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Philippines imposes ban on workers to KuwaitKuwait’s Finance Minister Mariam Al-Aqeel said Kuwait plans to recruit domestic workers from other countries including India, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Nepal.

KUWAIT CITY: The Philip-pines has announced a total ban on the deployment of its workers to Kuwait after recent death of a Filipina domestic helper Jeanelyn Villavende.The total de-ployment ban would cover all newly hired workers – domestic workers, skilled workers, and professionals.

A partial deployment ban had been in place since Jan 3, a move that covered first time household service workers with overseas em-ployment certificates issued after 5 pm on Jan 3. The ban comes after an NBI autopsy revealed that Villavende (26) was raped before her employers beat her to death in Kuwait. The autopsy also showed that she had suffered from past physical abuse be-fore her death in Dec.The earlier autopsy report of the

Kuwaiti government did not mention rape nor indi-cations of past abuse, but Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra noted that both the Philippine and Kuwaiti reports pointed to the same cause of death, which was “trauma due to the infliction of injuries to the body.”

“The decision comes as a major shock and will cause heavy losses to offices of do-mestic helper recruitment that they will not be able to withstand,” Khaled Al Dakh-nan, the head of the Domes-tic Workers Offices’ Union, said. “We do not have alter-native plans. We need an im-mediate government move to resolve the issue,” he told

Kuwaiti TV channel. The channel quoted unidentified Kuwaiti sources as express-ing astonishment at the Phil-ippine move.

“The ban comes al-though Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his satisfaction with the swift measures taken by the Kuwaiti government in the murder case of the Filipina worker Jeanelyn Villaven-de,” one source said.

The sources added that Philippine labour officials are due to arrive in Kuwait soon for talks with repre-sentatives of the Philippine community in the country. In a response to the Philip-pine step, Kuwait’s Finance

Minister Mariam Al-Aqeel said Kuwait plans to re-cruit domestic workers from other countries including Nepal, Ethiopia, India and Indonesia. She explained that the move aims at pre-venting shortages in the re-quired numbers of domestic helpers. “The size of domes-tic workers in Kuwait are nearly 7.3 lakh. Compared with the overall number, the complaints filed by these workers are very few. Most of them are solved amica-bly,” the minister said.

In 2018, ties between Kuwait and the Philippines soured after the body of a Philippine housemaid was found inside her employers’ freezer. The row was shortly resolved after the two coun-tries reached an agreement regulating employment of domestics.

ABU DHABI: The UAE is all set to implement the follow-ing mega projects:AIN DUBAI: It’s the world’s tallest observation wheel. The first visitors will be able to take up a spot on “Ain Dubai” some time just ahead of the Expo 2020’s opening date on Oct 20, 2020. And they can get a bird’s eye view of the city from a height of 250 metres.

BURJ JUMEIRA: This new super-skyscraper will be located in Dubai’s Al Sufouh district. The main tower’s design is inspired by the harmonious ripples of the country’s desert sand dunes, as well as its flowing oases. The centerpiece will stand 550 metres tall. It will have multiple observation decks and offer unrivalled 360-degree views of Dubai’s landscape.

DISTRICT 2020: This is to ensure the legacy will

Mega projects planned in UAElive long after the Dubai Expo 2020 ends on April 10, 2021. Linked by a new Dubai Metro line, District 2020 has been carefully planned to support the UAE’s future vision by en-abling sustainable econom-ic development, moving to-wards an innovation-driven economy and creating a business environment that directly encourages prog-ress within key growth in-dustries.

DUBAI CREEK TOWER: Dubai Creek Harbour is six -sq-km development that will also feature the Dubai Creek Tower, which will be taller than the 828-metre Burj Khalifa tower when completed. The master de-velopment will also have hotels, green parks and gar-dens, cultural attractions, canals, pedestrian walk-ways, cycle paths, city bus routes and two Dubai Metro

links. Dubai Creek Tower is the centrepiece of the Dubai Creek Harbour. It is set to be-come the new, record-break-ing, tallest building in the world and is envisioned to become the next global icon.

HATTA HYDROELEC-TRIC PLANT: The Dh1.44-billion Hatta hydroelectric power plant is the first of its kind in the region. With a 250 MW generating capac-ity, the hydro-electric power plant will use the rainwater in Hatta Dam, stored in an upper reservoir — using so-lar powered pumps — that will be built in the moun-tain. The water acts as a sort of battery: when water falls, electricity is generated. The water can be used over and over again. It will also help achieve the goals of the Dubai Clean Energy 2050 to provide 75pc of Dubai’s to-tal power output from clean energy by 2050. With 192

countries confirmed to at-tend, the Expo 2020 Dubai will be a celebration of hu-man brilliance and achieve-ment. People connect from different corners of the world will connect, experi-ence the best of art, culture, geography, science, technol-ogy, innovation and inven-tion and set into motion millions of new thoughts and ideas that will make a lasting impact in our lives.

ABU DHABI MUSEUM: The Guggenheim Abu Dha-bi set to open in 2022, with permanent collections, ex-hibitions and educational programmes as well as bor-rowed pieces and visiting collections. It’s a logical ad-dition to The Louvre Abu Dhabi — an art and civili-zation museum — and the Zayed National Museum. These destinations will pile up architectural wonders to the (Contd. on page 2)

New labour reforms for expats in QatarDOHA: Qatar has announced that with immediate effect, exit permits will be removed for expatriates who are not currently subject to Qatar’s Labour Law. Qatar continues to strengthen its laws, ensur-ing policies are aligned with international labour stan-dards.

Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani issued the Decision No 95 of 2019, amending exit procedures and removing exit permits with immediate effect for expatriates who are not sub-ject to Qatar’s Labour Law.Categories

Under the new decision, expatriates employed in the following categories are free to leave Qatar either tempo-rarily or permanently during their employment contract:

1) Ministries and other government entities and public institutions.

2) Oil and gas companies.

3) Maritime companies.4) Agricultural companies.5) All other types of tem-

porary work.The new decision does

not apply to members of the Qatari armed forces.

Employers have the right to identify a maximum of five per cent of their work-force whose exit from Qatar will continue to require prior approval due to their high level of responsibility. Under the new decision, domestic workers subject to Law No 15 of 2017 are also free to leave the country either tem-porarily or permanently dur-ing their employment con-tract. To guarantee the rights of both employers and do-mestic workers, all domestic workers should notify their employer at least 72 hours prior to their departure.

“The new decision came in accordance with the pro-visions of the second para-graph of Article 7 of Law

No. 21 of 2015 regulating the entry and exit of expatriates and their residency,” Director General of Passports Director-ate in the Ministry of Interior Maj-Gen Mohammed Ahmed Al Ateeq stated adding that implementation of these measures is underway. Com-menting on abolishing exit permits, Assistant Undersec-retary for Labour Affairs at the Ministry of Administra-tive Development, Labour and Social Affairs Moham-med Hassan Al Obaidli said: “The government of Qatar has worked closely with local and international partners and has implemented vast reforms to strengthen labour laws and increase protection for expatriate workers, which has made Qatar a leader in the region. This decision is a declaration of our firm commitment to developing a modern system that is suits to the needs of both employ-ers and expatriate workers”

Jawed Ashraf next envoy to France?NEW DELHI: The Union government has cleared the appointment of outgoing Singapore High Commis-sioner Jawed Ashraf as the next ambassador to France, it was reliably learnt. How-ever, no official announce-ment has been made yet.

Ashraf, who has earlier served in the US, Germany and Nepal, is likely to suc-ceed Vinay Kwatra, a 1988 batch IFS officer, who has been sent to Nepal as a re-placement for superannu-ated Manjiv Puri. Ashraf has been given the assign-ment to further cement spe-cial strategic relations with France, an important ally of India, especially after his key role in strengthening Indo-Singapore ties. Ashraf

Jawed Ashraf

played a major role in de-veloping India’s strong part-

nership with Singapore as part of Prime Minister Mo-di’s Act East policy, leading to the implementation of key development projects at home like smart cities and skill development.

Rajeev (Contd. on page 2)

Amazon to create one million jobs in IndiaNEW DELHI: World’s larg-est online shopping plat-form Amazon has an-nounced plans to create one million new jobs in India over the next five years as it firefights comments from Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the firm not doing a favour to the country by making the investments.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, in a state-ment, said the company plans to create one million new jobs in India over the next five years. The new jobs -- created both direct-ly and indirectly—will be across industries, includ-ing IT, skill development, content creation, retail, lo-gistics, and manufacturing. These jobs are in addition to the seven lakh jobs Ama-zon’s investments have en-abled over the last six years in the country.

The statement comes a day after Goyal said the US-based company was not do-ing a favour to the country by the investments, and ques-tioned how the online retail-ing major could incur such

“big” losses but for its preda-tory pricing. Bezos, who is in India, had announced $ 1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore) investment in the country to help bring small and me-dium businesses online and committed to exporting $10 billion worth of India-made goods by 2025.

“We’ve seen huge contri-butions from our employ-ees, extraordinary creativity from the small businesses we’ve partnered with, and great enthusiasm from the customers who shop with us --- and we’re excited about what lies ahead,” Bezos said in the statement. The com-pany noted that the Indian government has prioritised job creation and skilling initiatives – including the training of more than 400 million people by 2022 – in rural and urban areas.

“Amazon’s job creation commitment and invest-ment in traders and micro, small and medium enter-prises (MSMEs) comple-ment these social inclusion and social mobility efforts by creating more opportu-

nities for people in India to find employment, build skills, and expand entre-preneurship opportunities,” the statement added.

The new investments will help hiring talent to fill roles across the company in India, including software de-velopment engineering, cloud computing, content creation, and customer support, it said. Since 2014, Amazon has grown its employee base more than four times, and last year inaugurated its new campus building in Hyderabad – Am-azon’s first fully-owned cam-pus outside the US and the largest building globally in terms of employees (15,000) and space (9.5 acres).

NRI businessman Thampi arrestedNEW DELHI: The ED has arrested NRI businessman CC Thampi, being probed for alleged forex violations

of over Rs 1,000 crore and other charges, under the anti-money laundering law. The central agency has been probing Thampi in a case of purchase of property in Kerala in alleged contraven-tion of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

A show cause notice of over Rs 1,000 crore was

CC Thampi

slapped by the ED against him in 2017. The Dubai-based businessman has also been summoned by the agency for questioning on his alleged links with Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhan-dari. Thampi has been ar-rested under the Preven-tion of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The firms that are being inves-tigated by the ED, as part of the two FEMA show-cause notices issued against him, include Holiday City Centre, Holiday Properties and Holiday Bekal Resorts. Agency sources had said the businessman was also under the scanner for his re-ported dealings with some politicians and bureaucrats.

Virus: travel caution to China NEW DELHI: Union of health ministry has issued a travel ad-visory for visiting China amid a mysterious virus outbreak in the country. As on Jan 11, 2020, as many as 41 confirmed cases have been reported of which one has died. Only travel related cases have been reported (one each) in Thailand and Japan. The clinical signs and symptoms are mainly fever with a few patients having difficulty in breathing. Mode of transmission is unclear. However, so far there is little evidence of significant human-to-human transmission. Although as per WHO, the risk for global spread has been stated as low, as a matter of abundant precaution, the travellers to China are advised caution.

2 EMIGRATION Tuesday, January 21, 2020

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DUBAI: Ministry of Educa-tion, Government of Gujarat, with support from consul-ate general of India, Dubai, organised an international road show and exhibition

under “Study in Gujarat” campaign here. The road-show was inaugurated by Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama in the presence of Consul General of India Vipul and Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical Education,

‘Study in Gujarat’ campaign in Dubai

Indian Consul General Vipul, Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and others at the “Study in Gujarat” campaign in Dubai.

Gujarat, Anju Sharma.As many as 22 partner

universities and four in-stitutes in Gujarat provid-ed information about the courses and curriculum of

various institutes of Guja-rat in the exhibition held simultaneously along with the roadshow. Educators, principals, teachers, parents and representatives from several schools and univer-sities in Dubai were present in large numbers during the

roadshow and exhibition. More than 700 students from various Indian schools of Dubai and Northern Emir-ates attended the exhibition.

In his inaugural address,

Consul General Vipul said: “It is for the first time that so many principals and teachers of Indian schools in Dubai have turned up under a sin-gle umbrella. I congratulate the government of Gujarat for making this event possible in order to enable the diaspora

to witness the developments happening back in India and Gujarat. This event will provide a fruitful opportu-nity to students in UAE and inspire them to study at vari-ous world class institutes of Gujarat.”

Principal Secretary (Edu-cation) Anju Sharma high-lighted that Gujarat is one of the fastest growing states in India contributing around eight per cent to India’s GDP and boasts of world class in-frastructure, premier higher education institutes, well established industries sec-tor, good connectivity and unique heritage and culture.

The government of Gu-jarat is encouraging inno-vative ideas and start-ups through policies like “Stu-dent Startup and Innovation Policy”. During the last 15 years the number of univer-sities in the state has grown from less than 10 to more than 75. The delegation will visit various schools and universities during the next two days like Delhi Private School, Indian High School, Skyline University, the Sharjah Indian School and Our Own English High School Dubai and Dubai University.

Missing US-Indian woman’s body found in her car trunkCHICAGO: A 34-year-old Illinois woman, who was reported missing since Dec 30, was found dead in the trunk of her car which was parked on a West Side Chicago street.

According to local re-ports, Sureel Dabawala of

Schaumburg had failed to return home on Dec 30. She had gone to work out at a gym not far from the Schaumburg home she shared with her parents. News reports say that Pri-vate investigators hired by Dabawala’s family located the Lexus and found her body wrapped in a blanket. Citing Chicago police, the news reports say that there were no signs of trauma to the body. There were no details provided on how the

Sureel Dabawala

body got into the trunk, the reports say, citing police. An autopsy has failed to de-termine the cause of death.

The autopsy didn’t rule on the cause or manner of death for the 34-year-old Dabawala, pending fur-ther investigation, accord-ing to authorities. Chi-cago police say the case is currently considered a death investigation.

Dabawala’s sister told the Chicago Tribune that her sister “wasn’t just outgoing and bubbly but also a highly educated woman who worked for her parents’ medical prac-tice.” She said Dabawala had an MBA from Loyola (University Chicago). I feel like it’s important for people to know that something like this could happen to anybody, not just people living in a dangerous neighborhood or anything like that,” said her sister, who asked not to be named for safety reasons. “It could happen to anyone’s sister, mom, kid. She was a very smart girl, a very lively person. It’s just devastating.”

Kidnapped 19Indians releasedABUJA: As many as 19 In-dians, kidnapped by pirates from a commercial vessel from the high seas off the western coast of Africa last month, have been released while one died in their cap-tivity, according to the In-dian mission here. Totally 20 Indian crew members were kidnapped from the vessel MT Duke in the high seas off the western coast of Africa on Dec 15. The High Commission of India in Abuja tweeted that 19 In-dian nationals were released while one died in the captiv-ity of the pirates in “adverse conditions”.

India thanked the Ni-gerian authorities for their assistance in the release of the abducted Indians. “Indian govt and mission gave highest priority and worked with @NigeriaGov on release of 20 Indian sea-farers kidnapped on 15 Dec from MV Duke. One sadly died in captivity in adverse conditions. Our deepest con-dolences. Mission assiting in speedy return,” the Indian high commission tweeted. The Indian mission in Abuja had taken up the matter with the Nigerian authorities and also with the authorities of the neighbouring countries.

WASHINGTON: Sikh-Amer-icans will be counted as a separate ethnic group for the first time in the 2020 census. The move comes after a del-egation of the United Sikhs held several meetings with US Census Bureau leader-ship asking for Sikhs to be recognised as a separate ethnic group.

This will be the first time the minority group will be counted and coded in the decennial US census that is conducted every 10 years.

Sikhs to be counted as separateethnic group in US census 2020

There are roughly one mil-lion Sikhs currently living in the US.

Baljeet Singh, president of Sikh Society of San Diego hailed the move as a mile-stone for America’s Sikh community. “The Sikh com-munity’s efforts have come to fruition,” he said. “This has paved the way forward nationally not only for the Sikh community but also for other ethnicities in the US.” According to Jasmit Singh, advocacy director at United

Sikhs, being involved in this civic engagement will help ensure in having an accurate count of Sikhs in the US “This data tracks and combats hate crimes against the community,” he said. “It also ensures equal and ac-curate representation that provides access to members of Congress and other essen-tial government services.”

In order to be properly counted in the 2020 US cen-sus, United Sikhs is educat-ing the national Sikh com-

munity to write in “Sikh” under the ethnic portion, adding that identification as a Sikh American, a Sikh In-dian or a Sikh Pakistani will be counted distinctively. To ensure maximum partici-pation in the 2020 census, groups like the United Sikhs and the Sikh Coalition will work with community part-ners and the census 2020 leaders again for translation and outreach services to the Sikh-American community coast-to-coast.

WASHINGTON: Over nine lakh people speak Hindi in the US, a top Indian diplo-mat has said, as the Indian embassy here conducts free Hindi classes for Americans and foreign nationals. Happy to note that Hindi is spoken and taught widely in the US, Amit Kumar, Charge d’ Af-fairs, Indian embassy here, said in his remarks during the “Vishwa Hindi Divas” celebrations at the embassy.

He also said that Hindi is taught in many schools in the US. “According to the

Over nine lakh people speak Hindi in US

American Community Survey (ACS), more than nine lakh people speak Hindi in the US,” Kumar said. As India emerges as one of the most important countries in the world, Kumar said that there has been a phe-nomenal interest in learning the language. “No wonder that we have received enthusiastic response for our free Hindi classes, taught by our teacher of Indian culture Moxraj,” he said. “I would also encourage you and your friends to learn and promote Hindi as it is a gateway to Indian poetry,

literature and Indian philoso-phy,” he said in his address at the event.

For the last two years, the Indian embassy has been con-ducting free Hindi classes in the mission to teach the language to the citizens from different countries. It also part-nered with renowned Ameri-can higher education centers like George Washington Uni-versity and Georgetown Uni-versity. The Indian embassy is also considering a special plan to connect the new generation of America with Hindi.

Dubai rents bottoming out as ‘green shoots’ appearLONDON: Confidence may be returning to Dubai property despite a bloated market for off-plan homes, according to a report from Chestertons, the real estate broker. Although apartment and villa sales prices were down two per cent and three per cent respectively in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared with the previ-ous quarter, rental rates are stabilising.

But supply issues con-tinue to represent the key challenge facing the mar-ket, with 45,000 new units completed in 2019 and that expected to double this year. “The Dubai residen-tial market in Q4 2019 is alluding to a more positive outlook for 2020 thanks to the slowdown of sales price declines and the levelling of rental rates,” said Chris Hobden, of Chestertons

MENA. “This does, however,

have to be tempered by the volume of new units sched-uled for delivery in 2020, which makes the short-term recovery of prices in the emirate unlikely.”

In the rental market, no movement was witnessed in the fourth quarter with the market supported by a draft law which would fix rental rates for three years upon the signing of a contract. “To ensure high occupancy in 2020, landlords will have to be realistic in the face of tough market conditions. The incentives previously offered to tenants, such as rent-free periods, multiple cheques and short-term leases, will continue, with an increase in tenant de-mand for monthly direct debit payments also likely” added Hobden.

Mega projects planned in...(Contd. from page 1)

shores of Saadiyat Island. For its part, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will have 13,000 square metres of gallery space on four levels connected by glass bridges. The building will also include 11 cone-like structures with exhibition space and will serve as the centre of modern art and education in Abu Dhabi.

ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM: Zayed National Muse-um is a structure dedicated to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan — the founder of the UAE — both in design and content, the museum will provide a greater understand-ing of the history, culture and geography of the UAE. The museum’s towers are shaped like falcon wings, designed to Sheikh Zayed’s love of falconry.

HEART OF SHARJAH: It is dubbed as the largest his-torical preservation and restoration project in the region. Planned over a 15 year period, the Heart of Sharjah is ex-pected to be completed by 2025. The project will feature diverse commercial, cultural and residential projects. It also aims to create tourist and trade destinations, includ-ing a boutique hotel, restaurants, retail shops, art galler-ies, traditional and contemporary markets, archaeological sites, museums, play areas and commercial offices which will be placed in renovated old or ancient houses.

HYPERLOOP: Hyperloop UAE is expected to “revolu-tionise” the Gulf region, as cities will be connected in min-utes. It is envisioned to allow for land travel at super-fast speed: With the ability to go from Abu Dhabi to Riyadh in 48 minutes, and Riyadh to Jeddah in 46 minutes, and from there to Neom in 40 minutes, Hyperloop would just revo-lutionise this region.

JEWEL OF CREEK: The Jewel of the Creek project sprawls over 125,675 square metres and includes hotels, residential towers and restaurants in addition to a man-made lake and a waterfront promenade and marina for 65 berths.

LIBRARY: Resembling an open book, the Dh1b Mohammad Bin Rashid Library covers 66,000 square metres. The seven-storey building located in Jaddaf, right on the edge of Dubai Creek is all set be the city’s latest cultural icon and landmark.

SOLAR PARK: Upon completion, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will be the largest single-site solar park in the world, based on an independent power producer, IPP, model. It has a planned capacity of 5,000 MW in 2030 with investments of Dh50 billion. The 800MW third phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Mak-toum Solar Park will be operational in April, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, revealed.

Jawed Ashraf next...

Legal immigrants from India, China drop sharplyWASHINGTON: The num-ber of legal immigrants to the United States from India, China and Mexico declined sharply between FY 2016 and FY 2018 and further reductions are likely from these and other major immi-grant-sending countries, if current immigration policies continue.

According to the Nation-al Foundation for American Policy, immigration was low-er in FY 2018 compared with FY 2016 from India (down 7.5pc) while from China it declined from 81,772 in FY 2016 to 65,214 in FY 2018, a drop of more than 20pc. The decline over the same pe-riod was 11.3pc in the case of the Philippines. Yemen had the largest percentage decline (87.1pc) in legal im-migration due to the travel ban. Much of the decline for specific countries occurred

because the US admitted fewer people in the “Immedi-ate Relatives of US Citizens category” (spouses, children under 21 years old and par-ents), the NFAP said in a policy brief.

Between FY 2016 and FY 2018, the number of immedi-ate relatives of US Citizens admitted from India fell by 17.3pc, from China by 24.1pc and Mexico by 11.7pc and 24.1pc from the Philippines.

Recently released data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show legal immigration de-clined by almost 87,000, by more than seven per cent, between FY 2016 and FY 2018. In an article in Forbes magazine of Jan 15, Stuart Anderson, executive direc-tor of NFAP said the policies of the Trump administration contributed to the lower im-migration numbers. It said

the smaller number of spous-es, children and parents of US citizens may reflect pro-cessing delays and policy changes that would prevent individuals from obtaining permanent residence.

According to the NFAP policy brief, one such pol-icy change was the March 6, 2017, presidential direc-tive on “heightened screen-ing and vetting,” which, in its practical effect, attorneys say, directed US consular of-ficers and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudicators to find a reason not to approve an immigration application. The Forbes article said at US consulates, determinations of visa ineligibility based on 221(g) grounds increased for individuals applying for im-migrant visas from 254,478 in FY 2017 to 341,128 in FY 2018, a rise of 34pc or 86,650.

(Contd. from page 1)Ranjan Chaturvedy, a Visiting Fellow, S Ra-jaratnam School of International Studies at NTU, wished the outgoing high commission-er a successful stint in France, stating he was “one of the gems of Indian foreign service; knowledgable, friendly, an excellent speaker, innovative and a great achiever”.

“His posting there is a good move as France has emerged as one of the most im-portant partners for India. Perhaps that is a reason for the political leadership to send one of the best diplomats there,” he said. Taranjit

Singh Sandhu, currently High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, will take over as the US Ambas-sador from Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

In a reshuffle of envoys, the ministry of ex-ternal affairs is also reportedly sending Taranjit Singh Sandhu to Washington and MEA spokes-person Raveesh Kumar to Austria. Official sources said Sandhu, currently High Commis-sioner to Sri Lanka, will take over as the US Ambassador from Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who will return to India to take over the post of Foreign Secretary from Vijay Gokhale, who is retiring later this month.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020 3GULF JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES

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4 GULF JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Tuesday, January 21, 2020 5GULF JOBS & CAREERS

The Lucknow Universi-ty (LU) which has en-tered into its centenary

year, will resort to crowd funding for the 100-year cel-ebrations.

According to LU spokes-

person Sanjay Medhavi: “We will be soon doing a centenary collection from our former students. We will also appeal general public to pay tribute

Lucknow varsity to crowdfund centenary celebrations

to the institution which has contributed in disseminating knowledge for 10 decades.”

He said even a small con-tribution from the former stu-dents, who have excelled in various fields, like sports, bu-

reaucracy, music, medical and others would contribute to the celebrations in a big way.

The Lucknow University, incidentally, began its jour-

ney as a small school in the Canning high school in 1864. It was after 57 years that this school, located in the palace Amin-ud-Daulah, Aminabad transformed into a university.

This was possible with the help of donations like land, personal bonds and money pooling by the general public and “taluqdars”.

Not only this, war bonds, which are debt securities is-sued by a government to fi-nance military operations and other expenditure in times of war, were also giv-en for the university which formally got established in 1921.

The university adminis-tration is hoping for a similar support from the common people and its former stu-dents to help fight financial constraints.

The itinerary of the year-old celebrations, however, has not yet been finalised.

Non-native working professionals, espe-cially nurses, bank-

ers, bureaucrats and auto rickshawallahs, who find it difficult to converse in Marathi will now be able to avail a quick fix. University of Mumbai’s (MU) German department, in collabora-tion with Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha (MRVS), will soon release workbooks, designed specifically for these target groups, for teaching the language.

The workbooks, which come with DVDs, will be supported by mobile appli-cations and keep in mind the vocabulary commonly used in each profession.

MU was roped in for the project after its German department head, Vibha Surana, began designing a curriculum for Marathi language teaching, on the lines of the common pro-

Mumbai varsity’s German dept designs Marathi workbooks for nurses

ficiency programme fol-lowed by foreign countries for teaching languages. The department has now com-pleted working on two out of six levels — a diploma in communicative Marathi has levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2, where a learner

progressively acquires lan-guage skills based on the levels they complete.

Common proficiency programme helps attain the level of proficiency of a native speaker. However, such a system does not ex-ist in Indian languages. The first level was released

in 2014. For working pro-fessionals, the levels have been concentrated into one six-month course mostly catering to their occupa-tional needs.

While the university has completed work on the book for nurses, those

for bu-reaucrats, b a n k e r s and rick-s h a w a l -lahs are being pre-pared.

“ T h e content in

the workbook for nurses has been created keeping in mind the vocabulary used by them, and the pos-sible conversations that take place between nurses and patients,” Surana said.

She added that before working on the book for auto rickshawallahs, a sur-

vey to find out their needs was undertaken. “They gave feedback saying they prefer only one workbook and might not be able to attend classes. Their books use Hindi as a medium to teach Marathi,” Surana added. For bureaucrats and bankers, official terminolo-gies used in the adminis-tration will be included.

Former officiating direc-tor of MRVS, Anand Kati-kar, said, “Two years ago, we had conducted a session on Marathi for employees of Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation and received a good response. We initi-ated this project keeping in mind the need of the hour. The aim is to complete it by July and get in touch with nursing colleges, rickshaw associations, banking com-panies and other relevant organisations to promote the books.”

Scientists have devel-oped a new form of insulin that could im-

prove the clinical delivery of the drug for people liv-ing with diabetes.

The researchers, includ-ing those from The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in Aus-tralia, synthesised an insu-lin analogue called glyco-insulin, and demonstrated that it can also lower blood glucose levels in preclini-cal studies.

According to the study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical

Society, glycoinsulin can achieve insulin-like effects without forming fibrils, which are clumps arising when insulin compounds aggregate together.

The scientists said for people with diabetes who need pump infusions to ad-minister insulin, the fibril aggregates pose serious risk in blocking the delivery of the drug, leading to the possibility of life threaten-ing under-dosing.

“Not only did our re-search demonstrate that glycoinsulin does not form fibrils, even at high tem-

New form of insulin may improve diabetes treatment: Studyperature and con-centration, but also that it is more stable in human serum than native insulin. Together these find-ings could position glycoinsulin as an excellent candidate for use in insulin pumps and a way to improve the shelf life of insulin prod-ucts,” said study co-author Akhter Hossain from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.

“We now hope to streamline the manufac-turing process for glyco-insulin so this compound can be further investigated in larger, clinical studies,” Hossain said.

Adding to this, the re-searchers said, insulin pump infusion sets are re-quired to be replaced ev-ery 24 hours to 72 hours to mitigate the occurrence of fibrils.

As part of the study, the researchers developed a new method to engineer an insulin-sugar complex from egg yolks.

“Typically, the chemi-cal modification of insulin causes structural destabili-sation and inactivation, but we were able to success-fully synthesise glycoinsu-lin in a way that retains its insulin-like helical struc-ture,” said study co-author John Wade from Florey In-stitute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.

“The result is an almost fully active insulin ana-logue which has demon-strated near-native binding to insulin receptors in both lab and animal studies,” Wade said.

Your wellness

A review study has found that children drinking whole milk

had 40pc lower chances of getting overweight or obese as compared to the ones who drank reduced-fat milk.

The study was published in the Ameri-can Journal of Clinical N u t r i t i o n

and was led by St Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health To-ronto. The study was con-ducted by analysing 28 other studies from seven different countries involving the ex-ploration of the relationship

Whole milk can reduce risk of overweight

between children who drink cow’s milk and their risk of being obese or overweight.

None of the 28 studies

involving a total of 21,000 children of up to the age of 18-years showed that chil-dren drinking reduced-fat milk had lower odds of be-ing obese or overweight. On the contrary, 18 studies

suggested that children that consumed whole milk had a lesser likelihood of being overweight or obese.

“The majority of chil-dren in Canada and the United States consume cow’s milk on a daily basis and it is a major contribu-tor of dietary fat for many children,” said Dr Jonathon Maguire, lead researcher

of the study. “In our review, children following the cur-rent recommendation of switching to reduced-fat milk at age two were not leaner than those consuming whole milk,” he added.

To help patients suf-fering from myeloma and provide the gov-

ernment the information on the disease, a mobile app,‘Care for Myeloma’, was launched at The In-dian Myeloma Congress held at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad.

The app, developed by Uday Yanamandra, a professor at the Army Hospital in New Delhi, is also available as a website where myeloma databases of major can-cer hospitals across the country, including that of NIMS, are interlinked. Based on the databases,

Mobile app launched for myelomadoctors can share with the government the exact number of patients a hos-pital treats in a year.

Yanamandra said the app is available for both doctors and patients. It

can store a patient’s en-tire case history, doing away with the need to carry documents every-

where they go.In the pa-

tients’ app, the health details of a person are stored in a separate win-dow, which requires addi-tional security veri f ication, so as to ensure privacy. There is also a gener-al window in

the app where a patient can find information on myeloma.

The app deploys ar-tificial intelligence and can detect if a patient up-loads wrong information. “Based on the trends of the patients’ data, the AI can say if the informa-tion provided is right or wrong,” said Yanaman-dra. The app also alerts patients regarding the m e d i c i n e they have to take, a visit to the doctor and so on.

As for the doctor’s app, they can keep track of all their patients on the app. Currently, there are 2,030 patients using the app.

Uday Yanamandra

IIT-Jodhpur will offer MBA course at its new ‘School of Management

& Entrepreneurship’ in the academic session begin-ning in July 2020. The MBA programme will be a “tech-management combo”, the

first year of which will be a foundation course, while the second will offer spe-cialisation in different ar-eas.

Explaining the need for this course, IIT-Jodhpur Di-rector Santanu Chaudhury said most of the typical MBA programmes are los-ing their charm due to AI and analytics-led technol-

IIT-Jodhpur to offer MBA course from this year

ogy trends and the emer-gence of “new age corpora-tions”.

“This scenario is ask-ing for newer skill set and value propositions in MBA programmes,” he said.

IIT-Jodhpur has been working with a few busi-ness schools of repute from North America, Europe, Austra-lia and Asia to provide interna-

tional exposure to the stu-dents, Chaudhury added.

“In today’s scenario, IIT campuses are much closer and capable to play a big-ger role in realising ambi-tious national goals. What they need is to diversify academics to newer dis-ciplines where technol-ogy influence is deep and wide,” he said.

IT firm Cyient said that it has set up a new devel-opment centre in Wa-

rangal, Telangana and will hire about 600 people in a phased manner.

The centre was inaugurat-ed by Telanga-na Minister for IT, Municipal Administration & Urban Devel-opment, Indus-tries, and Com-merce KT Rama Rao.

“Cyient’s development centre is the largest in Wa-rangal and will serve as a showcase for this cultural-ly rich city to attract more IT investments. Cyient had already taken the lead in Warangal by setting up its incubation centre back in 2016,” a statement said.

The company currently employs 200 engineers in

Cyient sets up new devt centre, to hire about 600 people

its centre and will be hiring 600 more in a phased man-ner with most of the talent being sourced locally, it added.

“The new state-of-the-art facility can accommo-date 600 Cyient engineers on a total built-up area of around 60,000 sq ft. The company is also construct-ing a second tower to ac-commodate an additional 200 engineers,” it said.

The development cen-tre supports telecom cus-tomers globally with plan & design and engineering

services for their mobile and fixed-line networks.

The company works with several of the largest communications service

providers in the US, Europe and Asia-Pa-cific region, helping them accelerate the deployment of 5G net-works, expand fiber-to-the-home coverage and implement digital solutions to enhance customer experience.

“With the strong mo-mentum and growth in our communications busi-ness, we look forward to leveraging our presence here to support custom-ers globally while deliver-ing on our commitment to support inclusive growth in our local communities,” Cyient Managing Director and CEO Krishna Bodan-apu said.

The Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala, has issued a notification in-

viting applications for the post of apprentice. It is looking to fill up as many as 400 posts. Those looking to apply may do so at rcf.indianrailways.gov.in. The last date to apply is Febru-ary 6.

Applicants are not required to sit for any exam. Based on class mark sheets as well as ITI certificates, a merit list will be released. Equal weightage will be given to both class X as well as certificate programme. As per the official notification, the final merit list will be cre-ated trade-wise.How to apply

1. Candidates may first visit the official website rcf.indianrailways.gov.in.

2. After this, they may click on the link ‘application form’. 3. Now, they are required to click on ‘user registration’. 4. The candidate may now fill

Railways to recruit 400 apprentices for RCF

their details and then verify. 5. They may now login using their details. 6. Candidates may ow fill up forms and also upload their images. 7. Now, they are required to make pay-ments

Age limit: While the mini-mum age of candidates must be 15, the maximum age must be 25, as on January 8, 2020. Please note that the upper age will be limited for SC/ST by 5 years. Relaxation will also be given to OBC and PwD candi-dates by 3 and 10 years respec-tively.

Education: Candidates must at least be class 10 pass along with an ITI certificate in order to apply.

Fee: Candidates are re-quired to pay a fee of Rs 100, which is non-refundable.

The Railway Recruitment Cell (RRC) has started receiv-ing application forms from January 7, which will go on till February 6.

IN FOCUS6 Tuesday, January 21, 2020

GULF FAQsI have worked for a free zone company in Dubai for the past 18 months and my contract is unlimited. It was stated in our original labour contract that the company would provide a yearly ticket allowance when an employee completes one year of service. Yesterday, they sent a memo stat-ing that the yearly ticket allowance will be changed to every two years of employment. In this memorandum, the company stated that this supersedes all the information and policies disseminated previously. Is it legal to just change some terms which are stated in the signed contract by sending a memorandum in this way?

No employer is permitted to change the terms of a contract of employment without the employee’s permission, so your manage-ment cannot just send a memorandum to staff withdrawing a significant benefit in this way. No changes should ever be made to a contract of employment without the employee’s agree-ment and such arbitrary changes mean the employer is in breach of contract by violating terms. This is the case in free zones as well as in mainland companies. The employer needs to be made aware that they cannot do this. If they persist, a complaint can be made to the free zone itself and most have some kind of arbitration facility for disputes.Dormant A/C

I left the UAE five years ago and left some money in a bank account. I didn’t leave any debts but I have never returned to the country as I expected I would. I have a few questions. The account was with a bank that no longer exists, so is my money now with another bank? I have been told that as I haven’t been in contact or done anything on the account that it will be frozen. How do I access it now? Is there a time limit on accounts that are left behind or will I lose my money?

Your account was with a lender that was involved in a bank merger. However, all accounts from the original bank still exist. For several years, accounts are marked as dormant if there is no activity for six months, although some financial institutions wait for a year now. Such accounts can be reactivated if the account holder makes contact with the bank. Banks will usually ask for someone to visit in person with proof of identity, however, they should be able to accept cer-tified documentation from abroad although processes will differ from bank to bank. Ac-cording to a Central Bank of the UAE circular, issued in Feb 2011, Article 9b says: “None of the opened accounts can be considered ‘dor-mant’ if the customer’s address is known or if the customer is present and has other active accounts with the bank. Accounts are classi-fied as dormant only in accordance with the provisions of these regulations issued by the Central Bank in this regard.”

The rules regarding dormant accounts were updated in a 2018 Central Bank circular. This states that most personal accounts are officially dormant if there have been no trans-actions for a period of six years. If an account remains dormant and balances unclaimed for a period of seven years from the date of the last transaction, and the balance exceeds Dh3,000, the balance can be transferred to the Unclaimed Balances Account at the Central Bank. There are specific procedures that banks follow to do this.Banks are expected to keep customer records up to date and are not permitted to charge fees on dormant accounts with balances of less than Dh3,000. If some-one leaves the UAE but retains an account, it is best to ensure there is the odd transaction to ensure it is not marked as dormant.Salary cut

My colleagues and I were sent a memo from the management about a salary reduc-tion due to “Excise Tax Implementation”. We are sure the business was doing well as the share price is high and they have just bought a new factory. Staff have been told that if we don’t sign a form to agree to a salary reduction, they will terminate us for this reason. Can the employer reduce our salaries due to this tax and do we have any options or protection if we don’t agree?

The UAE government has recently increased excise taxes on a number of re-tail products, mainly on tobacco and on drinks with a high sugar content. This was announced a while ago, although it was implemented in Dec 2019. However, this in itself is not a legal reason for any employer, including any in these lines of business, to reduce the employee salaries, even if it might reduce the business turnover or profits.

No employer is permitted to change the terms of a contract of employment without the employee’s permission and if the em-ployee refuses and is made redundant, they would have good reason to claim arbitrary dismissal. Article 122 of UAE Labour Law states: “The termination of the employment

Can UAE employer change contract terms?of the worker by the employer shall be deemed arbitrary should the cause of ter-mination not be related to the work. ”In this situation, the employer can register a case against the employer, using the form they were asked to sign to support their cases. I would expect such cases to be upheld by the courts. A compensation payment should be due in accordance with Article 123 of the law: “Should the worker be arbitrarily dismissed, the competent court may order the employer to pay a compensation to the worker. The court shall assess such com-pensation, taking into account the type of work and the extent of damage incurred to the worker as well as the duration of em-ployment and after the investigation of the work conditions. In all cases, the amount of compensation shall not exceed the wage of the worker for a period of three months calculated on the basis of the last due wage.”Toilet up-keep

I have been renting a studio flat in Dubai Silicon Oasis since late last year. Two weeks after moving in, I found certain defects. The toilet flush wasn’t working properly, and there’s a problem with the bath tub. Paint and plaster were also peeling off the walls. I informed the property agent as they are the representatives of landlord. I have followed up twice or thrice in the last eight months, but nothing got repaired yet. Can I ask for a refund of the rent for not providing proper service? I will not renew the agreement for sure, but can I demand some kind of penalty from the agent for turning over a property with defects?

Since your rented flat is situated in Dubai, the provisions of the Dubai Tenancy Law and the Amended Dubai Tenancy Law are applicable.

It is the responsibility of the landlord to provide basic amenities and maintenance for the rented premises. This is in accordance with Article 16 of the Dubai Tenancy Law which states: “Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the landlord will, during the term of the lease contract, be responsible for the ‘real property’ maintenance works and for re-pairing any defect or damage that may affect the tenant’s intended use of the property.”

Further, Article 17 of the same law states that “the landlord may not make ... any changes that would preclude the tenant from full use of the real property. The landlord will be responsible for such changes whether made by him or any other person authorised by the landlord. Further, the landlord will be responsible for any defect, damage, defi-ciency, and wear and tear occurring to the real property for reasons not attributable to the fault of the tenant.”

Based on these provisions of the law, it may be noted that the landlord is responsible for the defect, damage, deficiency and wear and tear in a rented flat, provided that such dam-ages were not due to the actions of the tenant.

It may also be noted that real estate agents in Dubai are regulated by By-Law No. (85) of 2006 regulating the Real Estate Brokers Register in Dubai (Real Estate Agent Law).

According to the Real Estate Agent Law, an agent is under an obligation to inform his prospective client or client of all negotia-tion details, brokerage process, and other information that would allow the person to make the right decision.

Further, a real estate agent must disclose the transaction details and conditions he might be aware of. This is in accordance with Article 19 of the Real Estate Agent Law which states: “Despite the fact that a real estate broker repre-sents only one of the parties to the transaction, he must faithfully disclose the transaction details and conditions he is aware of. The real estate broker will be held responsible for any fraud or mistake he may commit.”

Therefore, since the real estate agent did not inform you of the defects existing in your rented flat prior to you signing the ten-ancy contract, the real estate agent may have breached his obligations stated under Article 17 and Article 19 of the Real Estate Agent Law.

You may approach the Real Estate Regula-tory Agency (Rera) and Dubai Land Department to file a complaint against the real estate agent.

If the decision of the authorities is pro-nounced in your favour, the agent would have to bear the consequences as mentioned in Article 39 of the Real Estate Agent Law.

“Without prejudice to any penalty pre-scribed by applicable laws, the committee may impose any of the following penalties on any real estate broker who violates this bylaw or the resolutions or instructions is-sued: notice, warning, suspension of activi-ties for up to six months, or blacklisting.”

Finally, you may request your landlord to get the damages repaired. In the event that your landlord does not address your concerns, you may lodge a complaint with the Rental Dispute Centre of Dubai.

Britain’s Prince Harry said it brought him “great sadness” to depart his royal duties after agreeing with Queen Eliza-beth that he and his wife Meghan would step down from official roles to seek an independent future. The couple will also repay £2.4 million in public funding that they were given to refurbish their cottage in Windsor. Now they cannot use the royal titles.

Most Indian students attendingacclaimed schools in DubaiDUBAI: As much as 73pc of Dubai’s Indian-curriculum students now study at schools rated “good” or better, accord-ing to the latest inspection report released by the Knowl-edge and Human Develop-ment Authority (KHDA).

Indian schools in Dubai continue to show progress as four of them have im-proved their ratings this year, though, only one school has been rated “outstanding”. The new ratings of Indian and Pakistani schools were revealed in this year’s in-spection report. A total of 32 Indian-curriculum schools were inspected this aca-demic year. One was rated outstanding, nine very good, 11 good, 10 acceptable and one weak. None of the Indian curriculum schools were rated very weak. GEMS Mod-ern Academy was rated “out-standing” for the ninth year in a row. The Gulf Model School is the only one that has been rated as “weak”.

“Seven out of 10 students at Dubai’s Indian-curriculum schools now receive good or better quality education. This reflects our commit-ment to continue provid-ing high-quality education choices that are in line with Dubai’s expectations,” Dr Abdulla Al Karam, director-general of the KHDA, said. “With more than 79,000 stu-dents enrolled in Dubai’s In-dian-curriculum schools, we have seen a remarkable 34pc growth in student numbers in the last decade. These positive trends coupled with year-on-year progress build on the confidence in Dubai’s private education sector.”Better rating

Four Indian schools im-proved their rating from “good” to “very good” this year, helping 6,000 students receive better quality edu-cation. These schools are GEMS New Millennium School, JSS International, Ambassador School and

JSS Private School Dubai. A total of 11 schools were rated “good” this year, which include Amled School, Cre-dence High School, GEMS Heritage, Our Own High School, Indian High School, Springsdales, the Kindergar-ten Starters, GEMS Our Own Indian, Bilva Indian School, the Indian Academy and Primus Private School.

Fatma Ibrahim Belrehif, CEO of Dubai Schools In-spection Bureau (DSIB), said: “This is the 11th year we have inspected Indian and Pakistani curriculum schools and we are continuing to see progress in overall school ratings. Indian-curriculum schools showed improve-ments in learning skills, sci-ence and governance. These are positive trends that are in line with overall expecta-tions and consistent with our recommendations.”

Principals of Indian schools welcomed the re-sults of the ratings. CEO and

principal of Credence High School, which maintained a good rating this year, said: “We are delighted with the progress that Credence High School has made in this short span of time. Each in-spection leaves us enriched and helps us to introspect and plan ahead. We are com-mitted to make Credence an “Outstanding” school where children excel in all that they do. The credit for this progress goes largely to the students, parents and to the faculty who believe in the mission and vision of Cre-dence High School.”

Fatima Martin, principal of GEMS New Millennium School - which improved its rating to ‘very good’ --- said: “Now, thanks to steady year-on-year improvement, we have passed the next milestone in our school’s de-velopment. The concerted ef-forts of all our staff to pursue excellence have been instru-mental in this achievement.”

NRI driver’sbody foundRAS AL KHAIMAH: The body of an Indian driver, who went missing after flash floods in Wadi Al Beah last week, was found in the Ghamdha area in Oman , Ras Al Khaimah Police confirmed. Police said the body was found after six days of searching. Rescue teams from Ras Al Khaimah Police, Dubai Police and Oman coordinated the rescue efforts to find the person from Jan 11.

Maj-Gen Ali Abdullah Bin Alwan Al Nuaimi, commander-in-chief of Ras Al Khaimah Police, said the man drowned in the Wadi Al Beah after his car was swept away by flash floods. Al Nuaimi said the body was found stuck in rocks on the shores of the Ghamdha region. The driver’s name is not known.

UAE civil court verdicts against loandefaulters can be executed in IndiaDUBAI: NRIs in the UAE can no longer seek safe haven in their home country if they are convicted in a civil case here. Verdicts against bank loan defaulters and other civil case convicts can now be executed in India, legal experts told a TV channel.

On Jan 18, the Indian ministry of law and Justice issued a gazette notification declaring the UAE as a “reciprocating terri-tory” for the Code of Civil Procedure. It also identified the UAE courts whose orders can be executed through Indian courts. The notification in the official gazette said: “In exercise of the powers conferred by Expla-nation-1 to Section 44A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), the central government hereby declares, United Arab Emirates to be a reciprocating territory for the purposes of the said section.”

The courts here are Federal Supreme Court; Federal First Instance and Appeals

Courts in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah; Abu Dhabi Judicial Department; Dubai Courts; Ras Al Khaimah Judicial Department; Courts of Abu Dhabi Global Markets; and Courts of Dubai International Financial Centre.

Anuradha Vobbilisetty, a lawyer with Dr Ibrahim Al Mulla Legal Consultants, said legal teams are still “awaiting clarifications on the matter”. “The execution processes continue to remain unclear. Nevertheless, it is a very good decision as there are several hundreds of such convicts living in India.” According to Vobbilisetty, between 2008 and 2012, many people have fled with millions from banks in the UAE. “Once it comes to executions, convicts will be forced to attach land and other immovable properties and stop taking advantage of the loophole. It also comes as a warning to those who fled to India after taking huge loans from banks in the UAE.”

NEW DELHI: Delhi police on Friday arrested a man who cheated innocent peo-ple on seeking employment in a fake airline company ‘Yo Air’.

The arrested person was identified as Sanket Jha, resident of Kandiwali, Mum-bai. Police Station Mandir Marg received a call regard-ing quarrel at hotel Metro-

Fake airline job racketeer arrestedpolitan. A woman named Shipra Singh from Noida reported that she came to know through the social media page regarding an interview for Cabin Crew in “Yo Air”, a Thailand based company.

She further alleged that after initial screening, she received an e-mail for inter-view of management round

in the national capital at a hotel near Bangla Sahab Gurudwara. However, when she reached there, the per-son conducting interview namely Sanket Jha asked for a demand draft of Rs 2.55 lakh before selection. Later, Singh came to know that there was no such Airline “Yo Air” in Thailand and she was being cheated. She

informed police that around 250 to 300 people had come for the said interview.

Two other woman asso-ciates of the accused have been made to join the in-vestigation by notice under Section 41(1A) of the CrPC. An FIR under relevant IPC section has been registered and an investigation is un-derway.

CORPORATE NEWSTuesday, January 21, 2020 7

Dr Kiran Mazum-dar-Shaw, the founder of Bio-

con, one of India’s larg-est bio-pharmaceutical companies, became the fourth Indian citizen to be honoured with Aus-tralia’s highest civilian honour.

Australia’s High Commissioner to In-dia Harinder Sidhu, invested Dr Shaw as an Honorary Member within the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division.

The others to be honoured include batsman Sachin Ten-dulkar in 2012, Former Attorney General of In-dia, Soli Jehangir Sor-abjee in 2006 and Moth-er Teresa of Kolkata (Agnes GonxhaBojaxhiu) in 1982.

“The Australian Gov-

Australian civilian honour for Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

ernment has chosen to bestow this honour on Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw for her immense contribution in advancing Australia’s bilateral relationship with India,” said Sidhu in a re-lease.

An alumnus of Federa-tion University Australia, Dr Shaw helps in pro-moting women in STEM through the joint research programs developed be-tween Biocon and Deakin University, Australia, for

gender equality. Shaw, an Australian

Global Alumni Ambas-sador, is also recognised for her sustained and significant contribution to industry academia col-laboration between Aus-

tralia and India. The ceremony was

attended by represen-tatives from Indian and Australian business, the diplomatic corps, and family, friends and peers of Dr Mazumdar-Shaw.

Speaking at the event, Sidhu said, “Dr Mazumdar-Shaw is a tireless champion of

the commercial, educa-tional, and people-to-people links between our two countries, and this award recognises her commitment to progress-ing the Australia-India partnership.”

Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Piramal Enterpris-es Ltd (PEL) an-nounced that it has

decided to sell its health-care insights and analyt-ics business Decision Re-sources Group (DRG) to

US-based Clarivate Ana-lytics for $ 950 million, or over Rs 6,745 crore.

The deal includes $ 900 million and $ 50 mil-lion to be received at the end of 12 months. The di-vestment is part of the Pi-ramal group’s deleverag-

Piramal Enterprises to sell healthcare analytics biz

ing exercise and follows the company raising Rs 1,750 crore from Canada’s CDPQ via preferential allotment last month.

The transaction is sub-ject to shareholder approv-

als and is expected to be completed by the end of next month, PEL and Clarivate said in a joint statement. PEL DRG Dutch HoldCo BV is a wholly-owned subsid-iary of Piramal Enterprises, whereas Clarivate Analyt-ics provides insights and

analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation.

According to PEL, the revenue from its health-care insights and ana-lytics business stood at about Rs 1,330.74 crore for the financial year end-ed March 2019. “This is a milestone acquisition, which doubles the size of our life sciences business, is accretive to our 2020 earnings and sets us up as an essential, end-to-end, industry-leading data and analytics provider in the highly attractive life sci-ences ecosystem,” said Jerre Stead, executive chairman and CEO, Clari-vate Analytics.

It may be noted that in 2012, the Ajay Piramal-led group had invested $ 650 million to acquire DRG, including $ 260 million that comprised equity.

India’s leading private lender HDFC Bank report-ed 32.8pc growth in net

profit at Rs 7,416.5 crore for the third quarter of the cur-rent financial year, up from a net profit of Rs 5,585.9 crore it reported during the same quarter last fiscal.

“Net interest income (in-terest earned less interest ex-pended) for the quarter end-ed December 31, 2019, grew to Rs 14,172.9 crore from Rs 12,576.8 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2018, driven by growth in advanc-es of 19.9pc, and a growth in deposits of 25.2pc,” the bank said in a statement.

Total income rose to Rs 36,039 crore during the October-December quarter against Rs 30,811.27 crore in the year-ago period, HDFC Bank said in a statement. Other incomes of the bank increased to Rs 6,669.3 crore in the third quarter of FY20 against Rs 4,921.01 crore in the same quarter of the last financial year.

HDFC Bank Q3 np rises 33pc

Country’s largest soft-ware services major Tata Consultancy Ser-

vices (TCS) has reported a muted 0.2pc growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 8,118 crore for the third quarter ended December 2019.

This is against a net profit of Rs 8,105 crore in the year-

ago period, TCS said in a BSE filing.

Revenue of the city-based firm grew 6.7pc in the quar-ter under review to Rs 39,854 crore from Rs 37,338 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal, it added.

“We saw the sectoral trends of the first half of the year continue to play out in

TCS Q3 net at Rs8,118crthe third quarter. Our ro-bust order book during the quarter reflects our ability to pitch innovative technol-ogy solutions to address the business needs of different stakeholders in the enter-prise, and participate in our customers’ enterprise-wide transformation initiatives,” TCS CEO and managing di-

rector Rajesh Gopinathan said in a statement.

This is helping deepen and broaden the company’s customer relationships and make the business more re-silient, he added. The TCS board has declared a third interim dividend of Rs 5 per equity Share of Re 1 each of the company.

From March 16 this year, your domes-tic and international

debit and credit card will undergo some crucial changes.

In its attempt to make cards more secure, RBI has issued directions to banks that will change the way we use our debit and credit cards. From March 16, all new and old cards will work only within the country. Even for those holding international debit and credit cards, their us-age will be activated only after customers send a for-mal request to their bank-ers. Banks will allow only domestic card transactions at ATMs and Point-of-Sale terminals in India at the time of issuance or re-issu-

Come March, your debit/ credit cards to have safety features

ance of cards.Be it for international

transactions, online and contactless transactions

(via near-field communica-tion technology), custom-ers have to send separate requests to the bank indi-cating your willingness to

opt for the services.For ease of use, users

will have round-the-clock access to activate or deacti-

vate the changes including setting transaction limits via mobile apps, internet banking, ATMs or IVR (in-teractive voice response).

Banks will have the flex-ibility to disable interna-tional, online or contactless transactions for existing us-

ers based on their credit risk profile. Those custom-ers who haven’t used their cards to transact online or during inter-national travel or have never paid contactless, such services will be deactivated.

Interestingly, users can even switch off and switch on cards

based on your will and need. For instance, you can block and unblock your card during and after ATM withdrawals. Such a move

effectively curbs misuse when cards are lost or sto-len. Cardholders can also set daily transaction lim-its and as per the central bank’s directions; banks are obliged to provide this facility on mobile banking, internet banking, ATMs and others. For existing cardholders, banks are flex-ible to decide if they want to deactivate current cards and reissue them based on risk perception or simply deactivate options like in-ternational usage and oth-ers, which users can any-way activate with a simple instruction whenever in need. However, these di-rections aren’t applicable to pre-paid gift cards and cards used at mass transit systems.

Finance Minister Nir-mala Sitharaman on Monday kicked

off the countdown to the Union budget on Feb 1 by leading the traditional “Halwa” ceremony and with this the budget paper printing starts under ut-most secrecy.

The ritual marks the be-ginning of printing of doc-uments relating to Union budget 2020-21. She will be presenting her second budget after the post-elec-tion budget presented in July 2019. All finance min-istry secretaries, CBDT, CBIC chiefs and other key officials involved with the budget and staff were part of the Halwa event.

The Union Budget is expected to see investment in infrastructure, renew-able energy, railways, agri-culture, irrigation, mobil-ity, health, water, when it

Budget printing kicks off with Halwa ceremonywill be presented on Feb 1. As the GDP growth dipped to 4.5pc in the last quar-ter, the government aims to boost demand and re-vive the economy and how it will be done, remains to be seen.

The “Halwa” (dessert), prepared in a huge iron vessel, is served to all the ministry staff as well as to the finance minister. After the ceremony, the employ-ees who are involved in the budget-making process are escorted to the base-ment of the North Block for a 10-day quarantine and they only come out once the finance minis-ter presents the budget in parliament. They will be totally cut off from the out-side world. This is done to ensure that there are no leaks of information about the Union budget before its presentation.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur others during “Halwa” ceremony marking the commencement of Budget printing process for the General Budget 2019-20 in New Delhi.

Retreating from its record peak, mar-ket benchmark BSE

Sensex closed 416 points lower on Monday, tracking an intense sell-off in in-

dex heavyweights Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and TCS fol-lowing their quarterly re-sults.

After hitting a record in-tra-day high of 42,273, the 30-share BSE Sensex gave up all gains to lose 416.46 points or 0.99pc lower at

Sensex plunges 416 points41,528.91. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty sank 127.80 points or 1.03pc to 12,224.55. It hit a record intra-day high of 12,430.50 in early session.

Kotak Mahindra Bank was the biggest laggard in the Sensex pack, dropping 4.70pc after the lender reported a rise in non-performing assets in Q3. Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and TCS fell up to 3.08pc after the companies reported their quarterly

earnings over the weekend. On the other hand, Pow-erGrid was the top gainer, rising 3.75pc followed by Bharti Airtel, ITC, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank and L&T. According to traders, be-sides stock-specific action, domestic investors were also seen booking profits at record peaks.Bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul ended higher, while Hong Kong closed in the red.

European markets were trading on a negative note in their early sessions. Brent crude oil futures rose 0.66pc to $65.28 per barrel on supply concerns after exports from Libya were blocked after a pipeline was shut down by armed forces and a strike at a key oilfield in Iraq hit output. The rupee depreciated five paise to 71.13 per US dol-lar (intra-day).

The latest acquisition of the privately-run Krish-napatnam Port Company

Ltd (KPCL) in Andhra Pradesh for Rs 13,500 crore, announced on January 4, by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), is a perfect stra-tegic fit for the Gujarat-based conglomerate. However, trade members (port users) are wor-

Adani Group bets big with Krishnapatnam Port Co acquisitionried that the Adani group will have a dominant position on the East Coast, and this could possibly create a monopoly type of a situation in the long run.

Their worry is understand-able considering that APSEZ, India’s largest private port op-erator, had increased its mar-ket share considerably in the

last two decades. Today, it has nearly 27pc market share of the country’s total port traffic of over 1,200 million tonnes, up from 22pc before the KPCL acquisition.

Consolidation by private port companies will create a monopoly situation. While the 12 major ports are operating under different entities and

competing with each other, the private ports are consolidating their positions and taking cargo from government ports, said an industry source.

Karan Adani, CEO, APSEZ, in a statement, said that the KPCL acquisition will acceler-ate the company’s fiscal 2025 vision of handling 400 mt of cargo. With the experience of

successfully turning around acquisitions of Dhamra and Kattupalli ports, the company is confident of harnessing the potential of KPCL, he added.

The addition of KPCL to Adani’s port kitty means a ship can move cargo from the eastern port of Dhamra port in Orissa to Mundra in Gujarat by touching nine ports Dham-

ra, Vizag, Kattupalli, Ennore, Vizhinjam, Mormugao, Hazira, Dahej, Tuna and Mundra in be-tween where Adani has opera-tions.

Having established a strong presence on the west coast, the Adani group turned its atten-tion to the east coast eight years ago. It has so far invested near-ly Rs 22,000 crore in the east-

ern ports of Vizag (Rs 400 cr); Dhamra (Rs 5,500 cr); Kamara-jar (Rs 800 cr); Kattupalli (Rs 1,850 cr), and the biggest being KPCL (Rs 13,500 cr). Interest-ingly, Adani group plans to in-vest over Rs 50,000 crore at its Kattupalli port in Tamil Nadu in the long run to consolidate its position further, as was ear-lier reported by a newspaper.

8 Travel / Entertainment Tuesday, January 21, 2020

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JALLIKATTU: TAMIL NADU’S SPORT OF VALOUR

Thousands of youths gathered to witness Jallikattu, the popular bull-taming sport in Tamil Nadu which is part of Pongal, the Tamil harvest festival. Around 700 specially groomed bulls participated in the Jallikattu competition in Madurai’s Palamedu. Tamils consider that the taming of the bull is a sport of valour. This year, two persons died and several others were greviously hurt in Jallikattu.

Duty-free purchases for India-bound pas-sengers may be in for

some major restrictions, as the Union commerce minis-try has proposed a 50pc cut in the quota for buying alcohol, besides a complete ban on cigarette cartons. According to agency reports, the minis-try has recommended that the quota be cut from the current two litres per person to one litre, in a bid to reduce import of non-essential goods.

Curent quotaAs things stand, inbound

international passengers are allowed to buy one carton of

Duty-free quotas for India-boundpassengers may change soon

cigarettes and two litres of alcohol in duty-free shops. The ministry has also rec-ommended to the finance ministry that purchase of cigarette cartons at duty-free shops should be prohibited a TV channel reported. As things stand, inbound in-ternational passengers are allowed to buy one carton of cigarettes from duty-free shops. Alcoholic drinks and tobacco products imported in excess of free allowance are charged customs duty at the rates applicable on commercial imports as per the Indian Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Besides two litres

of alcohol and a carton of cigarettes, other duty-free baggage allowances include gold jewellery up to an ag-gregate value of Rs 50,000 (in the case of a male pas-senger) and Rs1 lakh (in the case of a female passenger).

Customs dutyGoods purchased over

and above the free allow-ances are charged a customs duty of 35pc plus an educa-tion cess of three per cent. In effect, this amounts to an extra 36.05pc. The latest proposals to further restrict purchase of alcohol and ciga-rettes come days ahead of the

Union budget, which is slat-ed to be announced on Feb 1. The move to reduce import of non-essential goods into the country is aimed at rein-ing in trade deficit.

The commerce ministry has also suggested increase in customs duty on several products like paper, footwear, rubber items and toys to promote “Make in India” and boost manufacturing growth. The ministry has proposed rationalisation of basic cus-toms or import duty on over 300 items from different sectors, including furniture, chemicals, rubber, coated paper and paper board.

The Australian govern-ment will financially aid the country’s tour-

ism sector that’s been badly

hit by long-lasting bushfires, as Melbourne braced for downpours at the start of one of its greatest allures ----the Australian Open.

Re c e n t r a i n s h a v e brought the number of fires burning across Australia’s east and south coast to un-der 100 for the first time in weeks, easing a disaster that

AFTER BUSHFIRE RAVAGEAustralian govt to aid tourism industry

has scorched an area roughly one-third the size of Germa-ny. The Australian govern-ment said it would channel

A$76 million ($52 million) to the tourism industry. As many as 29 people have been killed in the fires while thousands of animals have also perished.

Fears of smoke from the fires disrupting the Aus-tralian Open receded in Melbourne where the year’s first Grand Slam started on

Monday, but the city and parts of the bushfire-rav-aged Victoria were bracing for heavy rains. “Victoria

is about to see its wettest two-day period in many, months,” Dean Narramore from the state’s Bureau of Meteorology said.

More than 7.8 lakh fans attended the two-week Aus-tralian Open last year, ac-cording to figures from the office of the state’s premier, providing a major influx of

cash for Victoria’s economy.Damages to the tourism

industry from the bushfire disaster have approached A$1 billion so far and may go above A$4.5 billion by the end of the year, according to estimates from Australian tourism bod-ies. The government said the aid announced was “an initial push” to help the country’s A$152 billion tourism indus-try, an increasingly vital part of Australia’s economy, that accounts for more than three per cent of annual economic output. In a joint statement released with Prime Minis-ter Scott Morrison, Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the bushfires have dealt the biggest reputational blow to the Australian tourism in-dustry that it has ever faced internationally.

“Tourism is the lifeblood of so many communities around Australia and it’s absolutely critical that we help to get people back vis-iting those communities,” Birmingham said.

Rs 156cr to boost tourism in Andhra A total of Rs 156. 28 crore have been sanctioned for developing tourism across Andhra Pradesh. The tour-ism department has planned to develop 15 sea coasts with an aim to increase the tourist footfall.

“Tourism is one of the most important revenue generators for any state or country. We have faced severe losses in the past few months due to several reasons and through these plans and projects we aim to make up for these losses,” said Andhra Pradesh Tour-ism Authority (APTA) chief Pravin Kumar.

Under the new plan, 30,000 locations across Andhra , which includes temples, heritage sites, tour-ist destinations, have been identified for development. Also, a few development circuits have been organised such as in Visakhapatnam Salihundam, Thotlakonda, Bhavikonda and Bijjana-konda. The development works in Vijayawada will be undertaken under the Cen-tral government schemes.

Goa airport work to resume soon

The Supreme Court has lifted the suspension of the environment

clearance to the upcoming Mopa international airport in North Goa, allowing resump-tion of construction of the aviation facility. The court was hearing a petition filed by Goa-based environmen-talists who had questioned the felling of several thou-sand trees to give way to the airport, at North Goa’s Mopa plateau located around 25 km from Panaji.

A year ago, the apex court had directed the air-port’s promoters, a joint venture between GMR and the Goa government, to maintain status quo vis-a-vis the construction of the airport due to environment concerns listed in the peti-tion. “The Supreme Court has lifted the suspension on the environmental clear-ance. There have been no additional conditions but

National Environmental Engineering Research In-stitute has been appointed to ensure that the condi-tions put in place by the National Green Tribunal, the Union Ministry for En-vironment and Forests and other additional conditions are adhered too,” Goa gov-ernment’s Director of Civil Aviation department Suresh Shanbogue said.

“Work will recommence immediately. It may take some time to get the speed because we have to move our machinery there once again. When the work was stopped last time there were around 2,000 people on the site. But within three weeks or so the work will pick up speed,” the official also said. In its first phase the airport is expected to cater to 4.5 million passengers and at the end of fourth phase its handling capacity is ex-pected to be 13 million.

Expansion and renova-tion work at Singapore’s Changi Airport Terminal

2 (T2) will commence after the

Chinese New Year holidays, marking the beginning of a multi-year expansion project to increase its handling capac-ity. Facilities and amenities nearing the end of their shelf lives will also be replaced, Changi Airport Group said.

“The expansion and renovation works will re-juvenate T2, while the up-grades in the key operating infrastructure such as the baggage handling systems will enhance the terminal’s capacity and efficiency, al-lowing us to serve more air-lines and passengers when the works are completed,” said Tan Lye Teck, CAG’s Executive Vice President of Airport Management.

Last repaired in 2006, the

Changi Airport Terminal-2 to get faceliftrefreshed T2 will sport more greenery and natural ele-ments, keeping with Changi’s signature garden theme in its

terminals. The refurbished T2 Departure Hall will feature more automated check-in ki-osks and bag drop machines. The two flight information display flip boards will be scapped and the Orchid Gar-den at the Departure Transit Hall will be closed to make way for a new garden. For the dining outlets in the public area of the airport, McDon-ald’s in the Arrival Hall will close on Jan31, 2020. Mean-while Starbucks, in the Depar-ture Hall will cease operations in April 2020.

The remaining F&B out-lets in T2’s public areas will remain open for passen-gers and visitors until the later phases of the expansion works. With the refurbish-

ment, a new cluster of F&B kiosks will offer additional quick bites options at the south end of the Arrival

Hall. “T2 will continue to operate and welcome pas-

sengers, even as we work to minimise disruption to op-erations and inconvenience to passengers and visitors,” Tan added.A Hong Kong airline

forced a Japanese woman to take a

pregnancy test before al-lowing her on a flight to a Pacific island popular with mothers seeking US citi-zenship for their babies.

Midori Nishida (25) was escorted to a public toilet at Hong Kong airport and told to urinate on a strip in November before being granted permission to board her Hong Kong Express flight to the US territory of Saipan. She had declared in a questionnaire at check-in that she was not pregnant but airline staff nevertheless “requested” she undergo a “fit-to-fly” assessment designed for women with a body size or shape resembling a preg-nant woman. The test re-sult came up negative.

Saipan is a popular destination for women wanting to give birth on US soil to secure Ameri-can citizenship for their child.

“It was very humili-ating and frustrating,” Nishida told the local media. She grew up on Saipan and her family have lived on the island for more than 20 years. The airline apologised to Nishida and said the practice had been discon-

Airline forced woman toundergo pregnancy test

tinued when contacted by a TV channel. “We have immediately sus-pended the practice while we review it. We’d like to apologise for the distress caused,” the airline said in a statement.

Hong Kong Express said it had taken “action on flights to Saipan from Feb 2019 to help ensure US immigration laws were not being undermined”, in response to concerns raised by the island’s au-thorities. “We recognise the significant concerns this practice has caused,” it said.

In 2018 nearly 600 ba-bies were born to tourists in the Northern Mariana Islands, which sit just north of Guam, also a US territory --- a figure greater than the number of babies born to locals. Of those, some 575 were born to Chinese mothers. The in-flux followed the introduc-tion in 2009 of a visa-waiv-er programme to attract Chinese holidaymakers, a scheme that made the islands the only US terri-tory where Chinese citi-zens enjoy visa-free entry. But in recent years Saipan has stepped up measures to curb birth tourism by requiring airlines to carry out screenings.