Number of ministries ‘withdraw’ mandate given to senior officials

Bid to tighten grip on unnecessary spending

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 12: A number of ministries and public institutes have withdrawn the mandate which was given to some senior officials to authorize and approve financial or executive transactions, reports Annahar daily quoting reliable government sources.

The sources added that the new administrative reforms include limiting the financial and executive mandates to efficient officials only because earlier decisions have put additional burdens of government treasury.

The sources pointed out, the government has already begun a comprehensive administrative reform process affecting all institutions. A number of ministries have started adopting the new mechanisms and tighten grip on unnecessary spending, rationalize expenditures and stop the waste.

The daily has revealed only the direction of a long-sought administrative reform movement to address some of the imbalances in the structure of public projects that will open the door to wide questions that will lead to a number of officials who fail to perform their tasks, especially in infrastructure projects to answer the queries.

The government has been seeking to implement an integrated program to develop the structural plan of the development plan. The government aims to make the fourth structural plan fully compatible with the objectives and programs of the current development plan and future plans.

Meanwhile,Unlike many sovereign funds in the region and the world, the value of the assets of the sovereign wealth fund managed by the Kuwait Investment Authority has remained stable, reports Al-Anba daily.

A recent monitoring of the SWFI index, which monitors the movement of sovereign wealth funds, showed that Kuwait’s assets stabilized at $592 bil-

RABAT:

Police in Morocco say they have arrested three French men closely connected to the Islamic State in Syria and suspected of raising funds to finance terror operations.

The French nationals have been arrested in the town of Sale, near Rabat. Police said in statement on Tuesday that an investigation established links between them and terror organization fighters. One of the suspects has Algerian origins. The suspects have been placed in custody while the investigation continues. (AP)

CANBERRA:

lion and that no negative change has been recorded since the institute’s last assessment. The Kuwaiti sovereign maintained its fourth ranking in the world.

While the value of Kuwait’s foreign assets has not changed significantly, the rest of the Arab and Gulf wealth funds have recorded significant and negative changes between negative and positive.

The Norwegian sovereign fund has achieved the best gains, with its assets rising by $16.6 billion to more than $1 trillion.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) remained the world’s third largest asset fund with $697 billion in assets.

Saudi Arabia accounted for 10.8 percent of the world’s total sovereign wealth, equivalent to 875.6 billion dollars, while the UAE accounted for 14.6 percent of the world’s sovereign wealth, equivalent to 1,190.8 billion dollars, according to the report.

Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences in Kuwait University Dr Hamoud Al-Qasha’an quoting a recent study affirmed that 12 percent of marriages in Kuwait end before the wedding night. He explained that the findings is based on two studies conducted in Kuwait and Qatar respectively with regard to disputes arising in the course of preparations toward marriage and during the marriage life, reports Al-Rai daily.

Speaking to the daily, Al-Qasha’an explained that divorce before the wedding ceremony doesn’t necessarily indicate a failed marriage but points to inadequate planning by the couple towards this new life compounded by disputes and total focus on materialistic gains such as the venue of the wedding and honeymoon, and dwelling place of the couple.

A refugee soccer player thanked Australians on his return home Tuesday hours after the threat of extradition to Bahrain was lifted and three months after he was detained in Thailand.

Hundreds of supporters carrying welcome signs and singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” were waiting at Melbourne Airport when Hakeem al-Araibi arrived on a commercial flight direct from Bangkok.

“I would like to say thanks to Australia,” Al-Araibi told the cheering crowd. “It’s amazing to see all of the people here and all of the Australian people and all of the media who supported me.”

Thailand had come under great pressure from Australia’s government, sporting bodies and human rights groups to send Hakeem al-Araibi back to Australia, where he has refugee status and plays semi-professional soccer.

Former Australia national team captain Craig Foster, who has been leading the campaign for al-Araibi’s release, said he could not sleep until he received word from the Australian embassy in Bangkok that the 25-year-old’s flight had left. (AP)

ISTANBUL:

Four soldiers were killed when a military helicopter crashed during an emergency landing in Istanbul on Monday, the city’s Governor Ali Yerlikaya said.

Yerlikaya told reporters that the helicopter crashed near a residential area in Cekmekoy district, noting that the cause of the crash remains unknown.

For its part, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the opening of an investigation into the fatal incident.

Turkey has occasionally witnessed the fall of military helicopters during training throughout the country, and earlier in January 2018 a Turkish plane derailed and almost crashed in the Black Sea following take off from the city of Trabzon in northern Turkey. (KUNA)