KUWAIT: Head ofthe parliamentary economic and financial affairs committee Salah Khorsheed saidthat the committee's meeting today as fundamental to discuss the state'sdevelopment plan, the government's agenda and the project of building thenorthern economic zone. Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister SheikhNasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and representatives of other relevantbodies are set to attend the meeting, the lawmaker said.
Khorsheed addedthat the new project in the northern region is different from the previous SilkCity project because basic changes had been made to create more non-oilrevenues and attract huge local and foreign investments. "A pressconference will follow the meeting, where Sheikh Nasser will respond to mediainquiries about the project," Khorsheed concluded.
Automatedconnection
The project ofautomated connection between Kuwait, Egypt and India is getting closer toachievement, well-informed sources at the Public Authority for Manpower said.The project targets regulating the recruitment of expatriate labor, focusing ontechnical workers and avoiding marginal labor, the sources added."Automated connection will help have more control on labor from thosecountries, and at the same time help protect workers' rights," they noted.The sources expected the project will be launched with Egypt soon, and thenwith India at a later date.
Promotingmoderation
Undersecretary ofthe Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Fareed Emadi issued a resolutionregulating Friday sermons, lectures and seminars held in the mosques frequentedby non-Arab Muslims, by forming a special committee to interview preachers andevaluate their scientific standards, and report back to the ministry. Theresolution stressed that all communities' preachers and their assistants willhave to respect the mosques' charter that promotes moderation.
It alsostipulates suspending any community preacher in case of violation. In addition,the resolution conditioned that preachers for non-Arab Muslim communities mustbe able to recite Fatiha clearly and correctly, hold a university degree and atleast memorize juz Amma, be able to communicate in Arabic and be nominated bytheir own community before undergoing special training courses.
Australians' tax
Kuwait is likelygoing to pay income tax imposed on a number of Australian employees working atKuwait's cultural office in Australia, sources said. The sources added that theMinistry of Higher Education had contacted the finance ministry in this regard,requesting paying the tax from the state's budget to prevent losing experiencedstaff members and treat them equally as other peers in the embassy.
"The matteris still being discussed," the sources remarked. In other news, KuwaitUniversity's deans committee held a meeting to discuss the admission policy andcapacity for the coming academic year (2019-2020). Kuwait University RectorProf Hussein Al-Ansari chaired the meeting.