|
Cinderella, pantomime by the Manama Theatre Club and Awali Repertory Theatre Society, Awali Hall, 6.30pm. Contact 39411708.
The 16th Autumn Fair, Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, 10am-1pm and 4pm-10pm. Entrance 500 fils. Children under five go free.
Bahrain Toastmasters meeting, Elite Suite Hotel, Sanabis, 7.30pm-9.30pm. Guests welcome. Contact 39403664 or 39258305.
Karate, salsa and Sevillanas, Bahrain Ballet Centre. Contact 17693232.
Rashid Al Oraifi Museum, Building 374, Road 214, Muharraq 202, 8am-1pm and 4pm-8pm. Contact 17335616.
Interdenominational Women�s Fellowship, National Evangelical Church, 9.30am. Contact 17254508.
Modelling for children aged nine upwards. Training in catwalk, television and photographic modelling, Visual Image, 4pm-5.30pm. Contact 39632446.
Resource Centre and Library, Alliance Francaise de Bahrein, Isa Town, 9am-1pm and 3pm-7pm. Bahrain National Museum, 8am-8pm. Entrance 500 fils. Contact 17298777.
________________
| Charity concert tickets on sale |
|
TICKETS are now on sale for a charity concert by Bollywood star Shaan and co-singer Varsha Mathur. The show takes place on December 23 at Al Ahli Club, in Zinj, and money raised from the event will go towards the Sneha recreation centre for children with special needs.
It is called Shaan Se and will feature a combination of hit songs from Hindi films accompanied by a live orchestra. The event starts at 8pm and will also include the final round of the ICICI dance mania contest.
This is an annual fundraiser for Sneha, which is the brainchild of the Indian Ladies Association (ILA). Tickets were launched in a ceremony at the Gulf Hotel, at which Indian Ambassador Bhaskar Kumar Mitra was chief guest. They cost BD10, BD5 and BD3. For more information contact ILA president Vani Krishnan on 39873357 or general secretary Poonam Sharma on 39576051. |
____________
| I miss you all |
|
I JUST wanted to say that I was born and brought up in Bahrain and at the moment am studying and working in India. It feels really nice to get GDN online and still read and know what is happening in Bahrain. I wanted to let you guys know that you are doing a great job. Keep up the good work. Will be there soon to see what's happening around.
Susan Pinto (Letter to the Editor in GDN)
_______ | |
| Message of peace |
|
By SOMAN BABY
RELIGIONS should serve as an instrument of integration, and not as a dividing wall, says one of India's top Christian scholars and social activist. It is important for people to go beyond religion to spirituality, which is the relationship with God and their neighbours, said India's National Integration Council member, the Reverend Valson Thampu. "However, it is sad to see that religion, which is meant to be an instrument of integration to hold people together, has now become the means of disintegration in many parts of the world," he told the GDN.
Rev Thampu, an English professor for 30 years and former vice-principal of St Stephen's College in New Delhi, was nominated by the Indian government to the three-member National Commission for Minorities' Education last week. He has been an activist campaigning against social injustice and disharmony in India for several years.
"Social justice is a major challenge in spirituality. I believe that social justice cannot be addressed without addressing religious reforms." Spirituality, said Rev Thampu, should become a power of liberation. "The symbol of spirituality is light, and light is also the symbol of purity," he noted.
"Anything in its purest form will emit light. When you are pure, you have freedom from vested interests." Spirituality cannot be confined to the four walls of a temple, mosque or church, said the Rev Thampu.
"It is an engagement with reality and should be at the world outside where people live," he said. About his work as a peace activist, Rev Thampu said the question of poverty would not be addressed if there is no peace. "I am also working through inter-religious groups to rid India of communalism.
"After the Gujarat riots, I started publishing a series of value education books under the title, Living in Harmony, which has been widely welcomed by educational institutions and peace organisations." Rev Thampu, who is in Bahrain at the invitation of the YMCA, addressed a series of meetings on Christian leadership at the National Evangelical Church (NEC).
He also addressed teenagers at an inter-church Sunday School fellowship meeting at the New Indian School auditorium on Friday. He spoke to teachers and senior students of the Indian School and the New Indian School yesterday before returning to New Delhi last night. Rev Thampu, who is also a member of the Delhi Minorities Commission, has published more than a dozen books and scores of booklets. His book titled Harvest of Hate: Gujarat under Siege was one of the best sellers in India. Other popular books include Aids: Heresy and Prophecy, The Word and the World and Religion and Politics. |
| Award for Indian businessman |
|
BAHRAIN-based Indian businessman P K Raju has been nominated for an award of achievement by an Indian voluntary organisation.
The NRI Welfare Society of India will present him with the Hind Rattan Award at the 24th international congress of non-resident Indians next month. The congress will be held at Hotel Le Meridien in New Delhi from January 24 to 26.
Mr Raju, who is chairman of the Eurolight Group of Companies, arrived in Bahrain in 1976.
He will be presented with the award along with selected NRIs from all over the world on the eve of the Indian Republic Day, said society secretary general Harbhajan Singh. "The award is for NRIs who have given outstanding services to the community or made business achievements and kept the Indian flag high in their host countries," he said.
St. Francis Xavier Feast Celebrated by YGC
Young Goans Club's celebrated the feast of St Francis Xavier with a feast mass at Sacred Heart Church, Manama, and followed by lunch at Palace Inn.
| Visa confusion |
|
WE know, a foreign employee, after completion of his contract with the employer, can now return immediately to a new employer in Bahrain without an NOC from the previous employer. But if the contract and visa of the employee do not expire at the same time? What if the visa is expiring before or after completion of the contract period? Then how can the employee leave the company and join a new company without an NOC from previous employer?
Or if the employer terminates the contract with the employee midway for some reason and wants to send the employee back without giving any release letter so that the employer doesn't get an opportunity to find another employer, then what is the rule? In this case, can the employee come back to Bahrain immediately to another company without an NOC from the previous employer as the employee is not to blame? If the employer does not cancel the visa of the employee and doesn't want to give an NOC, to whom should the employee appeal?Another case: If the employee resigns and completes the notice period then when can he come back to a new employer in Bahrain without an NOC from the previous employer? As a foreign employee, I am requesting the concerned authority to clear our doubts about the new rule.
Foreign employee (Letter to the Editor in GDN)
l A General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence spokesman said: "The reader is referring to the new regulation (GDN August 10) which states that if an employer cancels the residence permit of his employee and the employee leaves Bahrain, then the employee can return to the country at any time without the need for a release letter, provided he has no criminal record. The act of cancelling the residence permit terminates the agreement between the sponsor and employee. Any application by a subsequent sponsor for a new work visa (no objection certificate) for the employee must be submitted to GDNPR while the employee is out of Bahrain.
"In answer to the various scenarios given by the reader, we would like to give the answers as follows: "The above regulation applies when, the residence permit has been cancelled by the employer. If the visa expires before the end of the contract period the foreigner is in a position to ask his employer to cancel the RP, make the final extension and allow him to leave the country. The employee can then return to Bahrain without the need for a release letter from his employer, as per the above regulation.
"If the contract has expired but the RP is still valid the above regulation does not apply. In this case, the employee should check his own contract or the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs for the correct procedure to follow on the expiration of the contract.
"Under the new regulation, the original sponsor has no right to deny an ex-employee the chance to return to Bahrain for another sponsor, as the act of cancelling the employee's RP terminates the agreement between employer and employee. The ex-employee can return to Bahrain immediately, but we must point out that any application by a subsequent sponsor for a new work visa (no objection certificate) for the employee must be submitted to GDNPR while the employee is out of Bahrain. "If the employer refuses to cancel the RP of the employee for any reason, the employee will have to remain outside Bahrain until his residence permit has expired. Once the RP has expired, his new sponsor can apply for a work visa ( NOC) for him in the normal way.
"If an employee resigns and completes the notice period he must then leave the country. If his original sponsor has cancelled his residence permit he can return to Bahrain for a new employer without the need for a release letter as soon as the new work NOC has been issued to the new sponsor. If the original sponsor has not cancelled his RP, then his new sponsor can apply for a work NOC when the RP expires. The employee can return to Bahrain when this work NOC has been issued.
"We hope this answers the reader's questions, but if he needs any further information we advise him to contact the public relations section of GDNPR on tel: 17535203/17518830, for assistance." | |
| Maths skills test invite to students |
|
THE Indian School is all set to conduct the Maths Talent Search examination for the second consecutive year. It will be held from 8.30am to 10am next Thursday, at the school's Isa Town Campus. "The Maths Talent Search exam is being conducted at country level to identify, promote and nurture young talents in the field of mathematics," said executive committee chairman P V Radhakrishna Pillai. The examination is in English and is open to students of class VI, VII and VIII (or of equivalent grades) from all schools in Bahrain, following any syllabus.
Schools may each sponsor a maximum of five students from each level for the 90-minute exam. The top ranking student in each level will get the Ramanujam Award. This includes a rolling cup for the school, a book and a certificate for the student. There will also be prizes for the next three positions and a certificate of participation for all the students. "Last year around 110 students from eleven schools of different boards participated in the event," said Mr Pillai. The last date for registration has been extended to Monday. For more information contact Indian School maths department head V R Palaniswamy on 39215452.
| Microsoft Kid shows off skills |
|
By SOMAN BABY
INDIAN nine-year-old Ajay Puri, acclaimed as the world's youngest computer wizard, demonstrated his skills to more than 500 children and dignitaries in Bahrain yesterday. Ajay, popularly known as Microsoft Kid (Bill Gates Junior), is in Bahrain at the invitation of the New Millennium School (NMS). He demonstrated web designing and Visual Basic applications, at Al Ahli Club's indoor stadium, with a big screen displaying his lap-top creations. NMS chairman Adel Al Safar presented Ajay with flowers and principal Nazish Naqvi and managing director Sudhir Kumar praised his accomplishments. They said the need of the hour was to innovate and inspire the students to master the expanding horizon of technology.
Ajay presented prizes to the winners of an inter-school painting competition, organised by NMS in October. He started his demonstration by paying tribute to more than 90 children who died in a fire in a school in Tamil Nadu earlier this year. Ajay impressed the audience by creating a computer presentation on India, which included glimpses of Indian culture, festivals, traditions and history. He then created a presentation on himself, featuring his meetings with several world leaders, statesmen and film personalities.
Before demonstrating his skills in web designing, he gave a visual presentation of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US. Ajay, who passed the Microsoft Office Use Specialist Examination when he was five years old, has won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. The Apollo Hospital Group in India has appointed him as the group's youngest information technology consultant. He was in Qatar last year to open the Birla Public School in Doha. Ajay, who was born in Hyderabad, India, currently lives in Bangkok, where his father Ravi Puri works for a textile group. He is accompanied to Bahrain by his grandfather V N Puri, who taught him basic computer lessons when he was 18 months old. Mr Puri said Ajay was presenting part of the money raised through his demonstrations to help underprivileged children and charity organisations. Ajay's extraordinary skills in IT have been featured internationally by the world media, including the CNN and the
BBC. | | |
