Qatar’s taking some giant leaps when it comes to the environment and freedom of speech. I think it’s great that the government and other institutions are starting to become more aware and better yet, trying to spread awareness.

We’re also seeing the Human Rights Authority becoming more proactive, the Ministry of Business and Trade suspending companies for breaking rules, the Traffic Authority advertising road safety campaigns, and companies like Qatar Airways focusing on going green.

What I do hope though is that this is not just a ‘fad’ and that those involved will not end up becoming hypocrits. This is, put simply, a case of ‘practice what you preach’.

Here’s some news:
Media urged to be objective

Transactions of 148 firms suspended

 Hotline set up to combat human trafficking

 Traffic Week to focus on cellphone use risks

Green building meet from March 17

Anyway, I was just pleased to see such positive change!

On a side note, if you want to get all the latest news (from Gulf Times, The Peninsula, and others) in one easy spot just subscribe to the Qatar News Twitter feed!

ILQ’s gone through some amazing updates for all of you supporters!

Brand new events list
Get the latest events in Qatar! We search high and low to make sure you know what’s going on before its in the newspapers and it’s too late!
Qatar Events

Developments!
Our developments section is unrivaled. Find the latest projects going on in Qatar!
Qatar Developments and Projects

Exclusive News!
Get news before it’s in the newspaper or even days in advance! ILQ’s always trying to catch exclusive to keep you in the loop the moment it happens!
ILQ News

Classifieds!
We’ve relaunched our classifieds so that they’re now the most easiest classifieds to use! It’s still in beta but we’re working hard to make it smooth and look good!
Qatar Classifieds

Discounts!
Get exclusive discounts on places like Barzan Digital, Lovesac, King Koil, Dr. Hassan’s medical center, and more!

Competitions!
There are THREE competitions coming up soon!
Win a free Fatman Dock worth 4,000QR
Win a free dinner for two (three winners)
Win a free ILQ Gift bag!

Charities!
Our latest focus is with Road Safety! Let’s make Qatar’s roads safer and take a more proactive role!
Join us and participate!

Remember, ILQ’s purpose to make Qatar a better place, so why not join us and help!

There’s so much that we’re doing and we truly hope that we’ll be able to help all of you enjoy your life in Qatar!

Vodafone has officially flicked on it’s switch and started services from the 1st of March. In the coming days, Vodafone ahs announced that they plan to also select their first thousand users.

The buzz that’s getting more people interested is the IPO itself. The date April 12 2009 has been set as the launch of the IPO where Qataris will be able to invest in 40% of the company. The IPO is due to run through until April 26 2009.

The amount to be raised is roughly 338,000,000 shares at a value of 10 QR + 25dhs.

The general public are definately welcome an opportunity to recoup some of their losses after the financial crisis, which some have claimed did not impact Qatar as much as other countries.

We at ILQ think that it’s a great investment and if you do your research, you’ll see that Vodafone is a company that’s going to take care of it’s investors both in the short and especially in the long term.

http://iloveqatar.net/forum/read.php?28,6517

People may not realize this, but Vodafone has a great deal of responsibility when it comes to changing this country.

It’s breaking the last telecoms monopoly in the region. It’s like the guy who swung a hammer to take down the final bring on the Berlin wall.

If we sit down to think about everything that’s going to change in Qatar, we’d see that the list is quite long.

1) Competition (which means better life for the customer)
2) Better quality of advertisements
3) Encourages others to enter the scene (not necessarily in the same
4) Gives hope to other international companies
5) Encourages better quality of products and services
6) Connects Qatar to the rest of the world (in terms of brand awareness)
7) Will bring more events to Qatar
Will encourage more charitable causes

Look around now! I’m noticing that Qtels advertisements have improved, their offers have improved, and in fact, their service on the phone is much more politer! All of this happened with just the notion that Vodafone’s coming to town.

A lot of the staff at Vodafone are excited about what’s happening. They’re enthusiastic, craving to make a change in Qatar, and they have really upbeat attitudes. That’s what every customer needs from the people that provide them with a service.

What does everyone else think about this?

As I left Souq Waqif today, I was walking towards my car and in the corner of my eye I saw something move. It was a cute tiny puppy sitting there and shivering. It was late at night and the area was clear so I assumed that someone must have abandoned it.

A quick call to Scarlett and Desert Queen and they put me in touch with a guy named Mohammed at QAWS.

A friend of mine is currently taking care of the puppy until tomorrow when Mohammed can take over, but I just wanted to say that I appreciate their help!

(And apologize for the late call as I really didn’t want to leave the puppy abandoned!)

Since I’m a fan of the W Hotel, I thought I’d share this promotion in case someone wanted to try out their hotel. No no this isn’t a plug, it’s just something I thought people might enjoy.

Click here for more info

Yup, it’s now officially opened, but still in beta. A while back ILQ launched it’s classifieds section which actually started to become populated quite fast. We weren’t happy with that and we thought that we could make things look nicer and be even more simple!

If there’s a feature you want to see or find a fault, let us know! There’ll be a few kinks for now but we’ll get on anything spot as soon as possible!

http://www.iloveqatar.net/classifieds

After a bit of a silent spell, I’m back and it’s with a bit of some positive recognition.

I think it’s time to give a salute to Sarmad Qazi, a journalist that works for Gulf-Times and has his heart set into doing things right.

I remember the first time I met him was at the ‘Wear Something Yellow’ event. He passed by and asked me a few questions but our conversation slowly shifted into what he was doing in Qatar.

K: So how long have you been in Qatar?
S: I was born and raised here
K: So you’re Qatari!
S: I really hope to be (he said with a smile)

He started telling me that he now worked for the Gulf Times and that he had great aspirations for making it the best newspaper that it could be. He wanted to talk about real issues and he shared my views to the dot. If you’re going to talk about something, say it in a way that may stir up some rational thoughts and encourage others to act on those thoughts.

We met a couple of times after that and discussed how Qatar used to have a lot less back in the day, but some could argue it had more character back then. He told me how he hoped that through his articles he’d be able to bring important issues to light and that he felt that his words stood as the only way to get a message out in the open. After all, there are those that complain for the sake of complaining and those who do it with an aim of making the world a better place.

Nowadays, everytime I read the title of something he’s written, I know it’ll be good. Oh! and the best thing is that this guy uses spell check!