Islamic financing

The Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), is launching the second series of its executive training courses for 2009-10.
The five-day course on ‘Fundamentals of Islamic Banking and Finance Course’ is organised in association with the Qatar Finance and Business Academy, a specialised educational institution jointly instituted by QF and the Qatar Financial Centre.
A maximum of 20-24 candidates will be permitted and at the end of training, they will be offered international accreditation.
The course, which will start on March 28 and concludes on April 1, will focus on the principles of Islamic finance, foundations of Islamic securitisation, Islamic funds and their potentials. It is presented by Monzer Kahf, a professor of Islamic Finance at the QFIS.
Kahf holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, US and has authored 28 books and more than 83 articles on Awqaf, Zakat, Islamic Finance and banking and other areas of Islamic economics.
Seats will be reserved on a first registered basis and fee should be paid in advance.

ROTA conference

Qatar-based charity Reach Out To Asia (Rota) will hold its annual youth conference promoting leadership, service learning and global citizenship “Empower 2010” from April 1-3 at the La Cigale hotel, it was announced yesterday.
The conference, which is being held for the second consecutive year by Rota, is open to young people aged 14-24 years, teachers, lecturers, educators and student affairs officers and they can register online via Rota’s website www.reachouttoasia.org.
“Empower 2010 is spearheaded by Rota’s Qatar-based programme named ROTAQ and it is being held in line with our strategic objectives of promoting education and making it accessible to less fortunate in the society,” Rota’s community development manager Reem al-Daghma said at a press conference yesterday.
Around 250 participants and 15 observers are expected at the conference, which will focus on leadership training, debating skills and advocacy strategies.
The conference built on three themes will also feature keynote speeches, workshops, debates, and off-site projects.
The activities throughout the event will be conducted by Qatar University students belonging to the campus political society club while Qatar Today and Qatar Debate experts will moderate and judge respectively.
“The themes of this conference are personal leadership, service learning and global citizenship to create awareness of global issues among participants as well as empower them to develop not just their skills and knowledge but also the right mindset and attitudes to take on leadership roles,” learning and capacity building co-ordinator Vivien Looi explained.
She said the conference would further create an environment for youth to discover their voice and realise their potential to make a positive contribution in their communities and facilitate a forum for exchange of ideas, projects and reflections that address local needs and global issues.
Also speaking, Rota’s Abdallah Diwan explained the activities of the off-site projects under each theme.
“There will be four off-site activities relating to healthy lifestyle, waste management, reading session and environmental activities all to be co-ordinated by students from different clubs in different schools across the country,” he said.
Other off-site projects to be showcased at the meet include music composition for change in society, advocacy challenge and blogging to empower, he added

Job applicants continue to throng career fair

Job-seekers continued to throng the Qatar Career Fair 2010 being held at the Doha Exhibition Centre on the second day yesterday, as company officials manning the pavilions called for a more “streamlined process to eliminate unqualified candidates”.
RasGas business support manager Abdullah Mohamed al-Mahmoud told Gulf Times that the company was looking to recruit mainly locals for engineering and administrative jobs.
He said that most of the locals who had submitted CVs were high school and college graduates seeking jobs and scholarships.
“However, we are looking for people with higher qualifications”, he stated, adding: “They will be subject to training and development of their skills”.
Meanwhile, the RasGas human resources department has started to interview applicants, at their two-storey pavilion.
The official said that the company staff explain the work environment at RasGas and the different types of jobs available to visitors.
He said that 32% of the company’s workforce were Qataris, which was an accomplishment. “This is contradictory to the belief of many Qataris, who say that the chances of foreigners recruitment are higher.”
Al-Mahmoud observed that the company accepted CVs from non-Qataris only online.
Qatar Armed Forces’ human resources official Hassan Yusuf al-Mulla said that the forces pavilion had already received many applications, “most of them looking to enlist in the army”, he added.
He pointed out that the armed forces’ vacancies included post in the departments of administration, accounting, legal affairs, and engineering.
“We target Qatari nationals, however, foreigners with certain specialisations will be considered as well”, he stated.
General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority’s head of human resources and training Fatima al-Dosari said that 66 vacancies were available at the Authority.
She said that the Authority had accepted low skilled job-seekers, at the career fair last year.
“However, this year, we are accepting CVs from individuals with high qualifications”, she said.
Al-Dosari explained that many of the applicants were still in school.“I am telling such youths to finish school before trying to apply for jobs, and reject their CVs, but they are not very happy with it.”
The official observed that the Authority was granting scholarships only for those who wanted to study statistics here and abroad.
A spokesman for the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) said the council was seeking talented and motivated individuals “who can help it achieve its mission of connecting people to the technologies that can enrich their lives” at the career fair

IIA seminars

The level of IT security awareness is rising in the Qatar market and is promising a change in the way organisations will operate and protect their IT assets in the near future.
“Many organisations are now taking a more holistic view of security and focusing on the overall health of their information security programs,” Rubayat M Zahir, Doha senior manager (advisory services), Ernst & Young has stated.
He was giving a presentation at a seminar hosted by the Institute of Internal Auditors in Qatar, in association with Qatar University’s Scientific Accounting Association.
Elaborating on the findings of Ernst & Young’s Global Information Security Survey of 2009, the speaker observed that a lack of adequate budget and resources continues to be a significant challenge for many organisations.
In addition, the current environment is also producing a rise in both internal and external threats.
“The survey participants reveal a growing concern with reprisals from recently separated employees as well as noting an increase in external attacks on their company websites and networks,” Zahir said.
Regulatory compliance is also top of mind for information security leaders, and the survey confirms that it continues to be an important driver of information security improvements.
Several industries and countries are moving towards more regulation, primarily related to data protection and privacy. Correspondingly, companies are reporting an increase in the cost of compliance.
The survey also highlighted that there has been an unprecedented adoption and implementation of new technologies in the Qatari market. “However, this has not been always supplemented with a robust information security program which addresses data protection and privacy issues, protection from internal and external vulnerabilities and IT security threats, inappropriate access to IT assets and lastly, improvement of training and awareness,” the speaker said.
Earlier, seminar committee chairman Girish Jain opened the meeting and IIA Qatar Chapter president Assaad Kanaan gave the introduction. Vice-president Robert Abboud proposed a vote of thanks

Which college have the best paid

Have you ever wondered if Stanford grads really do make the big bucks, or if a "party school" degree can still land you a high-paying job?
Online salary database PayScale.com put together a 2009 College Salary Report that highlights which college graduates make the highest and lowest salaries right out of college and how that changes 10 years post-graduation.

While it may be no surprise that social work came in as the least well-paid major overall in PayScale's report, you may not know that Dartmouth's grads fare better financially 10 years after college than Harvard's.

Whether you went to a small, liberal arts college or graduated from an Ivy League school, take a look at the list below to see if your alma mater made a top 10 earners list.

School Name / Starting Median Salary / Mid-Career Median Salary

1. Dartmouth College: $58,200 / $129,000
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): $71,100 / $126,000
3. Harvard University: $60,000 / $126,000
4. Harvey Mudd College: $71,000 / $125,000
5. Stanford University: $67,500 / $124,000
6. Princeton University: $65,000 / $124,000
7. Colgate University: $51,900 / $122,000
8. University of Notre Dame: $55,300 / $121,000
9. Yale University: $56,000 / $120,000
10. University of Pennsylvania: $60,400 / $118,000

Maybe you didn't get to attend one of these top schools, but there's another factor that may contribute to a higher paycheck: your major.

According to Al Lee, PayScale's director of quantitative analysis, "Even more than where you go to school, the degree you get is a bigger influencer of your pay for the vast majority of Americans." Lee says that an English major from Harvard may end up making six figures, but that person is an exception among English majors.

Which degrees bring home the most bacon? "Ones involving numbers," says Lee. Seven of the 10 highest-earning undergraduate degrees in the report are in engineering, with economics, physics, and computer science filling out the rest.

Undergraduate Degree / Starting Median Salary / Mid-Career Median Salary

1. Aerospace Engineering: $59,600 / $109,000
2. Chemical Engineering: $65,700 / $107,000
3. Computer Engineering: $61,700 / $105,000
4. Electrical Engineering: $60,200 / $102,000
5. Economics: $50,200 / $101,000
6. Physics: $51,100 / $98,800
7. Mechanical Engineering: $58,900 / $98,300
8. Computer Science: $56,400 / $97,400
9. Industrial Engineering: $57,100 / $95,000
10. Environmental Engineering: $53,400 / $94,500

What other interesting facts did PayScale discover?

Philosophy majors earn more 10 years after college than business administration and nursing majors.
Two of the 10 most popular jobs held by Harvard University grads are executive director of a nonprofit organization and high school teacher.
Loma Linda University graduates have the highest median starting salaries at $71,400 per year. That's over $6,000 more per year than a Princeton grad.
The top paid English majors are technical writers.
The top paid political science majors are intelligence analysts.

From night owl to early bird in 8 painless steps

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with being a night owl -- you're looking at one, after all -- but the trouble arises when you have to abide by the schedule of the rest of the world. You know, the one that gets up early for their morning commute and snatches that proverbial worm. Here are eight painless ways to join the early bird ranks.


Make a nighttime routine. Half the battle of getting up earlier is falling to sleep at a reasonable hour. Start a nighttime routine that gets your body ready to relax, and put your routine in motion at least 8 hours before your alarm is going to go off in the morning. Maybe this includes taking a warm bath, having a cup of chamomile tea, deep breathing, or getting under the sheets and reading or writing in your journal. Create a ritual that will really get you to slow down and welcome an early bed time with open arms.
Turn off the TV and the computer. Television and the internet are too stimulating for pre-bedtime behavior. Don't watch TV in bed and stop surfing the internet long before your nighttime routine.
Lay off the caffeine. Nineteen cups of coffee during the day may be what's making you a night owl. Switch to decaf at 4pm at the latest, preferably earlier.
Have a light supper. Those cheesy chicken enchiladas don't just make you feel sluggish right after dinner. A heavy meal right before bed can disturb your sleep and make it harder for you to wake up in the morning. Stick to lighter nighttime meals for awhile, like soups, vegetarian stews, and hearty dinner salads.
Open the curtains. "Here comes the sun, little darling," and what a way it is to wake up. Excuse the corniness, but there's something life-affirming about greeting the day with the sun streaming into your bedroom. And then there's the practical reason -- it's hard to sleep with the sun in your eyes.
Know your motivation. If you want to wake up earlier just because you feel like a loser when you sleep in, that's not exactly what psychologists would call a positive motivator. You need a reason to do something to be successful, not just a reason not to do something else. Do you want to get to work before your boss so she can see you looking productive as soon as she walks in? Do you want to have time to write in the morning before the kids get up? Think about what's motivating you to become an early bird in the first place and write down all the reasons. Keep them next to your alarm clock as a motivating reminder when you want to hit snooze.
Make morning appointments. Schedule early morning meetings, workout sessions at the gym with a friend, and teeth cleanings. Make your obligation to wake up earlier not just to yourself but to someone else. You'll hold yourself more accountable if you know your bestie is waiting for you on the elliptical machine.
Give yourself an incentive. If you're the type who responds to rewards for a job well done, this tip is especially important. It can be as simple as a cup of coffee at your favorite cafe or 15 minutes of blog reading before you hop in the shower, but once you've done the hard work of getting out of that big, cozy bed, give yourself a little reward.