2002 - Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) opened its first ladies-only branch in Jumeirah and unveiled a value-added service, Johara, for them. DIB has plans to set up such branches in other emirates also. The Johara service is available at most DIB branches in the UAE. Butti Khalifa Bin Darwish, General Manager of DIB, said the new service was in keeping with the social fabric of contemporary Islamic culture and was aimed at providing women in the UAE with a viable alternative to address their banking needs. The bank will offer special financing schemes for lady entrepreneurs, he said. DIB already has ladies-only sections at its branches. These services are aimed at helping businesswomen in the UAE conduct their financial transactions in complete privacy and comfort.
Other important events
1567 - Mary Queen of Scots is imprisoned by Scottish rebels in Lochleven Castle in Scotland.
1837 - American Charles Goodyear receives his first patent for rubber.
1856 - The Republican Party opens its first convention, in Philadelphia.
1885 - Statue of Liberty arrives in New York City.
1944 - Iceland declares independence from Denmark.
1950 - The world’s first kidney transplant is performed in Chicago.
1963 - Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis resigns.
1967 - China explodes its first hydrogen bomb.
1971 - United States and Japan sign agreement to restore island of Okinawa to Japan.
1972 - US President Richard Nixon’s downfall begins with the arrest of five burglars inside Democratic national headquarters.
1976 - Indonesia annexes Portuguese East Timor.
1991 - South Africa abolishes the last of its apartheid laws.
1992 - US and Russia agree to slash their arsenals of long-range nuclear weapons by two-thirds.
1996 - US and China reach a deal to stamp out rampant Chinese copyright piracy.
1999 - Nelson Mandela hands over power to South Africa’s second freely elected president Thabo Mbeki.
2002 - Pakistan’s Brigadier Shahida Malek becomes the first female general in the armed forces.
2005 - Kuwait’s first woman minister Masouma Al Mubarak joins cabinet.
2006 - Russian special operations police kill top Chechen rebel leader Abdul Khalim Sadulayev.
2010 - Kuwaiti Shaikh Basel Salem Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah is shot and killed by his uncle.
