ഇല്ലായ്മകള്‍ മറികടന്നു ഭവ്യയുടെ നേട്ടം

ഇല്ലായ്മകള്‍ മറികടന്നു ഭവ്യയുടെ നേട്ടം

ചെറുമകന്റെ ടീ വി ഭ്രാന്തിനു മുത്തച്ഛന്റെ പക്ഷി ചികിത്സ

ചെറുമകന്റെ ടീ വി ഭ്രാന്തിനു മുത്തച്ഛന്റെ പക്ഷി ചികിത്സ

Short Take - GULF TODAY - Dt. 29.05.2010 - Life's challenges

Short Take - GULF TODAY - Dt. 29.05.2010 - Life's challenges

My Letters - GULF NEWS - Dt. 28.0.50.2010 - Pray for the departed

My Letters - GULF NEWS - Dt. 28.0.50.2010 - Pray for the departed

Fine reporting on tragic event - My Letters - THE NATIONAL - Dt. 26.05.2010

My Letters - THE NATIONAL - Dt. 26.05.2010 - Fine reporting on tragic event

To read my letters to the news, please bookmark and visit Letters to the Editor

Air India confirms 158 dead in crash - My Letters - THE NATIONAL - Dt 23.05.2010

My Letters - THE NATIONAL - Dt 23.05.2010 - Air India confirms 158 dead in crash

Air India confirms 158 dead in crash
Praveen Menon and Leah Oatway

Last Updated: May 22. 2010 11:30PM UAE / May 22. 2010 7:30PM GMT
Civilians look on as Indian firefighters and rescue personnel gather around the site of an Air India plane that crashed in Mangalore, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, Saturday, May 22, 2010. AP Photo
An Air India Express passenger plane from Dubai crashed outside the Mangalore airport in southern India today, killing 158 people when it burst into flames after overshooting a table-top runway and plunging into forest below.

There were only eight survivors after the Boeing 737-800 appeared to have skidded off the runway in rain in Karnataka state, Air India director Anup Srivastava said.

It is believed 146 bodies had been recovered.

“We had no hope to survive, but we survived,” Pradeep, a survivor who is an Indian technician working in Dubai, told local television.

“The plane broke into two and we jumped off the plane. As soon as the plane landed, within seconds this happened.”

Investigators in India say the preliminary findings show the aircraft touched down about 2,000 feet (610 metres) too late on the 8,000-foot runway. But experts said that type of aircraft still had plenty of room to stop safely.

The national carrier of India had 163 passengers, seven crew members and four infants. As many as 19 of the passengers were children.

The flight took off from Dubai Airport Terminal 2 at around 1am this morning and was expected to land at the newly constructed Mangalore Airport.

The entire Kenjar village has turned into a crash site as rescue operators search through the wreckage for possible survivors.

The black box has been recovered from the flight.

“The black box of the aircraft has been recovered and the mandatory court of inquiry ordered by the Director General of Civil Aviation,” WAM news agency reported from India.

The Indian consulate in Dubai confirmed that they have been flooded with calls since morning as many Indians living in the UAE were on the flight.

According to Mr Pathak, the airline has been contacted by many passengers' relatives in Dubai and is considering chartering a flight to Mangalore for relatives.

A hotline number has been set up at Terminal 2 airport and another city control room will soon be functional at the Air India office in Dubai.

Delhi: 011-25656196, 25603101
Mangalore: 0824-2220422, 2010167
Dubai: 00971-4-2165828, 00971-4-2165829

Air India Express operates flights out of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Sharjah International Airports.

Flight IX 812 operates seven days a week from Dubai International Airport Terminal II to Mangalore Airport at 115 am with a flight duration of 3 hours, 45 minutes. The fare for a flight next Friday May 28 on the Boeing 737-800 is dh750.

The company also operates five flights per week from Abu Dhabi to Mangalore

My comments as follows:

I join amongst many expatriate passengers who has no other alternate option other than to use limited operational facilities of Air India Express to travel to various smaller airports in India. The fear associated always with flying in it, especially during the landing is always talked up on. God forbidden, there were no tragedy involved, but it was not the case this morning. I was one amongst the many with profound grief and sadness, who gathered for a condolence meeting held at the ISCC Abu Dhabi to pray for the departed souls. Many stories were told touching our emotions about lost friends and family, known and unknown. May be it is due a technical error or human error, or some other unknown reason. Finally, it is a national loss and a major personal loss to those who got affected in it. Let us all, pray to god, calamities of this sort never repeats due to man made errors, as fate and destiny never give choices to us to escape from the natural disasters of unknown kind.

Ramesh Menon
Abu Dhabi.
To read it in original, please visit, THE NATIONAL online

Short Take - Gulf Today - Dt. 22.05.2010 - Power of Team Work

Short Take - Gulf Today - Dt. 22.05.2010 - Power of Team Work

Akkare Ninnu - Vol. 7 Dt. 18.05.2010 - an exclusive NRI page written for www irinjalakudalive dot com

Akkare Ninnu - Vol. 7 Dt. 18.05.2010 - an exclusive NRI page written for www irinjalakudalive dot com

Short Take - Gulf Today - Dt. 15.05.2010 - Highway Mechanic

Short Take - Gulf Today - Dt. 15.05.2010 - Highway Mechanic



To read Short Take exclusively written for Gulf Today, please click here.

Speak your mind - GULF NEWS - Be Heard - Dt. 14.05.2010 - Fixing the problems in schools

Speak your mind - GULF NEWS - Be Heard - Dt. 14.05.2010 - Fixing the problems in schools

country's future lies with the youth and their development

By Ramesh Menon, Gulf News reader Published: 19:38 May 13, 2010
The talk of the town is school transportation. Should school buses have tinted windows or curtains? Also, once children reach school, what should we do to prevent abuse — from other students and teachers? A tough task indeed.

Let’s think of some viable options that are safe and harmonious.

There should be women drivers for school buses that transport girls. They will be more cautious drivers and students will be transported to and from school without being leered at. I am not generalising that all drivers are bad, but this is an option that could be taken into consideration.

It seems that putting cameras in classrooms will have to wait. At present, schools are hard-pressed to make ends meet and this isn’t a feasible option under the present economic scenario.

Therefore, to prevent children being bullied by other students or teachers, I would suggest:

• A committee should be formed for each school, comprising school management, teachers and parents. On a monthly basis, they should meet to assess the situation. Sealed complaints and suggestion boxes should be kept in schools, to be opened only by committee members.

• A higher committee comprising members from this team and from the school governing body, the Ministry of Education and police (a counselling or special team) should be formed. The school-level lower committee should submit a monthly report of any incidents.

• A daily or weekly duty officer should be appointed from among the lower committee with a contact number. Urgent matters should be handled immediately by the duty officer, after properly logging it and informing the committee. They should then try to resolve it amicably.

• If there are any serious cases, they should immediately call for an emergency meeting with the members of the higher-level committee and then analyse it thoroughly. At this time, they should take strict disciplinary action against both the student and his or her parents, who are equally responsible.

• Additionally, I suggest that the authorities consider special concessions to schools, for daily operating items. This will naturally bring down the operating costs for the schools and allow them to enhance their existing facilities or reduce school fees.
A country’s future lies with the youth and their development and these efforts will definitely bear fruit in the long run.

I submit this suggestion to the Ministry of Education through Gulf News’ column. Are there any like-minded readers out there?

— The writer is an Abu Dhabi-based technical officer and Gulf News reader
To read it in original, please visit GULF NEWS online.

Akkare Ninnu - Vol. 6 Dt. 10.05.2010 - An exclusive NRI page written in Malayalam for www irinjalakudalive dot com

Akkare Ninnu - Vol. 6 Dt. 10.05.2010 - An exclusive NRI page written in Malayalam for www irinjalakudalive dot com

My Opinion - Khaleej Times - Dt. 13.05.2010

My Opinion - Khaleej Times - Dt. 13.05.2010


To read my letters to the news, please bookmark and visit Letters to the Editor

Illegal U turn tempts many motorists - My Opinion - THE NATIONAL - Dt 10.05.2010 - THE NATIONAL

My Opinion - THE NATIONAL - Dt 10.05.2010 - THE NATIONAL - Illegal U turn tempts many motorists

Bring universities to India - My Letters - THE NATIONAL - Dt 10.05.2010

My Letters - THE NATIONAL - Dt 10.05.2010 - Bring universities to India



To read the original news, please visit THE NATIONAL ONLINE or read here below:

Indian academics attack plan to allow foreign universities into India
Shaikh Azizur Rahman, Foreign Correspondent

Last Updated: April 28. 2010 12:12AM UAE / April 27. 2010 8:12PM GMT
A student group protests against the plan to allow foreign universities to operate in India. Amit Dave / Reuters
NEW DELHI // A proposed law that would allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India has been condemned as a threat to India’s education system by teaching experts and academics, in a country where tens of thousands of students travel overseas to study every year.

The cabinet approved the controversial bill on March 15 and it is likely to be introduced in parliament within the next few weeks.

The government of the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and others argue that foreign campuses will bring a much-needed boost to the standards of higher education.

But “the privileges proposed to be given to foreign education providers in the bill will kill our own educational system,” said Pushpa M Bhargava, a scientist and former vice chairman of the National Knowledge Commission.

“Knowing the lure of a foreign label for most Indians – especially the rich and the powerful – our own universities will become like today’s government schools, where only the children of the poor and the deprived go to receive no education.”

Mr Bhargava said foreign universities will come to India “not for any altruistic reasons” but for business.

The vice chancellor at the University of Madras, G Thiruvasagam, said the arrival of foreign universities would be “very dangerous for the nation” and that “social justice would become a casualty” in the country’s higher education sector.

“Those foreign universities will not … admit students from economically backward backgrounds – which is quite contrary to the purpose of inviting the foreign universities to India,” Mr Thiruvasagam said. “Should we give our land and resources to foreign institutions to take care of the interests of the rich alone?”

For decades, the brightest and most privileged Indian students have sought higher education in different developed countries. This has accelerated in recent years as increasing numbers of Indians seek jobs with international companies both in India and abroad.

According to the National Knowledge Commission, which advises the prime minister, about 160,000 students leave India every year to study in foreign universities, spending US$4 billion (Dh15bn).

In a report, the global investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs recently counted the lack of quality education as one of the 10 factors that could hold India back from reaching its economic potential.

International employers have long complained that in the absence of quality higher education, India is suffering from a massive shortage of skilled professionals and, according to various industry estimates, up to 75 per cent of all Indian university graduates are not employable.

Some in the information technology industry say that only one in 10 graduates are worth hiring, according to press reports.

Kapil Sibal, a minister at the human resource development ministry, which is behind the bill, described it as a “milestone which will enhance choices, increase competition and benchmark quality”.

The government hopes to push the number of students going on to higher education to 30 per cent by the year 2020 from the current level of 12.4 per cent. To meet the target, foreign university campuses in India would extend crucial help by providing infrastructure, Mr Sibal said.

“Nearly one among three Indians is under 14. Over the next 10 years we are going to have more than 40 million children going to college [for bachelor’s degrees] and to meet this demand, we would need up to 40,000 colleges and 1,000 new universities during this period.

“India has about 480 universities and around 22,000 colleges … but we are still 40 per cent less than the required numbers, which I think is critical.”

Mr Sibal said the government alone could not build the planned infrastructure of universities and colleges, so it decided to open up the sector to overseas institutions.

“No foreign investor can repatriate money abroad but has to put it back into the educational sector in India. We have already discussed the issue with foreign investors and they have agreed to it,” Mr Sibal said.

Many foreign universities already have links with Indian business schools or engineering colleges. Analysts estimate that recruiters will hire at least 13.8 million Indian graduates over the next five years to meet the demand of the employers.

Karan Khemka, an education consultant with Parthenon Group in Mumbai said foreign universities could also help raise the standard of Indian universities.

“Just as deregulation of health care or telecom has given Indian consumers choice and quality, the same applies to education. Today the Indian student must struggle to get into what by western standards are shoddy and sub-par colleges because they have no choice. Competition will clean up the industry,” he said.

But D Revathi, a student at the University of Madras said the bill had no provision for quotas for the poor or disadvantaged students. “Quality higher education will become the exclusive privilege of the rich in the new scenario,” he said. “What purpose will the new universities serve if they aren’t socially inclusive?”

Abhishek Gupta, a student in Kolkata’s South Point School, said he would consider himself lucky if he got a chance to study in a good foreign university campus in India.

“I always thought that my father would never be able to pay as much as $70,000 to $100,000 to send me to the US, UK, Canada or Australia for higher studies and I would have to settle for a degree in an Indian university. But now paying as [little] as $20,000 I can get to study in a foreign university and it is within my reach,” he said.

“Previously children only from upper-class family could flaunt a foreign degree. Now students from many middle class families will also be able to hold a foreign degree.”

Mumbai gunman to hang - My Opinion - THE NATIONAL - Dt. 07.05.2010

My Opinion - THE NATIONAL - Dt. 07.05.2010 - Mumbai gunman to hang

Mumbai gunman to hang
Anuj Chopra, Foreign Correspondent

Last Updated: May 07. 2010 4:22PM UAE / May 7. 2010 12:22PM GMT MUMBAI // After a year-long trial, Ajmal Kasab, the sole survivor out of the 10 gunmen who carried out the 2008 terrorist assault on India’s commercial capital, was sentenced to death.

“Kasab is a lingering danger to society,” Judge ML Tahaliyani said, as he announced the sentence. “He is to be hanged by the neck till death.”

Rejecting the plea for life imprisonment by Kasab’s defence lawyer, KP Pawar, who argued that his client was young and “blinded by religion”, Judge Tahaliyani said: “Words cannot express the brutality of his crime … There is no chance for reform or rehabilitation for this man. He has no right to live.”

Kasab, the Pakistani who was convicted on Monday of 82 charges, including that of waging war against India, sobbed on hearing the judgment, but was wordless. After it was over, he was hauled back to his prison cell, looking ashen.

But it is not clear when the death penalty will be implemented. Yesterday’s judgment will now lead to a long process of appeals before higher courts. If rejected, Kasab can file a petition for clemency before the president of India. It is not clear when Mr Pawar will avail these legal options on behalf of Kasab, if at all.

However, the judgment marked the end of a lengthy trial, in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on Indian soil which claimed 166 lives, including that of 23 foreigners.

“The verdict sends a message to all terrorists: you land in India and you will meet the same fate,” said V Moily, India’s justice minister.

Kasab, dubbed “the baby-faced killer”, emerged as the poster boy for terror after he was photographed marching through Mumbai in November 2008 with his gun bared.

The attack was carried out on two luxury hotels, a cafe, a train station, and a Jewish community centre. Kasab, along with Abu Ismail, another gunman who was later killed, was involved in spraying a hail of bullets on the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji train station, killing 70, the deadliest part of the siege.

Kasab represented a unique catch for Indian authorities. He is the first Lashkar-i-Taiba (LiT) operative to be caught alive during a terrorist operation.

His co-operation helped lead investigators to the militants who planned the attack, investigators have said.

During his trial, Kasab named two Pakistani militants, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and “Saeed Bhai” – or brother Saeed, believed to be Hafiz Muhammed Saeed, the founder of LiT – as the mastermind of the attack. Both men were also convicted in absentia by Judge Tahaliyani on Monday, part of 20 “fugitives” guilty of planning the attack.

“[Ajmal Kasab] was captured alive and lived to tell the tale,” wrote K Subrahmanyam, the director of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, wrote in a recent column in the Indian Express newspaper. “This left Pakistani officials no room to dodge and they had to accept that the terrorist conspiracy was hatched on Pakistani soil by their nationals belonging to the Lashkar-i-Taiba.”

When his trial began last May, Kasab was unco-operative with the prosecution, unruly and overly talkative on some occasions, and cold and indifferent on many others. When some witnesses testified against him, he burst into giggles. But as weeks passed, he became quieter.

Then suddenly, in July, he stood up in court and confessed.

“I do not want punishment from God,” he said in a near-theatrical confession. “Whatever I have done in this world I should get punished for it by this world itself.”

Just days later, he recanted his confession, claiming that he had arrived in Mumbai to be a Bollywood actor, and was picked up by the police from a beach in Mumbai to be framed in a larger conspiracy.

Ujjwal Nikam, the chief prosecutor, said Kasab was a well-trained terrorist who underwent crash courses in dealing with interrogation by investigators. “Kasab is worse than an animal,” he said.

“He was anxious to attack India,” Judge Tahaliyani said, revealing that Kasab was “restless” when he and his nine accomplices were delayed in Karachi before heading to Mumbai in 2008.

Some observers say Kasab’s execution will not bring closure as he is but a cog in the wheel, not the brain behind the attack.

“Kasab was only the delivery boy of terror,” said YP Singh, the former joint commissioner of the Mumbai police. “All those who planned the terror plot are still beyond reach.”

SM Krishna, India’s external affairs minister, said yesterday that his focus now is on finding the men who masterminded the attack in Pakistan.

“A number of others who acted as co-conspirators will also have to be extradited and they should be brought to justice,” he said.

Residents of Kasab’s hometown, Farid Kot, in Punjab province, condemned his sentence yesterday.

“He is Pakistani, that’s why he is going to be hanged,” said Mohammad Ramazan, a retired schoolteacher, told Reuters.

“It’s a conspiracy.”

My Comments as follows:

The verdict, although highlighted as victory for fight against terrorism, does not really make any practical impact on terror plotters. Every one knows that, a series of legal procedure awaits, if every he will get a chance to walk to the gallows. But, even that seems a distant reality as there are 51 others ahead of him waiting for it. Even if all this happens within a improbably short time, on the other side of the fence, there are people who are charged with almost similar cases and a bargain could always happen. Let this case be an eye opener to all the ordinary citizen, irrespective of whether he is in India or abroad. Prevention, is better than cure. Let the ordinary citizen be alert. If any un warranted movement or suspected activity is noticed, alert the authorities well before a man made calamity happens again. Safety and Security first, let that be the mantra for all.

Ramesh Menon
Abu Dhabi
To read it in original, please visit THE NATIONAL online.

Short Take - GULF TODAY - 08.05.2010 - Yacht Lesson

Short Take - GULF TODAY - 08.05.2010 - Yacht Lesson



To read my weekly contribution to "Short Take" of Gulf Today, please click here.

My Letters - GULF NEWS - Increase in prices

My Letters - GULF NEWS - Increase in prices

To read my letters to the news, please bookmark and visit Letters to the Editor

Praise for May Day worker festivities - My Letters - THE NATIONAL

My Letters - THE NATIONAL - Praise for May Day worker festivities

Labourers in dash for cash on Yas Island
Suryatapa Bhattacharya

Last Updated: May 02. 2010 1:12AM UAE / May 1. 2010 9:12PM GMT
Workers at the start of the 4 kilometre run in celebration of Labor Day and organised by the Ministry of Labor at the Yas Marina track in Abu Dhabi. Paulo Vecina / The National
ABU DHABI // The track at the Yas Marina Circuit came alive yesterday, not with the screeching tyres of racing cars but with the cheers of thousands of workers.

As an estimated 1,500 men, most of them from construction firms, prepared to run a four-kilometre race, their supporters cheered from the stands, shouting the names of the companies that the workers were representing.

The winners

Ifran Ahmed, 23, Pakistan, steel fixer with ACC.

Omar Mohammed Saad, 25, Egypt, mason with Nurol.

Issam Adnan Hamad, 27, Lebanese-Canadian, procurement department of Algeco.
To commemorate International Workers Day, the Ministry of Labour organised a “marathon” for workers from more than 30 companies.

This is the second year of the event. Last year, the workers ran along the Corniche.

Humaid bin Deemas, acting director-general of the Ministry of Labour, arrived to watch the race and stood by the track to see the runners complete the circuit.

“There is a message today for the community, firms and society,” he said.

“It is to respect the workers, protect them, protect their rights that will enhance the relationship between the workers and the owners of the companies.”

Before the start of the 5.30pm race, workers lined up, and while some chatted and looked for familiar faces, others did stretching exercises.

Dressed in blue caps and white T-shirts that said, “International Labour Day: Our workers are our partners in development”, a number of the runners helped themselves to water bottles stacked at the starting line on the hot but cloudy and windy afternoon.

Asim Ghafoor, 23, a driver from Pakistan with the Al Jaber company, heard about the race from his friend, Kulchander Singh, who works as a clerk.

Mr Singh said that workers from their company believed Mr Ghafoor was the favourite to win the race.

“After two hours of eating dinner he would run for two hours,” Mr Singh said of Mr Ghafoor, who was an athletics standout at his school in Rawalpindi.

Meanwhile, workers from Al Habtoor Group said they had conducted eliminations over the past month to ensure that only the fittest runners were sent to the competition.

Larry Caracas, 42, a shift manager from the Philippines, said 100 runners came from the company’s engineering division alone.

“We did endurance and strength training for two months,” he said. “I am confident. The training was enough.”

The prize money for the winners was increased this year. The winner was awarded Dh7,000 (US$1,360) followed by Dh6,000 for second place, Dh5,000 for third, Dh4,000 for fourth, Dh3,000 for fifth and Dh1,000 each for sixth through 10th place.

Omar Mohammed Saad, a 25-year-old Egyptian, finished second and said he would spend his prize money on jewellery for his fiancé in Egypt ahead of their wedding.

Farooq Ali, 23, a Bangladeshi who works for the Arabian Construction Company (ACC), was last year’s winner. Soon after, he was promoted to the position of security guard.

Yesterday, he placed seventh and said he was disappointed with his performance. “I was just thinking about it too much,” he said.

But the largest group of cheerleaders in the stands – from ACC – were not disappointed. They whistled and shouted as the top runner of the day was one of their co-workers, Ifran Ahmed, 23, from Pakistan.

He won by about five metres, and fell to the track after crossing the finish line. He was both tired and exhilarated.

Mr Ahmed, who works as a steel fixer for ACC, finished sixth last year. To improve his endurance, he trained for a month by running 16km back and forth between the labour camp and his worksite near the Mena port area in the capital.

He said he would send home his winnings. “One does not run for money,” he said. “One runs to earn respect.”


To read this news in original, please visit THE NATIONAL online.

Akkare Ninnu - Vol 5 - exclusive NRI page for Irinjalakuda live dot com

Akkare Ninnu - Vol 5 - exclusive NRI page for Irinjalakuda live dot com

Tourists with ‘low’ jobs turned away at border - My OPinion - The National - Dt. 03.05.2010

Tourists with ‘low’ jobs turned away at border
Essam al Ghalib

Last Updated: May 02. 2010 1:21PM UAE / May 2. 2010 9:21AM GMT
Kathryn Holbrook, a teacher, was told she could cross into Oman without applying for a visa but Colin Davids, a barman in a hotel nightclub, was refused access. Pawan Singh / The National
AL AIN // Residents are being turned away from border crossings between the UAE and Oman because of the type of job they have.

Officials at crossings are enforcing a long-standing agreement between the countries that only expatriates who have what are considered professional occupations can pass into Oman from the UAE without having to apply for a visa.

According to one Omani immigration officer, teachers, doctors, lawyers anyone who has a professional occupation are free to travel into Oman. However, those who do other jobs, such as in the service industry, construction or sales, would not be allowed

The rule, which is to be implemented at all checkpoints, was previously in effect, but border officials only began enforcing it this year, said Captain Ahmad al Shamsi, an Emirati official at the Hilli checkpoint, which links Al Ain with Buraimi and is for non-GCC citizens.

One resident, Colin Davids, was turned away from the checkpoint when he attempted to cross into Buraimi for a camping trip with friends. An immigration agent refused to let him out of the UAE and into Oman.

“He wouldn’t tell me why, but referred me to the visa officer in charge, instead,” said Mr Davids, 27, who had made the crossing numerous times before. “I went inside to ask why and was shocked when he told me I had what he called a ‘low job’.”


Mr Davids works at the Al Ain Rotana hotel as a barman at Moodz nightclub. The job description on his visa says he is a waiter.

“The immigration officer told me that there was a list of occupations that were not free to travel and that mine was too low down to allow me across the border into Oman,” Mr Davids said.

An official in the consular section of the UAE Embassy in Muscat confirmed the agreement between Oman and the Emirates.

“People with certain occupations cannot leave the UAE and people with certain occupations cannot enter Oman,” she said. “There is an agreement between the two countries that is being adhered to.”

People with affected occupations who want to visit Oman need to apply for a visa at the Omani Embassy in Abu Dhabi, she said.

Khaled Hardan, an official at the Omani embassy in Abu Dhabi, confirmed that a prospective visitor’s occupation is a factor considered when issuing a visa, adding that regulations had become more stringent throughout the GCC recently, and not just in Oman.

As for Mr Davids and others like him, Mr Hardan said: “If he would like a visitor’s visa, he can come to the Omani embassy in Abu Dhabi and apply for one.”

An Omani immigration officer, who asked not to be named, said in the past many people would leave the UAE and enter Oman from Hilli. They would then stay and work illegally in Buraimi.

“In the case of the Hilli border crossing into Buraimi, there isn’t an official Omani checkpoint for 40km down the road to Muscat,” he said. “For people with professional jobs, it would be harder for them to find work illegally in Buraimi, whereas a carpenter can find odd jobs to do here and there.”

Kathryn Holbrook, a 29-year-old geography teacher at Al Ain English School, who was with Mr Davids when he tried to cross, was stunned to learn that he could not.

“My occupation is listed as a teacher so I was told I could cross into Oman, but not Colin,” she said. “I complained to people at the border who told me there was a new list that came out this year.”

Days after Mr Davids’s experience, Arianne Galez, 31, from the Philippines, stood in front of a visa officer in disbelief. After making regular trips to visit her family, who were expecting her, she was suddenly being denied.

The officer explained to Ms Galez that certain occupations, including hers – a receptionist at a dental clinic – were not considered professional.

“My cousin and sister work in Sohar,” Ms Galez said. “I don’t know when I am going to see them again.”

My Comments as follows:

Interesting news. This rule was there for some time now. But, may be they started applying it strictly from now on. The experience of the involved parties highlighted brings out an equally interesting question. Are they married couples? If not, is it an example of restrictive measures by authorities towards illegal cohabiting and fun trips across the boarder both ways during week-end. Point to ponder.

Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi

To read this in original, please visit THE NATIONAL online.

Team 1 Talent Share Message to Members : Theme for May 2010

Team 1 Talent Share Message to Members : Theme for May 2010



Dear Talent Share Participating members and Fans,

1. I sincerely thank each and every participating member of Talent Share Fan page and blog. The responses received to the April 2010 themes have been remarkable. It became an open example of bringing out hidden and innate talents of our members as we watched with interest the beautiful jewellery collections presented.

I am presenting to you the themes for May 2010:

• Life in a Zoo

You can draw and present animals, birds and other activities you watch in a zoo. This is also an opportunity to visit a zoon nearby your home and present what you see there either as a drawing, coloring, cartoon etc.

• Traffic Awareness

This is an important theme presented for the month of May. Some of you may be aware, the directorate of traffic and patrol (general command of Abu Dhabi police -UAE) and SAAED company is conducting one of the largest international ART competition. The competition is for traffic regulation under the banner of (traffic safety). The rules and regulations are detailed in the following link.

• http://www.saaed.ae/Section.aspx?name=cmp_165

* I hope, Talent Share participating members from worldwide are inspired by this theme to submit their creative contribution directly at the link and address mentioned in the above link. At the same time, I am requesting you to present a copy of it so that, it inspires more members to participate. I am encouraging a multiple presentation policy because; I believe that a healthy competition always brings out the best.

2. I would like to also inform you that the recent newspaper coverage with the support of Malayala Manorama has brought in many entries and visitors to the Fan page and blog. The effort is a continuous process and thus repeats my request to all the participating members to present neat and complete work. More such presentation opportunities are looked upon and very soon you will see the result of it.

3. I am happy to inform you that, our dedicated style of presentation and participation is getting recognised and appreciated by organisations and associations. One such example is the important announcement by Christ College Irinjalakuda Alumni association to showcase on Talent Share sites the entire presentations submitted by their member’s children for an ongoing art competition. Organisations and cultural associations and their active members are invited to present such activities on Talent Share.

4. Due to ongoing changes on Face Book, several new options and enhancements are coming out. It is causing sometimes huge inconvenience and loss of data. This was one of the reasons; I couldn’t implement the two new added features informed to you through the Message dated 31 March 2010. However, here too, we take the principle, a change is an opportunity and I am working on several added features during the split seconds of my available time devoted for Talent Share. Watch out for them, and promise you to make it interesting as usual. All these actions are done with sincere interest to prove the good aspects of utilising social network sites for the benefit of the society around.

As I rephrase and quote Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s words, do you need to be motivated to promote and participate Talent Share?

Wish you a great month day and great month ahead.

Ramesh Menon
Sunday, 02.05.2010

Road made unsafe by lack of a U-turn - My Letters - THE NATIONAL

My Letters - THE NATIONAL - Road made unsafe by lack of a U-turn
To read my letters to the news, please bookmark and visit Letters to the Editor

Short Take - Gulf Today - Dt. 01 May 2010 - View from the bus

Short Take - Gulf Today - Dt. 01 May 2010 - View from the bus


To read my letters to the news, please bookmark and visit Letters to the Editor