UAE, February 24: In order to promote and spread the message of tolerance and to commemorate the UAE government’s ‘Year of Tolerance-2019’, the Karnataka Cultural Foundation’s UAE Publication Division, organized an international level essay contest to mark the third anniversary of Gulf Ishara, a monthly magazine.

KCF is a socio-cultural organization of Kannadigas, known for its tireless social welfare works. It aims to make a difference in the life of people in Karnataka through educational, humanitarian and healthcare projects.  The KCF announced the winners at Sharjah on February 15. The KCF event was presided over by president Sheik Abdul Hameed Saadi Ishwaramangala and UAE national secretary Iqbal Kajoor announced the names of the winners in the presence of Thajul Fukahah Sheik Ibrahim Musliyar Bekal.

Masitha P, a second-year B-Sc student of Uppinangady got the first prize, while BM Ziyad who is working as an administrator in a prestigious company in Saudi Arabia, got the second prize. Ayesha Shameema who is the second year BDS student in KVG Dental College got the third place.

On December 15, 2018, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed declared 2019 as the Year of Tolerance aiming at highlighting UAE as a global capital for tolerance and its approach, since its establishment, to be a bridge of communication between people of different cultures in a respectful environment that rejects extremism and emphasizes on the acceptance of the other. This reflects tolerance as a fundamental value in UAE community where people from over 200 countries live in harmony without racism, discrimination or intolerance.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.

A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."

Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.

“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”

Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.

“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”

The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.

At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.

Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.

Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.

“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”