JEDDAH, 14 July 2004 — Indian Consul General Syed Akbaruddin has become the first candidate enrolled for an online course for diplomats. Senior secretarial officers in the Ministry of External Affairs are conducting the course with the cooperation of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
Akbaruddin revealed this while emphasizing the importance of life-long learning. “If I can do a course for diplomats after being a diplomat for 20 years, there is no reason why others cannot do such things in whatever profession or vocation they are,” the outgoing consul general said at a reception held for him by Investment Trade Opportunities India, a quarterly magazine published by Jeddah-based ATEICO Communications.
The company is also the sole representative of IGNOU in the Kingdom.
Akbaruddin, who is leaving the Kingdom at the end of a four-year tour, said there had been a talk of introducing IGNOU facilities here since 1992 when he ended his three-year term at the Embassy of India in Riyadh. “I was looking forward to IGNOU’s presence here, as children especially girls had no option of pursuing studies after the CBSE 12th exam here. Our efforts have taken some years until ATEICO Communications responded to take up the challenge,” he said.
Akbaruddin said he was hopeful that IGNOU here would expand into an operation as big as the International Indian School-Jeddah, a giant with now over 9,000 students that grew from just nine students 35 years ago.
“I’m sure your present enrollment, which exceeds 200, will more than double by next year as IGNOU’s popularity grows,” he said.
Referring to the ITO quarterly magazine, which has completed its first anniversary, Akbaruddin said it was a matter of satisfaction that ATEICO took the risks to publish a magazine defined by quality of content and design. The magazine filled a gap by bringing the business communities of the two countries closer. “The magazine will have limitless scope to help forge closer economic and business links between the two countries,” he said. “They have taken the risk and we’ll continue to cooperate with them,” he said, emphasizing that similar cooperation would continue between the consulate and the community during the term of his successor. He thanked all members of the community who contributed to the success of both ITO magazine and IGNOU for their support.
The consul general, who is due to return to Delhi on Saturday, was given a souvenir by Faisal Bushnak, managing director of ATEICO Communications.
It bore the inscription, “The golden medalist with the golden heart” under a colorful portrait of Akbaruddin.
The inscription, according to Riaz Mulla, general manager of ATEICO Communications and chief editor of ITO magazine, expressed the affection the community has for Akbaruddin, a gold medalist M.A. (political science) from Hyderabad University. The consul general is the head of the magazine advisory panel, which also includes Arab News Editor in Chief Khaled A. Almaeena and Ziad Bassam of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Mulla, who delivered the welcome address, said Akbaruddin had been very popular in the community during the nearly four years that he was the consul general.
