational and entertaining. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Minister of Information Anas El-Fiqi and Al-Jazeera Children's Channel Executive General Manager Mahmoud Bouneb. The channel was launched in Qatar on 9 September, 2005. The Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) celebrated the 50th anniversary of its establishment. My dynamic colleague Ghada Abd El-Kader attended this heart-warming occasion, the very special honouring ceremony for Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed El-Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Mona El-Baradei, dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University and El-Baradei 's sister, was given the award on behalf of her brother. The celebration was held under the auspices of the EAEA in Cairo. Among the dignitaries who attended the party were Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Yunis, who was also awarded; head of the EAEA Ali Islam Metwali ; head of the National Centre for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Control at the EAEA Adel Adham ; director-general of the Arab Atomic Energy Agency Mahmoud Nasredddin and a bevy of atomic energy professors. Last week, my very same friend Ghada Abd El-Kader was invited to attend the celebrations of Child's Day. The Integral Care Organisation, headed by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, organised the solicitous affair. The celebration was held at the library of the Great River, Giza. Kamal El-Gazar, director of the library of the Great River and poet Mohamed Koushik, head of the general administration of the Cultural Organisation, attended the celebration. The programme was full of beautiful surprises including a musical show presented by the Cairo Opera House's singer Gamila Gamil and pianist Said El-Sayed. Last week, Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture organised a special ceremony for Childhood Day and solemnised the memorial of birth anniversaries of three great leaders of India: Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Abul-Kalam Azad. The celebration was held at Al-Salam Theatre, Garden City. Newly named Indian Ambassador to Cairo A Gopinathan and Egypt's ravishing Actress Yussra presented prizes to 93 Egyptian winners of the annual painting competition entitled "Glimpses of India". World renowned Egyptian actor Omar Sharif stands on the left hand side of the Prince of Monaco Albert during the closing ceremony of Monaco's Fifth Film Festival of Comedy. Sharif was honoured with a special award for his great contribution to world cinema.
