Gulf News

Get to know Bu Tinah Island – Gulf News Community Report Dt 25.10.2011

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Get to know Bu Tinah Island – Gulf News Community Report Dt 25.10.2011

You can vote it one of the new seven wonders of nature
  • By Ramesh Menon, Gulf News Reader
  • Published: 00:00 October 25, 2011
Off the coastline of Abu Dhabi lies a unique wonder of Nature, wild and undisturbed by human activity, Bu Tinah Island. Not many people in the UAE are familiar with this natural treasure. It is now one of the 28 official finalists for the New7Wonders of Nature, a worldwide campaign where people can nominate and vote for the seven most remarkable, awe-inspiring natural locations and features on our planet.
Bu Tinah is host to critical marine habitats. Seabirds, such as the flamingo and osprey, diverse species of dolphins and critically endangered turtles like the hawksbill, can all be found in and around the island.
The island’s waters are also home to the planet’s second largest population of dugongs, a large marine mammal which is globally threatened.
It is rich in biodiversity and lies within the Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve, the region’s first and largest Unesco-designated marine biosphere reserve. Fishing and the collection of turtle eggs are prohibited on the island, which is closed to visitors, to ensure its continued survival and protection.

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A special campaign to make Bu Tinah one of the new seven wonders of nature has been initiated by the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD). People may visit http://www.vote7.com and use the “vote now” option to choose their seven wonders.
They have also organised an exhibition, which is held daily at the Abu Dhabi Corniche to create awareness about the campaign.
It is extremely interesting and informative for children and adults alike. Visitors can also vote in designated kiosks set up inside a dome-shaped replica of this natural wonder.

— The reader is a technical officer based in Abu Dhabi

To read it in original, please visit Gulf News online.

You may also visit my blog link Vote for Bu Tinah to read more about it in different languages and see interesting videos.

On wishing farewell to Malavika Kamaraju and welcoming new editor Karen Pasquali Jones – Friday magazine

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On wishing farewell to Malavika Kamaraju and welcoming new editor Karen Pasquali Jones – Friday magazine Dt. 21.10.2011

Fines for talking – GULF NEWS Dt 18.10.2011 – Letters to the editor

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Fines for talking

I strongly suggest the police not only fine those who cross the road in non-designated areas but also fine people who cross the road while talking on the phone. Talking on the phone without a handset and messaging are all very common practices and people take it lightly, forgetting that it is either their own or a fellow road user’s life that they are playing with. In addition, the majority of minibuses do not strictly enforce the use of seat belts. Traffic safety is a habit to be inculcated and takes a long time to get used to. It is a continuous effort and I hope organisations and associations take part in reminding the public of the importance of adhering to safety laws on the road.

From Mr Ramesh Menon
Abu Dhabi

To read it in original, please visit GULF NEWS online

Road Safety campaign by GULF NEWS – comments

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Road Safety campaign by GULF NEWS – comments

To read and participate in the ongoin road safety campaign by GULF NEWS, please click the link below:

My Letters – Transported in time – Gulf News Dt 14.09.2011

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My Letters – Transported in time – Gulf News Dt 14.09.2011

Girls outshine the boys in CBSE Grade 12 exam results

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As the Indian education board, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), announced the results of grade 12 exams Monday, the wait is on to find out who is this year’s topper

Dubai: As the Indian education board, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), announced the results of grade 12 exams on Monday morning, the wait is on to find out who this year’s topper is.

The results of exams held in March were declared across the country Monday except for Patna region.

According to a statement issued by CBSE, the total pass percentage among students is 81.71 per cent.

In all, 770,043 students appeared for the exam in India and abroad. The percentage marks an increase of 1.84 per cent from last year, officials said.

As it has always been for this exam, girls outshined the boys this year, too, with 86.93 per cent pass rate as compared to boys at 77.83 per cent.

The results are available online at http://www.results.nic.in ; http://www.cbseresults.nic.in ; http://www.cbse.nic.in.

With tension mounting among students, since these marks are deciding factors for their university admissions, the board has introduced a toll-free helpline 1800 11 7002 for students in India.

Meanwhile, the CBSE grade 10 results are expected to be announced later this week.

UAE results received by Gulf News so far are as follows:

1. Delhi Private School, Dubai

A total of 63 students appeared for the exam, all of who passed with first class. In the Science stream the topper is Vrinda Bhandula with 92.2 per cent and the second position in Science stream was secured by Varun Chandrashekar, Gurjyot S. Nanda and Ayushi D. Joshipura with 91.8 per cent. In the Commerce stream the topper is Karan Shenoy with 91.6per cent and the second position in Commerce stream was secured by Divya Shanmugam with 88.2 per cent.

2. Our Own English High School, Fujairah

A total of 45 students appeared for the exam. 75.5 per cent of the pupils scored an aggregate of more than 75 per cent. Ivana Rakshit topped the Science stream with an overall score of 93.8 per cent. Liyah Mariam Suresh came second with the score of 93.4 per cent and Annapureddy Sanjana Reddy came third with 92.8 per cent. In the Commerce Stream Zaira Sohail Saif came first with an overall score of 88.8 per cent and Sumitha Panikaveetil Shaji came second with 85.8 per cent. Jaicy Varghese Mathew came third with 85.6 per cent.

3. Our Own High School, Al Warqa

In all, 212 boys appeared for the exam, 85 in the Science stream and 127 in the Commerce stream. A total of 16.5 per cent of the students secured aggregate marks of 90% and above. A total of 86.3 per cent of the students secured aggregate marks of 60 per cent and above. The topper in the Science stream is Kevin C. Sebastian with 96.4 per cent. The topper in the Commerce stream is Tushar Benyani with 95.2 per cent.

4. Our Own English High School, Al Ain

Out of 25 students who had appeared for the examination all 25 the students passed in first division (60 per cent and above). The school topper in Science stream is Ammu Joshy with an aggregate of 95 per cent and secured A1 grade in all subjects followed by Fatma Talib Kapadia with 90.2 per cent. The Commerce topper is Toyeba Tabasum with 82.6 per cent.

5. Our Own English High School, Dubai

A total of 267 students appeared for the exam. In the Science stream, Athulya Santhosh Kumar came first securing 97.6 per cent. In Commerce stream, Pooja Surana secured the top slot with 94 per cent aggregate. In Humanities stream, Diksha Narendra Laungani secured highest with 95.4 per cent.

6. Indian Public High School, RAK

Out of 23 students from Science Stream, 13 bagged Distinction and 9 secured First Class. In Science, Bhatia Priyanka Ajay topped the list with 93 per cent and in Commerce stream, Andrea Michelle Roche topped with 89.8 per cent.

7. Our Own Indian School, Dubai

In Science stream, Hari Krishnan topped with 93.6 per cent in commerce stream, the first position was bagged by Lakshmi Sreekumar with 95.2 per cent.

8. Indian School, Al Ain

In the Science stream, 46 students appeared out of which 18 students have scored above 80 per cent and 27 of them have got above 75 per cent. Eshani Dutta came first with 95.6 per cent and Dulceyana John with 94.2 per cent is second. Shayher Banu with 92.6 per cent is third. In the Commerce stream, 45 students appeared out of which 13 of them have scored above 80per cent while 19 of them have got above 75 per cent. Binuja Mariam John came first with 90.0 per cent Nisha Sasidharan and Rumana Hafiz Abdullah are second with 89.6 per cent while Raina Rebeiro is third with 87 per cent.

9. Millenium School

The science stream was topped by Jacob Tandupurecal with a percentage of 94.4per cent. Ranjith Tamil Selvan was placed second with 94per cent and Aswathy Ajith was third with 93.4per cent.The commerce stream was topped by Karan Jain with an overall percentage of 93.8per cent. Raeshma Miriam Mathew, was Second with 93per cent and Raveena Srikant Gullapalli was third with 89.4per cent. Out of the 62 students who appeared, 11per cent have scored above 90 per cent and 77per cent students scored over 70per cent. The pass percentage is a 100per cent.

10. Our Own English High School, Sharjah (Boys branch)

In the Science Stream, the average aggregate percentage is 79.4per cent and in the Commerce Stream it is 73.8 per cent. The school average is 76.98 per cent. The topper in the Science Stream is Mohammad Sharoon with 94.6 per cent followed by Sidharth Mudgal Sunil Kumar with 93.4 per cent and in the third place is Abraham K Jacob with 92.8 per cent. The topper in the Commerce Stream is Ashley Chris D’Souza with an aggregate of 89.2 per cent followed by Mohammad Tabish with 85.8 per cent and in the third place is Shaun George Philip with 85.6 per cent. Out of 100 students who took the Board Exam, 7 per cent secured an average of above 90per cent. Some 12 per cent have scored between 85 per cent and 90 per cent. Some 99 per cent have scored more than 60 per cent.

11. Indian School, Ras Al Khaimah

A total of 87 students had appeared for the exam, 46 were in Science Stream and 41 in Commerce Stream. Some 49 students secured Distinction, 28 students got First Class. Sai Deepika with 95.6 per cent topped the science stream and Pooja Prasad topped the commerce stream with 92.2 per cent.

12. Delhi Private School, Sharjah

The top positions were secured by the girls of the school. Gaurangi Saxena topped the school as well as the Science stream with 96.2 per cent followed by Shailee Kothari with 95.6 per cent. Sherika Antao topped the Commerce stream with 92.4 per cent followed by Faisal Pakkali with 90.8 per cent.

13. Abu Dhabi Indian School

Akhilesh Mohan topped the Science stream with 98 per cent, Sarthak Basak came second with 97.6 per cent and Arthi Prabhu came third with 96.4 per cent. In the commerce stream, Laveen Nankhani came first with 96.4 per cent, Priyanka Pradeep came second with 96 per cent and Vishruth Namdev Phadte came third with 94 per cent. 117 boys and 115 girls appeared for the exam, out of which 88 boys and 94 girls scored distinction.

14. Gulf Model School

The school topper in the science stream is Ziyad Abdul Hameed with 86 per cent. Remith Raveendran came second with 83 per cent and Deepthi Ganesh Babu third with 82.26 per cent. Tany Mariya John, 82.4 per cent, Abhijith Rajeevan Pillai, 81.2 per cent, and Asha Latha, 77.8 per cent, secured the top three positions in commerce stream. 61 students appeared for the exam.

15. Our Own Indian School, Dubai

The top position in the Science Stream was clinched by Hari Krishnan with 93.6 per cent. Rachel Ferrao came second with 93.4 per cent and Divya Joy came third with 93 per cent. In the commerce stream, Lakshmi Sreekumar came first with 95.2 per cent. Aswathy Mohanakrishnan came second with 93.4 per cent and Hanna Michael third with 93 per cent.

16. St Josephs School, Abu Dhabi

A total of 66 students sat for the exam – 31 from science stream and 35 from commerce.81 per cent of the science students and 66 per cent of the commerce students secured distinction while the rest secured first division. Syeda Sheema Hussaini came first in science stream with 94.8 per cent, Sincy Ann Saji second with 94.6 per cent and Ann Candice Fernandez third with 94.2 per cent. In the commerce stream, Rhea Mary Mathew came first with 95.2 per cent, Priya Serah Cherian second with 95 per cent and Shona Meria Jacob third with 92 per cent.

17. Asian International Private school, Ruwais

Zoheb Backer topped in the science stream with 94.8 per cent. Second place Fathima Arshad with 94.6 per cent, and third Roshin Mathew Cyriac with 94.4 per cent.

18. Indian High School, Dubai

A total of 451 students sat for the exam, out of which 102 students secured above 90 per cent and 174 above 80 per cent. In the Science stream, Den Senora D’Mello and Shweta Sharma topped with 97.6 per cent. Reshma Ramachandran came second with 96 per cent and Matild Reema and Abhishek Gupta came third with 95.8 per cent.

In the commerce stream, Prabhu Srikala Irivail and Mamta Mehra topped with 96.2 per cent. Nupur Changrani came second with 95.8 per cent and Aastha Kumar third with 95.6 per cent. In the humanities stream, Kalyani Vijayan topped with 95.6 per cent, while Neha Moopen came second scoring 86.6 per cent and Ruqiya Mohammed Riaz third with 84 per cent.

19. New Indian Model School, Sharjah

A total of 54 students appeared for the exam. The top rank in Science Stream was achieved by Shaik Bushra who secured 90 per cent marks while Arun Chris Sebastian came second with 88.6 per cent. Merina Abraham came third with 87.6 per cent. In the Commerce Stream, Rumaila Abdulla secured first with 89.4 per cent.

20. Sharjah Indian School

One hundred and eighty-three girls and 154 boys appeared for the exam. The topper in the science stream is Nigel Varghese Sailesh with 95.2 per cent. Greeshma Somanath came second with 94.6 per cent and Anju Rachel Thomas third with 94.4 per cent. In the commerce stream, Nimmy Mayam Joseph came first with 88.4 per cent. Saleem Haseena Khan came second with 86.4 per cent and Reetu Yadav second with 86 per cent.

21. Sunrise English Private School, Abu Dhabi

In the science stream, Silpa Baburajan came first with 96.2 per cent. Swathi Netaji and Nikhil Selvaraj came second and third with 95.8 per cent and 95.6 per cent. In the commerce stream, Rohit Suresh came first wit h94.2 per cent, Rashida Abdu Rahman second with 92.2 per cent and Sheryl Mary Sabu third with 90.8 per cent.

22. New Indian Model School, Dubai

One hundred and fifteen students appeared for the exam- 55 in Science and 60 in Commerce. Suraj Sunil Kumar stood first in the school in Science with 95 per cent marks. Second position went to Agzin Abdul Assiz (92.5 per cent) and third position went to Mufeeda Abdul Rahman with 92 per cent. In the Commerce Stream, Shahana Humayoon Thoosikannan came first with 93.6 per cent. Sana Sadiya Sadiq came second with 92 per cent and Ameena Noordheen came third with 91.6 per cent.

23. Emirates English Speaking School

Thirty-one students appeared for the exam – 13 studetns scored distinction and 10 scored first division. P. Vimal Raj topped the science stream with 91 per cent while Sadaf Suleman secured second. In the commerce stream, Jyoti Pradeep Kumar secured 85.8 per cent and Ajay Bhatia came second with 84.2 per cent.

24. Gulf Indian High School, Dubai

In the science stream, Mishkatul Noor topped with 91 per cent and Manjit Singh topped in the commerce stream also with 91 per cent.

25. Our Own English High School, Sharjah (girls branch)

In the science stream, Venessa Roshni Tauro came first with 96 per cent. Maria Yusuf Lakkadwala came second with 95.4 per cent, and Lindsa Elizabeth Chacko third with 95 per cent. In the commerce stream, Jovita Castelino came first with 93 per cent. Varsha Varghese came second with 92.6 per cent and Rochelle Cristle Pereira and Shanthi Subramanian came third with 92 per cent. All the students got first class and 78.7 per cent obtained distinction.

26. Indian Islahi Islamic School, Abu Dhabi

In all, 111 students appeared for the exam – 54 in science stream and 57 in commerce. In the science stream, Aysha Shana topped with 92.8 per cent. Shameena Abdul Saleem came second with 92.4 per cent and Rashid Ahmed Khan came third with 92.2 per cent. In the commerce stream, Mohamed Iflal Maryam topped with 91.6 per cent. Raseena Ahmed came second with 88 per cent and Shafiq Ummer came third with 87.2 per cent.

27. Central School, Dubai

In the science stream, the topper is Tariq Abdul Hamid Mulla with 89.4 per cent and the second is Aatika with 88 per cent. In the commerce stream, the topper is Saniya Naz with 89.2 per cent.

28. Darul Huda Islamic School, Al Ain

Twenty-eight students each appeared for the exam from the science and commerce streams. In the science stream, Rukiya Hanan topped the science stream with 89.8 per cent. Jameela Pazhaya Pattilath and Asma Vadayil came second with 88.6 per cent while Sulaiman came third with 87.2 per cent. In the commerce stream, Fathima Kamruddin topped with 86 per cent. Kadeeja and Fathima Abdulla came second and third scoring 84.2 per cent and 81.8 per cent.

29. Gulf Asian English School, Sharjah

Out of 82 students, who appeared for the examination, 66 percent were placed in the first division out of which 32 percent secured distinction. In the science stream, Umme Shaila topped with 92 per cent. Rabab Abbas came second scoring 89.5 per cent and Ahmed Suhail came third scoring 86 per cent. In the commerce stream, Shaheen Sultana topped scoring 90 per cent, Jassim Ahmed came second with 86 per cent and Sameeha came third with 85 per cent.

30. Indian School, Ajman

In the science stream, of the 17 students who appeared for the exam, 14 secured distinction and 3 secured first division. Ramya Mohandas topped the school securing 93 per cent followed by Rajdeep Kaur who secured 92.2 per cent while Thushara K. Valsan (91.2 per cent) came third. Satish Kumar Parshotam topped the Commerce Stream with 85.4 per cent followed by Gineesh Babu Govindan who secured 79.4 per cent. Nithin Manoharan V. V. stood third scoring 76.2 per cent.

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I wish to be anonymous. Do not publish my name with my comment. I have read and agreed to the gulfnews.com terms and conditions of use. Post Comment Added 18:12 May 23, 2011

thankyou for the updated post. Congratulations to all the students who passed.

Anonymous, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Added 16:07 May 23, 2011

Thank you for the updated post

Joseph Mathew, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 14:25 May 23, 2011

Thank you for the updated post and very comprehensive indeed. Please continue to update this link with results from the schools in Abu Dhabi and other Emirates. Congratulations to all the students who passed.


Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

To read it in original, please visit GULF NEWS online.

Charity event in Abu Dhabi – some queries – My Letters – GULF NEWS – Dt. 05.05.2011

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Charity event in Abu Dhabi – some queries – My Letters – GULF NEWS – Dt. 05.05.2011

In reference to “Charity event in Abu Dhabi for tsunami victims”. While I congratulate the team effort and humanitarian gesture involved, I feel, it is extremely alarming to see Yoga being commercialised, even if it is for the purpose of fund raising for a natural calamity. Yoga, as it says itself is never done for beating records or numbers. Doing 108 times of Surya Namaskars at one stretch will be a dangerous physical act. As experts say generally, 12 Surya Namaskaras are performed at one practice. If starting that practice for the first time, it is generally started with fewer (3 to 6) Namaskaras per day, and then gradually increased to 12 Namaskaras in a week’s time. So, is it a whole day event starting from 6:00 am with breaks after the Shavasana and then another set is repeated till they reach 108 times. An importanct concern thus about the participants yoga expertise and years of practise attained to display a 108 time of Surya Namaskar. Kindly address this concern before the events kick off for the safety of the participant.

Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

To read the original community report and my comment online, please visit GULF NEWS online.

A welcome change – Promising actions by Abu Dhabi authorities

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A welcome change – Promising actions by Abu Dhabi authorities

It is always a relief to see when the authorities carries pro-active measures towards suggestion for a better living environment. Here is one such example of a speedier action by Abu Dhabi authorities. Further to my Community Report in Gulf News dated 23rd April, I am happy to blog that both the dangerous spots have been marked clearly giving sufficient warning for pedestrians. What is left is a garbage bin issue, and I believe it will be also handled efficiently soon.

My sincere thanks to GULF NEWS and Abu Dhabi authorities.

Ramesh Menon
29.04.2011

To read my community report of 23.04.2011, please click here or visit GULF NEWS online.