Dr Ausaf Sayeed's Web Page

1) Recipient of Shri Y.G.K.Murthy Gold Medal for securing first rank in M.Sc. (Geology) in Osmania University (1988).

2) Junior Research Fellowship of CSIR (1988)

3) Recipient of Madina Gold Medal for academic accomplishment (1989)

4) FAQR-E-HYDERABAD (PRIDE OF HYDERABAD) AWARD  1998 - From the Hindustani Bazm-e-Urdu, Riyadh

5) Competent Toastmaster (CTM) from Toastmasters International - 2001

Books/Publications

a) Books : (i) ‘Trends in Objective Geology for Civil Services and Other Competitive Examinations’  - CBS Publishers, New Delhi ( First Edition,1990; Second Edition, 1995).

He is also working on two other books, "Haj: an Indian Experience through Ages" and “Indian Rubats, Madarsas and Wakfs in the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah”.

b) Research paper : 'Petrology and Petrogenesis of Syenites from the Cuddapah Basin, Andhra Pradesh', Journal , Geological Society of India, Volume 43, March 1994, pp 225-237

c) Publications : Published several articles on general and science topics in magazines and newspapers of repute.

Dr Ausaf Sayeed is an Arab by descent with affiliation to the Al-Musalli (Al-Yafayee) clan. His grand-father (father's father), Sayeed bin Abdullah, served as a State Treasurer under the Sultan of Mokallah (Hadramaut) in Yemen during early 1900s. Owing to social turmoil, he along with several other members of the Court of Mokallah, migrated to Hyderabad and joined the services of H.E.H. the Nizam of Hyderabad in the State Treasury.

Dr Ausaf Sayeed has been brought up in a literary atmosphere right from childhood. His father Janab Awaz Sayeed (late) was a renowned Urdu writer and humorist of the Indian sub-continent who has published 7 books in Urdu. His uncle, Dr Mughni Tabassum is a well-known Urdu poet and critic who was formerly Head, Department of Urdu, Osmania University. Dr Ausaf Sayeed's mother, Mrs Kaneez Fatima, also has an M.A. in Urdu Literature, while his aunt Mrs Siddiqua Shabnam, now based in London, is a well-known poetess in Urdu.

Dr Ausaf Sayeed was married to a Hyderabadi girl, Farha, an accomplished egg artist and painter on February 15, 1991. They couple have three sons, Faateh (16 yrs), Faaleh (13 yrs) and Azhaan (9 years).
 

Professional Career Profile

Dr Ausaf Sayeed is a career diplomat belonging to the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), 1989 Batch. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in August 1989 and worked in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi  from 1990-91. His first diplomatic assignment was in Egypt as Third Secretary (Language Trainee) from 1991-1993. He served as the Regional Passport Officer, Hyderabad from May 1993-January 1995.  Thereafter he served in different capacities in various Indian diplomatic missions, mainly in the Gulf and the Middle East - Jeddah (as Consul for Commercial & Haj Affairs during 1995/1996), Riyadh (as Second/First Secretary {Economic & Commercial} during 1996-1998), Qatar (as First Secretary {Economic & Commercial}during 1998-2001) and Denmark ( as Counsellor {Political & Commercial}from 2001-2004). He is serving as Consul General of India, Jeddah since August, 2004.

 Economic & Commercial Work

 He was mainly involved in substantive Economic & Commercial work during his assignments with the Indian Diplomatic Missions abroad. He was associated with the Indo-Saudi Joint Commission Meetings in New Delhi and Riyadh (1997/2006), Third Round of WTO Talks in Doha (2001) and the India-EU Business Summit in Copenhagen (2002). He has launched several business groupings and networks within the GCC countries to develop trade and economic relations between India and these countries. Some of these business and other groupings include the Indian Business Network (Riyadh -1996/97), the Professionals of India, Saudi Arabia (POISA), Dammam (1996/97), the Indian Business and Professional Network (IBPN), Qatar (1998), the Saudi Indian Business Network (SIBN), Jeddah (2005), the Indo-Saudi Medical Forum (ISMF), Jeddah (2006) and the Indian Education Council (IEC), Jeddah (2006). He was also instrumental in starting the ‘Asian Economic Club’ in Riyadh (1996-98), which comprised of Commercial Officers, of the Asian Countries.

He was instrumental in preparing several market studies, analyses and reports during his long stint as commercial officer in various missions. He also organized several talks, seminars and symposia on various topics of interest to India.

He coordinated the Indian Embassy’s participation in various exhibitions held in Qatar such as the "Global Village" International Exhibition (January 2000), Qatar International Exhibition for Education, Training and Development (April, 2000) and the International Information Exhibition organised by the Qatar University (May, 2000). 

He also edited several monthly economic newsletters of the Embassy such as ‘India on the Move’ (1996-98) in Riyadh, ‘Indian Business Review’ (1998-2001) in Doha, Qatar and ‘India Folio’ (2001-2004) in Denmark.  In addition, he brought out special economic publications ‘India-EU Relations’ (2002), ‘India & Denmark Review 2003’ (August 2003) and ‘India-Saudi Arabia in Focus’ (January 2006).

Cultural Work           

Dr Ausaf Sayeed has been a patron of art, culture and literature and worked tirelessly to promote India’s rich cultural heritage abroad. He was associated with the inauguration of the Maulana Azad Cultural Centre in Cairo (1992).  In 1997, he organised the "Satyajit Ray: in retrospect", as one-week film festival of Satyajit Ray’s films in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  As Coordinator of the Indian Cultural Centre in Qatar, he was instrumental in organising several cultural and literal events. In 1999, he organised a 9-day festival ‘India Week in Qatar’ in association with National Council of Culture, Art and Heritage in Qatar in which several leading artists from India participated. In 2003, he organised joint Painting Exhibitions and Workshops involving ten renowned Indian and Danish painters in various cities in Denmark.

During his tenure as the Consul General of India in Jeddah, he organised the first-ever ‘India Festival in Jeddah’ (September 2005), followed by the ‘First Asian Festival in Jeddah’ (October 2006) and the ‘First Asian Film Festival’ (February 2008). He also coordinated the participation of India for the first time in the ‘Ramadan around the World’ festival organised by the Saudi authorities.  He was also closely involved with the formation of the first Saudi-India Friendship Society in 2006 under the patronage of Saudi Ministry of Information and Culture. He has also been actively involved in organising the Saudi-India Civil Society Dialogue and the Saudi-India Cultural Festivals.  He formed the ‘Asian Consuls’ General Club’ (ACGC) in Jeddah in 2005, which comprised of CGs of 13 Asian countries. He was also instrumental in the publication of a useful book by the Indian Consulate on ‘Historic Indo-Arab Ties’ (September 2005).

He is a great patron of Urdu language and literature and was instrumental in organising several Mushairas (poetry sessions), seminars, symposia, humorous sessions and Ghazal programmes.  The Annual Urdu Mushaira in Jeddah, which was conceived by him in 1996, has since become a prestigious Urdu event for leading poets of India. The Jeddah Mushaira is being organised continuously for the past 12 years, the last five Mushairas were organised under his direct supervision.  He has also instrumental in organising several Mushairas and Urdu literary events in Riyadh and Doha, Qatar during his previous postings. He is also organising an International Urdu Conference in Jeddah in June 2008 in association with Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU). He was the main architect behind the introduction of external Urdu examinations of MANUU in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the benefit of NRIs.

Dr Ausaf Sayeed has rich experience of public dealing and Hajj management. He brought in considerable improvements in the Hajj management, which won wide acclaim and the Indian Hajj Mission was conferred with ISO-9001 certification.
 

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