“It’s never too early or too late to make friends with books,” says Ahmed Al Ameri, the director of the Sharjah International Book Fair and the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, which runs until Friday.
Welcoming kids, their parents and young adults in droves, Al Ameri stresses that the festival is not just about books but also has an incredible line-up of 1,694 fun-filled events ranging from plays, art and science workshops, to activities designed for children with special needs. The annual Sharjah International Book Fair, which saw a million visitors last year, draws hordes of children with sessions marked specially for kids, so why a huge children’s reading festival just four months apart?
“The main book fair is great but the whole idea is how to make more people love books and make our community enjoy the love of the written word,” explains Al Ameri. “So investing in the future of our children is the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi and Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi.”
The widespread belief is that television and video games are taking kids away from books but their turnout at the book fair says otherwise.
“I believe that if you put a tablet and a book with beautiful illustrations in front of a baby, the baby will choose the book,” says Al Ameri. “Also, the amazing activities we have are designed to keep children away from electronic games. This year we have workshops that make science, maths and astronomy fun.”
This year’s festival also focuses on more serious issues such as child abuse.
“We have a programme called How to Say No on child abuse, which is designed not just for children and youth but for parents and teachers, too. We are taking care of special-needs children through a programme on autism and those who are slower in learning,” says Al Ameri, pointing out that many such events don’t cater to this segment.
Not to be missed is the UK-based interactive exhibition 1,001 Inventions, which chronicles a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements during the Golden Age of Muslim Civilisation.
“A lot of people ask what has the Islamic world done,” says Al Ameri. They think we only depend on the West and we see only its inventions. When you come to this exhibition, the tables will be turned. It depicts the Golden Age of Muslim Civilisation when the world was in the Dark Ages,” says Al Ameri, adding that it celebrates Sharjah’s selection as a Capital of Islamic Culture for 2014. The exhibition has toured London, Istanbul, New York, Washington DC and Kuala Lumpur.
The festival also offers a Creative Café, where children can interact with each other in dialogue sessions.
artslife@thenational.ae
ICC men's cricketer of the year
2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi
Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA
Price, base / as tested Dh150,900 / Dh173,600
Engine 2.0L inline four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 211hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 1,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
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Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
Tank warfare
Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks.
“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
