December 2020 – Page 2 – Arabian Records (1st post : Eid Al Fitr – 01st Shawwal 1439 (AH) / 15th June 2018 ) / (BETA testing – Research

Abdullatif Al Fozan Award for Mosque Architecture

Abdullatif Al Fozan Award for Mosque Architecture was established in 2011.

Its focus is the architectural, urban, and technical aspects of mosques all over the world, and is awarded to the related designer/architect.

The main objective of this award is the development of contemporary design of mosques, throughout a specialized and classified database.

The award is triennial.

The winning mosques will be awarded based on assessment of an international architectural jurors experienced with mosque architecture, who will relatively evaluate and assign the winning mosques.

The candidate mosques will be categorized into three categories; Central Mosques, Jumaa’ Mosques, and local mosques.

Yet, there are prizes given to innovations and ideas which helps in developing the concept of mosques in the twenty first century.

The Founder is Shaikh Abdullaatif Al Fozan

www.alfozanaward.org

________________

_________________

SAUDI ARABIA

UAE leads with Highest Number of Guinness World Records across the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Region : November 2020

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is home to 425 Guinness World Records with 34 of them achieved in 2020.
Saudi Arabia comes second with 96 GWR titles
Egypt is a close third place with 93 GWR titles

Dubai is also the most record breaking city across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region

source: Khaleej Times, by Waheed Abbas, November 14th, 2020

________

_____________

Mona Khazindar: First Female (and First Saudi) Director of the Arab World Institute, Paris

Arts Curator and Historian.

Director-General of Institut de Monde Arabe (IMA) aka Arab World Institute based in Paris
Co-curated First Saudi Pavilion at the 54th Venice Art Bienniale (2011)

Books Published :

‘View from the Inside : Contemporary Arab Photography, Videos and Mixed Media Art’ (2014)
‘Visions from Abroad: Historical and Contemporary Representation of Saudi Arabia’

Honours:

‘Woman of the Year’ by Forum of Arab Women

Education:

Masters : Modern History, Sorbonne

__________

________________

SAUDI ARABIA

World Arabic Language Day : December 18th

December 18th. Since 2012. When the UN decided to adopt it as its 6th official language.

The Arabic language is a pillar of the cultural diversity of humanity.

It is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, used daily by more than 290 million people.

World Arabic Language Day is celebrated every year on 18 December since 2012.

The date coincides with the day in 1973 that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Arabic as the sixth official language of the Organization.

Message from the Director – General

“Arabic is a bridge between cultures and across borders – a true language of diversity. (…) on this international day, UNESCO will celebrate and explore the role of Arabic language academies. Not only do these institutions preserve, enrich and enhance the Arabic language, they also help monitor its use in conveying accurate information in the context of global current events.”

— Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO

________________

The poster for World Arabic Language Day is an artwork of the Tunisian calligrapher Karim Jabbari which illustrates the following piece of poetry

“He who imbued languages with the highest qualities
Bequeathed to Arabic the secret of beauty“

— Ahmed Chawqi

pix: https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldarabiclanguageday

_______________

source: all text and images from en.unesco.org

Aviation Business Awards 2020 – December 15th, 2020

13 Winners of the 14th Aviation Business Awards 2020 were presented at the gala at JW Mariott Marquis, Dubai.

Lifetime Achievement Award – Presented to : Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates
Pride of Aviation Award : Etihad Engineering
Airline of the Year : Emirates
Airport of the Year : Dubai International Airport
Low-cost Airline of the Year : Air Arabia
Environmental Initiative of the Year : Etihad Airways
Training Provider of the Year : Etihad Aviation Training
Fixed Base Operator of the Year : Jetex
Business Aircraft Operator of the Year : Empire Aviation Group
MRO Service Provider of the Year : Sanad Aerotech
Ground Support Service of the Year : Dnata
Technological Innovation of the Year : Honeywell
Engineering Achievement of the Year : Strata Manufacturing

source: aviationbusinessme.com

_________________

Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates, has received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Aviation Business Awards 2020. Image: ITP Media Group

_______________

Leila Aboulela. Award Winning Writer

Leila Aboulela . Writer. Author.

Awards :

Caine Prize for African Writing
Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards
Saltire Fiction Book of the Year

Books:

Elsewhere (short story collection)
Home
Novel – Bird Summons (2019)
Novel – The Kindness of Enemies (2015)
Novel – Lyrics Alley (2011)
Novel – The Translator (1999)
Novel – The Minaret
The Museum ( short story)

Education:

BA (Ecomonics) – University of Khartoum, Sudan
M.Sc (Statistics) – London School of Economics
M.Phil (Statistics) – London School of Economics

www.leila-aboulela.com

_____________

___________________________________________________________

UNITED KINGDOM / SUDAN–EGYPT / BRITISH SUDANESE

Dr. Elias Zerhouni – Scientist, Radiologist, Inventor and Entrepreneur

Dr. Elias Zerhouni (aka) Elias Adam Zerhouni. Scientist. Inventor. Entrepreneur. Researcher. Radiologist and bio-medical engineer.

Position/s:

President – Global Research and Development at pharmaceutical company – Sanofi (2011 – 2018)
Senior Fellow – Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (2009 – 2010)
President Obama appointed Dr. Zerhouni as ‘Presidential Science Envoy’ – (2009)
First immigrant to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in (2002 – 2008)
Executive Vice-Dean – Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine (1995-2002)

Awards:

Gold Medal for American Roentgen Ray Society
Gold Medal – Radiological Society of North America
2 awards – Paul Lauterbur Awards for MRI Research
Woodrow Wilson Award for services to the Johns Hopkins University
Ben Franklin Medal
etc….

Honours:

Elected to National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (2000)
Elected to National Academy of Engineering (2013)
Legion d’honneur for French National Order by President Nicolas Sarkozy (2008)
etc….

Entrepreneur : Co-Founder of

Computerized Imaging Reference Systems (CIRS) – (1982)
Advanced Medical Imaging (1989)
Biopsys Corporation
American Radiology Services (1996)
Surgivision Inc.

_______________

______________________________________

AMERICAN / ALGERIAN-AMERICAN

Abu Dhabi Mina Plaza Demolishing Enters Guinness World Records. Gone in 10 secs : December 2020

MODON Properties, Abu Dhabi based integrated master-developer claimed a Guinness World Record title for controlled demolition of a 165.032m tall building, making it the ‘Tallest building demolished using explosives 13,227 pounds (6,000 kg) , all safely carried out.

A total of 144-floors, the 4-high rise towers were demolished in approximately 10-seconds through a controlled imploding using non-primary explosives placed in 18,000 drill holes within the structure.

______________

The Mina Plaza Towers / Openvibes by Safeer/YouTube / pix: interestingengineering.com

_______________________________________________

Abu Dhabi , UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E.)

Hiam Abbass – Actress and Director

Hiam Abbas (aka) Hiyam Abbassa. Actress. Film Director.

Hollywood Film, TV shows. French Films

Awards/ International Participation :

Best performance by an actress ‘Asia Pacific Awards’ (2008)
Member, Jury of the Main Competition, 2012 Cannes Film Festival

Born in Nazareth, Israel. Arab citizen of Israel.

_____________

_________________________________

ISRAEL (Arab Israeli) / FRENCH

Yazeed Al-Rajhi – Saudi Businessman and Rally Driver

Yazeed Al-Rajhi. Business man. International Rally Driver.

Competes in World Rally Championships, Cross Country rallies and other rally events.

Established his own racing team – Al-Rajhi Racing Team (renamed) Yazeed Racing Team.

Some of his wins:

5 time Hail Rally Winner
Silk Way Rally (2018)
Saudi Desert Rally Championship (2019)
Al Sharqiya Rally (2018, 2019) etc…

Businessman:

Chairman of the Board – Mohammed Al-Rajhi Investment Company
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Brothers Holding company
Member, Al-Rajhi Steel
Member, Mohammed Al- Rajhi Awqaf

Other Accompolishments:

First Saudi and Arab professional driver to win the Silk Way Rally (2018). The 6,700 miles rally took place in Russia (between July 21st and July 27th).
First Saudi to be selected by Unicef as ‘Goodwill Ambassador in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf’ (2008)
First Saudi to be appointed as ‘Donate life’ Ambassador (2009)
Awarded title ‘ Gentleman’ by Rotana magazine readers (2009)
Third in position by ‘Mobily and Riyadiah’ as ‘Most Distinguished Athlete in Saudi Arabia competion
Awarded title ‘Ambassador for Fighting Drugs in Saudi Arabia’ etc..

__________

________________

SAUDI ARABIA