Tok-toks have been banned from several Cairo neighourhoods, the spokesperson for Cairo's governor Khaled Mostafa told Ahram Online on Wednesday.
The ban includes the Cairo districts of Azbakeya, Abdeen, El-Moski, El-Wayli, Bab El-Shaeriya, Boulaq Abu El-Ela, and downtown Cairo.
Tok-toks create choas in traffic, road accidents that police cannot find culprits for, Mostafa said.
"The governorate had never licensed tok-toks in the first place."
“The streets of Cairo have had enough already. This ban today is an initial step that will expand in a couple of months [other areas] in Cairo, including Heliopolis and Al-Nozha,” he added.
The governorate will fine violators LE1,500 fine ($192), confiscate tok-toks until drivers provide ownership documents.
Repeat offenders will never see their tok-toks again, Mostafa said.
Most tok-tok drivers are unemployed youth who use the part-car, part-motorcycle vehicle as an informal means of work.
Owners currently buy the vehicle for about LE22,000 ($2800).
The prices of tok-toks have spiked since the government imposed in 2014 a one-year import ban on motorcycles and tok-toks, along with their manufacturing components.
Tok-toks are Chinese manufactured motorised tricycles with a driver's cabin. They have become popular around the country recent years because they provide cheap transportation for poorer citizens, as well as access in and out narrow alleyways.
Egypt's leading internet service provider company, TE Data, launched new reduced prices for internet services Wednesday, state news agency MENA reported.
TE Data, the internet arm of majority state-owned landline operator Telecom Egypt, said in a statement that it has canceled packages working with internet speeds of 256 kilobits per second (kbps) and 512 kbps.
Prices of the new monthly packages are as follows: LE50 for speed of 1 megabit per second (mbps) and 10 gigabyte download capacity, LE95 for speed of 1 mbps and 100 gigabyte download capacity, LE140 for speed of 2 mbps and 150 gigabyte download capacity, LE220 for speed of 4 mbps and 250 gigabyte download capacity and LE300 for speed of 8 mbps and 300 gigabyte download capacity.
Previously, TE Data offered an internet speed of 512 mbps for LE90 a month.
The government, which owns 80 percent of TE Data, has been pushing for cheaper, faster internet since Minister of Communication and Information Technology Khaled Negm was appointed earlier this year.
The initiative is part of an effort to boost Egypt's 34 percent internet penetration rate, which is low compared to its Arab neighbours, Negm said at an event in June organized by the Canada Egypt Business Council.
TE Data boasts a market share of over 65 percent. Other ISPs have previously said that they could only lower their consumer prices if TE lowered the wholesale fees they pay to rent its infrastructure.
There have been popular calls for better internet prices in Egypt. Last year, a group of young people launched a campaign to improve the speed and lower the cost of using the internet in Egypt.
There are 38.75 million internet users in Egypt. The leading ISPs are TE Data, and the internet arms of leading mobile operators are Mobinil, Vodafone Egypt, and Etisalat Misr.
A pink logo on the cars, and even pink nail polish - it's all part of the look of women-drivers working for Egypt's first women-only taxi service. The Pink Taxi company hires only women drivers and gives rides to only female passengers.
The company was started in an effort to provide a safe taxi service for women in a country with high rates of sexual harassment, said Reem Fawzy, the director of the company
Egypt introduces new rules on foreigners' work ht
tp://english.ahram.org.eg/News/141564.aspx @ahramonlineさんから
Bar 10 exceptions, foreigners working in Egypt must obtain a permit from the ministry of manpower or other state bodies, as part of new regulations Egypt has announced on Monday.
Foreign correspondents working in Egypt and embassy and consulate staff are among those exempted.
The permit granted to foreigners will either allow them to work in Egypt for a year or less, the ministry said in a decree, which was published in the state's official gazette.
They will be required to pay a fee of 3,000 Egyptian pounds (around $383), while applying for the permit. Should a worker renew their permit, the fee will rise starting from the fourth year. Over the years, it can gradually rise to a maximum of 12,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately $1,530).
"It is inadmissible for foreigners to work" without obtaining the permit, the decree said.
Other than the ministry and its offices, state agencies like the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation can grant the permits to foreigners.
The new regulations also set a cap on the percentage of foreigners working in an institution. The number of foreigners cannot exceed 10 percent, unless an exception is granted by an "exceptions committee."
Should an exception be granted, the organisation will have to pay 10,000 Egyptian pounds annually (around $1,277). The fee will rise by a thousand pounds every year for five years until it reaches a maximum of 15,000 Egyptian pounds (over $1915).
Spinneys continues to expand in Egypt with its recent opening of a new store in Giza on the 18th of September. The store is strategically located on the Pyramids road at the heart of the historic Giza district.
The decision is meant to "ease communication with students" and "advance the educational process", according to the university chairman
Menna Alaa El-Din, Thursday 1 Oct 2015
Cairo University has decided to ban on Tuesday its academic staff from wearing face veils, also known as niqab, inside classrooms.
The controversial decision was made by Gaber Nassar, the chairman of the university, ahead of the start of the academic year next week.
“It is not allowed for the academic staff and their assistants in all faculties and institutions to teach in theoretical or practical classes or to attend laboratories or practical trainings while wearing the niqab,” the policy states.
Nassar says the decision was made for the sake of "general welfare" and is meant to "ease communication with students" and "advance the educational process".
The university’s decision was quickly criticised by several Islamic preachers.
Leading Salafi cleric and deputy head of the Dawa Salafiya group Yasser Borhami said that the decision is "against the constitution and law, and is considered discriminatory against a certain faction for its religious beliefs".
Following the criticism, Nassar said in a phone interview with Ten TV channel that the decision would be restricted to certain subjects, particularly ones that require the articulation of certain sounds, such as like language courses.
He added that the decision will not be applied to subjects that do not require "student-staff" communication.
According to Nassar, the number of teaching staff members wearing the full face veil is only 10 out of about 22,000 members teaching in 24 faculties.
Nassar said the university received reports from some of the faculties’ deans regarding difficulty in communication between the students and teachers wearing the niqab, particularly in language courses.
He also said that the ban aims to enhance the quality of communication and, consequently, education.
Nassar clarified that for teaching staff the ban is restricted to classrooms at the times of lectures, clarifying that members of the teaching staff are still allowed to wear their niqab on campus.
Dawa Salafiya spokesman Abdel-Moneim El-Shahat said the decision does not conflict with Islamic Sharia or the constitution as long as it is "necessary for the public interest".
Hany El-Husseiny, a Cairo University professor and a member of the March 9 Movement for the Independence of Universities, told Ahram Online that while he believes the niqab might act as a barrier to the educational process, decisions should not be made in the way used by Nassar.
“There has to be an open discussion about the whole issue before such a decision is made, especially when it is related to [religious] beliefs or might lead to unnecessary conflict,” El-Hussieny said.
Higher Education Minister Ashraf El-Sheihy said he intends to meet with Nassar in order to know the reasons behind the ban, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
This is not the first time the university has been involved in controversy regarding the banning of the niqab. In November 2009, the university decided to ban students and teaching staff from wearing the niqab on campus or in the university’s dorms.
However, the ban was overturned by a Cairo court in January 2010 following a lawsuit filed by a female professor.
Governor of Cairo Galal Mostafa announced on Wednesday that Egyptians and foreigners will no longer suffer from having to visit the Mugamaa Complex in downtown Cairo for administrative tasks.
In a press release, the Governor said that in a bid to ease traffic and redevelop downtown Cairo, the Mugamaa building, where 30,000 employees work for a number of service ministries, will be completely vacated by mid-2017.
The Mugamaa, which is visited by up to 100,000 citizens on a daily basis, has been described by some as the “ugliest” building in Egypt. However, it is the long queues, confusion with where to go, and general bureaucracy that many visitors often complain about.
The future of the Mugamaa complex remains unclear, with the Governor stating that a number of proposals are being studied to determine the best use of “one of the most famous and historic buildings in Cairo”.
It also remains unclear where Egyptians and foreigners will have to visit instead of the Mugamaa. Recently, in a bid to ease the process for those living in Egypt, the government introduced a mobile application that makes it easier to access a number of services, including the payment of fines and bills.
The Mugamaa, which looks onto Tahrir Square, was built in 1951 on an area of 28,000 square meters and consists of 14 floors and about 1,350 rooms.
Egypt recently launched a number of projects aimed at renovating downtown Cairo. From repainting old buildings and revamping Tahrir Square, to demolishing former President Mubarak’s National Democratic Party’s headquarters near Tahrir Square, the government is keen to boost tourism to the downtown area while providing locals with higher quality services and improving traffic in the heart of Cairo.
カイロ国際ブックフェア
Record number of countries participating in Cairo International Book Fair this year850 publishers from 34 countries will participate in the 47th Edition of the Cairo International Book Fair
Mohammed Saad , Tuesday 26 Jan 2016ht
The 47th edition of the Cairo International Book Fair will kick off on Wednesday 27 January with 850 publishers from 34 countries; the largest number of countries participating in the fair since its inauguration.
It is not yet clear whether Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will inaugurate the fair, but there is no planned meeting between the president and intellectuals; a tradition set by ousted president Hosni Mubarak and discontinued after his ouster.
Former president Mohamed Morsi had only met with publishers on the inauguration of the one edition that took place during his year in office.
The details of this year's edition – set to conclude on 10 February – were revealed in a press conference held at the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO), the official sponsor and organiser of the event.
The fair's opening date was changed for the second year in a row to avoid coinciding with the anniversary of the 25 January revolution.
The fair's theme this year will be "Culture on the Frontline," with GEBO head Haitham El-Hajj Ali saying, "culture is the main solution to the problems of society and the firewall against the extreme ideas."
Picking a theme for the fair is a new tradition set after the revolution, reflecting the political scene and mostly fighting radicalism with cultural endeavours.
Last year, the fair's theme was 'Culture and Renovation,' which reflected the ongoing demands of members of the political elite and intellectuals in Egypt to reform and renew religious discourse.
Reformist imam Mohamed Abdou (1849 – 1905) was chosen as the fair's person of the year in 2015.
This edition's person of the year is iconic novelist Gamal El-Ghitani, who passed away in October last year.
The countries participating in the fair include 21 Arab states and 13 non-Arab countries, with 550 publisher from Egypt, 250 from the Arab world, and 50 foreign publishers, in addition to 118 kiosks for used books.
There are six more countries participating this year than the second largest edition of the fair.
The list of countries, distributed to journalists by mail, includes the United Arab Emirates and Abu-Dhabi as two separate countries, even though Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the UAE. The American University in Cairo is also listed as a country in the foreign countries section.
Turkey will not participate in the fair this year for the first time in decades, which reflects the escalating political tension between Cairo and Ankara.
El-Hajj Ali said that even though Turkey did not ask to participate in the fair, he would have reacted "negatively" to such a request from a country that "harbours hostility towards Egypt."
He did, however, leave the door open for independent Turkish publishers.
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Although Turkey will not participate in the fair, Qatar, with which Egypt has also had tension, is listed among the participating countries.
The list includes Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Oman, Palestine, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Eritrea and the guest of honour Bahrain.
The non-Arab countries include Italy, Russia, India, Germany, France, Paraguay, Greece, China and the Czech Republic.
Al-Hajj said that he is holding to the stance of Egyptian intellectuals of rejecting any Israeli participation in the fair, or any kind of cultural relations with the neighbouring country.
The head of the GEBO, who assumed the post less than six months ago, said he will comply with any court ruling concerning books by Muslim Brotherhood authors.
Last year, books by Sheikh Youssef El-Qaradawi, who is currently living in Qatar and is a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, sparked controversy and were removed from display at the Dar El-Shorouk wing the fair, along with books by the late radical Islamist author Sayed Qutb.
This year's guests will include Chinese novelist Leo Gen Yun, Egyptian thinker Hassan Hanafi, Lebanese writer George Corm, Moroccan writer Hassan Orid, Tunisian Arabic Booker winning novelist Shoukry El-Mabkhout, among many others who will participate in a very busy cultural agenda.
The fair will be open daily from 10am till 7pm for book selling, and until 9pm for cultural events.
Although Turkey will not participate in the fair, Qatar, with which Egypt has also had tension, is listed among the participating countries.
The list includes Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Oman, Palestine, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Eritrea and the guest of honour Bahrain.
The non-Arab countries include Italy, Russia, India, Germany, France, Paraguay, Greece, China and the Czech Republic.
Al-Hajj said that he is holding to the stance of Egyptian intellectuals of rejecting any Israeli participation in the fair, or any kind of cultural relations with the neighbouring country.
The head of the GEBO, who assumed the post less than six months ago, said he will comply with any court ruling concerning books by Muslim Brotherhood authors.
Last year, books by Sheikh Youssef El-Qaradawi, who is currently living in Qatar and is a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, sparked controversy and were removed from display at the Dar El-Shorouk wing the fair, along with books by the late radical Islamist author Sayed Qutb.
This year's guests will include Chinese novelist Leo Gen Yun, Egyptian thinker Hassan Hanafi, Lebanese writer George Corm, Moroccan writer Hassan Orid, Tunisian Arabic Booker winning novelist Shoukry El-Mabkhout, among many others who will participate in a very busy cultural agenda.
The fair will be open daily from 10am till 7pm for book selling, and until 9pm for cultural events.
The Egyptian cabinet announced on Thursday that daylight savings time will return to Egypt starting 7 July until the end of October.
Daylight savings time, which had for years seen clocks put forward one hour in the summer, was canceled last April in a decision by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
The system was scrapped following a public poll that showed a majority did not support applying daylight savings time in Egypt.
First implemented in the country in 1988, the system was introduced as a power-saving measure prolonging daylight hours.
It was abolished in April 2011 after the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, with the government arguing at the time that the practice was ineffective at curbing power usage.
The system was temporarily revived in May 2014 in order to ease consumption after the country saw rolling power blackouts.
In the summer of that year, Egypt changed the clock four times, first applying daylight savings time, and then suspending it during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to shorten the daily dawn-to-dusk fast.
Egypt is normally two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) — meaning it was three hours ahead when daylight saving time was applied.
The Deputy Governor of Cairo announced on TV that the iconic building will be shutting down as of June 30th.
Downtown Cairo’s Mugamma Complex will reportedly be shut down as of June 30th, the Deputy Governor of Cairo, Mohamed Ayman, said on Sunday.
The complex, a symbol of bureaucracy and archaic infrastructure in public administration, has long been the centre for administrative practices required for both Egyptian nationals and foreigners. According to Egyptian Streets, the Deputy Governor qualified the decision as being in the public’s interest.
In an interview with Skynews Arabia, Ayman said the building, which is home to 30,000 public employees, could be transformed into a hotel – a decision which would be in line with the current revamping of the city centre that started last year. As Ismaelia for Real Estate embarked on the mission to repaint and renovate 23 historical buildings, including the iconic Radio Cinema, Shorbagui building, and the Old French Consulate, local authorities have also recently launched a number of projects, including the demolition of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party’s headquarters, the painting of numerous buildings, and the refurnishing of Tahrir Square.
A visit to Mugamaa – which has often been labelled a 'nightmare' by Egyptians and foreigners alike due to its endless queues, bureaucratic procedures, and lack of digitisation, – might thus take a different form, although it has not yet been announced where administrative practices will be held next. Estimates indicate that about 100,000 people visit the public building on a daily basis and, though there is a new mobile application to streamline access to certain services, it remains unclear where visitors will be expected to go.
Main image by Vyacheslav Argenberg, licensed under Creative Commons.
Well, there you have it, people: some of the most expensive schools as of 2016. I just know this whole list will shuffle when I do the 2017 list for you guys next year. For all you lazy people out there who just skimmed through, check the following table:
Egypt Independent
Egyptian health officials said on Thursday that the three bottled mineral water comapnies Nestle, Aquafina and Baraka had produced bottled water that was unfit for human consumption.
According to a joint statement from the General Directorate of Food Control and the Central Administration for Environmental Affairs, affiliated with the Health Ministry, several batches of bottled water had been identified that did not meet the Egyptian food standard specification number 1589 of 2007.
The bottles affected are 1.5 L bottles of Nestle, Aquafina and Baraka, 330 ml Nestle bottles, and 600 ml Aquafina bottles.
Tests carried out by the General Directorate of Food Control in Sharqiya and Beheira governorates showed that the above mentioned batches included high levels of algae and E.coli bacteria, posing a threat to human health.
According to the statement, the public prosecution is initiating an investigation into the incident. If the prosecution investigators are able to prove that the batches are unfit for human consumption, they will be recalled from the market, said officials.
In 2012, Professor Gamal Mosaed, an expert on groundwater with the Mineral Resources Authority, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that 40 percent of mineral water in Egypt is unfit for human consumption because it is taken from wells containing toxins. Because many of Egypt's wells are less than 200 meters deep, Mosaed said that means the water of the well is too close to sanitation and irrigation water to be safe for drinking.
He called for a review to the licenses granted to water companies in Egypt. Mosad also accused companies of employing incompetent labs to analyze the water in order to get licensed easily.
Since that time, government agencies have shut down several Egyptian companies that were producing bottled drinking water that did not meet the necessary safety standards.
In some cases, factories were filling bottles with tap water and then illegally applying the labels of well-known mineral water brands. Tests conducted on some water samples showed that they contained live protozoa
Live protozoa found in samples of Aquafina bottled water, produced by PepsiCo, according to what appears to be a leaked internal directive dated May 2016
Products from two of Egypt’s leading bottled water brands have been declared “unfit for human consumption” by the authorities, after laboratory tests on samples revealed they did not comply with standards.
In what appears to be a leaked internal directive dated May 2016, officials said that coliform bacteria (which usually indicate the presence of fecal matter) were found in samples of Nestle Pure Life and Baraka Water bottled water (both brands produced by Nestle Water Egypt), and live protozoa in samples of Aquafina bottled water, produced by PepsiCo, making them “unfit for human consumption.”
Egypt’s Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed admitted that the statement was legitimate in statements widely quoted by local media on Thursday, though he did not answer repeated requests for comment on the matter by Ahram Online.
Nestle, which produces Nestle Pure Life and Baraka Water from the same factory in Banha, in Egypt’s Qalyubiya governorate, said it was working with the authorities to address the allegations.
“Nestlé Waters has become aware of a document in circulation from the Ministry of Health concerning some of the company’s products, Nestlé Waters would like to inform all its customers and consumers that the case is immediately under serious investigation in collaboration with the MOH,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Together, Aquafina and Nestle’s Pure Life controlled 71 percent of the bottled water market, according to an April 2013 report by the Egyptian Competition Authority.
The leaked document calls for halting the circulation in the market of the following; 1.5L Nestle Pure Life bottles produced on 17/03/2016 and 330 ml bottles produced on 13/03/2016, Baraka 1.5L bottles produced on 01/03/2016 and 600 ml bottles dated 10/03/2016, as well as Aquafina 1.5 bottles produced on 17/03/2016 and on 07/03/2016.
The directive also calls for conducting tests on samples from the bottles listed and sending the results to Egypt’s Prosecutor General, to determine a course of action.
According to the document, the samples were tested following a complaint from the government’s Health Directorate in the Nile Delta governorate of Beheira.
Regular tests are conducted on unprocessed well-water and the bottled product, to make sure the source is free of certain bacteria according to international standards, Zeinab Bakry, Chairperson of the National Nutrition Institute, told Ahram Online in a 2013 interview.
Nestle Egypt has started to withdraw some of its bottled water products from the market as a “precautionary measure” after local health authorities declared them contaminated last week, the company said on Saturday in a statement.
The statement noted that the company “is making every effort to ensure the safety of its products and compliance with local and international health and safety standards.”
The company specified that Nestle Pure Life 1.5 litre bottles produced on 17/03/2016, Nestle Pure Life 0.33 litre bottles produced on 13/03/2016, Baraka 1.5 litre bottles produced on 01/03/2016, and Baraka 0.6 litre bottles produced on 10/03/2016 will all be withdrawn from sale.
An official directive dated May 2016 and confirmed last week by health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed showed that coliform bacteria - which usually indicate the presence of fecal matter - were found in samples of Nestle Pure Life and Baraka Water bottled water produced by Nestle Water Egypt.
Live protozoa were also found in samples of PepsiCo-produced Aquafina bottled water. Both coliform bacteria and protozoa make the bottled water “unfit for human consumption.”
According to an April 2013 report by the Egyptian Competition Authority, Aquafina and Nestle Pure Life controlled 71 percent of the bottled water market.
Egypt's cabinet abolishes daylight saving time ht
p://english.ahram.org.eg/News/232478.aspx @ahramonlineさんから
The cabinet decision came on the heels of a legal amendment initially approved by parliament to scrap the time change system
Ahram Online , Monday 4 Jul 2016
