First Birthday Cake for Al-Youm Al-Tali

There are about 30 newspapers published in Sudan. Publishing a newspaper is a major challenge in Sudan. Most of the newspapers have faced upheavals at some point of time. Even newcomer Al-Youm Al-Tali was not spared.

Muzammil Abulgasim Editor-in-Chief of Al-Youm Al-Tali had the tenacity to make his Arabic daily increase its readership day by day. Today it is one of the most popular print medium dailies.

On 14^th April’14 the newspaper lit the first candle and cut the cake of its first birthday. The grand celebrations were well deserved amidst the Ministers, Politicians, Diplomats, Artists, Footballers and celebrities of every walk of life.

Thanks to their journalist Mahmoud Aldnou who invited me to their first anniversary at Corinthia Hotel. I was amazed at the popularity of the successful young media chief Muzrammil Abulgasim.

Indian Ambassador meets Governor Ahmed Haroun at Al Ubbayid

If one searches the name of the capital of North Kordofan in the internet, one will get two spellings, Al Ubbayid and El Obeid. The Ambassador of India prefers the former because it sounds more Arabic.

The Ambassador of India H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma visited Al Ubbayid on 9^th & 10^th April on an invitation from the Wali of North Kordofan, Moulana Ahmed Haroun. The Ambassador met the Wali and his cabinet and discussed fruitful ways to deepen and enhance cooperation. Subjects of special interest included agriculture, health, water resources, sanitation and capacity building. Issues of ecological degradation were discussed with India’s possible assistance. Rain water harvesting was discussed with models for access to public services and India’s experience. Ambassador Verma offered training courses to be provided to the Sudanese citizens in North Kordofan.

The Ambassador visited an edible oil mill and a vocational training center. A dinner was hosted by the alumni of Indian universities in the city. The former graduates found it very nostalgic and memorable.

The Indian Ambassador travelled by road and enjoyed the journey, singing his favourite Indian film songs.

Big Things in Small Package

Barcelos of flame griIled chicken fame has opened its second branch in Khartoum in Street 15 Al Amarat. The Portuguese flavor is spreading in Sudan. The first opening was in Al Safa, Ebeid Khatim Street in Khartoum almost a year back. Chetan Kamble was the Restaurant Manager from the beginning. Chetan is now managing the new branch. Small sized young man Chetan from Mumbai is Veri Peri himself.

Tourism in Sudan

The Second International Tourism & Marketing Exhibition in Sudan was inaugurated on 6th April ’14 at Burri Fair Ground, Khartoum. The Minister of Tourism, Antiquities & Wildlife Dr (Eng.) Mohammed Abdul Karim Al-Had has supervised the exhibition which will be held from 6th to 10 April’14. The dignitaries present at the opening were Vice President of Sudan Lt.Gen. Bakri Hassan Saleh, Ethiopian Minister of Culture and Tourism Ms.Tadelech Dalecho and Prince Bandar Bin Fahd al Fahid President of the Arab Tourism Organization along with other Ministers, Ambassadors and Diplomats. The Ethiopian Tourism Minister expressed her commitment for collaboration in Tourism between Ethiopia and Sudan and that's a very good idea. My humble suggestion to Tourism Minister Dr.(Eng.) Mohamed Abdul Karim Al-Had is to first promote Sudanese Tourism to Sudanese citizens. How many families in Khartoum State or Gezira state have actually visited Bejrawiya? Not to speak of Naga , Jebel Barakal, Kareema or Jebel Taka in Kassala. Sudanese citizens should get an incentive to visit the places of tourism in Sudan. When will Dinder Game Park be ready and attractive for tourists? Once the people of Sudan take pride in their own tourism they will start promoting it. Tourist operators in Egypt and Ethiopia will then collaborate with Sudanese Tourist operators. Foreigners visiting Egypt and Ethiopia as tourists will also include Sudan in their itinerary.

    

Consistency in excellent customer service determines Sustainabilty

How do entrepreneurs or start-up companies sustain their business?
In the present downturn in the economy, sustainability is critical for any business or social organization. The answer is Consistency in Products and Services. This holds good for any industry or organization.
Given that the quality of product is consistent the only determining factor for your customers to keep coming back to you is excellent customer service. Good Customer Service is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business won’t be profitable for long.Take restaurants for example. We have seen so many restaurants closing down in the past few years in Khartoum. Amwaj is one restaurant in Africa street which has sustained its business since many years. The only attribute for its sustainability is Consistency in the quality of its food and services.
The prices of their products have gone up two fold yet the customers keep coming back to Amwaj because of quick and quality service.
If you take home a lunch pack from Amwaj you will notice their pay-off line ‘ WE ALWAYS LOOK FOR GOOD SERVICES’. My humble suggestion to Amwaj is to change their slogan to ‘WE ALWAYS OFFER THE BEST OF SERVICES’ because it’s the customers who look for good services and the restaurant has to offer it. Consistently.

First Asian Festival in Khartoum Sudan

Asia, the world’s largest and most populous continent had for the first time a cultural festival in Khartoum,Sudan It was co-hosted by the Embassies of the Asian countries in Khartoum namely China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Pakistan. The food and handicraft bazaar along with the cultural show was held on Friday, 28th March’14 from 5pm till 10pm at the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Holiday Villa Hotel. More than 1800 visitors turned up from both Sudanese and Asian families. The food stalls had to replenish stocks of their delicious Asian cuisine and the handicraft bazaar was always crowded. The dances and musical performances of each of the above countries kept the audience entertained. A Sudanese member from the audience remarked that she liked the glamorous dresses worn by the dancers of China and Japan; tapped her toes with the fast ‘Bolywood’ song to which a small Indian girl danced and found the musical instruments Guzheng of China and Angklung of Indonesia very intriguing. She also got her Arabic name written in the Japanese script and last but not least she won a prize in the hourly Lucky Draw. I had posted photographs of the performances of various nations in my Facebook. I have selected this picture of the Chinese dance only because it received the maximum 'likes'. Jai Hind !

Sheikh Abdurahim Al-Bura’i

 Thanks and congratulations to my colleague Dr. AlMudather Abulgasim. He invited me to the prize giving ceremony at Friendship Hall,Khartoum.He won a prize for his poetry.I also got to witness a wonderful opera performed by local artists. The opera was a tribute to the Sheikhs of Sudan particularly a homage to Sheikh Abdurahim Al-Bura’i.Here are some pictures of the event