The Italian Embassy in Egypt held a large-scale celebration to mark the 65th anniversary of the National Day of Italy and the 150th of Italian Unity; a series of events was presided over by the Italian Ambassador Claudio Pacifico. Celebrations include a programme of activities all through June including an Italian-Egyptian Science Day held at Semiramis Hotel with Pacifico, the Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Maged George, the Minister of Electricity Hassan Younis, the Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Samir El-Sayad, the Italian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Vincenzo Scotti and the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Amr Ezzat Salama. The opening of the seminar on "Italian Technology for Energy Saving in Plastic Material Transformation" brought together several speakers: Giuseppe Federico from the Italian Trade Commission; Girolamo Dagostino, representative of Assocomaplast; Mohamed Kamal, director of the Plastic Technology Centre; and Ahmed Sami, chairman of the Industrial Council at the Ministry of Industry. The celebration also features a "Week of Italian Publishers, Culture and Archaeology", which includes a presentation of the book, Voyages and Memories of Emilio Rosetti edited by Giulia Torri. A presentation of the Arabic translation of Vincenzo Consolo's Smile of the Unknown Sailor. The presentation was attended by literary critic Hussein Mahmoud, translator Naglaa Wali and publisher Mohamed Suleiman. Finally, Mario Soldati 's historical film documenting the 150 years of Italian Unity entitled Old Small World was screened. photos: Ayman Barayez The Champollion Rotary Club (CRC), headed by Nahed Tadros, and the Royal Cairo Rotary Club (RCRC), headed by Hanaa El-Hilali, jointly held a seminar at Le Pacha Nile Boat. The keynote speaker was the Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour who discussed new plans and strategies. The Russian Ambassador Mikhail Bogdanov gave a prestigious reception at the headquarters of the Russian Embassy in Giza on the occasion of Russian National Day. Present were the Minister of Culture Emad Abu Ghazi, the US Ambassador Margaret Scobey, the former minister of information Mohamed Fayek, the permanent representative of Saudi Arabia at the Arab League Ahmed Al-Qattan, and the Moroccan Ambassador Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali as well as maestro Gaber El-Beltagui. Kawthar bu-Nekhila, the spouse of the former Libyan prime minister organised a day in solidarity with the Libyan people at Al-Azhar Park. The day featured a charity bazaar and a fashion show. The event was crowned by the presence of the Belgian Ambassador to Egypt Bruno Néve de Mevergnies and his wife, Ambassador of the European Union Marc Franco as well as society ladies Zeinab Taqa, Manal El-Attar, Wafaa El-Ansari and Ola Ragab. Under the auspices of the head of the General Egyptian Book Organisation Ahmed Megahed, a gala memorial was held at the Salah Abdel-Sabour Hall overlooking the Nile Corniche, to commemorate the first death anniversary of the gifted TV script writer Osama Anwar Okasha. The writer Karam El-Naggar, the renowned actress Fardos Abdel-Hamid and Okasha 's son the director Hisham Okasha participated in the memorial. Abdel-Hamid pointed out that Okasha has changed the face of Arabic drama not only in Egypt but across the Arab world. photo: Abdel-Hamid Eid Last Wednesday, the newly released blockbuster Sami Oxeed El-Carbon took place at the Stars cinema. Written by Mohamed El-Nabawi and directed by Akram Farid, the film stars Hani Ramzi, the Tunisian actress Dorra, and the singer- cum-actor Edward. Present at the screening were the actresses Bushra and Maye Kassab as well as the singers Mohamed Nour and Hamada Hilal. On the occasion of World Refugee Day, tomorrow El Sawy Culturewheel is organising a comprehensive celebration including an exhibition of paintings created by the refugee children and a play entitled Going to the Neighbours House, which sheds light on the life of refugees and the way to dealing with and accept them as part of society as well as a concert featuring Iraqi oud master Nasseer Shamma. A group of seniors from the Department of Electronic Engineering at the American University in Cairo (AUC) recently invented the conceptual prototype of an automatic metre reading system which calculates household power consumption and relays the information to personal electronic devices. The device can automatically send accurate readings to personal electronics, including a PC or cell phone. At the Sadat Metro stop, a group of artists decided to hold an exhibition of paintings and photographs named Tahrir Masr (Liberating Egypt), reflecting the events of the 25 January Revolution below the site of one of its principal locations. The exhibition, running through 22 June, will be seen by over half a million people each day, and will include calligraphy, engraving, and sculpture. Among the participants in the exhibition are the director and photographer Karim Ali and the painter Mary Salem. Also on show is a panel decorated with leaves in honour of artists who were killed in the revolution, including artists Ahmed Bassiouni and Ziad Bakir. Celebrating World Environment Day, the Society of Population Development and Protection of the Environment, in collaboration with the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs and the General Union of Scouting and Guides, headed by Fathi Farghali, held a conference on preserving biological diversity under the auspices of Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Maged George. During the celebration, a group of environmentalist experts including Al-Ahram Weekly 's very own environment editor Mahmoud Bakr were honoured.
