Wednesday, January 19, 2005 TIMES OF OMAN 5

OMAN/MIDDLE EAST
Tuition for
ACCA course at
Majan College
MUSCAT — Majan College
(University College) has suc-
cessfully launched the tuition
provision services for the
ACCA course and is planning
to start a second batch of stu-
dents from next month in
preparation for the June 2005
examinations.
The college is a registered
centre under the UCRS
(University and College
Registration Scheme) of
ACCA and the College has
approval from the Ministry of
Higher Education for provid-
ing this service.
Majan College has already
established itself as a
‘Quality Education Provider’ IT’S CELEBRATION TIME: The Air Force Technical College yesterday celebrated its 30th anniversary under the auspices of Lieutenant-General Ahmed bin Harith bin Nasir Al Nabhani, chief of staff of the
for different undergraduate Sultan’s Armed Forces, in the presence of Air Vice-Marshal Yahya bin Rasheed bin Rashid Al Juma’ah, commander of the Royal Air Force of Oman. The RAFO band presented a concert and an exhibition was organised
programmes and has a suc- as part of the celebrations. Nabhani distributed certificates and gifts to the best performers. Several senior RAFO officials attended the ceremony.
cessful, long-standing rela-
tionship with the University
of Luton in the UK. The
Bachelors (Hons) in
Accounting programme of
Rafsanjani says
the college is running suc- Iran will not be
cessfully for the past few
years. The ACCA tuition pro- intimidated
vision service is one of the
TEHRAN — Influential for-
further steps taken by the col-
mer president Akbar Hashemi
lege to meet the needs of the
Rafsanjani said yesterday that
industry and to enhance
Iran would not be intimidated
employment and growth
by “foreign enemies”, after
opportunities for young US President George W. Bush
Omanis. declined to rule out military
According to Swati, pro- action. “We are not afraid of
gramme manager of ACCA, foreign enemies’ threats and
“At Majan, we appreciate the sanctions, since they know
quality standards of delivery well that throughout its
expected for such profession- Islamic and ancient history,
al qualifications from the UK Iran has been no place for
and, therefore, the ACCA adventurism,” Rafsanjani told
tuition provision is planned state news agency Irna.
out in such a manner that stu- On Monday, Bush said he
dents get the benefit of well- could not rule out a resort to
focused teaching and get military action if the United
ample time to prepare for the States failed to persuade Iran
examination. This will to abandon a nuclear energy
ensure more serious approach MISSILE-LAUNCH EXERCISE: Major-General Said bin Nasser bin Sulaiman Al Salmi, commander of the Royal Army of Oman (RAO), yesterday at the training stadium programme it charges is a
to teaching and learning and inspected a missile-launching exercise conducted by the Armoured Division. The commander also listened to a briefing on the use and modern method of launching the missiles. The event cover for developing the
should result in better pass was attended by several RAO, SAF and RGO officials. bomb. — AFP
rates. Our lecturing team con-
sists of experienced and high-
ly qualified staff to ensure
quality teaching. Classes will
be held from 5pm to 8.30pm
during the evenings to enable
working population to benefit
from such tuition provision.
1,300 attend NGF club’s musical feast
Besides convenient time and
high quality of tuition deliv-
ery, the students can avail of
other facilities of a ‘higher
education college’ such as
well-equipped and updated
library, modern facilities such
as lecture halls, big campus
with sufficient parking facili-
ty, access to computers and
Internet for self-study, good
cafeteria services and an
excellent customer service
from the programme manage-
ment team”.
Further information about
the course can be had at
24751573 extn. 145 or e-
mail:
swati@majancollege.edu.om
AID FROM OMAN: Donations collected by Sri Lankan School, Muscat being
African band packed to be sent to Sri Lanka.
will perform at
Holiday Inn Aid for Lankan tsunami victims
By A Staff Reporter
PHOTO CALL: The New Generation Fitness (NGF) club members posing for a group photo. MUSCAT — Inestimable ed fellow countrymen. Packaging LLC provided car-
number of people from many Collections included tons necessary for packing the
MUSCAT — This Eid, go south Asian countries have clothes for children, ladies and items.
Africana; go bonkers with MUSCAT — A group of ded- Haddad. ematic dance and a kuhchup- of such programmes.
icated musicians and singers The event was yet another pudi item. The organisers thanked U. borne the brunt of deadly adults, blankets and other Sri Lankan School, Muscat
Bongo Musica! Muscat tsunami which struck on linen, canned and sachets of was the collection centre.
Holiday Inn is hosting a fabu- managed to ignite musical eye-opener to the sheer The singers, who led the N. Pillai, financial manager of
passion with their melodious strength of musical talent audience down memory lane, Arabian Projects and December 26. food, rice, wheat flour, pulses, Parents, well wishers staff and
lous 14-piece live African Some 30, 000 people were infant milk powder, toys, sta- students contributed their
band, which will set the beat and stirring numbers at the present among the Indians included Sreedher, Prasannan, Transport Co., for his expert
NGF night, presented by the here. Shashi, Lakshmi, Shamshad, management of the stage. dead and over one million tioneries for school children valuable time and energy in
and the mood on the second were affected badly. and many other items donated sorting the items above.
day of Eid, this Friday New Generation Fitness While the singers took and Mahesh. The organisers also
(NGF) club in APTC centre stage, there were occa- The DD Music troupe pro- thanked the support of the Survivors are without their by parents, well wishers and The organisers have
(January 21). loved ones. Many families companies in Oman. ensured that the items will
(Arabian Projects and sions for other items to be vided the perfect accompani- sponsors, APTC, Modern
This alive and vibrant have lost either their elders or The country manager of reach the affected areas and
Transports Co., Oman LLC) staged too. ment. Colour Printers, International
band has a good international children. Their mental and Mearsk Sea Land-Oman pro- distributed suitably among the
at Le Grand hall of Al Falaj For instance, a martial arts Compere, Rajan Menon, Capitals Co., UAE Exchange,
mix of musicians and popular physical agony of the helpless- vided 20 cubic metre contain- survivors.
hotel recently. demonstration by Chito was at his liveliest best and he Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,
African artistes from the ness cannot be put in to words. ers to freight the donated items It is expected that the
Close to 1,300 music Sanches of NGF Club was threaded the musical parts and Future Trade and Technical
Democratic Republic of The future of the children who to Sri Lanka free of charge. affected will get relief and the
lovers attended the musical held and there was also a the other items into a well- Services, Dolphin, Safety
Congo (ex-Zaire). lost their parents is at stake. Muscat Pharmacy LLC donations will remind them
feast, which had Indian Social breathtaking dance number by knit show. Tech Service, Interior
They have promised to From the day the Sri donated a very valuable pack- that people far away from Sri
Club (ISC) management a local group, the SKF Chief organiser Dinesh Crushers, OHI DDB, Oman
unleash their unique mix of Lankans in Oman heard about age of many pharmaceutical Lanka have a feeling for them
member C. N. P. Nampoothiri Breakers, which took the Narayan said that the good Construction Materials,
latest African and Latino the catastrophe, they decided items. and that they are not been
as chief guest. audience by storm. response by the audience was Preethi Cargo, and Badar
music and rap. to send relief aid to the affect- Packaging LLC and Oman abandoned.
Also present was Samuel Other items included a cin- an incentive to organise more Shipping.
Band leader Pepino
Kabengu, who came to the
fore with Afriza of Tabu Ley,

Eye to Eye — global conference on cultural relations Iran stays

and then went on to perform
in Brazaville with other
reputed bands, has also man-
aged to organise his own
Bongo Musica band based in
Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania.
The two singers, Jensy
Alony and Japan Isuamo
were in Victoria and Viva La
Musica bands respectively.
Bassist George Ghama,
was with Zeita Musica in
Dar-Es-Salamm and Andre,
the keyboard master played
with Diamond Soud, FM
Accademia, and Katanga the
Soloiste was in Anti Chock
with the star Pascal Poba.
Drummer Patrick is anoth-
er artiste who has played in
many countries, while Pichen
the ex-Eden Musica plays the
tumba and drum.
And the Bongo Musica
has brought all the way from
Paris a star known as C18 (C
Dix Huit), a rapper from the
house of Kofi Olomide.
MUSCAT — What are the values that
underline cultural relations? How do we
communicate cultural relations? What are
cultural relations for?
These and many such issues were the
focus of discussion in ‘Eye to Eye’, the
first ever-global conference on cultural
relations that recently took place in
London as part of the 70th anniversary
celebrations of the British Council.
The focus of ‘Eye to Eye’ was to bring
people together from all over the world
who are concerned with cultural relations.
It is the first conference that aims to seed
a global constituency of people who seek
an understanding of cultures — the way
they work, interact and communicate —
as vital to our futures.
The conference had 250 participants
from round the world, and among others,
was attended by Habib Mohammed Al
Riyami, director-general of the Education
Directorate in Al Sharqiyah South and
British Council Oman Director, Jim
Scarth. The two-and-a-half-day confer-
ence has a plenary session including six
workshops — Cultural Relations in the
21st century, Culture and Politics,
Secularism and Faith, Architecture of
Memory, Difference and Death and
Multiculturalism.
During the conference, 10 collections
of essays on key topics in cultural rela-
tions by specialists in their particular field
were released. These booklets are avail-
able in the Knowledge and Learning
Centre at the British Council for refer-
ence.
Habib Al Riyami said: “The confer-
ence represented a very rich and marvel-
lous opportunity for all participants and
for me in particular, to meet many keen
and intellectual figures from all over the
world to discuss and bring all ideas
THINK GLOBAL: Participants during the interactive together regarding how the relations
session. among nations should be. It also repre-
sented a great chance for me to express
the image of the Omani nation in this
regard. I really appreciate such a gather-
ing and wish to have a similar chance to
enrich my knowledge and to present the
image of my country as one of the coun-
tries that are keen to build and enhance
the cultural and human relations with all
nations.”
Scarth stated: “We were exposed to
different thinking and theories and were
presented with an opportunity to discuss
these with people from around the world.
The quality of speakers as well as partici-
pants really impressed me. The audience
was extremely knowledgeable and inter-
active which made the conference very
interesting.”
The conference was organised by
Counterpoint, a think-tank set-up by
British Council, to raise awareness of cul-
tural relations in modern world today. For
more visit www.counterpoint-online.org.
execution
of hijackers
TEHRAN — Two Iranian
teenage brothers and a rela-
tive convicted of attempting
to hijack a domestic flight
four years ago and due to be
executed this week have been
given a last-minute reprieve,
reports said yesterday.
Shahram and Farhang
Pourmansuri, who were 17
and 18-years-old respectively
when they tried to hijack a
plane in November 2000, had
been due to go to the gallows
today.
Also due to be hanged was
their brother-in-law, Khaled
Hardani, who was 29 at the
time of the crime and
convicted of being the ring-
leader. — AFP