IN BRIEF

India flag hoisting ceremony tomorrow

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: All nationals and friends of India in Brunei are invited to a flag-hoisting ceremony tomorrow at 8am to mark the country's 61st Republic Day tomorrow at 8am.The event will be held at the Chancery of the High Commission of India at Baitussyifaa, Simpang 40-22, Jalan Sungkai Akar, Bandar Seri Begawan, a press release from the High Commission stated.The function will start with the customary hoisting of the flag by the High Comissioner, followed by the singing of the Indian national anthem and reading of the President of India's message to Indian nationals by the High Commissioner.

8 awarded ICT diploma certificate

BRUNEI-MUARA: Eight civil servants from various ministries received their diploma on Saturday after completing their 11-month ICT Conversion Programme in Singapore last year. On hand to present the certificates was Dato Seri Paduka Hj Eusoff Agaki Hj Ismail, Deputy Minister at the Prime Ministers' Office and Chairman of the E-Government Leadership Forum (EGLF). The ICT Conversion Programme is a Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis, an 11-month full-time programme at the Institute of Systems Science, National University of Singapore (NUS). It was designed to equip participants with the technical knowledge and the latest IT skills that enable them to analyse, design and implement IT Solutions in the mobile, wireless and internet platforms. The training, which included four and a half months work attachment in renowned IT companies in Singapore, also provided opportunities for graduate-degree holders who are not in the IT field to explore new career paths in IT. Hj Azhar Hj Ahmad, the Director of E-Government National Centre (EGNC) in his remarks at the event expressed hopes that the acquired skills and knowledge will hopefully aspire that the participants to be able to contribute positively in the implementation of e-Government programmes and projects that are of citizen centric services and meet the requirements of the public and businesses.

Kg Pengkalan Batu Mosque clean-up

BRUNEI-MUARA: Pengkalan Batu and staff of the Department of Mosque Affairs, Ministry of Religious Affairs, on Friday conducted a cleaning campaign on the newly added section of the Kg Pengkalan Batu Mosque to ensure its cleanliness before it could be used by congregants to carry out their religious duties. "A mosque is a place where we carry out our religious obligations so it has to be suci (purified)," said Ustaz Hj Amir Hisham Hj Masri, the acting deputy director of the Mosque Affairs Department. He added that among the requirements to ensure an ideal solat (daily prayers) was achieved was to ensure that the place was clean. The staff used lightly saturated sand to rub and clean parts of the new section before a general cleaning was carried out, as practised in every tayammum (cleaning using sand or dust in place of water) ceremony, he said. Also assisting the cleaning activity was the mosque's takmir committee and several personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department who helped ease the cleaning works with their equipments.

The mosque is currently undergoing a renovation process which started on September 27, 2008 and is expected to be completed next month, stated a press release from the department. The project which cost more than $820,000, was designed to accomodate the increasing number of worshippers, the statement added. The Brunei Times