Qatar sets new Guinness World Record in reading
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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Bengaluru: Police seize fake watches worth Rs 25 Lakh, five arrested
Bengaluru (PTI): Police on Tuesday said they seized counterfeit watches and spare parts of leading brands worth around Rs 25 lakh that were being sold as genuine.
The operation was carried out by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Central Crime Branch (CCB), during which five persons were arrested.
“Five shops were raided where fake watches and spare parts of prominent brands were being sold as genuine. A total of 670 watches and spare parts of 414 watches were seized. The value is about Rs 25 lakh,” police said in a release.
The action followed a complaint filed by an authorised representative of one of the brands with the CCB’s Economic Offences Wing.
According to the complaint, counterfeit watches and spare parts of reputed companies were being sold as genuine in five shops located in Chickpet, Sultanpalya Main Road, Ganganagar and Dinnur Main Road in the city.
Police said raids were conducted on March 18 and 20, during which the watches and spare parts were seized.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said efforts are underway to trace the source of manufacture of the counterfeit products.
“Those involved in manufacturing will also be identified, raided and arrested,” he added.
