Doha (Qatar): Qatar and the Museum of Islamic Art have established a new Guinness World Record for most Languages in a Reading Relay last Wednesday evening.

There were 56 different readers reading passages from the Little Prince by the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, including Arabic, French, Korean, Spanish, Slovak, Sanskrit, Urdu, Swahili, Hindi, Persian, Gujarati, Turkish, Italian, Greek and multiple other languages. 

Among the readers was Boluwatife Agbelusi from Museum of Islamic Art, who is the official translator of the book in Yoruba (one of the languages of Nigeria). Another was Saleh Al Marri from MIA Guides reading the text in Japanese! 

There were 75 judges in place who had the serious job of evaluating the readers language skills and acting as expert witness. Mr. Pravin Patel had flown in from Dubai as the Guinness Adjudicator who gave the final decision on if team was the new record setters. 

Participants from India, read out the translated portions from the story The Little Prince, in prominent Indian languages such as Kannada, Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Gujarati. Engr. Noor Ahmed Sanadi who hails from Karnataka, was one of the independent judges for several Indian languages. 

The museum atrium looked gorgeous, the event was beautifully organized and supported by the French Embassy and Qatar TV. It was also impressive to see so many readers coming in their stunning national dresses. 

Reactions after were excitement, pride of Qatar and community. The Museum building projected the Guinness Attempt logo during the event.

 

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Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai police have registered a case against a man for allegedly duping seven persons of Rs 91 lakhs on the promise of awarding them works of different government departments, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused was identified as Satish Kadam, a resident of Nanded in Marathwada region, an official said.

A complaint was filed by Hanumant Vadje, who alleged that the accused cheated him and six others of around Rs 91 lakh by promising to give them various works of Urban Development and Social Justice Department, he said.

The fraud occurred between 2024 and 2026, with Kadam collecting money in cash and into his accounts, police said, adding he had returned some amount to them partially.

Multiple cheques issued by the accused bounced, prompting the victim to lodge a complaint at the Marine Drive police station. Based on the complaint, a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust was registered against him.

The case is under further investigation, the official said.