Ajman: Gulf Medical University 'Global Alumni Summit 2020' recognizes global achievers
“Alumni are the reflection of our past, representation of our present and link to our future,” says Chancellor
17 cohorts, 16 convocations and 1800 alumni all over the world in various top positions
Ajman: Gulf Medical University (GMU), Ajman recognized the most outstanding accomplishments of its alumni at the ‘GMU Global Alumni Summit 2020’ organized by the GMU Students Affairs Department, held at Thumbay Medicity on 29th February 2020.
The event brought together GMU alumni from around the world, joined by the academic leadership of GMU, faculty, staff and students, in a celebration of the significant contributions of the alumni community to their communities and professions. The event recognized their most outstanding achievements. The awards in honor of the GMU Achievers were presented by Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder, President Board of Trustees, GMU who also officially released the Alumni E-newsletter and the Alumni Portal.
In his welcome address, Prof. Manda Venkatramana, Vice Chancellor – Academics mentioned that GMU’s alumni now has 1803 graduates, with 70% females and 30% male graduates, spread across the world, with UAE nationals constituting 10% of the alumni, GCC nationals 7%, other Arabs 14%, Asians 44%, Africans 16% and other nationals 10%.
Addressing the alumni, Prof. Hossam Hamdy, the Chancellor of GMU outlined the significant achievements of the University in recent times. The Chancellor also announced several benefits for the alumni, including scholarships for post-graduate programs, adjunct faculty positions at GMU, employment opportunities and full access to GMU’s e-library learning resources. “You are our best ambassadors offering invaluable advocacies across your personal and professional networks. You are the reflection of GMU’s past, representation of its present and the link to its future,” he said to the alumni.
Awards were presented to the following alumni achievers:
Healthcare: Government Service UAE - Dr. Noha Yaseen, Consultant Cardiologist, Al Qasimi Hospital, Sharjah; Dr. Asma Abdillahi Ali, CCAD, Semi-Government by Mubdhala, Abu Dhabi government; Ms. Ayesha Mohammed Abdulla Kajoor Al Nuaimi.
Healthcare: Research - Dr. Ahmad Ashraf Fakhri Ghazal.
Healthcare Delivery System: Entrepreneurship – Dr. Ismail Sayeed, Founder & CEO, ViOS; Ms. Jameela Arif Hussain; Dr. Sheetal Bambhani.
Healthcare Delivery System: Private Sector / Leadership - Dr. Shihad Khader, Chief Operating Officer, Thumbay Hospital Fujairah; Dr. Meera Obaid AlSalami.
Healthcare Delivery System: NGO / Humanitarian Service - Dr. Faraj Khalid Faraj Mohamed Almehairbi.
Arts: Dr. Marwa Abdulwahid Alalwani, Dentist, Munich Dental Clinic.
The awardees recounted their experiences as GMU students, and explained how those experiences continue to enrich their professional lives even today. They thanked Dr. Thumbay Moideen for creating such a wonderful university which shaped their lives and career achievements. Current GMU students entertained their alumni with various talent performances.
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Pope urges 'all people of all nations' to silence arms and overcome divisions in Christmas address
Vatican City, Dec 25: Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia.
The pontiff's “Urbi et Orbi” — “To the City and the World” — address serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year. As Christmas coincided with the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that he dedicated to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, “even (with) our enemies.”
"I invite every individual, and all people of all nations ... to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions,'' the pope said from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to throngs of people below.
The pope invoked the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve to launch the 2025 Jubilee, as representing God's mercy, which “unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; it dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge.”
He called for arms to be silenced in war-torn Ukraine and in the Middle East, singling out Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian territories, “particularly in Gaza where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave,” as well as Lebanon and Syria “at this most delicate time.”
Francis repeated his calls for the release of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
He cited a deadly outbreak of measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the suffering of the people of Myanmar, forced to flee their homes by “the ongoing clash of arms.” The pope likewise remembered children suffering from war and hunger, the elderly living in solitude, those fleeing their homelands, who have lost their jobs, and are persecuted for their faith.
Pilgrims were lined up on Christmas Day to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica, as the Jubilee is expected to bring some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome.
Traversing the Holy Door is one way that the faithful can obtain indulgences, or forgiveness for sins during a Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century tradition that dates from 1300.
Pilgrims submitted to security controls before entering the Holy Door, amid new security fears following a deadly Christmas market attack in Germany. Many paused to touch the door as they passed and made the sign of the cross upon entering the basilica dedicated to St. Peter, the founder of the Roman Catholic Church.
“You feel so humble when you go through the door that once you go through is almost like a release, a release of emotions,'' said Blanca Martin, a pilgrim from San Diego. "... It's almost like a release of emotions, you feel like now you are able to let go and put everything in the hands of God. See I am getting emotional. It's just a beautiful experience.”
A Chrismukkah miracle as Hanukkah and Christmas coincide
Hanukkah, Judaism's eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900.
The calendar confluence has inspired some religious leaders to host interfaith gatherings, such as a Hanukkah party hosted last week by several Jewish organizations in Houston, Texas, bringing together members of the city's Latino and Jewish communities for latkes, the traditional potato pancake eaten on Hanukkah, topped with guacamole and salsa.
While Hanukkah is intended as an upbeat, celebratory holiday, rabbis note that it's taking place this year as wars rage in the Middle East and fears rise over widespread incidents of antisemitism. The holidays overlap infrequently because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is not in sync with the Gregorian calendar, which sets Christmas on Dec. 25. The last time Hanukkah began on Christmas Day was in 2005.
Iraqi Christians persist in their faith
Christians in Nineveh Plains attended Christmas Mass on Tuesday at the Mar Georgis church in the center of Telaskaf, Iraq, with security concerns about the future. “We feel that they will pull the rug out from under our feet at any time. Our fate is unknown here,” said Bayda Nadhim, a resident of Telaskaf.
Iraq's Christians, whose presence there goes back nearly to the time of Christ, belong to a number of rites and denominations. They once constituted a sizeable minority in Iraq, estimated at around 1.4 million.
But the community has steadily dwindled since the 2003 US-led invasion and further in 2014 when the Islamic State group swept through the area. The exact number of Christians left in Iraq is unclear, but they are thought to number several hundred thousand.
German celebrations muted by market attack
German celebrations were darkened by a car attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday that left five people dead, including a 9-year-old boy, and 200 people injured. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack, saying that “there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what took place in Magdeburg.” He urged Germans to “stand together” and that “hate and violence must not have the last word.”
A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who had practiced medicine in Germany since 2006 was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. The suspect's X account describes him as a former Muslim and is filled with anti-Islamic themes. He criticized authorities for failing to combat “the Islamification of Germany” and voiced support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
