Cerebral splendor marks AMPS Brain-Hunt Quiz

[email protected] (By Shameer Ahmed Kudroli (with inputs from AMPS Committee))
February 9, 2013

quiz

Dammam, Feb 9: At the 2012 London Paralympics opening, the great Stephen Hawking said - 'We live in a universe governed by rational laws that we can discover and understand. Look up at the stars, and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious".  A popular edutainment program to   create an inquisitive mindset among children and impart awareness of the brave new world is to organize quality Quiz contests. True to the spirit, this year too AMPS showcased the grandest quiz show in the Kingdom which proved to be interactive, educational and gripping.

With a reputation among the students as "the most eagerly awaited  edifying event" , the annual  "Brain Hunt World quiz" organized by Association of Malayalee Professionals in Saudi Arabia (AMPS) in Jubail attracts hundreds of talented whiz kids from Indian schools all over the Kingdom every year.

More than 300 Grade 8-12 students from International Indian School-Dammam, International Indian School-Jubail, Al-Khozama International Indian School-Dammam and Al-Yasmeen International School-Riyadh participated in the contest. "We at AMPS have always been at the forefront when it comes to organizing events fostering innate talent and creativity of children in Saudi Arabia", echoed gratifyingly Mr. VCS Nair , the president of AMPS.

The AMPS quiz competition has since 2004 become an annual spectacle for the students, teachers and quiz enthusiasts in the Eastern Province. Its organizers - all top Indian professionals working in the leading multinational companies and Saudi corporations- have won accolades for the event’s top-notch quality.

The seasoned Quizmaster of the show, dubbed as Derek O'Brien of Saudi Arabia,  was Mr. P.G.R. Nair. A distinguished Toastmaster and  Staff Process Engineer of SAFCO, he conducted the quiz  with matchless mastery. His informal style and emotional rapport with the audience never led to a lull moment. As extolled by IISJ school principal Syed  Hameed, "I  think Mr. Nair surpassed all known Quiz Masters.  I was  one of the admirers of my own student   from K.V.  IIT Madras Mr.Siddarth Basu who made Quiz popular on Indian TV during 1980 and 85s.  Now he  is  no more on my mind map.  It is PGR's inimitable style and endless endurance in handling the students that  has pleased me.

The quiz format itself comprised of eight rounds and was a good mix of all things under the universe. Sports, science, current affairs, history, literature — you name the subject and it was covered in the variety of questions posed to the contestants . The unanswered questions were passed on to the audience with attractive spot prizes for correct answers . The theme based rounds carried attractive titles such as “ Trace the Trivia”, “Know the News”, “Buzz the Buzzer”, “Spot the Sport”  and “Mind the Music”  .

The questions were imaginatively framed and spoke volume on the quality of  visualization behind it.  Some captivating questions were : Which Product uses Mexican free-tailed bat as its logo ? (Bacardi) . The 200th anniversary of the first publication of which famed classic well-known to children was celebrated in 2012? (Grimm’s fairy tales) . Which great Jazz player’s son is named after Pandit Ravi Shankar ? (John Coltrane).  Which Organization did Lance Armstrong work for  and defraud in his disgraceful journey  wearing yellow jersey? (US Postal Service) . According to the statistics provided by NASA’s  Kepler spacecraft this year,  how many earth sized planets are there in our Milky Way galaxy? (17 Billion)

The “Face the Fire” rapid fire round, adeptly conducted by the Assistant Quizmaster Krishna Kumar Raghupathy, created many ripples though the winning team from Al-Yasmin School Riyadh comprising of  Mohammed Ameen Arimbra, Micah Wilson George, Jinu Jose had consolidated their  position by the sixth round.  The runner up team represented by Mohammed Aazim Khan, Sushil Vanka, Musaiyab Ali Mirza  IISJ bounced back with vengeance after losing some points in buzzer round while the lone girl's team comprising Sheetal Reddy Kauluri, Amrita Mohanty, Nandini Singh from IISJ came third.

Earlier in the day, about 70 teams took part in the preliminary written round conducted by  Ajith Kumar during which he posed 40 objective questions to short-list eight finalists.

Mrs. Sridevi Menon , director of Al-Khosama Schools addressed the afternoon gathering and distributed winners of 2012 Green Initiatives contests organized as part of World Environmental day. She also released the house magazine "AMPS Insight" . Mr. Pascal Grante, General Manager of MASA was the chief Guest and he lauded AMPS for its profound professionalism exhibited during the entire event.

A highly structured stage set-up and state-of-the-art quiz devices arranged by Krishna Das, V.C. Nair, Murali Krishnan, Syam Shankar, Satish Chandra Kurup and Babu Sebastian added color and oomph to the show. A unique Quiz template designed by Dr. Kamaruddin with an attractive brain-hunt logo looked riveting on the screen.  Registration Coordinator Satheesan KR and AMPS Vice-President Sakkir Hussain and his team managed the registration of more than 300 students and Indian community members.

Many prominent Indians attended the quiz including  IISJ Principal Dr. Syed Hameed , Al-Khozama School principal  Dr. Ravi Kumar and India Forum founder Waheed Lateef.

At the beginning the quiz , Manaoj Variath paid  a befitting homage to the late legendary Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. The quiz contest operations were engineered by Luqman Ummer, Vijay Shinde, Dr. Kamaruddin and  Murali Krishnan.

Mrs. Jalaja Menon and Mrs. Reena Sudheer anchored the event with panache.The secretary Prince Varghese proposed vote of thanks and the event concluded with the National Anthem.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 20,2020

Jeddah: Indian Pilgrims Welfare Forum (IPWF) under the patronage of consulate General of India Jeddah related to welfare activities connected to Indian hajj pilgrims in particular and welfare functions of Indian community at large, organized Quran recitation competition for Indian students of age 10 to 14 residing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Grand Finale was conducted Live online via Zoom virtual conference on Friday 15th May 2020 at 14:45 Hrs.

The Consul General Of India, Jeddah and Vice Patron IPWF, H.E.Mr. Md. Noor Rahman Shiekh graced the Grand Finale as honorable Chief Guest. The HOC, Consul Hajj and Director IPWF - Mr. Y Sabir attended as Guest of Honor, while the ever-exuberant President of the forum Mr. Ayyub Hakeem lead the event. A large number of Indian dignitaries and media personnel also joined this live event.

Judges panel included three experienced youths. First judge was the Prominent Hafiz and one of the best Qaris of his calibre, Hafiz Ismail Yahya Bilal, well educated in Qirat from Umm Al Qura University Makkah and currently persuing Masters. He also holds many honors and accolades from various international competitions and appreciations from Imaams of Haramain. The other judge, Hafiz Abdullah A.Mateen Usmani, first position winner, a record for being youngest Indian to win Jeddah Quran competition 2018 under patronage of Jeddah Governor.  Hafiz Farhan Abdur Rab, was the third judge, an Engineer by profession, as well as current Treasurer at IPWF.

Winners; Humeirah Masood Kazi and Furqan Mohammed Vasi Ahmed won Gold position. Maryam Jaffar and Adil Abdul Rasheed ranked Silver while Khatija Ehtesham Ali and Nadeem Noorisha ranked Bronze. Consolation prizes were given to Aamina Mustafa and Mohammed Ahsan Ali. The event was organized to encourage and boost the ambitions of young generation and inspring them to bring out their best in Quran Recitation

While speaking at the event Chief Guest H.E.Mr. Md.Noor Rahman Sheikh appreciated the social works of IPWF for Indian Community, praised the brilliant performance of students, He said it gives us great pleasure seeing that all participants, Judges and Jury members are Indians, he said the recitation of the children was fantabulous, and congratulated to the winners and participants. Chief Guest further said President Ayyub Hakeem and his IPWF Team deserves to be appreciated for their relentless efforts for this Noble cause, even in this period when the world is observing lockdown.

HOC, Consul Hajj Mr. Y Sabir appreciated IPWF team for organizing this virtual competition, he said it’s really amazing that 111 students registered to participate for the contest, he appreciated the hard work of children and efforts of parents for preparing their children.

Mr. Hakeem welcomed all and informed that this competition received overwhelming response from Indian community locally and internationally in short time since its launch was just couple of days earlier. Which compliments events Objective to encourage children “mainly Indians residing in Saudi Arabia” especially during the month of Quran “Ramadan” and lockdown period #COVID-19. 

40 contestants made it to the Semifinals, and 15 Students reached the Grand Finale, 2 young children were given consolation for their enthusiastic recitation. 

The President also appreciated his IPWF Team for unwavering support in preparation of this event.  He thanked the Chief Guest, HE Mr. Md. Noor Rahman Sheikh and Guest of Honor Mr. Y Sabir for gracing this glorious competition. He Thanked the audience and announced that all contestants will be awarded appreciation “digital certificate’

Syed Nasir Khursheed anchored the program, and entertained with beautiful Urdu couplets. Farhan Abdur Rab and Abdul Rahman Poyakkara conducted the contest flawlessly on time. Farhan, concluded the event with Vote of Thanks and soleful dua.

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Media Release
March 2,2020

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.

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Media Release
March 15,2020

Markaz Al Madeena Association, Eastern province, conducted JALS-E-UCHILA get together program at Dammam, Saudi Arabia on March 5,2020 on account of celebrating 28 years of social service dedicated by the organization.

The event chairman Noushad Uchil inaugurated the function. The organization president presided the program and delivered talk about the intention of the organization. Hashim Uchil has intorduced the social and academic contribution of the organization of past 28 years. Jamal Uchil welcomed the gathering and Ismail G.I. host the program.

Games, Quiz and prize distribution to the winners and senior social workers was the special attraction of the event. The planning committee of the event includes Iqbal, Farooq, Shahul Hameed, Ramza, Nabeel, Afthar, Ashraf and Shafi.

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