AlJazeera Channel and Al Majaz Telecommunications company launch AlJazeera Mobile News Service
Qtel is the first mobile operator in the Middle East to offer this serviceDoha - October 15, 2003 AlJazeera News Channel, in cooperation with Al-Majaz Telecommunications and Qtel, has announced the launch of Al Jazeera Mobile News Service which will provide the people of Qatar with the latest breaking and political news by SMS message to their mobile phone whenever and wherever there is GSM coverage.
Qtel is the first operator in the Middle East to launch this news service (breaking news and political news) with AlJazeera, opening new horizons for the people of Qatar. AlJazeera plans to launch this service in other countries in the region, North Africa and later worldwide.
The service will be transmitted in short messages to Qtel postpaid customers who subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile, providing customers with breaking news updates and ensuring they are kept informed about recent developments from the local and global arena.
This was announced by Mr. Ali Kamal, the Marketing Director of AlJazeera Channel at a press conference held in Doha by AlJazeera on Tuesday 14 October, 2003 and attended by Qtel's Executive Director Wireless Services, Ross Cormack and Al Majaz Chief Executive, Mohamed El Obaidly.
Mr. Abd Al Aziz Al Mahmood, the chief editor of Aljazeera.net has reaffirmed that the launching of this service will move AlJazeera to the third generation of news information, subsequent to its outstanding achievements in carrying the Arab information media into new horizons and putting the channel on rank with leading international news organizations.
This follows AlJazeera's launching of its Arabic online news almost three ago and recently its English site. The two sites attract more than 20 million visitors every month.
"AlJazeera's coverage of the September 11 attacks and subsequently the two wars in Afghanistan, Iraq as well as the continuing conflict in Palestine, was internationally recognised as distinct and was taken as a major and unique source of news for all major international news and TV networks."
Speaking on the launch of this service, Ross Cormack, Executive Director, Wireless Services at Qtel said, "It is significant that Qtel is the first operator in the Middle East to be launching this service. We recognise that in today's world it is increasingly important to be the first to know about what is happening."
"We are delighted to be able to offer our customers this news service from the world renowned news organisation, AlJazeera, using Al-Majaz technology," Mr. Cormack continued.
Mohamed El Obaidly, Chief Executive of Al Majaz Telecommunications Company, which specialises in telecommunications and information technology solutions, said that this unprecedented strategic cooperation with AlJazeera on the "AlJazeera Mobile" project constitutes a crucial point in adopting the most recent technology developments in the Arab region.
Mr. Obaidly also pointed out that Al-Majaz Company is currently engaged in establishing a specialised company based on international standards to provide the most recent information technology services on mobile phones. Its joint project with the Channel "AlJazeera Mobile" will initiate its activities following a 6-month of joint work. -Keralamonitor.com
To subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Service
The service is available to all post-paid GSM customers. For subscriptions call Qtel's Customer Care for AlJazeera Mobile on Number '133' from the mobile you wish to subscribe from or send an SMS message with the commands below to number 2555:
sbn a to subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Breaking News in Arabic
sbn e to subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Breaking News in English
spn a to subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Political News in Arabic
spn e to subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Political News in EnglishHow much will it cost?
AlJazeera Mobile Breaking News and Political News will cost you QR. 15 each, per month. You will have to pay the bill together with the rental for the GSM subscription (every three months: 3 months x QR. 15= QR. 45). -Keralamonitor.com
STANDARD CHARTERED RESTORES SIGHT TO 40,000 PEOPLE
US$1 MILLION RAISED BY STAFF IN TIME FOR WORLD SIGHT DAY
Standard Chartered believes nobody should be needlessly blind.
In time to mark World Sight Day, Standard Chartered raised US$1,000,000 - enough to restore sight to 40,000 people across the world – through its global “Seeing is Belieiving” campaign.
Every five seconds someone goes blind. Globally, there are 45 million people who cannot see, which costs the global economy roughly US$25 billion a year. 90% of these are in the world’s developing countries such as Africa, India and China where Standard Chartered conducts its business. A staggering 80% of this blindness could be prevented or cured. The largest cause of blindness is cataracts, which can be reversed through a relatively simple operation that costs as little as US$25.
Commenting about the success of the campaign, Standard Chartered’s Chairman, Bryan Sanderson said, “Standard Chartered is trusted and caring, dedicated to making a difference to the communities in which we operate. I am delighted with the success of Seeing is Believing, and our achievement of this incredible goal to return sight to more people than we employ.”
Standard Chartered employees from all over the world raised funds for “Seeing is Believing” through local initiatives in their own countries. As part of the campaign the Bank has donated a fully equipped operating theatre and children’s ward at the Islamia Eye Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Bank has also funded the training of 6,600 governmental primary healthcare workers for the identification of treatable blindness.
“We are privileged to be in a position to raise enough funds to restore sight to 40,000 people. Not only is this a human-interest issue but it is also good business sense; we want our employees and customers to be healthy and have a good quality of life. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all our employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders for their generous support in raising the funds to make this all possible”, said Standard Chartered’s Group Chief Executive, Mervyn Davies.
To mark World Sight Day and the achievements of the “Seeing is Believing” campaign, Standard Chartered employees around the world have organised a number of celebratory events in their countries.
This includes a visit to Bangladesh where five Bank employees from Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Sierra Leone will experience at first hand the difference that the Bank’s contributions have made to many people’s lives. In London, where Standard Chartered Bank is headquartered, the Bank is sponsoring the ‘Flight to Sight’ event in aid of Sight Savers International at the British Airways London Eye to mark the occasion. World Sight Day was marked on October 9, 2003. -Keralamonitor.com
