New leadership for World Malayalee Council
At the forefront of this renewed vision is Dr. Isaac John Pattaniparambil, who assumes charge as Global Chairman. A distinguished journalist and public intellectual with over five decades of service in the UAE's media landscape, Dr. Isaac currently serves as Managing Editor of Khaleej Times, one of the Gulf region's most influential English-language newspapers. His leadership promises a period of strategic expansion and inclusive engagement rooted in experience and deep diaspora insight.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dr. Isaac is no newcomer to WMC, having previously served as Global Chairman and President (2012–2018), as well as Global Ambassador and Advisory Board Chair. His longstanding association with the Council has been pivotal in shaping its international growth and identity. Under his renewed stewardship, WMC is expected to further broaden its influence across its 78 provinces in 30 countries, while fostering innovative collaborations and elevating the global Malayalee narrative.
Joining him in steering the Council forward is Baby Mathew Somatheeram, elected as the Global President. An acclaimed figure in Kerala's tourism sector, Baby Mathew is Chairman of Somatheeram Group of Resorts, known internationally for pioneering Ayurveda tourism and sustainable hospitality practices. Within WMC, he has held several key positions and is known for his strategic vision, grassroots orientation, and commitment to youth engagement and entrepreneurial development.
Other key appointments include Moosa Koya (General Secretary, Al Kobar), Thomas Chellath (Treasurer, Dallas), and Johnny Kuruvilla (Global Goodwill Ambassador, Muscat). The leadership team also features Dr. Sasi Nadakkal (Kollam) as Vice President (Administration), further reinforcing a leadership mix that blends experience with fresh perspectives.
The event was graced by prominent dignitaries, including Ramesh Chennithala, former Kerala Home Minister and State Congress President; Ambassador T.P. Sreenivasan, veteran diplomat; P.H. Kurian, former Additional Chief Secretary of Kerala; and Sanjeev Joseph, Kerala MLA. In their congratulatory addresses, the guests lauded the incoming leadership for their integrity, commitment, and vision, and expressed confidence in WMC's role as a unifying platform for Malayalees worldwide.
The new leadership team is expected to focus on key strategic areas, including cross-cultural dialogue, professional networking, and philanthropic outreach. Plans are already underway to amplify WMC's participation in international forums, scale up educational initiatives, and drive social impact projects across regions with significant Malayalee presence.
Representing a global diaspora known for its resilience, talent, and cultural depth, WMC's 2025–2027 team embodies the Council's founding ideals of unity, service, and purpose. With an inclusive and forward-looking agenda, the organisation stands poised to strengthen its role as a beacon of Malayalee identity and excellence on the world stage.
Also published on Medium.
Notice an issue? Arabian Post strives to deliver the most accurate and reliable information to its readers. If you believe you have identified an error or inconsistency in this article, please don't hesitate to contact our editorial team at editor[at]thearabianpost[dot]com. We are committed to promptly addressing any concerns and ensuring the highest level of journalistic integrity.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Emirates 24/7
11 hours ago
- Emirates 24/7
UAE serves as model in advancing women's leadership
The UAE has developed a comprehensive framework for women's empowerment, adopting a systematic approach to address challenges, expand opportunities and prepare women for leadership across multiple sectors. These efforts have strengthened the country's competitiveness regionally and globally. National entities, such as the UAE Gender Balance Council and Dubai Women Establishment, have contributed significantly to developing Emirati women's leadership capacities and facilitating their advancement to senior posts in both the public and private sectors, in cooperation with leading international organisations. Speaking to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), Mouza Mohammed Al Ghuwais Al Suwaidi, Secretary-General of the UAE Gender Balance Council, said that the Council is intensifying efforts to increase women's participation in the private sector and raise their representation in leadership positions. This, she said, is being achieved through strategies and initiatives aimed at creating inclusive and balanced workplaces, in partnership with strategic stakeholders from both public and private sectors. She highlighted that a number of national and international companies operating in the UAE have joined the 'SDG 5 Pledge to Accelerate Women's Leadership in the UAE Private Sector'. These companies have voluntarily committed to raising women's representation in middle and senior management roles to at least 30 percent by 2025 for the first group, and by 2028 for the second group of companies that have recently joined the initiative. The UAE Gender Balance Council Strategy 2026 aims to further reduce the gender gap across all sectors, enhance the UAE's ranking in global competitiveness reports on gender equality and achieve gender balance in decision-making positions, as well as promote the UAE's status as a benchmark for gender balance legislation. In this context, the UAE ranked first regionally and 13th globally in the 2025 Gender Inequality Index published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Naeema Ahli, CEO of Dubai Women Establishment, said that advancing Emirati women's leadership remains one of the organisation's key priorities. She noted that the Establishment continues to design and implement advanced training programmes to build leadership skills for women across sectors, while also preparing them for senior roles in international organisations through specialised programmes developed with global institutions and universities with expertise in executive and leadership education. She added that these programmes aim not only to provide women with modern leadership knowledge and skills, but also to strengthen their understanding of leadership dynamics in changing work environments and build their confidence in decision-making roles.
Al Etihad
a day ago
- Al Etihad
Ministry of Education announces full readiness for academic year 2025-2026, removes centralised tests at end of second semester
19 Aug 2025 18:54 ABU DHABI (WAM) The Ministry of Education (MoE), in cooperation with the UAE Government Media Office, held a media briefing in the presence of Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of Education, to outline its key preparations and development plans for the academic year 2025–2026, in line with national briefing was also attended by Mohammed Al Qassim, Under-Secretary of MoE; Sulaiman Al Kaabi, Assistant Under-Secretary for the Professional Development Sector; and Amna Al Saleh, Acting Assistant Under-Secretary for the Curriculum and Assessment Sector, along with representatives of local media Amiri confirmed that since January, the MoE has been developing proactive plans to ensure public schools' readiness for the academic year 2025–2026, covering all aspects from facilities to advanced curricula. She noted that this year will introduce qualitative updates to boost the competitiveness of national education, including fundamental changes to the assessment tests at the end of the second semester have been removed and replaced with school-based summative assessments, with centralised tests remaining only in the first and third semesters. The new system optimises school days, diversifies student performance assessment tools, enhances learning quality and teaching methods, promotes student wellbeing and adjusts semester weights in line with the updated Amiri highlighted the approval of the second phase of the project-based learning and assessment (PBLA) system, now covering all Cycle 2 students in public and private schools applying the MoE follows the success of phase one, which engaged 127,500 students across 350 also noted the development of the national testing system through a new standardised proficiency test to measure Arabic, English and mathematics skills for grades 4–11 in public schools, with the first phase expected to include 26,000 Amiri reiterated the Ministry's focus on strengthening national identity through Arabic language and Islamic education as the foundation of student character. The new plan increases teaching time for both subjects in kindergarten and dedicates daily hours for Cycle-1 students to reinforce Arabic reading and writing, achieved by redistributing class periods without extending school Arabic baseline assessment will also be introduced in Grade 1 across 100 public and private schools to establish standard levels, enabling tailored support programmes to enhance linguistic skills and steadily raise proficiency, reflecting the Ministry's commitment to placing national identity at the core of operational readiness, Al Amiri announced the opening of nine new schools across several emirates, which will welcome over 25,000 students, supported by more than 800 new teachers. More than 460 schools have been maintained and equipped, 5,500 buses allocated, more than 10 million textbooks printed, and 47,000 laptops Qasim highlighted the Ministry's efforts to enhance students' quality of life through the new Physical Education, Sports and Health Programme in public schools. The first phase of the initiative promotes a healthy, sustainable lifestyle by improving school health environments, organising sports tournaments, restructuring PE classes, and introducing healthy Qasim reiterated the Ministry's continued commitment to partnership with parents and educational cadres, emphasising their important role in shaping the national education system. This year, a participatory educational vision was developed to enhance their involvement in part of this, Ta'aleem Councils are being restructured: the School Leadership Council will have 14 members, the Teachers Council 14 members, and the Young Teachers Council seven members. Additionally, 520 Parents' Councils, representing 6,140 members nationwide, will be activated to contribute to MoE decisions and announced the MoE's educational campaign, 'From Skill to Leadership,' engaging educators, parents and the community. The campaign aims to develop students' skills and transform them into achievements through three pillars: exploration, creating inspiring school environments to discover talent; development, enhancing skills via strategic partnerships and advanced training; and excellence, encouraging participation in local and international programmes will launch in the first month: 'My Inspiring Family' involving parents, and 'Inspiring People in the Field,' both designed to motivate students on their educational MoE confirmed that the coming academic year will see the introduction of its nationally developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) curriculum – the first of its kind in the UAE – providing lessons from both local and international communities on integrating AI into education. Approximately 1,000 teachers will implement the curriculum across all grades, aiming to prepare students to use AI responsibly and effectively in daily and future initiative will offer practical insights on harnessing AI in education, helping to shape local educational policies and contribute to the global discussion on the future of Ministry of Education continues to enhance the capabilities of its educational cadres through advanced training programmes. More than 23,000 educators participated in a specialised training week, totalling around 170 hours across 40 workshops for leaders and teachers and 20 workshops for support positions. In the next academic year, the Educational Competency Assessment Project will target more than 12,000 cadres across kindergarten and Cycle 1 levels and 11,000 cadres across Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 in order to define clear career paths and empower staff in line with national education system requirements.
Arabian Business
2 days ago
- Arabian Business
GCC national income hits $2.14tn in 2023 as exports fall 7 per cent
The value of gross national income (GNI) across Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries stood at $2.143tn in 2023, according to the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat). This represents a 2.7 per cent decrease from $2.203tn in 2022. The region's disposable national income, available for consumption and savings after taxes and transfers, reached $1.989tn, down 3 per cent from $2.515tn the previous year. Meanwhile, the non-oil sector's value-added rose to $513bn, while the oil sector contributed $603.5bn at current prices. The non-oil sector's contribution to GCC GDP climbed to 71.5 per cent by the end of 2023, compared with 65 per cent in 2022, reflecting an annual growth rate of 6.4 per cent. GCC economy sector performance Mining and quarrying remained the largest contributor to the GCC economy over the past five years, averaging 28.3 per cent of GDP Manufacturing was the leading activity within the non-oil sector, averaging 11.7 per cent In 2023, financial and insurance activities posted the highest growth at 11.7 per cent, followed by transport and storage (11.6 per cent), real estate (8.1 per cent), public administration and defense (7.9 per cent), wholesale and retail trade (7.6 per cent), and education (5.5 per cent) Mining and quarrying contracted by 18.8 per cent, while manufacturing slipped 0.7 per cent GCC economy expenditure breakdown Exports of goods and services were valued at $1.259tn, making up 59.5 per cent of GDP, though declining 7.1 per cent year-on-year Final consumption expenditure — by households, non-profits, and government — rose 7.5 per cent to $1.245tn Total capital formation reached $601.8bn, up 5.5 per cent The data underscores the GCC's growing reliance on non-oil sectors to drive economic growth, even as global market conditions weigh on hydrocarbons.
