Riyadh: A Saudi Prince will donate his entire $32 billion (£20bn) fortune to charity as part of a pledge modelled on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced his intention to donate the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes in a press conference on Wednesday.

Speaking in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Prince Alwaleed said his vast wealth would go towards promoting health, eradicating diseases, providing electric to villages, building orphanages, providing disaster relief and empowering women through his foundation, Alwaleed Philanthropies.

"The philanthropic pledge will help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief and create a more tolerant and accepting world,” his statement said.

"Philanthropy is a personal responsibility, which I embarked upon more than three decades ago and is an intrinsic part of my Islamic faith. With this pledge, I am honoring my life-long commitment to what matters most - helping to build a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable world for generations to come.”

The Prince will continue to retain his publicly-listed investment business, Kingdom Holding. He stressed that there was no deadline for donating all of the funds.

Riyadh: Karavali Welfare Association Riyadh celebrated ‘Karavali Parba’ on April 23. The function was inaugurated by lighting up the lamp. President Rajesh Kumar VP Santhosh Shetty, Chief Secretary Nazeer Ahmad, Founder Vijay Rai, Ramesh Shetty, Rostan Prabhu, and Parvez Ali were present.

Photo session of executive committee and women’s wing took place. Later exquisite lunch was facilitated to all. President Rajesh Kumar did the inaugural speech and guests were welcomed with a cordial speech. Miss. Ankita Rao performed Bharatnatyam and the audience were mesmerized at the end of the show. Shrikanti Hejmadi entered the stage in a disguise as Mahatma Ghandi. The Karavaili background theme was immense.

Later Tulunada Vaibhava program depicted the culture and heritage of the Tuluva’s.

Santhosh Shetty, Smt. Lekha, Rajeev Kamat and others entertained the audiences’ with folk, Hindi and Kannada film songs.

Ek Anek program depicted to show unity in strength was shown beautifully by youths of the organization.

Founder president Veena Rai and Vijay Rai were felicitated in the event. The couples who are hailing to India to spend rest of their life were given voyage at the moment.

Zayeem’s choreography was good enough to entertain the audience that one person gave cash prize to the team danced on the beat for Indiawale song.

Hucchu skit came out nicely in Nagaraj Bajal’s direction. Jet Airways, Air India, Fly Dubai, Mahindra Holidays and Malbar gold has sponsored lucky draw.

Various people were felicitated to for their immense service in their respective fields. All those who worked for the success of the program were acknowledged. The function was concluded with the National Anthem at 4 o’clock in the morning.

 

Riyadh: KWAR (Karavali welfare association Riyadh) conducted their AnnualPremium Sports Event on Friday the 6th Feb, 2015. This year for a change KWAR adopted to conduct Traditional Karavali Games Such as Lagori, Kabaddi, Coconut game, Kutti-Donne, breaking the pot, Bicycle Tyre relay, Tug of War, along with Shot Put, and other fun games. Enthusiastic SportsLovers of KWAR members gathered in Good numbers to Support and Participate in the Premium Sporting Event.

 The event gathered momentum as soon as KWAR President Mr. Rajesh Kumar set the Game open with his Inaugural Speech. Teams were divided in to 4 Groups to compete in all the Games. The following Teams were participated

1. The Yellow Saffron Lead by Mr. Deepak Shetty
2. The Red Chilies Lead by Muzaffer Ali
3. The Green Brigade Lead by Mr. Ramesh Shetty
4. The Blue Berries Lead by Mr. Yathiraj Malpe

 Each Team fought with Great Team Spirit in all the events. It was a real treat to watch the traditional Coconut game in which a total number of 40 members participated.The ultimate Winner of this game was The Green Brigade and The Yellow Saffron managed to sneak the 2nd position.

 The real attraction was the Bicycle tyre Relay which really brought back everyone’s childhood memory to the fore. The hard fought competition won by the Aggressive “Red Chilies” and the Green Brigades were not too far behind as they managed  to get the runners up spot.

 The Game of Lagori was a thrilling event fought between all the four Rival teams but the ultimate Gold winners were undoubtedly the Green Brigade with the ever Enthusiastic Red Chilies bagging the silver crown.

 The crowd was at its feet when the game of Kabaddi played between the two strong Teams the Red Chillies & the Green Brigade, Both fought with great spirit, and it was a tough task for Referee Mr. Chandra to control the aggressiveness of both the teams in this keenly contested game. The Team crown was won by The Green Brigade and The Red Chilies were the second Best.

 Another Crowd enthralling game of Tug of war was the master stroke of the day. It was a game Which was fought until last breath as the crowds got their times worth. Even though the BlueBerries tried all the tricks in the book, the ultimate winners were the 7 strong men fromThe Green Brigade.

 In the final team event The Blue berries managed to win the Fun game of Circling the Cone,with The Red chilies managing to overcome a few lapses to win the second position.

 Individual Games for the Team members were well participated by all the teams with the major attraction of these individual game were the Kutti-Donne,Breaking the Pot and Shot-Putt.

 In the Kutti-Donne Event Mr. Jagdish Shetty won the first prize breaking the heart of many a contestants but surely the second placed Mr. Deepak Shetty. It was a real Thriller for the Cheering Crowds and supporters of all the four teams.

 In the Shot-putt event, Mr. Ashraf of The green Brigade won the Gold, Mr. Suraj Shetty of The green Brigade won the 2nd and third position won by Mr. Nagaraj Bajal.

 The Last of Individual event, and one of the Major attraction of the Traditional Sports Day was the Pot Breaking Competition. Mr. Aziz Ahmed of Red Chillies won the Gold and Mr. Suraj Shetty of The Green Brigade won the Silver.

 Over all Champions were well deserved “The Green Brigade” lead by Mr Ramesh Shetty and the Runners Up who fought neck and neck  were The Red Chillies.The Man of the Sports Day was Mr. Ashraf of The Green Brigades and the Runner up Mr. Nagaraj Bajal , Both were the Key players in their respective Teams.

 All the winners were Facilitated with medals and Trophies, by KWAR President Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Vice President Mr. Santhosh Shetty, Gen. Secretary Mr. Nazeer Ahmed, and other members ofKWAR managing Committee. Also honored were the members of KWAR Food Stall led by Mr. Bhasker Salian who did a commendable job.

 KWAR Cultural Secretary Mr. P.M.Bhasker thanked Sponsors “C2K Springs”, Mazola, Individual donors and all the members who worked overnight for the success of this Premium KWAR SportsEvent. He also thanked all the members who were responsible for the grand success of KWAR sporting Event, specially the Sports Secretaries, Mr. Sathish Amin, Mr. Umesh Shetty & Mr. Prashanth Shetty, and their team of volunteers.The Daylong event ended by 7 pm with the recitation of National Anthem.

 Meanwhile, Karavali Ladies Wing held it’s Sports Day exclusively for women and children.Mrs. Anita Eric Dsa, Sports Secretary, welcomed the members and guests to the event. Vice President, Mrs. Amitha Prabhu, along with office bearers Mrs. Anita Eric Dsa-Sports Secretary, Mrs. Nazia Nazeer-Gen. Secretary, Mrs. Rajeshwari Yathiraj-Treasurer, Mrs. Rithika Rajeev Kamath-Cultural Secretary, Mrs. ShagufthaNauman, Cultural Secretary and Mrs. Smitha Shashidar Haridas-Coordinator, lit the traditional lamp and spoke a few words.

After the formal ceremony it was time for fun in the Sun and the cool breeze energized the day’s proceedings.

Children were on their toes with plenty of games such as Lemon and Spoon race, Kangaroo race, Aiming the ball into the bucket, Fetching the balls, Balloon chasing and many more.

After lunch it was Ladies afternoon. 4 color teams were formed and respective teams grouped and marched ‘Olympic Style’, with their color flags as part of the inaugural ceremony led by their Captain.

Games were conducted by Amitha Prabhu and Anita Eric Dsa. Teams competed with each other with burst of energy and enthusiasm. It was a spirited display of team work and talent. Besides the 1st, 2nd and 3rd winners, consolation prizes were awarded to the 4th team as well.

Many indoor and spot games were also organized for all the children and ladies. The day ended well past sunset and it could be seen from the smiling and cheerful faces that this day will be remembered for a long time.

The Ladies wing is grateful to Mr.  & Mrs. Rajeshwari Yathiraj Malpe and family for their kind and generous contribution towards prizes and gifts for Ladies and Children. Special thanks to McDonalds for sponsoring meal coupons and Mr. Eric Dsa and team for setting up the venue.

Riyadh : Riyadh’s prestigious cricket Trophy of the year “Karavali Cricket Trophy 2014” has won by “Uchila Friends”, they won the final against last year’s Champion “Raigad Kings Aftab” ,beating them comfortably with 2.5 overs to spare. They won an attractive Trophy with a Cash Prize. “Raigad KingsAftab” managed to score only 72 Runs in 10 overs, Uchila never allowed them to take-off by taking wickets at every interval and later chasing out easily.

KWAR Cricket tournament started on 12 December 2014 with 20 teams fighting for this Trophy in a knock-out format.

Group 1:  AL JAZEERAH, RAISCO FRIENDS, ARROWS CRICKET TEAM, NEW STAR, UNION GUYS AZIZIA, LULU CRICKET TEAM, SCFC, SEVEN STAR, UCHILA FRIENDS and EAGLE RIYADH.

Group B: BMR BADIAH, CLASSIC FRIENDS PUTTUR (CFP), UNITED ULLAL, HANA CRICKET TEAM, LAGAAN UDUPI , X1 STAR KARKALA, RTCC, RAIGAD KINGS AFTAB (RKA), SALUMCO XI and  STAR CRICKET CLUB(SCC).

Last year’s Runner up “Seven Stars” failed to progress from 2nd round onwards, many strong teams failed to impress either. However, “Uchila Friends” were cruising nicely throughout the tournament, their famous win was in the first round match against “Eagle Riyadh” and in the Semi-finals they won the match with ‘last ball’ Sixer. 

In the Final, Man of the Match prize won by Mr. Rauf Uchila, who with his brilliant batting display made sure” Uchila Friends” crossed the line comfortably. Player of the Tournament &  Best batsman Title won by Mr. Hussain of Uchila Friends, who was presented with a Trophy and Cash Prize, his consistence All-round performance won him both the prizes. United Ullal and “Al Jazeerah” fought for the 3rd & 4th place match, United Ullal prevailed over Al Jazeerah by beating them with 5 wickets. 

The main attraction of this chilly morning was traditional breakfast “Sajjige-Bajil” served in banana leaves.  “Nadec” Company provided the crowd with free Juice packets. Mr. Umesh shetty entertained the crowd with running commentary. A lovely Friday morning welcomed the Cricket fans who flocked the ground to watch the finals.

Prize distribution ceremony conducted on the Ground and Mr. Parvez Ali compered the whole program. KWAR president Mr. Rajesh Kumar addressed the crowd and thanked all the participating teams for their support to KWAR. Guest of the day was Mr. Mohan Nethrakere, Warehouse Manager of Nadec Company. KWAR Ex-President Mr. Royston Prabhu, Gen. Secretary Mr. Nazeer Ahmed, Sports Secretaries Mr. Sathish Amin, Mr. Umesh Shetty and Mr. Prashath Shetty presided over the Dais. ABC Cargo Riyadh was the main Sponsor of this tournament. 

Many prizes were up for the grab, Best Wicket Keeper, Fair Play Award, Best Bowler, Best Batsman etc. There were prizesalso for luckiest Spectator and Special KWAR Volunteer award.

List of Prizes:

 
Felicitations:
Umpires:  Jaya Shetty, Abdul Khader, Abdul Aziz BK, Symonds, Prashanth, BhaskerSalian&Umesh Shetty

Scorers:  Gopi, &SohanKotian                                                                                                    

Ground Curators:  ShamsuddinBailur&Shammy

 
Special Prizes

 
KWAR is a non-profit social organization established in Riyadh in the year 2008 with the aim of doing socio-community services for the welfare of the people in the Kingdom and back at home of twin districts, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. It has been successful in reaching out to help and address the grievances of the people in their needs. KWAR is conducting various cultural, sports and charity events throughout the year. This year KWAR they have already conducted successful events like “Karavali Annual Event” and “Food Festival”. For the year 2015, KWAR has planned many events like “Sports Day”, Mega Event of the year  “KaravaliParba 2015”, Food Festival, Cricket Tournament etc.

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Riyadh: An Indian housemaid who has not been paid for six years by her employer in Riyadh is still awaiting her salary in arrears and a final exit home. Shamsumma, a native from Kollam district in the south Indian state of Kerala, was brought to the Kingdom about six years ago by a recruitment agency in Umm Al-Hammam area, and was later handed over to a Saudi family as a domestic help.

According to Shamsumma, the recruitment agency fixed her monthly wage at SR900 but this was cut down to SR700. She said that she received payments for four months only and later the employer refused to pay any more wages.

“I was paid for only four months and then suddenly they stopped paying my monthly wage,” she said. She also said that she wasn’t allowed to speak to or contact anyone. However, two months earlier, she managed to get in touch with a compatriot, a native from Kerala named Jamal who works in Riyadh and he advised her to call her family back home to send a request to the Indian Embassy to lodge a formal complaint.

“My family followed Jamal’s advice and with the help of the Riyadh police, the Indian Embassy succeeded in tracing my whereabouts,” Shamsumma said. Speaking to Arab News, J. K. Dalapati, community welfare attache, Indian Embassy said on Sunday, “We contacted the employer and reached his place to solve the matter.” 

Dalapati said that the employer had agreed to pay SR33,000 and make the arrangements for her air ticket and final exit. He had further asked for a three-week period in order to make these arrangements, the attaché said.

He said that Shamsumma has been taken from the employer’s house and is currently staying at the government’s housemaid welfare center here. However, despite the lapse of three weeks, the employer has failed to make good on his promise, the welfare attaché said. Dalapati assured that the embassy is following up the matter and Shamsumma will soon go back home with her dues.

Suadi Arabia: If sources to be believed, an Indian origin businessman paid Rs. 4,90,000 Saudi riyal as blood money to release three persons from Kerala who were jailed in Suadi and were sentenced to death in connection with the murder case of Ashraf, native of Mangaluru.

The released persons are Fazal Iritti (35), Mustafa Khunnat (33) and M. Shakir (36). The trio had murdered Ashraf and were caught red hand by Riyadh police while they were about to throw the dead body into a drainage. The accused were arrested and were kept in Al-Her jail.

The court has ordered death sentence to the accused in May 2008. Family of the accused had met Kerala Chief minister Omman Chandy and through him they spoke to the father of Ashraf. In the beginning 2 million Saudi riyal was demanded but later deceased’s father agreed for a sum of 4,90,000 Saudi riyal. 

Riyadh: Three Indians convicted in the murder of a compatriot in May 2008 have been saved from the executioner's sword after an Indian businessman paid half a million riyals in blood money on their behalf.

The three convicts, Fasal Iritti, 35, Mustafa Kunnath, 33, and M. Shakeer, 36, from the south Indian state of Kerala were released from Al-Hair prison in Riyadh where they had been awaiting execution for the murder of Ashraf, a native of Mangalore in Karnataka, another south Indian state.

Shihab Kottukad, Riyadh coordinator of the Non-Resident Keralites’ Affairs Department, told Arab News: “All three men were released Wednesday and left for home where they reached today.”

The three had attacked Ashraf following a scuffle in which the latter was killed. They subsequently tried to hide the dead body in a nearby dumpster when they were caught red-handed by a Haia patrol. The patrol handed them over to Riyadh police.

After their murder conviction and sentencing, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was approached by their families who made an appeal to save their lives. They also sought the assistance of the Indian Embassy in the Kingdom and contacted the victim’s family living in Riyadh. The family agreed to pardon them in lieu of blood money.

Kottukad said the victim’s father, Abdul Qadeer, initially asked for SR2 million in blood money but eventually agreed to settle for SR490,000.

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia is a country among the most crowded with foreign laborers in the world. 

As such, one can find many different nationalities joined together, including Egyptians, Moroccans, Indians, Pakistanis, Sudanese, Filipinos and many more.

According to experts, Saudi Arabia occupies fourth position in the world as host to one of the largest foreign workforce bodies globally.

Adel Hanafi, spokesperson of the Union of Egyptians Abroad, said that in 2014, the number of Egyptian laborers in the Kingdom increased to more than two million, with many expatriate workers choosing Saudi Arabia as their destination due to its spiritual values.

Mahmoud Talaat, an Egyptian IT manager, said that working in Saudi Arabia was his first choice since it’s the place of the Two Holy Mosques. 

“In the Kingdom, I feel like I am at home, even though there are some lifestyle difference between citizens of both countries,” he added. 

Abo Mubarak, a Sudanese driver, said KSA is his home, and commented that his work atmosphere is nice and friendly, and that the money is good. He is especially happy living in the Kingdom because he can easily go to Makkah and Madinah whenever he wants to. 

For some foreign workers, Saudi is the place to be, due to good income to support their families. 

Whilst these workers come from different backgrounds, it is clear that they are all satisfied with their choices to come and work in the Kingdom, due to it’s spiritual value, good income prospects and stability which, combined, make Saudi Arabia the place to be.