MOVED by the plight of the stranded Nepalese workers, whose story the Gulf Times reported yesterday, at least three Western expatriates contacted the office of the newspaper with offers of assistance.

Customers drawing less than QR7,500 gross monthly salary are not eligible for personal loans, Doha Bank said yesterday. The bank has also decided to trim the amount of a personal loan to 10 times an applicant’s salary. “Moreover, a customer who will be eligible to borrow from us should be from a reputed company,” the bank’s Assistant General Manager for retail banking, Abdul Rahman Mohamed Al Meer, told The Peninsula yesterday.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning (MMAUP) has given strict orders to the eateries not to serve hot food and beverages in plastic, foam plates and cups.

Commercialbank has started to charge an annual fee of QR50 for its Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards. The bank’s call centre confirmed on Monday that the new fee was levied from the accounts of ATM card holders from this year.

The first batch of tenants who were awarded the low-rent housing units by the Barwa Real Estate company moved into their apartments in Mesaimeer yesterday. Barwa staff members and a team of volunteers were available to control the traffic and assist the tenants as they arrived since morning with trucks full of furniture and household goods.

More than 100 people participated at the ‘walk–a-thon’ held on the Corniche, as a part of the ongoing Sport For All festival organised by the Qatar Olympic Committee, yesterday.

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce, which constantly monitors the prices of essentials in the local market, says some basic food items are becoming cheaper by five to 29 percent. The Ministry said its Consumer Protection Cell conducted a study of the price trends with regard to basic food items in the Gulf region as a whole and found a disparity.

A strong bilateral relations between Qatar and Italy in terms of tourism is expected to rise as the Italian delegation laid the first stone of cooperation during their brief visit in Doha. Aside from expanding bilateral economic relations with Qatar, the delegation was in Doha to start a profitable cooperation in line with tourism industry.

The Italian Embassy said it has prepared some big events for the Doha Cultural Festival from February 28 to March 9.

Those who are caught spitting on roads and other public places will face a fine of QR500, warns the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning.