MNZ Consultants won the first prize in the Arab African International Bank (AAIB) award competition at AUC, presented to the winning students by Vice Chairman of the AAIB Hassan Abdallah, Chairman of Egypt's international Economic Forum Shafiq Gabr and Dean of the Business, Economics and Mass Communication schools at AUC. MNZ won the award for the development of the best idea for a new banking product; "The Net Shopper" -- a secure method of shopping on the net. Team members Moatassem Moataz, Naila Fattouh and Zeinab Abdel-Fattah took the LE15,000 prize. The Milky Way Explorer was also recognised by the AAIB. Team members Leila Refaat and Salma Bahgat were given certificates of participation. Congratulations to the young entrepreneurs. I am thrilled, my sweets, to hear that Egypt was among the winners of the International Stockholm Challenge Award of 2004. The award ceremony took place on 13 May, where ten winners in different categories received awards. The award is for projects that find innovative ways to use IT, particularly those that bring benefits to both users and society. The Centre for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina was awarded the prize on its sound project: the Archeological Map of Egypt. It embraces all the Egyptian archaeological sites on a multimedia geographic information system. Director of CULTNAT Fathy Saleh received the award. I am so proud, my sweets, to find out that the wonderfully expressive picture captured in the Atareen area of Alexandria by Al-Ahram Weekly's very own Colette Kinsella, is displayed this week on the BBC World Web site as part of its weekly gallery of images from around the globe. A Dhrupad concert was organised, for the first time in Egypt, a couple of weeks ago by the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture. Dhrupad is the finest and purest form of Indian vocal classical music driven from the "Sama Veda", one of the oldest sacred texts of the world. Artists who performed are India's finest exponents of Dhrupad : Umakant, Ramakant and Akhilesh Gundecha as well as Shubha Sankaran on Sur Bahar. The concert, held at Mena House Oberoi, was attended by Indian Ambassador to Cairo RS Rathore, President of Cairo International Song Festival Salah Salem, Ambassador Jihad Maadi from the Egyptian Foreign Office and a host of senior Egyptian intellectuals and academics. Although I was mesmerised by such music, I was sad to know that this was the last public cultural event organised by my dynamic friend Kanchan Gupta, cultural and communication counsellor and director of the Indian Cultural Centre. Gupta returns to India in early June to take up on a new assignment. I wish him and his wife Nandini the best of luck. What great news for a hot summer! Cairo's trendiest outdoor lounge and bar "High Heels" at the Nile Hilton has been awarded a very prestigious international award, the "2004 Condé Nast Traveler Hot Nights List". The survey was conducted by "Condé Nast Traveler", one of the most prominent and widely circulated travel magazine in the world, published by the Condé Nast Traveler Publications in the USA. I am thrilled, my dears, because recognising the Nile Hilton's High Heels as one of the top 30 Hot Nights in the world is a great boost for Egypt as a destination for the international leisure traveller. Two attractive birds got together and vowed everlasting love. They were Mariam Riyad, assistant manager in Alcatel Company and Ezzat Hezqial, the producer at Nile News. It was a simple and happy gathering in Saint Mary Church in Maadi. Among the prominent attendees were author Milad Hanna, journalist Mahmoud El-Maraghi, Head of the Nile News Thematic Channel Samiha Dahroug, Head of the African Centre for Human Rights Mohamed Mounib and Head of the Arabs Against Discrimination Organisation Emad Gad. This week, my dears, is full of happy news for our friends; our colleague Al-Ahram assistant editor-in- chief Maha El-Nahas and her husband Mohamed El-Margoushi celebrated the engagement of their son engineer Mohamed El-Margoushi to Omnia El- Wakil at the prestigious Diplomatic Club. Catherine, the diligent daughter of our colleague Samir Naom participated in an open day organised at Al-Horriya English School in Dokki celebrating passing her exams and moving on to the preparatory stage. The party featured several items of singing and acting supervised by her amiable headmistress Gamila. Under the theme, "The liberation of the press from the intervention of the state in the Arab world", The Arab Press Freedom Watch convened its third annual conference in Casablanca, Morocco, in collaboration with The Moroccan National Press Union. During ten sessions, the delegates of the APFW in 14 Arab states, together with representative of concerned international and regional organisations, and APFW President Ibrahim Nawar, discussed the situation of the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press in the Arab countries. They deliberated on ways and means of effectively diminishing the role of the state in controlling the media, and debated the policies that dangerously impact the independence and objectivity of the media and seriously restrict its ability to shoulder its mission in defence of the rights of society in knowledge, expression and communication. The discussion also highlighted the strong linkage between the hostile attitude of the state towards the freedom of expression and press, and its deep rooted tendencies to resist public pressure for change and democratic reform of Arab societies. Members of the Egyptian delegation included Sahar El-Bahr from Al-Ahram Weekly, Ragaiee El-Merghani from the Middle East News Agency, Hazem Mounir from Al- Ahali Newspaper and Abeer Saady at Al-Akhbar newspaper.
