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Abu Dhabi: Yogish Prabhu K is the newly elected president of Abu Dhabi’s prestigious India Social & Cultural Centre (ISC) and he will serve for the period 2020-2021. ISC’s annual general body meeting and Election for 2020 were held on Thursday, February 27 and the election results of the election were announced during the early hours of Friday, February 28th morning.

In the keenly contested election, Yogish Prabhu emerged victorious. Humble origin and hailing from a small town of Karkala from Udupi district of Karnataka state has never deterred him from setting challenging goals. He belongs to a well-known Gouda Saraswat Brahmin family of K.V.Prabhu Coconut oil mill in Karkala. He is the eldest son of Late Rtn. Krishna Prabhu and Rtn. Bharati Prabhu.  His father and grandfather were freedom fighters who left a profound impression on him and their ideology “serving people is like worshiping God” (Jana seveye Janardhana seve) inspired and guided his life ever since. Prabhu has been a privilege member of ISC since 2003 and has been actively involved in ISC activities throughout. His relationship with ISC spans over 2 decades during which he has immensely contributed in many ways to ISC and the Indian community at large. A banker by profession, Yogish Prabhu is currently working as Vice President, Group Finance & Treasury, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB).

With some new initiatives in his mind, Prabhu wants to creatively improve the quality of ISC’s services, its humanitarian impact as well as the diversity of its membership. His intentions are always to help everyone irrespective of caste, creed, religion, language or status. As a new elected President of ISC, Prabhu’s main objective is to strategically plan and implement his vision through his ABC 5 Year Plan i.e.,

A-    Accountability & Transparency,

B-    Build a Sound Financial Plan and

C-    Compassion & Affection for the needy

so that ISC is recognized not just in UAE, but worldwide as a mascot of the great Indian community.

Prabhu thinks “as individuals, we can do only so much but with the support of Elected ISC Committee members and all the ISC members together, there is no limit to what we can achieve, and in the process, we can truly transform the ISC”. He proudly says, “I have a strong treasury management experience in ISC as well as in the bank which we need now more than ever”.

With his dynamic leadership, sheer dedication and ambition, ISC will definitely be scaling new heights of glory and prestige in Abu Dhabi and beyond. His humble nature, leadership qualities coupled with his rich administrative experience will surely help boost ISC’s popularity and meet its challenging goals and can serve people in a better way and contribute to the Indian community at large.

Yogish Prabhu has been married for 28years. His wife Chethana Prabhu Kasaragod too has been equally active in ISC and continuously supporting and participating in various sports, entertainment and literary committees throughout these years. She became ISC Women’s Forum Convener in 2016-2017. Their daughter, Aarti Prabhu is an IT Engineer from NITK Suratkal, working in Bangalore. Son, Ajith Prabhu finished his Masters in Mechanical Engineering and Management in Industrial Design in Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK and at present doing his internship there. Both Aarti and Ajith are alumni of Abu Dhabi Indian School and both have represented National level CBSE Badminton meet. Also, Aarti was a Gold medalist in the school for scoring 100 in Mathematics in SSLC.

Following are few of his contributions and achievements:

•          Hon. Asst. Treasurer of ISC for consecutive years from 2005 till 2007

•          Hon. Treasurer of ISC in 2011.

•          Member of Finance Committee of ISC new infrastructure and premises from approval till completion.

•          In 2016, initiated the participation of ISC members as officials for International Yoga Day organized by Indian Embassy

•          In 2017, initiated the participation of children as officials to help the organizers so that children could learn their social responsibility and become good citizens.

•          In 2012, initiated ladies throw ball tournament in ISC and now it is extended to men too.

•          Member of IPEF since its inception in 2014. Also served as its Governing board member in the same year.

•          Founder member of ‘UAE GSB group’ since its formation in 2004

•          Committee member of ‘Gandhi Sahitya Vedi’ Abu Dhabi

•                    Treasurer of Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha

•          Head of Finance and member of other committees of ‘World Tulu Convention’ held in Dubai - 2018

Election was held for other Posts too. The other office bearers elected to the present committee are:

Vice-President: George Varghese.

General Secretary: Jojo J Ambooken

Asst.Gen.Secretary: C. George Varghese

Treasurer: Shijil Kumar N K

Entertainment Secretary: Jayapradeep K P

Literary Secretary: Elias Padavetty

Sports Secretary: Freddi J. Fernandes

Secretary Southern Region: Raja Srinivasa Rao Aita

Auditor: G.N.Sasikumar

Kuwait: State of Karnataka is enriched with Daasa culture, which had contributed immensely to its literature, culture, art & philosophy. Daasa tradition in Karnataka was part of the Bhakti movement which flourished from around 15th century and it extended considerable spiritual influence over the masses. Kuwait Kannada Koota, a socio-cultural association for the people of Karnataka in Kuwait, organized its annual Daasotsava on 14th February 2020 in remembrance of these saints, thereby displaying the rich cultural heritage of the state. 

The program started with a warm welcome address by Mrs. Spoorthy Kamath, convener of cultural committee. Divine invocation prayer by Mrs. Vasantha Ashok and Mrs. Sandhya Arun set the trend for the event. This was followed by lighting of the traditional lamp by the 2020 executive committee, comprising of President Mr. Rajesh Vittal, Vice President Mr. Sandeep Chabba, General Secretary Mr. Praveen Kumar Shetty and Treasurer Mr. Pradeep Rao. President, while welcoming the gathering, spoke about the importance of Daasas in Kannada literature & history and briefed about the series of upcoming programs. Cultural programs started with fancy dress competition by Koota children comprising of all age group starting from infants to elder kids. This program stole the show as the efforts & time invested by children and their parents were clearly visible. 

2019 executive committee was felicitated by the current committee for wonderfully managing Koota affairs & programs. This was followed by the release of Koota magazine “Marala Mallige", comprising of informative articles, drawings, poems etc., entirely contributed by the association members. Event’s main attraction “Vrindavana Leelavarana", a colorful dance drama spectacularly portrayed by 54 Koota children, was very well appreciated & received by the attendees. Association children who successfully completed 10th and 12th were felicitated as a token of encouragement. Executive committee gave away prizes to Kids who excelled in the stage competitions held earlier. Audience was treated to a divine and melodious Bhajan program conducted astutely by the ladies & men. Koota women performed Bhajan Kolata, along with ladies bhajan, in a well-coordinated manner. Vote of thanks was proposed by the secretary of Koota, thanking those who contributed for the success of the event. Another attraction was a quiz competition “Rasa Prashne", conducted efficiently between the programs, by Mr. Mahesh Shiramgond. 

The whole event was planned and executed astutely by the cultural committee under the leadership of Convener, Mrs. Spoorthy Kamath. Public Relations Committee, led by Mrs. Suparna Dambal, welcomed the members in a vibrant & colorful way, showcasing a beautifully erected divine mantap. The event was sponsored by Unimoni, LIC HFL, VSPL, Geetherb, Kotak Life Insurance, Joy Alukkas, Lulu Hypermarket & Total Environment. The program ended with a sumptuous satvik lunch, sponsored by the senior Koota member, Mr. Ramachandran Seetharaman.

The Chairman of Intellectual Council Jeddah, Syed Nasir Khurshid, called for a Zoom meeting on 2nd July, 2020 to celebrate the oath taking ceremony of the D K Shiva Kumar who took over as the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. Mr Khurshid opened the meeting with a very enthusiastic and sincere note of congratulations to newly appointed president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr. D.K.Shivakumar.

The chief speaker for the evening was Saleem Khaleefa, vice Chairman of the Council, he said, for more than 4 decades, he is monitoring the politics of the Karnataka state very closely and also monitoring the role of crises management DK Shiva Kumar in the last 2 years, whether it is Rajya Sabha election of Mr. Ahmed Patel or managing the MLAs of Madhya Pradesh. He said, he is one of the best leaders of the party and the best leaders use “their brain, their heart, their soul and their guts.” And his leadership is fit in the size of all these characters. Growth is a very powerful word and fundamentally, party growth is the responsibility of the President and he can take a holistic approach to close the gap between and among the party cadres. 

Every effort is to be made to preserve the sense of unity within the party. We need to unite party base while appealing to voters. He should identify on ground challenges and find the mechanism to address them. He further pointed out that a President’s chief responsibility is to bring all the party leaders and office bearers on the same page with a Mission to bring back the congress party into power in the next assembly election. His smart strategies, road map, mechanism, booth management, better connected with the party workers, taking everyone along with him, will be a direction for the presidents of the party in other states to take party into power.

He pronounced his leadership is totally remarkable and has a track record of his very sensible leadership and he also known for his collaborative and crises management leadership style. Engr. Nasir suggested that his first task is to address the formidable challenges faced by the party and bring the Congress members together, on a very single aspect how to win the election. The party backbone and strength is gross-root workers who can play a significant role to take the party in a very strong and popular position in public. He emphasized that unity is the main strategy and ingredient to win the election, because a party divided will hurt, cannot win the election. Planning is everything and a good planning goes a long way, helping to win the election.  

All the members of the Council expressed their views and everyone is very much hopeful that he is the right person to lead the party from top.He has commanded immense respect from party workers, office bearers, all communities, groups, including opposition parties. He is a very experienced, have immense experience and hard-work leader and he is a strategist and knows the art how to motivate the party workers and unite all in a single rope.

Engr. Amjad Ali said, we are very much confident that he will re-structure from bottom to top, panchyat, taluka and district committees will be re-structured and will induct caliber and talented leaders who can understand and realize their responsibilities and accountability as head of the party at their levels with only one point how to win the coming election with thumping majority.

One of key members of the Council, Sajid Shaikh expressed joyfully that every single member of the party have confidence on the leadership of Mr. D.K Shiva Kumar and his appointment to the top position says a lot of nice things about him.  He has shown his great leadership and expert in crises management on many occasion.  The party in Karnataka is in good hands and I am sure he will sort-out all the difference between and among the party leaders and cadres, which has hurt the party in the last election and will bring all on the same page. Congress party and its workers are lucky to have such a passionate and hardworking president who is ready to work day in and day out to bring party in power in 2023 assembly election.

Prominent members of the Council, Engr. Azher Parvaiz, Engr. Abdul Wahid, Hazrat Qadri, Engr. Abdul Ameed, Saleem Khan, and Rafiuddin Kharadi commented, we looking forward his dynamic and result oriented leadership in organizing and re-shaping the party in the state, he will hold all congressmen together with a noble purpose, motivate every party worker to work with dedication so that congress can come back to power with absolute majority and he can count on our absolute support in booth management as well  suggest a few points to be included in the manifestos, running a high  successful voltage campaign highlighting the failure of the BJP government at the Center and at the state, between and among in the NRIs community across the Gulf Countries, including Europe and America. Council will do the value-based politics and will present the image of the Congress party, as the rational political party, with secular and inclusive, where people of all religions, caste, race and gender, feel wanted in the party, as its main ideology.

Syed Nasir Khurshid thanked entire team for attending the meeting he expressed his gratitude towards Vice Chairman of the council Saleem Khaleefa for speaking as chief speaker and giving updates, he said, team members are excited to meet in person with Mr. D.K. Shiva Kumar, when members visit India during their vacation.