JEDDAH — Karnataka NRIs conducted their Annual General Body Meet at a local restaurant here recently. Dr. Irshad Ahmed, Consul for Press and Information at the Consulate General of India, attended the function as chief guest, along with prominent personalities of Karnataka. Dr. Irshad appreciated the social activities, hard work and dedication of Karnataka residents toward their state community in Saudi Arabia and in India. He extended full support of the consulate to the forum in order to help the needy people. President of KNRI Forum Roshan Rodrigues, while addressing the gathering, explained the system of functioning of the forum and motivated all the members to come forward and play a vital role in helping the poor and needy people of Karnataka. Apart from helping poor and needy persons in India, KNRI Forum is striving to resolve pressing issues of KNRIs such as the introduction of the Kannada language subject in Indian International School Jeddah and the eligibility of NRI students to appear in the Common Entrance Test (CET) exams for medical and engineering courses in India, he added. Syed Nasir Khursheed, general secretary of the forum, delivered a Power Point presentation on KNRI forum, highlighting their aims, objectives, vision and achievements. Treasurer of the forum, Syed Haseebuddin, presented the balance sheet for the financial year ending March 31 while highlighting the cash flow status as of June 30. Induction ceremony was conducted by Vishwanath Karkera and Shaikh Saoud, two new executive members; Dr. Ashfaq Maniyar and Nasir Ismail were inducted to the forum. KNRI Forum, as a token of appreciation, honored their executive committee members for their dedicated efforts in the success of the forum's activities for the year. Among them were Vice President Sabu Chandran, Treasurer Syed Haseebuddin, Joint Secretary Yashwanth Amin, IT Coordinator Shaikh Saoud, Cultural Secretary Mohammed Saifuddin and Joint Cultural Secretary Pravin Netrekar. They expressed deep sense of appreciation for the honor. Master of the ceremony Niaz Ahmed, press secretary of the forum, conducted the program and introduced the speakers, while the vote of thanks was delivered by Joint Secretary of the forum Yashwanth Amin.
