Saudi Arabian authorities have executed two Ethiopians, a Pakistani and a Saudi, bringing the number of executions carried out in the conservative kingdom so far this year to at least 100. The four executions were carried out by beheading.

Human rights activists have condemned what they called "a campaign of death" in the conservative kingdom.

Two Ethiopian expatriates were put to death in the south-western city of Jizan on charges of murdering a compatriot, according to the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry.

A Saudi citizen was also beheaded in Jizan for shooting dead another Saudi during a quarrel, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani man was executed in the western city of Jeddah after he was convicted of trying to smuggle drugs into Saudi Arabia.

"Saudi authorities have been on a campaign of death this year," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director of Human Rights Watch, said in June when the number of executions had already exceeded last year's total.

The kingdom has repeatedly rejected calls to end the death penalty, arguing that the punishment is aimed at deterring potential offenders. Human rights activists raised concerns about the fairness of trials in Saudi Arabia.

Under the country's strict Islamic sharia legal code, crimes such as murder, armed robbery, rape and drug trafficking are punishable by death.

Mangaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi always tried to extend his friendship to his counterpart sitting in Islamabad. Right from the time he took the oath as Prime minister to greetings on Eid, PM Modi was the first to wish the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

But the rift between two countries still exists due to border issue and cross border terrorism. Pakistan used blame India for everything that happens in the border.  But it has always encouraged terrorism by indirectly supporting the terrorist groups. Aquital of most wanted terrorist  Zaki Ur Rehman Lakhvi is an apt example for this.

But what is making rounds in social media as seen in Dainik Bharatfb.co/DainikBharatoffcial right now is a shocking piece of hatred from Pakistani man challenging Prime Minister and Indian Army. The five minute or so clippings making rounds in WhatsApp shows a man sitting in Saudi Arabia and abusing our PM Modi and Indian Army.

The man turned red faced with fury says if PM Modi or Our army dare to touch Pakistan he will come to the border and fight against our army.

The person mentions the 1999 war and abuses Indian army and says Pakistan army with several lakh soldiers is enough to take on Indian army which has crores of soldiers.

This is a matter of country’s pride, it’s not about one party it’s about our Prime Mnister and our army. The cyber cell has to take strict action to find the man who is making all these nonsense videos and spreading it in online social medias.  

Prime minister Modi has always been keen to join hands with Pakistan as a friend but some people in Pakistan don’t want this to happen, the reason is unknown. The latest video is just a sample of that.

RIYADH – Four new electronic services are to be introduced by the Passports Department (Jawazat), including changing the residence permit for expatriates by launching a new card under the name “resident identity card” with new features.

It has also been made compulsory for those who benefit from the Jawazat services to have a mail box “Wassil” so as the department can provide the services to their homes. The service will begin at the start of the Hijri year (October).

At the beginning of Dhul Qi’dah, the Passports Department will stop all companies and establishments' officials from visiting its offices, as the services will be provided electronically and the identity cards of the workers will be delivered to the locations of the companies and establishments via the mail.

The Passports Department also said any worker who leaves the Kingdom on an exit/re-entry visa and does not return to the Kingdom during the specified period of the exit/re-entry visa would not be able to enter the Kingdom for three years. The authorities have started implementing these measures.

Col. Khaled Al-Saikhan, assistant director general of passports for technological affairs, announced in a press conference Thursday that ‘resident identity card’ is a card that would be valid for five years to prove the identity of the expatriate in a particular field.

It bears the name and number of the expatriate, date of birth, occupation, nationality and work permit number (if available), religion and employer. The resident identity card will be renewed electronically annually.

Al-Saikhan said there are two changes in the resident identity card. First is the general appearance and change of the card’s name from ‘residence permit’ to ‘resident identity card’ and the second is the nonexistence of the date on which the identity card ends.

This identity card will be issued for the first time after testing it out electronically on the online electronic services either on ‘Abshir’ or ‘Muqeem’. This card is meant to show the holder’s sponsor, occupation and it has no date of expiry. It can be renewed online annually through the employer.

Al-Saikhan said the reason for launching the ‘resident’s identity card’ is to provide a better service for the beneficiary without the conventional visits to the offices, updating of postal addresses, achieving the principle of e-government, curtailing consumption of materials in the printing of residence permits (iqamas), tightening control through electronic work, establishing the concept of central printing and providing a better service without visiting the Jawazat.

He said the identity card would be issued as a first stage for companies and establishments on 1/1/1437H (Oct. 14, 2015).

The reason is the existence of a tight link-up with the Ministry of Labor. The date of expiry of the iqama and the status of the expatriate can be determined by inquiring through SMS services and verifying the validity of the iqama in the system using the answering system via telephone, through “Raqeeb” system, Ministry of Interior website, through “Yaqeen” system for banks and rent-a-car offices and SMS messages via the mobile telephone.

Riyadh 11 June, 2015: Karavali Welfare Association Riyadh (KWAR) conducted its 8th Annual General Body Meeting on 11th June 2015, was held at ‘Al FakhraIsthrah’ in Riyadh.  Even though most parents were busy with their ward’s examinations, they managed to participate and grace the occasion.  The meeting started around 11 pm after a delicious dinner served to the invitees/members. Mr. Mahesh Hegde, one of the active members of KWAR welcomed the guests and the president Shri Rajesh Kumar, Vice-President Shri Santhosh Shetty, Gen.Secretary  Mr.Nazeer Ahmed, and Treasurer Mr Shashidhar Haridas. Mr. Rajesh Kumar in his key note opening speech stressed the need for unity of KWAR and thanked all the Office Bearers, Executive members, members of the organization and well-wishers who supported him during his reign as 7th President of KWAR.

An illustrated presentation was followed by KWAR’s Gen. Secretary Mr. Nazeer Ahmed who briefed the audience about the KWAR Programs, Achievements and Charity works during the period 2014-2015, which was well appreciated by the crowd.  Mr. Shashidhar Haridas, who had a great stint as Treasurer of KWAR gave a brief information regarding financial statements, which reflected all the positive financial aspects of KWAR as a successful organization.

Then the core issue of the day began with the outgoing President, dissolving all the Committees and Sub-Committees, a specially appointed Election Committee represented by Shri Ramesh Shetty (KWAR Ex-President) and Shri Jagadish Shetty (BARSA President) were given the task of conducting the election procedure and to elect the new President, Vice president and all the other important portfolios of KWAR Executive committee.

The election commissioners gave every member a chance to represent himself and the overwhelming enthusiasm shown by members justified the elected member’s love for KWAR as well as upholding the UNITY of KWAR. Apparently, the election Commissioners had the pleasure of announcing the unanimous re-election of President Shri Rajesh Kumar, Vice-president Shri Santosh Shetty, Treasurer Shashidhar Haridas, Joint Treasurer Mr.Alfred Menezes, newly elected Gen. Secretary Mr. Nelson D’souza and Joint Secretary Mr. Mohammed Nauman as well as other office bearers of KWAR TEAM 2015-2016. 

Host of the program, Mr Mahesh Hegde thanked both the election commissioners for a great job ensuring the supreme theme of Unity among KWAR members.

Newly re-elected KWAR Vice-president Mr. Santhosh Shetty thanked all the members as well as members of Women’s Wing and assured them support in their future activities. He also extended his greetings to  all the members for being present during Annual General Body meeting of KWAR.

The meeting ended with the recitation of national anthem.

The new Committee had its first opportunity to help a family of deceased Mr.  David Monteiro. Late Mr. Monteiro who was working as an electrician in wedding hall in Buraidah, met with a road accident recently. He came to Saudi Arabia just a year ago, leaving his wife and mother behind in home town. Looking in to the severity of the case, KWAR decided to help with Rs. 25,000/- as an immediate assistance to his family back in Mangalore and promised to raise more funds in the coming days.

Karavali Welfare Association Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (KWAR) is a non-profit voluntary organization formed with broad objective of doing far-reaching social and community services respecting the human values without any barrier and prejudice, with great regards to the laws of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to cherish the democratic values of India and rich culture of Karnataka. Established in the year 2008 for the purpose of uniting all Karavali people living in Riyadh, has done tremendous work in the fields of community welfare and charity and won many accolades within a short period from its inception.

Office Bearers of KWAR for 2015-16:

Rajesh Kumar – President, Santhosh Shetty – Vice-President, Nelson D’Souza – Gen. Secretary, Mohammed Nauman – Jt. Secretary, Shashidar Haridas – Treasurer, Alfred Menezes – Jt. Treasurer, Mahesh Hegde – Auditor, P.M. Bhasker – Cultural Secretary, YahirajMalpe – Jt. Cultural Secretary, Deepak Shetty – Jt. Cultural Secretary, JayakarPoojary – Sports Secretary, BhaskerSalian –Jt. Sports Secretary, Prasanna Rao – PRO, Victor Menezes – PRO, Sathish Amin – Coordinator, Ramesh Shetty – Advisor.

Executive Committee Members: G.K. Shaik, Abdul Gafoor, Suresh Suvarna, Rajesh Rao, Nazeer Ahmed, JagannathKotian, Umesh Shetty, Muzaffer Ali, Prashanth Shetty, Dlip Kumar, Rafi Ali, Varun Shetty, Salman Noor, Abdulaziz Karkala, Iqbal Thanzeemi, Kumar Shivaligappa, SrikanthHejmady, ChethanKaiwar, Anup Shetty, Ashwath Rai, Suhas Kamath, and Jagadish Salian

 

Dammam Cricket association’s 30th Annual Prize distribution ceremony was held at Crystal Mall Dammam on Friday 22nd May 2015 at 06:00pm.  All the team members and merited players attended the grand function. The function started with the recitation of the Holy Qur'an.

DCA President – Ashok Patel addressed the gathering and presented the annual report for the year 2014-2015. Ashok,  Thanked our main sponsors like; Mr. Mohammed Haneef Patel , Mr. Mohammed Yonus Malik , Mr. Zia Malik of Al Anwaar Modern Company(AAMCO)- al Khoabr , Mr. Nazeer Hussain from Al Falah Jubail, Mr. Wael Abu ali from Al Mitwalli steel company, Dammam,  Mr. Sohail Abbasi of Al Huwais General Trading Est – Dammam, Mr. Javid & Mr. Ismail from Al Jazeera Ambitions Factory Company – Dammam, Mr. Mohammed Hakeem – of Al Kabeer, Mr. Madhav Amin,of M.M, Amin Est, Dammam,  Mr. Imran Karkala of Eastern Arabia Al Khobar, Mr. Ibrahim Hussain of Raqwani Trade Al Khobar, Mr. Haroon Khot from Al Barrak shipping,  Mr. Dayanand Shriyan of GIMA, Dammam, Mr. Sheikh from Expertise Jubail, Mr. Vincent saldana from al zamil dammam, and many more for their constant support and services to DCA throughout the season.

Ashok also, thanks our patrons: Mr. Charly of PC Cargo and Mr. Nazir Kazi from ABT Senddex, for their useful guidance and suggestion to DCA.

The prizes to team winners and meritorious players of the respective tournaments conducted by DCA for the year 2014- 2015 were awarded.

Last year DCA managed with 4 tournaments and winners / runners will be stated below:

 1. AL FALAH TROPHY( 10 Over Knockout )
 
Winners; BLUE STARS – DAMMAM
Runners up – CBC – Cricketers
Man of the Tournament: HYDER ALI of Blue Stars

 2. AL KABEER TROPHY ( 10 Over Knockout)
 
Winners: AL FALAH – JUBAIL 
Runners up –BLUE STARS – DAMMAM
Man of the Tournament – ISRAR – Al Falah

 3. AL HUWAIS TROPHY: ( 8 a side 7 Over Knockout)
 
Winners ; BLUE STARS – DAMMAM
Runners up : KCC KNIGHT – DAMMAM  
Man of the Tournament – IQBAL - Blue Stars

 4. DCA – AAMCO Champions Trophy: ( 15 Over League )
 
Winners: AL FALAH – JUBAIL
Runners up ; KHOBAR UNITED
Man of the Tournament –SAJID – Al- Falah  

 DCA awarded the following players  for their remarkable performances for the season 2014- 2015.:

 Best Captain         : DILDAR – of Khobar United
 Best all rounder    : HYDER ALI – of Blue Stars – Dammam
 Player of DCA -     : NISAR AHMED – of Al Falah – Jubail

 DCA,  honored organizing committee members, and game official with mementos for providing excellent support during the tenure of Cricket Tournaments played during the last year.

Indian school child artists given entertaining dance / song performance which was applauded and arranged by Kudla Adventure Group Dammam.

 Chief Guest: Mr. Ravi karkera – Ex President of MASA, Mansour ali ahmed- Ex- President JF Dam Unit, Mr. Thoukeer from Al Anwaar,   in their brief speech,   appreciated DCA organized committee for their efforts for managing such a big events of Cricket Tournaments in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia and promoting the Game of Cricket.

 Concluding ceremony Mohammed Haneef Patel, Mr. Mohammed Yonus Malik, awarded DCA –Aamco champions Trophy to Winner and Runners up teams.  DCA President Mr. Ashok patel - presented mementos to all the sponsors, Co-sponsors and invitee gusts, without whom the tournaments will not be successes.  Asok, thanks to the owner of Crystal Mall Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Qahthani.

 DCA - Vice President Mr. Rajgopal, Treasurer – Mr. Ehethesham, Joint Secretary – Mr. Ummer Ahmed, Joint Treasurer – Mr. Zia Malik and Umpire incharge – Mr. Mohammed Iqbal, Mr. Sathish Kumar Bajal from  Kudla Adventures & MASA,  KCL President Mr. Mohammed Soofi, Mr. Ihsan Malik, Al Anwaar, Mr. Mansour from Khobar United, Mr. Sagar Kumar from Sea & Say Web Site, and DCA Organizing Members were also present on this grand function

 At the end vice president Mustaq Ahmed expressed vote of thanks to the guests, sponsors, and All DCA represented teams, and also, expressed his gratitude on behalf of DCA for their support and sponsorship during the year 2014/15.

Program was compared by Javed Sayyed, & Mohammed Siraj. After the function dinner served. Audients enjoyed the function with lot of fun, games and fabulous prizes.

RIYADH (Saudi Arabia): A blast ripped through a Shia mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia on Friday, authorities said, in what an activist said was a deadly suicide bombing.

The kingdom's Eastern Province has been hit by previous attempts by Sunni extremists to foment sectarian tensions with its large Shia community, including a deadly shooting in November.

The interior ministry said a large explosion hit the mosque in Kudeih in Shia-majority Qatif district during the main weekly prayers.

An activist said at least four worshippers were killed and others wounded, and news websites in eastern Saudi Arabia posted photographs of bodies lying in pools of blood.

Qatif hospital issued an urgent call for blood donations after the attack and called in off-duty staff to cope with the high number of casualties, the activist said.

An interior ministry spokesman said an investigation has been opened and more details of the explosion would follow.

Saudi police have made a string of arrests in recent months of Sunni extremists suspected of plotting attacks aimed at stirring sectarian unrest in confessionally divided Eastern Province.

Most of Saudi Arabia's minority Shias live in the east, where they have long complained of marginalization in the Sunni-dominated kingdom.

Last November, gunmen killed seven Shias, including children, in the eastern town of Al-Dalwa during the commemoration of Ashura, one of the holiest occasions of their faith.

Four men carried out the attack after killing a man from a neighbouring village and stealing his car to use in the shootings, the interior ministry said.

Last month, the interior ministry said it had dismantled a 65-strong cell with suspected links to the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria that was implicated in a plot to "incite sectarian sedition" through similar attacks.

Since 2011, protests and sporadic attacks on security forces have occurred in Shia areas, leaving about 20 Shia youths dead.
 
 

Saudi Gazette report — The Kingdom will witness as many as 57 summer festivals during this year and they are expected to draw over 11 million visitors, according to Prince Sultan Bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA).

Inaugurating this year’s summer festivals at King Abdullah Park here on Thursday evening, he said that the festivals are expected to generate revenues worth over SR11 billion and create temporary jobs for 5,500 Saudis.

They will showcase the cultural and heritage features of various cities and regions. The launching ceremony was attended by Fahd Bin Abdulaziz Bin Muammar, governor of Taif, and several other officials. Several cultural and recreational programs were held on the occasion.

Prince Sultan said that picking Taif as the venue for launching this year’s summer festivals demonstrated the importance given by SCTA to this major tourist destination.

He said that the festivals would focus on promoting domestic tourism by highlighting the tourist destinations and attractions in each region of the Kingdom.

“We focus on giving an integrated tourism package to the citizens to enjoy the beauty of their country, create maximum job opportunities for them and generate more revenue for the regions,” he said.

Almost all cities and regions across the Kingdom are going to witness a wide variety of social, cultural, recreational, heritage, desert, shopping and sports events and activities as part of the festivals.

The festivals will present a unique and excellent opportunity to promote domestic tourism by unveiling the Kingdom’s diverse tourism potential in front of Saudi society as well as those from outside the Kingdom.

Taif is hosting four festivals consisting of the Taif Sweet Festival, Honey Festival, Fruit Festival and Souk Okaz. Riyadh Province and the Eastern Province will witness four major festivals each.
 
 

RIYADH — Bangladeshi domestic workers will arrive in the Kingdom next month.

Ghulam Masseh, the Bangladeshi ambassador to the Kingdom, said the first batch of domestic help is expected to arrive in the Kingdom within one month. Speaking to Al-Madinah daily, he said the Bangladeshi embassy has been receiving as many as 17,000 queries a week about the date of arrival of Bangladeshis laborers, who will work in the contracting and construction sectors.

The Ministry of Labor started receiving applications to issue visas for Bangladeshi domestic workers from April 20. According to the ministry, Saudis who want to hire housemaids can choose any of the 337 licensed recruitment firms, which will facilitate the hiring process with their counterparts in Bangladesh. The costs, visa validity and other details are available on the ministry’s Musaned electronic portal.