FIRST WOMEN ONLY CALL CENTRE OPENS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Jeddah Dec 26 (Islam on Rise): Saudi women, who are prohibited by society from living or working independently without written permission from a male guardian, will now be part of a first-of-its-kind "women-only" call centre in the country.
Kanoo Travel, one of the leading travel management companies in the Middle East, said 20 female employees have undergone telephone operation training as the company started a "ladies-only" call centre, Xinhua quoted Arab News as saying.
"Kanoo Travel is also one of the first travel companies in the country to introduce exclusive ladies centres," said Ali Abdullah Kanoo, the company's director.
The call centre has earned praise from the company's clients.
Saudi females - who make up to nine million of the kingdom's 18.5 million people - are subject to a guardian system which prohibits any woman from driving, travelling or living independently without written permission from a male guardian who could be either her husband, father or brother.
Over the years, working as a teacher in girls-only schools was the only job sanctioned for Saudi women, but recently there has been a growing number of Saudi professional women and female doctors.
"Saudi Arabia is a very important market. Over the past few years, our business has grown tremendously in the country," said another company official, Othman Al-Ghamdi.

PREPARATION UNDERWAY FOR INTERNATIONAL TABLIGHI IJTIMA TO BE HELD IN BHOPAL

Bhopal Dec 21, 2010 (Islam on Rise): Preparations are underway on a war-footing for the three-day 63rd “Aalami Tableeghi Ijtima” (World Preachers Congregation) to be held here from December 25 to 27 on the outskirts of Bhopal atGhasipura in Eintkhedi village in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The Ijtima will conclude on December 27 with mass “Dua” (prayer).
The huge main “pandal” is coming up on about 25 acres of land to accommodate the Jamaats (Groups ofdevotees) from all over India. In the main “pandal” several lakh people will camp for three days listeningto the holy sermons of Islamic scholars as how to inculcate the good values in life following the Islamictenets in order to lead an upright life in this world and thereby be rewarded with Jannat-ul-FirdausHereafter.
On the second day separate special religious discourses will be held during the conclave for intellectuals,traders, farmers, students etc. and the participants would be asked to follow the Islamic religious tenets intheir spirit apart from the message for universal brotherhood. Prominent “Akabreens”(Tableeghi elders)who will address the gatherings include: Maulana Zubair, Maulana Sa’ad, Maulana Yunus, MaulanaAhmed Laat, Maulana Yousuf, Prof. Nadir Ali etc.
Special arrangement for the deaf and dumb
Meanwhile, a special feature of the Ijtima is special arrangements for deaf and dumb people who come inJamaats from all over the country and are housed separately. The sermons from the main “pandal” aretranslated to them in sign language. Their disability does not come in their way to leave their home andhearth to learn and inculcate the basic teachings of Islam to become righteous Muslims.
Mass marriage
Hundreds of couples will get married during the Ijtima when mass Nikaah will be performed in a simplemanner in the spirit of Islam by the elders of the Tableeghi Jamaat.
According to Mr Ateeq-ul-Islam, spokesman and member of the organizing committee of the TableeghiIjtima foreign delegates from 20-25 Muslim countries and the West are likely to join the congregation. TheJamaats from foreign countries will be housed in specially erected tents furnished with all moder facilities. Jamaats from Russia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have already arrived in thecity and from many more other countries are expected to reach before the commencement of the Ijtima.
Mr Ateeq told this Correspondent that the preparations are in the final stages and all arrangements shall be complete by December 22 and the Jamaats would start arriving at the site of the Ijtima on December 24.
Security measures
He also informed that extra security measures are being taken with nothing being left to chance. While within the Ijtima campus Tableeghi Jamaat volunteers will keep a tight vigil on security while outside and around the Ijtima venue the cadres of Madhya Pradesh Police will do their job of maintaining law and
order. In a bid to boost security in and around the venue CCTVs are being installed at strategic points.
Police have set up watchtowers and hundreds of policemen will be present on the spot. Apart from police, the personnel of Rapid Action Force, (RAF), the Traffic police will be in attendance along with hundreds of volunteers of Tableeghi Jamaat to streamline the vehicular traffic. Special buses will be plying between the Capital and Eintkhedi village to take citizens to the venue.
CM reviews preparations
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan while reviewing preparations of the Ijtima at a meeting instructed officials to make elaborate arrangements for the forthcoming religious conclave.
Addressing the officials, Chouhan said that best possible arrangements should be ensured for the visiting Jamaats and directed officials of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, (BMC), to repair the roads, which connect the city to the Ijtima venue at Ghasipura-Eintkhedi.
BMC officials informed that better facilities were being arranged at the event site with the budget of Rs. 23 lakh. The officials of PWD told the meeting that repair work for 22 sq km road falling in the Ijtima area, has been undertaken with the cost of Rs. 1.74 crore. MP State Electricity Board officials informed that 200 KVA supply is being ensured at the site.
Medical facilities would also be made available at the Ijtima site and ambulances with all the necessary health care equipments would be stationed at the event site. Railway officials informed that a computerized reservation centre would be established for the visitors and additional coaches would be attached to various trains.
It may be recalled here that the Ijtima was first organized at Masjid Shakoor Khan in the walled city in 1948.