Amaco Jubail emerge champions of ‘JF Winter Cup 2019’

Indian Social Forum, Eastern Province Central Committee, Saudi Arabia organized Republic Day program at AlRyan Policlinic Restaurant Auditorium, Dammam on 25th January 2020.

Abdul Waris, Former Chairman of Indian International School Dammam Inaugurated the program.

Wasim Rabbani, president of Indian Social Forum, Eastern Province Central Committee Presided over the program.

Mansoor Shah KFUPM, Indian Social Forum Delhi Zone President, Dr. Fayaz Ahmed from King Fahad University Hospital, Amir Moulavi, Executive Member,  India Fraternity Forum (IFF) Dammam, Nasir Koduvalli, Indian Social Forum, Kerala State President, Dammam, Sharief, Social Forum Karnataka State President, DammamJahangir Moulavi, Tamilnadu State president delivered speech at the program. Mohammed Firoz, Indian Social Forum  President, Jubail read the preamble of constitution. 

 Nameer Kerala , Secretary, Social Forum Central Committee welcomed guests while Ashraf Karnataka, General Secretary, Central Committee delivered vote of thanks and Tahir Hyderabad, Secretary, Indian Social Forum, Central Committee coordinated the program.

MOGAVEERS ASSOCIATION Affiliated KUWAIT, to Indian embassy Kuwait, the community welfare association of non-resident Mogaveeras, based in Kuwait Fo the fourth time MAK organised, National level Volleybal & Throw Ball Tournament under the title of “MAK Champion Trophy 2020 “on 25th February 2020. The tournament was held at American Internation Schoo Maidan Hawally,Kuwait.

The tournament coincided with the National day of Kuwait celebration The weather was pleasant, the participants & the MAK members were all geared up for the tournament. 

The day long tournament commenced at 7.30 am with a parade of all the participating Teams the MAK Managemen Committee Volunteers & th guests. The grand opening was led by talented committee member Mr.Suresh Salian.On behalf of MAK Management Committee Mrs Poonam Mendon & Mr.Nishanth Salian, the host for the day welcomed the gathering. This was followed by Kuwait & Indian National Anthem.

The chief Guests of the day were Mr.Anant Kapadia who is the chairman o Indian Bussiness & professionl Counil Kuwait & Mr.P.K Venkat De Chief operating Office of Art of livingTheother guest for the day was Mr.Suresh Shyam Raowho is a Freelance Press reporter fo web new portals & print media. The guests were presented with a flore Bouquet Mr.Ramesh Kidiyoor Convenor & Founder President of MAK was honou for his excellent service & contribution towards MAK Mrs Monika Cornelio Co-ordinator of Kuwait Konkan (Throw Ball)& Mr Noel Cutniha Manage of Boubyan Stikers(Volle Ba were honoured for their excellent contribution towards sports in Kuwait & also for their outstanding support for MAK.

Mr.Chennara MK Senior member of MAK was honoured with a momemto bouquet for his excellent service & contribution towards MAK ,as he was leaving Kuwait for good.

Mr.Rajesh Mendon, President of MAK in his speech welcomed the gathering and stressed the importance of playing with true sportsman spirit and thanked all the teams for their support as this event is done for MAK welfare projects. The guests in their speech encouraged the players & conveyed their best wishes and good luck to the participating teams and organizers.

The president of MAK Mr.Rajesh Mendon ,Convenor Mr.Ramesh Kidiyoor along with the chief guest inaugurated the Volley Ball & Throw Ball tournament by cutting the ribbon .The Medals & trophies of the tournament were unveiled by sports Secretary Mr.Arun Mendon and PRO & Welfare officer Mr.Jaya Kotian.

Mrs Geetha Suvarna Committee member of MAK Along with Mrs Monika Cornelio inaugurated the Throw ball Court & Mr.Sachidananda Suvarna Vice president of MAK along with Guests ianugrated the Volley ball Court by servicing the ball.

The other guests for the day Mr.Wilson Dsouza-Expresident Tulukoota, Mr.Tharendra Shettigar Expresident Tulukoota, Mr.Vijay Wilson Gen Secretary Tulukoota, Mr.Roshan Quadras Sports Secretary Tulukoota ,Mr.Lional Mascarenhas Welfare Officer Tulukoota , Mr.Manoj Bangera-Advisor Billava Sangha, Mrs Sushma Manoj Vice President of Billava Sangha, Mr.Lawrence Pinto,Mr.Ganesh Hegde, Mr.Vakas Khan & Mr.Sudakar Shetty Convenor of Tulukoota. All of them were honoured with a bouquet.

The participating Volley Ball Teams were as below

Bayan Salmiya, Boubyan Strikers, Riggae Volley, Kunjal Friends,Salmiya Spikers, KSAC, MKV stikers

The participating Throw Ball Teams were as below

Canara Eleven, Dragon Sorpions Queens,Warriors, Kuwait Konkans A,Alfa, Kuwait Konkans B & Scorpions

The volleyball inaugural first round match started between Bayan Salmiya & Salmiya Spikers & the first round of throw ball inaugural match was between Canara Eleven & Warriors. The teams played with full enthusiasm and viewers enjoyed and experienced the spectacular show. As the day progressed matches kept rolling one after another.

The Event Sponsors were TVS Travels & Cargo Co. WLL
Gold Sponsor were Oriental Restaurant Kuwait,Silver Sponsor Badar Al Samah Medical center 

Bestwishes from Vision Direct logistics, Mr.Wilson D'Souza & family & Mrs Monika Cornelia 

Printing of Raffle was sponsored By Turmeric Restaurant

The referees for Volley Ball were Mr.Alexander Mathew & Mr.Sajan Samuel

The referees for Throw Ball were Mr.Ivan Dsouza & Mr.Arun Mendon.

The scorers for Throw Ball Team were Mrs.Geetha Suvarna, Mr.Rakshith Suvarna & Mr.Ganesh Hegde

The scorers for Volley ball team were Mr.Kishore Kotian, Mr.Nithin Suvarna & Mr.Santhosh Kunder

The announcements was done by Mr.Girish Mehta & Mr.Kishore Kotian

Sumptuous Breakfast, Lunch & snacks was provided by Bollywood Restaurant

Beautiful moments of the day was captured by the Mr.Rajesh Devadiga

Design of Brochure & Banner by Mr.Sachidanada Suvarna.

Wonderful Back ground Music By DJ Mr.Ronald D'Souza Mulky

Sound System was provided by Anand Sounds

Winners

The Volley Ball ended with a finale of Final matches between MKV Strikers & Team Boubyan Strikers After a tough Battle between the two strong teams, Team Boubyan Strikers bagged the Winners Trophy & Team MKV Strikers were declared the First Runner up.The second runners up trophy was won by Reggai Volley. MAK Player of the tournament for Volley Ball was secured by Mr.Rahul of Team Boubyan Strikers.

On the other hand, throw ball tournament ended with League matches. Team Dragon Scorpion Queens defeated the opponents and became the winners for the Fourth Consecutive year. 1st Runners up was won by Kuwait Konkans A and Team Alfa stood up as the 2nd Runners. MAK Player of the tournament for throw ball was secured by Ms. Hancil Pinto of Team Dragon Scorpion Queens. 

Prize distribution ceremony

Mr.Firoz Manager of TVS Cargo & Travels Co,Mr.Sathischandra Shetty Owner of Oriental restaurant, Mr.Chandrahas Shetty- PRO & Expresident Tulukoota Graced the prize distribution ceremony As a token of respect they were presented with a floret Bouquet

President Mr.Rajesh Mendon, Convenor Mr. Ramesh Kidiyoor along with the guest awarded the trophies and medals to winners, whereas the MAK members gave away the trophies & medals to runners up team & the individual achievers. 

A Raffle Draw was conducted by MAK & the winners are as below

1st Prize : Mr.Muruganathan
2nd Prize : Mrs.Lancy Fernandes
3rd Prize : Mr.Ganesh Kotian 

The 10 consolation prize winners were Yadav Reggai, Athaulla, Imtiyaz, Irin Dsouza, Arif, Prakash Poojary, Pranavi Laksh, Ajith Kumar & Sudesh

In her vote of Thanks Mrs.Poonam Mendon thanked each and everyone who were responsible for the success of the tournament, Participants,sponsor's, organisers, MAK Vounteers, MAK management Committee & Executive Committee. Finally a special thanks was given to the Management & Staff of American International School Maidan Hawally for the awesome venue. 

May 11: Saudi Arabia will triple its value-added tax rate and suspend a cost of living allowance for state workers, it said on Monday, seeking to shield finances hit by low oil prices and a slump in demand for its lifeline export worsened by the new coronavirus.

Historic oil output cuts agreed by Riyadh and other major producers have given only limited support to prices after they sank on oversupply caused by a war for petroleum market share between the kingdom and its fellow oil titan Russia.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, is also being hit hard by measures to fight the new coronavirus, which are likely to curb the pace and scale of economic reforms launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"The cost of living allowance will be suspended as of June 1, and the value added tax will be increased to 15% from 5% as of July 1," Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said in a statement reported by the state news agency. "These measures are painful but necessary to maintain financial and economic stability over the medium to long term...and to overcome the unprecedented coronavirus crisis with the least damage possible."

The austerity measures come after the kingdom posted a $9 billion budget deficit in the first quarter.

The minister said non-oil revenues were affected by the suspension and decline in economic activity, while spending had risen due to unplanned strains on the healthcare sector and the initiatives taken to support the economy.

"All these challenges have cut state revenues, pressured public finances to a level that is hard to deal with going forward without affecting the overall economy in the medium to long term, which requires more spending cuts and measures to support non-oil revenues stability," he added.

The government has cancelled and put on hold some operating and capital expenditures for some government agencies, and cut allocations for some reform initiatives and projects worth a total 100 billion riyals ($26.6 billion), the statement said.

Central bank foreign reserves fell in March at their fastest rate in at least 20 years and to their lowest since 2011, while oil revenues in the first three months of the year fell 24% from a year earlier to $34 billion, pulling total revenues down 22%.

"The reforms are positive from a fiscal side as greater adjustment is essential. However, the tripling of VAT is unlikely to help that much in 2020 revenue wise with the expected fall in consumption," said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

She said she kept unchanged her deficit forecast of 16.3% of GDP for this year, which already factors in a greater than previously announced spending cut.

About 1.5 million Saudis are employed in the government sector, according to official figures released in December.

In 2018, Saudi Arabia's King Salman ordered a monthly payment of 1,000 riyals ($267) to every state employee to compensate them for the rising living costs after the government hiked domestic gas prices and introduced value-added tax.

DIFFICULT TIMES

A committee has been formed to study all financial benefits paid to public sector employees and contractors, and will submit recommendations within 30 days, the statement said.

In late 2015, when oil prices fell from record highs, the kingdom slashed lavish bonuses, overtime payments and other benefits once considered routine perks in the public sector.

In a country without elections and with political legitimacy resting partly on distribution of oil revenue, the ability of citizens to adapt to such reforms is crucial for stability.

"Tripling the VAT will test the limits of the balance between revenues and consumption as the economy dives into a deep recession. The move will impact consumption and could also lower the expected revenues," said John Sfakianakis, a Gulf expert at the University of Cambridge.

"These are pro-austerity and pro-revenue moves rather than pro-growth ones," he said.

Hasnain Malik, head of equity strategy at Tellimer, said the VAT rise could bring about $24-$26.5 billion in additional non-oil fiscal revenue. The rise would hit consumer spending further but was a needed step towards fiscal sustainability, he said.