ABU DHABI // A select group of pupils will ask India's first female president today about women's empowerment and the challenges of leading the world's biggest democracy.
Pratibha Patil, the 12th Indian president, is on a four-day state visit. She will make a brief stop at the Abu Dhabi Indian School for an hour this morning to talk to the young people and watch several dance performances.
"I feel really lucky that even living outside India, I get to meet the president," said Sania Zia, 17, the student "head girl", a leader of the student body.
A handful of the children were picked to meet with Mrs Patil for eight minutes, after she delivers a lecture.
"We did some research and combined that with our curiosities," Sania said.
Queries also will include the president's expectations of Indian youth.
Rimna Fathima, 17, and Akanksha Bindal, 16, both assistant head girls, will perform a traditional Arabic dance.
"I am not nervous about the dance," Rimna said. "I am just nervous about meeting her."
Although the Abu Dhabi Indian School has more than 5,000 pupils, only 1,000 were selected to listen to the speech, given the size of the auditorium.The children who were selected are from Grade 4 onwards. Of the 1,000, 150 are from 20 other Indian schools across the UAE, according to Vijay Mathu, the school's principal. Teachers selected the pupils based on academic aptitude.
"We are deeply honoured that the president has chosen our school to address a wide spectrum of students," Mr Mathu said. "There are over 80 or 90 schools, but we are one of the oldest and biggest schools in the capital."
One young student also hopes for a chance to ask Mrs Patil about the pressures of being a president.
"I would like to ask her many things like, 'Is it a lot of pressure?'" said Shyam Hari, 10, a Grade 5 student from Our Own High School in Dubai's Al Warqa'a area. "I would like to ask her about her responsibilities and whether it is a nice job and if she likes it. I think it will be really cool to see the president of a country."
Two other students, Austin Mendonca and Shreyas Eswaran, said they read about the president's visit in the newspapers. They are excited to be among 10 students from Grade 5 and 6 who will represent the school at the meeting.
"The fact that I will be meeting a president is hugely exciting," said Austin, 10. "She is a really important person and I have read that she has come here to improve relations with the UAE."
Shreyas thought it would be interesting to meet a senior political figure. "It is an honour," said the nine-year-old student. "It is difficult now [to be a politician] because there are always so many controversies, but a president is above all that. I'm a class monitor and I know about discipline so it will be great to see a president."
For the pupils who will not be joining in the president's festivities, "school is on" as usual, Mr Mathu said. "Once she leaves, even the ones participating in the cultural programmes will be going back to their classes." .
sbhattacharya@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Ramola Talwar Badam
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Based: Tunisia
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Install an air filter in your home.
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Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
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Company profile
Name: Tharb
Started: December 2016
Founder: Eisa Alsubousi
Based: Abu Dhabi
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DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
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- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
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Squads
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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if you go
The flights
Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.
The tour
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About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
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Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
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Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
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Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
If you go
The flights
Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes.
The car
Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals. A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.
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Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes.
More info
To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com. Good guidebooks include the Lonely Planet guides to Northern California and Washington, Oregon & the Pacific Northwest.
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1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
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Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
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Six pitfalls to avoid when trading company stocks
Following fashion
Investing is cyclical, buying last year's winners often means holding this year's losers.
Losing your balance
You end up with too much exposure to an individual company or sector that has taken your fancy.
Being over active
If you chop and change your portfolio too often, dealing charges will eat up your gains.
Running your losers
Investors hate admitting mistakes and hold onto bad stocks hoping they will come good.
Selling in a panic
If you sell up when the market drops, you have locked yourself out of the recovery.
Timing the market
Even the best investor in the world cannot consistently call market movements.