Unfolding Our colleague Nader Habib captured this image of a young man named Ali Hussein performing with a tanoura, a form of Sufi ritual derived from the whirling dervish dances of Turkey and employing colourful gargantuan skirt to produce beautiful swirling cycles of motions. The idea is to reach inner purity and become one with God. Hussein is a genius of the tanoura, and he can swirl umbrella-like implements besides the skirt he wears. The impression is of a flower in bloom, dazzling... To mark the Polish Independence Day, the Polish Ambassador to Egypt Piotr Putcha and his wife hosted a prestigious reception at the embassy headquarters in Zamalek in the presence of Defence Military Naval and Air Attaché Colonel Marek Derlatka and his wife, along with diplomats -- including the German Ambassador to Egypt Michael Bock and his wife Dagmar -- as well as high-profile figures like the Chairman of the Board of EgyptAir Hussein Massoud. photo: Nasr Attia The British Ambassador to Egypt Dominic Asquith inaugurated the first Model British Parliament of the British University in Egypt (BUE) together with BUE Chairman of the Board of Trustees Farid Khamis. The model, organised by BUE students, is a simulation of the British parliament which represents one of the oldest democracies in the modern world. This significant event aims to spread democratic awareness among the young. It is held in cooperation with the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement with participation from Cairo University students as well as secondary students. Present at the inauguration was the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Economic and Political Science Professor David Kirby, the head of International Relations at the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Press Reda Sheta, the Director of the Journalists Training Centre Khaled Bekir as well as the representative of the Hanns Seidal Foundation in Egypt Wolfgang Mayer. photo: Ayman Barayez To mark World Diabetes Day, a conference was held at Sofitel Cairo Al-Gezirah Hotel under the patronage of the President of the NGOs Union in Egypt Abdel-Aziz Hegazi. The head of the Diabetes Service Unit at Georges Pompidou Hospital in France Professor Jean-Jacques Altman was the keynote speaker at the conference, which was entitled "Preventing type 2 diabetes epidemy: Way of life or pills"; his speech highlighted modes of protection against the spread of the diabetes. Among the attendees were media figure Salma El-Shamaa and society ladies Brigiette Louvivre and Nahed Tadros. The 6 October Lions Club (SOLC) celebrated its foundation in a magnificent ceremony held at the Safir Hotel in Doqqi in the presence of the President of the 352 Lions Zone Sami Gabr and the chairman of the Board of the SOLC, media figure Atef El-Beili. At the end Gabr honoured a number of figures including the veteran actress Soheir El-Morsheidi, the actors Sameh Youssri, Dalia El-Beheiri, Dalia Mustafa, Hanan Mutawei, Nihal Anbar, Inas Mekki and Wafaa Salem, Amr Abdel-Geleil and the Lebanese actress Iman. photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid The Lebanese singer Miriam Faris and the singer Rami Sabri rocked the stage at the Canadian International College (CIC) headquarters in New Cairo, where hundreds of students gathered to attend the welcome party concert for the class of 2011 and enjoyed a wonderful night of pop music. A fashion show was held at the Cairo Opera House Open- Air by Lebanese designer Silvia Nasreddin featuring her 2011 collection of casual wear. The 18th Damascus International Film Festival concluded its activities in a lavish ceremony under the auspices of the Syrian Minister of Culture Riyad Essmat. The Belgium short film La Balanoire (The Swing), directed by Christophe Hermans, was granted the Golden Award for best short film while the festival honoured a galaxy of celebrities including the guest of honour of the festival: Egyptian cinema icon Nabila Ebeid. The ceremony featured a breathtaking operetta entitled Salaheddin El-Ayoubi presented by the Annana troupe for folk dance directed by Gihad Mefleh. The Engineering Export Promotion Council of India is holding the Indian Engineering exhibition popularly known as INDEE in Cairo, coinciding with MACTECH 2010, from 25 to 28 November, at Cairo International Conference Centre (CICC). The Indian delegation for the INDEE 2010 consists of some 70 prominent engineering companies whose products will be on display in Hall No 2 at the CICC. In connection with the visit of the Indian delegation to Cairo for the Indian Engineering Exhibition (INDEE 2010), the Embassy of India organised a press conference at its premises on 22 November. Aman Chadha, chairman of Engineering Export Promotion Council of India and Ambassador of India R Swaminathan spoke and responded to questions. The veteran Egyptian comedian Samir Ghanem, who hosts a show on OTV called An Hour With Samir Ghanem, along with the Ambassador of India to Egypt R Swaminathan gave out prizes and certificates to the 80 winners of the 16th annual "Glimpses of India" painting competition at a ceremony held in the Gomhouria Theatre. To commemorate the birthdays of Mahatma Gandhi, father of the Indian nation, Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India's first education minister, the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) has been conducting collaboration ration with the Egyptian Ministry of Education. This year, around 3,200 children in the age brackets 6-12 (Primary), 13-15 (Preparatory) and 16-18 (Secondary) -- including children with special needs -- participated. They hail from 364 government, private and national schools in Cairo, Giza, 6 October and Helwan governorates. A three member-strong independent jury selected 80 winners in 16 different categories, and a catalogue with reproductions of the winning paintings was distributed at the ceremony.
